John Davison

I sort of got my panties in a bunch this week while reading through all the reviews of the latest games. Now that I'm outside the processes of the "machine" and looking on from the outside, it's a very different experience to be looking at coverage of games. It's inevitable that I'll feel this way every Q4 moving forward, but at the moment I'm super aware of the inconsistencies that seem markedly apparent in a lot of the "criticism" of games. I do the obnoxious air quotes thing there, because honestly, that's part of the problem. Without veering too far into games criticism wankery – that's just annoying to read – the core problem (for me) while reading the reviews of things like Rock Band 2, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is not that I necessarily disagree with the opinions voiced (I do, but that's irrelevant) it's that the coverage is neither criticism, nor buying advice. Because it aspires to be both, ultimately it is neither, and what we get instead are subjective little microcosms of opinion. Less and less, we see content edited within the context of the outlet in which it lives, and the result is that we see the same arguments used to reinforce contradictory points. Reviews editors are increasingly just editing individual reviews, and are not editing their reviews sections. Otherwise, we wouldn't constantly see these contradictions.

To paraphrase:

"This game is just like this other game, and that makes it awesome."

"This game is just like this other game, and that makes it terrible."

Today on What They Play, we posted a story about this in the context of how it impacts people that aren't hardcore gamers. Given that parents, by and large, are not avid followers of video games, and only look for content (if at all) when a purchase is about to be made, we pondered whether the editorial reviews available are actually of any use. Personally, my feeling is that no, they aren't. Why? Because more often than not, decisions about entertainment are made outside of the critical process. People go to see bad movies. They watch crappy TV shows. They play games that aren't necessarily well received. We are polling our audience on the subject right now, so if you have an opinion on the subject please provide a comment on the story, or at least click on the poll that we have.

As these things tend to do, the musings suddenly took on a life of their own. After Twittering something of my usual drivel-level standard, and this in turn being sucked into my Facebook status, I found that discussion on this subject started turning up in Wall responses. First, good friend and current LucasArts employee Brooks Brown chipped in noting that "reviewers seem to not enjoy games like they should," and was soon joined by Robert Ashley (whose work I respect immensely, and have since the OPM and early 1UP days when I first met him) who noted, "The fact that critics who play 40 or 50 games a year don’t feel the same way about games as the average consumer shouldn’t be a shock. It’s not that they’ve lost touch with the spirit of gaming. It’s that experience drives them toward novel and away from familiar."

Shawn "Shawnimal" Smith (whose Ninjatown game comes out on Nintendo DS next month) then hit the nail on the head with, "this is obviously a complicated issue made worse by reviewers who place themselves on a pedestal without ever really doing the work needed to be taken seriously. The moniker 'Critic' in any form shouldn't be taken lightly, and those of you out there who truly are 'Video Game Critics', and take that title seriously (AND do all of the years of research and constant diligence that comes with it) should be a resource for gamers who want to dig deeper. But then where does that leave the average consumer who simply wants to know if they should buy a game or not? Should reviewers 'dumb down' or should consumers 'smart up'?"

Blogging and posting time is now spread between this, Twitter, the official What They Play blog (which occupies most of my time, honestly) and I've been posting some random photos, quotes and junk on by Tumblr thing. Tumblog? Is that what they call them? Been feeding it all into FriendFeed, if that helps at all.

Lake Lagunitas is at the top of one of the mountain bike trails I occasionally ride at the weekends. The trail works its way around the edge of the lake. It's a beautiful place at the best of times, but if you catch it at the right time of day, it's breathtaking.



This is taken on Lucas Valley road, a few miles from Skywalker Ranch. The valley ahead works it's way down towards the north end of San Rafael and Terra Linda. As I took this picture, I actually had my back to this thing...



This is Big Rock. So called because it's a big rock. George Lucas owns it. The road here is pretty much the highest point on a 27 mile road circuit that I ride. According to the funky GPS device in my watch, the climb up to this point puts me at about 630 feet above the level where my house is.



This is the data that my watch spits out. The top is GPS location data overlaid on a map, and the graph at the bottom is speed (blue) mapped against elevation (grey)

About a year ago, by friend Pete visited from the UK, and cycled to the top of our local mountain (Mt. Tamalpais, it's pretty big) on this crazy, exotic, Italian carbon fiber road bike that weighs about an ounce that he brought with him. Since I'd seen him last a few years ago, he had become super fit, and told me that he was "addicted" to cycling, and that he routinely rode 20 or 30 miles. He then implied that I was nuts for living in the best cycling area in the world but not taking advantage of it.

After he left, I took his comments to heart, and dug the mountain bike out of the garage and started working my way around a nearby trail. Eventually I was riding a fairly tough 10 mile circuit that wormed it's way up part of a mountain, and back down the other side. It was certainly helping me feel a bit fitter.

Then, for Christmas last year, Mrs D bought me a road bike. Something a bit more exotic and carbon fiberous than the tank of a mountain bike I'd been riding. After some embarrassing crashes (thanks to the toe clips), bruises, and near-death experiences as I toppled over sideways in the middle of traffic because I was physically attached to the bike, I started to see what Pete had been talking about.

Now, I'm riding between 70 and 100 miles a week (when I can) and riding fairly rigorous 20 or 30 mile routes that take me through some of the most beautiful parts of the Bay Area. I'm faster, and fitter than I've probably been in 15 years...and now I'm really beginning to appreciate what Pete was talking about when he said it was an "addiction."

Spending all day in front of a computer, working on 10 things at once is certainly stressful. But hurtling down a hill at 40 miles an hour on a road bike requires such singular focus and clarity that it eliminates all the stresses and complications of my usual day-to-day routine. Now, if I don't ride for a couple of days, I really feel it. There's a physical yearning to get out there and ride. Not just for the fitness aspect of it, but for the clarity and feeling of freedom that it provides, too.

Our latest "Question of the Day" is live on What They Play, and we want to know what parents think is the worst thing their kids could be getting up to when out of sight; watching porn, smoking weed, drinking booze, or playing GTA.

Which do you think would be the worst?

So far, weed is winning but as I write this, the poll has only been up for an hour. Head on over to the site, and cast your own vote.

As if Girl Talk's "Feed the Animals" wasn't incredible enough already (and certainly a shoe-in for "album of the year" for me so far, and I wouldn't characterize myself as a hip-hop fan by any stretch of the imagination) now some incredible mangod has done what would seem like the impossible, and built video mashups to match the insanity of the album.

I will

Timed to hit with the new Watchmen trailer that's hitting with the Dark Knight trailer tonight at midnight, Warner Bros. has released the first of 12 chapters of the Watchmen Motion Comic on iTunes today. And the best news is...it's free.

Hit this link to go direct to the iTunes page and start downloading...it's definitely worth it if you're a fan of the Watchmen, or of comic books, or indeed of things that are awesome.

If you missed What They Play on the The Today Show with Meredith Viera this week, you can watch it at your leisure right here.

 

The Tumbler as an Autobot, thanks to Jester Pictures. Wow.