Moguta
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Posts posted by Moguta
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I'm glad she started pointing out video games she appreciated for their lack of gender stereotypes. Besides Beyond Good and Evil, however, I couldn't help noticing how many of those games featured characters with no gender or ambiguous gender.
Honestly, I have to agree with a number of the points she's trying to make. Yes, the damsel in distress is far overused and plays into female gender stereotypes. Yes, it would be fantastic if game writers would abandon this dead horse already.
However, it irks me how sensitive she seems to anything that may play into female disempowerment in the slightest. The moment I saw Spelunky's girl was interchangable with a man or a dog, my mind started repeating "don't get offended about the dog, plleeeease don't get offended about the dog". Being reduced to a powerless object is no worse. Yet she proceeds to take offense that a lowly DOG could be the companion. I see more of a problem with a dog or woman being wailed against the hero's obstacles, but maybe that's just me.
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Love the ethereal philosophy quotes! Goes so well with the soundscape.
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Is it just me, or is matchmaking taking longer ever since the official "release"? It has at least with my friends.
StarlitVagabond on Steam if anyone wants to play. Still a bit of a n00b, but it's fun.
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Deus Ex Human Revolution is gonna be on an 8-hour sale for $3! A triple-A title, could barely believe it. It's an awesome experience especially if you like cyberpunk or technology in general.
EDIT: Grrr. I must sounds like a cheap ass, but upset that when I added Knights of the Old Republic II to my cart it was $3, but after putting in my payment info it went back up to $6. :/
EDIT2: What's the point of these cards? Steam level doesn't actually do anything, right?
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I want to do a track-by-track personal review, but for now...
Most unexpectedly addictive song: On The Run (The Returners)
Difficult to recognize the source, since the melody deviates significantly. But boy is it catchy.
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Also, anyone catch a certain movie score reference at 2:28..?
The harmonica melody right there sounds so so familiar, but I've never heard the score to A Fistful of Dollars. Is it a different movie? Or am I hallucinating?
This is a really well-done embellishment on the Western themes present in Shadow's original tune. Was hoping for an arrangement more reminiscent of Shadow's regal horn salute in the ending theme, but that's a completely different vision. Love the real whistling and those driving guitar/percussive rhythms. It all melds together so well.
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What more is there to be said? This will obviously go down as an OCR classic, and for good reason. Jake Kaufman, that madly skilled man, crafts an experience of incredible care and passion.
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Honestly had no idea what I was in for until 0:34. Love how the subdued intro accelerates into some ol' timey modern swing. If there's one thing OCR needs more of, it's swing jazz. The "old speaker"-filtered dialogue added nicely to the old-school atmosphere. And that ending is perfect. Too many songs try to wind down at the end, instead of finishing in such a triumphant climax of a note. Wasn't even a song I was particularly looking forward to, and turned out to be one of my favorites. Good job, dude!
Also, can someone add "swing" to the tags? XPERT's inspiration, Caravan Palace, is electro-swing and while I'm not qualified to speak on klezmer this is definitely swing style.
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Ambitious. The intro left me with high hopes for this track. However, the instrumentation 0:45 onward is really not my style. The distortions and electronic percussion felt too chaotic for my personal taste. Maybe if it had some bass kick I would've enjoyed it as happy hardcore, but as-is I just don't understand where it's going. Also agree the high frequencies sound excessively gained.
However, I am a fan of Laura's vocals. They come shining through everything. So this track is a mixed bag for me.
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[...]as far as space MMOs go, I'm really looking forward to Star Citizen.
Couldn't agree more.
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Play with us! What's your name?
I go by Cyberpunk Techno. Though that sounds more like your specialty, honestly.
I find the differences between Dota 2 and LoL almost like nitpicks, but something about LoL makes it seem more accessible to n00bs like myself. Perhaps the fact that your hero's projectiles seem much quicker than your minions', so it's a bit easier to get that last hit vs your little mages. And the helpful hero tips when you get killed. -
Pretty fun game. After trying a couple heroes, I'm enjoying Singed and Sivir. Boomerang of death!
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Well, I'll point out that cashing in stock options is not the same thing as a salary. If Tim cashes in his options, that doesn't come from Pandora's revenue nor does it affect their bottom line.
Isn't it common for a company to sell stock to raise funds for the corporation as a whole, though?
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http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130604westergren
I've seen multiple sources talk about this. Dude doesn't need to make so much money. He could easily take less and pay out more. That said, we don't know how much he's putting that money back into lobbying and what not.
That does seem like an awful lot of stock $$$ to be cashing in! If he's putting that money back into company expenses such as lobbying, would that be reported on Pandora's public accounting statements?
I had sympathy for Pandora's plight, but if all of this is going to the CEO's coffers and nowhere else I may really have to question that.
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Half of the Star Ocean Till The End Of Time Soundtrack Volume 1 is relaxing orchestral. For example:
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I will regret for the rest of my life not getting the $500 'Get someone to remix a track of your choice' reward.
Exactly. I eyed that one for sooo long before reason kicked in, reminding me that I'm a poor college kid now.
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The moral exploration of the original Star Trek certainly suffers at the hands of JJ Abrams. However, I did enjoy it for the action movie it was.
Still, if all science fiction becomes lasers and explosions... to quote a famous bald captain, "do you remember when we used to be explorers?"
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There's always Swinglevania!
also i totally hosted a VGM dance party back in February, and the response I got from it was pretty positive. I could PM you the tracklist if you're curious, though it's more focused on the electronic side of things just so you know.
Really, I shouldn't be surprised to see swing coming from DoD. But yet I am. Also: Keep up with DoD better, self!
Super to hear you hosted such a nerdy dance.
Would love to see the tracklist.There's a bunch on VOTL that would fit the bill. Adrenaline Kick (though I think the spelling is off) is a good one for that.Oh, and you should listen to Shinra Shuffle. That's kind of a bebop FF7 tune. We're also in the middle of an OCR Big Band project, if that ever gets off the ground.
Woah! OCR Big Band!?!?! I'm in love.
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So I've got an urge to dance with some geeky tunes, and plan on throwing a local VGM dance party. What remixes would be good for this, especially overlooked ones? (I have several of the obvious, like Wild Arms A Ring And A Promise and FF4 Somewhere.)
Also, anyone know of swing vgm renditions?
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[...]and they all fit in sequence.
* OA featuring Moonlapse and Bardic Knowledge will kick off the Overture with a very Nightwish-style piece with metal & orchestral stylings and tons of driving, aggressive rhythm.
Whoa. Not sure I can control myself. Apologies in advance for the mess.
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1. Saren (Mass Effect)
2. Q*bert
3. Abe (Oddworld)
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Good post, Moguta. Just wanted to reply to let you know someone read & appreciated it!
I think ultimately that it's a good thing someone's doing this in a high-profile manner, and that it's generating discussion, and from that perspective, I can't fault it one bit. The brand of feminism being varnished at times in the first video is a superficial, textbook variety that doesn't have a lot of depth and deals more in slogans than analysis, and it doesn't bode well for future videos, but as mentioned, it's not super-mega-blatant or over-the-top obnoxious. I primarily wanted to make the point that there are multiple schools of feminism out there, and some of them are a lot more analytical & pragmatic, as opposed to the "OMG BOOBS OBJECTIFICATION PATRIARCHY!" knee-jerk dial-a-mantra crowd. I wish we were getting analysis of a higher quality, from a different echelon of feminism, but perhaps something is better than nothing.
Thanks! And the rest of your post takes all the words right out of my mouth -- in more elegant form than I'd manage.
My issue with that assessment is that it raises the question as to what level of exposure does Jim there have than Anita does not. Is Anita solely in the consumer side, only able to express her frustration as a consumer and only involves herself in the consumption of the game. What Jim seems to do is diving deeper into the media releases that are ancilliary to the games, going beyond mere consumer, to glean a different depth of the problem. There are others who can provide production side criticism, as Jim is able to reference but unable to provide. It is wise to include the producers and the consumers in this debate.Jim undoubtedly has more industry access than Anita, and yes, excluding the consumer perspective would be a travesty. Still, taking a decently-large randomized sample of games is something perfectly within her crowd-funded means. I expect some rigor when I hear "analysis", because it's too easy to throw opposing anecdotes back and forth.
Also, I'm glad DJP brought up those sweeping generalizations that seem to pop out of her video every few minutes. Wonder if I should be expecting so much, though, since video is the ideal format for entertainment, not rational discussion.
Content-wise, I thought Moguta had the best actual critique of the video's substance in this thread. More discussion of those nuances he/she mentioned would be great, and I hope future videos include that kind of material. I suppose everyone could read tea leaves about what Anita is "actually" saying by looking at her presentation style, diction and tone, but I'm not sure that's actually valuable speculation. All anyone can really do is wait for the rest of her videos and other commentary she has about it. Either way, I don't know how fruitful it would be to look at only one person's thoughts and presentations when you all have your own thoughts to share. Feel free to disagree, but I think that rather than debating semantics and style of her video, a more interesting discussion would focus on what, if anything, is problematic about portrayals of women in gaming.Thanks, dude/dudette! ( And I'm a "he".
) Honestly, most of the video games I've grown up playing do a pretty stellar job of portraying women. Bethesda RPGs, my bread and butter, always let you choose the hero's gender, send you to the aid of men probably as often as women, and feature females in roles from powerful monarch to master thief to noble warrior. And Bioware adventures, my new favorite, seem just as open to the true variability of gender roles. I appreciate these kinds of progressive atmospheres, though what really draws me is the deep customizability and detail of the worlds.
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And yeah, the X-Wing/Tie Fighter games were way ahead of their time. I kept hoping for a "reboot" of them, or a remake.
I totally agree. Sad to see the end of a once legendary gaming company.
While it's not Star Wars, I'm definitely looking forward to http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/star-citizen/
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Whoa. Before Deus Ex even finished. Bet Eidos ain't real happy 'bout that.
This, ladies and gentlehearts, is a revolution in video game music arrnangamentation. If you thought that it would be hard to outdo the metal opera chops of FF2 Light and Darkness, well, evidently you were right because it took 150,000 to do so. But, nevertheless that barrier has been BROKEN! The introduction of spastic disco into the video game spectra will go down in history, mark my words.
Well, nerd history, anyway.
Tropes vs. Women / #GamerGate Conspiracies
in General Discussion
Posted
I started to nitpick this before my arguments led me to realize that this indeed tends to be the case. So QFT. After all, what does it say about the male hero in games where nothing progresses unless the hero continues his rescue? He is meaningless without his girl? He has no life without her?
Also, while I've been intently watching these arguments and analyzing Anita's videos, there really aren't many damsel-in-distress games I've played. And then I realized: I'm a big fan of games with immersively detailed plots, especially sandbox, branching, and choice-oriented RPGs.
I do have a bone to pick with Deus Ex Human Revolution, though. They dress your love interest up as a futuristic Victorian princess -- the hero's trophy girl -- while all the other scientists parade around in nothing fancier than a lab coat. And yes she works with plenty of other female researchers. I thought that was a bit over the top, and seeming like such an artificial construct of the video game genre made me not really care about Megan or her fate. Thankfully, the game possessed many more compelling mysteries than that.