brakeman90

brakeman90

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Comments 29

Re: BBC Recently Covered The Rise Of Retro Gaming - See If You Can Spot The Problem

brakeman90

@xenobladexfan Sorry it took me so long to respond, and apologies if this is considered too off-topic (if it gets deleted for that, I won't argue!), but I wanted to gently push back a bit on the idea that games are more restricted by cultural sensitivities now than they were in the past. In full disclosure: I say this as an old-timer who's been playing games since 1990 or so, though I won't claim that makes me any kind of special authority; I'm sure you'll find folks of a similar vintage who'd disagree with me, and that's fine.

Video games, as any art form with commercial elements, have always been subject to the cultural climate in which they've been released. We sometimes view the past through a lens that erodes what it was actually like to live through it, so I wanted to offer a few counter-examples to the premise that games are more "censored" or tailored to tastes now than they were 30 years ago. For consideration:

  • The Legend of Zelda (1986), Final Fantasy (1987), and many more titles during the 80s and 90s were modified to remove religious imagery and text, depending on their region. More on this at Legends of Localization: https://legendsoflocalization.com/articles/religious-content-changes/
  • Perfect Dark (2000) had camera functionality stripped out before release because of sensitivities surrounding the Columbine shootings. In Japan, on the other hand, the knife weapon and certain blood effects in Perfect Dark were removed because of recent knife crimes that had been occurring there.
  • Metal Gear Solid 2 (2001) and Dino Crisis 3 (2003) were significantly altered during development due to concerns about depicting large-scale violence in New York City following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
  • Many Resident Evil games (including 1999's Resident Evil 3, 2002's Resident Evil Remake, and 2005's Resident Evil 4) had decapitation animations removed from their Japanese versions due to cultural sensitivities.
  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) was modified during development to remove instances of explicit sex and nudity in an effort to secure a lower rating from the ESRB.

This list isn't remotely exhaustive, of course. What you may be noticing in recent years is that games are being designed for a wider group of players than they used to. One of the disappointing parts about 1990s and 2000s gaming was that games were often designed and/or marketed with the assumption that players would be young, straight males. That was often alienating for other folks - just think how few female game protagonists there were in that era compared to now! - so it's cool that games are now being made by and for a wider group of people.

That interest in a wider audience is good for the medium (as it opens up so many more stories and perspectives that didn't used to be shown), but it can result in content being tailored to have a wider appeal; I wonder if you're noticing that and being frustrated that games seem like they're more impacted by cultural trends than they used to.

Anyway, I don't want to make any assumptions about you or come across like a scold - this is just food for thought from a retro and modern game hobbyist who's lived through 30+ years of the medium

Re: Limited Run And Retro-Bit Under Fire For Using Recycled Chips In Shantae Advance

brakeman90

I've been a long time supporter of Limited Run - as they make the only physical versions of so many games, and the delays don't bother me since I'm familiar with the production/distribution model - but I won't be continuing to buy from them after a few bad experiences in the past year. This Shantae thing is the straw that broke the camel's back, but I was similarly irritated when they started distributing physical copies of Gimmick in stores weeks before shipping my preordered copy. They're just a bit shoddily run these days, which is disappointing given the good work they've done producing physical copies of games (especially indies) that would've otherwise been locked to digital storefronts. I'm hoping Lost in Cult does a better job.

Re: The FPGA N64 Analogue 3D Has Been Delayed

brakeman90

@Lorfarius Yeah, the challenges associated with N64 emulation (especially with the bells and whistles this promises) have me a little bit skeptical. Don't get me wrong: if anyone can do it, Analogue can, as the Analogue Pocket is one of the finest pieces of game hardware I own. I'm just waiting to be convinced once the device is out in the wild.

Re: Dino Crisis And Its Sequel Dino Crisis 2 Are Now Available On GOG

brakeman90

@845H On the plus side, the high-res polygon/low-res backgrounds should only be an issue for Dino Crisis 2 - the series debut was noteworthy for having fully-3D environments, unlike contemporary Resident Evil titles. The downside was that environments were less detailed, so they switched to pre-rendered for Dino Crisis 2.

Re: Book Review: Japansoft: An Oral History - A True Treasure You Need To Read

brakeman90

Thanks for publicizing this - I just bought a copy through your link! I have an ebook version of the first Untold History of Japanese Developers Volume but a physical edition of the condensed version is a must-have item. This will be a key piece of history in the coming decades as so much other information about the medium's early history is lost.