Comments on Hit Self-Destruct: Coldfront

Yeah, I had no idea that was based on a real poste...

2008-08-09T02:34:00.000+12:00

Yeah, I had no idea that was based on a real poster either. Thanks Steve. Pretty horrifying stuff.

Also, are the Nazis insinuating that we're going to ruin their country with our dancing and record labels and gorgeous legs?

That's an interesting comparison, Michael, thanks....

2008-08-08T23:29:00.000+12:00

That's an interesting comparison, Michael, thanks. I've been thinking about this more and I honestly think that people are unwilling to engage in debate because they think the argument will be too hard or they're afraid they'll lose. It would be a different matter if N'Gai Croal sounded like a five-year-old, but he doesn't, he's an articulate guy and that can be intimidating. So instead, they'll try and cut you off at the knees to instantly destroy your credibility (games are a childish waste of time, QED, next!) because it's so much easier and potentially so much more effective to do that. If these guys were in politics they'd be the ones digging up dirt on secret mistresses.

This is on a more general note, but this one HSD post got republished on Gamasutra today, and it's the most exhaustive and serious thing I ever wrote, and there's this one guy in the comments who just picks up on a perceived slight I apparently made towards the PS3 and calls me out on my "personal bullshit". So if you're keeping tabs, you can safely disregard my opinion on 1) Fallout 3 and 2) the PS3.

P.S. I am horrified to learn that the Fallout image is based on an actual thing.

"You think too much" or "You're reading way too mu...

2008-08-08T18:55:00.000+12:00

"You think too much" or "You're reading way too much into it" are the two most common responses I've received over the years, and it hardly matters the subject: games, films, comics. And, as you say, this usually degenerates into something that squelches any possibility of a meaningful exchange of ideas.

But the other kind of rejection I've run into, with nearly as much frequency, is a kind of academic dismissal of my interpretive approach to games by colleagues who see it all as a silly waste of time. And the crazy thing is, this response has exactly the same squelching effect.

Both of these reactions seem to come from the same place, I think. A perceived threat. You describe what this looks like perfectly from the former group. To the latter, I think it has something to do with ownership of the academy - some kind of notion that anything the kids like must, by definition, be dismissed, thereby reaffirming the hierarchy of cultural values that must not be challenged.

Either way, from both sides, it's a defensive, fearful response that's hard for me to fully understand.

It's a piece of 'anti-fan art' based on this Nazi ...

2008-08-08T08:25:00.000+12:00

It's a piece of 'anti-fan art' based on this Nazi propaganda poster: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Liberators-Kultur-Terror-Anti-Americanism-1944-Nazi-Propaganda-Poster.jpg

No, it probably means you're most fit to ...

2008-08-07T03:35:00.000+12:00

No, it probably means you're most fit to play it.

Jesus christ, what is that Fallout picture ...

2008-08-07T00:09:00.000+12:00

Jesus christ, what is that Fallout picture thing!? It's like an M.C. Escher drawing, I don't know what's up and what's down. My brain can't process the visual information. I literally do not understand that picture.

Does this mean I'm unfit to play Fallout 3?