I've just read all the Pitchfork articles on Socks Make People Sexy for the Mother, Chrono and Final Fantasy series, and now I need more reviews like his.
What are some essays/reviews on retro games that have that same combination of well written examination and misty eyed melancholy, with a more general nostalgia for an era rather than a game?
>>3008561
I always liked this old review of Final Fantasy 1. It perfectly captures why the game was so great back in the day.
http://archives.insertcredit.com/reviews/ff1/index.html
Not to get all e-celeb, but Spoony's talk about playing Ultima with his brother is very much like this.
And a tech version would be the software/hardware blog that was ran by K.Mandla. That same aspect of the march of time and trying to convince people that there was a reason to care about any of it at all.
From the end of the Chrono Trigger review here: http://socksmakepeoplesexy.net/index.php?a=trigger
> It encapsulaes everything about the genre that ever made it worthwhile and sidesteps the excesses.
Get Lamp and The BBS Documentary also have this atmosphere. It's touching, because it can only come from dead genres or past technology.
>>3008570
I love Tim Rogers. His Earthbound review is my favorite:
http://archive.is/fMD7F
There's even a book about the Chrono series that probably match what you search, i don't know if it's translated in english though.
Surprisingly Chris Avellone did the prologue.
>>3008763
however people interested in the above-mentioned sidestepping of excesses had better avoid him
dude is the video game review world's Avatar of Excess
>>3009004
What do you mean by avatar of excess?
>>3009004
Personally, I love his writing style. I don't mind all the digressions, because I think most of what he says is interesting.
>>3008561
9/19/2613
in the future the year will be split in 26 months to coincide with half a moon cycle huh
>>3008763
That review was not only ridiculously pretentious, it also contains a number of outright false information throughout (the big one for me being that Mother 2 was not based on Yume de aimashou) which makes me doubt the veracity of the entire piece.
It sounds like it was written by a weeaboo hipster who actually doesn't know what the hell he's talking about and is just trying to sound important. It's also a great example of why most people hate Earthbound hipster fans.
The SMPP piece on Mother is kinda pretentious too, but does so with facts and with just the right touch of fun. I quite like Pitchfork on that regard, he has the right balance. Too much pretentious bull and you sound like Rogers; too much random lol crap and you sound like whoever wrote that god-forsaken CT article on HG101.
>>3009234
I feel like I'm the only person in the world who likes this essay. :(
>That review was not only ridiculously pretentious
What's pretentious about it?
>it also contains a number of outright false information throughout
Yeah, the factual errors about the game are unfortunate. It's clear that he played the game though, he's not just outright fabricating things from the game that aren't there. They're the kinds of things someone might say if they haven't played the game in 10 years.
>which makes me doubt the veracity of the entire piece
Like I said, it's clear that he played Earthbound and the errors don't detract from his points about the game, but I agree that it does make me want to double check the stories about Kojima and Itoi.
>It sounds like it was written by a weeaboo hipster
What's hipster about it? I think the essay sounds like a pretty honest explanation of why he likes the game.
>doesn't know what the hell he's talking about
With regards to his actual analysis of Earthbound, I think he does know what he's talking about, much more than the people who like the game simply because "zomg random!" or "omg so dark, this is a kids' game?!"
A lot of people shit on Rogers' writing, so I just want to stick up for him is all. I see a lot of similarities between me and him (in addition to the fact that we're both weebs), and I could see myself writing something similar to this essay.
Anyway, to continue with the thread topic, here's another Tim Rogers piece that I like, this one about his experience with SMB3. Make sure you use the sidebar links to navigate between pages:
http://archives.insertcredit.com/features/lifenonwarp/index.html
>>3009234
To be fair I believe he wrote that piece in the early 2000's, a lot more is known about both earthbound and the mother series today then that time period. I do agree though, the factual errors are absurd, to the point I'm actually interested where he found the misinformation, and it is a little pretentious.
>>3009379
You're right. He knows exactly what he's doing, he's just cooning up the weirdness, it's a schtick.
I'm not a huge fan of his writing style personally but I have a lot of respect for the guy. He went through a lot of shit just to get started in Japan.
>>3009401
Which misinformation are you talking about? I'm aware that he gets some of the things about the gameplay itself wrong.
>>3009415
I could find no source anywhere for Itoi saying that games are like prostitutes.
Takeshi's Challenge has no in-game disclaimers and doesn't even have a final boss.
Itoi's curriculum is fantady. He didn't father any reality TV genres, as far as I can tell he's never claimed to be a journalist but a copywriter instead.
I can't find any sources for the Miyazaki quote.
Mother was not based in Yume de aimashou.
Can't find any source on any of the Kojima quotes.
Can't find any source on who wrote "every text window" of Mother 2, but given that the game credits additional scenario writers and how games are developed, I find this highly unlikely.
Minor nitpick, but there's not "only" one cure for sunstroke (not "heatstroke").
You have to pray nine times to defeat Giygas, it isn't based on the melodies. Worst part is that his theory could have worked with Mother 1, no need to make shit up for Mother 2.
Rogers' "conversation" (or whatever) with Kojima, you know, the one that gives the title to the review, is a total fabrication.
There's no source for Itoi playing Dragon Quest when he was sick, etc.
Minor nitpick, but you'd have to be a pretty loose and long-winded "creative" translator to get "The Last Days of the Pig Emperor" from "Butaou no Saigo". It literally is "End of Pig-king", there's nothing that can be construed as last, days or emperor.
The whole prostitute - woman thing is also made up.
I'm sure there's more lies in there.
>>3009412
Pretty much this. The fact that he provides sources for unimportant things kind of proves that he's just making stuff up.
I understand he's doing this on purpose, but I have no respect for the guy. For all we know he's not even in Japan. He acts like a grown up version of the "my dad works at Nintendo" kid, making stuff up to sound important and impressive. The sad thing is that, as adults, people believe him. He embodies the worst sterotypes of a hipster. Pitchfork's article is a million times better.
>>3009379
>What's hipster about it? I think the essay sounds like a pretty honest explanation of why he likes the game.
It's filled with lies. The sentiment behind the game itself may be honest, and I don't disagree with the ideas behind those specific paragraphs, but the whole thing is wrapped on self-indulgence and far-fetched lies (dialogues with Kojima and Itoi, come on).
This "I was there" vibe of talking to game devs is at the core of what's seen as hipster. Beyond the fact that half the article is narcissistic lies, how he erases the existence of the dev TEAM that made Earthbound and focuses on Itoi is also a hipster/indie trademark (you know how people think that if it's a one-person "craft" it's more likely to be "art" and such). I get that the Mother games are prime candidates for this mentality, since Itoi is indeed at the forefront of them almost a 100%, and this is why even when normal writers tackle the series it sounds a bit hipsterish.
Like I said in my previous post these aren't just "errors" from not playing Earthbound in a while, they're dileberate, misleading half-truths to first and foremost make the author seem like a person in the know with the devs and also make the games seem more grandiose that they are.
Oh, and bear in mind that Rogers is supposed to be a journalist. And half the content of his articles are outright falsehoods, most just for the sake of his own ego. Joke or not, this also means he's utterly unethical.
Unless the whole piece is actually real and he had long conversations with big shot game devs when the article was written. But somehow I don't think that's the case.
>I see a lot of similarities between me and him
If you also create fantasy narratives to feel like you're important, do seek professional help.
>>3009234
>It sounds like it was written by a weeaboo hipster who actually doesn't know what the hell he's talking about and is just trying to sound important.
That's a pretty apt description of Tim Rogers himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAZAcYGDK8k
>>3009819
>I could find no source anywhere for Itoi saying that games are like prostitutes.
>I can't find any sources for the Miyazaki quote.
>There's no source for Itoi playing Dragon Quest when he was sick, etc.
Did you search for Japanese sources? Maybe you did - I don't speak Japanese. But it's entirely possible that these things came from Japanese sources that were never translated.
>You have to pray nine times to defeat Giygas, it isn't based on the melodies.
Rogers explicitly talks about having to pray to beat Giygas.
>Takeshi's Challenge has no in-game disclaimers and doesn't even have a final boss.
Wikipedia seems to agree with you.
So I agree that some of the stories he tells are questionable at best. The fact that we can verify that he gets things wrong about Earthbound and Takeshi's Challenge does cast doubt on his other stories, which to be honest, really sucks, because I really admire this essay as a piece of writing. Even if his stories about Kojima and Itoi are made up, I still defend his analysis of Earthbound itself, and I think he expressed his genuine emotional reaction to the game. It's a shame those parts have to be surrounded by anecdotes of questionable veracity, though.
>>3008763
That prostitute analogy makes me want to buy a time machine to 2000 and slap him in the face.
>>3009854
He seems like an alright guy, the kind of guy who's really awkward and browses /mu/ and /vr/ and swears that he started sadboys, but an alright guy.
>>3008561
>Square has a golden quartet of games that remain untarnished by time and are still popularly and crtically vaunted as being among the best games of all time. We've already discussed numbers one and three -- Final Fantasy VI and VII from 1994 and 1997 -- and today we will be looking at number two: 1995's Chrono Trigger.
Anyone know what "number four" is? FF Tactics?
>>3009819
He's not in Japan anymore, he hasn't been for a long time, he got deported.
>>3010687
Seriously? What happened?
>>3010687
Not even Japan could tolerate Tim Rogers' bullshit.
>>3010693
He didn't fill out the paperwork. He was ready to leave anyway.
>>3010017
>alright guy
> the kind of guy who browses /mu/
choose only one
>>3010017
He is. The big difference between him and us here is that he did something with his interest in weeb shit.
Fun fact, he went to the same high school and at the same time as Jared Fogle.
>>3008561
I guess it's worth something to note that HG101's FF reviews came from there. If you ever wanted to know how far the autism went after V the rest is on that site.
>>3012004
>did something with his interest in weeb shit.
Became a Kotaku writer? Woe is me.
>>3012036
No. I mean actually following his dreams/interests and making a living from it rather than sitting here on a Saturday night throwing shade on an anonymous message board.
>>3008561
>Socks Make People Sexy for the Mother, Chrono and Final Fantasy series
Half of the Mother 1 review might as well had been a Dragon Quest 1 review. Seriously, if half of your game review is dedicated to discussing another game's play mechanics in-depth, you might as well just do a review for that other game.
>>3010426
Probably SD3
>>3012153
Nobody thinks Seiken Densetsu 3 is one of the best games ever made.
>>3012004
>Fun fact, he went to the same high school and at the same time as Jared Fogle.
Did Jared put his sandwich inbetween his buns?
>>3013368
No clue. I was mostly worried about being crushed underfoot by giant black people.
>>3008758
>Get Lamp and The BBS Documentary
Jason Scott is what OP is after in general.
http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/3191
