Hey there, people. I've been experiencing writers block lately, which means it's time for a random babble of a post.
I put four hours into the Stanley Parable, which I devoured like a great novel. That game is so great. I think I've about exhausted the narrative. And I really wish there was more. I worry about redundancy and over-marketing, but I would happily play a sequel to the Stanley Parable, and happily play through the games themes and methods again and again until they become tired.
I also want to mention that the Stanley Parable does a lot in terms of video games as art. Thinking of Roger Ebert's famous dissing of video games as being devoid of artistic intent, the Stanley Parable plays with choice, and futility in a very special way. Even though the Stanley Parable is like a choose your own adventure book, the fact that it is a video game, and not a book, goes a long way for my sense of immersion. I love the way a good book immerses me, but the illusion of choice present in a video game is used very well in the Stanley Parable. I really think it qualifies as a work of art, and as a unique one.
On a different note, I've been volunteering a local thrift store lately. Also at the bicycle repair co-op and the food co-op. Good times. I really like the thrift store - I'm in the book room. I love books! I love going through them, it's easy! There is a TON of turnover in the book department, and we have to give away boxes full of books every day (and we receive at least as many every day). It can be heart-wrenching getting rid of some of them, and I do my best to save the ones I think really deserve to stick around. I think that I can do a lot of good there.
The books that we see the most of are Self-Help/Health Books, biographies and thrillers. These books tend to be in great condition, as though they were only read once, or even never read at all. Often times they are heavy slabs of pages and take up lots of space on the shelf. I guess that the biographies are often bought as gifts, and generally bulky books are inconvenient to read and to store.
Umm, in further stuff, I've started watching a show called 'Lost Girl.' This Canadian show seems like a resident of the house that Buffy built. A Faerie underworld full of people who feed on humans and have special powers. The lead character is a succubus who feeds on sexual energy, leading to a healthy dose of fun sexy times. But like any good show, what makes it good is the characters. My favorites are Kenzi, Hale and Trick. And the Morrigan.
Oh, also, today we got rain in Northern California. First time in, idunno, sixty days? This summer we had seven days in a row over 105 degrees, and in December we had seven days in a row below 32. These were both records for this area.
And that's all the news fit to print.
-D
Wow.
The Stanley Parable is full of moments that make me say: 'This is the greatest game I have ever played.'
On the other hand, I've also had many moments where I've thought: 'Maybe this game isn't all its cracked up to be.' Fortunately, shortly after thinking that, I am usually rewarded with something clever and delightful.
The best quote I ever heard about the Stanley Parable was "I'd describe the Stanley Parable to you, but that would be spoiling it." This is true. Please feel free read on, acknowledging that every detail may spoil the game a little bit for you. Perhaps you should play it first.
I do think there is enough interesting content in the Stanley Parable that it would be tough to spoil completely. However, I've enjoyed playing so much that I would like to preserve the newness of experience for others. Please come back after you have played the game.
The Original Stanley Parable
Here's a link to download the original Stanley Parable. Turns out the version I've been playing is a 2013 update to the game. I'll draw comparisons after playing through this one. In the meantime, perhaps you'd like to play this, completely free to download version of the game?
Moving on, have you played it yet? You really shouldn't be reading this if you haven't.
The Stanley Parable is easily the most 'meta' game I have ever played. The narration is fantastic, isn't it? You know, because you've played the game before, like I asked you to.
I love the way the narrator messes with the player, but even more, I love the way that sometimes I can mess with the narrator through the choices I make. It's pretty great. Love the broom closet!
Some obvious (to me) comparisons are Groundhog day for repetition, Portal for oppositional narrator and underbelly of gaming, Bastion for smart narrator and Thomas was Alone for British Narrator and inclusion of the name of the main character in the title. I'm sure there are more comparisons I should make, but I just haven't got the time right now. Onto the next paragraph.
I have found two approaches to playing this game so far, first: to save at every choice, and to avoid restarting the game. second: to restart the game frequently or to play through after any of the auto-restarts.
Essentially, the Stanley Parable is a choose your own adventure book, as a video game. The design, writing, performance use of sound and visuals are all top knotch. Fantastic game, Bravo!
-D
If you're like me, then you may be perpetually out-of-touch with what's going on right now in gaming. I recently went to a game stop, and I kept repeating 'Another God of War?' 'Another Bioshock?' 'didn't these games just come out?' And if you're like me, you probably don't really mind being out of touch.
Yet another similarity you may have to me is that you may enjoy listening to podcasts, perhaps while in the kitchen, cooking or washing dishes. I have a few podcasts that I cycle through; I've always got something to listen to. However, sometimes I get bored of the same old subjects, and I go out to find something new. My latest search was for indie game podcasts.
To my disappointment, the first few podcasts I found had not been updated in months or even years. This seemed odd, given that I think indie games are becoming a bigger part of the entertainment discussion, not smaller. But, then again, as I mentioned, I am perpetually out-of-touch. I decided to give one a go, and I settled on the BBC-sponsored: 99 coins podcast (not updated since July, 2012).
I started with the latest episode, titled 'anyone can make a game.' This is just the kind of sentiment I was looking for. What I found was a rambling discussion of game-making tools and what an 'indie game' really is. Nice overall tone, a little hard to catch the details sometimes. However, the writings and programs they reference in the episode are included in the links.
The second episode I listened to was 'favourite indie games of 2011.' I found that this was just my speed. If being out-of-touch can be quantified, then I guess I'm about a year and half behind the indie gaming scene. They list of several interesting titles, and even a couple I know of: Minecraft, SpaceChem, Sword and Sworcery EP along with many other interesting titles.
One game referenced is johan sebastian joust. A game I may never play, but does look like fun.
http://www.jsjoust.com/
Another is the Stanley Parable, a game I almost played once. I'm going to give this another try. -D
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable
-D
