Shaky Cam Games

[unwesen]

Right. If you were looking for a plot, Cloverfield was not the movie for you. Even some sort of back story or some explanation about the monster would have been helpful.

It's not even about the back story so much. I don't mind a mystery. It's the fact that you never learned anything about the characters and then they died.

Oh, no, I'm wrong, you learn one thing: the main guy is obviously a brain damaged douche. Not only does he prefer filming stuff to helping his supposed friends, he also prefers it to, say, running for his life.

Ok, ok, I'll stop ranting now.

 

[craddoke]

I'm surprised by everyone who writes off Yahtzee's comments as jokes and therefore not to be taken seriously. In my experience, a true comedian is always dead serious when he jokes - George Carlin, Colbert & Stewart, Lennie Bruce, etc. Comedy is just what happens when someone tells the truth. I'm not saying that Yahtzee is always a comedian, but he certainly strives for it on most occasions.

 

[Quickening666]

I'm surprised by everyone who writes off Yahtzee's comments as jokes and therefore not to be taken seriously. In my experience, a true comedian is always dead serious when he jokes - George Carlin, Colbert & Stewart, Lennie Bruce, etc. Comedy is just what happens when someone tells the truth. I'm not saying that Yahtzee is always a comedian, but he certainly strives for it on most occasions.

Exactly. I've noticed people only write off his reviews as comedy when they really love the game or other object he is attacking. It's makes them feel better to do that. Of course Yahtzee is giving a proper review and being genuinely critical. Just because it's funny doesn't mean what he says is less true.
Anyway I don't understand why people feel the need to do this. He has disliked games I think are really good like The Witcher but I didn't feel the need to challenge his opinion or dismiss it.

By the way Yahtzee I for one appreciate the fact that you featured a stone gargoyle from Blood (the best game ever) in your Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions review.

 

[Anarchemitis]

It took decades for technology to develop anti-glare Photochemicals, the Steadi-Cam and Stabilizing Shutters to eliminate lens flares, camera shake and motion blur, only to have it all thrown out the window or circumvented with special effects for the sake of some directors intentions to have a "gritty" and "realistic" cinematographic performance.

How Ironic.

Video games or indeed anything in the realm of 3D computer graphics have far more advantages in camera options compared to real life, since they can have angles as sharp or wide as 180° to ∞° with the ability to see in an orthographic perspective, with infinitely minute shutter speed to absolutely remove motion blur, and the camera can literally go anywhere and move any way it pleases.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

So, if God of War is popular, it's because lots of people today are emo, selfish, self-hating, physically weak, sexist, responsibility-avoiding whiners who sympathize with Republican economic policies

Well you can't blame them for understanding their audience. *snicker snicker*

 

[SilverUchiha]

As a conservative, I feel I should say something... but having never touched any of the games mentioned in this column, I'm sure I'd just end up putting my foot in my mouth or something without realizing it.

 

[CaptainCrunch]

Yea, cloverfield's camera shook so much it made me feel nauseated to the core

Try Irreversible. The subject material is not for the faint of heart, but the camera moves are worse than any shaky cam I've ever seen - and they're on purpose.

 

[ValentineBlacker]

My theory about C:LOS is that Patrick Sean Zobek was following Gabe with the camera the whole time, and he's got a bad case of DT.
There is ONE God of War clone with a female protagonist, but it made up for any possible progressivism by being terrible.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

I'm still enjoying Castlevania greatly. I guess its because I never really played God of War or Dante's Inferno. I never really notice the camera shaking too much. Oh well, thats Yahtzee for ya anyways.

 

[blindthrall]

"it's definitely true that liking Resident Evil 5 makes you a racist."

As a racist, I'm offended by that. I think Resident Evil 5 is shit.

 

[Electrogecko]

I don't know why they didn't just make a 3d CASTLEVANIA game...you know, with the open world exploration, platforming, and character upgrades (that aren't all for combat purposes) except in 3d. It could be done, and it could be done extremely well by people who give a rats ass.
Where, exactly, is the 360's/PS3's version of Zelda, Metroid, (and don't say 3d Dot Hero) or ANY GODDAMN GAME IN WHICH THE MAIN MECHANIC DOESN'T INVOLVE RIPPING CREATURES APART WITH A SWORD/GUN/MAGIC?!?! Portal is lightyears ahead of any other game on either console and it's not even a full length game!!!

"The last game that specifically drew attention to the camera was Mario 64, and only because it was relatively new technology. At the beginning they established that the controllable camera was being held on a fishing line by a small cloud monster. But who was filming whenever the cloud monster was on screen, Nintendo? You won't be lasting long if you keep trying to feed us that kind of bullshit."
Even in that game, you could play through the entire thing without knowing you were looking through a lakitu-cam. The camera was smooth and fluid, (incredible for the time) and it only brought attention to it in the first 10 seconds, and good for you if you noticed him in the mirror.

I can believe that the decision to make the camera move back and forth smoothly was to give the player depth perception and more information about their surroundings, but I seriously doubt this was the case. Yahtzee once said the best games are the ones that don't try to impress, and I find this to be more and more true every day. If a game is good, it doesn't need to put on a show and flourish sparkling batons. (then again, Yahtzee's probably making a big deal out of nothing in the case of this game)

 

[Mordwyl]

I love the Katamari series, so that makes me a stoner.

 

[Uninvited Guest]

I noticed the'shaky' camera aswell, but after awhile I also realised that it isn't in effect all the time. It seems it isn't used in smaller, more closed off areas (I have to play it again to be shure). This left me the impression that it was somekind of an effect in open spaces. Like someone had mounted the camera to a tree branch with ductape and over optimistic view of physics. That said, I have to completely agree that the effect is somewhat annoying feature the developers decided to implement instead of giving another look at the various main camera issues.

 

[Lord Thodin]

- snip -

Struck a nerve eh? Also, to most of your comments, "Lolwut?"

OT: I liked the piece. It was comedic but still addressed some seriously bad camera issues games have been having as of late.

 

[Qmonster]

I think shaky cam worked a few times (like when you were almost killed by an explosion in the original CoD), but not many times. However, in those few early times when it really worked, someone else saw it and went "well, I guess what made this game good is the shaky camera," and so a trend was born. It's like when the Matrix did slowmo and bullet dodging. People couldn't stop talking about Keanu Reaves falling on his ass rreeaallyy slowly.

 

[Labcoat Samurai]

Stand still for a while in *any* 3rd person game. The camera will eventually start moving on its own. Just sayin'

I don't know what you're talking about. The only experiance I can recall in standing still in any game was the character going into idle animations.

Well, I'm exaggerating when I say "any" but it's very common. Remembering which games exactly have it is a bit of a challenge for me, because they run together a bit, and I could be projecting one game onto another in my memory, but if you've played as many games as I have, and walked away without pausing as often as I have, cameras eventually getting a mind of their own seems normal. Not that that's the same thing as what happens in CV, exactly.

 

[DirgeNovak]

Dante's Inferno and Castlevania LoS are not "God of War but", they're outright God of War ripoffs, so complaining about Yahtzee talking about the similarities too much is completely retarded. He's a critic, remember?

 

[Labcoat Samurai]

- snip -

Struck a nerve eh?

The point of a reaction thread is to react. That's what I was doing. He made an impassioned case, I thought his points were flawed at best, so I said so. I wouldn't read too much into it.

Also, to most of your comments, "Lolwut?"

Eh, I stand by my comments.

 

[Brotherofwill]

Every action game I can think of has air combos.

Like...really? How many action games do you know XD.

It is not the equivalent for realism or even a hand-held camera if the image is shaking like Michael J. Fox's coffee.

Hahaha. Thin line man, thin line.

The strive for realism has never benefitted games and yes, trying to simulate a real working camera is a pretty dumb idea. Never understood why people can't hold their hands straight in movies, it's not that hard.