Video Games in TV: South Park

"Some TV shows just don't get it." Part of a periodical series: Video Games in TV.

I must be scraping the bottom of the barrel if I'm turning to South Park for video games in TV. The season 10 episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" deviates from the typical formula of video game episodes because it's not a crime drama using video games as the murder mystery, and it's not one of those "trapped in a virtual reality game" cliches. Instead, our heroes---the boys of South Park, Colorado---must stop the killing spree of a high-level, powerful player who has transcended the rules of the game and become stronger than the admins themselves.

There's really not much to say about this episode. I'm sure most gamers have already seen it, and once you watch it all of the jokes make sense. There's no commentary to be had except laughing along with the jokes and nodding in agreement at the satirical portrayal of WOW and its playerbase. I've only played WOW for about 30 minutes one time, but thanks to the Internet and gaming stereotypes, I know everything there is to know about WOW; this episode is accessible to non-gamers a real treat for gamers, thanks to the fidelity of the machinima animation from the in-game models. 

Instead of writing a critique or commentary, I'm just going to post some of the quotes that I found most amusing, along with pictures and things of the like. Continue reading for the quotes.

Pretentious Dialogue Trees

I've noticed that some dialogue trees (specifically those in BioWare games) offer the illusion of depth and complexity, but then betray their shallowness in practice. Conversations give you various response options, but in most situations they have very little effect on anything at all. In the more expository sections, your response only affects the very next line the NPC says, and then they go right into talking about the other topics you didn't prompt. It only affects the order in which information is presented to you, having zero resemblance to an actual conversation and ultimately making your input pointless.

There are a lot of other, more minor issues that bother me with some of theses dialogue trees. Continue reading for more about what's wrong with them.

15 Minutes of Espionage: Gravity Bone

In Brandon Chung's Gravity Bone (of Blendogames), you play as a spy in two simple missions: poisoning someone's drink and delivering it to him, and taking photographs of mechanical birds. It's in first-person with block-style graphics, and even a little bit of first-person platforming. The gameplay is pretty straightforward (functional and intuitive), and it's over fairly quickly (almost prematurely, it seems), but it's enjoyable enough while it lasts. The ambiguity of its ending sequence lends itself to artistic interpretation, if you're so inclined. Even if you're not, it's an interesting concept nonetheless. Get it for free here. 

Lost in Ruins

Ruins, a free indie game by Jake Elliott of Cardboard Computer, is about many things---music, life, aging, relationships, dreams, art---all told through the perspective of a dog chasing rabbits in a dream. Best described as an "art game," Ruins is all about branching dialogue; the "story" shapes itself depending on how you respond in conversations. Respond with tired cynicism and the story becomes pessimistic; talk about things in your environment and the game explores those metaphors. You'll uncover different pieces of dialogue, depending on what you do, which makes the premise very intriguing as you start to figure out what's going on. All in all, Ruins is a delightful experience that you should consider checking out. More of my critique after the jump.

Console Commands: The Gateway Drug

The developer's console is a great tool that allows you to play around with game mechanics. You can activate cheats like "god mode," manipulate settings in the environment like gravity, adjust your stats, or even fix broken content like a glitched NPC. It's fun just because it empowers you to control the game more. However, it still amounts to cheating in most cases, and isn't something that's really recommended on a first playthrough unless it's really essential. Because once you start using it for one, specific purpose, you can't stop yourself from fiddling with everything else.

New Periodical: Great Games You Never Played

There are a lot of great games out there. You've probably played many of them. But there are a lot of great games that you probably didn't play, likely because you never heard of them or because they just weren't that popular. These games didn't sell well because the concept was too weird, or because of poor marketing, or because they were overshadowed by a mega-hit from an industry giant. But some of these games were truly excellent gaming experiences.

So this periodical will be something of a retrospective, digging up obscure games that deserve some attention, and describing what makes them worth playing. In most cases, these games offer unique gameplay that you just can't find in the popular mainstream hits. The games won't be too obscure, mind you---some games we never played for a good reason. These will be the good ones that you might want to consider actually playing, even today. Every so often I'll write about new game, so keep your eyes open.

suteF is Pretty dooG

suteF is a free indie puzzle game that has a lot going for it. It's dark and weird, and the puzzles are very well designed. You play as a little blue man whose main objective is to reach the static-screened monitor in most of the levels, which must be done by flipping switches, pushing boxes, jumping onto ledges, and by utilizing gravity-inverters, screen wrap-around effects, and your grappling hook. All while avoiding certain death from laser beams and other nefarious obstacles. 

The puzzles are generally clever and challenging. The solutions aren't always obvious, which makes it satisfying to beat a stage and progress to the next one. Gravity-inversion isn't one of the most original concepts in a game, but the other unique elements of suteF keep it feeling fresh. On top of everything else, the atmosphere and general premise is enough to be intriguing with retaining some subtlety. It's worth a playthrough, certainly. You can get it here.