djpretzel

Sure, and superficially that seems like a great point to make, because I completely and wholeheartedly agree with it - as phrased. My point is, what about other questions like: How important is Princess Peach to the overall narrative of the game? How important is NARRATIVE to the overall game? Is the game striving for verisimilitude, which would make the trope's usage more troubling, or is it intentionally invoking the archaic, or clearly supernatural? Are there any other aspects of the game that mitigate or cast the trope in a different light? In the fictional universe of the game, is being kidnapped the worst of several possibilities? Is it a powerful & meaningful expression of that character's nature that they are powerless and/or pacifistic towards their plight? How much does the player identify with ANY of the characters, or correlate gameplay to real-world phenomena? etc. Not all of these are "perfect" lines of inquiry, but I think that in the aggregate they have significant value...

It wasn't a direct comparison, hence my use of "suspiciously close"... So in your mind, whether or not a player interacts with a game or merely observes it is as meaningful as whether a reader of a novel physically turns a page, or instead uses an eReader and clicks "next"??? I'm being polite when I say that I find that perspective to be "quite baffling"... I find my Cliff's Notes comparison far more accurate, because what you're MISSING when you read a synopsis of a novel is, in my mind, comparable in scope to what you're MISSING when you observe, but do not actually play, a video game. The disparity is substantive, in both instances. The loss of fidelity relative to the creator's intent is significant. Hey, you should work for Nintendo I don't know what your standard of "virtually no" is, here - I agree that most games limit the number of options/variables such that any given player's experience is similar, HOWEVER part of what (I think/hope) we love about video games is that we DO interact, we CAN express some aspect of who we are through how we play, and the experience does feel like it's "ours"... while I'm not sure this should grant any given play-through video creator a sense of supreme creation or entitlement, I'd be reluctant to say it's entirely devoid of their input in any significant sense, and also reluctant to say that it can and should be cribbed from without any attempts at crediting/permission... Hmm. Well, I kinda-sorta agree, and yet not entirely.... "It's not plagiarism or dishonest to use footage other people recorded, because the footage itself isn't her argument (as Bleck said)." This doesn't make complete sense to me... you're saying that because what she's using itself isn't her argument, it's not dishonest to use it, without citation or accreditation? Even if the work involved on the part of those who recorded it was nominal, I still think it should be acknowledged. I don't think it's dishonest per se, probably just absent-minded (i.e. an honest mistake), but you seem to be saying she (and anyone else) should have a free pass to do this whenever they want, without any form of credit? In academia, it's more or less de rigueur to credit exhaustively, and when money's involved, all the moreso... [*]"Game footage is not an idea or a thought." I think it certainly CAN be; I'd hate to commit to a definition that completely prohibits this possibility. In all of the cases in her videos, however, I'd agree that it doesn't appear to be unique enough to categorize it as such. However, I'd tend to err on the side of assuming that game footage IS an idea or thought in terms of how I would handle permission & credit, because otherwise you end up inadvertently compromising the art form, in a sense... [*]"All of the content of her videos thus far could be presented in text or audio format; the footage is just reference material." That's an interesting point; I think it COULD be presented in text or audio format, but I think it would be far less persuasive, partly because it would be slightly more difficult to take out of context. [*]"It doesn't matter whether she recorded it or not." Largely agreed, but what about whether she's played the games? Also optional? Additionally, while I don't think it "matters" much, I do think it would be slightly preferable had she recorded it herself, so I guess it does matter an eensy-teensy bit to me... not a lot, but not nothing. If you believe that "field research" has added value, insofar as it forces the researcher to actually immerse themselves in their subject, then I think you'd probably agree? I don't know guys, it seems like there's this continued perception that acknowledging ANY imperfection or transgression on her part is violently unacceptable to you - I suppose because it would seem like acknowledging an overall weakness?? I know some people are blowing these things way out of proportion, but I fail to see how unequivocally denying that they are even partially meaningful is rational. It seems like a knee-jerk reaction TO a knee-jerk reaction, and if everyone's knees are jerking around like that, it's gonna be like Lord of the Dance and shit... in a bad way. Certainly it should not be outrageous or particularly objectionable to put forth that it would be PREFERABLE if she had taken the time to obtain her own footage? Or credit those whose footage she used? Or (all things being equal, since we don't know) play each of the games she discusses to some extent? Are any of those three things really scandalous to label as simply being preferable? Perhaps it's the specificity of language, or lack thereof, that's at fault... it's one thing to say that using secondhand footage, seemingly without credit and potentially without having played the games, makes ALL of her arguments null and void. It's another thing to say that it doesn't matter AT ALL. I personally think it matters very little in the grand scheme of things, but I don't know why anyone would feel compelled to put forth that it is completely insignificant... and use dismissive attitudes towards game footage as a linchpin of such an argument... If it was someone doing a series of videos about something you strongly disagreed with... let's say, arguing that games need more white male protagonists, or more boobies, or something equally silly... would you let it slide? I don't think you would, personally; I perceive a bit of a double standard. I'm reluctant to accept Andy's definition of game footage as being incapable of representing an idea or a thought, or Greg's opinion that game footage has "virtually no creative input" - they seem like short-sighted generalizations that neither individual would make if it weren't in the context of such blanket ideological support...

What would you say her argument IS? I agree that simple identification of the trope does not suffer from the video being secondhand, but if she's never played the games, how can she contextualize the trope enough to go one step further and contribute meaningful analysis? If games are art, doesn't meaningfully analyzing that art involve... playing them? Isn't applying a one-size-fits-all feminist ideology to such analysis a LITTLE premature - shouldn't playing the games come first? But seriously, in 2-3 sentences, explain what you think her argument is, and how playing the games - experiencing them as they were intended to be consumed - has a zero net effect on the points she's making... because to me, this sounds suspiciously similar to: "I just did a feminist reading of Moby Dick based solely on the Cliff's Notes!! How would actually READING the book affect any of my arguments?" I think the answer is relatively intuitive: it would inform them. And more informed arguments tend to be more persuasive. Of course (and this needs to be emphasized) we don't KNOW that she didn't play each and every game; it simply appears, from the secondhand nature of the sources, and - in my opinion - the superficial and dismissive nature of her analysis, that she may not have. Yeah, in labeling EVERYTHING ad hominem, he actually committed composition/division If you're gonna go around citing logical fallacies and acting like doing so is insightful and conclusive, best not to commit one yourself in the process

The problem as I see it is not so much that she (probably/potentially) didn't play the games, because many tropes CAN be identified and pointed out with passive, brief observation. It would have been classy & appropriate to credit the YouTube users whose recorded material she used; I haven't seen any indication that she's done this, my bad if she has. If she hasn't, that's a faux pas that really can & should be corrected. I'm assuming they were at least contacted prior to the footage being used, given the money involved... However, my main issue remains that she's not just simply pointing out tropes - if she were, I'd actually have far fewer issues with her videos in general. You don't need to play a game just to identify a trope that it employs, so there's no fundamental problem. When she adds her blanket generalizations about the net EFFECT of these tropes, or applies labels and interpretations with unadulterated certitude, however, well... that DOES require playing the game, and really getting a feel for whether the trope, in that specific context, is incidental, is mitigated by events, etc. In other words, context isn't necessarily vital to simply identifying a trope, but if you're going to proceed to discus its implications or its nature, it can be rather crucial. My two cents? She doesn't strike me as the type of person who cares much about context, especially when exploring it could reveal information that doesn't jive with her personal ideology.

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Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone!! I announced this on FB just a few minutes ago, but I'm going to be a father, and today as a kind of "birthday gift" my wife Anna & I found out the baby's gender during an ultrasound, and it's a girl!! I'm now going to use the nice work emoticon for MYSELF, five times: :nicework::nicework:

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Just a quick question out of curiosity - these are licensed albums, by my understanding. Does the licensing agreement cover this form of distribution, for charity? I mean, I would hope that it would it be cool, but I know licensing is often very restricting, so I'm interested in whether this type of model is explicitly allowed... often licensing can occur at a flat rate, rather than a percentage, which would mean distributing for $1 would actually be a big loss. Any info is appreciated - cool concept & great music!

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The GameCube had a few standout games. The Wii had a few standout games. I'm sure the Wii U will also have a few standout games, at some point, but it DOES feel like a steady decline to me. I suppose I'd place the Wii above the GC because I DO love Super Mario Galaxy a lot, and Sunshine didn't really compare, but it's sad when it comes down to a single game like that. I play my Wii U so seldom that even when the controller tablet thinger is fully charged and left off, it loses its charge. I have to plug it in whenever I fire a game up, which is hardly ever. When I do, I have to sit through Nintendo's slow-as-molasses OS, fisher-price GUI (which was cute at one point but stopped being as cute when the speed, or lack thereof, became so apparent), and for some reason ANY network access at all, be it firmware updates, game updates/purchases, etc., is slow as hell on the Wii, 3DS, AND now the Wii U as well. In contrast, if Sony delivers on its promises, firing up a game on the PS4 is going to be VERY quick, close to instant gratification. I legitimately feel like that will actually get me playing more games, to be honest. The 3-4 minutes it takes to wade through Wii U's bullshit just to reach gameplay seems incredibly outdated to me, and highly problematic. For me at least, it's less about pure graphical horsepower and more about overall approach and emphasis. I want something elegant and convenient, not something that tries to make the OS itself into a game, at the cost of efficiency, and tries too hard to make peripheral innovation a key component of EVERY game, when it only really works well for CERTAIN games.

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Brotakon. OAtakon. Our first official con appearance was at Otakon, and we've been going ever since. Not all staff are into anime, but I am, and actually went all the way back in 1998, long before it was in the ginormous bmore con center & before OCR even existed. We'll be sure to have some Otakon-exclusive content so even if you're intimately familiar with all things OCR, hit us up & (if scheduling works out) you MIGHT win a physical copy of B&R!

Ain't nobody got time for that. Seriously, shoot us some hardballs, ask us anything like it says, keep the momentum goin'! Also happy 4th of July to those of you in the US!

[21:04] <Bahamut> kristi posted this earlier btw: Nobuo Uematsu on Jake's arrangement: "I was shocked! I have to buy a glass of beer for this guy!" [21:04] <Bahamut> on fb [21:05] <@Liontamer> yeah, Don Kotowski from SEMO shared it with Uematsu, and that was his reaction to Impresario

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What did you think? I thought it was freakin' unbelievable, personally

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