I’m a big fan of dancing in many forms. I also really like Harmonix games, so info about the Dance Central line tends to catch my eye. This Kotaku article is titled “On Playing Dance Central 2 While Male”. Now, I expected a bit of ridiculous gender role stereotyping about how silly guys look playing the game, but here’s the first half of the article:
Recently my friend, who for this article we’ll call “Dan,” was over at my apartment for beers and video games. We’d gone through most of the big fall releases—I showed him some craziness from Saints Row: The Third, got across the gist of Catherine, and played some (shockingly fun) split-screen Modern Warfare 3 spec-ops. The Kinect had gotten a go as well, and we’d laughed our way through several levels of Gunstringer and gotten our asses kicked by the surprisingly difficult Child of Eden.
“You know, I’ve got Dance Central 2 here, let’s play that!” I said, pointing to the shiny, colorful box of Harmonix’s Kinect-only dancing game.
“Sure,” Dan said, though in retrospect he was doubtless entirely unsure what he was getting himself into. And so we played Dance Central 2, two dorky bros in the mid-afternoon, standing in front of the TV and swinging our hips to “Toxic” and “Bad Romance.” It was funny, it was dumb; it was uniquely uncomfortable.
After we played for a little while, we took a break to have a beer and Dan remarked to me, “Man, that game is kind of uncomfortable for straight guys!” (I’m paraphrasing—he said it much more thoughtfully than that.)
I agreed, because I knew what he meant—I mean, one plays Dance Central by dancing. It requires an entirely different sort of physical interaction than most other video games. It was as though Dan and I had been sitting around pondering what to do and one of us had said, “You know what? Let’s go dancing together, just you and me!” Suffice to say, that is not something either of us would likely ever suggest. We’re fairly boring.
This was not about being male. This was about being gay. The game made them uncomfortable because as straight men, they shouldn’t be dancing, especially not dancing in the presence of other men.
He goes on to lift quotes from a Gamasutra article (and a very good one, talking about the unique connection the game brings to your sense of identity and self-expression), but never ties it in with the issues of his sexuality that made him uncomfortable in the first place. If he wasn’t shooting something from a car window or doing something else undoubtedly male, he got unsettled because then it was kind of gay. The article is just littered with terminology that supports his straight identity - the games he lists at the beginning (Saint’s Row, MW3, the extremely hetero Catherine), the break after playing Dance Central to have some beers…
Later, he says that he feels uncomfortable about it because he’s “straight-laced” and isn’t prone to expressing himself through dance. And that’s a cool thing that the Gamasutra article hits on. But almost everything in his article that’s not just reviewing his source is instead giving off the impression that dancing is gay.
Read the Gamasutra article, and I think you will see that Kirk Hamilton either missed the point or expressed it really poorly.
I don’t hate Kirk Hamilton - in fact, I don’t hate anyone, despite what you may think - but if he were to fall down the stairs breaking his arms and legs in the process I’d have a tough time feeling sorry for him.
NAS’ response is right on the nose. I wish I’d written it. Nicely done.
Hooked Gamers, Mark Barkley: Microsoft Unveils New Xbox 360 SKU [Dec 27th, 2011]
Oh no! Microsoft have opted not to include a costly accessory in a new bundle for a territory in which the console has traditionally performed exceptionally poorly! This is shocking news! I am genuinely surprised!
VG247: “Report – Xbox Soho working on “family entertainment games”, July 26th, 2011
A source close to Develop has said Microsoft’s Soho outfit in London is working on “family entertainment games”, which are likely for Kinect.
Here we have a breaking report from Develop about a topic that— actually, wait. This isn’t breaking at all, or even relatively “new” unconfirmed information.
Xbox Live Studios Soho’s involvement with unannounced Kinect family/casual experiences was already reported on just prior to E3, by Eurogamer:
Microsoft has set up a London Soho Studio that Eurogamer has been told is hard at work on a Kinect game “aimed at the younger audience”.
This is an industry whisper which VG247 happens to have covered, at the time.
VG247: “Rumour – Microsoft to “serve the hardcore” at E3 with Kinect reveals”, May 17th, 2011
Two new studios have also opened and are working on Kinect titles, according to the site: one in Soho, London and another near Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond, Seattle.
I will give Develop a pass on this, since they rarely fall into the traps we continue to point out, and they didn’t address the original report from May.
But VidyaGaeming24/7 — nope, sorry. Can’t do it. Once again, an article pertaining to a subject already covered on a site is written, without mention or link to past and/or related information.
Are the writers lazy? Do they possess the memory capacity of a goldfish? Do they feel readers don’t/won’t keep track of things? All of the above?
“I made an horrendous mistake on the press demo on taking out the navigation allowing players to move,” he said to Official Xbox Magazine. “I’ll state on record now that Fable: The Journey is definitely not on rails.”
Molyneux, in OXM’s video, then points to a whiteboard that has those words written, followed by three exclamation points. Underneath that were dozens of signatures Molyneux said came from writers who had seen the game and agreed with him.
—Kotaku, Owen Good: Molyneux Disowns Fable E3 Demonstration as a “Horrendous Mistake” [June 12th, 2011]
This quote contains some misinformation, specifically this (emphasis mine):
Underneath that were dozens of signatures Molyneux said came from writers who had seen the game and agreed with him.
You can’t agree that something isn’t on-rails when the only thing you’ve seen is on-rails, or so say a number of journalists who have contacted me concerning this statement over at Kotaku. What that whiteboard is covered in is signatures of people who took Molyneux at his word that Fable: The Journey won’t be on-rails, based on his word and his word alone.
It’s a factual inaccuracy. A minor one, but an inaccuracy all the same.
We know absolutely nothing about Hulk Hogan’s Main Event, and if this is a good and just world it will remain that way. However Kotaku’s Mike Fahey has decided that not only do we need to know about this game, we need to know how fantastic it’s going to be. That’s right - strap yourselves in, it’s Journalism as PR time!
The entire piece reads like marketing spiel, as though it were written with the express intent of pushing the game. I mean, just read this:
In Hulk Hogan’s Main Event, developed by Panic Button for Majesco, the Impact Wrestling superstar takes players’ custom characters under his meaty wing, guiding them on the path to stardom. He’ll coach them on his signature poses as well as more than 30 wrestling combos using MIcrosoft’s Kinect sensor to measure their movements. The more dynamic their motions, the more effective their performance. Once they feel the true power of Hulkamania coursing through their veins players are sure to dominate the game’s nine increasingly lavish venues.
“The true power of Hulkmania coursing through their veins”? Good Lord, Mike. Are you just writing about the game or are you actively trying to promote it?
Read the post, have a look for yourself.
Edit: It’s been pointed out to me on Twitter that much of this news post is more or less lifted directly from Majesco’s press release.
Destructoid, Jonathan Holmes: New Balance Board horror game coming from Marvelous [December 8th, 2010]
I may not be particularly fond of the Kinect, but even I wouldn’t say anything quite as bowel-shatteringly ridiculous as this.
Cheers to the tipster who pointed me at this quote.
CVG: “343 working on Halo 1 remake - Report”, November 30th, 2010
That’s according to “industry chatter” reported in the new Games Master magazine, which writes that the updated game could run on the Halo: Reach engine and arrive ahead of a full Halo 3 sequel in late 2012…
The rumors of a Halo: Combat Evolved remake from 343 are nothing new, and I’m not saying they are true or false. Hell, I’d be surprised if this doesn’t happen next year, given the 10th anniversary of the series. However, something seems off here.
Plus, when asked, UK Xbox boss boss Stephen McGill seemed to be in favour of a remake, telling GM: “I imagine it’s a good idea”.
“I think some people want to go back to older games and see them revisited and I think a lot of developers want to see that too,” he said.Where have I heard this exact quote before? Oh, right. I heard it in this interview that Eurogamer did with McGill at the beginning of the month. Which means he didn’t really tell GM anything; they did what print rags do, and scrapped info from the internet for a story. Every site covering this ‘news’ seems to be skimming over this item, despite the fact that this very interview was used for a number of stories prior to Kinect’s European launch.
I’d love to hear from someone who has this issue of Future Publishing’s GamesMaster, and whether or not the EG interview is credited.
“Please state the nature of the incompetent fuckwittery.” Good job, Phil. It’s always good to have a back-up in case I’m too busy playing Super Meat Boy.
While I’d love to say that I did the legwork for this one, it was a(n anonymous) reader! Said reader wrote everything. Which is nice.
Update: The submitter forgot to include scores for Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, which they’ve just sent to me. Huzzah!
Cache links for this IGN article: [Page 1] [Page 2]
Reader-submitted content follows, with some minor formatting edits:
The Biggest Disappointments of the Year and their official review scores (found elsewhere on the site):
10. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (8.0/10)
9. PlayStation Move (8.5/10)*
8. Lost Planet 2 (6/10 360 & PC, 5.5/10 PS3)
7. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (7.0/10)
6. Crackdown 2 (7.5/10)
5. Microsoft Kinect (7.5/10)*
4. Fable III (8.5/10)
3. Medal of Honor (6/10 console, 6.5/10 PC)
2. Gran Turismo 5 (8.5/10)
1. Final Fantasy XIII (8.9/10)
What a crushing blow it was that Final Fantasy XIII was only “Great (8.5-8.9)”. Only 1/10th of a point more and it would have been “Outstanding (9.0-9.4)”!
*Kinect and Move have an official score of “N/A” when searching for them, but if you check their pages IGN did review and score them - here and here.
Otherwise known as “Company says their imaginary, hypothetical product will be better than competitor’s in-development-as-we-speak product”. Wow. This is news.
Destructoid’s Dale North can’t be bothered to write own content, lifts it from source instead
About an hour ago Destructoid’s Dale North made this news post about Project Draco, which includes this bit of text:
According to Andria Sang, Futatsugi and his staff are taking care to ensure that players can get their Kinect flail on for long periods without becoming tired. They’re already looking at level lengths and frequency of enemy attacks — that’s good to hear. Futatsugi told Famitsu that this is not a party type game where everyone enjoys themselves for brief periods, but is the type of game into which players sink their teeth. Knowing this, they’re working to make sure you can get that real feeling of control, but not become tired easily.
He said, “Don’t you want to be able to actually experience the feeling of communicating with a dragon and riding it into battle? I do.”
That’s fine, right? He cites a source, covers the basic info, and closes with a short quote from the game’s director, Yukio Futatsugi. Nothing wrong here. That is, unless you look at the Andriasang article yourself and read this:
For their work on Kinect, Futatsugi and his staff are taking care to ensure that players can enjoy themselves for lengthy periods without betting tired. They’re paying attention to such things as the length of a single map and the frequency of enemy attacks. Explained Futatsugi, Project Draco is not a party type game where everyone enjoys themselves for brief periods, but is rather the type of game into which players sink their teeth. Because of this, they’re developing the game to keep players from being tired while still delivering a control scheme that delivers a direct feel of movement.
As a sales point for the game, he said, “Don’t you want to be able to actually experience the feeling of communicating with a dragon and riding it into battle? I do.”
It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to see that this closely resembles the paragraph Dale wrote in his article - almost as if Dale took the text from Andriasang and slightly re-wrote it. Some people would call that plagiarism. Certainly my old high school English teacher would see it that way.
Dale not above editing his posts after I mention them on the blog, so I’m going to slap up a screengrab of the article here for all to see.
Thanks to the anonymous tipster who found this.
![VG247: Porn star tests Kinect nude limits on video [November 15th, 2010]
It’s bad enough that G4 decided to do this in the first place, but that VG247 decided it was newworthy is almost as bad. So glad Garratt could take his hands off of his (“I’m looking at the WENIS and I’m not happy” - Ed.) long enough to get this post up on the site.](http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lby4yaNqOM1qaim7mo1_500.png)
VG247: Porn star tests Kinect nude limits on video [November 15th, 2010]
It’s bad enough that G4 decided to do this in the first place, but that VG247 decided it was newworthy is almost as bad. So glad Garratt could take his hands off of his (“I’m looking at the WENIS and I’m not happy” - Ed.) long enough to get this post up on the site.
Kotaku: The Kinect Is Now In Its Accidental-Injury-Caught-On-Video Phase The Dangers Of Playing Kinect Enthusiastically [November 8th, 2010]
I don’t know if Kotaku have had their Kinect coverage bought and paid for or not, but they’re doing a terrible job of making it look otherwise.
