Recent content by Monk Ed

It's hilarious that fictitious storylines are being talked about in legal briefs and being used as proof of a "crime". Just goes to show how ridiculous the intellectual property regime has become. Intellectual property does more harm than good. Even if it were of some economic betterment...

Nintendo wrote the story and script. Put the blame where it belongs. And the blame here is not about sexism, if that's what you're implying. Maybe her character was not portrayed in the best way, but the idea that it's a sexist portrayal is only fair if you think that Metal Gear Solid 3 is...

What if Heimdall had been played by a 9-year-old girl? Would the people complaining about that be sexist and ageist? I might sound like I'm being snarky or something but trust me, I'm not. I want to understand the root principle here.

I recall people being upset that the key roles of the Last Airbender were played by white people. Are they included in your assessment?

I seem to remember there being a lot of flak given to The Last Airbender for casting white people in the key roles. I hope those who think Heimdall should have been white, also felt that the Last Airbender's key roles should have been played by southeast-asians. And, just as importantly...

This can be solved in one fell swoop by just not bothering with voice acting. Seriously, not every game needs it, in fact the more interactive it is the less voice acting it can tolerate! If you're going to be invisible, why not combine it with a weird voice distortion effect that makes everyone...

This ... is actually ... a really, really cool idea. I would totally like to see this game. Every point that Yahtzee mentions is inspiring. It'd be a new take on the concepts introduced in Hitman: Blood Money, but taken to a whole new level because you'd have to be careful even just walking...

Dang! The pink-haired design won? By an overwhelming margin? Whaaaa? I wanted the brown-skinned girl with the bunny-ears-looking things in the center square :'(

Samus has had dialog and opinions for over 16 years, since as far back as Super Metroid, and fully expressed in Metroid Fusion. What do you mean she was always supposed to be a silent protagonist? Samus has had a voice ever since there were other people around for her to talk to! (And an awesome...

I've read that article, and I think the author misses some rather obvious counterpoints to his conclusions. 1) Adam disables Samus so that she can't stop him from sacrificing himself. It's a common enough trope -- more frequently seen in shounen series, it does feel out of place in a Metroid...

I'd disagree that Samus was really all that undefined. I'm replaying Fusion right now -- Samus shows a lot of personality with very few lines. She's clearly defiant, says she hates taking orders, is very pragmatic and independent-thinking... Almost nothing like she is in Other M. But that's...

My opinion of this game has kind of evolved to something between admiration and disappointment and acceptance. On the one hand, I can acknowledge more readily now just how bad this particular plot is for the implication it has on the characters. It's like one of those Dork Ages in comics...

I pondered about silent protagonists as I replayed Twilight Princess today. Link would not work as a talking character, but he is also not someone you're really supposed to project onto: We see his reaction shots all the time, and he clearly has his own opinions, however predictable. He's not a...

Is it just me or does the article's last paragraph contradict its tagline? I'm just glad that another person -- particularly a big name -- agrees that Samus having a voice isn't bad in itself, it was just the execution that ruined it. I'm hard-pressed to say, though, that Samus ever really...

Other M does a lot right that can be easy to miss. For example, it was only after hard mode forced me to play right (instead of relying on brute stamina) that I could appreciate the combat. SenseMove is forgiving, but somehow all the more fun for it, and far better than Prime's spotty dodge...