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Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
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anabbeynormality
06/17/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
Comedy in games is a whole different animal from comedy in movies. I don't really see games as a venue for "jokes" but rather for more subtle humor through characterization, environment and self-aware absurdity.
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greyseal
06/17/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
The other thing omitted is that in-game characters just aren't as emotive as their real-life counterparts, and physical humor just fails.

I know it's heresy to say so around Kotaku, but the Wii version of Ghostbusters handles the comedy better. Lines that fell flat on the XBox version play better on the Wii, because the animators were freed by the cartoon aesthetic to add more exaggerated gestures and facial expressions.

Loving both versions, but after playing both, most of the complaints about "bad voice acting" actually have more to do with the wooden animation of the next-gen versions.
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Doomstalk
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
He needs to play some classic adventure games. A lot of those had enough humor to fill several movies.
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QualityJeverage
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
I was going to make a comment about Tim Schafer, but then you already did in the article...Oh well.
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fdisk
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
This is why Monkey Island is genius, I find myself replaying those games over and over and it has nothing to do with the gameplay or graphics. The genius of Monkey Island is that the gameplay is so simple, the difficulty so constant from the first puzzle to the last, and the writing so memorable that it feels more like an interactive movie than a game.

I'm talking about parts 1-3 of course.
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Kobun
06/16/09

@fdisk: Escape from Monkey Island is just as wonderful. :/
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Archaotic
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
From what I've seen so far of Ghostbusters, it's pretty amusing so far. Not as funny as the movies, but that's mainly just because timing is key, and timing is harder to get right in a video game. Can't wait to play more and see if it keeps it up.
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Archaotic
06/16/09

@Archaotic: And yes, I'm aware I said "so far" twice in the first sentence. I'm tired. Sorry. We need an edit button.
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Curse lily
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
I don't know what this guy is talking about "Free Radical" made a pretty damn funny game called "Haze" so don't tell me that is impossible to do comedy in a game.
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Glaiel-Gamer
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
funny game:

[www.newgrounds.com]

you need a different style of humor when doing games as opposed to movies
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Ad-hominem
06/16/09

@Glaiel-Gamer: Isn't that just a series of flash animations?

You know, with no real game?
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Ad-hominem
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
Yeah, I have to agree with him here.

You look at Tim Schafer, and how does he keep the games funny? By making the humor streamlined, and in cutscenes. You have no control over it. The jokes in his games are effectively the same as watching a movie.

And that's why you can go back to them over and over to watch.
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Kobun
06/16/09

@Ad-hominem: Depends on what kind of humor you're shooting for as well, but that's largely true. I really enjoyed Prince of Persia in large part for its excellent and often humorous dialogue, but those were limited to asides. The old LucasArts adventure games were reknown for their humor, but those are generally done via quotable dialogue and a smidgen of sight gags. Humor as an extension of gameplay is rare and harder to do with games such as ToeJam & Earl, Ape Escape 2001, and Sexy Parodius few and far between, and typically those are limited to just visual gags which wear out over time.

The interesting thing is Ghostbusters isn't just a comedy. It has a number of funny moments and doesn't take itself seriously, but it think it's more the unique take on what otherwise could be considered a mythological/science fiction hybrid tale which makes the movie special. It stands out among the numerous buddy, fish out of water, and other comedy archetypes. It's why people clamor for a Ghostbusters game and not Stripes or Naked Gun.
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bobtheduck in Korea
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
Interesting. It does seem game players get bored more quickly than movie goers, but that doesn't mean it's too hard to make funny games... It's just that people think of the experience of the game as a whole more than they do with movies, where it can be one thing bringing them back. That can happen in games too, mind, it's just less common.

Maybe
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Paradox me
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
I didn't actually find Ghostbusters to be that funny of a movie. Not to confuse that with how good it is, because it's an excellent movie. It had it's moments though.

I could definitely go for some more comedic games, and not comedic in how terrible it is, genuinely funny.
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wheelis
06/16/09

In reply to Harold Ramis On Why It's Hard To Make Funny Video Games
I remember when Fallout was funny....
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Koztah
06/16/09

@wheelis:

Fallout 1 and 2 were deliciously humorous in all the right places.
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