The Errant Signal Thread

[Ermm]

I just can't watch a guy with a boiling red face talking about ''narrative contexts.'' Shame on you, Codex.

 

[Infinitron]

What a coincidence, a new video. Errant Signal on Hotline Miami: http://www.errantsignal.com/blog/?p=424

 

[Peter]

Started off really enjoying Errant Signal, but lately it's been kind of annoying me, even though I'm quite a big fan of 'games as art' circlejerk discussion that this guy specializes in. Is it just me, or has something actually changed in this guy's videos and I just can't put my finger on it?

 

[Infinitron]

Started off really enjoying Errant Signal, but lately it's been kind of annoying me, even though I'm quite a big fan of 'games as art' circlejerk discussion that this guy specializes in. Is it just me, or has something actually changed in this guy's videos and I just can't put my finger on it?

Read his Half Life commentary. He pretty much spells it out.

 

[AngryEddy]

has something actually changed in this guy's videos and I just can't put my finger on it?

No, he has always been a radical leftist narcissist, who's videos usually devolve in to him seeking for attention via intellectual masturbation or false self-flagellation with in the first 3 minutes, or bitching about why games aren't liberal/political enough, instead of deconstructing game mechanics.

Even with his Doom review, that put him on the map was more about the music, and not the gore/gameplay/level design, in fact, I think he went on a tangent about how Doom didn't have a story.

 

[Infinitron]

Stop misrepresentin', Eddy. He said that other reviewers at the time had complained about Doom's lack of a story, but he himself did not consider it a flaw. On the contrary, he seemed to imply that those reviewers were out of touch with the spirit of the times as embodied by id's young developers.

 

[Grunker]

radical leftist

I don't think you understand what this means.

 

[AngryEddy]

radical leftist

I don't think you understand what this means.

"Dishonored promotes rape/misogyny" - Errant Signal

What school of thought do you think that comes from?

 

[AngryEddy]

Stop misrepresentin', Eddy. He said that other reviewers at the time had complained about Doom's lack of a story, but he himself did not consider it a flaw. On the contrary, he seemed to imply that those reviewers were out of touch with the spirit of the times as embodied by id's young developers.

Alright, just watched the video two times, to make sure, and what you stated does not exist. He quoted the Edge article, where the gist is "Doom would be fun if you could ally with the demons" but didn't offer a rebuttal against it, if that's what you're referring to. The 2:30 to 4:30 mark is a solid moment where he actually comments on game mechanics, the problem is, the other 10 minutes are about evil corporations, Indie "developer" fellatio, music inspiration, Rage, 90's nihilism, and pretty much everything but Doom.

 

[Infinitron]

Stop misrepresentin', Eddy. He said that other reviewers at the time had complained about Doom's lack of a story, but he himself did not consider it a flaw. On the contrary, he seemed to imply that those reviewers were out of touch with the spirit of the times as embodied by id's young developers.

Alright, just watched the video two times, to make sure, nd what you stated does not exist. He quoted the Edge article, where the gist is "Doom would be fun if you could ally with the demons" but didn't offer a rebuttal against it, if that's what you're referring to. The 2:30 to 4:30 mark is a solid moment where he actually comments on game mechanics, the problem is, the other 10 minutes are about evil corporations, Indie "developer" fellatio, music inspiration, Rage, 90's nihilism, and pretty much everything but Doom.

 

[A user named cat]

This guy is so fucking boring, I'd rather listen to 10 minutes of Bob Saget comedy than hear this sloth drone on about the most insipid things possible.

 

[Borelli]

His Hotline Miami video has so many pretentious artfaggyness in it it makes my head hurt. Man, the game doesn't represent, contextualizes, criticizes or argues for anything. Game devs themselves have said that it is a tribute to 80s action movies. Any deeper message it might have has been created by yourself muffled by the sounds of me bashing opponent's head while listening to bitching music.

I agree with his ending theory though, that the game devs themselves appear in game to tell you that's all there is to it with the secret ending being a joke.

 

[buzz]

Well, the game developers also said that it was inspired by Drive, which is an arthouse movie homage to action/car chase flicks.
Anyway, I think that his opinion was also that there's no deeper meaning to the game, only that he's expressing it in an unnecessary verbose manner.

 

[Murk]

"Dishonored promotes rape/misogyny" - Errant Signal

What school of thought do you think that comes from?

Which school of thought? Idiocy. Not everyone who's a pussy is a leftist, and there are plenty of leftists that are fine with a "live and let die" philosophy.

The half-life commentary video is painful to watch/listen to. There's really no reason for a video about it... I'd rather just read a text post/excerpt, that way I don't have to bother with the unnecessary fillers of "preeeetttyyyy" and "kind of...".

 

[sea]

His Hotline Miami video has so many pretentious artfaggyness in it it makes my head hurt. Man, the game doesn't represent, contextualizes, criticizes or argues for anything. Game devs themselves have said that it is a tribute to 80s action movies. Any deeper message it might have has been created by yourself muffled by the sounds of me bashing opponent's head while listening to bitching music.

I agree with his ending theory though, that the game devs themselves appear in game to tell you that's all there is to it with the secret ending being a joke.

To be fair, interpretation of content is often far more important than any explicit meaning. His critiques aren't invalid simply because the developers did not intend X or Y - so long as we say that a reading is a reading, there's nothing wrong with saying "this is what I got from this piece". Furthermore, maybe the game reflects certain opinions they have in ways they don't even realize. If I am a racist, for instance, then is it a surprise that I don't depict minority characters in positive roles even if I wasn't intentionally trying to make a racist statement?

 

[Metro]

Or maybe they just made it to make a cool game?

 

[MetalCraze]

What a coincidence, a new video. Errant Signal on Hotline Miami:

Wow. It's the most retarded, hipster review of a shitty indie game I've heard in a while.

 

[Grunker]

 

[Metro]

Stop defending this dumbfuck, Grunker.

 

[Infinitron]

I don't appreciate the philistinism I'm seeing here. Some "monocled forum" this is.

 

[Ermm]

Oh noes, we are showing ignorance to artful and spiritual values, of course, in this thread that means fat greasy hipster, who probably thinks Contra has a deep spiritual meaning.

Also, it's only our opinion about him. If you think he has any cultural significance, then good for you.

 

[Metro]

 

[Grunker]

Stop defending this dumbfuck, Grunker.

Stop sounding like an idiot, Metro.

If you want a quest compass, then here: Kirithem/Extra Credits is pseudo-intellectual. Why? Because it's all style, all words, all argumentative bullshit without substance or real arguments. It's just a bunch of nonsense when you piece the arguments together. See the video in which he says Missile Defense is an example of narrative excellence. THAT'S over-academization. This does not go for Errant Signal. He doesn't say "Hotline Miami is like... Dostovjeskij man," he just comments on the violence and the basic themes conveyed. He's certainly overly verbose about it, but shutting out a good argument because it's presented in an overly verbose manner is just as fucking retarded as the opposite, shutting out a good argument because it's made in basic terms. It's still a good argument. Errant Signal is not pretentious (reflected in his self-criticism), he is not bought (reflected in his criticism of the industry), and he formulates coherent arguments. These three basic principles are a motherfucking rarity among video game commentators today, so I'll take what I can get. Your attempt at shooting him down because, what, he has an illogical like for crappy and simplistic indie-games? Fuck that man, I've never known a reviewer without some pet love-genre, goes with the territory.

I hold Errant Signal, BunnyHopShow, TUN and Sequelitis as the best video game video commentators. Since only two of those are actually making videos, the selection is kind of narrow, and I'm more than happy with ES and BHS. These guys are so far above the likes of TotalBuscuit it's not even funny.

Your edgy criticism of ES' style is retarded, and your faulty arguments against his content is banal. Go watch that edgy hyper-retard Razorfist or something. At least he has that integrity you so seem to crave - he doesn't compromise on his idiocy!

Also, it's only our opinion about him.

And you're welcome to it. Voicing it in a manner almost too edgy for the god damned Codex isn't exactly going to make me consider your words as more than white noise though.

 

[Ermm]

You're also velcome too. Voicing it in a manner that would make the biggest hipster fanboys blush, is not going to make me consider your words as more than white noise though.

I can spend 30 minutes writing essay about what he said right/wrong in his 13 minute video, but that would already be a too much of a time spent on someone I don't like, so I just said my honest opinion.

 

[Grunker]

Voicing it in a manner that would make the biggest hipster fanboys blush

Ouch man, that hurt. I better re-evaluate my life-style.