The Last of Us II debacle continues vindicating commentators who predicted that this disaster would gain traction in the gaming scene.
If you’re among the growing ranks of normal people who couldn’t care less about AAA video games, the short version goes like this: Unauthorized footage surfaced online confirming rumors that The Last of Us II was in for the full Death Cult treatment. Sony and the game’s developer Naughty Dog Studios, rushed to plug the leak and quash rumors that it was an inside job. In their mad dash, both companies stepped on any number of rakes.
As per the standard Pop Cult playbook, the corporations enlisted their water carriers in the gaming media to help them run damage control. In the current climate, that means rolling out the DARVO tactics to shift the blame onto consumers.
Here’s a witch named Kirk McKeand hexing gamers from his sinecure at one of the Cult’s online rags.
Yet the conspiracy theories soldier on because of whollopers on the internet. I believe there’s a singular reason for this: it’s because this vocal minority of angry internet babies are pissed off that the story isn’t catered to them, the protagonists of reality.
Over the years, video games have done their best to pander to them. Every bit of corporate messaging makes them believe art is for them and artists are their servants. “We do this for you, the gamers,” says the corporate overlord who wants to sell you a product. “Don’t like something? No worries. We’ll patch it out.”
McKeand’s tantrum is instructive because he effectively comes out and admits that game companies have abandoned a market-facing profit motive. It also clearly demonstrates the Cult’s utter inability to make art. A piece of art is a product made to a standard, and a professional artist’s job is to serve his customers. Only in the Cult’s world of unreality are those facts not obvious.
The witch goes on to tell us what he really thinks of his patrons.
Then there’s the sad people who have created Twitter accounts just to reply to tweets with spoiler videos and messages. The predictable bastards will do it here, no doubt.
In case it still hasn’t sunk in, the people in charge of creating and reporting on corporate entertainment hate you.
McKeand’s chosen epithet of, “predictable bastards,” merits special attention. A hallmark of the Cult is its adherents’ habit of projecting like an IMAX. McKeand himself displays such textbook predictability that I could have written his article for him given the title alone.
Let’s focus on just one paragraph.
Yet the conspiracy theories soldier on because of whollopers on the internet. I believe there’s a singular reason for this: it’s because this vocal minority of angry internet babies are pissed off that the story isn’t catered to them, the protagonists of reality.
It comes to the perhaps unsurprising conclusion that, as ferocious as it has become lately, the toxic subculture that has developed in Star Wars fandom is a vocal minority.
Eerily specific–and identical–choice of words. But perhaps it’s a fluke.
Ok, I have to draw the line at you dragging your drooly little manbaby butt across the wheel of fortune answers account. Back to the swamp, you’re free/blocked.
—The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson
There appears to be a consensus in Hollywood and the games industry that their customers are a vocal minority of overgrown babies. Who are also bastards.
I have a responsibility to the company that I work with. I don’t feel that I have a responsibility to cater in some way [to those particular fans].
There you have it from three different Cultists: Neither the film nor the gaming industries need cater to a vocal minority of predictable bastard babies.
It’s like they make these people in the same factory somewhere.
Or like they’re all spouting ritual cant from the same warped religion.
The second one.
Don’t give money to people who hate you.
"Yet the conspiracy theories soldier on because of whollopers on the internet. I believe there’s a singular reason for this: it’s because this vocal minority of angry internet babies are pissed off that the story isn’t catered to them, the protagonists of reality."
SJW Shill Translator System:
"Where's my check?"
Corporate Mammon Mobber and Death Cultist Aspirant Translator:
"Oh, Muh Corner Office! Muh Stock Bonus! Muh PayPigs!"
Death Cultist Translator:
See Brian's new book.
The Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy quotes actually are in the book 😉
Wait. Kennedy and Johnson … how did I just now get that?
Heh. "Elementary, My Dear Watson. Observation!"
"I'll have those SJWs voting Disney for the next 200 years."–Rian C. Johnson
Wait, isn't anger fierceness, the condition in which we are meant to stay? Isn't minority a victim-state requiring protection and compassion? And aren't all consumers entitled, especially morally, to representation catering specifically to them in every field, genre, and franchise?
It's almost like all of their principles are nothing more than ad-hoc, socially mediated advantage seeking?
"All their principles are nothing." Bingo!
The speak in moral terms while espousing a worldview that makes it impossible for them to have any moral authority.
That's the key.
Brian
I"m unsurprised.a Rafel Nsadal, a Caatlan novelist's parents had St Jose Maria Escrivà as a spiritual advisor no less! He and his 5 sibling aren't Catholic anymore.
When asked point blank about that he became vague and generic.
How tragic is that?
xavier
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The original game was popular at the height of the original movie game craze during Uncharted 2's peak of popularity.
These games no longer wow. They come and go and most audiences (the small amount who still buy software) quickly forget about them.
These companies will peacock strut about selling 5 million copies of a game (on a system whose hardware has sold 5 times that amount) despite the fact that 5 million was an average hit back in the 16-bit days when games cost far less to create and attachment rate was far higher.
That no one in the Journo cult sees fit to question this should be proof of the scam.
The industry is not growing, it's on the subversion and death stage of the corporate cycle. Releasing new consoles in a year of a worldwide pandemic (the chef's kiss of stupidity) should help their new consoles flop nicely.
As for Kurt Cobain, he abandoned his family and refused to fix his life. Why should I take his advice seriously about anything. He's like the Gen X John Lennon except people only started listening to him after he was dead and the corporate machine pushed merchandise with his face on it. He's the Mickey Mouse of wannabe rebels who still need validation from the mainstream.
No surprised Druckmann would quote him–he aspires to be at Cobain's level of "importance".
Too bad no one growing up even knows what rock music is, never mind an overrated one hit wonder with a sound cribbed from much better bands and a philosophy as shallow as Katy Perry. Just as the Beatles will be forgotten once the boomers are gone so will Nirvana when Gen X goes.
I'd almost feel sad about it if I didn't have to have to be lectured by sloganeering and quotations from these people on a daily basis. They sold records so they must hold the secret of life. One thing that's going to be great about the death of old industry is that I won't have to listen to this sort of thing anymore.
"Kurt Cobain said different, man."
"Who is Kurt Cobain?"
"A musician from a band that was relevant for fives minutes back in 1992, hasn't influenced anything good in his industry, and killed himself instead of seeking any sort of help."
"What do I care what he thinks, then?"
Music to my ears.
Before Modernity, entertainers were classed alongside beggars and petty thieves in terms of respectability. None of the supposedly backward Medievals would be stupid enough to turn to someone like Kurt Cobain for answers.
Pinpointing exactly when society turned the corner from barely tolerating performers to assuming they had the secret of the universe would probably precipitate a number of interesting revelations.
"Pinpointing exactly when society turned the corner from barely tolerating performers to assuming they had the secret of the universe would probably precipitate a number of interesting revelations."
You might enjoy Henry Pleasant's The Agony of Modern Music. Written in the '50s it's still relevant as he points out that the greats (Beethoven, Mozart, etc.) knew their audience and masterfully catered to it. It was only later that the "tortured artiste" misunderstood in his own time came about. And when you read quotes by the atonal composers, you'll recognize the same piss-boiling arrogant contempt for the audience and their media defenders you see today. Nothing new under the sun.
Does the rise of the self-important clown coincide with the fawning mass media coverage of same, the Kremlin's efforts to hijack the arts, or both?
Two of my grandparents were music nuts, mostly into country but they knew their stuff. One regularly played in bands.
They never once every quoted a band or artist about anything. They would play the music, admire the song or skill, then they would move on to something else.
It was sort of the same with Elvis or Sinatra fans. They would go on about their music or image, but they would never quote them or fashion their way of living around their lifestyles.
Marshal McLuhan mentioned something about the spirit of individuality in his book on the relationship of religion and media. He had six kids and only one of them remained Catholic (the one who compiled this book). All the media out there told them to go out and claim their slice of the pie. Be You(tm) not your parents.
It only stands to reason that it would slide downhill from there.
Brian
I posit the shift during the post Napleonic pre Romantic period circa 1820s. We overlook that the Napoleonic were as traumatic as WW I and many veterans and civilians suffered from PTSD. One manifestation was the tortured artist/sensitive person.
Look at the literature: gloomy, emotive and histrionic.
And that's one possibility for looking up to artists as gurus for the human condition.
xavier
@Xavier, you might be on to something. The irony there is that the sandboxes we like playing in – science fiction, fantasy, and strange tales – have their origins in genres like Gothic Horror, German Romanticism, and fairy tales.
That's sad about McLuhan's kids.
Brian
I'm not surprised. Here's a more stunning example: Rafel Nadal, a Catalan authour, whose parents had St Jose Maria Escrivà as their spiritual advisor no less! When the authour was asked directly if he's still Catholic he wasn't and neither were his 5 other brothers.
xavier
[Edited out a gratuitous name calling]
Neil Druckmann, the guy in charge of this "game" (YouTuber Razörfist accurately describes games of this type as "Chutes and Ladders with crying scenes.") recently posted a pic of Kurt Cobain with a quote telling "haters" not to buy his band's albums, go to concerts etc. In other words, Druckmann was indirectly doing the same thing that got Battlefield 5 in trouble. "Don't buy the game!" Of course when BF5 performed poorly in sales guess who got the blame? The very people they told not to buy the game do exactly as asked.
Unfortunately, the original Last of Us was wildly popular disproportionate to its merit. Hopefully NDs antics will be enough for a serious consumer revolt.
Yes, you have to cater to your customers if you actually want their money. You don't have a right to it. If they don't give it to you, it's not a character flaw on their part. It means you failed to provide a product they are willing to pay for.
I have heard this "internet troll" stuff before. Jar Jar Abrams turned the latest Mouse Wars into a narrative mess because he felt the need to recon everything Rian Johnson did. The critics blamed mean people saying mean things on the internet for that. What was forgotten is that those mean people did more than complain, they sat out the movie between the Johnson and Abrams films, causing The Mouse to lose money. That's why we got Episode IX: The Apology.
I got about half an hour into The Last of Us before giving it up as an anti-fun award bait title that coasted off the popularity of the Uncharted series.
Then I found out they drove out the creator of the Uncharted series in favor of this new guy (how many outlets do you think will point out they replaced a woman with a white male).
Then I found out it had the same ending as Life is Tumblr except without giving you the option to choose the good ending.
TLoU2? I got hyped up more for my most recent bowel movement.
THANK YOU for saying this. Uncharted 1-3? Excellent stuff. Hard to argue that.
But The Last of Us? It starts out great, but quickly devolves into SJW garbage. Somehow this didn't stop fools and their money from being parted by the millions. TLOU was showered with praise, rewards. People who just wanted to be entertained plugged their noses looked past the more unsavory 'Life is Strange' aspects of the plot. They tolerated it because, overall, the graphics, gameplay, and directing were great, and the voice acting was also great. Sugar helps the medicine go down.
So then we got Uncharted 4, which practically killed the franchise thanks to an unwanted heap of SJW garbage. 'Die-hard' Uncharted fans bought it and defended it, of course, because it had the word 'Uncharted' on it.
And now enter The Last of Us 2. The next logical step. This is our reward for tolerating hot, smelly garbage for so long. Not just tolerating it, but praising it. Buying it multiple times. On PS3. On PS4 in HD. On the PC.
Every SJW-positive product seems to test the water with the public. They'll typically play part 1 of a new series safe, but God help us if it turns out to be successful.
Even moderate success means they now have a license to push as much propaganda as the stupid masses can handle while still handing over their money (or sometimes, even beyond that). It's no surprise that Star Wars fans were so tolerant for so long. It took a firehose of constant sewage spraying to wash the masses away from their favorite franchise.
The moral of the story is if you tolerate a little SJW bullshit, you should expect at least ten times more next time.
JD made the best prediction on this, I think. TLoU2 will make money, but it'll be the final straw for fans who've stuck around this long. The third game will flop as a result.
Another reason I prefer space strategy games like Stellaris or it's rival Galactic Civilizations 3. They're a better use of my time than this travesty the Death Cultists are defending.
Ah Stellaris, partway through my first playthrough and it's pretty impressive. I enjoyed that they came dangerously close to admitting the true nature of radical xenophilia and egalitarianism, complete with radical egalitarians having a built in cassus beli to wage war upon anyone who isn't an egalitarian. Of course there's some issues, like egalitarians getting a "unity" boost, tf were the devs smoking? I know there's balance considerations, but egalitarian xenophiles should get a stability boost and unity penalty.
And they even came within a whisker of giving the 'xenophobe' and 'authoritarian'ethics a fair hearing. I know it's not much, but given my expectations of western devs it was quite surprising, like seeing a toddler do a chin-up (it would be nothing to me, but is far in excess of my low expectation of them).
Stellaris? I've got some bad news about Paradox…
I know nothing about paradox, but luckily I always make sure to try the free demo available on TPB before buying a game from a big developer
This strategy is better with cheaper products like cinema tickets. Not enough consumer level allies will buy an AAA game compared to enemy gamer purchases lost.
That point is addressed in DGMtPWHY. The point isn't to inflict financial harm on the Death Cult. It's to prevent moral harm to oneself.
Obviously, you can not really move a media giant that will not move. The best you can do is avoid their products and enjoy the sound of the crash when they fall.
*nods*
Exclusive Video: Brian Niemeier performs the witch test on a death cultist trying to trick Christians.
Once again, sentai shows us the way.
"The protagonists of reality"
I like that. Did the SJW who wrote that seriously think it was an insult?
More projection, I suppose, at the supposed self-importance of gamers by the professionally self-important "games journalist." Alternatively, if Mr Games Journalist has forgotten that he's talking about real people, he might be annoyed that the NPCs are talking back.
Everyone's the protagonist of their own story, it's tautological. Another case of SJWs not understanding even the basics of the words and concepts bequeathed to them by their betters.
Call minority the majority is a tactic from the cult since 1917. Do you know what bolchevique and menchevique means?
"Gamers" aren't off the hook for this. They can rage all they want about the state of their favorite franchises, but ask the average gamer how he feels about LGBT. He'll throw you under the bus faster than any gaming journalist.
Yeah, political affiliation polls showed that #GamerGate was mostly Left-Libertarian.
So I bought and read your book in one setting. I really can't argue with the premise stated in the title–you shouldn't give money to people who hate you. You also have a lot of good suggestions for getting older stuff–I'm working my way through Howard's Conan stories now.
The fantasy sequence where the dude finds the old van and disappears into his life before it went south was very powerful to me, because we'd all like to be younger, and especially if our lives, or our country, or the world have gone sour…and of course it's particularly powerful coming from an artist, who does disappear into his own head to make art, no?
The one thing I was thinking, a lot of these 'freaks' were outsiders themselves at one point in time…before the 1960s, more or less. But the kids picked rock and roll over doo-wop, and you know the rest. So if enough people got sick of movies etc. being made by people who hated them…perhaps you could swing the pendulum back?
Thanks for reading. I wouldn't have written the book if I didn't the pendulum could–and will–swing back.