Angry Gaming 09.04.06: Hate Club Mail Box – August ‘06
Posted by Damian Sarcuni on 09.04.2006
Step back! Angry Gaming has a feedback column!
Welcome to Angry Gaming, where 50,000 gamers wiping their asses with Saint's Row can't be wrong. I'm your hate master, Damian Sarcuni and I always knew it wasn't just me. Lights, camera, action!
Hate Club Mail Box – August ‘06
Ha ha, I can't stop smiling today. It took over a month, and it's not quite as strong a start as I would have liked, but the dream has been realized! We got feedback folks, and that means I can finally unleash phase 3 of my plan for this column: THE HATE CLUB IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
That's right, we are not alone. Four of you took the time to drop me an email and let me know your thoughts on my past two columns as well as ask questions, etc. Since I'm an attention whore and I want to encourage this behavior, these emails are now my first inductees into what we like to call the hate club: those faithful readers who either feel the same way I do about a previously written issue, those with additional comments or information, or those that just think I'm crazy and want to start a fight. (This is Angry Gaming after all, so flames are more than welcome.) Step back! Angry Gaming has a feedback column!
Here's how it works: every month or so I will dedicate a column to all the feedback I get over the previous month. While I personally reserve the right to clean up/edit the content of each email, I will address them all so long as they are on topic. Even if you don't get a direct reply from me, it will show up here. Multiple emails that say the same stuff will of course be grouped together but names will be named. Opinionated questions wanted! I LOVE answering opinionated questions! Informational questions, on the other hand, will have to wait until someone takes over Ask 411 - Games. The cut off day to get in the column for any topic is the last Friday of every month. Before that day, you are free to email me about any topic I have talked about during that month. Confused? Get a calendar and it'll make sense.
So without further ado, I present to you the first contact from the Angry Gaming Hate Club!
Mike writes from what I hope is his girlfriend's email address:
Amen, this has been pissing me off for a long time now. You should forward your article to IGN and Gamespot. They seem to have a lot of influence. I too, can't wait for this to happen. As you said, both MMA and Videogames are at an all time high, so it seems logical that this will happen. Hopefully EA will do something about getting a license.
For future reference, I don't like to spread my work around. The last thing I need is for one of those overly commercial pay sites to look over my plea for intelligent game marketing and to view it as an article submission. One of the best things about writing for 411 is that no one has to wait or pay to see my work. Besides, I don't really believe IGN or Gamespot has much influence over the game industry. Why should they? At the end of the day, all video game publications are just a bunch of consumers with connections, no different from any of us really. If you really want to use my writing to make a point, shoot someone in the industry an email and include a link to my article here. Then do it again and again until they are forced to acknowledge us. BWAHAHA!!
As far as EA picking up an MMA license, I get chills of fear at the thought of that. The last thing I want is for my precious MMA fighters to get marred down by overly produced stats and technicalities that don't really matter year after year. Can you imagine a UFC '07 game? The flavor would go right out the window. I don't care so much that Quinton Jackson scored 14 slams last year, I care that he curses a lot and makes hilarious jokes in his interviews. This is the attitude that MMA games lack, even now.
On the other hand, EA could possibly do justice to the International Fight League. The IFL, for those of you who don't know, is a team based MMA organization, with many different states being represented by their own personal team. (Go NY Pit Bulls!) Since most of the fighters on each team trade up their individual showmanship for the good of the team anyway, EA wouldn't be sacrificing quite as much in terms of overall appeal for the game. While the IFL is still considered a fledgling organization here in the United States, both EA and the IFL would do well to keep each other's numbers on speed dial.
Bryan Jones had an MMA based question for me as well:
Is there any chance for MMA to be an Olympic event? I mean...Judo, wrestling and boxing areas are all in it, so why not this? That would be awesome. What do you think?
There are two problems preventing MMA from becoming a true sport in my opinion. The first is that rules vary too much from state to state, country to country. Sambo, Russian fighting, has the same problem. No one can agree on a single set of rules. In order for MMA to be in the Olympics, there would have to be a ring instead of a cage and a single set of rules.
The second thing preventing MMA from being in the Olympics is the way it's marketed. MMA fighters, promoters, and fans want to have it both ways: they want to be recognized as a legit "sport", but they also brag about the violence and brutality of their fights. If you want to put MMA in the Olympics, you have to lose a lot of the flashy showmanship and clean up the dirty mouths of the fighters, as well as lose the cool rock music and badass attitudes.
All that said, never say never! If Pride and UFC ever do co-promote a show like they claim and agree on a set of rules that would be a HUGE step in the evolution of MMA. If fans and fighters like the rules, you can bet all
the promoters will start using them. MMA in the Olympics? 15 - 25 years at least, but it could happen.
But let's get back to the games, as this brings up another interesting point: if charisma and showmanship make better MMA games, how can MMA become a legitimized sport and still create a decent game? The answer, my friends, is in the marketing.
If MMA did become an Olympic event, and any game developer made a game based around this, the game would suck because a) games about the Olympics suck in general and b) there would be more focus on the Olympic aspects of the game than the actual fighters. If MMA ever did go that far, I recommend that each game continue to be represented by individual organizations, but include the Olympics as a special event or tournament mode within the game. "Mixed Martial Arts: London '12" has very little appeal even in its title. On the other hand, "UFC: Maul and Brawl, now featuring Olympic fighters" is clever marketing that will sell big time. Sure, the license will be harder to acquire, but if demand is as high as we expect by that time, it shouldn't be a big problem.
Blaine Thompson alerts us to a new, nasty breed of game geek:
Great column and you nailed the whole problem with douche bag gamers. A group you left out is what I'd call spoilers. They are they guys that will stay up for 48 hours straight as soon as Twilight Princess comes out, beat it, and then brag about how easy it was and spoil all of the plot points.
I love this email because it reminds me of those briefings in StarCraft. Mutalisk + Ultralisk = Guardian. Obsessed Fan Boy + Net Geek = Spoiler. For me, spoilers are definitely a hybrid of other annoying species of gamers. I have a friend just like this and since we play Final Fantasy XI together, his favorite thing to do is stop playing that, then message me and tell me WHY he hasn't been playing. Usually, this occurs in the form of "Dead Rising is so much more fun than FFXI because *Censored* happens and you fight *Censored*."
I don't envy the spoilers though. I personally don't believe in game addiction, but these poor saps have as close of a real case to it as I can think of. Much like net geeks are driven to know everything about a game without being taught any of it in the first place, spoilers are spurred on by some unknown voice inside their brain that repeatedly tells them "You have to get this game right away because it's NEW!" That's something I never quite understood: why are NEW games so much more important than games that have been around awhile? I understand people move on in terms of multiplayer or upgrading to next gen consoles along with developers, but personally I find Sonic Rush just as appealing now as I did when it first came out.
Time has a weird effect on gamer's minds. Sometimes, we get excited over something not because we have been anticipating it, but just because it's the latest thing out there. All jokes aside, check yourself before you throw down your hard earned money. Just because something carries a $50 price tag doesn't make it infinitely better than something with a $20 tag. Being happy that you stayed up all night to rush through an experience isn't something to be proud of…it's gluttony. Direct these lost souls to the nearest Betty Ford clinic and be done with them. Or, if you're a sadist, hit up the strategy guides and let them know they got a long ways to go before they get the "real" ending. Pwned.
Yeah, I know this doesn't count toward Angry Gaming, but what the hell? It's a good lengthy read. Besides, Brad Dotlich takes his games damn seriously and deserves to be heard:
I am writing in response to your comments in 411 Games Fact or Fiction from about a month ago. I know that's a long time ago, but I didn't read this particular article until just last night so I hope you will bear with me. Now, to be more specific, I am most interested the comments you and Mike Joyeux made about Mortal Kombat Armageddon. By now, you and Mike have gotten your HUGE share of hate mail on this subject, but this, I assure is not hate mail. Hate mail is a document written by a very angry, immature, and often unintelligent writer who tries to string together as many obscenities as he/she
possibly can in one huge sentence while ridiculing you for what you said. I will state, for the record, that I am, in fact, unhappy with your opinion on Mortal Kombat Armageddon. But I'm not "steaming mad" about it. I just disagree with your stance that the game will suck and I just want to explain why.
Without a doubt, I am a big fan of the Mortal Kombat series, but that's not the reason I disagree with you. I have been more than willing to accept the fact that there are Mortal Kombat games out that are absolutely terrible, i.e. Mythologies and Special Forces. And I believe that Midway must have rushed on MK3 because there just has not been as much effort put into that game as there was in MK2. I mean, in MK3, when someone loses their head, their body still stays standing up instead of dropping to the ground in the previous titles. And when someone (not Sheeva) blows up, I've seen three arms, and five feet on the ground. The point I'm trying to make is that I love the Mortal Kombat series, but I can also criticize it when necessary.
With that said, I would like to say that while I believe the Mortal Kombat Armageddon will most definitely not be anything revolutionary, nor will it be the best fighter ever made, it will most definitely not "suck" like you say it will. I think the new create-a-kombatant feature will, if done well, add a whole lot of depth to the game, not to mention give players a chance to fight with their own unique and individual character. Your opinion on this game is a very rushed judgment and it sounds very much like its coming from someone that absolutely hates Mortal Kombat and anything Midway tries to do to make it better. You and Mike sound very biased and unwilling to give Mortal Kombat Armageddon any chance to prove itself to be worth your 50 bucks. I do not think it is wrong to hate Mortal Kombat. You have a right to your likes and dislikes and you're definitely entitled to your opinions about Mortal Kombat Armageddon. But to pre-judge a game you haven't even played yet and is no where near finished just because you hate it makes you look just as bad as the people who think that Mortal Kombat Armageddon is going to be the best thing since the wheel. I'm not saying that Mortal Kombat Armageddon is going to do anything new or original. After all, the create-a-kombatant has already been done in Soul Caliber III, not to mention the wrestling games. And it's not going to smash any sales record or win any major awards. I'm just saying that it's just not going to suck like you and Mike say it will. Thanks for your time. And I hope 411 Games will stay on the 411 line-up this time. Good day.
Wow. I'm very impressed with the way you communicate your point of view. To be honest, I wish I had received more mail on the topic, but better late than never I suppose.
My comments on Mortal Kombat: Armageddon were actually based mostly on having played through Mortal Kombat: Deception in its entirety. Deception, while clearly a major effort on the part of Midway, had a very drawn out, lengthy approach to its fighting system. Judging from the screen shots we've seen so far, it looks like Armageddon will be using the same fighting system Deception did, and that's VERY detrimental at this stage in the series. On top of that, I feel the amount of characters made available will actually make the game more boring to play since so many characters throughout the series have had similar moves and fighting styles. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and after awhile using that many characters tends to get boring and makes the game feel like a chore.
Remember that when it comes to fact or fiction articles, writers are asked to take a definitive position on each statement. We have to choose fact or fiction, meaning we have no choice but to pre-judge the game. That's actually the whole point, and from what we've seen from Midway in the past, as well as current screen shots, there is nothing about the game that will impress, which means it will be more of the same stale clichés we have seen in past games, and at this point, that's really bad. Armageddon still has a chance to prove both me and Michael wrong, so stay tuned to the game section for the actual 411 review of the game.
The Hate Club
I don't know if the other writers here have stressed this enough, so I'll say it for them. We all live for feedback and it spurs us on to keep writing. The 411 game section is still pretty new so anything that let's us know you guys are reading, fan mail, flames, whatever…it all matters a lot. For those of you who took the time to write me, thank you and welcome to the hate club. I look forward to hearing more. Next week, you can look forward to another rousing round of How the Hell Did They Miss That? to kick off the fall season! Until then, embrace the hatred.
