From PR Fail to PR Win: BioShock Infinite’s Cover Art

BioShock Infinite is a great game. So great, in fact, that I’m unwilling to rush through it for review. Instead, I want to talk about the controversy that erupted last year when its cover art was revealed. My review will be posted this time next week.

BioShock Infinite’s cover art went down badly with gamers. Infinite is a game of considerable thematic depth, and it’s difficult to explain succinctly what it’s about. You certainly can’t accurately capture the essence of the game with any single image. Bless 2K, though, because that’s what they tried to do. This is what my copy of BioShock Infinite looked like when it arrived in the post:

Metaphors We Game By - Part II

If you haven't already, be sure to read part one of this article first. It sets up the concepts I refer to here in part two.

Lets go back to ‘systematicity’, and the entailments of the GAMES ARE COMPETITION metaphor. These are, I’ve claimed:

GAMES CAN BE WON OR LOST

GAMES ARE ENTERTAINMENT

GAMES HAVE RULES

I would argue that how closely a game adheres to these entailments influences its reception within the video game community. For example, Mortal Kombat (2011) was criticised because its final boss, Shao Khan, suffers from ‘SNK Boss Syndrome’. This is when an enemy character is difficult to beat because they are able to do things (such as unblockable attacks) that other characters are not. Shao Khan is therefore difficult because he breaks the rules of the game, and players reacted poorly because this deviated from the entailments of GAMES ARE COMPETITION, which is key to their concept of what a game is. Compare this with a game such as Ninja Gaiden. Universally seen as extremely difficult, Ninja Gaiden is nevertheless warmly received because its challenge is fair. Gamers don’t mind the game’s difficulty because it sticks to its own rules, and is therefore in line with the metaphor.

PS3 Review: Tomb Raider

I’m not proud of this, but I’ll be honest and say that I wanted to dislike Tomb Raider. I’ve never been a fan of the franchise in the past, and the knuckle-headed pre-release PR, coupled with my general dislike for reboots meant that I was positively looking forward to this game being mauled by the press. Imagine my annoyance, then, when I found myself enjoying Lara’s origin story more than any other game so far this year.

Metaphors We Game By - Part I

This will be a two-part article. In part one, I’ll introduce the concept of metaphor as it’s understood in cognitive linguistics. The second part will consist of a more critical look at the metaphors below, including a discussion of how the concepts they entail inform debates that are currently raging in the world of video game criticism. You may need to read this a couple of times to fully get the concept - I certainly did!

One of my all time favourite books on linguistics is “Metaphors We Live By”, in which Professors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson examine the links between metaphors, language and thought. This article on metaphor in gaming follows the template set out in the first three chapters of their book.

PS3 Review: God of War: Ascension

God of War: Ascension has everything going for it. It builds on an established character and mythology, and its beautiful graphics and lavish orchestral soundtrack demonstrate sky-high production values. In spite of this, however, a combination of missteps in design and problems carried over from previous games means that, although Ascension is fun to play, it’s rather difficult to get excited about.

In Defence of Derivative Games

 

If you stick with this blog, as I post more frequently you’ll begin to see that I respect straight-talking, honest people in the video games industry. Well, Zynga’s Dan Porter was at least being honest, if not especially admirable, when he reportedly said, “Zynga is often accused of copying games, which is mostly true”. Not surprisingly, this bone-headed statement generated controversy, and this in turn got me thinking about the issue of derivative game design. With its connotations of a lazy, cynical creative process, no criticism is more damning than calling a game derivative. But is a derivative game always a bad one?

PS3 Review: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Metal Gear Solid 4 

PlatinumGames was an inspired choice of developer to help Konami save Metal Gear Rising from development hell. Creators of some of this generation's most revered action games, the studio seemed an obvious fit for a hack and slash spin-off staring the cyborg ninja, Raiden. But what have they brought to the Metal Gear series besides a painful subtitle? Read on to find out.