Death's Halls

If anyone ever considers themselves an authority on videogames, they will have had to have played Planescape: Torment.

Most modern RPGs are similar to Oblivion, because Oblivion sold masses. Torment didn't, but it is in every way a better game. While Oblivion was shallow and generic, Torment is a sprawling warren of clever writing and fantastic storytelling. It was the polar opposite to Dungeons & Dragons, and all fantasy in general, which released it from the genre's clichés and inevitable outcome. It was new, and clever.

Planescape is as much a response to other games as it is something entirley original; the aim of the game is to die, as you play an immortal, which in itself is an interesting game mechanic, and promotes a intelligence-based approach instead of a violent one. The game is so devoid of things that characterise fantasy games: no knights, no dragons, no swords, no armor, no castles. In Oblivion the easiest enemy is a rat, whereas in Torment there is a super-colony of hive-mind rats who are impossible to kill. You can expect nothing and everything from this game.

And the "serious" parts of it as well: the nameless protagonist changes, but there is one thing which stays the same, and this is the Philosophical question at the heart of Torment: What is power What is Existence without death? What constitutes the self, and identity? What is the nature of power? And the central question: What is, and what changes, the nature of a man?

Torment is the most memorable game I have ever played. The game is designed to draw you deep into it, and rewards you more the further down you get. There is a brothel designed to cater for every intellectual sense; whores for arguments, for storytelling, for listening. There is a city which is alive to the extent it is "pregnant" and gives birth to an alleyway. The citizens speak in a medievil English dialect, all of these things add to the feel of the game, and there are many, many more things stitched up within the wonderful tapestry that is Torment.

It is everything a narrative should be, and it is probably the last great RPG ever

Edit: I've just realised my copy has doubled in value. £34 of Amazon, blimey!

The Video-Gaming Rut

For someone who loves games so much, I don't think I've been up to speed with them recently. Firstly, there's been a bit of a stagnation of Videogames for a while now, as they are becoming more and more mainstream and have collected into specific "genres"

For example, you have the shooter, with the gun, the health/ammo/ability-bars, and the enemies in front of you. It's been that way since Doom. There's not much you can do with gameplay apart from bolt extra gimmicks on, or streamline it for a purpose. Bullet time, for an example of a gimmick, is becoming more and more prevelant within the FPS release, while Halo started the trend of reductionism (or streamlining) to focus the player on the combat (the Recharging Shield instead of traditional health-pack foraging, only two weapons availble at a time). Despite these alterations, there is only so much you can do with the medium before you're remaking the same game over and over.

Every genre of game will inevitably imitate it's peers, and it won't be long before we see "Portal" clones popping up, I'd imagine. Apart from gimmicks, the only thing new about these kinds of games is plot.

So, where are all the new ideas? Why can't we have games where you play bats and navigate by sound, or construct viruses and guide them through bodies! There are hundreds of ideas that haven't been plumbed yet, such as strategy games involving Glaciers as they cut through mountains!

S/Cooke

Loom-Smashing for the 21st Century

Sometimes I wonder if the world is a good place because of technology, or in spite of it. The further we get to making ourselves lazier, the more we have to think about. The more thinking we do, the more we will tend towards changing things, creating things to perpetuate our laziness, or to change our lives "for the better" and removing the workload to machines, and electricity.

Want is the centre of the spiral, I'd imagine. Everything comes from wanting something, or from never being content with what you have. Is happiness, therefore, the carrot on the stick, to be offered, but never reached?

I think there should be some neo-luddism resurgence. The world outside of the televison and computer screens needs to be re-discovered, outside of speakers and books. If people are still bored when surrounded by all this, why do they need it?

S/Cooke

The Music Blog

I've gotten into a bad habit of staying up far too late reading music blogs, and for the most part they're all very similar. I think Hype-Machine has pumped the popularity of the music blog up very high, but not in the best way. I search for a band, I have a look at the blog, download the song, and close the window. Most aren't really worth reading, but their popularity is based on the music they exhibit instead of their ability to write.

However, one in particular, Song, by Toad, is well worth a read. The eponymous Toad is a misanthrope with a penechant for Gin, which endears him to me immediatley, and his podcasts are punctuated with wonderful narration on his part. It's not that he's a good writer, but for (what I assume is) a reptilian pseudonym for a fantastic character which is what makes it so enjoyable.

The Podcasts come highly reccomended, now that I've got my head around all this futuristic technology.

S/Cooke

Slavery

Yesterday, I advocated slavery. Today, I despise freedom.

Aristotle writes of "Natural Slavery". Nature intends some to be slaves, to be incapable of ruling themselves, and I am inclined to agree. This is abhorrent to many, the thought that others are to be owned by someone, the images conjoured by that word are going to be distasteful and angry, of dark bowels of ships in the Atlantic, and plantations, and crimes against humanity.

But you are not free. You are chained by money, by the government, by your conscience. Everyone wants to own you, as you can help them gain money, or power, or security, and they all want you. Aristotle says that nature intends some to be slaves, but he never says what proportion is intended.

Do those people exist, who can waiver their freedom for slavery, to work for someone else, and in turn be provided for with sustainance, shelter, entertainment and security? Are we not anything but animals in a flock? Then, why do we refuse the shepard who acts in our best interests, for our Eudaimonia?

Why do we seek freedom when what we want is equality?