GameSetWatch

[The Aberrant Gamer is a weekly, somewhat NSFW column by Leigh Alexander, dedicated to the kinks and quirks we gamers tend to keep under our hats – those predilections and peccadilloes less commonly discussed in conventional media.]

The core of the game market is its very own culture, and at times it can be a bit tricky to understand, a tangle of contradictions. We’re geeks – we don’t want to be cool by anyone’s standard, and yet we retain the right to judge nearly anything outside of our world as lame.

We’re often deemed as antisocial or isolationist, and in many cases embrace that judgment – but we want to find each other online, to play together, network and discuss en masse nearly constantly. We’re annoyed whenever the mainstream media misunderstands our pastime – and yet we love to brawl with them. We don’t want to be part of the mainstream – and yet, we often wish our non-gaming friends would just “get it.” Alone and yet in a crowd, immersed in fantasy and yet immediately reactionary to real-world events, craving challenge while longing for accessibility.

With that in mind, it’s no small challenge game developers face trying to produce something that will appeal to us. We want games to be fun, but when we’re not occasionally frustrated, we dismiss the lightweight, relegating the title to the realm of the casual. We want depth and engagement – but we’ll snooze through too much dialogue, cinematics and story. We want emotion, but characters being “emo” is something to be mocked.

We know we’re a reactionary bunch – even the best among us as individuals have been caught up in the mob psychology from time to time, with a little help from the internet. And for quite a while now, it’s seemed like the core of the gaming audience is impossible to please, continually frustrated on a real emotional level by games that try to pretend they “get it,” but are really just trying superficially to hit all the right notes.

But with No More Heroes, it’s finally happened – someone’s made a game that knows who we are.

Imagine someone who knows literally nothing at all about video games, and have them look at, say, Mass Effect -- oops, that’s already happened. Okay, send them to active internet forums where gamers regularly congregate, and have them read some threads. Wonder what they’d think? Ever tried explaining to your non-gaming friends, for example, why you were so happy to get a $40 stuffed cube with hearts on it, since they sold out in 12 hours?

At a glance, we look bizarre. Maybe hilarious. Maybe crazy. Read the back of No More Heroes’ box, and that’s what you’ll think of it, too.

But inside is a glorious exercise in simultaneous reverence and irreverence, featuring a protagonist who’s awkward, geeky and a little gross – while also being uncompromisingly lethal, decidedly sharply-dressed, and all-out cooler than frozen hell. It’s both a tongue-in-cheek send-up of Grand Theft Auto’s format and a conscious, even respectful reproduction.

Walking Contradictions

It blows the doors open on the same old cast of characters we’ve come to expect from most of our games, and at the same time, continues a long-standing, almost hallowed tradition of nearly implausible, over the top super-weirdoes at the end of every stage. They’ve all got names you’d expect to read out of the manuals of the ‘80s. They’re wildly entertaining and inventive while being conceptually familiar.

Rather than trying to pull out a slick user interface on the Wii, the UI’s a nostalgic throwback to our eight-bit roots. Hard to tell whether this is a friendly screw-you to the next-gen or a respectful nod to an iconic aesthetic – or whether it was simply the most logical idea given the resources available.

Amid all the strangeness, offbeat themes and left-field, hyperbolic dialogue, No More Heroes is nobly, almost lawfully structural, a game that deeply understands the archetypal flow of the game stage. These are contradictions that we can really get our heads – and hearts – around.

It’s excessively, almost laughably bloody. Grasshopper Manufacture capo Suda 51 told IGN he wanted to make the game “as violent, or even more violent, than Manhunt 2,” a title whose depraved gorefests caused a massive ratings controversy and made many of us reflect on our feelings about game violence. But No More Heroes creates unlikely fountains of copious blood and coins that spout joyfully, almost musically, from the severed heads of the legions of identical aggressors loudly bemoaning their spleens – it’s almost as if Suda and GHM were laughing at us.

It's Okay

That sense of being ribbed lightly by a really good friend exists throughout the game, even characterizes it. The protagonist, Travis Touchdown, is living a fantasy life, somehow climbing the ranks of the assassin’s association while using an internet-bought “beam katana” that looks quite a lot like a fluorescent light. He rents – and forgets to return – so many porn videos that the hapless rental store employee is forced to call every day.

Though he seems to be an American resident of a California-like city, he stocks his shelves with bishoujo figurines and plasters his walls with mecha posters, affectionately embracing one of the anime girl pictures with the adoring and vaguely lecherous utterance, “moe.” There are wadded up tissues on the floor next to the living room TV chair, and Travis uses the toilet (the save mechanism, of course) with giggle-inducing, shameless urgency.

This is an inoffensive play on otaku culture, of course – which most gamers are somewhat familiar with, if not indulgent in. Even to those gamers for whom otaku culture is analogous and not necessarily overlapping, living Travis’ undignified life, in every precise detail – from begging to get laid with a chilly little blonde right down to the cute, intimate scenes in which you can pet his cat – feels like holding up a bit of a good-naturedly mocking mirror.

And for once in our life, we don’t really mind being teased for being gamers. A big part of this is that No More Heroes is just so unapologetically entertaining. But largely it’s because of the over-arching impression that the GHM team is one of us. Many Wii owners have lamented the fact that there have been so few titles that their Mom isn’t hogging, and yet “Hardcore on the Wii” is yet another contradiction No More Heroes skillfully achieves. And one wouldn’t call it that for its difficulty level or its traditional themes -- No More Heroes is not particularly difficult and is markedly non-traditonal.

Instead, it feels precisely like a game that came from our spirit and speaks back to us. Maybe Mom can pick it up, but she won’t get it. Because, you know, we like playing with Mom. But we also don’t like it. We’re weird like that. And No More Heroes understands us. Finally.

[Leigh Alexander also has moe posters on her wall. She is the editor of Worlds in Motion and writes for Gamasutra, freelances often for a variety of outlets, and maintains her gaming blog, Sexy Videogameland. She can be reached at leigh_alexander1 AT yahoo DOT com.]

Comments

As usual, superb article Leigh. Just an FYI though, all the links under "Walking Contradiction" and "It's OK" are dead.

But again, great job! *goes back looking in the mirror/playing NMH*

Posted by: Mookie | January 31, 2008 1:17 AM

Aw man - now the wait for the European release seems even longer!

Posted by: farren79 | January 31, 2008 2:06 AM

Thanks Mookie -- fixed the links.

Posted by: Leigh | January 31, 2008 4:36 AM

I agree that gamers can get confused with being geeks, who stay inside to find new strategies for the newest games, when other people believe they are just a little cooler because they are living in the real world. A gamer also lives in the real world. The real world involves economics and technology, everyday, working to make our society work. I understand that you might believe a gamer can get confused that a game is the real world but isn’t it good to embrace your imagination and what… is it embarrassing if it’s because you’re an adult and no longer a kid. Every one has hobbies which they enjoy and I believe gamers can have their opinion for what is fun to them. The only thing I can really say about people who just love to play those games daily or just weekly is that it reflects how they believe in themselves to conquer a challenge, maybe not in their real life but why would they want to face something that much harder?

Posted by: ash | January 31, 2008 10:02 AM

Completely brilliant blog! I just sent this to all of my friends who give me scrap for playing video games. You're absolutely correct in your assumption that outsiders are confused by the way (as in gamers’ international) act and interact. It's absolutely true that we're much cooler than the rest of this planets inhabitants for sure and to those who disagree please read this blog (note: on your computer) and than argue with me that gamers are no use to anyone! Can't wait to read your next post Leigh you got a new fan here.

Play on, play on.

-KDS.

Posted by: Kshepard | January 31, 2008 10:06 AM

Gamers are not geeks. They are intellectual people seeking out intellectual fun. I dont like playing mario because i beat the game entirely too fast. Im looking for complex, first-person shooter games and games that test my abilities to create a well structured strategy to beat it. There are just certain people that have not fully engaged themselves or should i say endulged them selves in the online gaming world. It is almost a society in its self. People meet, play, talk, bash, and applaud each other in the gaming world. Those who have made fun of gamers and their LAN parties most likely have not sat at a computer to experience what it is. I enjoy the best of both worlds. I play sports, party, go out with people, but i also tend to sit down and play halo or counter strike online. Its fun. No one calls me a geek. I socialize on and off line.

Posted by: jake | January 31, 2008 10:13 AM

Gamers are by no means “losers.” Everyone’s definition of a geek is that they are a loser. Whether anyone wants to believe it or not they just use the term “geek” so it sounds better. What I am trying to say is that gamers are just like normal people. Everyone has certain interests; gamers just think they are different because there interests in games do not appeal to the mainstream world. The only problem they are confused with, is that they are in the mainstream world; they are within technology, and systematic learning on a different approach. I know Its hard to understand what I am trying to say but, in a nutshell gamers believe that they are geeks because they put themselves in there own little world. Just because they do, that doesn’t mean that they are not normal people. They have there own hobbies just like normal people and they get just as obsessed with games as a normal shopping alcoholic can get. They are normal; they are just like the rest of us out there who obsess about our own hobbies, its NORMAL.

Posted by: bOOtsWdaFuRR | January 31, 2008 10:15 AM

I dont think that it is just the fact that we want games to be fun. I think we want games to be challenging and deep. Fun plays a small part, but most of the time during gaming you find yourself yelling and cursing at the screen.
On the comment about new games becoming gore fests, i dont believe that games are any better or worse depending on how bloody or gory they are. Im not saying thats what you believe but there are other factors that go into play to make a game good.
There are all types of games. There are bloody games puzzle games, simple games, hard games, and boring games. they all have different elements that make them good or bad. Games can make you happy or sad or angry. emotions are a big factor in games. timing is important as well as graphics and story line.
but whatever game you like, for wahtever reason, im sure its a good one.

Posted by: louie lou | January 31, 2008 10:24 AM

I have a few friends that are very frequent gamers, and before I didn’t quite understand them. Sometimes when they would talk I did not even have any remote idea of what they were talking about. After I actually sat down and watched them and kind of half assed joined in I kind of figured them out.

When they were around me they spoke very little of video games or anything that had to even remotely was close to the topic. I kind of got the picture… when they pick up that controller they were no longer the 12th grade people I knew that went out partying with every weekend, but they were lost in their huge imagination. And I guess for some people it works for them.

When I realized this I actually started playing more video games. I kind of liked getting lost in a game for a few hours, and not having to worry about the troubles of the day, week or even life in general. So I guess what I am saying is don’t dis it until you try it, and look at everything from both sides of the spectrum.

Posted by: John Kovolyan | January 31, 2008 10:48 AM

Wonderful, agreeable or not it was placed together well.

Everyone has their own definition of a gamer, the question are they defining or justifying their credability while defending their ego.

Somethings you shouldn't feel bad about if your that way, then let yourself be your greatest judge - just keep it to yourself.

Posted by: dib8rman | January 31, 2008 2:07 PM

Wow...
I was immediately turned off by this game...
The same things that you saw as "getting it", as connecting to the fanbase, I saw as unattractive pandering.
An assassin who collects bishoujo figurines and exclaims "moe"... That is in no way some kind of revolutionary, fourth wall breaking feat. So many of the most escapist-fantasy vieogames lately, from eroge to RPG feature a self-proclaimed "Otaku", whose character can range from nebbish to frauheld, who is obsessed with figurines and the like while saving the universe or sexing up a harem.
And it only seems further pandering that this could work on a self proclaimed "Otaku" foreign audience. TO me at least.
And I have only played the Japanese version, but I figure they have changed the voice acting and writing in the American version, which was horrible english dialog, written and acted by those who no doubt had but a tenuous grasp of the language.
self-referential 8-bit style interface aside, the game itself, the action, is completely repetitive and uninteresting.
So, yeah... Videogames have come into their own in the same way as drugs or religion. Easy symbols or reference evoke a response. The same way as wearing a pot-leaf t-shirt could get you a high-five from a stoner who reads High Times; A NES controller t-shirt can get you a high five from a gamer who reads EGM.
Put self-referential 8bit graphics in your game and reviewers will foam at the mouth. Why? Because video games have enough of a history to have their own codified symbols which bespeak a permanance or depth? Because the internet is filled with chatter and one reference can get bounced back and forth until it seems to mean something or someone makes money off of it? I don't know.
I felt the complete opposite of this article.
I rather someone make a game unlike one we have ever seen, rather than fall into some kind of self-referential nostalgia trap as gloss to cover the same old bullshit.
But then again maybe I am just completely out of touch.
Maybe I should Mspaint a picture of a companion cube and put it on a webforum, so everyone who also gets the reference can reply "awesome!"

Posted by: Rasputin Stash | January 31, 2008 2:16 PM

"Lost in their huge imagination"

Maybe im alone on this but I find games to be the very opposite of a creative or imaginative activity.

Its like saying watching an episode of CSI flexes your imagination. Or for a more indie/isolationist comparison that crosses over into the gamer demographic.. A Coen brothers or Quentin Tarantino film.

Sure it might spur some people to write their own scripts, but they are usually just poor imitations. Hipster dialogue and situations without an ounce of true story telling craft behind it. Sure one in a million of those might be the next Kevin Smith or something but by in large its just people being influenced by a piece of inspirational media.

Sure I can't say I know your friends(Though I have no idea why you read Game Set Watch if you are purporting to be "casual" or somehow on the 'outside' viewing your gamer friends?).. But people aren't all that complicated.

And to Bootwitdafurr, anecdotally I would present that you are wrong about gamers not being geeks or nerds or social rejects. Maybe the notion of what being social means will slowly change with the internet so pervasive, but the very nature of gaming seems to attract a large amount of those who are definitely lesser at the skills of being social outside of their comfort zone.

I dont mean to say some gamers arent normal, or good in social situations. But really now, we are talking about a personal activity with a huge amount of content, most of it dealing in fantasy realms. A person who casually dabbles in Maddenry doesnt really count here. But someone who has a forum sig list of what they are playing, or posts in a thread about what they want to buy in the upcoming months has almost definitely gone horribly wrong at some point in their lives.

Posted by: Red_venom | January 31, 2008 2:21 PM

The point, Rasputin, is that the "pandering" is as much mockery as pandering. This is a game which is making fun of the ludicrously vapid characters we are normally expected to play and identify with.

This game is art. The problem is, it's art the way a flourescent painting of a Campbell's soup can was art; for it to work, you have to be simultaneously immersed in, and familiar with, the culture it comes from, and also able to look at that culture from the outside.

It's a brilliant game. If you want something unlike anything you've ever seen before, go grab Endless Ocean -- which I also love, for totally different reasons.

NMH is art, if you think about it a lot, and it's a fun, slightly mindless, game if you don't. Just don't expect it to try to offer you a serious plot on the straightforward level, and you'll do fine -- that's the one level I don't think it works on.

FWIW, I think that socializing online makes you a geek. I don't think there's anything wrong with that; geeks get good money. :)

Posted by: Peter Seebach | February 2, 2008 10:18 AM

@Leigh : I love your articles but God! Can I hate some of your readers sometimes....

I always forget to not read the comments here...

Posted by: Pascal Bélanger | February 5, 2008 9:00 AM