A poll - without voting options!

[Diogo Ribeiro]

There's something I'd like you to help me with. But first, a primer. If all goes well, I'll be joining some fellow gamers during the next months and create a new videogame blog. After mine went kaput some time ago due to personal problems, it seems there was enough interest of other folks to create a project and invite me to it. In a quest to find out what articles I'd write about, I'd like to ask some of your opinions on the matter.

 

So... This is basically a poll of sorts, to see what the average gamer would like seeing discussed. I should warn you that the project is in Portuguese only, so I don't want any of those willing to participate to expect that voting will increase their chances of reading such an article. Unless you know the blasted language, you're screwed. But unlike a regular poll, I'd like people to comment on what kind of article they want to see, and more importantly, why. I don't want a simple vote since that doesn't tell me anything about your tastes.

 

So, for those willing to help me out, here are some of the choices until now.

 

 

*Best Games You've Never Played (Because You Were Too Busy Masturbating To How Fast Crysis Runs On Your Computer) - No explanation needed, I guess.

 

*Shadowrun - Basically an article on the Shadowrun title for Genesis, also mentioning the other licensed titles, and FASA's ultimate fate.

 

*Emulation - Why emulation is still going strong, why it is an important aspect of gaming culture, and possibly interviews with some people involved in it.

 

*Black Sheep, Not Quite Black - Games in a series that are sometimes dismissed by gamers but reveal themselves to be either the best or well worth it to fans of the series.

 

*Why The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is the best Zelda ever (and why anyone who disagrees should be put out of their misery)

 

*Indie Games On The Rise - Pretty straightforward title, I guess.

 

*Roguelikes - Retrospective about roguelikes, and their influences.

 

*Introversion Software - Possible interview with the team and a background on their games.

 

*Random Interviews - Was thinking of interviewing some folks, from developers to some journalists.

 

*Online Communities - What drives them, what ties or unties them, their perspectives on upcoming games of series they've supported in the past. Two communities are on the list so far, for Fallout and Phantasy Star.

 

*Virtual Identities - About the possible dangers of virtual worlds, virtual identities, and the like. Not sure I'm going with this. I'm just not s-m-r-t enough to follow through on my own opinions, I guess. When I start by talking about how Marx's idea of work as salvation as an ideology didn't follow through and his son-in-law's idea of machine as mankind's redeemer was a more accurate depiction of what would constitute the current model of society, then proceed to ask if virtual reality could be seen as a redeemer of identity, I notice how it all sounds so pretentious that it makes me nauseous. Stupid beyond belief.

 

*Random Reviews - I'll end up reviewing older (think pre-PS2) games, probably, both PC and console titles.

 

 

Feel free to suggest things as well. And... Thanks to anyone who wants to help me out.

[Sand]

I think the article on Shadowrun would be pretty cool. I liked the game for the Genesis, and well I am going ot be running a Shadowrun campaign soon. Also an article on Indie games would be cool and give those who are doing them a little free publicity. Those two have my vote.

[Pidesco]

*Indie Games On The Rise - Pretty straightforward title, I guess.

 

*Roguelikes - Retrospective about roguelikes, and their influences.

 

 

Go for these two.

[Tigranes]

Personally, I always love to read about the social impact of games and the workings of game culture that is not written from an ivory tower point of view (Heidegger's Curse: can we talk about online communities without making lots of pseudo-philosophical nonsense about transcendental minds, etc, please?), so *Online Communities, *Virtual Identities would get my vote.

 

Also would be interested in *Emulation and *Indie Games on the Rise.

[Moatilliatta]

I should warn you that the project is in Portuguese only, so I don't want any of those willing to participate to expect that voting will increase their chances of reading such an article. Unless you know the blasted language, you're screwed.

Why? Seems like a strange choice for most people with proficiency in English to make.

 

*Indie Games On The Rise - Pretty straightforward title, I guess.

 

*Roguelikes - Retrospective about roguelikes, and their influences.

 

 

Go for these two.

I love how you totally ignored his wish for people responding to expound on their choices.

 

I'll participate in this consensual interrogation later.

[Humodour]

*Indie Games On The Rise - Pretty straightforward title, I guess.

 

Why? Because I'm always looking for new games that aren't dominated by graphics and console gamer needs (i.e. they actually focus on real issues like storyline, atmosphere, fun). I think indie games fit this bill nicely.

 

*Best Games You've Never Played (Because You Were Too Busy Masturbating To How Fast Crysis Runs On Your Computer) - No explanation needed, I guess.

 

I'm always looking for good games, so if I've missed one in the past, I certainly want to know about it.

 

(Avoid well-known cults like Fallout, Torment, Deus Ex, and co, please. Do games like Giants: Citizen Kabuto - absolute gems that faded into obscurity)

[Walsingham]

I'd like to know why the galaxy's greatest comic has yet to produce a single decent videogame.

[Sand]

I'd like to know why the galaxy's greatest comic has yet to produce a single decent videogame.

 

What? Archie?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Personally, I always love to read about the social impact of games and the workings of game culture that is not written from an ivory tower point of view (Heidegger's Curse: can we talk about online communities without making lots of pseudo-philosophical nonsense about transcendental minds, etc, please?), so *Online Communities, *Virtual Identities would get my vote.

 

Also would be interested in *Emulation and *Indie Games on the Rise.

 

I understand your point. Wasn't thinking of going that route, at least not intentionally, so that serves as both suggestion and heads-up on some pitfalls to avoid. Thanks.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I should warn you that the project is in Portuguese only, so I don't want any of those willing to participate to expect that voting will increase their chances of reading such an article. Unless you know the blasted language, you're screwed.

Why? Seems like a strange choice for most people with proficiency in English to make.

 

I get where you're coming from but the site's purpose seems to be not one of "me too" in terms of audience, in the sense that there's more to be gained from addressing portuguese readers than trying to be a fledgling site which has no kind of competition with the likes of, say, Kotaku. Also, not everyone has the time to handle both the writing and its translation. Eventually this will happen - in situations where we might interview a developer and have to translate the contents to our readership - but are likely to be few and far between.

 

 

I love how you totally ignored his wish for people responding to expound on their choices.

 

I love Pidesco all the same. I have a feeling he didn't dwell in answers because we've talked about these themes in the past, and I suspect he would choose them.

 

 

I'll participate in this consensual interrogation later.

 

Thank you.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

So up until now, the Indie Games takes a lead, with a couple of others following behind (Shadowrun, Emulation, etc.). Keep them coming, if you care to

[Sand]

If you go the indie game route would you be doing an overview of the indie game market and its historical roots, or would you write about specific indie games and their devs? I prefer the latter over the former, but if it is going to be a long enough article or a series of articles it might be to cover both.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Undecided at this point. Initial plans were to write an introduction that gave a glimpse without becoming an academic research, then proceeding to talk about several games and - if all went well - get something out of the devs, too. It seems I'm being given enough freedom to write about what I want, in a way I want, so a more meaty article isn't yet out of the picture. Since this isn't a magazine, however, a meaty article about their history would probably be a waste on the kind of readership that wants hot, steamy text, so the best course of action would be to spread it across several weekly or monthly features.

[Pidesco]

I should warn you that the project is in Portuguese only, so I don't want any of those willing to participate to expect that voting will increase their chances of reading such an article. Unless you know the blasted language, you're screwed.

Why? Seems like a strange choice for most people with proficiency in English to make.

 

I get where you're coming from but the site's purpose seems to be not one of "me too" in terms of audience, in the sense that there's more to be gained from addressing portuguese readers than trying to be a fledgling site which has no kind of competition with the likes of, say, Kotaku. Also, not everyone has the time to handle both the writing and its translation. Eventually this will happen - in situations where we might interview a developer and have to translate the contents to our readership - but are likely to be few and far between.

 

 

I love how you totally ignored his wish for people responding to expound on their choices.

 

I love Pidesco all the same. I have a feeling he didn't dwell in answers because we've talked about these themes in the past, and I suspect he would choose them.

 

Actually, it was mostly laziness and lack of time since I'm not at home right now.

 

Anyway, I picked roguelikes, and their influences because I think Diogo can give that a more academic spin which interests me in terms of game writing.

 

As for indie games, because with the internet I think all games will one day be indie games, and as such I beilieve they will one day represent the cutting edge of game design. This means, of course, that I'd be interested in a forward evolutionary perspective of indie games, as opposed to a straight up cataloging of what has been done.

 

P.S.: I'd like to point out that I am a translator.

[Sand]

Undecided at this point. Initial plans were to write an introduction that gave a glimpse without becoming an academic research, then proceeding to talk about several games and - if all went well - get something out of the devs, too. It seems I'm being given enough freedom to write about what I want, in a way I want, so a more meaty article isn't yet out of the picture. Since this isn't a magazine, however, a meaty article about their history would probably be a waste on the kind of readership that wants hot, steamy text, so the best course of action would be to spread it across several weekly or monthly features.

 

Sounds pretty good. Once finished I wouldn't mind reading it, but alas the closest I get to Portuguese was one year of college Latin.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

@Pidesco:

 

Probably no cataloging or beefy retrospectives, just an introduction of sorts before dwelling on other stuff.

 

Also, I know you're a translator However, actually getting to place one on the team is out of my hands at the moment, since I'm just a writing monkey, not a gorilla admin. Besides, there are two things to consider. 1) You wouldn't be paid, and 2) I'm still unsure of how much that would overload the hosting server in the long run. Any news, I'll be sure to tell you something.

 

 

So, keeping in with Krezack's suggestion, what games did you felt were 'orribly forgotten or eclipsed? Kabuto, Anachronox and Shogo: Mobile Armor Division come to mind. I'm still undecided about titles like Beyond Good and Evil and Psychonauts: although they were glossed over, there still seems to be a generally positive consensus about them and they're still talked about.

Edited June 11, 2008 by Diogo Ribeiro

[Pidesco]

Kohan, which was quite awesome, was critically appreciated, but it was more or less ignored by the gaming populace.

[Humodour]

Kohan was the bomb!

 

But indeed, cult following may not imply decent market saturation, as Pidesco implies. Perhaps you'll have to do some research to determine what qualifies and what doesn't. I'd certainly say Giants qualifies, but at the same time I hear a fair bit about it in gaming circles. Perhaps Torment, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Bloodlines? It's hard to tell what's a cult following and what's a common game on a forum like Obsidian.

 

Psychonauts

Giants - definitely

Beyond Good & Evil

Jagged Alliance 2 - definitely

Anachronox - definitely

Arcanum

Bloodlines

Fallout 1 and 2

Torment - most likely

Total Annihilation - most likely

System Shock 2 - most likely

Deus Ex 1

NOLF - definitely

Thief games

Blood - would be an interesting choice

Spellforce

Undying - definitely

 

It depends on the target audience really. Arcanum, Bloodlines, Torment and Fallout probably wouldn't be underappreciated by the RPG crowd for example. But Deus Ex 1, NOLF1, Thief, and System Shock 2 may well be underappreciated by the FPS crowd (how many played DX2 and assumed they didn't need to play DX1 because it would be worse?)

 

Also consider not how well the game was received, or its cult following, but whether it was overshadowed by a big seller (e.g. Half-Life, Quake, whatever) at time of release. Not many people go BACK in time to find good games unless explicitly instructed to. Again, depends on the target audience.