Editor of PC Gamer: Interesting Half-Life 2 Semi-Rant

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http://www.pcgamer.com/endboss/endboss_2005-02-16.html
This is an editorial written by the editor-in-chief of PC Gamer, Dan Morris, commenting on the conspicuous absense of HL2 from some publications' gaming lists. (He takes so many implied jabs at Computer Gaming World it's not even funny.) I found in interesting (if not a bit underhanded) for a publication to take stabs at other publications in such a manner.

Nevertheless, it's an interesting read, and probably sums up how some people here feel.
 
Heh, I got quite a few laughs, great article...and so true
 
Great Grizzly said:
wow never thought id live to see the day when a game is TOO good...
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How true....people just have a strange way to display their ignorance....
 
Heh, one mag that springs to mind is the Computer Gaming World GOTY. Sure HL2 was mentioned... but lost to Painkiller!! PAINKILLER!? Jesus, I KNOW there was at least 5 better FPSs out this year that were better than Painkiller. That was almost a deliberate slap in the face.
 
I've noticed the lack of reviews/editorials on HL2 as well. Where is the love? *sniff* ;(
 
The point he makes about explaining why tey didn't pick HL2 as top is a pertinent one. If the game dosen't deserve to be number 1, why are you mentioning it?

Fashion over facts I guess
 
I have noticed this a little myself. Some I can understand (many publications are predominantly console-orient affairs), but PC magazines don't have much excuse. They're too used to getting piles of hate-mail from people who think that they're just sellouts for putting the most hyped game at the top of the list, deserving or not.
 
Nice article. Good read. Good points. Come on everybody! Let's start a mob; I'll carry the torch!
 
I agree with those Anti-HL2 magazines. The game is overhyped, OVERHYPED I tells ya! And with Steam being the step towards a THX-1138/Big Brother/1984 future some of these Warmonger Bush asslickers want, well...

When anyone mentions what the best PC game was of 2004, I will proudly stand up and say... Doom 3!

Bloody HL2 fanboys - who do you think you are?!
 
Foebane said:
I agree with those Anti-HL2 magazines. The game is overhyped, OVERHYPED I tells ya! And with Steam being the step towards a THX-1138/Big Brother/1984 future some of these Warmonger Bush asslickers want, well...

When anyone mentions what the best PC game was of 2004, I will proudly stand up and say... Doom 3!

Bloody HL2 fanboys - who do you think you are?!
Click to expand...

Oh noes. Valve is out to get us and rule the world.

Oh noes. What should we do?

Ah, I knoes. Rant on a forum. That will save the world.
 
HL2 is an excellent game, I played it almost non-stop to completion, but now its over. I feel like its over. I rarely go back to it and its a shame. I'm not going to start ranting, because I have to sleep. so just insert rant/priase here.

Oh noes. Valve is out to get us and rule the world.

Oh noes. What should we do?

Ah, I knoes. Rant on a forum. That will save the world.
Click to expand...

Just ignore him, it's obvious he is trying to take the topic down-hill.
 
I think i was more impressed by Half life, and found it stronger in many areas than anything else I've played this year.

But I had more fun playing the repetitive painkiller. I don't know why. The challenege and the simplicity of the gameplay i suppose.

I still think half life 2 was more engrossing, but the only scene that i recall as having a ball during was the pistol and crowbar segment early on. But I still really enjoyed the game. Massive accomplishment.

I do agree that it is more than odd that it doesn't make it onto any other lists.
 
I must be the only guy who actually thinks its getting enough GOTY awards.
 
pff, Critics should be awarding VALVe for STEAM. STEAM is a huge step forward and in the future will be remembered as the platform that launched developers into a true position of power. It ensures that the ones with all the talent (Developers) get the money without having to dock your earnings for game boxes to be produced, and then docked again by the retailers.

STEAM has had a few teething problems, but don't those problems always come with progress?
 
The article is dead-on. A couple of other points I'd add:
1. Many people (reviewers are just people after all) went into the game not wanting to be blown away. It's like staring at your feet on a rollercoaster. This is true for the portion of the article that says that some ('nonconformist') reviewers intentionally demoted the game but I also think it stopped a lot of people from letting the game win them over; the skeptics. (I know I did this to Doom3)
2. There isn't enough critical discussion in the game industry, it's mostly just groundless, undefended and, arbitrary opinion. This leads to people who claim their 5yr old kid can paint better than Picasso. They lack discernment for artistic, sociological or psychological devices and this makes their judgements quite empty.
3. The gaming industry does not have much direction for progress. Some devs want strong narratives, others want completely non-linear gameplay others rely on quirky gameplay or style. If someone really, really hates linearity and can't recognize any value in it, HL2 probably was not among their favourite games.
4. There is no standard on how to 'analyze' (or play) a game. Structuralist psychology used a standard way to relax, think, act, perceive and describe situations in introspection, to look inside yourself. Here, we just go straight in with probably hundreds of confounds and biases- we can't accurately say how we felt while playing a game let alone put it into words. It would be really awesome to measure heart rate, blinking rate, chemical levels in the brain, etc while a subject plays games and see which game really is most engrossing.

Needless to say I don't put much weight into the reviews I read about games nowadays.
 
Jandor said:
Just ignore him, it's obvious he is trying to take the topic down-hill.
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Pretty sad really, how twisted must one be if you haunt the fanforums of a game you don't like, and then call everyone there "fanboys" (obviously, people on a fansite who defend their favourite game are fanboys, but some idiot who comes to troll about it isn't). No normal person would go to a forum of a game he doesn't like, then rant on about it.

OT: Good article, it's quite remarkable really, especially picking Painkiller over HL2 :LOL:
Fun game but I can name at the very least three shooters (just the shooters, not even taking other genres into account) that were simply by all objective standards better: HL2, UT2004, Far Cry and maybe even Doom 3.
 
KagePrototype said:
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=73285
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pointing people this consealed url within this land mass of letters, words and post's does not make people notice that the thread was actually, already made. You have to hit them with it, give everyone in this thread (not including me) a warning and so on, you have to breath fear in their little living online souls so as the next time people post the same thread twice and a smart member would point out the thread already existed, they would automatically ask the admins to ban them, add them to hl2.net's blacklist in fear of getting told off by you.
 
EVIL said:
pointing people this consealed url within this land mass of letters, words and post's does not make people notice that the thread was actually, already made. You have to hit them with it, give everyone in this thread (not including me) a warning and so on, you have to breath fear in their little living online souls so as the next time people post the same thread twice and a smart member would point out the thread already existed, they would automatically ask the admins to ban them, add them to hl2.net's blacklist in fear of getting told off by you.
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Say what?
 
Very nice article and I agree with it whole-heartedly. It's like Halo 2 only Halo 2 got all the press/awards, blah, blah. While I'm not a fan of Halo/Halo 2 (just a plain 'ol game to me and I get so ticked when my redneck school all talks about Halo 2 and I say Half-Life 2 and they go: "Wha!? A computer game? Pfft." I wanna slap 'em...sorry...had to vent there.), I do respect it but Half-Life 2, to me, surpasses it 100% and Half-Life 2 isn't getting the respect?!! What!?

I guess this turned into a rant... ><
 
Foebane said:
I agree with those Anti-HL2 magazines. The game is overhyped, OVERHYPED I tells ya! And with Steam being the step towards a THX-1138/Big Brother/1984 future some of these Warmonger Bush asslickers want, well...

When anyone mentions what the best PC game was of 2004, I will proudly stand up and say... Doom 3!

Bloody HL2 fanboys - who do you think you are?!
Click to expand...

lol, i don't think HL2 was the only overhyped game :p But VALVe didn;t hype the game much did they :p

Oh, and if you didn't know 3DR are getting their own steam-like app :afro: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=4986
That one sounds better, but we'll see if it does it any better :|
 
EVIL said:
pointing people this consealed url within this land mass of letters, words and post's does not make people notice that the thread was actually, already made. You have to hit them with it, give everyone in this thread (not including me) a warning and so on, you have to breath fear in their little living online souls so as the next time people post the same thread twice and a smart member would point out the thread already existed, they would automatically ask the admins to ban them, add them to hl2.net's blacklist in fear of getting told off by you.
Click to expand...

LOL an exageration but partially true, just posting the URL of the already-made thread is snobbish and just makes you look like a jackass.
 
Rather ironic HL2 was overhyped by the magazines that then demote it because it was hyped.
 
Sam2k said:
Rather ironic HL2 was overhyped by the magazines that then demote it because it was hyped.
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Yeah true. Valve didn't hype the game anywhere near as much as the gaming community did.

All Valve had to say was "We're making Half-Life 2" and expectations were already through the roof.
 
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