Game OverThinker

Now I personally think Bob's an egotistical prick (I stopped putting up with his shows aside from his movie reviews after that stupid big picture ep where he talked about Uncharted and I was completely agreeing with him....until he randomly trashed western games for no good reason beyond flamebaiting) but didn't he already re-review Green Lantern "on its own merits" (in his intermission column) and still say that even ignoring the source material it's a crap movie regardless?

God, I just watched his video on Japan's lack of exporting; can't he do a single video without a jab at Western gamers, FPS/sports games, or whatever is current?

Hell, some of Bob's generalizations just piss me off. No, Western gamers don't hate primary colors on average; if they did, why are Team Fortress 2 and World of Warcraft the two most popular PC FPS and MMORP Gs respectively? Or are PC gamers somehow exempt from his ridiculous assertions? There's some really good points he brings up (Like how a lot of the current generation's exposure to Japan came from video games), but he then just whines about everything.

His storyline is also something I just skip past. At least it's more competent than fucking Atop The Fourth Wall, although that's not saying much.

edited 13th Oct '11 11:56:34 AM by Scardoll

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

You're absolutely right about that.

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling was also crudely drawn, and Citizen Kane had the worst cinematography of all time.

Yeah... Even if you agree with the concept that reviews shouldn't have storylines in them you'd be hard pressed to say that Bob's storylines (which tend to be put in the middle of the episode and are usually lacking in the plot department) are superior to Linkara's (usually at the end of the videos and with far better production values and effort put into them).

The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

Really? I thought everyone moved on from that by now. Is he going to respond to any of the people in his blog post's comment section that made arguments that the game was shit, regardless of Samus's portrayal being sexist or not?

edited 13th Oct '11 6:20:59 PM by NULLcHiLD27

Hey now, this isn't Something Awful, keep that condescending attitude to yourself. Or, better yet, don't have it at all.

Back on topic though, I'm kind of glad he's revisiting it. Metroid Other M would have actually been a really awesome action game if not for the story stuff (being less good than the other games doesn't necessarily mean it's not good) and elaborating on what he meant in the original would probably cause him to come off as much more reasonable, as he was on Twitter.

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

Others far better than I have recapped some of the issues with Heavens to Metroid, but for the record my core problem was:

-A dismissal of the Metroid Prime series, solely because it was an FPS (though its really a first person explorer)

-Stating that Samus had no characterization prior to the games while conveniently leaving out Metroid Fusion which did have exploration of her character.

-That Adam was disliked because he was man giving orders to a woman, and not because he was an un-established character whom Metroid fans no reason to regard as being warranted to give Samus orders, especially given that some of his traits reek of informed ability.

-Casually dismissing the complaints that the gameplay mechanic of not being able to use weapons, even when the situation calls for it. To the point where he views it as ultimately a meaningless game mechanic, and not a feature that would likely get people frustrated at the story's lack of common sense.

-Acting as if the fans' problem was Samus displaying emotion instead of acknowledging that many believed it was done poorly.

-Turning much of the overall criticism with the game into a diatribe against supposed Japanaphobes.

In terms of his argument/defense videos its the one done worst I think. Way too much of it consists of ignoring contradictory points, downplaying people's legit problems, and inventing a strawman to easily defeat.

edited 13th Oct '11 8:25:20 PM by BorneAgain

Incidentally as far as storylines Moviebob vs. Linkara; I think Lewis's stuff always struck me as less awkward and forced, because as a comic fan it felt natural for him to engage into the cheesy stories. At his heart Linkara's a dorky guy who enjoys comics with heart, but that don't take themselves too seriously all the time, and I think his stories are largely the same thing.

Bob's arcs cropped about three years after he starting doing the Game Overthinker, and given that his bread and butter was the rapid fire intellectual analysis littered with pop culture references, it just sticks out more. Doubly so given that he seemed to encourage talking about gaming culture and having discussions beyond just him. The storylines just seem to muddle that up a bit.

edited 13th Oct '11 8:48:41 PM by BorneAgain

Does he still put the storyline at the beginning or middle of his videos? The last I remember watching a video the entire first half of it was his storyline.

His GO 56 had storyline interrupting throughout the entire video, which was painful.

edited 13th Oct '11 9:07:45 PM by Scardoll

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

How about you two stop attacking eachother and we talk about the topic?

So he's revisting the issue of Other M? As much as I like that game I was not that much of a fan of that video. I hope he has the good sense to admit he was strawmanning a good chunk of the opposing side and start going deeper into the issue then JUST Other M. Like the course of taking a franchise in different directions and the challenges of balancing the interests of Japanese and American gamers.

The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.

I don't think Other M's problems are really it trying to go both Japanese and American; maybe in its plotline, but certainly not in its gameplay. This is the linear, story and cutscene-based road that Metroid Fusion (Japanese) and Corruption (American) were both paving already.

I really hope they stop going in that direction with Metroid; Zero Mission had pathetic sales, but Prime had some of the best sales in the franchise, showing that a less linear Metroid CAN sell.

I was, until someone decided to call me insane, retarded, and egotistical for stating I disliked an internet show.

edited 14th Oct '11 12:50:02 PM by Scardoll

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

Metroid has been a game series that has always appealed more to Americans that to the Japanese, but there's a good case that Other M was specifically trying to bring in Japanese gamers with the greater focus on narrative.

The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.

I think I'm going to avoid this thread for now so I don't end up getting in another pointless argument.

edited 14th Oct '11 1:54:50 PM by Zennistrad

I stand by my point that he never indeed played another Metroid between Super and Other M. His completely asinine diatribe against Prime proves as much.