Surrealism

Strawberry hills forever

I've said it before but the topic does bare repeating; one of the greatest things about the video game medium is the ability to shirk the coils of what's possible and reach into the unfathomable limits of what's imaginable. The consequence of this freedom can inflate a dream into majestic reality and allow us to share the abstract and insane with those around us. To transcend beyond what we acknowledge to be 'real' and reach a state of 'surreal.' Obviously, the same could be said about any and all forms of none physical media, but seeing as how this is gaming blog, that's were I'm going to focus my gaze for this article.

There is a significant degree of danger when it comes to exploring the surreal in the pursuit of storytelling, it can seem alienating to the audience in a way that can put them off and even be a bit too exposing for the author. However, when you reach an audience that really resonate with your message it can create a strong bond/ connection. Just look at the, now cult classic, 1993 movie 'The Thief and the Cobbler'. That was a wondrous and often abstract movie that is often erroneously labelled as an Aladdin-clone. (The movie was in development for well over a decade. Although one could argue that the success of Aladdin pushed the responsible studios to get it finished) At the time many found it to be boring or too obtuse to understand or enjoy, but in the years since a new audience of people have clung to it and given the project a new life in home media. (Just a pity that the original director never lived to see it.)

Surrealism need not go to the extremes of abstract imagery and an entire storyline paved in lunacy in order to justify it's existence, merely subvert the expectations of it's audience to a fundamental degree. That is really the type of game that I honed in on for this blog, for no other reason then the fact that the truly abstract games are often hard to talk about to any sensible degree. (That being said, there is one game I selected which certainly fits into that category; but you'll have to wait until the end for that one.)

I doubt anyone would look at 'Ruiner' and immediately label it as 'Surreal'. The game itself is a top-down skill based shoot-em-up based heavily on powerups and varnished with a neon Cyberpunk gleam. But for me, the surrealism comes with the game's peculiar stylisation that inflates much of the tropes of it's themes and genres in a bright, punky, surrealist way. For example, the game starts with the player being thrust into several gun fights with very little explanation for what you are doing apart from the occasionally block-font prompt accompanied by the droning command "Kill Boss". Soon you'll meet the character 'HER' who guides you through the narrative with her odd vocalizations and inconsistent dialogue cues.You'll notice the primary colour cues accompanying each individual area that seem to throb with the hum of neon.Ultimately, you'll be swept in an overbearing Cyberpunk onslaught of a world that scream 'kitsch' in all the weirdest (and best) ways.

It is easy to look at any game with monochromatic colours and a lack of guided narrative and call it 'Surreal', but when looking at Playdead's 'Inside' there really isn't a better way to describe the whole experience. (Aside from 'beautifully horrifying', I guess.) Borrowing the style of their other iconic title 'Limbo', 'Inside' is a story told entirely through visuals with enough vagueness to it's events that the majority of the story must be deciphered by it's confused players. With such a stark presentation to it all, themes start to stand out of 'Control' and 'Compliance' but the overall package can remain still very elusive even after you reach that final screen. I don't want to spoil anything for those that haven't given this wild ride a go, but I'll bet that the ending will leave you feeling some kind of disturbed by the time the credits roll around. (Even if I can't tell you what it ultimately symbolizes. If anything.)

It is hard talking about a game that you haven't personally played, especially in excessive detail, but a list like this is too ripe for a Death Stranding entry for me to ignore. Hideo Kojima's first game outside of the influence of Konami's money men turned out to be the perfect example of surrealist storytelling from it's almost impenetrable story to it's incredibly divisive content. I've heard people hail it as one of the worst and best games ever made, and many more conclude that they have no idea what any of it meant at all. For my part, I've followed enough about the game to know that it, in some fashion, depicts the unravelling of reality as space, time and even existence twists in upon itself. A more surreal setup I could not come up with, that's for sure.

Once again, Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't a game that screams 'surreal' in retrospect, but one must simply apply some context to see what a break from the norm that this game was. The original Super Mario Bros. was a very weird and confusing game to come to terms with anway. We may all know the story now of an Italian plumber on the warpath to save Princess Toadstool whilst stomping on sentient mushrooms and dropping dragons in lava, but at the time it was quite the pill to swallow conceptually. Of course, the game still ended up being a hit and spawning one of the longest running franchises in gaming history. Super Mario Bros. 2, however, probably marks the biggest mainline departure from the formula that the games have ever gone through. Everything changed, from the enemies you were facing, the way you attacked them, and even the worlds through which you were traversing. Things became unexpected as the player was dragged up against sentient cacti, three headed snakes and a royal toad who can only be defeated by forcing him to eat vegetables. Of course, the reason for this would be that Nintendo retooled another upcoming game (Doki Doki Panic) into a Mario game for the masses, leaving in a lot of the weirdness from that entirely separate game in the process. So it all turned out well in the end, but it was certainly unbearably weird for a time.

Speaking of Doki Doki, how about that game about the Literature club? Ostensibly a traditional anime dating Sim, Doki Doki Literature Club lures it's victims in under a false sense of security by having them sail through a VN chock full of charming stereotypes and work on writing poetry to woo their girl of choice. Simple and mundane enough, right? But things quickly spiral out of control when the player starts to become aware that this game was never supposed to be a dating Sim, but was actually retooled from something much darker. As I mentioned in my other blog, it isn't long before characters start breaking the fourth wall, with one in particular making it very clear that she knows that you are playing the game and she wants everything to play out to her benefit. Once again, I won't go into specifics regarding how twisted everything gets, but trust me when I say that calling it 'Surreal' is definitely an understatement.

Finally, as promised, comes the one game which is the culmination of everything you instinctively imagine when you hear the word 'Surreal'; LSD Dream Emulator. This game, if you can call it that, takes players through a tour of absolute visual nonsense as you traverse a twisted dreamscape wherein every surface that you touch sends you spiralling into another world. Funnily enough, this game wasn't the result of an LSD trip (allegedly) but rather the work of a Japanese 'multimedia artist' called Osamu Sato. As far as the Wikipedia page states (saved you a Google) Osamu, like many artist of his time, rejected the idea of Video games and wanted to use the Sony PlayStation as an outlet for his art. This game came about due to his dislike for playing racing games, as he found them difficult and boring. He dreamed of crashing his car through the walls of the tracks and travelling into different worlds, and so that was the premise of the game that he went to make. This, dear reader, is surreal experimentalism at it's most raw.

With the level of complexity that one can achieve with modern video gaming software tools, it's a shame that Surrealism isn't more prevalent in the industry as of yet. But looking at the various visceral responses to games like Death Stranding, I suppose it makes sense that the money men want to take much safer approaches when it comes to bringing their games to life. Perhaps once things start opening up to streaming and we shirk the 'big money financed' console cycles (not yet I fear, Google.) we'll start to see more weird and wild concepts start to rule the roost.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

This one's for the Audience

In typical viewing media there are three metaphorical walls. The three surrounding the character that exist within their world, and the fourth which exists only for the audience to peek in. A transparent glass wall that separates the world of fiction from our own. This fragile separation keeps our viewing experience rationalized as it means we witness without being noticed, the characters play their parts without ever realizing they are in a play. But what happens when things don't play out like that? What happens when the characters break that cardinal rule of cinema and look directly into the camera? Is it anarchy? Does the fabric of space time collapse around us? Well no... we usually just get an overdone joke.

A significant degree of 'Modern' story telling in film, TV and now games, have followed the trend of traditional art (one century late) and gone 'Meta'. That is to say, they often like breaching the metaphysical barrier between fiction and reality and acknowledge that they are in a performance. At first this was a little bit quaint, a scandalous break from the norm that gave the viewers a forbidden look behind the curtain. That sort of shared secret between the audience and the character could even become engrossing as they wrap you up in their world by acknowledging your own. But over exposure, as always, as sullied this charming gimmick and turned in into a sour and predictable move. Such to the point that only the quirky (lazy comedy movies) and the committed (Deadpool) still stick to the formula. Even games have given up on this cliche for the most part, however there was a time when it was all over the metaphorical shop of gaming, and I want to approach that today.

Seeing as how I already mentioned already, I might as well start with Deadpool. Not the movie version starring Ryan Reynolds, but the Video game starring Nolan North. (Good lord, both their names are alliterative. They belong in comic books!) Deadpool is a character built around one simple premise: he knows that he is in a comic book and he doesn't care. That has carried over to every piece of media to which Wade had emigrated to and it means the game is inter-cut with many instances of Wade breaking the Fourth wall. Heck, the entire story is driven around the premise of Wade struggling to make Deadpool game after getting his propositions cancelled by the studio and firing his prospective voice actor (Nolan North, obviously.) What follows is a wacky affair in which Wade chases down some vague threat whilst, every now and then, making a snide remark to the camera or even shifting his own reality to fit to some joke. He even personally makes the final fight 10 times harder in order to make it more climatic by cloning the boss. (Sounds more like the actions of a really annoying lead designer, honestly.)

Metal Gear Solid, (ding-ding-ding. I've exceeded my Metal Gear quota for the week!) featured one particularly endearing trait wherein the series would occasionally acknowledges it's own existence for little moments of "Wait, did you notice that?" Metal Gear Solid 2 has that moment when Campbell's AI starts going haywire and he directly informs Raiden that he has been playing the game too long and should turn it off immediately. Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes has the level in which you re-enact scenes from the original Metal Gear and get your game infected with the classic 'FOX-die' virus only to have the actual Fox Engine (The proprietary engine made for the game) save you, And then there were those off-the-cuff moments throughout the game wherein characters would teach you how to play the game by actually saying things like "Press the Action button." (That always annoyed me, truth me told.) But the classic Fourth wall break would have to go make to Metal Gear Solid 1 during the fight with the iconic Metal Gear villain; Psycho Mantis. Things start off with Mantis 'reading your mind' (scanning your memory card) and then commenting on games that you like to play. (Spooky!) They come to a head, however, mid-way through the fight once Mantis starts dodging all of your moves instinctively. Calling for back-up reveals that Mantis is once again 'reading you mind' and the only way to shake him off is to replug your controller into the second game port. (You can see why they don't try cool tricks like that nowadays)

Borderlands 2 is primarily a comedic game at heart, so it makes sense that the team would be a little bit flippant when it comes to creating a solid and believable world. That being said, Borderlands has managed to only subtly prod at the fourth Wall throughout all of it games, but never go the whole hog and shatter the thing. One of my favourite moments for this is when Scooter sends the vault hunters off to bring power to a small settlement, which can be achieved through the acting of clearing monster infested pumps. He commends you for fixing the first pump without prompt and then comments about how weird it was that he knew the task was done the second you did it. (A subtle nod to the same logic fallacy that affects all games with silent protagonists.) The best, however, comes from 'Tales from the Borderland' in a scene wherein the protagonist Rhys is shocked by the fact that he has the consciousness of the previous game's antagonist, Handsome Jack, inside of his cranium. (I guess Cyberpunk was taking notes for this scene.) Handsome Jack plays around with Rhys by threatening to overload his neurons before laughing it off by saying he can't do that. He's still tickled by his ability to  terrify Rhys and, in Telltale game's style, a little prompt pops up in the corner stating 'Handsome Jack will remember that.' By chance, Jack finds himself noticing the little prompt and points to it saying "What the hell?" before it disappears and the scene goes on unabashed.

Bioshock isn't the kind of game that one would usually equate with being 'fourth wall breaking', and that's because it isn't... In the traditional sense. Whilst Bioshock is both a sober and satirical look at a twisted society driven by extremest socialist ideals, it doesn't take much to see how the game aims at video game culture as well, especially in it's twist. Now, I know that the game has been out for over a decade now, but seeing as how the twist itself is one of the best in gaming history I will dance around it here. (Look it up if you really want to know. Or better yet, play the game.) But safe to say, 'that twist' is a direct comment on the way that games incentivize the player by forcing them to do tasks for which the player is not in control. Even when presented with a branching RPG narrative, there are still restrictions to your actions at some point, making the art of video game storytelling almost 'enslaving' in it's execution. Perhaps not shattering the fourth wall wholesale, but defiantly noticing it in a smart way.

One 'Fourth wall breaker' that is well on it's way to becoming a classic is Dan Salvato's 'Doki Doki Literature Club'. That is a game in which the player is initially rolled into a traditional anime-schoolboy set-up only to have everything turn on it's head in the weirdest possible fashion. The first hint of anything going off-script is when Natsuke pokes fun at Monika by joking how she should be the person to talk to about matters concerning fish seeing as how it's in her name. After a moment of confusion, the girl spells it out for us; "Mon-Ika". Eventually, Monika has to wave it away be explaining that the joke doesn't work in the English translation of the game, and we get our first glimpse into the way that things aren't sensible in this game world. The game itself goes into fifth gear at times but, once again, I refuse to spoil things so I'll encourage those interested to seek it out yourself, you won't be disappointed.

Lastly, there is a game that one certainly wouldn't assume would be flippant with it's fourth wall, and yet when it was, the moment was undeniably perfect. 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' was  in development for a very long time and when it came out, critics and fans alike attested that it was worth the wait. The game was especially important for the Developers themselves, CD Projekt Red, as it was the conclusion of the franchise that had put their studio on the map. The team threw their hearts and souls into the game and were rewarded with adoration and fandom from practically every corner of the Internet. But things didn't end there, as the team then moved straight on to creating two DLC's for the game; 'Heart of Stone' and the new-land expansion: 'Blood and Wine'. With the latter DLC being the last time that CDPR would work on The Witcher for the forseeable future, the team ensured there would be a moment of closure for themselves and the fans. At the end of everything, once the day is saved, there is a moment wherein Geralt finally makes the choice to end his illustrious career of monster hunting and retire. Regis comments how the both of them deserve rest after their turmoil and strife, to which Geralt merely responds "That we do." Before looking straight at the camera to let the audience know that he's including us in that statement too. It's a touching scene to tell us all that he has earnt a break and is almost looking for our permission to take it, it was a moment that just felt right.

As you can see there are a great many number of ways that one can play around with breaking the Fourth Wall, and not all of them are lazy and awkward. That being said, I'm glad the trend has fallen off of late, before things started getting as dire as the 'modern art' scene and we started getting 'impressionist video games'. Perhaps there is still space for the odd subtle fourth wall wink in the future, in the same vein as The Witcher 3, but I'd still ask for it to be exercised in moderation before another foul trend starts to build.

Prosthetic Limbs

We can rebuild him!

Limbs are very important to human beings. (Judging by Spore's economy I can personally attest to how much DNA they cost to unlock in the first place.) As such it can be devastating to lose a limb and be forced to readjust to simple life. Luckily, in this enlightened age of ours, there exist handy prosthetic replacements for our lost limbs which can sometimes be as sturdy and versatile as the real thing. 'As good as' isn't enough for video games, however, and for that reason whenever prosthetics make it to the video game world, they often come with so many bells and whistles that one might wonder if it's worth keeping our flabby weak human bodies when we can have some of these incredible creations.

Whether we have a story exploring the limits of humanity in transhumanist philosophies, or simply a game in which an Anime-esque hunk uses his robot arm as a baton; Video games are full of examples of this kind of body modification. I suppose developers can see it as a 'proof of struggle' to lose one's limb, as it can be one of the hardest injuries to overcome. However such developers also realize that few people want to play a game wherein they are subject to a disfigurement, and so out come the robot replacements. That might be a simplification but I'd wager that train of thought legitimately paid some role in the absolute deluge of prosthetic limbs we've seen in games.

One could not start a subject like this without starting with the grandfather of it all; Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker. (Huh, that's two mentions in one week. I might be having another relapse...) Fans might remember a very distinctive prosthetic arm in that game belonging to one- hold on- Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov. (Phew, that's a mouthful.) When first introduced he appears to be a humble college professor travelling with his innocent schoolgirl accomplice who's name is literally 'Paz', which is Spanish for 'peace'. (There's a secret cover story that's trying too hard.) There's only one problem, the man has a bright metal robot hand that doubles as a cigarette lighter. (You get that from grading papers professor?) By the time this incredibly suspicious man, who just happens to hire you to investigate an extra-legal CIA occupation, reveals himself to be a Soviet spy, no one in the audience can manage so much as a pity gasp. Unfortunately this particular prosthetic doesn't prove very useful for Zadornov. Once he gets shot by Big Boss, after attempting an incredibly ill-advised quick draw against 'the world's greatest soldier', he makes a last ditch go for Snake by launching his robot arm with it's built in rocket function (What? Your prosthetic doesn't have one?) only to completely whiff his target and hit the wall. A sad way to go for the world's most conspicuous infiltration operative.

The arm, however, lived on. In the prequel to MGS V, 'Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes', Snake is caught in a helicopter crash that costs him his arm and rugged beauty. (Those scars might have some charm to them but the giant horn-shaped debris sticking out of his forehead will definitely cost him some Tinder matches.) But opportunity arises from tragedy as in 'Metal Gear Solid: the Phantom Pain' his old rival, Shalashaska, (colloquially known as Revolver Ocelot) gives him a replacement arm that is known as 'The Bionic arm'. (Probably because 'The Phantom Limb' made too much sense.) This arm is modelled directly off of Zadornov's, for some reason, all the way down to the red paint job. Player's can even unlock the ability to launch it from their arm down the line, just like the 'professor', except Snake's comes with remote control. (That's how you avoid looking like an idiot, Zardornov, by firing your forearm at your combatants instead of your very functional firearms.)

Okay, so I've never played Devil May Cry 4 (I own it, I'm just a lazy piece of poop) but as far I understand it, there is a point wherein the adorable little cherub Nero has his arm sawn off through means that have never been explicitly discussed. (Bummer.) Rather then settle down and live off his impending disability benefits, Nero lived up to his name-sake and decided to secure a demonic replacement known as Devil Bringer. (Maybe not officially a prosthetic but I'm counting it!) In DMC 5, the platinum haired Nero loses this demonic gift and is forced to replace it with a robotic arm called Devil Breaker. This one has the ability fire unearthly demon beams at enemies, pull them over Scorpion-style in order to prolong a combo, and make it explode. (As you do.) However, Nero is in luck because some charitable soul decided to scatter levels with replacement arms, for some reason. (I guess the NHS are over funded in the DMC universe.)

Of course, there is one classic video game character who's prosthetic is so iconic that most forget he even has it, despite the fact it's really hard to ignore a huge black man with a Vulcan minigun for an arm. As I remember it is never explicitly explained why Barret has his minigun arm, nor why his former friend entrusted him with the raising of his daughter in spite of that aforementioned child-unfriendly implement. Whatever the reason, it means that Barret Wallace if often a stable of any team makeup for FF7 due to his useful ranged attacks and his tankiness. (Primarily for the tankiness.) It sure is encouraging that the Shinra of Midgard allow a man who should be classified as a weapon to walk the streets unhindered. (I bet he doesn't even get stop searched.)

On a more philosophical note 'Deus Ex Human Revolutions' proposed an interesting question; if your body was damaged to such a degree that you required a body worth of robotics in order to live, are you still human? (The ol' 'Ship of Thesus' question. ) Every part of Adam Jensen's body is redesigned by David Sarif into tools for hunting down those that kidnapped legendary scientist Megan Reed. Adam is forced to confront a body he doesn't recognize in a world torn by prejudice against the mechanically enhanced as he unravels the world's deepest cabal. (God, I sound like a movie announcer.) Honestly, this is one of my favourite examples of transhumanism in gaming and I sure hope that Jensen's story gets a third game to round out the story. (For the love of god, Square, I'm begging you!)

Tactical revolution, 'Xcom: Enemy Unknown', encountered some controversy regarding prosthetics when it came to envisioning their expansion/new release: 'Enemy Within'. This arose because the new 'mech units', who were designed to balance against the powerful Alien robotics from the late game, had to be piloted by individuals without arms or legs. (So that the mech suit could act as a replacement.) This meant that those who wanted to turn their soldiers into mech units would have to opt them into a procedure to have their limbs removed and replaced with metallic supplements. At the time there was some hubub by those who thought this was 'glorifying body mutilation', but then there were people who claimed that Xcom 2's badass Alien-head wall was 'unhygenic' so I don't but much stock in the word of outrage warriors.

Hold on. Another Metal Gear mention? I've gone mad with power! As it turns out, there is yet another example of prosthetics in Metal Gear, although this one did go a little overboard. Anime schoolboy stand-in, Raiden, was far-in-large the least cool member of the Metal Gear cast after his debut in Metal Gear Solid 2. Especially in the way that they replaced series icon Snake with a guy who is such a pathetic spy that his girlfriend is on the support line and repeatedly calls him by his real name several times over the airwaves. ("Jack, do you know what day it is?") Hideo Kojima amended this by replacing most of Raiden's body with cybernetics in Metal Gear Solid 4 and having him literally wield a samurai sword into battle. (I'm fairly sure this counts as overcompensation.) In Metal Gear Rising Revengence, Raiden has even more bodyparts replaced and essentially becomes a murder fueled robot of death and destruction. (Without all the philosophical hints that Deus Ex implemented.) Throw in a line where cyborg Raiden utters that infamous line; "The Memes!" and Kojima may have created the ultimate life form.

Bizarrely this is such a common trend across video games that I had to leave out a few of the ideas that I had come up with. (The Sekiro arm is too similar to Devil Breaker anyway.) Personally, I do enjoy the hints of imagination that this particular cliche invokes, not just in gaming, but for story telling in general. That 'body horror' angle mixed with typical badass-ery is just the right blend of surreal cool to make me smile every time; and I look forward to see if future games with this idea, like Cyberpunk 2077, go the whole hog and show all angles, the cool and the weird, all in one package.

Sonic lives?

Gotta go fast!

Has it already been a year since the Sonic movie first terrified audiences with it's grotesque depiction of everyone's favourite anthropomorphic hedgehog? (That's right, Silver, Shadow, Manic and Sonia; I don't even respect you.) It is very rare when there is a single topic on which all the world can agree. Some folk still stand up for Fallout 76 despite everything that Bethesda has subjected them too, some say that Game of Thrones season 8 was good despite having working eyes and (presumably) brains, but there was one topic that bought the whole world together in solidarity; Movie Sonic looked bad.

Okay, maybe not 'bad' per se... That would imply there was something lacking in the fundamental animation which translated into a poor viewing experience, rather he just looked unsettling. Ever since that first teaser image popped up on Twitter, people were pointing out his abnormally bulky calves and forearms, as though someone consciously decided that the talking blue hedgehog should depict realistic muscle growth. (Maybe it was a body positivity thing?) Safe to say, the whole image just made people uncomfortable and worried for what the actual movie could end up subjecting us to.

And, as it turns out, those fears were very much warranted; because once that first trailer dropped everything hit the fan. It's hard to accurately quantify all the things that the studio got wrong with this trailer, but needless to say that chief among those issues was their protagonist's design. Despite there being a literal decades worth of Sonic games that exist in the 3D world, with several consistent 3d renders of Sonic, the studio decided to go their own twisted direction and ended up creating a horrifying abomination to man. (The limbs were just the beginning.) His arms were blue, he didn't wear his signature gloves, they shrunk down his eyes, gave him human teeth and shrunk his spikes, all in some misguided attempt to rationalize his proportions. Instead they just crafted the stuff of nightmares.

The worst part was that the second anyone looked past the terrible character design they saw how the rest of the movie was just as bad, if not worse. Firstly, the team thought that the perfect song to accompany a trailer for Sega's mascot was Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise'. (I think they meant it to sound 'ironic', likely not noticing the fine line between that and 'moronic'.) Secondly, instead of telling a 'Sonic' story, they went for a tired 'cartoon character goes to the real world and discovers friendship' plot that was never good and has been covered by Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Hop. (Which also starred James Marsden. Poor guy.) Thirdly, the trailer wasn't funny. Oh don't get me wrong, I don't mean that the team misunderstood their target demographic to such a degree that they tried to make a serious Sonic movie, (Although with the soundtrack offered in the trailer I wouldn't be surprised if they did) more that every joke in the trailer sucked. Sonic's jibes weren't funny, Jim Carrey's Robotnik was anti-funny and the joke about child kidnapping at the end of the trailer was... a miss.

By all intents and purposes that should have been the end of the story. 'Studio tries another video game movie cash grab and gets everything wrong'. The end, let's all move on with our lives. But something about this movie stood out to people. Folk didn't just shake their heads and go on with their days, no, they were actively disgusted with this trailer and wanted to let it be known. The trailer was disliked to oblivion, the design was ridiculed all over social media, and some select Sonic alumni tastefully turned their nose to the project. Jeff Fowler, the movies director, even took to twitter to acknowledge the criticism and reveal that they would completely redesign the character before launch. Later he clarified that the movie would be consequently delayed and that their animators wouldn't get overworked. So there it is, nerd backlash actually managed to delay an upcoming movie. (Such power!) 

Of course, it's not like anything substantial would come from this delay, afterall, no one cares about making a good sonic movie (or do they? No. The answer is no they don't.) However now, after months of waiting, we can see that someone cares enough to put together a decent looking Sonic to at least try and get butts in seats for this impending disaster. The trailer has finally dropped and Sonic looks: good. Just good. Not brilliant, remarkable or unique, and no where near the level of "Huh, I didn't think you could pull this off but you did" levels that Detective Pikachu pulled off; but still decent enough that people who have grown up with Sonic all these years can look at it and go "Yeah, I recognize him."

The key comes from the way that the trailer borrows from a lot of the design traits that the 3D games use in order to bring their character to life. The unrealistic proportions, huge expressive eyes, lack of human teeth, all of this brings to life a being that shouldn't be in our world but in a way that is pleasing to the eye. This is because the team went out of their way to consult with an individual who has a lot of history envisioning Sonic, Tyson Hesse, who had worked in the past to do variant covers for several issues of the Archie Sonic comics and who animated the colourful intro to the latest Sonic game; Sonic Mania. (We don't talk about 'Forces') He even story boarded and animated a couple of Mini series' for Sega. (Huh, bring aboard the ideals of working Sonic designs as well as someone with experience and you get a decent final product. Who'd have thought?)

Of course, this doesn't save the rest of the trailer which still looks like hot garbage. Okay, things aren't quite as bad as the first go around, one line even made me chuckle, although the line itself was far from original. Jim Carrey's Robotnik doesn't look quite as hammy as before and some of Sonic's scenes look like they've been reshot. (or maybe the trailer just rearranged them.) For me, the weird thing now is certain elements of Sonic's characterization. It's hard to put my finger on from the trailer alone but he seems kinda whimpering in a few certain scenes like when he begs an assailant not to hurt James Marsden. Why would Sonic do that? He's used to acting not begging for leniency. It just struck me as odd, is all.

At the end of the day will this get me to go and watch the Sonic film? No. But then one could move heaven and earth and still not manage to get me in the theatre come February. This kind of movie would never be my cup of tea and that's alright. But for those who would come for nostalgia or simply to watch something colourful, they might be enticed now that the front character isn't a hell demon. I find it encouraging that such improvements were driven because of fan feedback and that they turned out this well, enough so that I want this movie to be rewarded by people going to see it. Perhaps that alone would make this odd choice of movie an example to the movie and video game industry in the future. (Yikes, we live in a weird world.)

When Devs sneak into games

There's a familiar face...

Let's be real with each other for a moment; what is the point of making a video game if you don't get the chance to stick yourself in it? Developers put their hearts, souls, and considerable amounts of working hours into creating these products with the intention of them standing the test of time, don't they deserve to slip themselves in somewhere, maybe in a place so obscure that only they will know? What better place to immortalize yourself than in the digital plainscape wherein your likeness will last for perpetuity? (Or at least until the hardware evolves enough to make your game unplayable.)

In movies we occasionally see the director self-insert in sneaky little ways that makes the audience go 'oh look'! Like in Return of the King when Peter Jackson costumed up like an Orc and got shot in the chest or that time that George Lucas turned his entire family into Star Wars toys. (Okay, maybe not that second one.) Given the opportunity however, such inserts can come across as weird, unearned or pretentious. (Like in Lady in Water wherein M. Night. Shyamalan cast himself as a misunderstood genius martyr.) This is a phenomenon that has crossed over to video games over the decades, with varying results.

Perhaps one of my favourite self-inserts comes from the classic PSP masterpiece: Metal Gear Solid; Peace Walker. (which hails from a franchise spawned from the wonderfully weird mind of Hideo Kojima.) One of the earliest levels of this adventure has Naked Snake, now appointed the title of Big Boss, infiltrating a storehouse in search of missing nukes. (Just like on your normal Saturday.) It is at this point that Peace Walker gives players one of their first glimpse into it's silly side by playing "What's behind that door?" with you. And yes, one door opens up to a room full of wrought iron cogs. ("Metal gears?")As you have likely deduced from this setup, the penultimate door opens up to the kidnapped form of the franchise's visionary director; Hideo Kojima. (Whom Snake apparently knows, seeing as how he instantly recognizes him as "Mr Kojima?") From that point onwards Hideo Kojima joins your personal mercenary army with lackluster skills in everything but tech. Obviously. (One touch that I particularly liked was the way that Kojima's ingame bio notes how his body is made up of "70% games". A reflection of his twitter bio which quotes the statistic as "70% movies".)

The first person cowboy game of the 2000's was Techland's Call of Juarez. Is was gritty, bombastic and even downright cinematic at times, whilst always remembering to pay homage to it's Hollywood western routes. With such a history, it only made sense for the developers to search for a suitably western way to sneak their names into the game, and they achieved exactly that with their wanted posters. That's right, throughout the gameworld the player can come across hidden wanted posters that feature the printed out mugs of various developers wearing cowboy hats and putting on their best desperado face. I suppose this means the next logical step is for the Devs to program themselves in as actual bounties to be hunted by players. (Next game, guys.)

As Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker was the second entry in the 'prequel' series of Metal Gear games, it would be several years before we got a follow-up to let everyone know what happened to everyone's favourite mercenary: Hideo Kojima. When Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes rolled around we got to see exactly that as an extra mission allowed us to cover Kojima in his explosive escape from a recon mission gone wrong. (Not too sure why we sent in the tech guy for that.) However, folk had due concern to be worried for Mr. Kojima's safety considering that Ground Zeroes ends with the violent dissolution of your military force by way of several explosions. Which in hindsight is a little odd considering the base seemed fine after you battled a schoolgirl driving a nuclear mechsuit on top of it. (Metal Gear is a weird series.) Luckily, once Phantom Pain rolled around we got to discover the final fate of Kojima-san. Seems he was one of the 10 survivors of the assault and wound up being caught by the Russian forces in Afghanistan. (Who decided to keep him in the exact same room where the kept, and lost, Kaz. These guys aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, huh?) Therefore it's up to Venom Snake to save Kojima one last time and recruit him once again to the noble job of providing military aid in exchange for funds. (Do you think Kojima is trying to tell us something about what he wants to do after he's done with games?)

During one of the content showcases for Final Fantasy 15, leading up to that game's launch, fans were treated to a custom battle between protagonist Noctis and a unforseen opponent; CEO of Square Enix Yosuke Matsuda. Mr Matsuda showed up out the blue and pretty much creamed the crown prince of Insomnia with his magical sword (Which I'm sure the real Yosuke definitely has.) Fans of this surprise boss (I know you're out there) would have to wait until a whole other game to get a chance to experience the surreal insanity of that fight for themselves. Underrated masterpiece 'NeiR: Automata' was only ever graced with a single DLC; an arena mode called: 3C3C1D119440927. (Really rolls of the tongue.) As you've likely guessed, the secret final boss of this mode is Yosuke Matsuda himself, realized in full 3d bullet-hell glory. Of course, just to put a cherry on top of the whole encounter, half way through the fight, CEO and President of Platinum games, Kenichi Sato, shows up. So if you want two old Japanese business men shouting waves of energy at you (lets be honest, who doesn't?) then NeiR: Automata is the game for you! (PSA: 'NeiR: Automata' is fantastic for a lot of other reasons, I swear! Don't let this one incredibly weird facet put you off!)

You know what game series is even more surreal and weird than Metal Gear? Five nights at Freddies. That is a franchise that built itself around the simple premise of haunted Chuck-e-cheese animatronics and has sense gone on to confuse audiences everywhere with confusing plot twists involving bite victims, animatronics in skin suits and the hungry souls of murdered children. All this comes from the entrepreneuring mind of one; Scott Cawthon, a man who managed to turn his early game development missteps into a wildly successful franchise. (Good for him.) I suppose it was only a matter of time before he managed to work himself into one of the games, and that he did with the weird, bright and occasionally annoying RPG: Fnaf World. ("You won't get tired of my voice, will you?") Months before the impressive fangame 'The Joy of Creation', Fnaf World featured Scott as its final boss to round off this LSD trip of a game. Cawthon is envisioned as his blocky Twitter avatar and spends most of the fight bemoaning his excessive work cycle due to his voracious fans. (Okay buddy, well at least you have fans who want to see your work.)

One franchise that I have a begrudging respect for, even though I could care less for the movies themselves, is the Matrix franchise. It was one of the first legitimate attempts to create a multimedia franchise spanning websites, movies, tv-shows and games. (If only they could all tell interesting stories that aided a bigger narrative. What do you mean that was the intention? Well it didn't work. They sucked.) That being said, I appreciate the Wachowski's attempt to pull something original and unique with the concept of a franchise and I especially appreciate their tongue in cheek little message at the end of the second Matrix game; Path of Neo. That game very much ends like the film, with Neo and Mister Smith duking it out in the remains of The Matrix in a symbolic battle of good versus evil. (Very anime now I come to think about it.) However, this wouldn't work so well for a game (one on one final battle? Lame.) So the Wachowski's amended this fight into a mecha-like battle against one giant Mister Smith made out of several little Mister Smiths. (Creative.) Just before this fight, the game pauses for the Wachowski's to speak directly to the player to explain this change reasoning that this just seemed more fun.

I always do enjoy those little moments when developers go out of their way to remind you of the human element that goes into our favourite games. (Even when they do it in ways that are both super weird and uncomfortable.) It's a way for us to take a look at the faces of the hard working individuals and recognize those that don't get to take the stage at every E3, and for them it's a chance to be immortalized within their work. Who could ask for more?

Anthem Overhaul?

Back to the drawing board...

Could there be hope on the horizon for Anthem? Sentiments leaked from the studio appear to believe so, as reports have emerged from Kotaku that plans are being drawn up for a complete overhaul of everything that Anthem got wrong. (So they're remaking the game then?) Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding the Bioware studios of late, with key members of staff jumping as if from a sinking ship and preliminary reports detailing a live-service future, Bioware don't quite seem ready to give up on their failures and seem determined to ensure they don't keep one of gaming's biggest duds on their back catalogue. No official announcement has been made to that affect, but given what we have heard about Anthem so far, this seems to be a sensible move.

Folk have been somewhat optimistic when hearing of this news, whilst pondering if this could be a turning of fortunes for the game and studio. One comment I've seen a lot of, is variations of "Well, at least they'll have time to make the game good." Gracious but misinformed, which is part of the reason why I am dubious that a game like Anthem can be saved by a studio who have no idea what to do with it. And so, for my own sanity as much as for yours, I want to quickly skim over the history of Anthem behind the scenes to figure out if there is hope for this 'franchise' yet.

Firstly, lets not make any mistake here; 'Anthem' was not a rushed game. At least not in the traditional sense. Just because EA's ugly mug is slapped on the box doesn't mean those producers ran Bioware ragged with whips to get this game out, at least not initially. You see, Anthem was in pre-production for a while, a long while. Before 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' released (4 years too early, if you ask me.) there were already whispers about this project that the team had labelled, rather pretentiously, the 'Bob Dylan' of games. (Whatever the heck that means.) This 'Project Dylan' would take several forms throughout the years, with it's standout incarnation being of a game wherein the key gameplay loop is the exploration of various alien hostile environments. (Which, paired with a traditional RPG Bioware flair, actually sounds pretty interesting.)

That idea would never be fleshed out into a commercial product, however, as attentions and interest would be shifted elsewhere constantly. By the time the team came back to Project Dylan in a full capacity, they realized they had nothing concrete to build upon. Around about this time the head of EA wanted an update on what is was that he was paying the Bioware team to make, and they had to scrounge about to put together concept demo on the 'idea of the week' at the time. The Demo didn't exactly go down with a bang but Andrew Wilson did comment on how he liked the flying gameplay so the team, naturally, decided to pivot all their efforts to nailing this one aspect. That year at E3, the rest of the gaming world got to take a look at a rough theatrical pretend demo that was designed to disguise the serious identity crisis that this project was having behind the scenes.

At this point, the project was so haphazard and poorly communicated that many Bioware employees had only learnt what kind of game they were making the moment they saw that E3 reel. (I hope they got to see it first during rehearsals, at least.) Instead of being this bold, genre defying game that would be the 'Bob Dylan' of it's peers; (That's still a dumb comparison) Anthem had shaped up to be another looter-shooter that piggybacked off the engine built for 'Mass Effect Andromeda'. (Albeit with considerable reworking implemented towards the facial renders.) This may have been conceptually disappointing, but at least the team had an idea of where they were going and even familiar games from which to reference. Back when they were making a 'revoultionary game' with no idea what that would be and no visionary director to guide their way, things were pretty scary and confusing for the team, but now they had an end goal. There was just one problem, the team had messed about with EA's time for several years now and the head offices were demanding results post haste. What followed was a mad dash to the finish line as Bioware desperately attempted to put together an endlessly monetisable live-service within the space of 1 year.

The consequence of that rush was apparent from the moment anyone booted up the game on day one. Honestly it's difficult to concisely quote all the problems that this game had but I'll do my best to recall a few off the top of my head. Firstly, the story was pathetically vague to such a degree that it made Destiny look good. The story underwent so many cuts that the main narrative was nigh-on incomprehensible at times and the core idea that Anthem hooked in prospective players with (the titular Anthem of creation) will likely gone down in storytelling history as one of the most underused plot devices of all time. The looter-shooter aspects were sorely lacking, with less guns than your average modern Battlefield game, and a serious problem with 'dead' stat rolls similar to the situation which sunk Diablo 3's credibility years previously. Quests weren't fun, enemies were lame, levels and locales were recycled and the game was prone to so many bugs and crashes that some blame the software for bricking their consoles. (I think that may have been debunked, but I'm not sure.)

The situation was only exacerbated by the way that Bioware went quiet as the main team, Bioware Edmonton, handed things over to their B-team, Bioware Austin, and went into hiding as the community started to burn. Reducing the workforce is expected for a live service but it usually happens after the game is finished so that the remnants can work on maintenance and additions, this was literally an example of jumping from a sinking ship. Predictably, Bioware fell behind severely on their promised road-map and dumped their only promising sounding content, The Cataclysm, late and bereft of any creativity and content. Needless to say, the community felt betrayed and ripped off and everyone held their breath waiting for EA to proclaim this game as dead as Google Stadia will be in a couple of weeks.

We're still waiting on that prognosis, but if recent rumors are to be believed then the doctors already know the case and are in the midst of planning some foul necromantic ritual to cover for their mistake. (I'm not sure if that's admirable or cowardly.) As the news goes, some people are saying that this 'overhaul' is so substantial that some people are referring to it as 'Anthem 2.0' or 'Anthem Next'. (Which, word to the wise, are terrible and derivative names. You should leave that to the marketing team, it's literally what they're paid for.) However, at the same time we are hearing talk that the heads are unsure whether this will be a single update, a collection of updates, or a whole new game altogether. And that is a bad miscommunication to kick off with considering that this mess of a game was born from teams who had no idea what they were making for so long.

If there is one silver lining to all this news, however, it would have to be the fact that Edmonton and Austin are apparently working together to get this update off the ground. Originally the teams had gone their separate ways whilst Edmonton tried desperately to cobble together the remains of their recently cancelled: 'Project Joplin' into Dragon Age 4 (That's right, that little E3 teaser was another empty bluff. Bioware never learn their lesson, do they?) But it seems that 'Anthem' has been designated as such a sore point within the gaming community that the entire team have redirected efforts to work towards fixing it. For the sake of their collective reputation if nothing else. Of course, this conflicts with the announcement that Bioware are also working on their next Mass Effect game, but seeing as how that announcement was made on N7 day; (and how full of crap Bioware have been in their public statements recently) I'm assuming that the 'work' that's gone towards this new Mass Effect probably consists of a single piece of concept art and sticking a '2' to the end of the word 'Andromeda'.

All of this sounds promising to read about, but we have yet to see if there is enough of a core team left at Bioware to put together a great game, even with the full team working at their best. When Final Fantasy XIV was undergoing significant hardships, it took a great amount or risk from the team to fix things and turn them to working order. They had to take the entire game off line and relaunch it after a huge amount of maintenance and reworking to get it functional again. That is the sort of dedication that 'Anthem' needs, and even then there is no guarantee that people will come back. Diablo 3 had significant issues at it's launch that the team had to sink effort into fixing but the reputational damage was already done for them. Diablo is still looked upon as the poorest modern example of it's own genre, just as 'Anthem' is considered the worst AAA looter shooter. (with good reason.) Now that the team is essentially starting from scratch with a proven leader at the helm, Casey Hudson, I'd understand the glimmer of hope that is settling into the community today, however I then remember the number of talented individuals who are no longer with Bioware and I can't help but sigh. That company is so unrecognizable that they didn't even get the contract to work on 'Baldur's Gate 3'. (That ended up going to Larian.) Time may prove me wrong, and I sort of hope it does, but I won't hold my breath for no one.

Obsidian's new game: Grounded

Honey, I shrunk the team.

Obsidian must be having quite the year of late. Theirs is studio that is relatively small in the grand scheme of Video games, and yet a great deal of attention has been placed on them for late as people have held them as the last great RPG developers. (Guess we're all forgetting about Larian Studios, huh?) Recent weeks must have somewhat encouraging for the team at least, as the newest RPG 'The Outer Worlds' was met with considerable praise and love from the gaming community. People fell over themselves to compliment the studio for bringing respectability and quality back to gaming (and not throwing in oodles of Microtransactions) and even went so far as to encourage people to seek out the game as a substitute to many of the disappointing releases that we have seen these past couple of months.

Obsidian are never ones to rest on their laurels, however, and they've already got around to announcing their next game at that big Inside Xbox event that I definitely knew was happening and didn't completely miss. (Now is there a quick recap vid I can watch?) If anything, this has solidified the fact that Obsidian certainly have a working relationship with Microsoft ('The Outer Worlds' was also available on the Window's store but not Steam.) and that we could perhaps be looking at an acquisition down the line. But speculation aside, the folks at Obsidian used their time to surprise their fans by debuting a game that doesn't look anything like their past endeavours. They showed us all a first look at Grounded.

This game, as it turns out, would have made for a good entry in my 'perspective' blog a few weeks back, as it is a survival type game that takes place in that most hostile of environments, the average American's backyard. Obviously, the twist here is that the player has been shrunk down to a minuscule stature and is forced to scavenge around the backyard in order to survive against the, now relatively huge, insects and bugs that litter the world. This means that players will be expected to decapitate leaves, build homes, and put together makeshift weapons to help them survive the night. (Think 'Honey, I shrunk the kids' meets 'Minecraft'.)

As you are put in the shoes of such a tiny individual, everything you see in the world around is made extraordinary through the merits of forced perspective. A long-discarded baseball is now a monolith in the landscape, and a tiny crack in the dirt becomes a huge ravine to traverse. This gives the team plenty of space to be creative in the ways that they populate their landscape and also the kinds of creatures that will try for the player's life. Just like in the Rick Morales' movie, we've already seen players battling against giant ants with makeshift spears. (That's the players who have the spears, not the ants. That would be scary.) Of course just as with all trailers, this one had to end with a big stinger. And no, that is not a bee pun. For Grounded, Obsidian decided to shoot themselves in the foot by showing off the one thing that will ensure that I, and many others, will never touch this game with a ten foot stick. The trailer ends with a deadly battle against a huge f-off Spider, and I am officially not getting this game. Forget that noise.

At the event itself we got a closer look into this co-op survival experience by way of a Mixer livestream that showcased actual gameplay. Through this we learnt the little ways in which Obsidian want to shirk the prejudice of the 'survival genre' and deliver a game that is genuinely fun and emanates with that core Obsidian vibe. Firstly, despite the game not being an RPG, there will be something akin to buffs and debuffs in the game itself. So far, we've only seen how this works in relation to hunger and thirst. (Should you let either bar deplete it will start hurting you until you reach the brink of death.) but there will be buffs related to the gear you craft as well. Which is something I'm always a huge fan of.

Another cool little aspect they spoke about was the way in which they aim to have wildlife react throughout the game. Similar to how they wanted things to work for New Vegas, the team hoped for the wildlife to exist to their own capacity within the world they reside. This means that worker ants will search for food, bees will search for honey, so on and so forth. Essentially this means that the garden will be initially passive to your presence and that you as a player will make the choice to co-exist with the garden or raise some hell. (I'd imagine some objectives will require an antagonistic approach.) They even spoke about the possibilities of implementing a reputation system (again, similar to New Vegas) wherein the way you treat these various insect factions will effect how they treat you in kind. They even expressed a desire to implement taming and riding insects. Although they made it sound like such a feature was still just an idea at this stage.

The team chose to take a 'metroid-vania' style of approach when it came to the design to ensure that there is some narrative progression to the world and that players can be gated from reaching certain areas that they are not meant to reach yet. The example that we have been provided with so far proposes that there could be one area of the yard that is submerged in 'The haze', (weed killer) which would require players to craft some sort of rudimentary gas mask in order to traverse. This blends into their desire to ensure that this isn't, what they call, a 'forever game'. (Like one would see in games like Minecraft, Rust, and No Man's Sky) There is a definitive objective to achieve in this world and everything you work towards in in aid of that goal. (Likely the unshrinking of yourself.)

Obsidian want this world to feel alive by emphasizing that the player will not be left with just the option to harvest everything but to reach a state of harmony with the wildlife. This works with the reputation system I mentioned earlier, as well as the ways in which you manage to stay sustained. We heard the team talk about how water would gather atop of leaves that would require you to shake in order to get at the liquid. Food can be gathered from spit roasting insects, but I'd be surprised if one couldn't also find fallen berries and fruit to harvest. Players may even need to work in harmony with insects in order to face some of the threats to come, like the weather systems. (which aren't implemented yet.)

As of yet, everything is still very early in development and it's likely to stay that way for a while considering that the team working on this game only numbers 15 people. A couple of representatives revealed as much to ensure everyone that this project is not taking time away from Obsidian's big projects (whatever they may be) and their flagship RPG greatness. With that being said, I do still find myself fairly intrigued with what's on offer and am cautiously optimistic to see if this team can deliver on the things that they've promised. Honestly, if they can pull of all of these systems that they say they can, we could be looking at the birth of the future gold-standard of survival games. But until we see more it's hard to make such bold claims yet. 

Celebrity Cameos

They're just like you or I

Let me be cynical for a second as I say that the easiest way to circumvent the process of creating an interesting and likeable character who is loved for all of their strong personality traits and/or driving goals, is to just replace all that with a celebrity cameo. Now, of course, that isn't always the case when it come to arrangements like this but it sure tends to be more often than not. Afterall, celebrities already have a following of some sort, must be innately likable in some way, and can draw a decent crowd to your project. This is the reason why big name actors now rule the Hollywood screens and why we see gaming studios drop big money to bring such talent over to this world.

I've always approached the fabled celebrity cameo with a healthy degree of skepticism as I try to figure out exactly what it is that the studios are trying to sell me. Even in the times when the cameo has worked out so well that you forget you're listening to the soothe vibrations of celebrity vocal cords, there is still a hint of exploitation behind the whole process that turns my stomach a little bit. The exercise must rake in some success, however, seeing as how video game studios are still giving it a swing as recently as this year. (It still isn't rampant as in main stream movies, though, so it can't be too profitable in the long run.)

I think that perhaps the most contemporary example of this is in Hideo Kojima's latest work, Death Stranding. (Light spoilers.) Some ripples have reverberated over the Internet in regards to this title and it's not just because of the fact that the game is as weird and wacky as people have been assuming it would be for all these years. Nor is it due to the occasional piece of out-of-place product placement that we see scattered around the game world. I think the biggest "What?" that seems to have been stemming from this game is the secret in which you can track down Conan O'Brien and have him give you a hat in the shape of an Otter. Now I could go into details of where you find him and the potential links that this appearance could have to his 'Clueless gamer' skits, but honestly does any of that really matter? Conan O'Brien's hologram shows up in a Hideo Kojima game. 'Nuff said.

When I forced myself into Gears of War fandom in order to keep up with everyone else's hype, the last thing I was expecting was for a rapper to turn up as one of the side characters in the latest entry. And yet, Gears of War 3's Aaron Griffin turned out to be exactly that as he was voiced and loosely modelled around Ice-T. Epic games were clearly proud of this particular collaboration as he was one of the hardest characters to unlock in that game's horde mode too, requiring players to make a stupid amount of money through playing the mode. (Enough to require several days worth of playtime to be dedicated exclusively to this mode.) Epic even reached out to Mr. T again (Not that Mr.T) when it came time for Borderlands 3. Or at least, I assume the Epic connection was the reason why Gearbox were saddled with bringing Ice into their game.

Ubisoft wanted to get onto this train this year with a game that I have covered a decent bit on this blog: Ghost Recon Breakpoint. If you remember, I mentioned how they wanted to make a big splash with the major villain of that game by modelling him and having him voiced by Jon Bernthal. Now Mr. Bernthal is a tremendous actor known for his roles in Walking Dead and the Punisher, and casting that man as a disgruntled ex-special forces terrorist seemed like actual dream casting. Unfortunately, this game was written by Ubisoft's games-as-a-service team and so they actually managed to bungle a script that literally wrote itself. Bernthal's Walker does what he can but there is only so much anyone can do with a generic, unfocused 'mad at the system' character who is, bizarrely, designed in such a way that the player can kill him off half way through the game and have the rest of the plot play out without him. (Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a mastermind?)

Mass Effect Andromeda is hardly a game that will go down in history for great characters and/or voice acting but I always keep it at the back of my mind for several odd reasons; one of which being the fact that it is currently listed on Natalie Dormer's IMDB page. That is because Bioware decided to cast her as the Tempest's medical office, Lexi T'Perro. This was clearly done in a way to capitalize off of her recent 'Game of thrones' fame and not to benefit the actress' talents, as was made apparent by the way that Bioware published several videos teasing her involvement whilst in game she played an extremely forgettable side character. Lexi hardly has any baring on the main narrative and even when she does get the chance to speak it is as cold and clinical as humanly possible. (I honestly can't remember if this character has an emotion in the entire game.) So when it comes down to a question of wasted talent, Mass Effect Andromeda knocked it out the park here, too.

The Saints Row series, known for the odd wink-and-nod to the audience, went above and beyond with their cameo when they announced that Keith David would be playing your vice president in Saints Row 4. This came alongside much fan fare and advertisement despite the fact that, as veterans of the franchise would know, Keith David already played a character in Saints Row lore; the original leader of the Saints: Julius. (And you can bet that the Devs didn't miss a chance to mention that in the game.) Keith David is placed front and center in this game as a main character and given plenty of material to be as funny as possible, making him one of the better examples of cameos that we can see in the world of gaming.

Of course, one can hardly talk about gaming cameos without bringing up the classic; GTA San Andreas. That is because San Andreas is a game that is practically dripping with cameos out of every orifice. (Such to the point where the term 'cameo' actually loses all meaning.) We're talking about a cast containing the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Penn, Ice-T (again), James Woods, Peter Fonda, David Cross, Danny Dyer, Frank Vincent and more I'm sure. What makes it even better; some of those characters I mentioned are actually reoccurring or main characters. None of these characters are celeb fodder and most of them use the talents of the actor to elevate a strong character into an unforgettable one. This is the reason why San Andreas' cast is still remembered as the best that Rockstar ever assembled. (Also the music tracks. They were great too.)

Oftentimes celebrities are used as a replacement for good writing, that's immutable, but occasionally something decent and interesting can come from it. For every time that CoD uses Kevin Spacey or Kit Harrington for forgettable stock villains, there are games like Fallout New Vegas who know exactly how to use one of their celeb stand in's, The Radio DJ: Mr Las Vegas; to make for a fitting subject, The Radio AI; Mr New Vegas. I suppose it's up to the consumer to decide if they find the very prospect insulting enough to hold it against the larger game, or if they'll at least keep an open mind up until their suspicions are confirmed.

Strict restrictions from the Middle Kingdom!

Times up!

At this point you may have cottoned onto the fact that I, lover of games that I am, do not see myself as the most outspoken fan of the Chinese Government and their need to assert themselves around the globe. In fact, I don't like the idea of any government body inserting their ideals into matters of art and entertainment as it's a relationship which, historically, had never ended well for any party involved. (Least of all the consumer.) So colour me concerned when I hear about a sweeping restriction shackled onto the act of gaming by a government that is renowned for it's oppressive tendencies, even if the apparent intention is for a somewhat admirable cause.

That is the mindset with which I approach the news that the Chinese Government is imposing a curfew on gaming time for minors in an effort to fight against the effects of Video game addiction. It is a policy that sounds dubious on announcement and somewhat unenforceable with our current knowledge about how video games are distributed and played, but seeing as how this is China we're talking about, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't just announce the policy and let fear do the work in managing the populace. Although it must be noted, this policy only goes into effect for those under the age of 18 with presumably no restrictions imposed upon those that are considered adults. (Beyond having to play heavily censored China-only versions of international releases.)

This curfew isn't anything to be sniffed at either, specifically when it comes to it's specifications. Firstly, minors are forbidden from playing between the hours of 22:00 and 8:00, and they are limited to 90 minutes of gaming on weekdays with 3 hours on weekends and holidays. (No word if that restriction is by day or cumulative.) Ostensibly this is meant to curb Video game addiction, which officials claim is 'damaging to children's health', but these are likely the same officials that claimed the same about 'Peppa Pig', so I'd put serious doubt into the expertise and wisdom of these individuals. Also, a little fun thing to note: Despite claiming that Video games harm children, the government has not put a blanket ban down on children playing games because they know how much money they stand to lose from cutting off the most lucrative revenue source in their populace: dumb children. (Really doing it for the kids, huh China?)

To their credit, a phrase I would never thought I would use directed at the Chinese Government, this is a legitimate issue that they seem to have taken a stand against. The most prevalent and extreme cases of video game addiction, (You know, the one's involving people who neglect food and sleep in favour of gaming) tend to come from the Eastern world of gaming with us hearing a lot about these cases coming out of Japan. Now, of course Japan is almost night-and-day in social structure when it comes to China, but there are some fundamental cultural ques that run similar. Namely, the overbearing work ethic that stretches out individuals and wrings them dry through back breaking labour from working age till death. (Not to sound critical of such a practise. For one in my current situation, perpetual labour almost sounds like a paradise.)

One could throw on the 'amateur pyschologist' hat on all day and make assumptions as to what births and nurtures such an addiction, but I would guess that the shape of that society likely plays a significant role. There is certainly a degree of ostracizing that happens to those that aren't laser focused on their studies and those that fall behind are rarely caught back up as no systems really exist to accommodate for that. In this way it can be easy for those who struggle in their studies to fall into bad habits in which they never pull out from. Those who spend all of their time playing video games instead of interacting with the world are shunned, causing them to recede further into their seclusion and exile and eventually become outcasts. (A process I am more than familiar with.)In Japan, that is just one of the many reasons why organizations such as the Yakuza are never short of recruits. They have the opportunity to pick up any and all who fall to the wayside and give them a place to belong and a purpose to work toward. I couldn't claim that the Chinese Triad (or whichever name the organization goes by today) do the same, as I am not as familiar with the way they operate, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a mirror in that process to some degree.

The Chinese Government are ostensibly throwing this ban into action with the intention of stopping the gaming habit from forming early and becoming a problem that they don't have the tools to fix. Some could argue that it is a solution, but from where I'm sitting this looks like a classic case of battling the symptoms and ignoring the sickness. Although, I can't say that I'm quite surprised of that approach coming from the Chinese Government; afterall, they are the ones who concocted the One-child policy (Now a two-child policy) in order to combat a hypothetical overpopulation issue. A sweeping and extreme social policy which has resulted in a wholly new impending crisis wherein a third of their workforce is rapidly approaching retirement age simultaneously, a situation that has the potential to cripple many of China's industries.

I doubt that this gaming curfew will have such a drastic effect on Chinese society, however I do foresee a potential negative striking the modern gaming market. (Although you could see this as a positive depending on your point of view.) You see, I've spoken before about how the modern video game model (games as a service) turns your spare time into a currency and tries to gobble up as much of it as possible with recurrency incentives out the wazoo. In the long term this model is unsustainable for many reasons, but chief among them being that there are only so many hours in the day, this means that live-services are already competing with each other on such a high-bar that any game which isn't an instant hit will become dead wood for the company in matter of months if not weeks. This new policy from China accelerates that process tenfold.

Children who only have 90 minutes to play a game for that entire week no longer have the free time to throw around on whatever game comes their way, (Or rather, whatever game they can bug their parents into buying) which means that they would have to pick and choose to the extreme. Seeing as how China currently makes up the largest pool of gamers in the world, (Somewhere near 800 million individuals as I recall. No, I'm not sure how many of them are Children) this could result in a huge blow to Video game companies who were just starting to draw up plans for launching themselves at the Chinese market with the lifting of the console ban. And that isn't even taking into account the effect this will have on long-form games like MMOs and RPGs. Who knows, maybe a generation who grow up without the time to invest themselves in these grand sprawling adventures will find themselves easily bored with games that don't offer instant gratification once they grow of age. This could shatter the RPG market in China and really hurt those franchises which do well in the East like Dragon Quest. Of course, that would theoretically have a knock on effect for the western markets, due to the prevalence of the Chinese player base, resulting in a crash for the RPG market. (Of course, all that is hypothetical but certainly within the realms of reason.)

If your curious about how this new policy will go down with the public, (I.e. will it incite public backlash) the answer may already be in the wild. You see, this may be the first time that such a stipulation has made it into law but the Chinese have dabbled in overbearing restrictions before. Just look at Tencent, the government scrooge that J. Allen Brack claimed was entirely autonomous of political influence. When the gaming regulator was first announced and the Chinese government started putting heavy restrictions on gaming (The Government uses 'gaming' as a whipping horse whenever they need to fool people into believing they're working on public safety) Tencent were some of the first to capitulate by limiting playtime for under 18's to 2 hours a day. (Clearly that wasn't enough in China's eyes.)

Just like with every dumb decision the Chinese 'public servants' make, this is sure to have a rough effect on the wider gaming industry. International gaming companies have been bending over backwards to try and fit into the narrow margins of 'safe gaming' that the Government keeps shifting, but right now they may have just shrunk those lines a tad too much. If things keep going in this direction and China ends up banning all non-native video games, we may have an actual exodus on our hands as money-hungry executives scramble over themselves to relocate to the middle kingdom, taking the majority of the gaming industry with them. Is this the likely future of the industry? Maybe not, afterall that example is worst-case; however, if there is one thing that I'm beginning to understand lately, it's that one should never underestimate the capacity for situations to worsen.