I watched Sterling for a little bit on YT until I realized every joke was going to be him just saying what happened with dramatic pauses.$10k a month from Patreon. This mystifies me. Once I get past the screeching I personally find Sterling's content rather predictable. Yeah, to each their own and all but I honestly have no clue what the appeal of this guy is. I mean I don't care for PewDiePie or that Irish guy who is nothing but PewDiePie with a different accent, but I can at least see why someone else might like them. Not Sterling. Spoiler for size, not adult content.
Gavin "Miracle of Sound" Dunn, friend and ex-podcast host of Jim's, liked Gone Home since he had no expectations and it gave it a horror vibe that was subverted by the story and he found the experience overall enjoyable as far as discovery went, though he admitted it never held up after that first time. I think he explained such during the Co-Optional Podcast as a guest once, but that was many years ago now. It could've also been during Podquisition.
I think it was worth the hate. If games like Watchdogs, Metal Gear Solid 2, and The Last of Us 2 can get shit on for a graphical or narrative bait and switch, taking a family drama about being gay and cutting trailers that make it look like a horror game deserves it more.
I think that was the premise of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. There was also the notoriously shit games Everybody has Gone to the Rapture (the game that killed walking simulators) and What Remains of Edith Finch, but you did specify a team of talented artists.
The hidden subplot about the dad and granduncle is way more interesting than the trashy one that was placed front and center, in addition to the atmosphere I'm willing to give GH a pass for those things despite being somewhat the "gamergate before gamergate"
That's another thing that's been forgotten is originally no one knew what the hell the game even was exactly and when you set step into that house it's intense because you have no clue how much of a horror game it might turn out to be.
I think you can also take what Gone Home and did and have things that are like virtual time travel, where you simply recreate a home or place in whatever time period and allow the player to explore and get a feel for the way things used to be.
Even I didn't play Everybody has Gone to the Rapture despite liking The Chinese Room's Dear Esther (the origin of the genre) and their Amnesia sequel.
There's one ultra creepy detail I didn't pick up on and only realized when reading discussion about it online.
I hope shit does not escalate into WW3 but one upside of a new world war would be all if these sissyboys got drafted and had the gay slapped out of them. I would glady accept the draft if I at least got to witness that.
This is even retroactively true:
Personally, and more broadly speaking, I've never understood why people seem so determined to draw lines in the sand for what constitutes a game. Unless there are specific tax breaks for getting that game designation over interactive media, I really don't care what people call it; if it interests me I'll give it a go.
I mean, a lot of this is MauLer taking down specific people for their double standards and idiocy. But, a lot of it applies to Jim as much as the rest of them.
Arguably a game is a very very large genre of interactive media, and the purpose of clearly defined genres is to make it easier to find the things you like, and getting more specific makes it ever easier to narrow in on the specific things you like.
I'm away from my computer for several days or I would toss my own recommendation into the pile, but I will need to try this once I am back.
In that regard I agree, clarity is always good, but I think the term 'walking simulator' serves that purpose, and the people I usually see arguing about this topic are doing it moreso because they just hate walking simulators and don't want them to be considered games. It comes across very Real Gamer™ cringe imo (I appreciate that's not the argument you're making, though).
How many people would have to die before they ran out of fit young men and started drafting fat middle aged transgenders?
In August 2020 he openly came out as a troon so maybe he was clearing up his past so no one could turn around and use what was likely thousands of tweets where he was an insufferable asshole.
If we're talking Shadow of the Colossus or Okami, sure, but the post Braid hipster stuff, I don't think so. Even taking the politics out, the art game "movement" was always a grift for grant money propped up by cronyism.
It's like how "art game" implies all games that aren't hipster walking simulators are not art, they wanted to redefine "game" with an increasing vague and worthless definition.
A lot I guess but it will be worth it. Looking at the state of Gen Y and Z I would say about two weeks for them to die off through stupidity before they start drafting the alphabet lot. Gen Z would try and build a shed Fortnite style while the Russians yeet mustard gas or some shit at them they would not last long.
I don't think that's the case because Jim is still an insufferable asshole.
If I may throw my hat into the walking sim discussion, I'd like to plug my favorite example of the genre: The Beginner's Guide. Made by the creator of The Stanley Parable, The Beginner's Guide has even less gameplay than its predecessor. The entire game is a walk through a series of environments made by a fictional aspiring game developer, with commentary from their friend about what the dev's life was like.
