YouTube Obsession

I hate trying to explain to people (millennials and older, usually) as to why I like watching people play video games on YouTube. Gen Z and Alpha understand or could care less but older folks usually ask “Wouldn’t you rather play the game instead?” To this I have a pretty standard reply: Most Let’s Plays I watch are by people who are playing games to a level of skill I could never achieve, either from lack of skill or lack of time.

I also try to relate it to media the person may understand better. Take a book for example, everyone who reads a book has read the same thing, they may all take away something different but they all read the exact same words in the exact same order. Video games are unique in the sense that everyone who plays a game can have a completely different order of experiences. Some parts of a game may never be experienced by some players. So I watch to see things I probably missed.

If all else fails I usually just say; I’m not good at games, I want to watch someone who is better than me. Same reason you watch the NFL, Uncle Dale.

But speaking of LPs that are of people playing a game on another level, please go watch CrossFeetGaming’s stealth assault playthrough of Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

Throwing an incendiary grenade in a room then closing the door is one of the coldest moves and it is entirely player controlled. Not in a cutscene.

This LP is so good, I actually picked up a copy of the game myself and started playing. See below ;)

Watching

What do you get when you take a nascent movie genre like “the slasher” and throw in a brand new director? You get the visually jarring Alice, Sweet Alice from 1976.

You can feel the intentionality of every shot in this movie. Not every shot works but the director is throwing everything at the screen. The weird visual language adds a layer of unreality and high-strangeness to the film’s already disturbing premise.

There is an establishing shot that involves a dumbwaiter descending from the screen that I cannot stop thinking about. Not only because it is a perfect shot to establish a place and convey information without clunky dialog or a boring shot of the building but also because a seasoned director could not have come up with that shot. It’s almost too abstract for a director to risk confusing their audience. Yet, it works here and it works spectacularly.

I did not go into this movie with any expectations and I was blown away by it’s unusual and surreal qualities.

Also, fuck the catholic church.

Reading

Just finished my way through the SciFi epic The Algebraist by Iain Banks. A huge world that never feels uninteresting with surprisingly intimate moments. If you need a light read in a big book, you can’t do much better. Only note I have is that British sci-fi guys always have an extremely horny villain. They can’t help but equate sexual deviancy with evil. Protestantism will fuck yer brain up.

MM

Otherwise I’ve continued my right-to-left manga binge with Ajin by Gamon Sakurai.

I love manga because often, by showing 4 different cells of art the reader simultaneously can’t discern the nature of the plot yet knows that the plot is insane.

It’s fun, it’s spooky, I recommend.

Playing

As mentioned above, Crossfeet’s LP of Splinter Cell Blacklist ahem Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist inspired me to play the game. Because, as you know, I am a student of stealth espionage action.

So, I finally broke down and bought an XBox game pad for my PC and got the game on sale on Steam. After being forced download Ubisoft’s horrible and useless game launcher and playing most of the campaign I have come to the conclusion that Blacklist is an spectacular game.

It is a game that rewards playing each encounter entirely different. Giving the player a ton of mechanics and little sandbox areas to take out or sneak past enemies. The enemy AI is no slouch either, it’s really fun to engage with especially when things go wrong.

This brings me to my bewilderment at how this game and it’s predecessor Conviction was not well received by critics. I can remember the GiantBombcast discussing it not feeling like a Splinter Cell game. The quick look for Blacklist does the game no favors as Jeff really doesn’t embrace the best features of the combat. This poor reception has essentially killed Splinter Cell as a stand alone franchise.

All this further drives home the ephemerality of reviewing and critiquing video games as a medium. If you watch the quick look and then watch Crossfeet’s playthrough you will see that they are playing entirely different games in the same game. That is so fucking rad but also horrifying to developers and publishers. How do you sell that?

I think of Metal Gear Solid: Revengance and how that game was also received poorly relative to how good that game actually is, as shown in ChipCheezum’s excellent LP.

Video games are a very unique medium and Blacklist is a great example the perils of good game design. You can design amazing systems into a game meant to harmonize and create great moments but then only 15% of players will ever experience half of what you design.

Listening

So, GiantBomb is officially dead. I’m not gonna sit here and wax poetic about it because I already have and I haven’t really been a regular reader/watcher/listener since Jeff Gerstman left. BUT you cannot deny the site’s impact on how video games are covered in the enthusiast press.

Pour one out for the bros today.

Capitalism will always ruin everything forever.

Other Notables

** The best version of capitalism wasn't good enough.

** People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies

**