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[TNT] Sonic Goo

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Posts posted by [TNT] Sonic Goo

  1. I'm sure you've all heard of Assassin's Creed. It's had quite a lot of hype. They are now getting even more attention, since people have found out that the game's producer is female and pretty good looking. The response went sort of like this. Sometimes the headlines can be deceiving, as witnessed by this quote from one of the sources:

     

    I'm trying a little bit of an experiment here. It's called the "reference Jade Raymond's body parts in the headline and see what happens" experiment. It's my theory that Assassin's Creed, once an important game that had many people intrigued, has become next to meaningless now that a female is publicly involved and it has been demoted to "the game that Jade Raymond does something on. Oh my God, she has boobs."

     

    For reference, Assassin's Creed has now gone gold and is set for a November 13th release, but it's not like that actually matters, because Jade Raymond happens to have breasts. Oh, and an arse too. Let us not forget the arse. They could have changed the game to one about Keenan & Kel going back in time to stop the Statue of Liberty being built so Keenan doesn't get spiked on her tiara in the year 2010, but nobody would notice anymore.

     

    By the way, if you clicked on this post from an outside source thanks to the headline, congratulations! You have proven how easily manipulated the general public is and have become valuable data in one of my many cruel and unfair social experiments. Also, many congratulations to Jade Raymond and Ubisoft, who know damn well how to get attention for a game, even if it's not the game itself we're all looking at. I mean that sincerely, too.

     

    This has been a lesson in business, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you were paying attention.

     

    But would ironically using a certain tone, only achieve the same results, not be the same as unironically (cynically) using it? The result, at least, has become what he tried to comment on, rather than a comment itself.

     

     

    Working in the gaming industry, I know there are a lot of people who play games that are not 14 year old boys. However, they do set the tone of voice for the whole scene. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Openmindedness and enthousiasm are obviously better than rigidity and cynicism. However, the downside we can see here.

     

    From a comment at mefi:

    ...you make a game that appeals to the reptilian brain, the hunter-killer part of the male psyche, and then you are surprised that those same people are also driven by their libido to look at her chest? It's the same part of the brain.

     

    There seems to be a feedback mechanism going on here. Teenage boys buy games. Teenage boys set the tone of voice of the scene. This attracts more teenage boys and turns off non-teenage boys. So companies make more games for teenage boys because they buy games. Etc.

     

    There are some developments that counter this trend, both in consoles (the family friendly Wii) and pc gaming (the more sophisticated storytelling in games like Half-Life 2 and Bioshock). However, excluding the Wii, many games still feature the run-shoot-kill idea at the heart of their games. In a more general manner even, if you include management, strategy and puzzle games, they are games. Things you play to win. And that's in itself not a mature, sophisticated kind of thing.

     

    Another problem I think is that when people think 'mature' they think about ratings and that adding more sex and extreme violence (normal violence is ok, of course) makes something more mature.

     

    What art and literature have that games do not, is what makes games games; the part where you win. Making games less like games and making them a deeper, more touching experience would mean making it less of a game and more of an experience. Rather than a game with some nice moments thrown in, which is the stage we are now.

     

    Games do the rags to riches part of Citizen Kane pretty well. What they need to learn is the Rosebud part. Then the industry will truly be mature.

     

     

  2. How does voice acting work? How do you come up with a voice? Do you listen to examples and try to imitate them? Do you record youself and listen back? Is there someone who directs you? How do you direct a voice actor? Where can you learn voice acting? Any tips for amateurs making mods? Also, regular actors are often allowed (even encouraged) to improvise. Is this the same for voice actors and can he give some examples of stuff he came up with?

  3. I've noticed people are making videos of the game and I haven't seen them all, but most seem to be of simple gameplay. This got me thinking, maybe someone should make a video to promote NOLF to get some more players? Something like One Day in NOLF, but shorter, less sophisticated. Or maybe just some of the funny bits that make the game unique, set to a funny song?

     

    I don't know much about editing video myself, so just throwing this out there for those who do. :D

  4. To elaborate a bit, many people seem to think that 'world music' should stay traditional, like something that needs to be preserved. Of course, there is room for some of that. But it also makes it a dead language. I think you should move it forward. M.I.A. is a good example, merging traditional imageray with grafitti aesthetics in her art and hip hop with traditional bollywood sounds. Elsewhere, a lot of interesting things are happening as well, from the

    of Gogol Bordello, to the
    of Manu Chao. Maybe
    from
    ? Or maybe even
    ? There's interesting stuff everywhere, you just need to get out there and find it rather than letting the marketing machine feed you...
  5. Being very, very old, I've seen quite a few movies dubbed well, dubbed badly, subbed well and subbed badly (one even with the use of a lichtkrant - no idea what the English word is for that). And, with that, I still think the way the Dutch do it is best; dubbing for the little kids who can't read yet and subbing for everyone else.

     

    To summarise:

    Arguments for subtitles:

    - keeps the original voices, as they were meant by the creators

    - not adapted to cultural sensitivities of audiences (Japanese kids with American attitudes)

    - voices are timed perfectly with facial movements (unlike with dubbing)

    - no two actors with same voice

    - helps language skills

     

    Arguments for dubbing:

    - you don't have to read

     

    But then why do I still find so many dubbed movies?

  6. METAL: the price of tulips depends on what kind you buy and where. You can find some prices here.

     

    KNIX: I can't seem to find an exact etymology for kaaskop, but it's most famous as a term the Belgians use for the Dutch (the latter being famous for their cheeses). The American version of that seems to be 'yankee' rather than 'cheesehead', which according to some comes from Jan Kees or Jan Kaas. Kaas is Dutch for cheese.

  7. A tulpebol is a tulip bulb;

     

    1163005895_0371.jpg

     

    the tulip being considered a typically Dutch flower, despite the fact that it's not originally Dutch.

     

     

    Holland is a relatively expensive place to live. Not as expensive as places like Japan, for example, but up there. (For Americans, the current exchange rates would add to that, of course.) Though you do get excellent public services, like public transport (trams!), good quality roads, power, broadband/phone lines, etc. in return. It's all very well organised. Going from there to Ireland is like going ten years back in time.

  8. Oh, come on! You make other people work their butt off in contests but won't make one yourself? How can you be a good jury when you haven't tried yourself? That's like the vatican talking about sex...

     

    Besides, even for experienced mappers, every new map is an experiment. (Well, it is for me :P)

  9. Yes, it's common knowledge that they used words like 'Scheveningen' as passwords, since pretty much anyone from anywhere outside The Netherlands has a problem with things like the 'sch' sound.

     

    Rembrandt and Vermeer were painters. Now pay attention to what your mother says or no dessert for you!

     

    Hirsi Ali might be contemporary, she's also a bit of an extremist and a political poo trap in Holland. So I'd take anything in that book with a grain of salt, at least.

  10. Hmm... I can't think of a translation of Keeshond, so there might be some truth to it.

     

    So that's what people in Wassenaar talk about, eh? To quote a former classmate of mine, 'Zodra wij in Aerdenhout een zachte g horen, grijpen wij het jachtgeweer'. ('As soon as we hear a soft g in Aerdenhout*, we grab the hunting rifle.')

     

    And of all the centuries of great Dutch literature you pick that one? Oy...

     

     

     

     

     

     

    *Aerdenhout being a similar place to Wassenaar, Bloemendaal, etc.

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