Editorial – Roger Ebert and Video Games

The passing of film critic and journalist Roger Ebert is not just a huge loss for the film community, but for all of us. His intelligence and insight stretched far beyond his specialization of cinema. And speaking for myself as a video game enthusiast, he was important for my medium of choice as well.

His infamous comments about how video games were incapable of being art “as a matter of principle” unfortunately defined him as an antagonist to many in the gaming community. But what they accomplished was to shine a bright light on the topic, and perhaps caused some of us to think about it just a little bit harder. That was a good thing.

Of course, with the good came the bad. When I first noticed his comments and the impending debate, I was enthusiastic. I thought, “here’s a chance for the gaming community to stand up and really make a case for the possibilities of this incredible medium.” Unfortunately, the vile, immature, and often naïve backlash against Ebert was not only hugely disappointing, but downright embarrassing. Perhaps it was just a sign that it wasn’t only the medium that was young, but the community around it also still had a lot of growing up to do.

I don’t think it had anything to do with anyone needing affirmation of the artistic possibilities of video games. Rather, someone of Ebert’s intelligence and stature acknowledging games as an art form would have lent a lot of credibility to a medium struggling through its own adolescence to find some respect from the outside world. Perhaps it’s just as well he didn’t, since, as the reaction suggests, the community still wasn’t ready.

And when I refer to the “community,” I mean all parts of it: fans, journalists and those working in the industry. No one seemed to have a good reply. It ranged from childish threats and name calling, to weak “art is subjective” arguments that didn’t amount to anything more than new age fluff. Even people that I considered intelligent and articulate completely fumbled in their responses. The whole fiasco was one big fail. Was I expecting too much? I hope I wasn’t. But the most intelligent people at the time were probably those that kept their thoughts to themselves.

It led to me writing a college research paper in which I attempted to create the kind of argument I had wanted to see. Looking back on it, even it wasn’t that good, but I think I was on the right track. I’ve done a lot more thinking on it since then, and it’s taken me in some really interesting directions. Still, I find myself disappointed in most of the rhetoric I see on the subject because it doesn’t really seem to have gone anywhere. Most people are still stuck in their dismissive and “new age fluff” modes.

The good news is, it probably doesn’t matter a whole lot at this point. The relevancy of video games is taking care of itself.

As for Ebert, there should not be any grudges held against him. He took a bold and definitive stance, and he made good points for it. If I had any issues, it would be that he was being a bit dismissive, himself, and it would’ve been nice if his intellectual curiosity had stretched just a little bit into the realm of video games, but even then, I can’t blame him. He devoted his life to cinema, so his hands were full enough as it was.

I enjoyed Ebert’s writing immensely. Not just his movie reviews, where he effectively articulated his thoughts on great movies and entertainingly ripped apart bad ones, but also his blog posts, where he wrote about everything from politics and religion to how much he loved his wife. They were influential to me, and I’m definitely going to miss reading them.

For the rest of us, I guess we’ll just have to make our own insights.

Site News – March 15, 2013

I admit it, I’ve been neglecting the entire Lark’s Island Network the past several weeks, but I have my reasons. For one, I’ve been getting over some stubborn health issues.

The real news, however, is that I’ve been working on a side project, although calling it a side project is a little inaccurate, as it will require its own blog if it ever gets off the ground. I shouldn’t talk about it too much yet, but I will say that if you like retro gaming, you might find it entertaining.

Unfortunately, this means that Lark’s Island will continue to hibernate for the time being.

Site News – February 25, 2013

Just a quick note to those whom it may concern: this blog isn’t dead, it’s just hibernating. I’ve been preoccupied with various other things in recent weeks. Hopefully, I’ll get back to regular updates soon.

Arcade Mania – Gaplus (1984)

Namco’s Galaga is an arcade classic. It was hard to step into an arcade or a pizza joint in the ’80s and not find a Galaga cabinet. Being a spin-off of Galaxian, it subsequently spawned its own series that continues to this day. However, none of the sequels or remakes are as popular or well known as the original, and perhaps the least known is its immediate successor, Gaplus.

As you probably know, Galaga followed the Space Invaders style of gameplay, in which you move a spaceship back and forth at the bottom of the screen and shoot a formation of aliens near the top. Galaga set itself apart by having aliens that didn’t just stay in formation, but swooped around the screen. Also, it’s most iconic twist was allowing your ship to be captured by an alien tractor beam, and then rescuing it so you could join two ships together to have double firepower.

It’s a bug hunt.

Gaplus took these basic foundations and radically evolved them. First, you could also move your ship vertically instead of just horizontally. This was necessary, as it’s sometimes the only way to dodge enemy attacks. There are also various power-ups that aliens sometimes drop, such as more powerful shots and forcing the aliens to move in slow motion. There’s also a secret ship that slightly resembles the original ship from Galaxian, which moves faster and can fire three shots at once instead of just two.

In a twist on the tractor beam from Galaga, one of the power-ups allows your ship to equip its own tractor beam to capture the aliens, thus forcing them to fight along side you. You can capture up to six at once, and as you may guess, it’s extremely difficult to dodge bullets with a long line of alien ships at your side.

The way the stages (now called “parsecs”) work is a little different, as well. The aliens still swoop into formation at the beginning of a parsec, but if your ship gets destroyed during this phase, the entire stage starts over. The bonus “Challenging Stages” are also completely different. Instead of simply trying to shoot all enemies as they fly across the screen, you have to “juggle” them. It’s a little hard to explain, and it’s not quite as much fun as in the other games, but it’s still interesting and unique.

Juggling enemies is a little weird, but at least it’s a unique twist.

If you haven’t guessed already, Gaplus is also much more difficult than the original Galaga. Once you get to Parsec 4, things ramp up dramatically. The aliens get faster, they fire more bullets, there are meteor showers, and in the higher levels, enemies even start firing suicide bullets (they fire back when they’re killed). Sometimes there’s so much stuff flying around on screen, it’s hard to tell what’s going on.

Yet, it’s also a really fun game. I think it gets kind of a bad rep among Galaga fans for being too different, but that’s why I love it. It really feels like a true evolution of concept, which is exactly what a sequel should be. Subsequent games in the series played it safe by reverting to the more basic gameplay of the original Galaga, at least until 2008′s Galaga Legions. Still, Gaplus is worth taking a second look at.

That is, if you can find it. I think I’ve only seen an actual arcade cabinet once, maybe twice, and it’s only been re-released a handful of times. It’s included in a few of the Namco Museum collections, including Volume 2 on the PlayStation, and Remix and Megamix on the Wii. It’s also available as a standalone title on the Wii’s Virtual Console, and for mobile devices (under its alternate name of “Galaga 3”). And if you’re still living in the ’80s, there’s also a Commodore 64 port.

Adventure Notes – Broken Sword and Broken Rules

My current fascination with classic adventure games began last summer with Revolution’s Beneath a Steel Sky. I’ve played through several other adventure games since then from various other notable developers, including Sierra and Cyan Worlds, with each one having its own distinct feel and style. However, I recently finished playing through Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, which was also by Revolution, so it felt like I had gotten back to where I started.

After playing it, I started to think about how adventure games implement their puzzles. When I started with Beneath a Steel Sky, I had to rely often on a walkthrough to get through it. But the more adventure games I played, the less I found myself looking for help. I assumed that I was building up my “instincts” for the genre. But with Broken Sword, I found myself getting stuck a little more often then I would’ve liked, and having to get hints to move forward. In some cases, the solutions irritated me more than the puzzles, because I was left wondering how I was supposed to have known what to do outside of blind experimentation.

Then something occurred to me: puzzles don’t necessarily have to make logical sense as long as they adhere to their own rules. There has to be some sort of consistency. It’s a common rule of game design that we see in many genres. A game lays some groundwork and teaches the player how things work, and then the player uses this knowledge to take on future challenges.

Indeed, narrative media in general uses a similar principle. No matter how fantastical or irrational a story may be, it’s easier to suspend disbelief as long as the fictional world plays by its own rules.

Based on my own experiences so far, adventure games seem to be a bit loose and messy in this regard. The puzzles don’t really follow any strict rules for how things are supposed to work, and thus there are few skills for the player to learn. Puzzles in the latter parts of a game may be more complex, but they aren’t really building off of any foundation other than “click on this, then on that.” In other words, it was rare to have to draw back to any experiences from the earlier parts of the game that would help me in the latter parts.

It is that free form randomness that leads to a puzzle feeling obtuse. Finding the solution to a puzzle and thinking, “How was I supposed to know to do that?” is a result of not understanding what rules the puzzles was based on, if indeed there were any rules to begin with.

I don’t mean this to be a slam against Broken Sword specifically. It was an awesome game, and I highly enjoyed it. But adventure games, in general, could stand to improve in this area. (Maybe they have in more recent games, and I just haven’t played them yet.) In my opinion, Myst and Riven came pretty close in regards to establishing consistent rules and building off of them.

But anyhow, now that Broken Sword is behind me, I have moved on to The Longest Journey. I’m not sure how long it will take me to play through it, but it may be an on-and-off affair like Xenoblade Chronicles. There may be a “Long Haul, Part 3” article in the future.

RPG Journal – The Long Haul, Part 2

How long is too long?

I don’t think I’ve ever played a game as long as Xenoblade Chronicles. I’ve spent more time on shorter games if you count replays, but for a single playthrough of one game, the most time I’ve ever spent was probably around 60-65 hours. I’ve passed the 90-hour mark in Xenoblade, and I’m expecting it to continue well past 100.

As an adult, I think I prefer shorter games that I can replay. But anything that lasts longer than 30 (or even 20) hours feels like a pretty big commitment. That’s a full day out of my life. I have to admit, I get a little intimidated by long games.

There’s also something to be said for games that find the right length. Even the best game can start to drag if it lasts for too long. I’ve been pacing myself with Xenoblade, playing it off and on, to avoid fatigue.

But I can’t deny that it’s still immensely fun. Even approaching 100 hours in, I’m captivated every time I turn it on. Each new incredible environment still fills me with awe, and makes me want to explore every inch of it. It says something that a game can last so long, and yet still maintain its enchantment over me. There’s so much to see and do in this game, it is simply overwhelming. That’s probably how it manages to stay fresh.

So, what am I really complaining about? Just too much of a good thing. And there are certainly worse issues for a game to have.

Editorial – Journey to Pandora’s Tower

Nintendo and Ganbarion’s Pandora’s Tower has been often relegated to the backseat among its contemporaries. Being that other game included in the Operation Rainfall campaign, it has neither the pedigree nor the accolades of Xenoblade Chronicles or The Last Story. As such, it was the game considered least likely to have a North American release. Even Operation Rainfall had left it for dead after their final push for it in Spring of 2012. But thanks to strong sales of The Last Story, XSEED Games has announced that they will publish Pandora’s Tower in North America in Spring 2013.

Still, the game will likely continue to sit in the shadows. Being developer Ganbarion’s first original work outside of licensed games, they don’t have the same brand recognition as Monolith Soft or Mistwalker. After the storm has died down from the surprising releases of Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story in 2012, Pandora’s Tower likely won’t ignite the same fire. It doesn’t help that it’s a Wii game being released in 2013.

But I, for one, am still excited for Pandora’s Tower. Back in early 2011, before there was an Operation Rainfall, before the infamous comments about how Nintendo of America didn’t want to showcase games at E3 that they weren’t planning to sell, the first Japanese trailers for Pandora’s Tower caught my attention. I had heard of Xenoblade and The Last Story, but since I wasn’t as into RPGs at the time, they weren’t really on my radar. Pandora’s Tower, on the other hand, just looked like a cool action game, and I hoped it would get a North American release, even though I knew at the time that the odds weren’t great.

Then, it happened. The storm that led to Operation Rainfall broke, and seeing it as a good cause, I supported it. My attention quickly shifted over to Xenoblade, since that was the only game that seemed to have a small chance of actually getting a North American release. It also helped rekindle my interest in RPGs, as I ended up playing a number of them in 2012. My attention then shifted to The Last Story when it was announced and subsequently released. And now, much to my surprise, here I am again, standing at the foot of Pandora’s Tower.

It’s interesting to see the split reactions to the game. Those that have played it either criticize it for being far inferior to those other two games, or praise it for being the best of the trio. I can’t know for sure what I’ll think until I’ve played it for myself, but I do know my own tastes. It caught my attention in the first place because I like action-adventure games, like the Zelda series. I also tend to like games that are a little bit experimental, even if they’re rough around the edges. I’m a big fan of both Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers and Epic Mickey. For me, it’s worth forgiving a few quirks for a fresh, new experience. In other words, Pandora’s Tower sounds like it’s right up my alley.

It’s unfortunate the game can’t be mentioned without those other games being included in the same breath. Even I have just spent several paragraphs discussing all three games as if they were a series. When The Last Story came out, some people seemed to look at it as “Xenoblade 2.” I suppose it’s inevitable that Pandora’s Tower will be perceived as “The Last Story 2” or even “Xenoblade 3.” But each of these games is a completely different beast, and Pandora’s Tower deserves to be judged on its own. Hopefully, it will be taken on its own merits, especially since it is the most different.

As for me, it’s been a long, roundabout journey. I’ve braved a rainstorm through disappointment and triumph. I have traversed two dead titans, both inside and out. I have saved an island from siege, united two warring races, and married a princess. And now, I have finally returned to where I began. Everything has led up to this point. The final leg of my adventure is finally in sight.

And I can’t wait to take on Pandora’s Tower.