@theconniption @zackcurl @7_armageddon_7 @MordeaniisChaos that was exactly what i had in mind. especially the scene in MGS3 when you were forced to walk through the river and confront everyone you killed in the game.
@7_armageddon_7 @MordeaniisChaos i agree. the idea that we are actually taking part in these acts, and that that is the intent of the developer, changes the view of violence in those narratives. it's also different when the player is given the choice between torturing someone and not torturing someone. the most brilliant thing about Grand Theft Auto is that for the most part, wanton destruction is never the goal, but rather, something that the player can choose to take part in if that is whee their morality lies. both Tom McShea and Caroline Petit have written excellent articles about videogame violence that really hit their mark and i would recommend as very pertinent reads.
@7_armageddon_7 if anything, it's a piece of selective editing, not censorship. it happens all the time when things don't go well with test audiences. you are welcome to sit at home and close your eyes and pretend to torture people if you are really broken up about it, but unfortunately it isn't going to be in this game.
@Kaisfate how is it censorship when the developer itself finds it to be in poor taste and scraps it on their own? is it censorship because you saw it in a trailer and now you won't get it in the game? think of all the games that didn't have every element from their trailer in them; was it censorship then?
@zintarr no, it wouldn't be fine, but it's also a case of context. in fiction, or even in a non-fiction documentary, things like that can be used as devices to help probe our predetermined senses of morality, and aid in our world view. i understand that videogames can be used in the same fashion, but a scene like that is going a little beyond good taste and is fabricating a narrative for the player that he or she can not avoid; and from the way it looked, the scene both glorified and encouraged the act, not to mention setting a precedent for what the player believes they can derive from the developer's opinion about torture. it's difficult for Ubisoft to make a game where the player is supposed to connect with the main character and find commonalities (which is what all games do), outfitting him with his own special skill set, and marketing the character as a "badass" or "ultimate spy", and then turn around and condemn his actions. in the real world torture doesn't work the way it does in fiction. despite what movies say, it isn't a useful way of gaining intelligence, on top of the fact that it is absolutely reprehensible and unthinkable for anyone who isn't a sociopath.
let's quit making judgements and comments about censorship when a videogame developer actually had the good sense to realize their own poor taste (even if it may have been aided by criticism from outside the team), which doesn't happen as often as it should.
it's unfortunate that the scene was ever in question and that we had to see it in the first place. i understand that the videogame industry is unlike other industries in that it is a constantly transforming canvas, but i feel like ever including this in the demo has given fetishists cause to claim that it was ever necessary in the first place.
@OldJames420 @zackcurl i think the reason that more talented directors stay away from games is that they know better. the great thing about games is that they work on an individual's own pacing. the idea of someone dictating the flow of information in an adaptation of a game again changes the experience. much like comic books, whose medium relies on being able to turn a page back and forth whenever one wants, videogames have their own specific rhythm that works for each player. the best movies out there have excellent pacing, and i know it's something that can be tackled, though i still maintain that games remain a personal experience. i would love to see more people understand that they are separate mediums and start giving them their own space. what if the Cohen brothers, instead of making a videogame adaptation, decided to make their own game; in that game, they use the medium and it's specified rules and storytelling possibilities to let the player experience drama of their own. i would rather see people branch out into other mediums depending on how they want to tell a story.
i hate to keep harping on this, but no one should make this a film. Shadow Of The Colossus is so beautiful because it is a game, and it's something you have to experience for yourself rather than watch. i could go on for hours, but the biggest thing people don't understand, when tapping videogames for ideas, is that their very nature sets them apart from other media. there is no way the Uncharted movie is going to come anywhere near the game. we've seen that movie before, and it's fine; anything in Uncharted has already been touched on by some action movie somewhere, and the beauty of the game is that you actually do it. you're doing it. you're controlling that character and living vicariously, albeit frustratingly, through that character on screen.
there is no sense of accomplishment in watching a movie like there is in finishing a videogame. the adventure belonged to you alone because you did it, you won. take that exhilaration away, and you are left with a filmmaker's hollow interpretation of what they thought the game felt like, and the sheer brilliance of gaming is that everyone walks away with their own experience, and their own impression that that game left on them. that's what i want, and that's why i play games.
great pick, Gamespot. i think that naming Journey GOTY is really setting a mark for what we want in future games. sometimes it's not always about what you can kill or how you can kill it, but by the honest thought and feelings put into a game. not only did this game try something to unbelievably new yet simple, it also managed to succeed at it, and showed that even the most brief encounters can mean so much. how wonderful that a game that clocks in at maybe two hours in it's experience can overshadow games that took 20+ hours to complete; i think that is setting quite the precedence for what is important in an interactive experience. congratulations, Journey, for making such an experience, and thank you, Gamespot, for recognizing it's brilliance.
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