Interview Brian Fargo and Kevin Saunders talk Torment with Rock Paper Shotgun

[hiver]

does this guy know anything else then facepalm3 and ass defect?

for fucking sake...

 

[Rake]

You guys have got exaggerated expectations. What I want out of literariness in video games is not HIGHBROW LITERATURE but just the work you can get from competence. Like I don't think the writing in Betrayal at Krondor is any better than a '90s fantasy novel, but I still really enjoy how much texture it adds, at trivial development cost, for even crap like eating a spoiled ration or something

I don't expect video games to match HIGHBROW LITERATURE. What i want is video games that are writen competently and not assume that the player is a 12 year old with brain deficiencies.
Compaire PS:T,BaK,KOTOR2,Fallouts(the real ones) with anything from Bethesda for example. In the first case the writing is augmenting the games, and in some cases is their main selling point, while in the second case you ignore the writing in order to try liking the games.
PS:T writing won't win a Hugo, but it could stand in a novel. Oblivion's writing would stick out as bad in a cereal box

 

[Stainless Veteran]

I don't expect video games to match HIGHBROW LITERATURE. What i want is video games that are writen competently and not assume that the player is a 12 year old with brain deficiencies.
Compaire PS:T,BaK,KOTOR2,Fallouts(the real ones) with anything from Bethesda for example. In the first case the writing is augmenting the games, and in some cases is their main selling point, while in the second case you ignore the writing in order to try liking the games.
PS:T writing won't win a Hugo, but it could stand in a novel. Oblivion's writing would stick out as bad in a cereal box

While I mostly agree with you, I just wanted to point out that Planescape: Torment is above many of the recent Hugo nominees in the terms of quality. For example, in 2011 the novel "Feed" was nominated. It's a very naive, YA-ish quasy-dystopia. With zombies and heroic bloggers. Hardly an example of a quality fiction. Or, for example, one of the 2010 nominees was "Boneshaker", really weak steampunk-ish novel. With zombies.

I can go on, but really, PST's writing is way better than many of them.

 

[Gozma]

I mean to differentiate between "writing" and literature-ness in games... TV shows and movies have writing. But, a lot of PS:T (and BaK for a more lowbrow example) is a literary experience, as in the kind of mental state you are in while reading a book. The images of the game become like illustrations, a snapshot interpretation of the words, instead of constituting the imaginary world themselves. It's a different experience that got left behind in mainstream games.

I'm excited by the inherent appeal and excited that it's really fucking cheap compared to completely image-based realization and therefore the scope can be on another level.

 

[hiver]

RPS: That was one of the things I loved most about Planescape. It was all so grotesque and weird. It was uncomfortable, but in a very interesting way. You wanted to see more, because around every corner was something where you’d say, “Ugh!”

What the fuck is this?
Huh?

What the fucking hell is this?
Is this the level we now come down to ?
Is that how low we are ready to flounder now?

Is this some 12 year old asking questions?
Gee! Glub! Gleeee!
i like facepalm3 duhhhh. and...and ass deffect...ughh...!

And thats what goes for an interview?

Fargo: Never for a minute did you think, “Oh, I’ve seen this a million times before.” Never for a minute. You’ll be happy with the new one [laughs].

What the fuck is there to laugh about?

Who will be happy? That defective nertard?
WOW HOW EXCITING! IM BURSTING WITH ENTHUSIASM AT THE MERE IDEA.

 

[Rake]

I mean to differentiate between "writing" and literature-ness in games... TV shows and movies have writing. But, a lot of PS:T (and BaK for a more lowbrow example) is a literary experience, as in the kind of mental state you are in while reading a book. The images of the game become like illustrations, a snapshot interpretation of the words, instead of constituting the imaginary world themselves. It's a different experience that got left behind in mainstream games.

I'm excited by the inherent appeal and excited that it's really fucking cheap compared to completely image-based realization and therefore the scope can be on another level.

 

[Brotherman Bill]

I don't expect video games to match HIGHBROW LITERATURE. What i want is video games that are writen competently and not assume that the player is a 12 year old with brain deficiencies.
Compaire PS:T,BaK,KOTOR2,Fallouts(the real ones) with anything from Bethesda for example. In the first case the writing is augmenting the games, and in some cases is their main selling point, while in the second case you ignore the writing in order to try liking the games.
PS:T writing won't win a Hugo, but it could stand in a novel. Oblivion's writing would stick out as bad in a cereal box

While I mostly agree with you, I just wanted to point out that Planescape: Torment is above many of the recent Hugo nominees in the terms of quality. For example, in 2011 the novel "Feed" was nominated. It's a very naive, YA-ish quasy-dystopia. With zombies and heroic bloggers. Hardly an example of a quality fiction. Or, for example, one of the 2010 nominees was "Boneshaker", really weak steampunk-ish novel. With zombies.

I can go on, but really, PST's writing is way better than many of them.

Hugo awards are a fucking joke however so that says little