In which I review Sparky Clarkson's reviews

Today The Escapist published an issue that's all about games journalism, and there are a number of fascinating articles. I particularly liked "1984 out of 10", a piece by Peter Parrish that examined the current game-reviewing scene through the lens of George Orwell's 1936 essay "In Defence of the Novel". It's a sharp take, and shows how the inflation of praise (not just scores) results in the apotheosis of mediocrity, and thousands of crummy games walking around with Metascores in the high 70s.

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Can oil and water mix?

We all know that linear polymers of amino acids (proteins) adopt complex three-dimensional structures when they are dissolved in water. The process of forming these structures is called folding, and it is understood to occur because proteins are amphiphilic. Some parts of a protein chain like to interact with water (hydrophilic), while others are oily and want to get out of water (hydrophobic). Folding of the chain sticks all the oily parts together on the inside of the structure while the parts of the chain that have favorable interactions with water remain on the outside. An upcoming paper from the Journal of Physical Chemistry B suggests that sufficiently long alkanes might undergo a similar transition, even though they don't have any chemical groups that like to interact with water.

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The ladies of New Austin

To put it mildly, Rockstar's games have a history of problematic depictions of female characters. Following on long-running problems with the series, Grand Theft Auto IV famously caused an eruption of outrage thanks to the IGN-produced "Ladies of Liberty City" promo. While the experiences shown in the video were not mandatory for players, they were supported by a game that regularly treated women as disposable objects there for the pleasure of the player. The few female characters that inched above that level were universally bereft of agency and dependent on the player. Given that the Wild West occupies a part of history where women really were looked on as property, I did not have high hopes for Rockstar's western-themed Red Dead Redemption. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised to find three competent, independent women at the core of the story.

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APB's blue wall of silence

Well, we've just come to the end of what will probably be the world's least productive week this year. Sports fans had enormous distractions: the NBA finals, the beginning of the US Open, and of course the World Cup, which is something I can't avoid hearing about since I work with a Korean, two Germans, and an Italian. And that's just the soccer-mad people whose teams are actually in the tournament! Fortunately, most of the lab computers do not have speakers, so I am spared the god-forsaken noise of the vuvuzelas while at work. If you've no taste for athletics, however, this week offered an alluring diversion in the form of E3. Between the various webcast events and the constant impact of game and hardware impressions, there was plenty to divert people's attention from work. Apparently, Realtime Worlds took note of the deluge and tried to slip something in under it — a review embargo on their upcoming MMO shooter, APB. Now, there's nothing unusual about a review embargo, but this one is notable because it ends on July 2, a full week after the game is released.

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Games within the game

Rockstar has made a name for itself based on games set in vast, detailed open worlds that, like many large and varied settings, have a substantial decoration of minigames. Although these diversions can play a very important role in world-building and changing up the pace of play, they typically get almost no mention in reviews, unless they form a significant part of the gameplay (GTA: Chinatown Wars' drug-dealing minigame) or have a unique aesthetic (No More Heroes 2's jobs). Red Dead Redemption, in an effort to add texture to its Wild West, includes a number of these side games scattered across its countryside. Unfortunately the result is something of a mixed bag.

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The "real" John Marston

Trying to discuss the real nature of the Wild West is a bit like trying to discuss the real nature of Arthurian Britain. We believe, perhaps we even know, that the relevant historical period exists, but its true character has been almost completely obscured by myth. The early view of the West was fairly simplistic; the dime novels and Hollywood Westerns were characterized by the easy heroism of the gunslinger taking on bandits or the settler fighting savage Indians. Since the 1970s a revisionist attitude has produced a grittier and dirtier take on the West that frequently inverts the stereotypes. It would be a mistake to view these recent films as a more "realistic" vision, however. The changes in the Western reflect an increasing sophistication in cinema's moral attitude, not an increasing dedication to fact. Red Dead Redemption is fully aware that our view of the Old West is more social construction than historical knowledge. I happen to think its main character is also intended to be a construct, a man who is a fiction in the world of the game. That is, the John Marston we play is the man as imagined by his son, Jack.

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The Gringos Who Saved Mexico

I want to begin by saying that I really like Red Dead Redemption, and a positive review will be forthcoming as soon as I stop being so bad at writing it. Rockstar's new Western is an improvement over their work in GTA IV in a lot of ways, not the least of which is that I didn't feel like I needed to take a shower after every play session. But the developer's bad habits have a way of shining through, and to a large extent I liked Red Dead Redemption in spite of itself. No part of the game took more effort to look past than John Marston's adventure in Mexico. The scenery down there is beautiful, but the narrative is a train wreck.

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