7 ms·

I think the indie crowd is actively working against these game mechanics. A great example: http://fullbright.company/gonehome/ http://fullbright.company/gonehom

by spydum 12y ago

I think the indie crowd is actively working against these game mechanics. A great example: http://fullbright.company/gonehome/ http://fullbright.company/gonehome/ One of the main founders of the company is an incredibly bright guy named Steve. He made an interesting wager many years ago: http://www.fullbrightdesign.com/2008/02/wager.html http://www.fullbrightdesign.com/2008/02/wager.html Seems he's now out to prove it false, and making good progress.

ekianjo 12y ago
Gone Home is not really a game, though. And it was not particularly well received either. Not sure what you are trying to demonstrate here.
- spydum 12y ago
  Define a game? I disagree. I thought the main point of the article was that the major game mechanics are these forced scripts guiding the experience, or incentivized,reward mechanisms which provide no real story telling or exploration? I was raising the point that there are other games actively shaping what it is to be a game.. Trying to create more of a self exploratory story.
  - ekianjo 12y ago
    Then if gone home is a game, going to the local dump and looking through used stuff and junk is a game too. And Life is a game too. Seriously, do I have to explain why Gone Home is not really a game?
    - deathcakes 12y ago
      Yes. That would certainly help. Another thing that would help is prefacing this and similar statements with "in my opinion". Should clear up any ambiguity.
      - cwyers 12y ago
        I don't agree with the author's claim that "Gone Home" is 'not a game,' and especially not with his apparent belief that it's obvious that his opinion is correct. But I don't see the point of prefacing things with "in my opinion." I thought that was generally assumed wherever applicable.
      - kefka 12y ago
        In all honesty, I do not seem to share the same disdain/hatred as others are about Gone Home. However, I would maintain that Gone Home isn't a game, however it does share its heritage. In Japan, there exists a video/picture book called Visual Novels. They run on a computer, either with video or pictures, along with sound. They also have light amount of text, as 3D landscapes aren't terribly used as of yet. This Gone Home should be more part of a Visual Novel genre. Like I said, it does look like a game in some aspects. Admittedly, having not played it, I cannot say there aren't game elements in it. Well, that would be a good criteria for what a game "is": 'Is there a chance of winning or losing? And if you lose, does it cost you a loss in resource (including time)?'
        cwyers 12y ago
        I've played a few visual novels, and I don't see what makes them NOT video games.
- jere 12y ago
  Ah, the perennial not a game argument. In response to an article that claims that Kickstarter and Twitter are video games. You're welcome to that first opinion, but not the latter: http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home
  - imanaccount247 12y ago
    You think a 5.4 is well received?
    - jere 12y ago
      I think an 86 is very well received. I think hundreds of 0s and 1s in the User Scores is evidence of nothing but trolls.
      - imanaccount247 12y ago
        I think an 86 is meaningless because of the source. We already know, 100% for certain that the majority of those reviews come from people who accept bribes. The fact that you dismiss the rating based on real people, and value the score based on bribery is pretty sad.
        jere 12y ago
        >We already know, 100% for certain that the majority of those reviews come from people who accept bribes [citation needed] I've already addressed why I dismiss the user scores (in this specific case). And instead of resorting to conspiracy theories, I can actually justify my dismissal using the publicly available content of the reviews themselves. They're trolls plain and simple. The really hilarious part is that you want to accuse a studio composed of 3 people working out of a basement of handing out bribes.
        imanaccount247 12y ago
        You can use the content of the shill reviews too, the majority are done by people who didn't even play the game. Are you seriously telling me you've missed the whole GG afair that's been going on for the last month? Where it was discovered that indie game devs are being invested in by the people running indie game "competitions" who then hand them awards and schmooze "journalists" to hype their investments? You missed that whole "oops, we are really sorry about that whole integrity thing, we'll be good now" business?
- cdr 12y ago
  Is Myst not really a game? Or are these people too young to remember "not a game" is not exactly an original accusation?
  - ekianjo 12y ago
    Myst is game all right, albeit made of a collection of silly puzzles. You have fond memories of it ?
    - cdr 12y ago
      Hah. I give up.
- teamonkey 12y ago
  It sold over 250k[1], which is astoundingly successful for an indie game, and was critically acclaimed[2]. [1] http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/06/gone-home-finds-250k-sales-most-on-steam/ http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/06/gone-home-finds-250k-sales... [2] http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home
- ansible 12y ago
  It is kind of a game, in that you can actually kind of lose. Which I did, almost. Slight Spoilers I missed the next to last diary entry on my initial playthrough. This entirely changed what I though had happened. If it was a game or not, Gone Home was a good experience, and worth the money. What's sort of ironic is that I had also purchased Dear Ester at the same time, and started playing it afterwards. I was severely disappointed at the lack of interactivity (I had not read any reviews of it up to that point) in contrast to Gone Home, where there are items to pick up, and puzzles to solve.
- omnibrain 12y ago
  My guess that most people that disliked it had troubles with the theme (they express it in the comments using degredatory terms) or were not able to cope with the lack of jump scares. Or both.

by spydum 12y ago

ekianjo 12y ago

Gone Home is not really a game, though. And it was not particularly well received either. Not sure what you are trying to demonstrate here.

spydum 12y ago
Define a game? I disagree. I thought the main point of the article was that the major game mechanics are these forced scripts guiding the experience, or incentivized,reward mechanisms which provide no real story telling or exploration? I was raising the point that there are other games actively shaping what it is to be a game.. Trying to create more of a self exploratory story.
- ekianjo 12y ago
  Then if gone home is a game, going to the local dump and looking through used stuff and junk is a game too. And Life is a game too. Seriously, do I have to explain why Gone Home is not really a game?
  - deathcakes 12y ago
    Yes. That would certainly help. Another thing that would help is prefacing this and similar statements with "in my opinion". Should clear up any ambiguity.
    - cwyers 12y ago
      I don't agree with the author's claim that "Gone Home" is 'not a game,' and especially not with his apparent belief that it's obvious that his opinion is correct. But I don't see the point of prefacing things with "in my opinion." I thought that was generally assumed wherever applicable.
    - kefka 12y ago
      In all honesty, I do not seem to share the same disdain/hatred as others are about Gone Home. However, I would maintain that Gone Home isn't a game, however it does share its heritage. In Japan, there exists a video/picture book called Visual Novels. They run on a computer, either with video or pictures, along with sound. They also have light amount of text, as 3D landscapes aren't terribly used as of yet. This Gone Home should be more part of a Visual Novel genre. Like I said, it does look like a game in some aspects. Admittedly, having not played it, I cannot say there aren't game elements in it. Well, that would be a good criteria for what a game "is": 'Is there a chance of winning or losing? And if you lose, does it cost you a loss in resource (including time)?'
      - cwyers 12y ago
        I've played a few visual novels, and I don't see what makes them NOT video games.
jere 12y ago
Ah, the perennial not a game argument. In response to an article that claims that Kickstarter and Twitter are video games. You're welcome to that first opinion, but not the latter: http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home
- imanaccount247 12y ago
  You think a 5.4 is well received?
  - jere 12y ago
    I think an 86 is very well received. I think hundreds of 0s and 1s in the User Scores is evidence of nothing but trolls.
    - imanaccount247 12y ago
      I think an 86 is meaningless because of the source. We already know, 100% for certain that the majority of those reviews come from people who accept bribes. The fact that you dismiss the rating based on real people, and value the score based on bribery is pretty sad.
      - jere 12y ago
        >We already know, 100% for certain that the majority of those reviews come from people who accept bribes [citation needed] I've already addressed why I dismiss the user scores (in this specific case). And instead of resorting to conspiracy theories, I can actually justify my dismissal using the publicly available content of the reviews themselves. They're trolls plain and simple. The really hilarious part is that you want to accuse a studio composed of 3 people working out of a basement of handing out bribes.
        imanaccount247 12y ago
        You can use the content of the shill reviews too, the majority are done by people who didn't even play the game. Are you seriously telling me you've missed the whole GG afair that's been going on for the last month? Where it was discovered that indie game devs are being invested in by the people running indie game "competitions" who then hand them awards and schmooze "journalists" to hype their investments? You missed that whole "oops, we are really sorry about that whole integrity thing, we'll be good now" business?
cdr 12y ago
Is Myst not really a game? Or are these people too young to remember "not a game" is not exactly an original accusation?
- ekianjo 12y ago
  Myst is game all right, albeit made of a collection of silly puzzles. You have fond memories of it ?
  - cdr 12y ago
    Hah. I give up.
teamonkey 12y ago
It sold over 250k[1], which is astoundingly successful for an indie game, and was critically acclaimed[2]. [1] http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/06/gone-home-finds-250k-sales-most-on-steam/ http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/06/gone-home-finds-250k-sales... [2] http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home
ansible 12y ago
It is kind of a game, in that you can actually kind of lose. Which I did, almost. Slight Spoilers I missed the next to last diary entry on my initial playthrough. This entirely changed what I though had happened. If it was a game or not, Gone Home was a good experience, and worth the money. What's sort of ironic is that I had also purchased Dear Ester at the same time, and started playing it afterwards. I was severely disappointed at the lack of interactivity (I had not read any reviews of it up to that point) in contrast to Gone Home, where there are items to pick up, and puzzles to solve.
omnibrain 12y ago
My guess that most people that disliked it had troubles with the theme (they express it in the comments using degredatory terms) or were not able to cope with the lack of jump scares. Or both.