tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post4797293675929949901..comments2024-02-26T00:27:47.712-08:00Comments on Cross-Up: As Black as Lightning (Part 2)Voltechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01038586008627390463noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-78721404344402364602014-01-22T05:55:12.092-08:002014-01-22T05:55:12.092-08:00I forgot to mention an interesting way to frame th...I forgot to mention an interesting way to frame the Bioshock series:<br /><br />They're actually closer to musicals and theater than film. \For example, the audiologs and voxophones are essentially character monologues and soliloquies. By extension, those audiologs and voxophones carry the same stigma that monologues/musical numbers do: those who can tolerate them will, and those who cannot will complain about them at every opportunity. I'm hearing a lot of complaints about audiologs, yet if you were to replace the word "audiolog" with "monologue," the complaints begin to sound familiar. <br /><br />While I think the device is wonderfully clever, crude, and effective, I don't think that its detractors will ever be convinced of its necessity much like theater's opponents will never fall in love with the monologue. An alternative has to coalesce soon.Sean Weeksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-62221421023297293832014-01-21T22:41:36.217-08:002014-01-21T22:41:36.217-08:00Mr. Levine said that gamers didn't care about ...Mr. Levine said that gamers didn't care about story when he was working on Bioshock. After generally upset reactions about the denouement of that game, he changed his mind. After this, he may change it back again.<br /><br />I think that the Luteces explicitly WEREN'T bored with Booker. Above all else, they're scientists, and that means reproducing an experiment as many times as it takes and looking for anomalies. Eventually Elizabeth becomes a god and makes a "meta-death" to end a nightmare the Luteces devised. That's what the lighthouses are -- a tip-off that things are going "metanarrative mode." It's a bit of a "get out of jail free" card as narrative goes, but it was earned because the angel statue was a colossal Chekov's Gun reserved for the final act -- the fun was figuring out how or for what reason it would be set off. The narrative framework takes the "machina" out of deus ex machina and turns it into a . . . deus ex fabula (god out of the story), I guess you'd call it. Fits the religion vs. reason themes and makes a beautiful parallel between Calvinism (pre-destination) and quantum mechanics (uncertainty until observed). Hella experimental and cracks a lot of Writer 101 taboos with good reason.<br /><br />That's kinda the problem, though. It's not that gamers don't want good storytelling, it's just that their palate isn't very . . . sophisticated. There was a critic who nailed Infinite for making Booker "dumber" than the player (the player would guess that Booker wouldn't be able to move the gun equipment before he got there) when dramatic irony is, you know, a thing. Booker is reckless, headstrong, and doesn't think ahead (it's how he ended up as a mass murderer, after all), so when he gets to the weapons, his characterization shines through. Audience knowledge/anticipation doesn't have to run parallel to player knowledge/participation. Oedipus Rex proved this over 2000 years ago when everybody entered the show knowing that Oedipus slept with his mother and the guy didn't know it. This quibble's thus part of the second person deal in that *contrast* creates *character* and people'd rather have a cipher or blank Master Spleef so they don't have to cope with a personality. <br /><br />In other words, critics and most gamers want chocolate (Last of Us) because they can't navigate around advanced narratology right now. They want a simple story told well rather than an imaginitive or advanced story told well because they don't know some of the musical beats or the way a story can be told versus the way it's usually told. This might be fallout from focusing on ludic elements over narratological elements for so many years. I don't know.<br /><br />All I know for sure is that if you spray ketchup on all your food, then you're going to hate gourmet and lean on a meat and potatoes diet -- foods which are equal to gourmet in their own ways and accompany ketchup better. You might be able to develop an appreciation for gourmet one day, but you're going to have to stopper that ketchup bottle first.Sean Weeksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-34903168286166996842014-01-21T21:16:45.704-08:002014-01-21T21:16:45.704-08:00Now how in the hell did I miss this? Man, I reall...Now how in the hell did I miss this? Man, I really need to pay more attention...<br /><br /><br />You know, it kind of strikes me as weird that Levine would say "gamers don't care about story". Okay, that's probably true on some level -- I'm pretty much one of the only people in the world who even CONSIDERS that the Dead or Alive franchise even has a story -- but I'd like to think that in recent years, that's started to change. People have started calling out the standard triple-A action game for its faults. Games with good stories are named fairly regularly. All the outcries that "games need more female protagonists!" or "games need more diversity!" must stand for something. It's a rosy view, sure, but it has to be a sign that things are changing. If games, by way of becoming advanced/powerful enough to support more narrative heft, are dead-set on giving us stories and context for the action (from the Tomb Raider reboot all the way to Halo Whatever), then it seems only natural that people start asking for more than just bang-bang-shoot-em-up action.<br /><br /><br />Do gamers care about story? Hard to say conclusively. But in this day and age, I'd like to think that it's up to the developers -- to the game itself -- to MAKE them care.<br /><br /><br />And on that note, BioShock Infinite does its job remarkably well. I care about Booker. I care about Elizabeth. I care about Columbia. I care about what I'm doing, and what happens to the virtual world around me. It's true that plot holes can get in the way of being able to care (though that can vary from person to person, obviously), but you have a point. Not all plot holes are massive vortexes of anti-joy, and they can be overlooked. And I'll gladly overlook Infinite's -- however large, or however small -- because I had a hell of a time with it.<br /><br /><br />Also, bringing up Super Meat Boy makes any argument 400% more legitimate. I get that the Luteces are bringing in a different Booker every time, but now that I think about it...man, those two must get bored having to deal with this one guy over and over again. Or...are they just dealing with the one guy, I wonder? And are they getting bored? Who knows? I've never met any hyper-chronological beings before, and I doubt I ever will. More importantly, I suppose that if there's a death in at least one of the universes, then there's life in at least one other. What would Columbia have been if not for Booker's presence? Gotta admit, I'm itching to know. Maybe we'll find out via DLC or something.<br /><br /><br />(Side note: I'd just like to take a minute to point out that Elizabeth not even getting nominated for the VGX Awards' Character of the Year is complete bullshit that flings whatever legitimacy they might have had off a cliff. But you didn't hear that from me.)<br /><br /><br />RE: audio logs, that's certainly an interesting way of looking at them. I admit that I prefer having two characters talk to each other instead of just picking up on an excised piece of the story, but for what it's worth it provides some context instead of none. That said, I wonder what the next step (gimmick?) will be if/when that's played out. Maybe checking out their selfies scattered across the net?<br /><br /><br />In any case, another dazzling post as usual. Still can't believe I missed it the first time around, but I'm glad I fixed that.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-7133536387862713332014-01-04T00:17:45.683-08:002014-01-04T00:17:45.683-08:00I guess "audio log" is two words, not on...I guess "audio log" is two words, not one.Sean Weeksnoreply@blogger.com