Penny Arcade opinions on Mario Kart Wii and Grand Theft Auto IV

[blaydcor]

naznatips said:

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.

Believe it or not, how fun a game is is actually part of any valid review process. Fun is subjective, but that's why you review a game for its target audience. You don't review Halo for the Wii Play gamers and you don't review Mario Kart without considering how fun it is in multiplayer.

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.

This is why comparing games accross genre makes you look ignorant. The size of a game is not a meassure of its quality, nor is the complexity. I could make a 50 mile field of green and force you to navigate 236 menus to take 1 step forward. It would be the most complex and large game ever made, but it wouldn't be fun. The diverse claim is pretty laughable. Mario Kart isn't diverse either, although that shouldn't matter in either game as long as it's fun. In the end, GTA boils down to 2 actions: Driving and blowing stuff up, which leads me to my next point.

More intellectual? Are you joking? A a game based on drunk driving, blowing things up, killing hookers, and general mindless chaos and violence practically defines testosterone driven immaturity. Not that Mario Kart is in any way thought provoking, but at least it's not catering solely to teenage psychopaths.

The sandbox game was innovative 6 games ago. This is just the same game with a broken cover system added. Again, I'm not arguing that Mario Kart Wii is innovative, just that GTAIV is not. Technical advancement once again is not a meassure of quality. It's not even close to more challenging. The single most common complaint in the Mario Kart Wii reviews is that the 150CC AI is too good. Grand Theft Auto IV has been unanimously declared the easiest game in the franchise. Especially with its auto-targeting.

I honestly laughed out loud at the line "requires a greater degree of cultural capital to fully appreciate all of it's intricacies." I'm not sure where to start with this one. Well, first of all, reviews have pointed out that the game has signifficantly less of the witty decade-mocking humor and irony, and replaced it with such amazing dialogue as "Take a bite of my hot chihuahua meat." As if the series didn't cater to brainless teens enough already.

Now, if you enjoy GTA more, then it's a better game to you, and that's a valid statement.

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.

Now this is where I stopped taking you seriously, and started to wonder if this was a joke post. GTA not only doesn't support gaming as an art form, it's one of the primary culprits in spreading the view that the gaming audience is nothing but stupid teenage boys. Electroplankton, Okami, Odin Sphere, Viewtiful Joe, Wind Waker, Shadow of the Colossus. These games are art. Honestly the idea that anyone would even suggest holding GTA in league with these works of art makes me sick. I can't believe you are suggesting anything in GTAIV is innovative. It's GTAIII with a Gears of War cover system shoved in.

Oh, and Tycho used narcotic as a synonym for addictive and mood altering, which is certainly a valid use of the term.

I love having Naz on your side in an argument.