ScottishGames.biz

How To Do Games Journalism #3

This story stumped us quite frankly.  Variety - the journal of wannabes, luvvies and rapacious agents - reports that Sid Meier's Civilisation IV is racist because it features 'colonization'.

"But goddamit, am I the only one who think it's morally disturbing to make a game that celebrates COLONIZATION?"

The problem is that it's set in the real world, so you as the player, pop across from the old world to the new and then set about creating colonies (see, not just a clever name...)  This means that the game "is not only about colonization, but celebrates it by having the player control the people doing the colonizing."

All colonisation, he reminds us, is an essentially racist process.  As one people takes over territory from another.

Thankfully we have the wonderful example of the film industry, which would never rewrite history or treat conflict lightly and turn it into mere entertainment.

If Variety's games reporter seriously thinks that taking an episode of history and turning it into entertainment is bad form, then it immediately eliminates any and every movie, game or television programme (and most fiction) based on war, conflict, strife, oppression, or indeed any aspect of history or human interaction.

Would it be better if it was set in space, or a fictional universe?  If not, then he's stating that there are issues which should not be addressed in games. 

This raises a very interesting point and actually asks a serious question about how games address topics which are relevant to the real world.  Unfortunately, this is lost in the usual assumption that games cannot (and in a wider sense) should not address any sort of sensitive issue and simply glorify the violence and wickedness of any given situation.

While this sort of reporting is to be expected from the tabloid media, a dedicated games reporter might be expected to actually examine the game in question.  Sadly indignation and moral outrage beat careful research every time and make for far more exciting headlines.

Or perhaps he just wants to be taken seriously as a social commentator.

[Image from Valve, since Half Life is about Earth being colonized - accidentally or not - by nasty aliens and should therefore be criticized too. So there]

In Praise Of Videogames - Guardian Editorial

Proof, if more proof were needed, that the games business is making some fairly significant advances within the mainstream media (yesterday's Sun notwithstanding).

The Guardian carried an editorial yesterday which mentioned the Darling brothers being honoured, as well as the problems developers are facing in the UK. 

While it's arguable that the 'migrating in swarms' comment is hyperbolic, it's a testament to the industry overall that the paper actually mentioned this within it's regular comment column.

[It makes the Scottish media's 'ostrich strategy' look increasingly ill-thought out.]

Here's the full text:

Britain's video games industry received a tribute with the award of CBEs to David and Richard Darling in the Queen's birthday honours list. The two brothers built Codemasters - responsible for such hits as Colin McRae Rally and Sensible Soccer - into a global force. Although they sold out last year, their company is one of the reasons Britain's video games industry is among the strongest in the world, despite most of it having being taken over by foreign firms. News of the honours coincided with Grand Theft Auto, also developed in the UK, retaining its No 1 slot in the US charts for the second month running. This helped the US games market, including consoles, to a 37% sales increase over a year ago, a potent symbol of resilience. The Darling brothers will be grateful for their CBEs, but would have been even more delighted if recognition had taken a tangible form. The UK games sector is facing an exodus of talent to other countries offering tax incentives, particularly Canada. If companies relocating to Quebec can claim tax credits of up to 30% of payroll costs, small wonder they are migrating in swarms. The industry is lobbying the government to invest in a UK success story to prevent the exodus and secure it for the future. But subsidising industry is too "old Labour" for this government. Instead it is planning to complain to the World Trade Organisation, a procedure that could take years. By then, if no action is taken, it could look more like a case of Grand Theft Industry.

Sometimes It Takes A Scotsman...

To bring some much needed sanity to the whole GTA IV debate.

Friday afternoon recommendation: Zero Punctuation

Instead of the usual Friday afternoon japes and history lessons, we thought that this week we would instead point our valued and intelligent readers towards a site which you may not have come across before.

SG.biz doesn't carry reviews on a regular basis.  There are now well over a dozen sites you can visit for plain, old fashioned games reviews.  So even though it would mean getting free copies and have PR people fawning and taking us for lunch, we didn't think reviews would add a whole lot to our blend of news, analysis and opinion.

However, there is a man who does review stuff, whom you should probably check out.  His name's Yahtzee (or Ben Croshaw to his chums).  He runs a weekly review in the Escapist Magazine.  Which is a bit like Edge, but electronic and American.

Yahtzee however is British and based in Australia.  This gives him a certain advantage when it comes to reviews as he has the appropriate levels of cynicism, bitterness and a certain subtlety which you need to be a top flight reviewer.  Also, as it's online, there's scope for the occasional blasphemy or curse word, which ensures the reviews are as provocative as they are informative.

Since it's Internets-based, you can send Yahtzee messages and e-mails suggesting new games for him to review, or indeed challenging his opinions on your favourite games. 

If you've not seen any Zero Punctuation reviews before, we'd recommend you go and check them out.

GTAIV Discussion On Radio Scotland

Radio Scotland is holding a phone in debate on the content and ethics of violent videogames, focusing on our newly released chum, GTAIV.

So far, so reasonable.  Though the guy on right now claims games were created to desensitize the military...?!

Listen in here.

UPDATE: A bit of a mixed bag really.  Every gamer who called in sensible, level-headed and sane.  The rest of the callers ranged from the traditional (terrible, ruining society, poor children), to the irresponsible (my 8 year old plays it and it makes him aggressive.  I dinnae agree with it, but what can you do?), through to the downright bizarre (games were created to desensitize the military / Scottish parents will use this game to make their children 'hard men').

Ho hum...

It's Evil I Tells Ya...

Oh dear GOD!  It's Alive...

SG <3 Zone

The games media comes in for a regular pasting these days.  Whether it's 'corruption' in the print press, arrogance online, or indifference in the trades; everybody is ready to have a go at the hard working journalists who traipse from press launch to press launch, junket to junket - always ready to...

do WHATEVER it takes to get the story.

We still love reading about games however - and from time to time something marvellous happens, which makes you happy and reminds you that making/publishing/writing about games is still miles better than a job your parents will approve of.

So it is with this month's PC Zone.

In addition to the usual demos, movies, patches, maps and so forth, the cover disk on the June (??) issue features The Top 101 Freeware Games.

OK, yes, they're all available online, but here you have them all at your fingertips.  Convenient, virus-scanned and ready to install.

There are some KILLER titles in here.  Alongside the exclusive Audiosurf demo, there's crayon physics, world of goo, NETHACK (which deserves more praise than it's ever had, ever), N, Narbacular Drop, Deathworm, Off-Road Velociraptor Safari and a hamperful of other quirky, unusual and FUN delights.

We love freeware, indie, casual and freakishly strange games and Zone are to be congratulated for making them such a high profile part of the disk.

We now leave you to go play more Audiosurf to the accompaniment of Grendel by Marillion.  18 minutes of prog rock racing rhythm action err, raunch...

More Scotland, More Games, More Goodness

A quick roundup of today's gaming media shows a number of Scotland related stories hitting the Internets.

Develop has posted an article on Realtime World's plans for their newfound millions and sheds some light on the company's ideas for APB.

Develop is also carrying an interview with Dare to be Digital's Paul Durrant, who talks about the competition's partnerships with Channel 4 and the growing convergence between television and gaming.

Ricky Gervais appears in - and wrote new material for - GTA IV

...which will see a similar level of advertising cash as Halo 3

...the beta for which was offered on Crackdown and we're back to the start of our gloriously symmetrical little circle of gaming

Oh and the rest of the UK is doing ok too

How Journalism Works #2

1.  Should your cynical request for incriminating evidence fail, then employ the services of a well-loved 'mother figure'  - preferably with no experience whatsoever of the subject matter
2.  Provide her with a selection of games featuring adult content to 'review'
3.  Run 100 word reviews of those games which provide opportunities to use the words 'shocking', 'sickening' and 'mindless garbage'

Coming soon.  ELSPA.

How Journalism Works #1

1.  Post request on celebrity wannabe website asking for stories about how games led you to a life of crime
2.  Offer payment for same
3.  Write shocking story about how games turn people into criminals

Coming soon.  Politics.

[Image cribbed shamelessly from the frankly excellent glasgowsurvival.co.uk]