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On Videogame Characters And The Poochy Effect
Thanks to GamerDad for its editorial discussing videogame characters/settings that excessively ape popular culture. The writer summarizes: "A new evil is spreading throughout the industry to stifle gameplay and original game characters, the need to set games in 'cool' or 'hip' settings that meet with mainstream approval", and points to Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil, which he says underwent a "...last minute change in the main character to make her more Gen X compatible." He continues: "For Jak II, developer Naughty Dog seems to have wanted to incorporate every possible 'hot thing' in gaming, from a goateed main character to dark themes." But he concludes by lauding some "breakout successes" in terms of original characters, including Halo's Master Chief and Viewtiful Joe.
I'm not certain, but I've looked at a few screenshots and I noticed that the earlier ones have her wearing jeans and the latest ones have her wearing patchy cargo pants.
Second, since when is a goatee Gen X? If I remember, goatees went out of style like 4 or 5 years ago.
So did Gen X -- Generation Xers are now in their 30s :). Goatees still convey "attitude," though, at least in fiction.
Third, how does Viewtiful Joe not meet these criteria of evil that he describes?
Good question... I'm guessing because Viewtiful Joe is played as a satire.
First of all, comparing FMV gaming to making stylish games is like comparing a nuclear blast to a firecracker. FMV gaming, as a mechanic, had no redeeming qualities. It removed control from the player, limiting gameplay to a choose-your-own adventure game with extremely few options. Adding pop cultural references to a game, however, simply risks diluting the original vision. Many games have been both hip and great, but no games have been both FMV and great (Dragon's Lair fans... Watch a video).
To support this assertion, the reviewer points to Jax and Dexter 2 and THPS. Jax and Dexter 2 is generally viewed as one of the year's best games... Adding liberal cultural references hasn't hurt the gameplay one bit. And Tony Hawk wasn't cool or hip until it was so embraced that it defined culture. Even so, gameplay has not been hindered one bit, and the series continues a surprising streak of great games.
Second, Jade from Beyond Good and Evil's original incarnation was hardly a socially ackward girl. Pictures of the original Jade are available here. As you can see, she went from a trendy, hip early 20 something wearing a t-shirt and jeans (look at that off-kilter waist bag), to a trendy, late 20 something dressed like an undercover reporter. She had large breasts, a visible buttline, a waistline like a carrot, and a midriff. The only non-stereotypical aspects of her character are the short hair and short body. Her second incarnation has the same pants, a lower-cut shirt, a green jacket, and a green headband. The last time I went to a club, headbands were not trendy. Though a little desexualization wouldn't hurt, the character is hardly a cash-in.
Licensed games are largely ignored by gamers in-the-know, and are hardly a new scourge. ET on the 2600? Simpsons on the NES? Lethal Weapon for the SNES? Anything THQ touched before the Playstation? If anything, the proportion of licensed drivel on consoles has gone DOWN, if for no other reason than the expense of developing 3d games has reduced the cash-in opportunity.
Breakout characters, and characterizations, are a rarity based more around great games than great design. The Master Chief as the pinnical of character design? One or two new games destined for legend come out every year... And as such we get one or two new characters in our vocabulary. That's not a weakness of the industry so much as a reality of shared experiences. Otherwise we would have Bubsy 3D 11 shoved down our throats. Characters are born, they live, and they die. It is one of the few motivations to create original content.
And as a final note, XIII wouldn't be anywhere near as engrossing an experience if designers had kept the comic book people away. The Final Fantasy series wouldn't be great if they had kept the movie people away. Embrace the artistic qualities and abilities of other forms of communication. Don't use them in inappropriate places, just as they wouldn't put footage from a House of the Dead game into a movie. But don't push them away. We are all entertainment brothers and sisters.
The ______ Agenda
It's hard to make new characters that players will take a serious interest in, back-story or no. One of Nintendo's strengths (especially as seen in a game like Smash Bros) is a roster of characters that gamers are more likely to find a bit more interesting just because they've 'grown up with them'.
As for the originality of Master Chief...eh, maybe, but probably not. Actually, a lot like the Marine from DOOM, come to think of it...and with voice acting that reminded me a bit of Duke Nuke 'Em / Bruce Campbell. Still, (despite its Marathon roots) at least Halo was definately not a sequel, just an excellent genre game.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Chief's (E7-E8) have more experience in toto, but they are managers, not techs, and frequently political. By the time they make Master Chief (E8) it's frequently been years since they actually stood a watch in-rate. First classes (E6's) come in largely two flavors; Those working admin and featherbed jobs trying to look good so they can make Chief. And those marking time until they get out.
It's the second classes that stand watch on the gear, do the maintenance, haul the fire hoses, carry the stores, etc.. etc..
If every E7-E8 in the Navy mysteriously vanished, operations would continue with almost nary a bobble. If even 20% of the E5's vanished, the Navy would grind to near halt.
There are several companies that do this.
You should check out Atlus: http://www.atlus.com/ and Working Designs: http://www.workingdesigns.com/ (Who's web site appears to be down at the time of this posting).
Both of these companies offer more nitch games that the general public normally wouldn't go for. Due to this their releases are normally done in a limited run where a small number of units are produced, I keep hearing around 10,000 as a minimum print run.
Eidos also experimented with a "Fresh Games" label which released wacky Japanese games that almost possitive, they wouldn't sell well. I'm not sure if they are keeping this label going; however, as I can only seem to find a UK link for it.
Even if all of these companies went alway, unique fun games would still be created by the fan scene. While they may be more on the level of modding of current games like counter strike to half-life, or the race car, and water slide mods for Unreal Tournament, there will also be creative games being made as long as there are creative people in the world.