Western Games…
They really don’t make enough Western games. I’ve commented on that before, about GUN, and Bound in Blood (which I’ve been reviewing lately) reaffirmed it for me. I’ve been thinking about it and I think the reason that they don’t show up as much as other settings is to do with the type of people who write games and the level of creative indulgence that writers generally want in something they make. The type of person who designs and writes a computer game is, broadly speaking, likely to have a certain set of interests they want to explore – sci-fi, military history, fantasy, etc. Cowboys and Indians rarely enter into that.
Likewise, assuming most writers are like me, they probably want to create content which is reasonably unique everytime. There’s no joy in just spilling out the same old story every time. In the sci-fi or fantasy settings it’s easy to get this satisfaction for unique content because your only limit is your imagination. You can create new races, spells, abilities and so on on a whim. The Western setting however is so deeply entrenched in reality and convention that it’s really hard to create something different in it that might translate well into a computer game – and you also have to reconcile any differences with the expected elements of Western fiction, such as quickdraws, double-crosses and lassos. Therefore, most people in the industry probably lean more to making space-based or magic-themed games because;
1) That’s what they like
2) That’s what they think they can have the biggest influence in.
Or I could just be talking out of my arse.
Oh, and this blog post was mainly supposed to be focused on Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, the review for which is finished and done for bit-tech.net, but it turns out there was an embargo snafu. The review had to come down. But it’s a good game.
In other news, TMJ is a real bitch, I’ve burnt my tongue, I’m going to see Elliot tonight, will The Hood become the new Sorcerer Supreme?, I’ve got a new mousemat at work, walking to work is fun, and there’s a new batch of Inside Freeman’s Mind out on Youtube. I can’t be arsed to link but if you like funny stuff and Half-Life 2 then I suggest checking it out.
I don’t have any other news.
Joe, Out.
Marvel’s The Hood…
I decided that I was sick of staring at that picture from Gmod. I also started reading about The Hood – a Marvel comic book character I’ve not read much about before. Luckily, the two events combined at the exact moment that I finished eating my cereal and so I was able to right a blog post about it.
For my next trick I’ll be writing a best mans speech.
Joe, Out.
