This week, the Pantsless Ones are joined by video games writer and rising YouTube star Erika Szabo. We each brought a topic to talk/preach/rant about from our soapboxes, but before that we of course have Consumption Junction.
Erika catches us up on the huge changes in her career since her first appearance on NWP. Then there's Tales of Xillia, the Biggest Sneeze Ever, Angelo's fear of extraterrestrials, and Patrick's love of evil. Julian shakes his head at Wal Mart's poor purchasing skills and rallies back from a week of little to no sleep.
Then the group takes to the soapbox. Julian has a lot to say about what a review should be, and urges readers to do their part to understand that reviews are a two way street. Patrick is fearful that bloated triple-A game budgets are stifling developer creativity. Angelo wants to be able to talk to people on the internet in a level headed and mature manner. Lastly, Erika tackles the dreaded "M" word (that's "misogyny" if you haven't been paying attention), and being a feminist that somehow ends up on the wrong side of both sexes.
Enjoy, comment, and share!
FEATURED MUSIC:
Madonna- Express Yourself
Gruppa Kino- Gruppa Krovi
Home Movies- Franz Kafka!
Michael Jackson- Man in the Mirror
Sarah Michelle Gellar- Going Through the Motions
The Avett Brothers- Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise
Breaking the cycle? If Mass Effect 3 taught me anything, it's that we need to do the impossible to break a cycle. Meaning we need to get the following people to get along first:
FPS fans and RPG fans
Retro gamers and modern gamers
Art advocates and fun advocates
Only if these people stop bitching at each other all the time can we get quality. I can do this on one condition: Get me a corporate sponsorship, three popular, but not overly popular celebrities, and three kegs of beer.
I love FPS and RPGs.
I play retro and modern games.
I like artsy games and fun games (unless we're talking GTA V vs Saints Row IV, in which case I'm all about fun).
Does that make me a strange edge case? I never really thought of those things being mutually exclusive until you put it that way.
It means you're one of my squadmates.
Excellent!
I remember reading something on gamesindustry.biz from Warren Spector about game reviews and it has stuck in the back of my mind. He was talking about how it is important it is to follow specific reviewers. He mentioned one film critic that had the exact opposite taste as he did and so he would always look for this writer's reviews to know if he would enjoy a film. If what Angelo said is true, I should probably pay more attention to Nick's reviews and such. I tend to prefer solid gameplay and mechanics over the other stuff.
I wish that there was a far more universal definition of misogyny because that topic has become comfusing. Everybody seems to be using the term differently.
I'm definitely more of a mechanics guy. I don't think Angelo was exactly spot on when he said that I don't appreciate immersion - I just don't associate immersion necessarily around the narrative. A game can be immersive for many reasons - the world construction, the characters, the story, and the gameplay can all create immersion.
In my case, the narrative isn't a hugely compelling part of the experience and I tend to shy away from games with too much exposition. I find most game stories to be pretty poorly realized and they don't tend to hold my attention. I'm more about solid gameplay and innovation. Games that excel there tend to be my favorites.
If you're interested in some of the reviews I've done - see here.
I agree with your assessments of the games that I have played. There was only one that I disagreed with, Bioshock 2, but I completely understand what you were saying.
I didn't mean to say you don't apreciate at all, I just think our opinions are different and our reviews are weighted accordingly.
