Now, I'll bet you wonder what the hell the title means, my answer to you is, what ever you want it to mean
To me, it is the current state of modern mainstream media (yay! alliteration!) in that the case now is that innovation seems to be the exeption, whether it be a movie, music track or a game or etc; chances are there is another movie/piece of music/game/etc very similar to it.
Case One: Psychonauts.
Oh you were expecting this weren't you? Well, there isn't much to be said about this that has not already been said, so I'll just say this: Psychonauts was an imaginative game with generally good reviews; however, the game sold approximately 10.8 copies initially, devastating it's publisher (the only publisher willing to give the game a chance I might add) financhially. It only gained the recognition it deserved much later when multiple sources (like ZP) that are generally well recieved by the mainstream audience that originally snubbed 'nauts told us that actually, it was rather bloody good; ironic is it not that those sources are usually widely imitated?
Case two: FPS...es
Gaming seems to be a media that goes through different phases-the platformers of old, open worlds, telekenesis, "urban" racers and good/evil endings are just to name a few, but none are as big, or as popular as the FPS craze, now I rather like FPSes but c'mon this is bloody ridiculus! every other game is one now; look gaming industry, just because I bought Halo doesn't mean I'll buy Haloish shooter y and I wont buy Haloish shooter Z either, no matter what FPS I come across nowadays: it's either a WW2 shooter, a "realistic" COD4 clone, or bloody Halo in disguise! the only difference is there may be a few gimmicks which don't really make up for the fact that that I bought the same game yonks ago; No, I don't care about how good the multiplayer is, I've probably seen it before, and that's not a good enough reason to mingle with people who always seem to be, as Sean Connery said "the shlime of humanity" (though most of them are not Nazis). Unfortunately, the days of deep shooters like Marathon and System shock; gone are the undead cowboys, replaced with the "ideal" game character: a white male with short brown hair, in various states of unshaveness and likely wearing space armour. And all because the mainstream supposedly "demand" it
Case troi: the Horror movie genre
Horror movies make me scared; not that something's out to get me, but that if I get so much as a papercut then I will lose half of my blood and my torso will detatch from my legs as if I were a Lego man. If I said that I find blood was sickening and disgusting in my opinion to my a group of "average" people in my school, I would likey be branded "a wimp". But, I reason, I don't watch horror films to be digusted, I go to be SCARED, and how is mere claret terrifying? unfortunately, horror films these days seem to wear 18 certificates like a badge of honour, also the modern horror film is either a slasher (Oh thank you very much Scream for resurrecting that cheatnut) or a so called "torture" film (think Saw) OR a remake. Am I the only one who wishes for films in the style of Nosferatu? (A film that is genuinly terrifying, and uses almost no blood). Modern films seem to almost ecluesively use two things: blood and shocks, nothing that makes you feel scared AFTER you leave the cinema or turn the tv off, films that mess with your mind, films that feed the little worry centre of your brain, things that feed your Tingler (anyone spot a reference?); but oh no, that needs imagination and, like I said earlier, imagination isn't allowed is it? We can't let the real fears that we don't understand, like darkness (Doctor Who's doing it now-A FAMILY PROGRAM!). It is such a shame that we forget how to do these films well, and ironic that those films that dared to be different are being remade.
I suppose the reason that media is like this now is because, as a medium grows, it becomes more commercial and therefore, an idea that has worked in the past is likely to work again, and make money. But I my opinion another reason is because of us;probably 80% of people are stupid, there minds unable to handle complexity, and when it arises, they shun it, in favour of the simple films that don't make them feel stupid.
Discuss.
To me, it is the current state of modern mainstream media (yay! alliteration!) in that the case now is that innovation seems to be the exeption, whether it be a movie, music track or a game or etc; chances are there is another movie/piece of music/game/etc very similar to it.
Case One: Psychonauts.
Oh you were expecting this weren't you? Well, there isn't much to be said about this that has not already been said, so I'll just say this: Psychonauts was an imaginative game with generally good reviews; however, the game sold approximately 10.8 copies initially, devastating it's publisher (the only publisher willing to give the game a chance I might add) financhially. It only gained the recognition it deserved much later when multiple sources (like ZP) that are generally well recieved by the mainstream audience that originally snubbed 'nauts told us that actually, it was rather bloody good; ironic is it not that those sources are usually widely imitated?
Case two: FPS...es
Gaming seems to be a media that goes through different phases-the platformers of old, open worlds, telekenesis, "urban" racers and good/evil endings are just to name a few, but none are as big, or as popular as the FPS craze, now I rather like FPSes but c'mon this is bloody ridiculus! every other game is one now; look gaming industry, just because I bought Halo doesn't mean I'll buy Haloish shooter y and I wont buy Haloish shooter Z either, no matter what FPS I come across nowadays: it's either a WW2 shooter, a "realistic" COD4 clone, or bloody Halo in disguise! the only difference is there may be a few gimmicks which don't really make up for the fact that that I bought the same game yonks ago; No, I don't care about how good the multiplayer is, I've probably seen it before, and that's not a good enough reason to mingle with people who always seem to be, as Sean Connery said "the shlime of humanity" (though most of them are not Nazis). Unfortunately, the days of deep shooters like Marathon and System shock; gone are the undead cowboys, replaced with the "ideal" game character: a white male with short brown hair, in various states of unshaveness and likely wearing space armour. And all because the mainstream supposedly "demand" it
Case troi: the Horror movie genre
Horror movies make me scared; not that something's out to get me, but that if I get so much as a papercut then I will lose half of my blood and my torso will detatch from my legs as if I were a Lego man. If I said that I find blood was sickening and disgusting in my opinion to my a group of "average" people in my school, I would likey be branded "a wimp". But, I reason, I don't watch horror films to be digusted, I go to be SCARED, and how is mere claret terrifying? unfortunately, horror films these days seem to wear 18 certificates like a badge of honour, also the modern horror film is either a slasher (Oh thank you very much Scream for resurrecting that cheatnut) or a so called "torture" film (think Saw) OR a remake. Am I the only one who wishes for films in the style of Nosferatu? (A film that is genuinly terrifying, and uses almost no blood). Modern films seem to almost ecluesively use two things: blood and shocks, nothing that makes you feel scared AFTER you leave the cinema or turn the tv off, films that mess with your mind, films that feed the little worry centre of your brain, things that feed your Tingler (anyone spot a reference?); but oh no, that needs imagination and, like I said earlier, imagination isn't allowed is it? We can't let the real fears that we don't understand, like darkness (Doctor Who's doing it now-A FAMILY PROGRAM!). It is such a shame that we forget how to do these films well, and ironic that those films that dared to be different are being remade.
I suppose the reason that media is like this now is because, as a medium grows, it becomes more commercial and therefore, an idea that has worked in the past is likely to work again, and make money. But I my opinion another reason is because of us;probably 80% of people are stupid, there minds unable to handle complexity, and when it arises, they shun it, in favour of the simple films that don't make them feel stupid.
Discuss.
won't take game maker people who don't have a degree in creative story writing or at least a nice art degree.
