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Denver, 8:45 PM
Sat Nov 28
18 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/18/09
Edit: Damn. Not again! Should have scrolled down first....
ummm....umm....
*does a jig ashley simpson style*
11/18/09
11/18/09
#speakup
11/18/09
Really, I'm excited to see what they're going to go with. Will it be like the Bowser of Objectivism, and they'll go with the extreme opposite, Kantianism? Or will it be like Ayn Rand's Wario, and they'll go with the twisted version of the individualist hero, Nietzscheism?
Regardless, I can't say that I liked everything about BioShock 1. I didn't mind the overall anti-moral-universalism tone, though obviously I disagree with it, but I can say that what went way beyond normal critique of an ideological system was the assertion that killing others to save yourself is tantamount to *SPOILERS, RUN, PLAY BIOSHOCK FIRST!!* capturing a nuclear weapon, presumably in order to satiate a power-crazed hunger by threatening the world with and potentially using said weapon. Ah well, the rest of the game was great.
11/19/09
Or perhaps it's a critique of the slippery slope of allowing act-utilitarianism to erode what society enshrine as categorical imperatives, much Bioshock did, except the imperatives are collectivist rather than individualist this time around.
I'm not an expert on Objectivism, but some of its tenets do seem deontological (read: Kantian); there are moral ways to act that are not made immoral if they are not act-utilitarian.
11/19/09
*Spoilers, run, run, run if you haven't played BioShock* Fontaine, I think, was an evaluation of altruism in the same way that Andrew Ryan was an analysis on self-interest. Obviously they could put a bigger focus on the former this time; I'm just pointing out that in a smaller way they have already touched on it.
I think a focus on collectivism would be great, but really, I think there are even better ways to go. Part of what made BioShock great was that it took the flip side of the overdone 1984/Brave New World/We the Living collectivist dystopia, and instead of protecting a regime's power by enforcing altruism, we got the total opposite, with an arguably non-power-mad leader who enforced the primacy ofself-interest instead of the primacy of good will toward others. To go an say "well, we're going to flip BioShock 1 on its head this time around!" isn't as great as it seems, because it was already the flipping around of a stale setting; now you're just going back to the original. They could, of course, have an Andrew Ryan type take charge this time, and have it be less of a critique of how leaders like Fontaine will always ruin utilitarian utopias, and more of a critique about if it would be worth it even if it came as advertised with a true believer like Ryan at the helm, instead of a Stalin.
As far as categorical imperatives go, I hope they don't take that approach; it's too much like saying "hey, look how neither collectivism nor individualism completely fall in line with conventional wisdom!" Using society's categorical imperatives as your premise is not conducive to a good critique of any system. Not only would it give collectivism the high ground, but it would be choosing and incorrect metric against which to measure a philosophy's worth.
Anyway, yeah, you're right about Objectivism in one respect. Act-utilitarianism, or utilitarianism in any form, is totally disregarded as being of any worth to the individual; it is not a consideration at all. However, it is not deontological insofar as it is virtue (intent) based. Practically, of course, it can be hard to tell what a person was thinking in his own mind, so, if it is absolutely necessary to make a judgment, you may have to take what you reason he expected the consequences of his action or inaction to be, based on what you know of the situation. Obviously, like I said, if it can be avoided it should be until you have the best knowledge possible. In personal terms, however, if your action causes someone's death but your intention was to protect your own life from a sincerely, though falsely, perceived immediate threat, then you are fine morally and at most should be restrained or killed simply because you're a danger in that you're paranoid or delusional, but for a normal person the contextual conditions may have been stacked against him, and thus it is not his fault and no action need be taken against him.
#speakup
11/19/09
I'm pretty confident in my prediction about the critique of collectivism - the developers and previewers have pretty much stated that it's the focus this time around, with both religious collectivist rationales and statist collectivist rationales being caricatured. What particular philosophical system the final boss adheres to is not yet clear.
#speakup
11/19/09
Indeed, I suppose I shouldn't really expect much difference in terms of evaluation style between the 2 games. Ah well, if they use "life" as the standard of value, even accidentally, from which morality is derived, then at least that much won't be flawed. Although really, it's just going to boil down to particular problems in any given integrated system from the universal problem (according to Levine, and, I assume, his game-designing progeny) of absolute certainty; you could play up that idea in a million different ways, which is what I expect they'll do, the impossibility of absolute knowledge being really the sole criticism of the first game, and widely applicable to any philosophy, even those that attempt to acknowledge it, like Kant's.
#speakup
11/19/09
#speakup
11/19/09
I don't know that it would hurt the mass appeal. The masses (not used derogatorily) will still like the action and gameplay, and the people who like the philosophical stuff will enjoy both. Assuming they go Levine's way, and take the position that all primary premises are ultimately arbitrary, most of your intellectual types who like the philosophical aspect won't mind, since they agree anyway, and most people who would mind won't care enough to be bothered by it, since they're in it for the action.
You're right though, I think. Lack of absolute knowledge is really just derivative of the assertion that any given irreducible primary must be arbitrary, but that is the whole point of Objectivism; it holds that there are non-arbitrary, necessary, and undeniable axioms, and that absolute knowledge is entirely possible, and in fact inescapable if reason is used and the correct premises are held.
Since other philosophies don't espouse the same belief, taking the same approach against Kant or Plato isn't really going to have the same drama, since they already try to address the "problem." It works so well against Objectivism because absolute certainty is its foundation, its core tenet.
#speakup
11/18/09
"Creatively liberty!" they cry... how creative is it doing something that has been overdone? Not to mention how dependence on cursing limits your usage of vocabulary.
"Shock value!" some claim... but these words have existed far longer than any living human... how can that really be shocking? Plus, shock value has been the excuse for at least the last 20 years...
I just don't get the appeal, I guess...
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
That movie was hilarious for exactly that reason.
Overuse of profanity is a crutch for bad writers who want to try and sound mature, because they know that mature things can contain swearing. Mature media contains swearing, therefore swearing is mature. Anyone who understands what a fallacy can work out what's going on there.
That's not to say overuse of profanity can't be used in good writing. . . it just generally has a point.
11/18/09
11/18/09
But damn ... yeah that script was bad! And it would have ruined Dead Space for me if I saw it first. :-o
Good example of overusing profanity: Just about anything Quentin Tarantino writes. XD
11/18/09
All of these are old hat what we as a language needs is a new swear word...
11/18/09
Ham Doctor.
11/18/09
I found out you guys are missing 'Tosser' from your vocab the other day.
So you could use that.
Actually I think English has a ton of swearwords that we just use.
'Sugar' is one my gran uses alot.
Mainly to stop herself saying shit in front of the kids, but, I quiet like it.
Frak would do well. Considering it is used already in several TV shows.
11/18/09
11/18/09
@#c16931661:Ham Doctor!
11/18/09
Thought you guys use 'Splenda'?
(which after trying to hunt this ad down amongst the various 'splenda is evil' videos it seems you guys might be okay with substituting shit with splenda)
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
Us marclars came to Marclar on the marclar, and we were wondering if these marclars could stay on Marclar with you marclars.
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
Ahem, excuse me for that. Interesting post, mate!
06/30/09
House of the Dead 4. The arcade game that came out a few years back. With House of the Dead 1 on the same disc, completing the collection for the Wii. I LOVE those games!
06/30/09
Not to mention the fact that "we" are quick to swear off consoles and developers, and quicker still to go back to them, if only to vindicate our initial scorn. "Ah-HA! I knew it was going to blow! Take my money and suck on it, Sega!"
06/30/09
Anyway, MadWorld is a black & white ultra-violent brawler! It would sell as much on any console, and would have cost at least 2 times more to be developed for HD consoles.
06/30/09
06/30/09
Unless someone leaks comprehensive NPD data, a quarterly or yearly report is published, or a company boasts about sales in a press blast then there is not much to talk about beyond "it is not in the top 10 and it sold less than [10th game of the month]."
06/30/09
Gamers like to think that the game world revolves around them but it doesn't. It doesn't revolve around the not the kid market, core gamer market, casual market, etc... It revolves around the people who walk into stores and don't sit on video game websites and just want to play something fun and cool, also known as the mainstream market.
MadWorld is a blast, but it appeals to a small segment of gamers. Even if it wasn't on the Wii it's a basic brawler that's dependent on people wanting to rack up high scores. Anyone expecting high sales was...high. I bought it it's release day and it's fun, but it doesn't have mass appeal.
06/30/09
06/30/09
combine the best of the two. a mature sonic game.
06/30/09
Sega already did that. He's called Shadow the Hedgehog.
06/30/09
Sonic can piss off, what we want is Shinobi, Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle, 2Spicy, Virtua Cop, Spikeout any SEGA arcade classic.
06/30/09
06/30/09
In the end, it's not an easy decision, but I'm glad they're not throwing in the towel just yet.
06/30/09
However most people blame the marketing on everything and most of the time they are right, but sometimes you have to think, Madworld is one of those niche games that most people will look at and maybe forget about the second later.
I do support Sega in trying these new IPs and I will support them in anyway I can. Although I have to say The Conduit was a meh experience for me. :/
06/30/09
06/30/09
I hear people buy things. True or false? Obviously, people want it. Sonic Rush was nice as were the day levels in Unleashed. Not my ideal Sonic game, mind you, but then I haven't truly loved a Sonic game since the second one on Genesis.
I will say there was a time when Sega's gaming focus wasn't aimed at "mature" titles beyond House of the Dead, which itself would be no more than a PG level game. Seems like the company is too focused on being a publisher of late -- admittedly, on some excellent games -- instead of developing its long neglected existing IPs. Yet, for all the clamoring for a new Streets of Rage and the like, what makes anything think the whining and groaning over each successful Sonic release wouldn't adapt itself to Sega's other franchises? Feels like the bulk of Sega's development studios are in disarray.
06/30/09
Now it seems as though they are more concerned with getting something out the door than they are on whether it's a realyl good game or not.
06/30/09
It still does seem that Sega's development studios are largely MIA. AM2 only has two games released this generation in VF5 and Ghost Squad. AM3 has Virtua Tennis 3 and Initial D. The only other non-Sonic console game developed in house is Valkyria Chronicles. Everything else is getting farmed out. Why? Where is everyone?
06/30/09
06/30/09
I tried Madworld. It was sub-par. It was short. It was bloody.
But I didn't buy it.
I'm not paying top bill for a 5 hour game.
Maybe if someone other than Sega made mature games for the Wii. I mean, if SK would get off their lazy butts and make Eternal Darkness 2 for the Wii... geeze, that would be amazing.
But lets just say that besides NMH, Sega hasn't had the best track record.
06/30/09
06/30/09
And I've been enjoying The Conduit non-stop for the past week.
06/30/09
@SaanZ: I think that's part of the problem, I saw NMH for $15 three months after it came out. Now don't get me wrong, I'm more inclined to a deal as the next guy, but at the rate the good games are relegated to the bargain bin, any increase in sales probably won't help make up what they lost when it was selling at full price. I just hope Sega and others stick to their guns, but I'm sure, most people anticipate the price drop anyway.
@Witzbold: As always, thanks for the knowledge!