Had a few years away from gaming, come back and....

[PeterUK]

**** me, what is this obsession with the constant comparisons with movies and gaming entertainment medium evolution??

Open GamesTM and every page they're comparing every game to Citizen Kane ffs.

[nakamura]

No idea. I dont really read mags. I guess now games are really cool we have to compare to other cool media.

[toythatkills]

What game is remotely like Citizen Kane?

[Kaladron]

What game is remotely like Citizen Kane?

Any game you believe set the template by which all others have followed.

It's not a comparison I personally subscribe to though. The medium's still in a state of evolution and is far too diverse in form and structure to have had a "Citizen Kane moment". And I hope it stays that way.

[dataDave]

The sooner games stop trying to be like movies the better.

[Mr Ono]

Ah, Pete matey.

I do think games have evolved to being "event" productions more and more now as opposed to the simpler games we played in the olden days. Whilst not a bad thing, it does make you appreciate games like Geometry Wars 2 and Thunderforce VI more. The problem is, the "yoof" of today won't see what all the fuss is all about in these simpler games. They want to be able to control 10 different functions with each button.

Doesn't bode well for the mass market appeal of Streetfighter IV.



(ps. Wenger is a whining girl)

[Persocom]

Some kids totally get it though.

Girlfriends youngest brother (he's 6) keeps having all the same ****e foisted on him by his dad (ben 10, transformers, every tie in game to the movies he likes) and he barely sits still with any of them.

I got him into older games (original sonic the hedgehogs, mario bros and world games,) and since then, I've been his exclusive provider of games haha.

Unlike other kids his age. He recognises a crap game. He actually sat me down one day and showed me all the games he thinks are neat that I didn't get for him. I was impressed. Especially by surfs up! Went out and bought that a week later anyway.

Basically, if kids are shown quality, they'll expect nothing less in future. I doubt street fighter 4 will sell as well as expected, but I really don't care. It's just another beatemup. They're pretty repetitive.

[egparadigm]

What game is remotely like Citizen Kane?

I'm assuming from the title that Giants: Citizen Kabuto is quite similar to Citizen Kane, with the possible exception of the titular giants.

[Spatial]

Sadly not because none of the characters have a wooden stick.

[cutmymilk]

....and there was me thinking this would be a recommendation thread!!

Don't worry about the gaming articles - there's still a lot of fun to be had on all platforms, for all tastes.

[MattyD]

A lot of this is journalists feeling compelled to protesteth too much out of embarrassment I think. If someone at a party asks what you do and you could say you were a music journalist or theatre critic you'd probably pique their interest if not outright respect, but you'll get quite the opposite if you said you wrote games magazines.

It doesn't help that within journalistic circles themselves, games magazines are seen as simply work experience or stepping-stones for lifestyle / lad-mags like Nuts, FHM etc. And then there's all those thorny issues about objectivity and journalistic integrity in a medium where you rely on PR people and ultimately your advertisers for access to your subject matter.

I must say I do get the impression of late from GamesTM in particular that they're too eager to make these comparisons with early film or to read too much significance into every iterative development in games. Heavy Rain seems to be their favourite at the moment despite currently being nothing more than a couple of graphics demos from an overly ambitious studio that has never quite lived up to its boastful claims.

LittleBigPlanet is the same but this applies to every magazine. They're going on about it like it's the second coming but it's hardly the first console game with user editable and distributable content.

[egparadigm]

I thought the Heavy Rain team released a playable demo? I remember reading a preview in EDGE; you got to investigate the home of a human-stuffing taxidermist.

[MattyD]

I'm pretty sure that was either a video of the game being played, or it was just a QTE section. If it was playable it would have been leaked onto the internet already, surely?

[egparadigm]

I checked the article. It was demoed live by an employee of Quantic Dream; I think it's not part of the final game (unless it was included as an extra). So a sort of tech demo I suppose - but in playable form.

[Charlie]

The sooner games stop trying to be like movies the better.

Couldn't agree more.