Gamer Versus Gamer
by keara22hi, HSM team writer
I LOVE playing RDR.
I HATE playing RDR.
That needs an explanation. I bought the game because I heard I could get a Bonnie McFarlane costume for my Home avatar to wear. And, of course, I heard it was a different kind of RPG. Having played every RPG ever invented for any gaming platform (ever hear of Beyond the Oasis?), I had to have it.
Slid in the game disk. Set all the options. Watched the opening cutscenes. Ahhhhh – this is good stuff. This John Marston character is no sixteen-year-old kid with spiky hair and a lot of ‘attitude’ for brains. The story looks promising. The NPCs are fleshing out and making the story look multifaceted.
First day learning the ropes (as usual). Riding that horse was almost as painful as real life equine adventures. At least in the game, I didn’t come to ignominious defeat sliding off the horse tail first. Then – shootout at the McFarlane ranch where I had the prowess of a ham-fisted golem. I literally could not hit the side of the barn – but Bonnie (bless her heart!) still praised my shooting and encouraged me to keep repeating that sequence until the controller actions began to make sense.
Then, wonder of wonders, a non-linear RPG! Don’t get too see many of those anymore. And the built-in poker game was a reminder of how much I missed the EA Poker Rooms. A twelve hour reminder. Took me that long to finally lose the last of my chips.
A huge, Huge, HUGE map to cover with surprises and activities hidden in every nook and canyon. Memories of stories my great-grandmother told me about growing up in Kansas came rushing back. This game developer did some research! Not only on the living conditions and culture of that era, but also the attitudes and social graces. This was almost like a documentary in terms of attention to detail. Only thing missing was the sad stories of starving remnants of once-proud Indian tribes wandering from farm to farm, begging for food.
Then the interesting twist in the story (major spoiler here): instead of the usual feisty-hero-romancing-simpering-princess, you discover that John Marston has a wife and family back home and is not going to succumb to the beautiful Ms. McFarlane’s attentions. Whoa – what happened? No big clinch scenes to titillate the teen boys hoping for a little anime-style softcore? Do we really have an adult game going on here? Woweee – this is getting better and better.
Another interesting aspect to this: none of the characters are all good/saintly/irreproachable heroes, and the villains are not the black-hearted sociopaths typical of most games. These people have dimension! And some of the characters are interesting stories unto themselves – like the rascally snake-oil salesmen. According to my great-grandma, there were plenty of these fellows during the frontier days of the West, selling potions that were primarily alcohol with flavorings and exotica (like snake venom) thrown in for good measure. No FDA testing in those days, and the panacea effect was essential for business success. Plus, the alcohol content usually guaranteed that after downing half a bottle, the patient no longer cared if they had the dropsy, gout, or the ‘vapors’.
The game also tackled the race issues that existed during the Reconstruction era and later. On the frontier, a man’s value was in his ability to fend for himself, as contrasted with the East Coast cities where family connections, inherited wealth, and political affiliations still determined much of the social pecking order. Interracial marriage (except rare instances between white males and Indian squaws) did not exist at that time. But interracial friendships between men were not uncommon. Survival on the frontier meant knowing who your friends were.
So that’s why I love the game. It is like dropping back in time 125 years and living an era I had only heard about.
Then a friend of mine convinced me to play Red Dead Redemption with her and her friends online. I last 43 seconds before I was seated on a donkey, running for my life, and being shot dead by one of my own team members. Oops! Then we were off and running – literally – for the next hour; all I did was run – dodge – aim – shoot – aim – shoot – run – squat behind a boulder – stand up – aim – shoot – run to the next boulder – dodge – squat – aim – shoot ad nauseum. Meanwhile my team was cheering me on: “Wow! Look, you are already at level 9!!!”
And all I could say was, “When do we get to the McFarland Ranch and start the story?”
You would have thought I was speaking Swahili. Zero comprehension.
“This IS the game,” I was told. “You shoot your way up through levels and you collect trophies!”
Trophies! What? I want the STORY. You can take the stupid trophies and shove them up the hindquarters of the horse I was riding.
That’s when I learned that Home is a gamer’s paradise – IF you are into playing shooter games online for the express purpose of showing off how fast you can gain levels and collect trophies testifying to various feats of eye-hand motor coordination skills. If that is what you are jonesing on, Home loves you – you get ‘game launches’ where you are teamed up with other shooter enthusiasts, you get new in-Home games to play that pander to the trophy-lust found in so many Home residents, and you find plenty of other FPS gamers who want to share their list of trophies with you.
Strategy no longer matters. Being able to plan a long-range gambit to achieve a specific result goes by the wayside. Caring anything about the characters in the game is gone. Having any sort of coherent story to follow is lost. Villains are virtual reality versions of monsters, psychopaths, or undead creatures who want to eat your brain. As a learning experience, the games are no challenge in anything other than motor skills.
This results in an interesting social situation in Home. Many of the residents of Home are old-time hard core gamers who started in the days of the dinosaurs, hula hoops, and Commodore 64 consoles. Want to see an older gamer weep with joy? Tell them you remember the Ultima series and Lord British! Talk about the incredibly creative games like Myst. Mention the plot features of Chrono Trigger and the epic boss battles of Final Fantasy games. There are gamers still debating why Aeris had to die. Or talk about some of the incredible anime games that came out of Japan for several decades. No one could get through the Persona series without getting involved with those characters.
So imagine the old time gamer confronted by the teen in Central Plaza who treats them with disdain because they are not level 19 with hundreds of trophies from shooter games. I have actually heard these kids say things like, ‘Aren’t you a little old to be in here?’ and then discovered that the gamer they had backed in a corner was an elderly 31 years old apologizing for being in the wrong place looking for the wrong people.
I have been told that there was a game in Home called Xi that had high appeal to many of the folks in Home from both gamer camps. Unfortunately, I arrived too late for that delight. And I do not see any hopes of another game of that type looming on the horizon. In the new Blaster space, I tried the burned-in game. It reminded me a lot of the Atari game: space invaders. Okay, fun for a little while. And I am looking forward to the new SodiumTwo game – at least it is not run-aim-shoot.
But – how about a space for console gamers to gather? A place to talk about RPGs? And puzzle games like Heavy Rain? And long, involved horror story games like the Silent Hill Series? Maybe a developer who makes those kinds of games would like to take that challenge on? Hey, Bioware, are you listening? Blue Frog, isn’t this up your alley?
Maybe the solution starts with understanding that not all gamers are gamers – as they define the term. This means educating the young player whose parents gave him a PS3 for his 14th birthday and thinks that gaming was invented the week before. There is a long history to gaming and as many different kinds of games as there are game developers – past, present, and future. It also means getting at least a grudging acceptance from the old-time gamer that, just as each generation has their own music (yes, they call THAT music) and dance styles and ways of dressing to aggravate their parents, they also have their favorite gaming styles. Remember when you were playing Dungeons & Dragons on graph paper with those weird dice with your pals and your parents were yelling at you to “go outside and PLAY!”?
Ha. As if.
Without some mutual understanding and respect for each other’s tastes, Home will be a battleground between the ‘newbies’ wanting to compare trophies and the old-timers looking for a good discussion of strategies used in Zelda. But first, both sides have to acknowledge that there is a huge dichotomy on how gaming is defined and respect that each viewpoint is valid.
May 3rd, 2011 by keara22hi | 14 comments
Keara is also known in Home as DarthGranny. She is a wicked little old lady with a wild sense of humor.
I absolutely ABSOLUTELY LOVE this game! I’m glad you did an article on this game because it’s so vast, there is so much to do. The GTA games i dont mind, but how can you fault riding cross country on horseback in some of the most beautiful scenery I had the fortune of seeing in a videogame?
British people must love this game as we have always had a fascination with your Wild West, our parents have been watching westerns since long before we were born, Glint Eastwood’s gravelly voice echoes in my ear..
Riding with friends online is an added bonus, you can literally make yur own fun being within a group and the voicechat feature is an added bonus.
When PSN comes back online, I cant wait to ride with you and ‘Buffalo’ Burbie. (Yeah its a moniker shes stuck with lol)
There are many types of social gamers.
My definition of a “social game” involves at least 2 players playing and game face to face (like Chess, Bowling, Pick up Basketball).
Online gaming is fun, but can’t possibly have moments such as this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeM0rH_4ung
I’m sure a few of you have played NES at a friend’s house back in the day, or perhaps Wii bowling recently. That’s social gaming.
Part 2:
Online gaming in most forms also offer a form of social
interactions, whether it’s co-op, versus, helping with a quest or simply watering your neighbors plants.
Quick and convenient social gaming.
--
I fail to see where trophies fall into this article, as trophies are meant for a person to complete a game the way a developer intends you to, not to mention brag to people who also happen to be trophy hunters.
Ahhhh yes,who could forget the 20-sided dice or the”Plaza of Dark Delights”?A good story can turn a mediocre game into a classic,but lately good stories,even some that aren’t so good,are stretched to squeeze as much cash out of it as possible.Nothing wrong with that sometimes but does every game that sells marginally well need 3 sequals and a prequal or 2?I think the gaming industry needs to collaberate more with real writers from various genres to get some fresh ideas.D&D,and many other games,were created in whole or in part by using elements from real stories.There seems to be a lack of imagination in coming up with new,good,and replayable games,yes i know there are some exceptions.The graphics of games on the other hand are at an all-time high as are the sound effects and seem to be getting better all the time.I anxiously await the day that a truely great story meets these graphics,maybe it’s time for a new D&D-like game for the PS3?
omg, RDR! i soooo fell in love with marston’s voice. veritable weak in the knees. and his insults in town when he’s ‘evil’, i laughed for hours.”why are you wearing that dress, sir?”. i have a lot of friends that dive all over the multi player part of RDR and try to get me to join, of which i have a few times, but your right, i LOVE the story to it. of which is why i loved the tomb raiders as well. it was so nice to see the developers do anniversary and revisit the original love for exploring from the first one. saints row two as well. enslaved!! i’m the same on the gaming part. killzone 3, lost planet 2, etc. its the single player part thats more fascinating, something to sink your teeth into. more depth. at least some like saints row two allow you to do co-op missions, so two of you can enjoy the games story. i think it takes an inventive developer to merge the two but they’re finally doing it. WOO HOO!! lil mouse
I know you didn’t much care for the online RDR Granny as you never asked to come back and play with us again. LOL. I have never played a game online with friends(except for Peggle which is a blast too) before I played this one. I don’t really care about the trophies or getting a platinum myself as you know, but I do like playing and chatting with friends in online play, it adds a whole new dimension to the game. That said I don’t mind helping my friends achieve a platinum if they want one and many of the challenges in the game require cooperation from others.
This game is the first shooter type I have ever played, and I got it because all of my friends kept talking about it and how great it was to play together. They all urged me to try it out.So I did and got hooked. I finished the story mode and the Nightmare add on before I really got into the online play, but once I did it was amazingly fun. It still is and I miss my RDR posse very much even though I am 5th Legend in it and can’t really get anything more leveling up wise. All I have left to do is a few challenges, and I pursue those for the fun of it, not to try and get trophies. But as Cheeky said Buffalo Burbie loves to ride! And the old granny avatar I unlocked as fifth legend is a real hoot!
Great article by the way Granny as always! And I wish you could see my granny character, she’s very wry and brooks no nonsense. And another thing my friends and I do in the game is stand and use the preset statements that the characters have to converse in RDR online to have a laugh as some of them are hysterical.
Am also “still” loving RDR. Am one of those who gets lost in a game such as this. Have a habit of being distracted by the scenery, and end up just riding around gawking. Ha ha. Been playing it since it came out. Also have Undead Nightmare (which is freaking fun as Hell and a great story). The multiplayer aspect is a hard one for yours truly (what with the distractedness and all), but have managed to claw up to level 27 or something. Not sure… been a while since playing online.
Indeed, RDR is like a wild west GTA as far as functionality/gameplay are concerned, but the environment and story are what really grabs one by the boo-boo. Am not a trophy hunter and leveling up is never really a goal. Can’t stand most multiplayer FPS games, since storyline is a personal preference, but RDR seems to be an exception (do realize it’s not really FPS, but still) and have enjoyed multiplayer even with strangers!
The Home demographic does seem to have some hard lines between trophy-hunter and plot/story-lover somewhat.
Am mostly a casual gamer, but can spend hours upon hours playing non-stop when engrossed.
Yes, I do remember the graph paper and Dungeons & Dragons, oddly enough I had NO idea how to play the game and what the 20 some odd sided dice was really for, but what I do remember is sitting down for hours at the kitchen table with friends just drawing these “maps” -- that we never played -- we just drew until the led met the eraser.
Gaming has changed, in one way the games are more amazing then before, the story art and film direction, matches and often beats watching a major motion picture.
Multi- player, although has been unchanged through out the years. Its all about high score vs story. The only difference now is You play online, typically by yourself over a internet connection.
Nothing today compares to the experience of what multi-player games were before the internet. When you had to bring your own controller to your friends house, or visa verse. Gathered around the television sitting on the floor to your feet got numb,playing until you hand hurt and your eyes would water.
Home and Multi-player gaming today is revolutionary and in its own right a amazing experience, but to me TRUE social gaming, is now just a memory of great days, long past.
Lol,I remember that you had to roll the 20-sided dice whenever you tried to do an action.The roll decided if an action was successful or not,a 20 was a great roll and a 1 was a bad roll.I remember this because i rolled 1 of each during game play,the 20 resulted in my arrow taking out a magically conjured dragon while the 1 resulted in my bowstring snapping while i was trying to hit a fleeing thief which resulted in a lost “Crystal of truth” which was worth about 1000 gold pieces.The biggest problem with those older games was that they took forever to set-up and even longer to play but they had great stories and tons of side characters.As long as you had some imagination this was time well spent but it wasn’t for any1 that didn’t have patience.
Great writing on a great game!! Thany you ¦^) ,.. Im 32 & may not be as “seasoned” as some here I too had an Atari & played D&D (also Rifts) growing up. I get the comment ” you only have X amount of trophies LOL” all the time so i guess im in the “social gamer” camp, lol oh well i have fun thats the objective right?? ,.. As for RDR omg the best game i’ve ever played, no stage 1, stage 2 etc.. GAME OVER!!! Its free roaming feature is wonderful,.. I’ve played online & its ok, but i mainly just ride around in single player & enjoy the spectacular graphics from Mantecca Falls & Nekoti Rock to Sidewinder Gultch, i even decided not to get that trophy for killin all the buffalo so i could ride with them lol, i may be a lil bias though as im a country boy from south GA, but they need more games of this kind. In fact no PSN today so guess me & Nellie (my horse) are gunna hit the trails, again great article & magazine all round HAPPY TRAILS ¦^)
oops forgot to put “but” between here & I , in line two lol guess grammar/writing classes should be on my to do list lol
I LOVE RDR! Its definitely one of my all time favorite PS3 games. Not a huge fan of the online multiplayer. It seems the minute anyone hears my voice and finds out im a girl everyone starts coming after me and i cant walk more than 2 feet without being shot… So if i do play multiplayer its in a private room with only my friends. Ive always loved Rockstar games. I love having a map, and the freedom to choose where to go and what to do next. They also made my favorite ps2 game Bully.
I play many games that i don’t like for the trophies .. why? bc something is wrong with me .. but i’m an old school gamer too .. if chrono trigger had trophies i would platinum the hell out of it