@Freboy I agree with you completely that it's not as cut and dry as "piracy hurts". But I also know of plenty of oblivious nincompoops with great computers and lots of disposable income who never ever buy games, because they just don't need to with torrent sites around. I wish these people would be aware of what kind of positive changes would happen if they chose to buy games whose developers deserved the money.
@MadKeloo Gaming is what you make it, and fortunately, these days you have a buffet to choose from, where the selection in previous generations was more like "do you want fries with that?"
I personally eat up challenging games because they give me a sense of accomplishment - that's a great byproduct to carry into everyday life. I'll take a little Dark Souls any day that I'm feeling a little lazy or feel like testing myself. If I feel like conking out, though, I'll play a music game and zone out to something hypnotic and electronic. If I want to get away from Earth for a while, I put on Skyrim and get sucked in by the (admittedly mod-enhanced) immersion. Games are absolutely made for fun, and all these experiences are a great deal of fun for me.
So just keep in mind that being challenged IS fun for many, many people. Not because they do or do not have low self-esteem, but because they just love a challenge.
If they come off like a-holes or elitists while explaining themselves, that's a separate issue.
Some commenters here do seem a bit bent out of shape - a bit odd seeing as this article isn't provocative or even critical in any way, and goes out of its way to not be. Those provoked to attacking or ridiculing something that didn't look at them twice clearly have their own issues to work through, so let's leave them to it and try to avoid the fracas.
But this pastor does well to confront an elusive subject - religion's role in a secular work of art. As he suggests, it's true that religious imagery expresses more deeply and more profoundly many ideas and concepts that secular language can't quite approach, and redemption is one of the best examples. I'm not a Christian myself, but I can't deny that Christianity's wealth of artistic and humanistic themes can be downright profound.
Super big spoilers in this video if you haven't played Journey already, though I guess most who want to have already bought it. But this was a great choice - a nonviolent design philosophy really helped it stand out, and it was probably the most original game this year.
Though the millions of gamers without the sensibilities to appreciate the delicacy and beauty of its design would cry foul. And I can already see that in these comments.
I like Ryan's style, but I don't think it really fits this type of sedate show. He'd do great things with Jim Sterling, though - two large impressive men dramatically calling each other out on something every 30 seconds.
Great point with literature - try to read an abridged version of a great but long work of literature, then read the unabridged version later, and invariably the unabridged one is more satisfying. You're left wondering why you didn't just start with that one in the first place.
Plenty of American publishers have chopped up Dumas' books, sometimes reducing them by about half, streamlining The Three Musketeers to fit our vague cinematic impressions of the story. But no one has had the stones to do that with Dostoevsky because his work is just too intricate and well-respected - Dark Souls is just as vital to gaming as Crime and Punishment is to literature, and if the first intense, heart-pounding encounter with a giant suddenly instead told the player, they look dangerous, but they can't hurt you that bad, then the game would suffer as a result. It would be effectively declawed, or at least trimmed short.
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