Look who comes crawling back for more

I generally thought I'd finished with this blog. I mean, the last post was 9 months ago. But I might have reason to kick this thing back into gear sooner or later. I began university last September studying Film & TV Production, and it's been a blast, but come this September I'll also be doing a short course in 'The Emergence of Games Culture', which means it may be useful for me to write critically about games and things.

So I'm going to try and get back into the habit of reading those blogs there on the right. I guess I've missed a lot of awesome writing. I'm sorry. But hopefully I'll be able to contribute something of my own soon. At least when Left 4 Dead has released its firm grip of my balls. I'm still not good at writing well, my vocabulary has probably only degraded since I last wrote an article, and I'm still going to fuss more over the colour scheme of this blog than the posts, but it might at least be beneficial to me, even if not at all for you. So see you soon, and remember, all the noobs will be playing as Ken, so for god's sake pick someone else.

The image has no relation to the contents of this post.

Hiatus - Curtains will be temporarily closed

Not that I've exactly been on fire for the last...two months. Well, in case anyone was expecting a new post in the comings weeks, you can now expect differently. It's nothing personal. GTA IV has been dominating my game playing, and I think there's enough people talking about that already, plus I've been doing lots of work and focusing on films, my perhaps slightly bigger (or at least more presently active) passion. I mostly won't be posting in the next few weeks though due to the start of the 2008 Festival de Cannes, (like GDC, but for films, and two weeks long) and so my game blog reading is kind of getting shunned by my film blog reading instead.

So seeya in a few weeks. Don't touch my stuff, please.

And just when you thought it was over...

As any readership I have may have noticed, there hasn’t been much to actually read in the past few weeks. There’s not really any major reason why, just lots of little reasons that have added up. First, as a film student and aspiring film director (though I’ll settle for whatever I can get, to be honest), I’ve been spending more time watching films, reading films and making short films than I have been playing and thinking about games. I’ve also been very busy with work, as it’s getting to that point of the year where every week sees another deadline I don’t stand a chance of making. I’ve also been contemplating leaving my job, but can’t decide whether I should just hand in my resignation or keep pushing acceptable limits of laziness until I get fired.

I’ve still been playing a bit though. As the 360 is officially off limits until the release of GTA IV, the PS3’s been getting a showing, particularly Hot Shots (best online playbase I’ve ever encountered), MotorStorm (or the step-by-step guide to creating the perfect racing experience), and recently a little Unreal Tournament III (or the step-by-step guide to making a gamer cry. It’s tricky online…)

But most of my playing time has been devoted to free online browser game Ikariam. I read about it here, and then here, and then decided to check it out myself. It’s meant to be a game you just ‘check on’ every few hours for five minutes or so, adjust a few bars and click on a few pretty buildings, but I’ve found it so compulsive it’s gotten to the points where I kill time in between actions by mapping out everything I need to do in the next two days worth of playtime. It’s really, really hooked me. I think I even dreamt about it last night.

But another reason I haven’t been posting so much recently is because I keep getting ideas for a new kind of videogame blog, a unique and potentially hilarious bunch of concepts. I can’t really explain it. Think MST3K, wrestling, reality TV and The Trap Door combined, with crazy characters and different rooms and in-jokes. All expressed through text. Yeah, it sounds shit, but it could cover up my writing weaknesses at the very least. Anyway, I’ll build on it and see how it goes.

As for the near future, I’m sure GTA IV will give me plenty to talk about.

Error: Epiphany

I was recently thinking about this little blog, and found myself wondering if a) ‘Is this the right approach?’ and b) ‘Is there any point to this?’ The first question was easy. No. The second was less simple. This is meant to be a game criticism blog, a strange subgenre of gaming blogs that I enjoy reading but ultimately have doubts as to whether any serve much greater purpose. We complain, we compare, we invent, we love on and we hate on. Will it change anything? Unlikely. Will it eventually stumble upon the key to the perfect game? I find it doubtful. So what do ‘I’ and others alike get out of reading and making them?

I guess it has on some levels given me a greater appreciation of videogames as a medium, although I often feel we’re reading into things that aren’t there. I’ve been introduced to more overlooked games that I wouldn’t have stumbled upon otherwise, and I’ve learnt a lot of little gameplay ideas which, not being a games developer, are kind of useless for me to know about anyway. So okay, it feels a little hopeless, this isn’t a professional blog, and nor do I want it to be. My true interest lies in the world of film and directing anyway, not games development or journalism. But maybe this’ll work if I look at answers to the first question, my approach.

I don’t think I’m being personal enough. This is a blog, not a commercial site, but I’ve gotten in the habit of writing in a way that is reminiscent to that style. This post is proberbly the first where I’m just rambling from my mind rather than structuring as if creating a school essay. I also find this place sterile, lacking in humour. Maybe that links in with the ‘personal voice’ thing, with me previously deeming jokes not appropriate for ‘serious game criticism’. I hate that term too! I feel like too many of these blogs focus only on ‘criticism’ and leave out the ‘appreciation’. Games are meant to be fun, and that’s why we play them. Maybe we only start complaining about ‘lack of emotional depth’ and ‘shallow stories’ when we forget about that. Let the films and books do that side of things, which they’ve mastered so well. Perhaps we should keep the games purposely shallow and devoid of intellectual merit, treat them as entertainment, not art.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but expect things to change a little from here on. I’ll try and be more personal, more casual, and funny. I'll try and talk more about the good things and less of the bad. And gone are the times where I force myself to sit down and think of something to say. If nothing comes to mind, then no updates. I also want this place to open up to what’s happening in the game world more, rather than essentially talking out of any context as to what’s going on out there. I don’t want to give up with this, not because there’s exactly anyone who’s gonna be let down, but because I think it could be enjoyable if I can get the hang of it. And it looks pretty.

I’ve already got a list of game blog writers who I generally respect, and I look forwards to what they’ve got to say. Starting this place has given me more of an appreciation for what they do. It’s a nice little online community that I wouldn’t want to leave behind so soon, so I’ll see how things turn out.

A Change of Disguise

I have decided to rename the blog. Around halfway through the process I discovered that settling on a decent name would be impossible. I wanted a name we could all agree on, and as the "Burning Curtain" I think we can all agree is shite, I count the idea a success. The previous name (Manic Incorporated) was simply based on my Live Gamertag, which is kind of like naming a child after your job title. That's all there is to say on the matter, so farewell.

A Synopsis

Okay, if this blog does become of something, and there's no reason it should, but if it does, I decided it will mainly focus on the world of videogames, purely because I know much about it, or at least more than my other interests. Alright then, you say, another gaming blog. But why should I, you continue, add yet another gaming blog to my overflowing favorites list? Well, maybe there's something here that isn't found elsewhere so easily. What that quite is, I haven't yet decided, but here's a few ideas off the top of my gulliver to get things rolling:

• Gaming personalities - a short but detailed biography on designers, known and not so known.
• Genre evolution - comments on what needs to be done to evolve a particular genre of videogame for it to stay fresh in the future.
• Game ideas - I'll admit, maybe I don't have the skills required to break into the industry, but I have ideas nonetheless. It won't do any harm to share a few of them.
• Comments on recent news - I keep very up to date with the latest videogame happenings, but other sites can do that better than me, so instead I'll pick out little interesting stories and discuss them in greater detail.
• Reviews - No, IGN this is not, and nor is should try to be, but what about the games that never got the attention they deserved? Or the games that got far too much? Maybe a few paragraphs on particular releases, old and new, could prove insightful to some.
• General ramblings - This is a blog, after all. Don't expect to go too long before I start verbally drooling over the things in the back of my mind.
• Points of interest - If I come across something that I believe is worth checking out, maybe a site, a newly announced game, whatever it may be, I'll spread the word.

That's a starter. I'm still not sure if those ideas are truly original enough, nor me talented enough, to keep you checking back here, but we'll see I guess. Please suggest any ideas yourself in the comments section if you will, though judging by how my readership is proberbly around 2 including myself, I won't expect much to find its way there.

Oh, and the fancy graphics around the site? Kinda stolen from various "Art of Games" magazines and books. Don't tell anyone though. At least it's tasteful. Guess the games they're from?

Forward

This blog has been created before the author could think up a reason to have one, but if anything ever does become of it, there's a good chance it will proberbly concern the likes of videogames, art house cinema, beat-gen literature, Japanese street racing, the Sicilian Mafia, Gonzo journalism and the Rolling Stones. I have a peculiar mind, stuck in a world between Day of the Tentacle and the Science of Sleep. If I can translate its inner atmosphere into text then it might make for an interesting read. It might also make for a Jim Morrison level confusing one.

Alas, some words of your pretentious narrator. I'm young, on the verge of true manlyhood. I have ever growing interests in the subjects above. I live in a horribly normal place which I can neither complain nor be proud about. I'd like to be a film director, before dipping my toes in videogame design, making an album, and then settling in either Italian or Japanese mountains where lay my own personal race track and car collection, or that's the current basic plan. I'm also very naive - if the previous sentence doesn't resemble my future existence I have absolutely no backup plan for what to do instead. Indeed, quite typical for my age I guess, but of course I'd never admit that.

The following may help you understand my inner workings.

In film, A Waking Life, the Science of Sleep, Slacker, ... Donnie Darko
In music, Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop, the Stones' Exile on Main St., the Pixie's Doolittle, the Stooge's Funhouse
In game, anything by Tim Schafer or Michel Ancel
In art, Ralph Steadman

I find this funny, this hilarious, this not funny at all, this very useful, this cool, this very cool, this rather sexy, this very depressing, this hugely interesting, this life changing, this desirable and this rather odd. That'll do for now. I'll come back if I have anything to say.