How To Fail Miserably At Getting Your Point Across

So the South Australian election happened, and wonder of wonders, the Attorney General Michael Atkinson stepped down. All good to hear, yet this doesn't seem to make much progress in the whole getting an R18+ rating issue that Atkinson made himself a staunch opponent of. So until some progress happens, I guess there are people who still need to protest...

Look, I support the R18+ rating and what not. It may take ages before it actually happens, but I do believe that it should happen. I'm not alone in this belief, and it's great to see people actually protesting it in various cities around the country. That being said though, there's a fine line between protesting and challenging what the government has ruled, and just being incredibly fucking stupid and not only completing missing the point of protesting, but also doing harm to the cause as well.

Case in point: The Epic Zombie Marchmarch

Now, this isn't a new thing - flashmobs of Zombies walking the streets in Sydney are kinda common (YouTube's proved that). Usually, it's just for shits and giggles - people doing it to freak out other people. No real moral cause or belief funding it, it's just for the lulz. I can get behind that, but when you're dealing in a political matter, I can't get behind it. Not at all.

The group behind this, Aus Gamers United, mention this little bit on their Facebook group about who they are and why they're for the R18+ rating :

Right now, there is no R18+ rating for digital media in Australia, whatsoever. And anything that would otherwise qualify for such a rating is refused classification and denied release in this fine country of ours.

That isn't exactly true. There have been plenty of games that should be considered R-rated but have passed through as MA15+. But that's more semnatic than anything else.

This is a gross violation of civil liberties as adults, that we are refused a Mature rating for what is Mature content.

Now this sentence I have a problem with. And it's one word that falls against it. Take a wild guess what it is.

Thats right - adults.

They're perfectly right though. As an adult, I should be allowed to peruse what I want and not have it censored of refused classification thanks to rulings from the government that are archaic and are being held back due to a politician that himself isn't an idol of moral perfection. That's perfectly true. Yet as adults - the same people whom want this to happen, you believe that the only way of getting your point across is to dress up as zombies?

I'm sorry. But as an adult, I don't see how dressing up as a zombie gets the point across that our civil liberties are being violated.

Nevermind the fact that the whole zombie trend has long stopped being popular and now becoming increasingly annoying whenever it gets shown in media, but do these people not worry about people taking you seriously? They don't mind that people are going to see these gamers as freaks and potentially hold onto the view that all gamers care about are violence and just want an R18+ rating for more violence?

"But Jamie!" I hear you ask, "these people don't want to be boring and serious like the politicians they fervently despise - they want to protest their beliefs in a fun, colourful manner!" And that's perfectly fine, if there wasn't a political agenda behind this. I'm all for people trolling other people in real life, but when you're doing this to achieve a point, a serious one at that matter, I can't just believe that someone thought that this is actually a good idea.

Do you remember that similar rally that happened last year? Y'know, the one where retailer GameTraders were supporting people protesting by cosplaying? Oh, wait - that's right. It didn't happen! GameTraders had enough sense to realize that the point wouldn't be taken seriously when people would be dressing up as various video game characters. And it's amazing why the 1,000+ people taking part in this event don't realize it.

Honestly, if you're taking part in this rally - I'm not going to stop you. But consider this. You're potentially doing more damage to the issue and embarassment to the people who want to support this issue in a normal manner.

Heavy Rain (PS3) Review

NOTE: Heavy Rain is a very interesting game, if only because a lot of the game can be very easily spoiled. That being said though, this review only contains information that has been made publically known and should not ruin the experience for players. 

There are some fine lines defining whether or not a game is a series of actions and interactions where everything you do has an impact on the game, or just playing through one long sequence of unskippable events, feeling more like a movie than anything else. This is the dilemma surrounding the latest release by Sony and developer Quantic Dream’s latest title – the PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain. And for a game that’s been in the works for ages, it’s finally good that the wait was worth it. Somewhat. 

Heavy Rain prides itself on being “Interactive Drama”, wherein a more traditional gaming experience is eschewed in favour of a much slower experience. This is a game that lives and breathes cinematic atmosphere – feeling at times like a very high quality crime drama. The story follows the lives of four individuals whom are after the one person – the mysterious Origami Killer, whose modius operandi is to kidnap young boys, drown them in rainwater (hence, the Heavy Rain) and places the corpses on a wasteland, with flowers and an origami figure. The shit really hits the fan when the son of one of the playable characters goes missing, as they’re put through the paces to learn just how far the character would go to save him; and forms a crucial part of the plot.

Each of the four playable characters aren’t exactly your standard game characters either – with each suffering from various problems and aren’t exactly pleasant to be around; such as architect Ethan – who after the death of one of his sons and divorce is starting to lose grip on reality, or FBI agent Norman, whom is struggling to deal with a drug addiction.

Much like with Quantic Dreams previous game, Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit (depending on where you live in the world), the game plays out via gratitutious use of quick time events and some minor forms of other interaction, mostly in the form of moving your character around the scene, picking up items, talking to other characters and so on.

There’s a joke here about the woman getting soaked by something. But I’ll leave you to guess that for yourselves.

But what really makes Heavy Rain stand out is how progression is handled. The game never stops for anything – time is always moving, so you’ll constantly need to make snap decisions and take advantage of the little time you have. Even things like character death don’t impact the plot – if any of the four characters die, the game doesn’t stop and forces you to reload, and it keeps going. The same goes with the Quick Time Events. They’re handled in such a unique way that it never really feels forced or tired, but fascinating. Best of all, there’s almost no penalty for failing most of them – save for the few occasions where you can kill characters.

That being said though, the game does have a few key problems with it. For starters, the game is a technical mess. Loading times can be exceedingly long, the audio drops out completely at times (albeit briefly), character animations define the laws of physics and much more. Then there are times when the game crashes, refuses to load and much more. Even with a 226MB patch as a mandatory download, it manages to be staggering at how glitch the game is.

Oh hi. I was the first character ever shown for Heavy Rain back in 2006 as a test character. And guess what? I’m still in the game!

As well as that, the story itself has its problems. While the experience overall is great, there are moments in the game where you’re constantly questioning to their existence. There are moments that are absolutely pointless to the overall plot, and feel utterly stupid to be playing. As well as that, the story makes some use of some rather cheap storytelling mechanics and pulls off some weak twists. It does tend to derail the story, but thankfully, doesn’t totally kill the experience.

Visually, the game ranges from tipping the uncanny valley to looking great. The character models in particular look fantastic, though there are moments where they’d fit in well in the Uncanny Valley. The animation on all the characters is great, but the facial animation can sometimes lead to some weird mouth movements that make for a better comedy than a serious scene. That being said though – the environments you move around in are jaw droppingly beautiful, fitting in well with the somewhat noir atmosphere going on. And yes, there’s a lot of great looking rain.

The same thing can be said of the sound – its equal parts amazing and equal parts unintentionally hilarious. The voice acting is mostly solid, though there are periods where the mostly European cast drop out of their American accents and back into tinges of their regular ones, or don’t even try to be American. That, and there’s quite a bit of weak delivery at times. That being said though, the music is fantastic, and does wonders to compliment the atmosphere the game is trying to present.

Overall, Heavy Rain is a unique experience that begs to be tried out, with some of the best music and visuals you’re bound to experience in a video game. Definitely worth it – especially if you’re after something new.