It's been too long, Manny
January 27, 2015 12:40 PM Subscribe
Grim Fandango, the brainchild of Tim Schafer (also known for such greats as Full Throttle and Psychonauts), has been on Best Game Ever lists since its release in 1998. Like other games that stand the test of time in terms of gameplay, it has not always been updated for newer technology, and as such, has left fans yearning for a pure game experience. There have been work-arounds over the years, albeit not always easily implemented. Today, however, like other "lost"games that eventually found the light, Grim Fandango has been released remastered on platforms like Steam, GOG.com, and PS4 to be reappreciated by fans, old and new alike. Please consider this product from Double Fine Games as you anticipate your gaming library for 2015.
Here
are
just
a
few
reviews
as
you
consider
descending
to
the
Land
of
The
Dead.
Manny and Glottis would like to meet you.
(previously, previously, and previously)
Here
are
just
a
few
reviews
as
you
consider
descending
to
the
Land
of
The
Dead.
Manny and Glottis would like to meet you.
(previously, previously, and previously)
I owned the soundtrack for this game YEARS before I played it. It was SO. GOOD.
posted by The Whelk at 12:49 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 12:49 PM on January 27, 2015
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
posted by en forme de poire at 12:49 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by en forme de poire at 12:49 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
The wonderful Latin American/big band/classic film soundtrack deserves a special shout out, too.
Compañeros
Ninth Heaven
Casino Calavera
Swanky Maximino
Smooth Hector
posted by byanyothername at 12:51 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Compañeros
Ninth Heaven
Casino Calavera
Swanky Maximino
Smooth Hector
posted by byanyothername at 12:51 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
This game sounds so good. The work done to the audio and the newly recorded score are superb. Glottis is love. Glottis is life.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 12:51 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by chainlinkspiral at 12:51 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is one of my favorite adventure games ever and I've replayed the first two chapters quite a few times since the early 2000s.
For whatever reason I never managed to get further than that - sometimes I got busy with other things and never returned to it, twice my copy didn't work anymore and one time my computer broke down.
BUT I've bought the GOG version and I'm superpsyched to hopefully finish it this time around. Fingers crossed.
posted by bigendian at 12:59 PM on January 27, 2015
For whatever reason I never managed to get further than that - sometimes I got busy with other things and never returned to it, twice my copy didn't work anymore and one time my computer broke down.
BUT I've bought the GOG version and I'm superpsyched to hopefully finish it this time around. Fingers crossed.
posted by bigendian at 12:59 PM on January 27, 2015
The first time I played it through, I got seriously choked up at the end. I think this was when I realized a game experience really could be art.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:01 PM on January 27, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:01 PM on January 27, 2015 [6 favorites]
I had a copy of this back in the day (still have the discs.) I never got past the beginning chapter, which I've been a little ashamed about. The style and wit is without question even in that little bit I've played, though. This is the perfect time to finally do a proper playthrough.
posted by naju at 1:06 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by naju at 1:06 PM on January 27, 2015
This installed last night and I'd rather be home now playing it, to be honest.
Also, the remastered Homeworld is due next month, and looks amazing. (Though I really wish they'd found a way to redo Homeworld: Cataclysm as well.) It's a great year for gaming!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 1:07 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also, the remastered Homeworld is due next month, and looks amazing. (Though I really wish they'd found a way to redo Homeworld: Cataclysm as well.) It's a great year for gaming!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 1:07 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Two references to the soundtrack and no Rusty Anchor? For shame.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:07 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:07 PM on January 27, 2015
I've never played this but I've heard so much about it that it's one of the reasons I was excited about getting a PS4. Will download it after my next paycheck and give it a go! I am usually pretty terrible at videogames though, so we'll see...
posted by skycrashesdown at 1:10 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by skycrashesdown at 1:10 PM on January 27, 2015
I have great memories of playing this game with my son when he was ten or so. We later went backwards and played most of the older LucasArts adventure games together too; such great stuff.
posted by octothorpe at 1:10 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by octothorpe at 1:10 PM on January 27, 2015
YAY ok I only know three video games besides Super Mario and Zelda because my college boyfriend introduced me to them - Prince of Persia, Monkey Island series, and Grim Fandango. I never beat Grim Fandango and it's been on my mind for years.
posted by zutalors! at 1:10 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by zutalors! at 1:10 PM on January 27, 2015
Manny Manny Calavera!
Got no skin and got no hair-a!
This game is amazing. My only regret is that I know all the answers to the puzzles, so there's not the same sense of discovery there once was.
posted by dinty_moore at 1:14 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Got no skin and got no hair-a!
This game is amazing. My only regret is that I know all the answers to the puzzles, so there's not the same sense of discovery there once was.
posted by dinty_moore at 1:14 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Seriously, the first time I realized I could try to terrorize pigeons with a balloon Robert Frost, and there was a special animation for that - it was magic.
posted by dinty_moore at 1:17 PM on January 27, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by dinty_moore at 1:17 PM on January 27, 2015 [10 favorites]
Two references to the soundtrack and no Rusty Anchor? For shame.
Almost as shameful as smelling like bacon and oppression, man.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 1:19 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Almost as shameful as smelling like bacon and oppression, man.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 1:19 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm put off by GamesRadar's review:
posted by knuckle tattoos at 1:20 PM on January 27, 2015
And boy, are there bugs. Sound effects frequently cut in and out, weird lighting issues cause certain objects to blink incessantly, and cutscene transitions can be especially jarring. One time I clipped through a door and couldn't get back out; another time, I gave an item to someone who then began to spin around in place for the rest of eternity. Each one required me to reboot my game - and without auto-saves in a time when most people have come to expect them, many bugs can potentially set you back several hours. There were many times where I felt like Grim Fandango's code was hanging together by a tenuous, skeletal thread.RPS, Eurogamer, and the HardcoreGamer review in this post also mention crashes. Save early and often! Or just wait for a patch.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 1:20 PM on January 27, 2015
This game is definitely one of the best ever, and I'm glad other people are getting to play it for the first time, but I'm also a selfish person who has played it before, so I'd like to encourage Double Fine to use the goodwill they get from this and put it all into a Cave sequel immediately.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:21 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:21 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
I just locked an open door... strange, yet symbolically compelling.
posted by selfnoise at 1:23 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by selfnoise at 1:23 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
I wish someone had given this game to Ebert.
I respect the hell out of Ebert, but when he said that games can't be art... It reminded me of people that had only been exposed to gangster rap that proclaim that rap isn't real music.
posted by el io at 1:24 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I respect the hell out of Ebert, but when he said that games can't be art... It reminded me of people that had only been exposed to gangster rap that proclaim that rap isn't real music.
posted by el io at 1:24 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
If I'm honest, I want a copy of the rerecorded soundtrack even more than a copy of the remastered game. But regardless: hell yes.
posted by danb at 1:27 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by danb at 1:27 PM on January 27, 2015
Are you saying gangster rap can't be art?
I'm just joshin' you. I think it's probably less a matter of what people have been exposed to and more a matter of preexisting biases.
posted by teponaztli at 1:28 PM on January 27, 2015
I'm just joshin' you. I think it's probably less a matter of what people have been exposed to and more a matter of preexisting biases.
posted by teponaztli at 1:28 PM on January 27, 2015
Oh wow. I've been waiting to play this for ages. I Couldn't even pirate it last time I tried.
posted by lkc at 1:31 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lkc at 1:31 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Between this and the remastered Homeworld, I fear spending more time gaming than I have in years...
posted by kjs3 at 1:31 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by kjs3 at 1:31 PM on January 27, 2015
teponaztli: Maybe so, but I'm not sure. Given that 90%(+) of any given genre of anything is crap, it can be hard to find the good stuff. Particularly so with rap (IMHO), but also with games; the popular things don't necessarily represent the best a genre has to offer.
I used to think I hated jazz, but that's because I only heard crappy fusion jazz that played on the radio. Once I found someone to introduce me to the genre, I came to appreciate (some) jazz. Sure Ebert has his biases, but if he can give good reviews to slasher films (well, maybe just Halloween), he surely could have recognized the art in video games.
(sorry for the games as art derail).
posted by el io at 1:32 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I used to think I hated jazz, but that's because I only heard crappy fusion jazz that played on the radio. Once I found someone to introduce me to the genre, I came to appreciate (some) jazz. Sure Ebert has his biases, but if he can give good reviews to slasher films (well, maybe just Halloween), he surely could have recognized the art in video games.
(sorry for the games as art derail).
posted by el io at 1:32 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
try to terrorize pigeons with a balloon Robert Frost
Mrs. Example and I still say "Run, you pigeons--it's Robert Frost!" to each other.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:34 PM on January 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
Mrs. Example and I still say "Run, you pigeons--it's Robert Frost!" to each other.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:34 PM on January 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
This is so damn exciting. I treasured my old CD copy for so long before easy-pirating abandonware was possible, and this is the game I carted around to all my friends' dorm rooms when I found out that they'd only been console gamers as kids and never bothered trying to get old adventure games to work on newer computers. E-mailing a Steam store link is way easier. :P
And definitely I jumped out of my chair to tell everyone in earshot when I heard they were rerecording the soundtrack. I'm trying not to listen to all the youtube links because I want to experience the music alongside the game again first, but, oh man. (I get paid on Tuesday, can't come soon enough...)
posted by C. K. Dexter Haven at 1:37 PM on January 27, 2015
And definitely I jumped out of my chair to tell everyone in earshot when I heard they were rerecording the soundtrack. I'm trying not to listen to all the youtube links because I want to experience the music alongside the game again first, but, oh man. (I get paid on Tuesday, can't come soon enough...)
posted by C. K. Dexter Haven at 1:37 PM on January 27, 2015
What about it requires 4GB of RAM? I love classic games getting remastered, but not to a point beyond my CPU capabilities.
posted by Renoroc at 1:41 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Renoroc at 1:41 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
What about it requires 4GB of RAM?
Presumably the cat races.
/notaseriousanswer
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:47 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Presumably the cat races.
/notaseriousanswer
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:47 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can resist this and Homeworld, but the day one of those "Daggerfall Remastered" projects actually comes to fruition I am ultrascrewed.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:50 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:50 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
What the hell was it about LucasArts during that time anyways?
posted by edgeways at 1:56 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by edgeways at 1:56 PM on January 27, 2015
What the hell was it about LucasArts during that time anyways?
Lots of money, good infrastructure, commitment to improved technology, first-class hiring practices, unforced turnaround, institutional culture based around story and experience.
posted by jscott at 2:14 PM on January 27, 2015 [8 favorites]
Lots of money, good infrastructure, commitment to improved technology, first-class hiring practices, unforced turnaround, institutional culture based around story and experience.
posted by jscott at 2:14 PM on January 27, 2015 [8 favorites]
I wish someone had given this game to Ebert.
I doubt that Grim Fandango would have changed Ebert's mind. His point was more nuanced than a lot of people gave him credit for. He never claimed that games could never contain anything of any artistic value, rather he argued that what distinguished a game from any other visual medium was the mechanics and that those mechanics could not, in and of themselves, be art.
There might be excellent storytelling in a game, but that's just fiction as an artform. There might be dynamic and moving scenes, but that's just direction/cinematography as an artform. By analogy, a beautifully carved chess set may be considered a great work of sculptural art but that does not mean that chess itself is art.
Grim Fandango is a beautiful, wonderful game which I love dearly, filled with many wonderful and artistic things, but all of those things are generally cinematic things which would work equally well in a film. They are more or less incidental to the actual gameplay mechanics, which consist of solving odd Lucasarts puzzles. I do not think that this game, as much as I love it, is a persuasive argument against Ebert.
Of course, I do believe that Ebert was wrong. Firstly he neglected to consider that the sense of immersion you get from playing a game can significantly change your response to it as opposed to simply watching a film play out. Secondly, I believe that the mechanics of a game can convey art in a way not possible through film.
Perhaps the best example of this I can think of is the indie game Gravitation. The developer describes it as "a video game about mania, melancholia, and the creative process" but it could equally be read as a game about the pain of raising a child and watching them strike out on their own. Either way, though, the game evidently has something to say and that is relayed almost entirely through the actual mechanics of the game. There is basically no plot or writing and hardly any visual art in the game. If you have ten minutes go and play it (it's very short) to see what I mean. It's certainly interesting.
Of course, that's a widgety little indie game clearly created with the intent of making an artistic statement so, while it provides a riposte to the basis of Ebert's argument, it perhaps isn't representative. I'd suggest, then, looking at Survival Horror games. Resident Evil might not be everyone's go-to when thinking about "games as art" (although I'd wager that Silent Hill 2 has a strong claim), but it's clear to me that the emotions caused by this style of game are very much a result of the mechanics as much as anything else. That feeling of being constantly on the edge and in fear due to limited resources and a seemingly overwhelming situation is very much created by the actual game mechanics and could not be replicated in quite the same way by simply watching a zombie film.
posted by Dext at 2:30 PM on January 27, 2015 [21 favorites]
I doubt that Grim Fandango would have changed Ebert's mind. His point was more nuanced than a lot of people gave him credit for. He never claimed that games could never contain anything of any artistic value, rather he argued that what distinguished a game from any other visual medium was the mechanics and that those mechanics could not, in and of themselves, be art.
There might be excellent storytelling in a game, but that's just fiction as an artform. There might be dynamic and moving scenes, but that's just direction/cinematography as an artform. By analogy, a beautifully carved chess set may be considered a great work of sculptural art but that does not mean that chess itself is art.
Grim Fandango is a beautiful, wonderful game which I love dearly, filled with many wonderful and artistic things, but all of those things are generally cinematic things which would work equally well in a film. They are more or less incidental to the actual gameplay mechanics, which consist of solving odd Lucasarts puzzles. I do not think that this game, as much as I love it, is a persuasive argument against Ebert.
Of course, I do believe that Ebert was wrong. Firstly he neglected to consider that the sense of immersion you get from playing a game can significantly change your response to it as opposed to simply watching a film play out. Secondly, I believe that the mechanics of a game can convey art in a way not possible through film.
Perhaps the best example of this I can think of is the indie game Gravitation. The developer describes it as "a video game about mania, melancholia, and the creative process" but it could equally be read as a game about the pain of raising a child and watching them strike out on their own. Either way, though, the game evidently has something to say and that is relayed almost entirely through the actual mechanics of the game. There is basically no plot or writing and hardly any visual art in the game. If you have ten minutes go and play it (it's very short) to see what I mean. It's certainly interesting.
Of course, that's a widgety little indie game clearly created with the intent of making an artistic statement so, while it provides a riposte to the basis of Ebert's argument, it perhaps isn't representative. I'd suggest, then, looking at Survival Horror games. Resident Evil might not be everyone's go-to when thinking about "games as art" (although I'd wager that Silent Hill 2 has a strong claim), but it's clear to me that the emotions caused by this style of game are very much a result of the mechanics as much as anything else. That feeling of being constantly on the edge and in fear due to limited resources and a seemingly overwhelming situation is very much created by the actual game mechanics and could not be replicated in quite the same way by simply watching a zombie film.
posted by Dext at 2:30 PM on January 27, 2015 [21 favorites]
Of course, that's a widgety little indie game clearly created with the intent of making an artistic statement so, while it provides a riposte to the basis of Ebert's argument, it perhaps isn't representative.
This is a slight derail, but: You only one need one good example to prove the point. One could well argue right now that movies aren't art either, because the most visible ones tend to be big ol' action blockbusters designed to thrill teenagers. But that doesn't negate the existence of great movies.
Other games that make the argument of art-as-gameplay are Katamari Damacy and Shadow of the Colossus.
posted by JHarris at 2:44 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is a slight derail, but: You only one need one good example to prove the point. One could well argue right now that movies aren't art either, because the most visible ones tend to be big ol' action blockbusters designed to thrill teenagers. But that doesn't negate the existence of great movies.
Other games that make the argument of art-as-gameplay are Katamari Damacy and Shadow of the Colossus.
posted by JHarris at 2:44 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Feel like it's such a silly question to begin with, loaded with high-culture/low-culture pretensions. I've been playing Mario Galaxy 2 which is as genuinely artful in its gameplay as anything I've encountered. Delightful and pure like a Ghibli movie.
posted by naju at 2:49 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by naju at 2:49 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think Sam & Max and Full Throttle will always be my favorite Lucasarts adventures, but this one definitely rates and maybe on this eventual play through will join the other two in a triumverate or something. This game is a big part of what started a love of both film noir and art deco stuff for me when I played it as a teenager.
I'm so happy this got a loving restoration by (some of) the people who made it in the first place. I mean, even something plainer like the recent Resident Evil HD (which is basically just an up res'd version of the Gamecube version) would be better than nothing for this game given that it didn't do so great when it came out... But Grim Fandango deserved better and it sounds like by all accounts it got it.
posted by sparkletone at 3:00 PM on January 27, 2015
I'm so happy this got a loving restoration by (some of) the people who made it in the first place. I mean, even something plainer like the recent Resident Evil HD (which is basically just an up res'd version of the Gamecube version) would be better than nothing for this game given that it didn't do so great when it came out... But Grim Fandango deserved better and it sounds like by all accounts it got it.
posted by sparkletone at 3:00 PM on January 27, 2015
If I'm honest, I want a copy of the rerecorded soundtrack even more than a copy of the remastered game. But regardless: hell yes.
I'm honestly surprised they're not selling the soundtrack as an extra if you pay a few more dollars like so many games do these days. Maybe something in their agreement with Sony prevents them from doing so just yet.
posted by sparkletone at 3:17 PM on January 27, 2015
I'm honestly surprised they're not selling the soundtrack as an extra if you pay a few more dollars like so many games do these days. Maybe something in their agreement with Sony prevents them from doing so just yet.
posted by sparkletone at 3:17 PM on January 27, 2015
What about it requires 4GB of RAM? I love classic games getting remastered, but not to a point beyond my CPU capabilities.
My first guess would be the improved textures and models for the significant visual upgrade they gave the game (you can hit a button to go back to the old look, sure, but you still have to have the hi res textures around since the player could switch at any time). There's probably other things I'm not thinking of.
posted by sparkletone at 3:21 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
My first guess would be the improved textures and models for the significant visual upgrade they gave the game (you can hit a button to go back to the old look, sure, but you still have to have the hi res textures around since the player could switch at any time). There's probably other things I'm not thinking of.
posted by sparkletone at 3:21 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
All right, but apart from lots of money, good infrastructure, commitment to improved technology, first-class hiring practices, unforced turnaround, and an institutional culture based around story and experience, what did 1980s/1990s LucasArts ever do for us?
posted by glhaynes at 3:23 PM on January 27, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by glhaynes at 3:23 PM on January 27, 2015 [7 favorites]
When it was looking like this was going to be a PS4 exclusive, I was seriously contemplating getting a shiny new next-gen console just to play a 15-year-old game. It is a joy.
What the hell was it about LucasArts during that time anyways?
I think hiring, mostly. Telltale, DoubleFine, Gaijin Games---like half the good game development studios in the West have some LucasArts people leading them. Interestingly, Alex Neuse (of Gaijin) once mentioned that at LucasArts, he moved very fluidly between management, development, and QA, so perhaps that produced a lot of "complete package" artists.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 3:26 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
What the hell was it about LucasArts during that time anyways?
I think hiring, mostly. Telltale, DoubleFine, Gaijin Games---like half the good game development studios in the West have some LucasArts people leading them. Interestingly, Alex Neuse (of Gaijin) once mentioned that at LucasArts, he moved very fluidly between management, development, and QA, so perhaps that produced a lot of "complete package" artists.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 3:26 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Looking forward to a replay. Had some bug problems on the last play through that made me give up.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:49 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:49 PM on January 27, 2015
I had a copy of this back in the day (still have the discs.) I never got past the beginning chapter, which I've been a little ashamed about. The style and wit is without question even in that little bit I've played, though. This is the perfect time to finally do a proper playthrough.
There's not any shame in that. I had to keep plugging away to get through the first chapter. I thought the first year was pretty clever and funny as I was playing it. Then you transition between the first and second year, there's a ride down a banister, and the game turns MAGICAL on top of being insanely clever. It may be one of my all time favorite moments in gaming, the transition between the first two years. So, I just say that as an encouragement to consider what might see you through the first year.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:00 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
There's not any shame in that. I had to keep plugging away to get through the first chapter. I thought the first year was pretty clever and funny as I was playing it. Then you transition between the first and second year, there's a ride down a banister, and the game turns MAGICAL on top of being insanely clever. It may be one of my all time favorite moments in gaming, the transition between the first two years. So, I just say that as an encouragement to consider what might see you through the first year.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:00 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Grim Fandango is a beautiful, wonderful game which I love dearly, filled with many wonderful and artistic things, but all of those things are generally cinematic things which would work equally well in a film. They are more or less incidental to the actual gameplay mechanics, which consist of solving odd Lucasarts puzzles. I do not think that this game, as much as I love it, is a persuasive argument against Ebert.
Of course, I do believe that Ebert was wrong. Firstly he neglected to consider that the sense of immersion you get from playing a game can significantly change your response to it as opposed to simply watching a film play out. Secondly, I believe that the mechanics of a game can convey art in a way not possible through film.
I think Ebert's opinion was based on semantics and establishing definitions of things. He wasn't saying at all that games are less than art, or that games couldn't have artistic things in them. He was saying that when you definine things, the two are simply not equal things. It was an egalitarian argument of equal yet different, with some overlap.
In other words, games don't have the same necessary and sufficient conditions when you consider what makes a game a game, as art does when you considers what makes art art. What compounds this a little bit is that it's nororiosly difficult to define either art or game with any sort of exactness. But I think Ebert did hold to a certain understanding of art, and then asked the question of whether or not it's the same thing as this other culturally good and signficiant thing called gaming.
I think that some people who were upset with Ebert probably felt that by working these things out definitionally, he was saying that games are inferior to art. (Probably for undestandable reasons, as plenty of people have made that claim throughout the nascent stages of gaming.) But Ebert was making a descriptive statement, not a moral one, based on the premises of his working definitions. If I recall correctly (I'd have to double-check), he was willing to concede some ground by reconsidering those definitions.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:20 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Of course, I do believe that Ebert was wrong. Firstly he neglected to consider that the sense of immersion you get from playing a game can significantly change your response to it as opposed to simply watching a film play out. Secondly, I believe that the mechanics of a game can convey art in a way not possible through film.
I think Ebert's opinion was based on semantics and establishing definitions of things. He wasn't saying at all that games are less than art, or that games couldn't have artistic things in them. He was saying that when you definine things, the two are simply not equal things. It was an egalitarian argument of equal yet different, with some overlap.
In other words, games don't have the same necessary and sufficient conditions when you consider what makes a game a game, as art does when you considers what makes art art. What compounds this a little bit is that it's nororiosly difficult to define either art or game with any sort of exactness. But I think Ebert did hold to a certain understanding of art, and then asked the question of whether or not it's the same thing as this other culturally good and signficiant thing called gaming.
I think that some people who were upset with Ebert probably felt that by working these things out definitionally, he was saying that games are inferior to art. (Probably for undestandable reasons, as plenty of people have made that claim throughout the nascent stages of gaming.) But Ebert was making a descriptive statement, not a moral one, based on the premises of his working definitions. If I recall correctly (I'd have to double-check), he was willing to concede some ground by reconsidering those definitions.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:20 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
the two are simply not equal things
Sorry, by equal here I actually meant identical. Just wanted to note that, as equal can carry a moral judgment, and identical is a descriptive observation, and that's the crux of my entire comment.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:37 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sorry, by equal here I actually meant identical. Just wanted to note that, as equal can carry a moral judgment, and identical is a descriptive observation, and that's the crux of my entire comment.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:37 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's only the existence of adventure game "use everything on everything" mechanics that makes it possible to tell that joke about scaring pigeons with a balloon animal Robert Frost.
posted by LogicalDash at 4:49 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by LogicalDash at 4:49 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
What about it requires 4GB of RAM? I love classic games getting remastered, but not to a point beyond my CPU capabilities.
(Un)luckily for you, RAM isn't a CPU.
posted by hellphish at 4:50 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
(Un)luckily for you, RAM isn't a CPU.
posted by hellphish at 4:50 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
¡Hola, Manuel!
Best scene in the game: the send-up of hipsters as your companion recites the poem you just composed on the spot (and bombed with)--verbatim--and gets applause. ¡LUGUBRIOUS!
posted by ostranenie at 5:25 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best scene in the game: the send-up of hipsters as your companion recites the poem you just composed on the spot (and bombed with)--verbatim--and gets applause. ¡LUGUBRIOUS!
posted by ostranenie at 5:25 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
This and Starship Titanic were my favorite games for a long time.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 5:27 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 5:27 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
What the hell was it about LucasArts during that time anyways?
Yeah and also, what is it about overly-ambitious adventure games in the 90s? LucasArts had a lot of solid hits like The Dig, Full Throttle, the Monkey Islands, and Grim Fandango. But other companies also released some real gems like The Last Express (1997), Blade Runner (1997), and The Neverhood (1996). I mean, even Beavis and Butthead in Virtual Stupidity (1995) was actually good.
posted by FJT at 6:41 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah and also, what is it about overly-ambitious adventure games in the 90s? LucasArts had a lot of solid hits like The Dig, Full Throttle, the Monkey Islands, and Grim Fandango. But other companies also released some real gems like The Last Express (1997), Blade Runner (1997), and The Neverhood (1996). I mean, even Beavis and Butthead in Virtual Stupidity (1995) was actually good.
posted by FJT at 6:41 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
There aren't enough vowels on this keyboard to express the intensity of my feelings about this right now. There is some next-level glee going on over here.
posted by LMGM at 6:53 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by LMGM at 6:53 PM on January 27, 2015
Re: Ebert, it's a little known fact that he completely loved a videogame (Cosmology of Kyoto). I think he would have seen a lot of potential in open world games (or possibly RPGs and adventure games, if introduced to them) but would have still been frustrated that games very rarely ever live up to that potential. Perhaps I'm projecting there; but I'm fascinated by the same things he is in Cosmology, and games broadly, and am often a bit frustrated that the medium and the culture around it don't celebrate their own artistic and creative elements as fully or as often as they could.
posted by byanyothername at 7:42 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by byanyothername at 7:42 PM on January 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
I played this on my Amiga back in the day. Remember enjoying it but don't remember much else. I did enjoy the remastered Wings so once I hear most of the bugs have been dealt with in Fandango I might have a look. Wouldn't mind a new Space Quest either.
posted by juiceCake at 8:47 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by juiceCake at 8:47 PM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
One of my secret shames is never having played Grim Fandango. Looking forward to correcting that.
posted by Mr. Pokeylope at 9:41 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by Mr. Pokeylope at 9:41 PM on January 27, 2015
Man, can't wait. Had this back in the day but it was so crashy/buggy, and it was so good! There was a scene where Manny talked to a crew of bees on a dock and that was as far as I got : fatal crash on two different pcs despite patching. Maybe I'll get farther this time. Thanks!
posted by umberto at 10:54 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by umberto at 10:54 PM on January 27, 2015
squeeeeeeeee! So excited for this. Would absolutely buy the soundtrack if it came out.
posted by harriet vane at 2:05 AM on January 28, 2015
posted by harriet vane at 2:05 AM on January 28, 2015
Probably still my favourite LucasArts game hands down, which is very much saying something because SCUMM may as well have been one of my parents.
posted by Dysk at 2:22 AM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 2:22 AM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah and also, what is it about overly-ambitious adventure games in the 90s? LucasArts had a lot of solid hits like The Dig, Full Throttle, the Monkey Islands, and Grim Fandango. But other companies also released some real gems like The Last Express (1997), Blade Runner (1997), and The Neverhood (1996). I mean, even Beavis and Butthead in Virtual Stupidity (1995) was actually good.
Maturity in the field would be my guess. By that point, there was enough experience in making adventure games that the technical underpinnings were there, so the creators could instead focus on story and worldbuilding. It's the same phenomenon you see with console games - as the console ages, developers get a handle on what it's capable of, and begin to push the limits.
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:02 AM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Maturity in the field would be my guess. By that point, there was enough experience in making adventure games that the technical underpinnings were there, so the creators could instead focus on story and worldbuilding. It's the same phenomenon you see with console games - as the console ages, developers get a handle on what it's capable of, and begin to push the limits.
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:02 AM on January 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
What, no mention of ResidualVM?
Never mind, I see the link. Those complaining about system requirements should give it a shot!
posted by Monochrome at 9:19 AM on January 28, 2015
Never mind, I see the link. Those complaining about system requirements should give it a shot!
posted by Monochrome at 9:19 AM on January 28, 2015
This is one of my all-time favourite games. Love the art, the music and the story.
posted by Kurichina at 10:37 AM on January 28, 2015
posted by Kurichina at 10:37 AM on January 28, 2015
I've never played this before and I just downloaded it yesterday. Been wanting to though after it came up in a conversation with some fellow MeFites about whether you can kill a ghost (tenuously related!) It is so much fun and I am so excited.
posted by capricorn at 6:16 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by capricorn at 6:16 PM on January 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
I've been having so much fun with this. I'm not sure that it strikes me as "remastered" in a way that wows you, but simply being able to play it on a modern machine without much difficulty is a treat.
My old disk I'm going to keep in my jacket pocket, next to where my heart used to be.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:01 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
My old disk I'm going to keep in my jacket pocket, next to where my heart used to be.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:01 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just being able to play this on a couch with a Playstation controller feels pretty great.
My patience has been corroded over the years, though. I used to spend hours on a puzzle, now I'm more inclined to reach for a walkthrough...
posted by naju at 11:53 AM on January 29, 2015
My patience has been corroded over the years, though. I used to spend hours on a puzzle, now I'm more inclined to reach for a walkthrough...
posted by naju at 11:53 AM on January 29, 2015
SCUMM may as well have been one of my parents
I kind of want this as a t-shirt.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:46 PM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
I kind of want this as a t-shirt.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:46 PM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Polygon posted a great piece about how the remaster came about today.
posted by sparkletone at 4:42 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by sparkletone at 4:42 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Another (long) piece about the remaster. This one's a bit more a retrospective on the original game as much as it's about the remaster itself.
posted by sparkletone at 3:10 AM on January 30, 2015
posted by sparkletone at 3:10 AM on January 30, 2015
That was a great read. I knew things got complicated with IP issues over time, but I didn't know they were that complicated. It's pretty amazing that the stars lined up so well on this one to get the new version released.
Also, I was comparing the remastered character models to the old ones... and boy, there really is a difference. It goes to show that your memory of things is generally a lot more refined when it comes to video games. The remastered textures was how my mind remembered them, and then I looked the old textures, and it's a vast improvement. Also, the new lighting system is quite good.
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:57 AM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also, I was comparing the remastered character models to the old ones... and boy, there really is a difference. It goes to show that your memory of things is generally a lot more refined when it comes to video games. The remastered textures was how my mind remembered them, and then I looked the old textures, and it's a vast improvement. Also, the new lighting system is quite good.
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:57 AM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
To hold me over until I have time to play the commentary track option, here's Tim Schafer playing the first hour & a half: singing the praises of tank controls, elucidating the complexities of idle animations, and more.
posted by Gordafarin at 2:32 AM on February 1, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Gordafarin at 2:32 AM on February 1, 2015 [5 favorites]
I got through Year One this weekend (it was shorter than I remember) and so far my favorite little snippets have pertained to the packing fluid mailtube bomb, like the first time you do it and Manny says "heh...look out below!" (on replaying, I'm pretty amused by Manny's lack of scruples in small matters beyond just the usual moral ambiguity you'd expect from a noir protagonist -- I never really noticed that when I played through this as a kid), and then, because it's hard to even realize you can manipulate the lock on the door when Examining it only ever leads to Manny talking about the wheel, when you do it a second time: "I've gotta stop doing this." It's such a bizarre action in the first place, and then when you add the further implication that it's now kind of a compulsive behavior on Manny's part it becomes hilarious.
posted by invitapriore at 1:07 PM on February 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by invitapriore at 1:07 PM on February 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
I was unprepared for how much of a connection I'm feeling for Glottis. Truly a friendship for the ages.
posted by naju at 2:22 PM on February 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by naju at 2:22 PM on February 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Glottis is terrific. He's just a huge orange lump of love.
posted by JHarris at 4:23 PM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 4:23 PM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've been playing through this with my daughter, and she told me that she had a dream about it the other night. I remember it having that effect on my the first time.
[spoiler]
We just got through year one, and I said, WATCH WATCH THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF THE GAME. It's where Manny's sweeping the cafe, and it transitions from an empty sea port to an ultimate Casino town that he is running filled with all kinds of wonders and interesting characters. We just took a ride down the railing and Glottis is playing the piano in a tuxedo. I don't know why it's so magical at this point, but i think it's because it captures the beauty of how compelling the characters are, taking on such different roles with ease.
Tonight, I am taking my daughter to the cat races...
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:34 PM on February 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
[spoiler]
We just got through year one, and I said, WATCH WATCH THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF THE GAME. It's where Manny's sweeping the cafe, and it transitions from an empty sea port to an ultimate Casino town that he is running filled with all kinds of wonders and interesting characters. We just took a ride down the railing and Glottis is playing the piano in a tuxedo. I don't know why it's so magical at this point, but i think it's because it captures the beauty of how compelling the characters are, taking on such different roles with ease.
Tonight, I am taking my daughter to the cat races...
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:34 PM on February 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
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posted by Faint of Butt at 12:43 PM on January 27, 2015