Making Rifftrax For Games - Why Not?
May 7, 2007 12:01 AM | Simon Carless
Having finally sorted out a decent sound system for my TV (and thus having two audio output methods), I decided to download some Rifftrax, which are essentially Mystery Science Theater (at least the Mike Nelson version) continued by other means.
Anyhow, I picked up the Star Wars Episode 1 Rifftrax commentary - and that clip actually has a random Psychonauts reference in it, so there's some game relevance right there. (In case you don't know the deal, you download the MP3 and play it synchronized with the movie DVD. In my case, suddenly I felt like my Star Wars DVD purchase was actually worth it again!)
There's an article about Rifftrax in the New York Times today, as it happens, and so this further got me thinking - Half-Life 2 has a commentary track, right? Why don't game developers step it up a notch and have self-deprecating comedy commentaries includes as part of their games? Heck, Chet and Erik could do it for Portal, 'cos Valve certainly has the technology. C'mon, whaddaya say, guys?
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3 Comments
So maybe it's not *self*-deprecating comedy, but 1UP's occasional show Broken Pixels (http://brokenpixels.1up.com) is somewhat in the MST3K vein, lampooning awful old games of the NES, Sega CD, et simil while playing them. I find the humor to be hit or miss, but it's definitely worthwhile to watch.
Cyranix | May 7, 2007 12:52 AM
Ever play Rebel Assault II? It has an easter egg that is exactly that feature. Hit ALT-V, then type "OVRES" - Servo backwards, get it? Silhouettes of Darth Vader, R2D2 and C3PO appear in the corner of the screen and the voices in the cutscenes are replaced with subtitles that, IIRC, are somewhat obsessed with loofahs.
Dezro | May 7, 2007 1:48 AM
Hey, another RiffTrax listener! I've got about fifteen of them, including the Star Wars Ep 1 track you mention. (There's a Psychonauts reference? Where?)
John H. | May 7, 2007 8:22 PM