Why?

Because they said they didn't like the pressure of having to think carefully about what they were going to write before they typed it and hit enter.

That's not what we want from Star commenters. That's what we want from all commenters. If you come here expecting a free-for-all of memes, trolling and insults, go somewhere else. There are plenty of places on the Internet that will welcome you with open arms.

On Kotaku we expect much more. Here commenting is a privilege, one we will yank away in a heartbeat for breaking our fairly easy to follow rules.

In a nutshell we want you to think before you type. We want you to behave and comment as if you were talking to a living being, face-to-face, not typing into the Internet Ether hidden behind layers of anonymity.

So in the spirit of holiday house-cleaning, it's time for a crash course in comments etiquette. What can you do? What should you definitely never do? What, in effect, do we want from you, our commenters?

Gawker Media blogs are known for their savvy commentary. Kotaku is, last I checked, the highest commented site in the group. We strive to let in a smart and plugged-in community, and we want comments that serve as first-rate contributions to the post at hand. We love new insight and inside information. We value informed response and welcome
spirited debate. Above all, comments should always further the discussion. "Lifehacker's Guide To Weblog Comments" is a great jumping-off point for the uninitiated.

We like to see good spelling and grammar, because we're nerdy like that. Capitalization and punctuation are important, too. These basic requirements go a long way towards making us all look better. Staying on-topic in a thread is essential — but now you can also take a topic to your own generated #hashtag page, then direct others there. Editors may sometimes caution that a thread has gone off-topic and should be moved to another forum.

Many readers have already discovered how to make their voices stand out via our #speakout page. Here you can share breaking news, leaked info, links of interest and timely video. Give us some substantive lines on why we should follow up, and your post may be promoted or featured on the blog. The #speakout page is also an excellent space to audition as a first-time commenter with a
juicy tidbit or to show off your investigative instincts. I may even start perusing that hashtag page for potential future writers. Strike that, I will be on the hunt their for good, original articles. Advertising and spammers will be summarily banned, but quality contributors have the spotlight.

In addition, there is now an informal commenter forum, #TAY, where the conversation is yours to guide. This is the place to add comments, liveblogs, pictures, video, and links that are relevant to your community. It's also easy to jump over here if you find yourself veering off-topic and want to take others with
you.

So: thumbs up to attention to detail, thoughtful typing and prodigious use of the 'Shift' key. Personal attacks, inappropriate behavior, off-topic rants in comments and idiotic memes are subject to bans and disemvowelling. Starred commenters should be aware that their privileges are not guaranteed, and should be careful in the comments they approve and promote. Commenters can be demoted for unruly or obscene posting. Baiting trolls helps no one, and we want the level of dialogue maintained to be high. But editors and moderators are equally on the lookout for our best contributors, too, to promote and star for brilliant efforts of the commenting kind, so let's see what you've
got.

A Guide to Proper Commenting

Cole used commenters' responses to his post, The Impact of Homophobia in Virtual Communities, to drive discussion among panelists Caryl Shaw (Senior Producer at EA's Maxis), Dan Hewitt (Senior Director of Communications & Industry Affairs for the Entertainment Software Association), Stephen Toulouse (Program Manager for Policy and Enforcement, Xbox Live), Cyn Skyberg (Vice President of Customer Relations at Linden Lab) and Flynn DeMarco (founder of GayGamer.net). Read on to see if you made the cut.

First up was McLuvin's comment about flaunting sexuality. Next was GameBuddy, continuing the discussion. Then came bLaZINcOdE3's comment about the "gay mafia" forcing companies to hold "token meetings." OrigamiNinja's comment about how harassment makes the game less fun made it in, as did Nnooo's about whether or not gamers can expect Mario to save a prince instead of a princess someday. User saulpimpson's comment steered talk toward developers refusing to make games based on gay or gay bashing content. Then DanoruX's tongue-in-cheek "this is so gay," statement got a discussion going on "innocent" slurs. Phydeaux's comment on "play to file" introduced the topic of abuse reporting in online communities. Lastly, ach77 made it in as part of a general statement that gay gamers just want to have fun like every other gamer – and to introduce the founder of gay-centric World of Warcraft guild, The Spreading Taint who happened to be in the audience.

Aside from being shamelessly proud of Kotaku commenters, I was interested to see how Kotaku alumnus DeMarco reacted to comments from his ex-audience. He did almost half the talking at the panel and demonstrated the most gaming expertise. Whenever an issue was raised, DeMarco could name at least two games in response whereas everyone else just fell back on their own games (like Shaw's Spore and Skyberg's Second Life) or defaulted to Halo.

The other big talker was Microsoft's Toulouse, but I think he was being targeted. At the beginning of the panel, Cole presented a video that outlined the issues facing gays and lesbians in online gaming. All of their in-game examples seemed to be from Xbox Live – most specifically, Halo multiplayer. To his credit, Toulouse responded to almost every issue raised by Kotaku comments and admitted that Xbox Live hasn't got it right quite yet – but they're committed to making their community a safe place to game for everybody.

The quietest panelist was Second Life's Skyberg. It takes all types to make a virtual world like Second Life and I know they've had issues that prompted developer Linden Lab to create an adults-only space. Skyberg did pipe up at one or two times to talk about anonymity making it easy for people to use gay slurs in online communities – and made an excellent point that as people invest in their online identities more, this anonymity goes away.

The only dull part of the panel was the Q&A. I'm not sure if it's because the two hour time limit was almost up and everybody wanted lunch, or because the audience was the choir being preached to – but nobody asked anything that hadn't been addressed. One lady asked if the "dehumanizing" aspect of violent games like Halo brought about gay bashing and DeMarco responded that the problem wasn't that the game that engendered homophobia, it was that the audience that the game tended to attract was immature and ignorant of gay issues.

In sum, this is what I took away from the panel: Don't hate the game, hate the player. Or better yet, don't hate anybody.

When the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) sent a report through Facebook's built in reporting system and then urged its Facebook and Twitter followers to do the same, the user was suspended, and the group abandoned and commandeered by pro-gay users in the matter of hours.

It seems that real people in those virtual communities, as well as the massive companies that run the platforms, don't like when people form groups that advocate killing people or targeting groups.

Now what happens when you take that model and you turn it to online gaming virtual communities?

To illustrate my point, take a look at this video previously highlighted on Kotaku and GayGamer to get a sense of the problem just in online gaming communities.

Halo 3: Homophobia Evolved (NSFW)

This isn't to say that all gamers feel and think this way. As we know, there's a great diversity in who plays computer and video games and how they think. But similar to other forms of mass medium entertainment-like music, books, and movies-the new frontier created by advances in technology, especially Internet technology, has increased ability to transmit our voices, images, and ideas. But it has also come with a greater capacity to harass, bully, and spread prejudices - often times with little-to-no repercussions.  

The problem is widespread in these communities, with kids and adults alike throwing around virtual threats and threatening real world violence and death.

In 2006, a survey under supervision by the University of Illinois provided the first glimpse of "the social and behavioral demographics of gay video game players" as well as "the role of sexual orientation on gaming habits." Here are some highlights:

52.7% of those surveyed said the gaming community is "Somewhat Hostile" to gay and lesbian gamers, 14% said "Very Hostile."
When asked what forms of homophobia people have seen in the gaming community, here are some of what the surveyed said:

87.7% - Players use the phrase, "That's so gay."
83.4% - Players use the words "gay" or "queer" as derogatory names.
52.3% - Stereotypical representations of gay characters in games.
42.5% - Refusal of game designers to include well-developed gay characters.
49.4% - Invisibility of gaymers and/or the gaymer community.
When asked how frequently players experience homophobia, those surveyed who responded "Always" or "Frequently" equaled 42%. Add in "Sometimes" and it brings up that total to 74.5%.
When asked how often those players respond to the homophobia they witness – 50.9% total responded "Never" or "Rarely."

Keep in mind, that's a survey from 3 years ago. According to the Entertainment Software Association's 2009 Essential Facts, last year 68% of American households played video or computer games.  It's an industry that continues to grow - from 2.6 billion dollars in sales in 1996 to 11.7 billion last year.  And don't think it's child's play – the average player age is 35.

The problem is only getting worse and needs to be addressed with comprehensive and sustainable solutions. That's why GLAAD has announced an initiative to do just that – The Project on Homophobia & Virtual Communities – which kicks off with a groundbreaking panel discussion to be held on the Electronic Arts campus on July 18, 2009.

The panel discussion will include an assessment of the problem in these communities, policy solutions that have been developed to address homophobia – some that are working and those that are not - as well as looking to the future at the challenges and opportunities to combating homophobia in various sectors of the industry.

Confirmed panelists include representatives from XBox LIVE, Electronic Arts, Inc., Linden Lab, the Entertainment Software Association, and GayGamer.net.

There is no doubt that this is a complicated endeavor. While most companies do have some sort of policy in place that prohibits threats, advocating violence or death, and hate speech, there are major concerns with the effectiveness of those policies. Those concerns including the policies themselves, which in some cases ban self-identifying your orientation or using words like "gay" or "lesbian" altogether. They also include the mechanisms in place to report violations of the policies, many which don't allow you to submit evidence (i.e. recordings of in game audio/video). Then there is the lack of transparency once a user has been reported, leaving the harassed often feeling as if nothing has been done.

GLAAD's project has an established set of goals to address these concerns. To get companies to provide safe spaces for LGBT people in these virtual communities (which includes virtual worlds, online games, social networks, message boards, etc). To work with each of the companies to ensure they have solid policies in place that prevent anti-LGBT defamation where possible and mechanisms to report the defamation when it does occur. And what will be the most challenging in my eyes - to educate the user base about the real impact of their virtual homophobia.

However, what this comes down to is that this really is a company-by-company and a case-by-case project. For example, when a potentially anti-gay situation with the Old Republic message board arose, I reached out to Bioware about the situation and ended up getting a call back from a VP at Electronic Arts (EA), Bioware's parent company. After making sure the situation was corrected, he issued a statement through GLAAD, which we shared on our blog, and put me in touch with EA staff to continue conversations about the overall issue of homophobia in virtual communities.

Through ongoing conversations with EA, they have offered to host our upcoming panel on their private campus in Redwood City, CA, and have provided a panelist - a senior producer from the Maxis Studio. While I'm out in California I'll also be meeting with EA staff to discuss the issue of homophobia, their policies and begin working on a comprehensive plan to address it.

Microsoft has also had recent and ongoing dust-ups regarding their XBox LIVE policies being "anti-gay." After opening up a dialogue with them about the problems, they invited GLAAD out to their campus in Washington State for two days of meetings with XBox LIVE managers to review their systems, protocols and policies and provide recommendation on way to address the problem. We now have quarterly conference calls to continue working towards solutions.

These companies aren't monoliths and are very much committed to providing a safe and fun environment for all their players - they're just not all there yet.

We all know it's not going to happen overnight and it's not going to be easy. We have an uphill battle of policy issues, system improvements and campaigns to educate users on the real dangers of homophobia. In my job as GLAAD Director of Digital Media, I've also seen the real impact unchecked homophobia has on people's lives and how it leads to a climate of intolerance, to bullying and harassment, and can ultimately lead to violence and death, especially among children.

While the average player age may be 35, 25% of all game players are under 18. These are impressionable kids who are witnessing and then participating in anti-gay slurs, normalizing homophobia for them. They then take that behavior from their virtual worlds into their real world.

According to a 2007 report by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, "86.2% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 44.1% reported being physically harassed and 22.1% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation."

In February of 2008, a 14-year-old took out a gun during class and killed a 15-year-old classmate because of the student's sexual orientation and gender identity. This past April, an 11-year-old boy in Massachusetts who didn't identify as gay hanged himself because of anti-gay bullying, as did another 11-year-old boy in Georgia. These are but a few examples.

Some may argue that these examples don't directly support the argument that unchecked homophobia in virtual communities leads to real world violence amongst kids. However, we can all agree that children learn what's appropriate and acceptable and how to treat others from their friends, families and from their communities. And that includes their virtual communities.

This is a problem we cannot leave unchecked.

For those who say this is bigger than just being about homophobia – that there are also issues like racism and sexism to be addressed - you are right. But keep in mind; while the work being done here is focused around fighting homophobia its implications will affect many other groups. If we work to help implement better reporting mechanisms, it helps everyone. If we work to provide better policies and safe spaces for LGBT people, those policies and spaces can be replicated for other groups as well.

If we are moving in a direction where so much of our communications and interactions occur in virtual communities, then maybe its about time we start considering how we can make the spaces civilized and safe, inviting millions more into the communities, and paving the way for the expansion of this technology into other areas of our real world.

We have an opportunity to learn from the lessons of our real-life society, to not repeat the same mistakes in our virtual ones.

We at GLAAD hope you'll join us in this effort.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Justin J. Cole is GLAAD's Director of Digital Media

Whether today is your first day reading the site or you've been reading it since the day I stepped foot in Kotaku tower, you don't have the right to troll, to name call, to get off topic or, the worst offense, to bore.

We take commenting very seriously on Kotaku because we believe strongly that what we write is only half the story, the other half, often the more important half, is how you react and the discussion that ensues.

That is why we ban, without warning, people whose comments are pointless like: "First" or "Not news" or "Slow news day."

It's not because we think you're being petty or insulting (both are true), but because of the larger offense, you're off topic. When you comment on Kotaku we expect you to be commenting about the story at hand. Agree, disagree, we don't really care, just do so intelligently and civilly.

And when the topic is something sensitive or heated don't use that as an excuse to incite or stop thinking. I would rather ban the entire community than steer away from topics that may make someone angry. Believe me.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, here's a quick break down of how to comment, with thanks from Lifehacker:

Move the discussion forward: It's fine if you want to agree with what is already being said, but you don't really need to. You won't get banned for it, but if you're hoping to become a star commenter, try to contribute new information to the discussion.

You don't have to comment: Again, it's not necessary. Feel free to, but don't feel obligated to.

Keep private private: If you want to say something to someone on a personal level, or what to discuss something off topic try using our private messaging function. You can access it by clicking on a person's name.

Think before you type: Remember that's quite a soap box you're standing on when you prepare to comment. We have millions of readers, many of which will read what you have to say. That's fantastic, but make sure you make it worth their time. Stop and reread what you're going to say before you click on comment. Maybe give yourself a bit of time to cool down before responding.

Be courteous: No one respects a loud mouth or a name caller. No matter how right you are, if you deliver your intelligent discourse punctuated with name calling and four-letter words no one is going to take you seriously.

Don't tease the trolls: They exist, we will try to stay on top of the issue and ban them when we find them, but don't make the problem worse by responding or even acknowledging their existence, that just empowers them.

Heed the Disemvowel: I take banning people very seriously. I know how important comment access is and I hate to remove it, but sometimes it's necessary for the health of the commenting community. When someone has stepped over the line or maybe uncharacteristically broken a commenting rule we disemvowel them. But remember, that's a warning shot, the second time is a ban.

Promote Smart Comments: Every week we post a round-up of the most intelligent comments on the site. We also are always on the look out for people who should be promoted to Star Commenters. That's a worthy goal to reach for.

Believe it or not, we don't like banning people. And we certainly don't ban people because they disagree with us. What fun would that be. I love to hear intelligent discussions about how wrong I am. But break the rules, get off topic, start calling names, and you're going to get banned.

Now have fun.

Some reading on topic:
Geek to Live: Lifehacker's guide to weblog comments
A Call to Ban

We ban. A lot. Every second of everyday. And that's not all! We disemvowel, too. (Bcs n vwls s fnny!)

We also reward stellar commenters with stars, and commenters can reward each other with Hyper Multi-Tap nominations. Swell.

Why do we do this? Well... Have you visited other sites? Not everyone who reads Kotaku comments, and some of those individuals perhaps, just perhaps, would like to read intelligent, insightful remarks from smart people, not dribble from dummies!

Here's a helpful guideline for commenting from sister site Lifehacker. Read it, learn it, live it, love it.

While it's always nice to see your website featured in an advertisement, I couldn't for the life of me figure out who we had writing for us that called themselves Axel. Then it dawned on me...this was a quote taken out of our comments section. Congratulations Axel! You have now embarked on a shining new career in product endorsement. People really do win when they comment on Kotaku!

Don't forget we're running two commenting contests of sorts right now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King Kontest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the might Ban Hammer. Check it out here for all of the rules and such. And remember today is your second to last day to try and raise your army.

If you're not into work, and who is, then check out our Shopping Bot contest. You just need to hit up the original contest thread and post a comment with the word ENTRY in it, an actual link to your favorite Kotaku story and a brief explanation of why it's your favorite story. Think of it as a chance to reminisce. Just remember to include the link, a lot of people seem to be forgetting to do that, and that you can only enter once a day here. You have until the end of the month to enter, but don't forget to do so daily.

Don't forget we're running two commenting contests of sorts right now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King Kontest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the might Ban Hammer. Check it out here for all of the rules and such.

If you're not into work, and who is, then check out our Shopping Bot contest. You just need to hit up the original contest thread and post a comment with the word ENTRY in it, an actual link to your favorite Kotaku story and a brief explanation of why it's your favorite story. Think of it as a chance to reminisce. Just remember to include the link, a lot of people seem to be forgetting to do that, and that you can only enter once a day here.

Don't forget we're running two commenting contests of sorts right now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King Kontest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the might Ban Hammer. Check it out here for all of the rules and such.

If you're not into work, and who is, then check out our Shopping Bot contest. You just need to hit up the original contest thread and post a comment with the word ENTRY in it, an actual link to your favorite Kotaku story and a brief explanation of why it's your favorite story. Think of it as a chance to reminisce. Just remember to include the link, a lot of people seem to be forgetting to do that, and that you can only enter once a day here.

Don't forget we're running two commenting contests of sorts right now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King Kontest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the might Ban Hammer. Check it out here for all of the rules and such.

If you're not into work, and who is, then check out our Shopping Bot contest. You just need to hit up the original contest thread and post a comment with the word ENTRY in it, an actual link to your favorite Kotaku story and a brief explanation of why it's your favorite story. Think of it as a chance to reminisce. Just remember to include the link, a lot of people seem to be forgetting to do that, and that you can only enter once a day here.

Don't forget we're running two commenting contests of sorts right now. If you're into control and want to get paid to sort of work for Kotaku, then make sure to check out our Komment King Kontest, where we are desperately searching for the new Commenting Czar for Kotaku. A Kotaku Tower position which will pay $200 a month and grant one lucky reader access to the might Ban Hammer. Check it out here for all of the rules and such.

If you're not into work, and who is, then check out our Shopping Bot contest. You just need to hit up the original contest thread and post a comment with the word ENTRY in it, an actual link to your favorite Kotaku story and a brief explanation of why it's your favorite story. Think of it as a chance to reminisce. Just remember to include the link, a lot of people seem to be forgetting to do that, and that you can only enter once a day here.

The thing is, getting in isn't the trick, staying in is.

To get commenting access you just need to make a comment that, as I like to put it, "adds to the conversation." In other words, not:

This is not news.
Not News
How is this news.
Why are you writing this, it isn't news.
Que news?

After making your witty or smart comment, leave the username and password blank and click on submit and it will jump you to a tiny registration page where you can create your account.

Once you're done, the comment is shipped off to a real live person who is forced to read each and every one of these posts and decide if you should stay or should go.

If you get in you just need to remain a thoughtful and interesting poster. As soon as you dip into tool territory, I or Ash will make sure to boot you from our enclave and the whole thing starts over. Brian Crecente

If you're not already gifted with the divine right to post comments on Kotaku, just type up your comment in the box at the bottom anyway and then click submit. That should then bring up a little page that lets you choose a username and such.

Once you submit your hopeful comment, it will be shunted away to GawkerHQ where castigated squirrels endowed with super-human intelligence, but lacking the ability to feed or dress themselves, will sort through your missives in an attempt to find something worthy of post-itude.

If deemed worthwhile, and be warned these are some surly squirrels, the post will go live and with it your leap into full commenting privilege.

With this greater chance of getting into the kingdom of Kotaku comes a much greater likelihood of getting booted right back out. Commenting privileges are not something to be taken for granted. If you start filling posts with idiotic ramblings, spam, trolling or things that don't add anything to the story or conversation, expect to have your login ripped from your clawing hands with zero notice.

The good news is that no banning is permanent, you can always take your chances with those squirrels again. Brian Crecente

"OK, for everyone saying the crack is no big deal:

a) If the crack next to the R button on my DS fully opens it will mean the right side of the screen can come away from the DS.

b) It makes the Lite look like shit. The crack on the hinge is very visible when it's closed. Half the appeal of the Lite over the Phat is the prettier design.

c) Why should a device that I have not abused in any way be showing cracks already? I wouldn't mind if it was at least a year old or more but it's 3 weeks old! I mean my Jap launch PSP doesn't have any cracks, my GBA SP doesn't have any cracks. Hell my classic GameBoy doesn't have any cracks.

Don't mistake me for a PSP fanboy out for some revenge, I've got a PSP too but I hardly play it, the library for it is shit. The DS goes with me virtually everywhere, which is why I'm so annoyed it looks like it will need to be returned for a replacement.

When Apple got all that bad publicity for scratched iPod nanos, what did they do? They toughened the plastic. What have Nintendo done? They've charged people for new casings and carried on selling the defective design..."

by PhotoBoy

Sony Delays PS3 Until 2007 For PAL Countries

"What I don't understand is why all the Sony bashing. I mean haven't they done quite a bit to make gaming more mainstream. If you look at the comparison of shipped/sales between 16-bit/fourth generation and the fifth generation, you will notice Sony had a huge impact on the industry. Now, there will be arguments that a cerain amount were replacements but I believe probably less 2% were that, so about 2.2 million. Or, some other counterpoint, but, think what they have done as well as what they are doing.

Doesn't this seem like what happened with Windows? 3.01, cool. 95, sweet. 98SE, ehh. ME, WTF?! I am switching to Linux. XP, meh. Just a comparison thing to show how people turn against a brand.

So, all companies follow a cycle. I think it will probably be Nintendo's turn again. I wonder how people reacted to the N64, I think it might have been the same way as they are with the PS3 now. Considering they had ruled for 2 generations and released a terrible product."

by boobert

PS3s at Launch: North America, 400k. Japan, 100k.

"My take:

Two things

1) Sony are asshats, yes, and the 'launch' is going to suck, but within 2 years they'll have the installed base regardless of launch or price. People will buy it and it'll sell out again and again.

but more importantly

2) Feel bad for the game devs..and I mean REAL bad for them especially for the launch titles companies like Insomniac with Resistance: Fall of Man.

They are burning the midnight oil and crunching like MAD to get the game out. I bet their burn rate for the costs are crazy right now.... and the BEST case scenario they could have would be to sell a game with every system launched...500k? That probably wouldn't even cover the dev costs for a month

Bad times.."

by JohnnyLA

WoW Memorial Service Forming for Crocodile Hunter

"And tomorrow, the Youtube video of a raiding party 'pwning' them all set to really shitty music."

by futurebiblehero

Wii Chip Shipments Started About 3 Weeks Ago

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay(aaaawn...)"

by Raynre Valence

The Death of Cinematics

"Some commentators here are calling for the ritualistic destruction of cut scenery and others stress moderation or argue that the degree to which cut scenes ought to be used depends on the nature of a given game. While I don't expect nor want cut scenes to vanish altogether, there is one underlying thread in nearly all our comments on this topic.

Cut scenes (in and of themselves) are not evil. The real dilemma is the prevailing way in which they are currently implemented. Video game business has had this rampant attitude for a while now that more cut scenes are always good, regardless of the product. Too many games have too many cut scenes too frequently. It is an unsightly industry-wide glut of one game aspect that otherwise works magically when employed in the right game, time, and manner. Root causes for the endemic misuse of cut scenes are numerous and debatable, ranging from publishers wanting to justify development expense to an ill-advised effort toward achieving cultural recognition on par with film by incorporating traits from said medium. Since cut scenes have been so abused over some years, many gamers hate them outright at this point...and that's understandable.

Everyone needs to reevaluate the role, efficiency, and effectiveness of cut scenes. I don't believe it's a matter of restraint or exclusion; what we have is an art form full of content creators who don't know what they're doing with a certain narrative device. Medal Gear Solid was naturally conducive to cut scenes with its intrigue and geopolitical themes. The way Half-Life 2 integrated story advancement into gameplay was more than appropriate because it is a game that builds itself upon hooking you into total immersion and not breaking that engagement throughout the entire ride, kicking your ass along the way.

In short, cut scenes must be considered in terms of how as opposed to 'how much' or 'how little.'"

by Ivan M.

Interested in commenting? We're still snobby, but less elite. Or rather, we're still elite, but less snobby. Whichever. Click here and find out how to make your voice heard.