IAmTheManta

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Charm School: The proliferation of gristle...

The lemmings, those stricken beasts from the game of the same title, were famously the result of a disagreement over the minimum amount of pixels that could be used in an appealing character (eight by eight, it turns out). Such debates were the result of severe hardware limitations, including restricted colour palettes, memory, and disk space. The desire to extract optimum performance, and use every byte as efficiently as possible forced contemplation of the best way to represent characters onscreen, and an analogous streamlining: rather than the amount of data it was possible to fit into memory, the amount of personality it was possible to fit into a sprite.

Mario’s design was similarly driven by limitation, his cap and moustache simply solutions to avoid animating hair and facial expressions, whilst white gloves were added to distinguish what his arms were doing. Clearly, limitations catalyse resourceful design and the result of this desire to achieve more than the sum of the available parts has left gaming with a rich and diverse character roster. The lemmings, Mario, Link, Sonic, Ryu, Blanka, Samus, Bomberman, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde and even Cannon Fodder’s cannon fodder; the list goes on. Compare the number of unforgettable protagonists in today’s games to those of yesteryear and it is telling that, with a few notable exceptions, the most striking characters are reiterations.

It is possible, of course, for nostalgia to cloud objectivity and it is all too easy to find yourself lamenting the fact that everything from Curly Wurlys to cartoons are not as good as they used to be, but it is difficult to imagine Blinx being fondly remembered in 30 years time. Ape Escape’s Specter and associated primates were wonderfully designed, but what of the rather forgettable hero, Spike? Even Nathan Drake, stripped of Nolan North's memorable performance, is surprisingly generic. Design today is so often focussed on technology, rather than appeal, but covering a charmless character model in physics enabled trinkets or clever cloth dynamics is simply lipstick on the face of a gorilla, and no amount of superficial decoration can make up for an inherent lack of personality.

Even so, a classic character’s appeal, despite its legacy, can still be diminished through over complication - play Pacman World or sit through the 1993 film Super Mario Bros again for a painful reminder - but for the most part, good design elicits an immediate positive response. It is symptomatic of the more prosaic mainstream market’s tastes that variety (at least, commercially successful variety) is diminished, and this has led to an over-reliance on steroidal marines with impossibly proportioned weaponry. Yes, this type of character has long existed, but who would argue that Marco Rossi doesn't have more personality in each pixel than Marcus Fenix can muster with the entirety of his heavily post-processed triangles?

Thankfully, all is not lost. Perhaps the greatest triumph of modern character design is Media Molecule’s Sackboy, from LittleBIGPlanet. Simplistic in design, and brilliantly suited to his environment, Sackboy’s appeal is ever-present no matter what ridiculous combination of clothing the player has bestowed upon him. In a time when console mascots have lost a great deal of their importance, Sackboy has succeeded in becoming the unofficial poster boy for Sony.

There are many other great examples of charismatic design today (not least the enigmatic Jon Marston), and thankfully plenty of talented artists who know what is important in a good games character. The limitations of Flash have led to some memorable pixels (Meat Boy, Spewer et al) and Q-Games Pixeljunk series is re-exploring the 8 and 16-bit landscapes with creative hindsight. As long as we remember the lessons learned before the Uncanny Valley's far side came into fuzzy view, there is still hope that character design will remain exciting, and players won't be driven to hurling themselves from a cliff just to forget the forgettable.

150°

Xbox Game Pass Suddenly Doesn't Feel Like The Best Deal In Gaming Anymore

With Microsoft closing studios, fewer new exclusive releases are expected for Xbox.

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screenrant.com
shinoff21833h ago

Not sure it ever was. It's upside was day 1 releases from 1st party. Few and far between plus it is just a rental service where you don't pick. It is fairly cheap for now that's a bonus. I think the beat deal in gaming is gamesale on reddit , and watching amazon

Eonjay7m ago

I got PSPlus and let me tell you it already feels like too much. As in, its nice to have all these games to play, but I'm still human and I only have a limited amount of time for gaming. The selection is definitely larger and better than Game Pass, but keep in mind, its 'Value' isn't something that normal people can really cash in on. Perhaps if you had it for GP ultimate, to get day on MS games, and only those games, and MS delivered on some bangers, it would be cool, but the same thing applies as with Plus. You are going to wind up paying for more than you actually use over a five year period. With GP set to go up in price, this exacerbates the situation. Plus you still got to PAY for games that aren't in the services that you want to play like GTA 6.

The only conclusion is that you pay more. You will not be able to get around that with any subs in the long run.

ThinkThink1h ago

Still the best deal in gaming for me, at least until it isnt.

Snookies1220m ago

It most certainly is the best deal in gaming. It's definitely not GOOD for gaming. But, the value is undisputable right now. I fully expect that value to decrease within the next year or two though. It has never been sustainable. It's only a matter of time.

Eonjay1m ago

I really have a hard time with calling these subs value. This is because as I tried to explain above, I link value to not just money but also time. You can't play all the game in the service to completion. Most games you would never touch. You may 'try' games with the service, but you are only going to play the games you enjoy. Games you come back to and play for years. If you are paying $200 a year for a service for 10 years, thats $2000. With that much money, you can just buy and keep all the games you are actually gonna want to enjoy. This is just my analysis btw and its subjective based on what I define as value which may be different to you.

Chocoburger1h ago

"Suddenly", my gosh are people so slow on the uptake.

I've been saying this for years, its just a rental service nothing special, and you don't get to pick what the rental catalogue is nor how long it lasts. Anything can be taken away from you on a whim, even while you keep paying.

You know what the best deal in gaming is? BUY your games on disc / cart, OWN THEM, play them as much as you want, and no one can take them away from you.

Tapes and cartridges from the 80's still work to this day, and people can still enjoy them without having to pay any additional fees. That sounds like a far better deal than a corporate rental service.

Hofstaderman1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

This. Playing xenogears on my OG PS1 right now. Just got to Dazil and have most deathblows learnt but not accesible due to my level. What makes it bearable on a 4K tv is a AV to HDMI upscaler. Obviously has limits but good enough for me. No worries of the game being removed from a service too.

darthv721h ago(Edited 1h ago)

That's the whole point of renting... you rent, you play, you buy your own copy if you feel the need. What GP is doing is no different than the blockbuster or hollywood videos or every mom and pop rental shop. And people would buy their own copies if they liked what they rented.

SPEAKxTHExTRUTH50m ago

Good luck getting some of these fanboys to understand that…

Fishy Fingers1h ago

I'll probably download 4 of the games they announced coming today over the next month for £9. Seems ok to me.

But then, I tend to play single player games and i rarely revisit so a "rental service" suits me. Pretty much everything I play on PS is via PS+ extra.

monkey60219m ago

I am the complete opposite. I have ditched both GamePass and PlusExtra because I find I just add stuff to my play later queue and end up playing all the games I've bought instead. I went a whole year on both services and barely used them at all.

Unknown_Gamer57941h ago(Edited 1h ago)

It was always overrated. It only ever appealed to a certain subset of gamers anyways, which are the type who don’t care about owning games and are content to just experience them once and move on…or people who wanted to play CoD without buying it. It never seemed that glamorous to me, and I’m not at all surprised it has turned out to be unsustainable for MS.

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70°

The Finals Underperforms for Nexon in Q1 2024

Nexon has released its financial statement for 2024's first quarter, and it looks like FPS The Finals isn't proving the hit the studio was hoping for.

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techraptor.net
BlackDoomAx2h ago

Too bad for the best fps there is atm...

60°

Hades 2 devs are "worried" about Hephaestus boons, expect a nerf soon

Supergiant Games' Studio Director, Amir Rao, has said that he's worried about some unbalanced boons in-game, with nerfs coming soon.

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videogamer.com