Weekend Confirmed Episode 52

Hey guys,

There were a couple of points in the shows where videogame critics were compared to film critics and I wanted to weigh in a bit on this issue because it is one I have been thinking about for some time.

Very few self respecting film critics would rate the big dumb blockbuster movie highly because they choose to demand something more than just lowest common denominator entertainment. Similarly, no self respecting food critic would rate McDonald's burgers high just because it feeds the primal urge for fat and sugar. Instead, these critics strive to challenge their readers to cultivate a more sophisticated taste because they believe there is something far more worthy to be found beyond the realm of instant gratification.

Comparatively, the big dumb blockbuster videogame is almost always handled with a kid gloves. The most recent examples being Bulletstorm and Homefront. As much as I generally love Jeff (Totally Rad show is awesome, btw), it really grates me to hear him talk about Bulletstorm because he repeatedly will say things like "It's self aware!" or "It's meta!, as if a dumb game being aware that it is dumb some how makes it smart. (Actually, it just means the designers knew they were relying on dumb humor and didn't respect their audience enough to not be lazy and try to develop smarter humor instead). And I say this as someone that has finished Bulletstorm.

I was even more embarrassed to hear all the violin music being played for Homefront due to the fact that bad reviews may effect its sales/stock value. Come on guys. Homefront is huge budget military first person shooter. If it can't hang with the top games in this incredibly over saturated market, then maybe it should fail. Maybe if that happens enough then publishers will free developers to a different, more original style of game that doesn't try to ape Call of Duty. Maybe some of these types of games fail more often, more spot light can be placed on some of the wonderful, smaller more original titles that are smart and deserve that attention far more than someone that can just buy it with a huge marketing blitz.

This is ultimately the reason why those film critics write scathing reviews of stuff like Transformers 2. Not because the special effects suck or because it might not be a decent if forgettable 2 hour pop-corn flick. But because they take a long view of their industry and they know there is so much smarter, better stuff that deserves that attention more than something that just has a lot of money behind it. And they want to help their readers develop a more sophisticated critical eye so they they can appreciate the difference too.

Why can't we have that in the game industry? Why, on the whole to game critics have to be so closely in bed with giant publishers that they feel sorry for them when one of their games don't sell well? Do you ever see Ebert writing an apology when a Jerry Bruckheimer film bombs?

In other mediums the critics attempt to be taste makers and trend setters. But it feels like in the gaming media, writers are far too comfortable being passive conduits of big budget hype and popular bandwagons.

Don't be afraid to demand more from your entertainment. Try to challenge your audience to demand more too.