Stolen Pixels #251: Everyone Else is Wrong

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Shamus Young

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Jul 7, 2008
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Stolen Pixels #251: Everyone Else is Wrong

You can't apply math to art. Unless it's good math, in which case, go right ahead.

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Sennz0r

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May 25, 2008
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But Bilson, who's been the driving force behind the game since he joined THQ in 2008, is pretty happy. "A million units in a week on an original IP coming out of nowhere I think speaks a lot to the concept and the marketing of the game," he told IGN. "I think we really captured people's imagination with the IP. I'm very proud [of] what the teams have done with that game."

The goal, he continued, was not to beat modern shooter behemoths like Call of Duty but just to get THQ "in the conversation" and in that regard, he described it as mission accomplished. "Everybody's talking about Homefront," he said.

"Do I prefer that it's controversial? No, I'd prefer if everybody in the world loved it," he continued. "But there are 20-plus reviews that are over 80, there are some haters, and there are some mid-range ones. Do I read them all to see what we can do better next time and have every review be 100? Of course, our goal is always that. What I will say pretty clearly is the game is not a 71. You can't apply math to art."
Uhmm... what I took away from this section of the original article is that Bilson says he's pretty happy with how Homefront was received. I can't find anything in the entire article suggesting he's pissed because "it's only a 70, not a 71" (Or, of course, higher).

He's even saying they're looking through these reviews to see how to improve on the game. That might all be lies to save face, and it does sound strange considering he says math is not applicable to art a mere sentence later, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I don't see him condemning the reviews, scores or general reception of the game.

My question to you, Shamus, would then be: Where do you see it?
Maybe I'm not that good at reading in between the lines, but it seems to me you went into this one with a great deal of pessimism toward Bilson and Homefront.
 

unacomn

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To be fair, Metacritic treats a grate of 3 stars as a 60, a B as a 70 and a one thumb up as a 5.
Until there's a standardization of review scores, Metacritic is humbug.
 

illiterate

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Sep 10, 2008
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I think videogame scores work like grades these days. 71 is a C-.

Did the game deserve an F? If it doesn't crap it's pants every 30 minutes and cause your RAM to catch fire, that should at least be a passing grade these days, right?

I've never played homefront and nothing has made me regret that.
 

Caliostro

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Jan 23, 2008
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I agree that you can't apply a mathematical score to art. Personally I'd score the game a "Haven't we been here before in another, better (despite still being a gigantic pile of dysfunctional crap) game? Namely MW2? If that shit wasn't good, why would "knock offront" be?".


...That's... A lot lower than 71, I can tell you that.
 

FullMetalZ

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Mar 10, 2011
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Sennz0r said:
But Bilson, who's been the driving force behind the game since he joined THQ in 2008, is pretty happy. "A million units in a week on an original IP coming out of nowhere I think speaks a lot to the concept and the marketing of the game," he told IGN. "I think we really captured people's imagination with the IP. I'm very proud [of] what the teams have done with that game."

The goal, he continued, was not to beat modern shooter behemoths like Call of Duty but just to get THQ "in the conversation" and in that regard, he described it as mission accomplished. "Everybody's talking about Homefront," he said.

"Do I prefer that it's controversial? No, I'd prefer if everybody in the world loved it," he continued. "But there are 20-plus reviews that are over 80, there are some haters, and there are some mid-range ones. Do I read them all to see what we can do better next time and have every review be 100? Of course, our goal is always that. What I will say pretty clearly is the game is not a 71. You can't apply math to art."
Uhmm... what I took away from this section of the original article is that Bilson says he's pretty happy with how Homefront was received. I can't find anything in the entire article suggesting he's pissed because "it's only a 70, not a 71" (Or, of course, higher).

He's even saying they're looking through these reviews to see how to improve on the game. That might all be lies to save face, and it does sound strange considering he says math is not applicable to art a mere sentence later, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I don't see him condemning the reviews, scores or general reception of the game.

My question to you, Shamus, would then be: Where do you see it?
Maybe I'm not that good at reading in between the lines, but it seems to me you went into this one with a great deal of pessimism toward Bilson and Homefront.
"What I will say pretty clearly is the game is not a 71. You can't apply math to art."

I think that could be seen as arguing against the recieved score. Honestly, I don't trust any site that has members who actively bomb a game just because the devs didn't cater to their every whim.
 

The Wykydtron

"Emotions are very important!"
Sep 23, 2010
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Hold It!

The Wykydtron said:
They're right, Homefront is definately not a 71... It's more of a 50, 55 tops...

Pro Tip for the next game you guys make: Make it longer than 4-5 hours, try to elevate it beyond a mediocre CoD clone and make better characters, cuz i thought the most interesting character in that game was the Korean Sentry Towers
There now i don't have to rewrite it
 

Shamus Young

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Jul 7, 2008
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Sennz0r said:
But Bilson, who's been the driving force behind the game since he joined THQ in 2008, is pretty happy. "A million units in a week on an original IP coming out of nowhere I think speaks a lot to the concept and the marketing of the game," he told IGN. "I think we really captured people's imagination with the IP. I'm very proud [of] what the teams have done with that game."

The goal, he continued, was not to beat modern shooter behemoths like Call of Duty but just to get THQ "in the conversation" and in that regard, he described it as mission accomplished. "Everybody's talking about Homefront," he said.

"Do I prefer that it's controversial? No, I'd prefer if everybody in the world loved it," he continued. "But there are 20-plus reviews that are over 80, there are some haters, and there are some mid-range ones. Do I read them all to see what we can do better next time and have every review be 100? Of course, our goal is always that. What I will say pretty clearly is the game is not a 71. You can't apply math to art."
Uhmm... what I took away from this section of the original article is that Bilson says he's pretty happy with how Homefront was received. I can't find anything in the entire article suggesting he's pissed because "it's only a 70, not a 71" (Or, of course, higher).

He's even saying they're looking through these reviews to see how to improve on the game. That might all be lies to save face, and it does sound strange considering he says math is not applicable to art a mere sentence later, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I don't see him condemning the reviews, scores or general reception of the game.

My question to you, Shamus, would then be: Where do you see it?
Maybe I'm not that good at reading in between the lines, but it seems to me you went into this one with a great deal of pessimism toward Bilson and Homefront.
"THQ Vice President Danny Bilson says you can't apply math to art but when it comes to Homefront, it's "clearly" better than a 71."

He says you can't apply math to art, and then turns right around and tries to argue that they have the wrong numerical answer. He even suggests the answer is "clearly" wrong.
 

cynicalsaint1

Salvation a la Mode
Apr 1, 2010
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Normally I'd point out that its my belief that a game being a "71" or whatever being called "bad" is a show of a broken scoring system for games. Normally I'd agree that review scores in general are silly.

... but yeah, with this guy it sounds like he's making excuses
 

noogai18

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Feb 21, 2008
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Metacritic uses an oddball scoring system, right? And a 71 is closer to an actual 80?

That said, I didn't play Homefront, and it kind of sounds like an extended MW2 Ranger campaign, and I didn't particularly care for MW2.
 

shadyh8er

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Apr 28, 2010
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"THQ has not taken a principled stand. It has simply looked down in the bed it has made, and announced it prefers sleeping on the couch."

Awesome metaphor is awesome!

Captcha: not Meutsa

What then?
 

Sennz0r

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May 25, 2008
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Shamus Young said:
"THQ Vice President Danny Bilson says you can't apply math to art but when it comes to Homefront, it's "clearly" better than a 71."

He says you can't apply math to art, and then turns right around and tries to argue that they have the wrong numerical answer. He even suggests the answer is "clearly" wrong.
That's what it says in the article's blurb, yes. But none of Bilson's quotes in the rest of the article say it's clearly better than a 70. Yes, I agree upon reading the article in a different light you could argue he's saying that. Maybe I was reading Bilson's words in a way that made him sound more at peace with the review score because the statement was preceded by him saying he was happy with the game's reception by consumers and was not at all being negative about the received review scores.

I will however say again that I completely agree with the controversy in his statement of not being able to apply math to art and then proceeding as if the scores were relevant. I also agree had the scores been better he would've pointed to them as proof of THQ having released good art.
 

Elementlmage

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Aug 14, 2009
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I agree that the game isn't a 71 ... I'd score it lower.
Homefront is the videogame equivalent of Battlefield Earth; it's so awful you just HAVE to play it.

How the hell can you act surprised that the North Korean's found your "secret base" when you built it 100 yards from their base!
 

The Wooster

King Snap
Jul 15, 2008
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Wait... wait... you make a comic called "you can't apply math to art." and you use a robot to do the art? Megaburn.
 

HerbertTheHamster

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Apr 6, 2009
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You can apply math to everything.

Homefront was shit, 4/10 normally, 7/10 with video game industry standards. Such is the life of unprofessional reviewers.
 

Eleuthera

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Sep 11, 2008
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Grey Carter said:
Wait... wait... you make a comic called "you can't apply math to art." and you use a robot to do the art? Megaburn.
Are you telling us Ry-DELL isn't a computer?
 

The Wooster

King Snap
Jul 15, 2008
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Eleuthera said:
Grey Carter said:
Wait... wait... you make a comic called "you can't apply math to art." and you use a robot to do the art? Megaburn.
Are you telling us Ry-DELL isn't a computer?
Computers can draw hands.

Ima' have to agree with Shamus on this one. 71 for Homefront is... generous.