Violent game classics make a comeback...!
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:54 pm
I couldn't decide to put this in the recently created Duke Nukem thread or the Mortal Kombat thread since it mentions BOTH games... among others...
So... I finally decided to just make it it's own thread!
From:
http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/372-vi ... a-comeback
When action video games hit their first golden age in the early 1990s, concepts like “stealth” and “consequences” weren’t even a glimmer in developer’s eyes. The focus was on over-the-top carnage. The premise: if it moved, shoot it – though you could also kick, punch or stab it, depending on the title.
As the industry matured, though, in-game violence evolved. Narratives were added to the action, and heroes became more than one-dimensional instruments of destruction. It wasn’t a bad thing, per se, but it seemed like a move away from what hardcore action titles were all about.
Recently, some developers have begun to hearken back to the genre’s glory days.
An upcoming remake of Mortal Kombat will be as visceral as the 1992 arcade game that first sparked the debate over video game violence. A third entry in the Postal series -- which was at the center of last year’s Supreme Court oral arguments on restricting game sales to minors -- is due later this year. Long-delayed shooter Duke Nukem Forever is about to see the light of day, and new title Bulletstorm is a throwback to the days of games whose motto was “Shoot first, ask questions later.”
The timing of the new wave of unashamedly violent games is ironic, given that the Supreme Court decision is looming and legislators are rolling out new rounds of proposed laws surrounding the medium.
It might be easy to read something into this resurgence. Perhaps game makers are revolting against the legislative push or the tide is once again shifting in the action genre. To do so would be a mistake, however. For the most part, this confluence of old-school shooters and action games is a happy coincidence.
Mortal Kombat, for instance, is about to enjoy its 20th anniversary, so a new game was a virtual certainty. And after 2008’s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe -- which was substantially grittier than previous entries in the series -- proved a hit, Warner decided to up the ante.
And Duke Nukem Forever? Heck, the game started development when the old-school was simply…well, school. Fans of the flat-topped muscle man aren’t looking for nuance in this game. They want one-liners and lots of aliens to kill. Developer Gearbox Software is happy to give it to them.
Bulletstorm, meanwhile, is a love song to the days when shooters didn’t take themselves seriously. Rather than plot-driven narratives, the sole purpose of the game is to kill in creative fashion and be rewarded for it. Dubbed “skillshots,” these methods range from “Gag Reflex” (a kill shot to the throat) to “Juggler” (launching an enemy skyward and peppering them with multiple shotgun hits.) Needless to say, not everyone is thrilled with the subject matter -- but clearly it depends on whom you ask.
"Are we yearning for a bygone era? Perhaps, but it's not just enough to be nostalgic," Bulletstorm producer Cliff Bleszinski told us. "People Can Fly and Epic have taken old-school sensibilities and merged them with the sophistication of a 2011 blockbuster shooter design."
Quake Arena Arcade is part of a continuing rollout of classic id Software games for Xbox Live – following in the bloody boot steps of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. Even Postal 3 has been in the works for a while -- long before its forerunner had its time in court. Production started as far back as 2006, just as the add-on well for Postal 2 ran dry.
Sometimes, though, it’s simply player demand that brings back this sort of game. A group of fans of the 2004 release Painkiller recently put together a mod entitled Painkiller: Redemption. Publisher JoWood was so enthralled with it that they plan to release it as a full game in February.
After all, when the players are so passionate about old-school action that they’re willing to go ahead and make the game for you, even the stubbornest of publishers get the hint.
So... I finally decided to just make it it's own thread!
From:
http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/372-vi ... a-comeback
When action video games hit their first golden age in the early 1990s, concepts like “stealth” and “consequences” weren’t even a glimmer in developer’s eyes. The focus was on over-the-top carnage. The premise: if it moved, shoot it – though you could also kick, punch or stab it, depending on the title.
As the industry matured, though, in-game violence evolved. Narratives were added to the action, and heroes became more than one-dimensional instruments of destruction. It wasn’t a bad thing, per se, but it seemed like a move away from what hardcore action titles were all about.
Recently, some developers have begun to hearken back to the genre’s glory days.
An upcoming remake of Mortal Kombat will be as visceral as the 1992 arcade game that first sparked the debate over video game violence. A third entry in the Postal series -- which was at the center of last year’s Supreme Court oral arguments on restricting game sales to minors -- is due later this year. Long-delayed shooter Duke Nukem Forever is about to see the light of day, and new title Bulletstorm is a throwback to the days of games whose motto was “Shoot first, ask questions later.”
The timing of the new wave of unashamedly violent games is ironic, given that the Supreme Court decision is looming and legislators are rolling out new rounds of proposed laws surrounding the medium.
It might be easy to read something into this resurgence. Perhaps game makers are revolting against the legislative push or the tide is once again shifting in the action genre. To do so would be a mistake, however. For the most part, this confluence of old-school shooters and action games is a happy coincidence.
Mortal Kombat, for instance, is about to enjoy its 20th anniversary, so a new game was a virtual certainty. And after 2008’s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe -- which was substantially grittier than previous entries in the series -- proved a hit, Warner decided to up the ante.
And Duke Nukem Forever? Heck, the game started development when the old-school was simply…well, school. Fans of the flat-topped muscle man aren’t looking for nuance in this game. They want one-liners and lots of aliens to kill. Developer Gearbox Software is happy to give it to them.
Bulletstorm, meanwhile, is a love song to the days when shooters didn’t take themselves seriously. Rather than plot-driven narratives, the sole purpose of the game is to kill in creative fashion and be rewarded for it. Dubbed “skillshots,” these methods range from “Gag Reflex” (a kill shot to the throat) to “Juggler” (launching an enemy skyward and peppering them with multiple shotgun hits.) Needless to say, not everyone is thrilled with the subject matter -- but clearly it depends on whom you ask.
"Are we yearning for a bygone era? Perhaps, but it's not just enough to be nostalgic," Bulletstorm producer Cliff Bleszinski told us. "People Can Fly and Epic have taken old-school sensibilities and merged them with the sophistication of a 2011 blockbuster shooter design."
Quake Arena Arcade is part of a continuing rollout of classic id Software games for Xbox Live – following in the bloody boot steps of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. Even Postal 3 has been in the works for a while -- long before its forerunner had its time in court. Production started as far back as 2006, just as the add-on well for Postal 2 ran dry.
Sometimes, though, it’s simply player demand that brings back this sort of game. A group of fans of the 2004 release Painkiller recently put together a mod entitled Painkiller: Redemption. Publisher JoWood was so enthralled with it that they plan to release it as a full game in February.
After all, when the players are so passionate about old-school action that they’re willing to go ahead and make the game for you, even the stubbornest of publishers get the hint.
I hope you're kidding, about the choice thing...