Please Mr. Ciabai, tell me that the title of "Games Editor" is not a professional title. What I mean is that I hope that you were not paid to write this piece. I understand that it's an opinion piece. Your ideas are not the sole source of my objection. Your inability to express your ideas and your clumsy grasp of language were what caught my eye. I don't want to blast you with a blanket insult and run off without backing up my opinions so here is a little list of quotes that really exemplify why you are in the wrong business.
"Each and every one of them should be put in a museum and locked there. That’s the only thing that should happen if we want to let nature follow its course."
You're asserting that the natural thing to do is to forcibly alter the future of gaming? You may have misunderstood the very nature of "nature". In nature, the strong survive.
"Sonic is 10 years younger but it’s still much."
"Much" would only work here if "years" was a singular collective noun, which it is not. Saying that Sonic was "Still too old" or something similar would have been appropriate. For example, the phrase "Too much sand" makes grammatical sense, "Too much years" and "Too much old" do not.
"I saw Rambo 4 and Rocky-Whatever and it was enough."
WHAT was enough? What was it enough OF? Sure, the answers to these questions are divinable from the text but not without a small amount of mental gymnastics from the reader. You can insist that your meaning is clear if you like but there is no arguing that this isn't bad writing form.
"these two demonic characters..."
These characters aren't demonic in any way. Not in their origins nor in their legacy. They are beloved by generations. You can't call them respected icons and demons in the same breath. To me it feels like you were trying to inflate your argument with strong language rather than solid reasoning but your vocabulary well went dry before you could pull it off.
"Of course game developers prefer this kind of titles: their success is guaranteed and they don’t have to do much about them."
What does "they don't have to do much about them" mean in this context? They don't have to... what? Make new, fun, compelling situations and obstacles for these characters? It seems to me that the developers DO "do much about them". That is why these characters' titles are continually popular after so many years. You make it sound like Donkey Kong and Super Mario 64 are essentially the same game. If you mean to say that we keep buying these games only because we recognize the protagonists then you are essentially calling your readers sub-humanly stupid.
Also, you misused the colon. In this case a semicolon would have been correct.
Throughout the article you used the colon six times and none of them were used properly.
"And I’m not overreacting"
No, You aren't over reacting, you're exaggerating, although I'm fairly certain that that's what you intended to express that you weren't doing.
"they should be remembered in a museum, because that’s the only place where they should be."
This is a circular argument. You've offered no substance. It would be like me saying "You should be fired from writing because you shouldn't be writing." While true, the second half of that sentence does little to support, explain or modify the first half.
"Will this happen anytime soon? No, because we love them."
Here you have deftly and succinctly undermined your entire argument.
That all having been said, your core concept is nonsense. You state that continuing to use these classic characters in new games stands in the way of developing new characters and new games. You then mention Duke Nukem, Laura Kroft and GTA3; three titles that have grown and flourished in the shadows cast by Mario and Sonic. Try telling Kratos that Mario has interfered with creating new memorable characters. Ask Cryptosporidium 137 if Luigi is stifling his creative potential. There is plenty of room in my consoles for the familiar, old characters and for new ideas.
If you should find grammatical or logical mistakes in my own writing, you will have to forgive me. You see, I'm not a professional writer. I'm just a high-school drop out with no formal education and a biting hangover.
| | M. OB | | Date: 2008-03-17, 00:21 GMT |
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