Coffee Talk #2: Fantasy Games vs. SciFi Games

Posted on October 13th, by raymond padilla in Coffee Talk, PC Gaming, Today's Specials, Videogames. 215 comments

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Toy Story 3 trailer, the upcoming “Super 6″ middleweight tournament, or Rob Schneider’s birthday, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Fantasy vs. SciFi — it’s a debate that will last an eternity. Most gamers I know enjoy both settings, but strongly lean towards one or the other. Some folks dig games with swords and sorcery, others prefer laser rifles and warp drives. Personally, I’m way more of a fantasy guy than a sci-fi guy. Space battles are cool and all, but I rather jump into an adventure filled with mystical spells, magic weapons, and cool frickin’ dragons. I liked Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but I loved Baldur’s Gate.

Dragon Age Origins chicky Coffee Talk #2: Fantasy Games vs. SciFi Games

My reasoning is simple; fantasy settings are more ridiculous, ergo more imaginative. Science fiction — good science fiction anyway — is often based on…(get this) science. Sure, it might be theoretical, but in many cases it’s plausible and not a huge leap from reality. Even though a lot of sci-fi features alien races and futuristic weaponry, it’s just too “real” for me. At the end of the day I see science as cold and clinical (I’m sure a psychiatrist would tell me that I’m just afraid of death).

Fantasy is more fun for me. A sword of sharpness? Ludicrous. A bag of holding? Preposterous. A race of miniature creatures that live inside trees and bake cookies? Waitaminute…those actually exist. So many elements in fantasy games, books, etc. are just impossible. Call me a romantic, but I enjoy dreaming about the impossible.

I’d love to hear about your preference. Are you SciFi or fantasy? Pick a side and explain your choice (please)!

Coffee Talk PC Gaming Videogames

http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

Oops. Ha! Please keep in mind that I haven't slept since Sunday night.
tokz_21

@Rpad

Hey that's not fair that you get to edit/fix your comments and we don't. plus not it makes it seem like i was crazy to point your goof on comment #99. Are you still jet-lagging that bad??
tokz_21

aww man! I meant *now instead of not.
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@tokz_21 I deleted your comment so nobody will think you're crazy. :)

It's not really the jet lag. I took a last-minute project to pay the bills. I wasn't really ready for it after everything that happened at G4. Between the project and the new site, I couldn't afford to sleep last night. Almost done though!
oOcornflakeOo

@ tokz

lol i once went to see the horrible superman movie in this theater we called the "Ghetto 8" cause thats where all the brothas go to watch they movies lol sorry, anyway, there was this scene where the camera panned upwards starting from the ground up to superman's face but when the camera started at his feet, some dude goes, "oh snap! even superman got dem bobo boots!"

i couldn't stop laughing
Hrolf

Yea, the ranger was pretty cool. Have you read the Dragonlance books? I met one of my best friends from highschool passing him by as he mentioned Flint Fireforge. 18 years later were still close and talk weekly. I also really enjoy the Magic Kingdom Of Landover For Sale…Sold series of books.
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@Hrolf I think you'll enjoy tomorrow's Coffee Talk! That's all I'll say for now.
tokz_21

@rpad

Ha! thanks a lot for securing my sanity on your website.

@cornflake

I hear you sometimes traveling outside of your normal theater can give you great movie watching moments from the audience and some times they can give you the most annoying ones ever.
http://twitter.com/Sandrock323 Sandrock323

@R-Pad

Hope you get some sleep soon.

@oOcornflakeOo

When I went to go see the Ring, one of my friends jumped behind our seats and grabbed the ankles of the friend next to me. he shouted and stood up so fast. We were all cracking up, except the lady who kept yelling at the characters on screen. She thought we were being annoying lol.
tokz_21

It looks like Coffee Talk is winding down and we won't get 226 comments like the first one.

Once again another sequel that didn't measure up to the original.
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@tokz_21 Hopefully this is a marathon, not a sprint. With some luck and support we can keep this going for a good, long while. I really wanted to make it to #100 with Morning Hangover. Let's see if we can get there with Coffee Talk.

@Sandrock323 Me too! I think maybe in an hour?
RRODisHere

Guys, Toys R Us sucks. They didn't have Demon's Souls so I had to settle for Brutal Legend as my free game.
tokz_21

@Rpad

Would you still be keeping up your site if you find employment?
Shockwave562

RROD, I take it you got Fallout GOTY also?
rbee90

i love sci fi games, especially if the game is an RPG ie Mass effect, SW: KOTOR 1 and 2. if its FPS: alien versus predator or star wars jedi outcast. but i miss decent RPG fantasy games. Oblivion was great, diablo 1 and 2 were awesome. AND DRAGON AGE IS MY GAME OF THE MONTH FOR NOVEMBER!!!! I WANT THAT GAME NOW!!!!

@rpad

please do keep this site
Shockwave562

RROD, you should play through Brutal Legend then trade it for Demon's Souls. hurry though, I imagine there will be a few returns of that game
Shockwave562

@Rbee no disrespect to Uncharted 2 but Dragon Age may be Game of The Year. but we'll have to wait for it to come out
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@RROD I'm glad you picked up BL. Tim Schafer is great for the gaming business and he deserves a smash hit. "Settling" indeed.

@tokz_21 I might as well, right? I have hosting for at least a year. Besides, there's a lot I can do here that I couldn't at a more traditional site. If my next employer (whoever the hell that is) is cool with it, I'd still write here.

There's also that chance that I could get absurdly lucky and actually make money just doing this. I'd love to add video content to the site. I have the access for some great interviews, but don't have the dough for gear and/or renting a crew. Let's see!

@rbee90 I shall certainly try!
rbee90

@rpad

do you review games?
rbee90

@shockwave562

uncharted 2 was excellent (finished it yesterday), but yeah,i agree with you.
rbee90

@thundercracker

did blackseed, bizzaro, and grunto PM you?
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@rbee90 I did for a long time, but I try not to unless it's something I actually want to play. I have SO many issues with the way games are reviewed. 100-point scales are stupid. Nobody can logically tell me the difference between a game that's an 88 and one that's an 89.

The timeframe in which games are reviewed is also ridiculous. In many cases, the reviewer has to cram in 35+ hours of gameplay into three days. In idiotic cases, publishers make you go to a hotel every day for a few days to play the game. In both examples, neither is how a "normal" person would "normally" play a game.

Experiencing a game is such a subjective thing. Slapping some arbitrary score on it almost always does a disservice to readers and developers. Unfortunately, so much is tied to Metacritic and Game Rankings. The score has become too important — I find it deplorable that some developer royalties are tied to a Metacritic score.

Ultimately, I think there should only be three "scores": buy it, rent it, f&%^ it. The words and explanations are more valuable than some number. I've been proposing this system for years, but nobody would buy into it…except my old boss at GameSpy, who implemented it into Crispy Gamer.

Hmmmmm. That was a pretty long rant. Maybe I should have written an article. Ha!
Shockwave562

Well Ray I think with site traffic alone you may be able to score some in web ads that could bring in a bit of cash. It would be cool if this turned in to your full time job but I know important a paycheck is these days
Smartguy

@Hrolf

The Dragonlance books were great. I wound up buying that Twins Trilogy. War of the Twins I think it was. Did you read any forgotten realms? The Moonshae trilogy was great as was the Cleric Quintet. If you want a good mix of sci-fi'sh and fantasy check out "The Briar King" by Douglas Niles (I think that is his name). It's book 1 of the Kingdom of Thorn and Bone Trilogy. Do check that out. It's great.
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@tokz_21 I actually can't tell you to click on anything. It's against Google's rules and I'm deathly afraid of the company.

And yes, rich aunties are welcome to donate too…especially if they're rich and hot. Is anyone out there the nephew or niece of Jennifer Aniston? I have to replace my diamond shoes that Microsoft took away. Ha!
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@Shockwave562 That's the dream, hey? In a perfect world, I could be doing this full time, living comparatively cheaply in Phuket, flying back to America for important press events. Waitaminute…didn't I write something in the article about dreaming the impossible? Double ha!
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@Smartguy @Hrolf Kindly do me a favor and save some D&D/Forgotten Realms talk for tomorrow. I promise you that there's a good reason I'm asking this.
rbee90

@rpad

i totally agree with you. you should go work at kotaku as a reviewer or something, they dont use any of that 9.8 or 5 stars crap. the same thing goes for movies or a tv series. *looking at ign*
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@rbee90 I respect the boys at Kotaku a lot, but I have a fundamental problem with the way Gawker treats content. I understand the demand for what they provide, but it's not something I'm interested in generating. I would love to see a gaming version of a site like http://gigaom.com

Om's team doesn't try to bombard the world with a ton of content as quickly as possible. The crew writes thoughtful articles at a pace that doesn't compromise quality.
Hrolf

Ok, but to answer your question @ Smartguy, yes, I have read ALOT of the Forgotten Realms books. I have heard of Douglas Niles, but have yet to read any of his stuff.

Does anyone remember Star Control? WHY has there not been a port to Xbox Live yet? and for that matter, I would really dig a Return Fire game as well.
rbee90

@rpad

so its all about content control huh? hm. i find the dark side of web journalism intriguing. its like the dark side of the music industry, where record companies exploit and manipulate musicians and fans.
RRODisHere

@Raymond Padilla

I respect your opinion but I think a 5 point rating system is stupid. With that rating system it puts a game like Uncharted 2 on the same level as a game like Brutal Legend. That 5 point system is not good enough to differentiate games. I think the best rating system is a 10 point system with .5 increments. Giving a game a 5 on a 5 point system is the same as giving a game a 10 on a 10 point system. I'm sure Brutal Legend will get a lot of 5s on the 5 point scale but I guarantee that it won't get any 10s. That 5 point system is seriously flawed to me.
RRODisHere

@Raymond Padilla

I do agree that it sucks that devs royalties are tied to the Metacritic score. I read that the Dead Space devs didn't get any bonus royalty money because Dead Space got an 89 on Metacritic when they had to get a 90 or better to get their money. That sucks.
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@rbee90 Yeah, I'd say a lot of sites are run like sweatshops. It's all about churning out as much as you can as quickly as you can — throwing everything to the wall and seeing what sticks.

@RRODisHere I think games like that should be on the same "level". Again, it's all subjective. For some people Brutal Legend is a five. For some Uncharted 2 is a five. You can explain the different appeal, nuances, etc. with words far better than with a score. Unfortunately, developers and publishers have too much invested in scores, a lot of readers don't take the time to read full reviews, and a lot of writers review poorly.

As for the five-point scale (no halves), I think it's the least "evil". My preference is for buy it, rent it, $U$% it, with the writer explaining why.
rbee90

@RRODishere

are you f'king serious? dead space was a great game too!
oOcornflakeOo

Google scares me too.

::i think they're watching me through my web cam =$ ::
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@oOcornflakeOo I find it best to put a sock over a web cam when it's not in use.

:p
Hrolf

The demo for Dead Space really sucked. the control was horrible, and the character looked stupid.

I couldn't get into the idea that I had to shoot off body parts before I could kill the things, though admittedly I have heard the demo was not a great representation of the game itself. The original design for the character looked pretty cool if i remember correctly.

But i am also one of the 3 people that HATED the new Resident Evil game, as well as all of the other games in the series.
tokz_21

@Rpad @Cornflake

Let's take this time to bow to the greatness of the future Skynet (Google)
Shockwave562

I think that rating system makes sense RPad.. I would much rather know what a reviewer liked and didn't like about a game rather than what arbitrary score is attached to it. I will admit though I don't always read reviews of games I wasn't interested in. If a game gets good reviews I usually do it the favor of reading a few of them. I don't know how many Uncharted 2 reviews I've read
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@tokz_21I think Google is a brilliant company, but I'm definitely afraid of it. As it is, I rely on its services way too much.

@Shockwave562 See, you're educating yourself about products so that you can make informed purchasing decisions. While a lot of people reading here might do that, I think the majority glances at scores and reads the last paragraph of a review (maybe).
Shockwave562

@Hrolf, I've never really liked RE but I thought Dead Space was fantastic. I didn't play the demo but the story/gameplay and every element is just fun. it also has quite a bit of replay value as well. I think the controls were a lot more fluid than RE5
oOcornflakeOo

i LOVED DEADSPACE!! i hope nintendo doesn't @#$% up the series.. there was a review though on G4 that mentioned the predictability of where the monsters would come from.. like if you died, you would then know once you got back to that part of the level that the worm was going to grab you from the vent once you turned a corner.. idk how the devs would address that issue but other than that the game was flawless to me.
Ieyke

I'm a Sci-Fantasy nut. That's what Warhammer 40,000 is.

Basically it's Fantasy elaborately disguised as Sci-Fi.
Shockwave562

I'm also confused about why you didn't like the main character in Dead Space Hrolf. just a guy in a space suit. The suit does look a lot cooler as you upgrade it
RRODisHere

My only gripe with the main character in Dead Space was that he didn't talk.
oOcornflakeOo

@Ray

well usually i throw my socks into the hamper when i take them off my feet but i guess i could toss them over the web c.. hey wait a minute!! dont make me send the flying google monkeys your way!!
RRODisHere

This review subject would make for a great Coffee Talk. (hint, hint)
Shockwave562

Touche RROD, these days there really is no reason not to have voice acting for the main character on a game like this. I will admit certain RPG games are fine without a speaking main character but for the most part this needs to happen.

Mass Effect did a wonderful job with doing voice for male and female throughout the story, same with Saint's Row 2 which I really appreciated the options. I'd like to see more of that out of RPGs and other games where you 'create' a character
http://rpad.tv raymond padilla

@RRODisHere Noted, good sir!

@oOcornflakeOo I use clean socks to make sure Google isn't spying on…oops.

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Coffee Talk #2: Fantasy Games vs. SciFi Games

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