Deep Freeze: Load of Crap or Exactly What We Needed?

The GamerGate controversy rages on after a number of months that I've lost track of.  While I've not been keeping too close an eye on it due to most discussions devolving into gender politics and claims of harassment or whatever, something has popped out of the whole thing that has piqued my interest.

For a long time I've not been a fan of gaming media websites and press and I think there are quite a large number of people who feel the same way.  There's too much blatant bullshit going on behind the scenes and I hate how I can guess a games final score before I've even opened the web page.  In recent years it has been so bad that certain members of the gaming press have taken to just flat out insulting people who disagree with them.  The biggest example I can think of this was the whole "gamers are entitled" thing that came with DmC: Devil May Cry.  Hardcore fans of the first 4 games were upset with the new direction the game had taken, both stylistically and mechanically, but were completely dismissed by games media as "whiny entitled babies"

http://identitygaming.blogspot.jp/2013/02/the-height-of-idiocy.html

So very recently Deep Freeze pops up right out of fucking nowhere.  It's a database of people within games media, journalists and other writers and it keeps records with links to evidence of stuff they are doing wrong.  It also seems to host articles regarding GamerGate and the state of gaming media as well as providing links to sites that it deems ethical.

It's a strangely useful resource for two big reasons.  The first is that now that this exists, it's bound to keep a number of writers in check.  If they say something stupid or get caught doing something they shouldn't be, there is now a place on the internet where that shit will be documented and easily available for general viewing.  The second is that if you happen across an article that seems a little bullshitty then you can look up the writer or site and see if they are the kind of person or publication who deals in clickbait or may have some ulterior motives.

There are some arguments to be had about certain entries on the site.  The big argument against Deep Freeze that I've seen so far is that sometimes they are logging a writers opinion as an ethical breech.  For example, a number of writers have a "sensationalist" mark on their profile for docking points from Bayonetta 2 for it's "gross portrayal of women".  Given that misogyny is the big game controversy du jour it does seem, at least to me, that the writer is fishing for clicks from a certain crowed but there is an argument to be had that maybe the writer just genuinely does hold that opinion of the game.  Inserting gender politics into game reviews may be annoying and disrespectful but holding a dumb ass opinion is not unethical.

Still though, what Deep Freeze is NOT doing is telling you to flat out dislike anyone that it has a file on.  It is only presenting you with information so that you can form your own opinion and if you don't like what you see, where to go for your gaming news.

I'm still going to carry on not giving a shit about games media because I don't enjoy reading reviews.  I'll look up a trailer and some gameplay footage and make my own decisions.  But for those who do read reviews they now have a resource to make judgements on where to get their info from before they make a purchase, which seems like a good thing to me.  Depending on how it's handled from here it could mean an improvement for games writing. 

More actual and honest games writing and less bullshit seems like a good idea to me.

Don't listen to me though, check it out and make your own judgements on it

www.deepfreeze.it

Stop Naming Games All Weird

This has been something that has annoyed me for some time, and since I was reminded of this issue by seeing the above game on Steam, I thought I'd moan about it for a while.

I've been quite fond of the Heroes of Might and Magic games for a long long time, me and a friend of mine would stay up to the wee hours of the morning doing hot seat games because that's how fucking sick this goddamn game was.  Now, notice the name of the 6th game in the series, it's no longer Heroes of Might and Magic, it's become Might and Magic Heroes 6.

Who the ever loving fuck decided to do that?! But more importantly WHY the fuck did you go and do that!?  It's a minor thing, it's not like I hate the game because of this but it just boggles my fucking mind why suddenly you go and start rearranging the name on me like that.

You have called it Heroes of Might and Magic for 5 games and a fuckton of expansions and NOW you go and change it around?  For what purpose?  Someone please explain this shit to me.

But at least all the components of the title are there and there is a big fat 6 on the end so you know which one it is.  What I hate worse is the naming of all these fucking reboots that are popping up.

Let's take Tomb Raider as an example.  Tomb Raider is a game from 1996 and is probably most well known for Lara Croft's triangular titties.  So 2013 rolls around and they reboot the series and decide to call the new game fucking Tomb Raider.  So now when I want to talk about Tomb Raider I have to make it clear which one I'm fucking talking about because the first game and the latest game now share the same goddamn title!  Why do that!?  Can't you put a number on the end? or a subtitle?! Can't you just call it fucking Tomb Raider: Gaiden or Tomb Raider: Origins or some shit?

This whole rant reminds me of that Angry Video Game Nerd video where he talks about shit naming.  Go look up Chronologically Confused to go watch him rant about games and films with fucking stupid sequel names.

The absolute worst offender is fucking Devil May Cry with that stupid "DmC: Devil May Cry" title.  Literally the worst name for a game I have ever seen.  You don't see me calling this blog iG: Identity Gaming, fucking idiots.

To cut a long post short, make game titles clearer so we know which one in the series it is, goddamnit!

My Faith is Being Restored!

I'm not going to lie to you here, 2012 was a shitty year for gaming, a REALLY shitty year.

There were a few good releases but generally speaking it was full to bursting of disappointment, shit games and stuff being ruined by idiots.  It got to the point where I was moaning and griping about so much stuff that a good portion of my friends started saying stuff like "maybe you just hate video games now" and other such crap.

Deep down I was sort of worried that was true as well, all I was ever really doing was complaining, but then a couple of days ago it happened....

...I started playing Metal Gear Rising.

Holy shit I've not had this much fun with a video game for a long LONG fucking time.  I shall "review" it properly at a later date but the long and short of it is that so far, I've been having so much fun with it that any problems I do have with it I am able to completely ignore.  At least for now.

Also if you look back through the recent posts there have been quite a few "holy shit check this upcoming game out!" posts, so all in all I think the video games are about ready to stop sucking and making me upset and start delivering on the fun again.

It's a shame that there are still so many companies treating people like dicks though....but one step at a time.

The Height of Idiocy

DmC: Devil May Cry is still a game I have yet to play, so I will not be commenting on how good it actually is, but as far as I'm concerned, it still LOOKS like a piece of shit.

ANYWAY! The point here, is that DmC is not selling as well as Capcom hoped it would as they have now gone and halved the sales expectations from this title.  While to me, this is neither good or bad, I came across an article that royally pissed me the fuck off.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/capcom-almost-halves-dmc-sales-expectations/0110372

This article, written by Ben Parfitt basically just outlines what is going on with the sales figures for the game.  But he doesn't just say that, he's saying that fans are destroying this games sales figures out of spite, because they changed Dante's hair colour.

Never in my life have I seen a more ignorant prick write things on the internet about video games, and this is coming from ME who writes plenty of garbage on this blog.  He agrees with the notion that "Devil May Cry fans destroy brand out of spite", which is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

People aren't buying the game because its vastly different GAME PLAY WISE to what they are used to.  But it's not just different, it's been heavily dumbed down compared to past games, so the whole reason people enjoyed Devil May Cry has basically been removed from DmC.  Couple that with some of the juvenile writing I've ever seen and it's a good recipe for making people turn away.

Not one person gave a fuck about Dante's design once some game play came out, NOT ONE, but this doesn't matter.  Newsflash for you Ben, players don't owe Capcom or Ninja Theory anything.  People aren't buying the game because it looks ass, not out of spite.  Ben Parfitt isn't the only idiot to say stuff like this though, I have seen a couple of articles now calling the fans a bunch of whiny babies for not buying DmC.

But here is the thing, the Devil May Cry HD Collection, to my knowledge, is actually doing pretty fuckin' good.  THAT should be an indication of why DmC isn't fucking selling.  Fans don't want your easy mode "FUCK YOU" garbage, they want more of stuff like Devil May Cry 3/4.

I can't wait to find a pre owned copy of DmC so I can really tear it apart but there is no way I'm giving a penny to Ninja Theory or Capcom for this shoddy excuse of a Devil May Cry game.  Also one more thing!  When I was raging about the game play to my friends on steam and such, they would just say to me "if you don't like the look of it, then don't buy it", which makes sense right, but apparently all fans who don't buy things that they don't like the look of are now all spiteful babies

Fuck you Ben Parfitt and fuck all the "journalists" that posted articles with similar themes.  I suggest that you take those pay cheques and give them to my Charity, because you sure as fuck don't deserve it for the type of drivel that comes out of your head.

DmC: Devil May Cry Impressions

So I've not bought this game yet, nor have I played it, so everything I'm about to say is based on stuff I've seen so far, and it ain't good.

Let me start out by saying, no, it's not the redesign of Dante and it's not his goddamn hair colour.  I hate that whenever someone brings up some legitimate problems with this game, the first thing people start shouting is "well you just don't like his new hair!"  This is bullshit, and I'm pretty sure the people who spent hours upon hours learning combos in Devil May Cry 3 and 4 don't give all that much of a fuck about the way he looks.

Speaking of fucks, the thing I really don't like about this game is the writing and cutscenes.  If you want an example of what I'm talking about, go on Youtube and look up something called the "Secret Ingredient boss cutscene"  This scene literally has Dante and the boss exchange a few "Fuck you"s before the battle starts.  Who approved this kind of writing?  I mean the whole story seems bad enough with "corrupt government/corporations erh mah gerd" but adding excessive amounts of swearing just makes matters worse.  Game writing should be getting better, not regressing into the same kind of lines that teenage boys spout in a schoolyard argument.

Then there is the combat itself, which seems a damn sight less involved than the earlier games.  It looks functional, hell, even fun, but it seems way too easy to get those SSS combat ranks which you had to previously be really good to get.  Take a look at what I mean

Granted this is from some demo play I think, but if it's not been changed then....what the hell?.  If you look up combo videos for Devil May Cry 3 or 4, people do this crazy impressive shit, and even then the SSS isn't a guarantee.  But here it's done with one attack, on one weapon....not good.

Despite all my bitching, I still have yet to actually sit down and play the damn thing.  I'll pick it up one day, when I can find it pre owned because I'm sure as hell not giving Capcom any money for this ruination of Devil May Cry.  But you know what? I'll probably have fun with it, I'll probably even enjoy it despite all it's glaring flaws and crap writing.  One thing I can say in it's favour is that it looks like a very well made game in a general sense, and people would have probably been less annoyed about it if you just didn't slap Devil May Cry's name all over the damn thing.

I really wish companies would stop abusing a big name title just for sales, you could have made this a new IP and it would have sold just fine, you didn't have to spit into the DMC fan bases face on this one.