We mix things up a bit on this episode on the Northern Geekcast.

Back  from the depths of Vana’diel is Darren, who joins us for a discussion on game design theory, as we try and aswer the age ol’ question: “What is a game?” We go over some of the more interesting news items from the past two weeks, such as the PSP2 rumours, Capcom’s list of new games, and a few articles that left us scratching our heads, like Guiness making it’s own Top 50 Games of All Time list.

All this, and much more, on episode 7 of the Northern Geekcast!

 

 Northern Geeks: Episode 007 [109:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On Indie Nation #53, Anthony Burch featured a small Flash-based game called The Linear RPG, which essentially makes a critical analysis of JRPGs.

To be honest, I wasn’t very pleased with the game at first. It seemed to me that the person who had made this game was simply trying to be witty by making fun of one of my favourite genres. After having “played” it some more however, I started to change my mind, because although the game was obviously meant as a figurative poke to the ribs, it was in fact very clever, and although I hate to admit it, awoke in me some of the simple pleasures I receive from playing a real JRPG.

As for the article by Burch itself, I understand his general argument, but still believe his logic is flawed. He argues that:

Although I will admit that many JRPGs make use of rather simple combat mechanics, I would hardly say that I “suffer” through them; in fact, I would dare say that I rather  enjoy sending my party into combat, sometimes spending countless hours leveling them up simply because I enjoy doing so. It should also be noted that his argument against repetitive gameplay could be used against many other types of games – we’ve all played through some very monotonous first-person shooters and hack-and-slash action games. As for the worth of the stories they present, I can’t argue with him about his own personal tastes, but I will simply state that I have found many JRPGs to have amazing stories, riddled with intrigue and moments in which I have found myself brought to tears.

*****

Another game I highly recommend you take the time to try out is a small indie game called Don’t Look Back. It’s a rather simple platformer with rather simple controls, but there is a certain level of beauty and intelligence behind it that I can’t help but appreciate. Sometimes the simplest designs are the best, and this is a perfect example of just that.

As avid video gamers, we’re used to all the nonsense and the propoganda surrounding our favourite hobby, so whenever an unfounded acusation rears its ugly head, we are perfectly content to look away and ignore all the tomfoolery, right? Well, that would be the smart thing to do.

On March 6th, CBC (The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) ran a special entitled Tog Gun on one of its flagship programs, The Fifth Estate. The program covered the unfortunate events surrounding the death of Brandon Crisp, a 15-year old boy who one day ran away from home  after his parents took away his Xbox 360 and was found dead a few weeks later at the base of a tree.

I can only begin to imagine what it must feel like to have to bury your own child, and one so young at that. My condolences go out to Brandon’s friends and family, and I hope that they can amass the courage to move on with their lives.

With that said, I want to make it clear that my gripe with this issue does not lie with the parents, but with the CBC, The Fifth Estate, and their shoddy documentary they seem to believe passes as professional journalism. Throughout the entire episode, Gillian Findlay, the journalist behind this debacle, continuously displays her complete and utter lack of understanding of the material by repeatedly making statements that are  untrue,  or at best, unfounded.

You can watch the entire documentary here, if you feel so inclined.

I would also like to point out that if you skip forward to 16:30, you’ll be able to watch the segment that inspired today’s strip; it’s rather sad just how closely the strip mimics the real thing.