naznatips said:
This is rather ironic. Tycho's opinion is articulate, well-defended, and concise; whereas your post is blunt, devoid of grammar, and completely unsupported with any evidence or explanation. If your opinion matters to you so little that you won't even bother explaining it, please don't waste everyone's time by posting in this thread. You are certainly showing that Grand Theft Auto is for mature audiences though. |
On the contrary, it sounds like an article written by someone who draws cartoons for a living (not that I'm suggesting such an endeavour would necessarily be any more intellectually prohibitive than game journalism, but it is often concomitant with a certain degree of cultural regressivity). The entire argument hinges on what the author regards as "fun", without any reasoning to back up his dubious assertions; given that fun is an abstract concept and entirely subjective, it has little merit as a criterion of value in any serious critical assessment.
Regardless of one's opinions, GTA is superior to MK by any objectively quantifiable measure: it is larger, more detailed, more complex, more diverse (and, as a result, less repetitive, despite the assertions of Tycho), more challenging, more innovative, more intellectual, more technically advanced, and requires a greater degree of cultural capital to fully appreciate all of it's intricacies. It is, quite simply, a much better game. For my money, it is a helluva lot more fun too.
Don't get me wrong, the MK series is one of my all-time favourite racing franchises, and the only Mario games that don't make me feel like stabbing sharp implements into my legs just to feel any sensation other than acute boredom (no, I still haven't played SMG), but to suggest that MKWii could actually be better than GTA4 demonstrates an astounding inability to disassociate oneself from one's own cultural conditioning. An opinion is not the same as a critique; the former is forged by experience, the latter by reason.
Videogames are still a long way away from being taken seriously as a legitimate artform, but the GTA series is one of the few that has ambitions lofty enough to suggest the imminent possiblities for the medium. While most developers are content to rehash the same old formulas ad nauseam, Rockstar North are continually pushing the envelope, daring to dream of something more. You don't have to enjoy their games to appreciate that fact, but you have to be blind to ignore it.
Perhaps the biggest irony here is that you use the term ironic when defending an article that states a game is both "narcotic" and "fun to play". Perhaps Tycho should consult a dictionary to determine why those two concepts are incompatible. I mean, I like to sleep as much as anybody, but it certainly isn't something I do for fun.
"What they are is cynics and critics. They say what the media won't, and they call the media out on their bullshit."
They are not critics, they are cartoonists. They are also a part of the media, and I am calling them out on their bullshit.
