The most (in)famous game of this generation...

[trebor]

A while back, in some thread or another, the concept of the "most widely known, famous, visible, exposed, what have you" game of this generation was brought into question.

Quite a few people brought up the game Halo as the one that will be the most remembered of this current generation. While Halo has certainly made it's mark in the FPS genre, and it has garnered many fans and even more accolades, I was persistant in my opinion that Halo isn't the most visible, mainstream game. I mentioned Grand Theft Auto. And I think I was right.

While Halo will certainly be remembered and is widely known in gaming circles, mainstream society hasn't caught on quite yet. But Grand Theft Auto, on the other hand, is pretty much a household name. Which brings me to the point of this thread...

I was watching Law & Order last night and the character District Attorney Arthur Branch, played by Fred Thompson, name-dropped GTA. The specific line was "I don't think they are playing Grand Theft Auto on Playstation". This was in reference to suspects selling game machines overseas, illegally, and said machines being modded for insideous uses. But that isn't really the point.

The point is that this character, a conservative, right-wing man in his 60's mentioned GTA. Granted, it was scripted, but we are talking about a mainstream, prime-time show - with an older demographic. Grand Theft Auto has hit prime-time.

Add that with all the legal problems GTA has caused Rockstar, and we have a game with a secure legacy of infamy. Grand Theft Auto IS the most widely known, mainstream game - and it will be the most remembered years down the road (pun intended).

[Xguy]

I don't disagree with you trebor on the infamy side, which, via the media's insistancy on beating dead issues into the ground, has made it a mainstream "headline worthy" game. I would say that among gamers, you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't played Madden football...even gamers who don't normally like sports games. It's not necessarily a single game since it has been around and released annually dating back to Sega Genesis and SNES. If nothing else, it has to be up there with the most successful and famous series of games ever.

[trebor]

I don't disagree with you trebor on the infamy side, which, via the media's insistancy on beating dead issues into the ground, has made it a mainstream "headline worthy" game. I would say that among gamers, you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't played Madden football...even gamers who don't normally like sports games. It's not necessarily a single game since it has been around and released annually dating back to Sega Genesis and SNES. If nothing else, it has to be up there with the most successful and famous series of games ever.

Well, I don't necessarily disagree with you, because I even have a Madden game - and I don't care for sports and I hate sports games. But games of this generation alone are what I'm refering to and while Madden is certainly a mainstay, it doesn't really recieve so much hype simply because it has been around since the days of Genesis and SNES. GTA is a much newer franchise.

Although some people might be surprised to know that Halo is actually the unofficial sequel to the Marathon series, developed by Bungie, for the Mac platform - since the early 90's. Master Chief specifically has been portrayed in that series in one form or another (or at least his armor). Surprise, surprise.

[Xguy]

I still think that you can make an arguement that Madden is one of, if not <i>the</i>, most famous game of this generation. Definitely not the most infamous though.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

GTA for sure.

[Xguy]

yeah, on second thought, Madden may win for longevity, but not for this gen. Good point Trebor and Tappy.

["The Game"Evolution]

A while back, in some thread or another, the concept of the "most widely known, famous, visible, exposed, what have you" game of this generation was brought into question.

Quite a few people brought up the game Halo as the one that will be the most remembered of this current generation. While Halo has certainly made it's mark in the FPS genre, and it has garnered many fans and even more accolades, I was persistant in my opinion that Halo isn't the most visible, mainstream game. I mentioned Grand Theft Auto. And I think I was right.

While Halo will certainly be remembered and is widely known in gaming circles, mainstream society hasn't caught on quite yet. But Grand Theft Auto, on the other hand, is pretty much a household name. Which brings me to the point of this thread...

I was watching Law & Order last night and the character District Attorney Arthur Branch, played by Fred Thompson, name-dropped GTA. The specific line was "I don't think they are playing Grand Theft Auto on Playstation". This was in reference to suspects selling game machines overseas, illegally, and said machines being modded for insideous uses. But that isn't really the point.

The point is that this character, a conservative, right-wing man in his 60's mentioned GTA. Granted, it was scripted, but we are talking about a mainstream, prime-time show - with an older demographic. Grand Theft Auto has hit prime-time.

Add that with all the legal problems GTA has caused Rockstar, and we have a game with a secure legacy of infamy. Grand Theft Auto IS the most widely known, mainstream game - and it will be the most remembered years down the road (pun intended).

All of these games are games that generations will be talking about for a long time.Peroid.Besides this is not the first time a videogame thats caused a stir in the public eye has been brought into the spotlight.MK? DOOM? GTA? Nothing new,just a new name to throw into the mix these days thats all.

[trebor]

All of these games are games that generations will be talking about for a long time.Peroid.Besides this is not the first time a videogame thats caused a stir in the public eye has been brought into the spotlight.MK? DOOM? GTA? Nothing new,just a new name to throw into the mix these days thats all.

Well, that's kind of the point. Think about it - Mortal Kombat was a perfect example of this. A game that has lived on in infamy despite there being better fighting games available at the time. I just find it amusing that GTA, on Playstation, was actually mentioned in Law & Order - by a man in his 60's no less.

But consider this - what does this do to the videogame industry as a whole? The game in question, GTA, is in the public eye not because of playability, graphics or vision, but because of purely negative aspects. This is bad for the industry as a whole - it doesn't help fix the negative perceptions people have against videogames and, in fact, makes them worse.

It would be like people who knew nothing about movies believing pornography is what defines the movie industry. Pornography is all well, fine and good in my book, but it isn't what the movie industry should be perceived as.

[Nissian X]

The topic should be, the most infamous games within this console generation, makes more sense, plus the GTA series didn't hit the consoles until this gen anyway. In which case we should probably wait, a little bit, but whatever heres my picks.


1. Halo series,(which is why I said waiting would be good)
2. GTA series
3.Resident Evil series
4.Metroid Prime series (again, the 2nd one hasn't come out yet)
5.Madden

The reason why I put Madden in last place is because most hardcore gamers don't really play too many sports games if any, therefore they wouldn't know them.

[Darwin]

plus the GTA series didn't hit the consoles until this gen anyway.

Grand Theft auto 1 and 2 were on the Playstation 1 back when I was in college ('99 if I remember correctly). Before next-gen consoles. They were, although, not nearly as popular as what happened after the 3rd GTA was released.

I think GTA 1 and 2 can also be played on the dreamcast and PC.

["The Game"Evolution]

Well, that's kind of the point. Think about it - Mortal Kombat was a perfect example of this. A game that has lived on in infamy despite there being better fighting games available at the time. I just find it amusing that GTA, on Playstation, was actually mentioned in Law & Order - by a man in his 60's no less.

But consider this - what does this do to the videogame industry as a whole? The game in question, GTA, is in the public eye not because of playability, graphics or vision, but because of purely negative aspects. This is bad for the industry as a whole - it doesn't help fix the negative perceptions people have against videogames and, in fact, makes them worse.

It would be like people who knew nothing about movies believing pornography is what defines the movie industry. Pornography is all well, fine and good in my book, but it isn't what the movie industry should be perceived as.

Think about it,Mortal Kombat back in the 90's wasnt the best game in the world to play.However the over the top violence is what made the game a hit to begin with.Now if politicians would'nt have brought so much attention and publicity to the violence of MK it probably wouldnt have sold as many copies on the SNES and the Sega Genesis.

But because of that attention the videogame industry was changed forever.And from there the videogame rating system was born.Bottom line here is controversy is what makes the world go round.That goes for videogames,T.V. shows,music;etc. The more noise something makes the more people want to see of it.Its not exactly a bad thing when it comes to the videogame industry.Not at all.Even though GTA 3 and Vice City offended alot of important people around the country it was still one of the best selling games on the PC,the PS2,and the Xbox.

The one thing that we all should have learned by now is that you cant please everyone.And the videogame industry indeed is tailor-made for that saying.The hell with what people think about the violence in videogames.So what videogames get a bad rep? I dont see those outside negative aspects hurting videogame sells lately do you?

[Bob-the-Fish]

I'd agree with Game on this one. Really the only publicity our little hobby can get these days is bad. All the fanactical soccer moms that wonder why kids play video games when theire parents work all day and try to make up for it by buying them stuff. Of course the kids must be violent because they play these games...

Anyho, look at other products in recent history and you get the same thing. The Harry Potter series wouldn't be anywhere close to how big it is without the group of parents campaigning to get it banned from schools a while ago for teaching kids witchcraft. Or Pokemon, which was just a gameboy game till the schools started banning the cards and confiscating them. Looks like the Mel Gibson movie, Passion of Christ will have a similar effect. So let's take what we can get.

GTA is definately the most famous game of this generation. Entire magazines have dedicated pages and pages to the ins and outs of III and VC. Those fanatics got on CNN trying to get it banned. I think the Austrailian government did ban it. Just about everyone who has held a PS2 controller has played it and loved it. It almost caused a law to be created to prevent games showing violence against the police force. Most games designed today feature "open ended gameplay like GTA III." People started throwing around words like censorship and freedom of speech in respose to this game.

[Glockstar]

Looks like the Mel Gibson movie, Passion of Christ will have a similar effect.

Umm, not really.

You're thinking that this movie is going to have Catholics and Christians making a big stink, protesting and picketing movie theatres, or something aren't you?

Well... it's actually quite the opposite.

http://passionmovieinfo.freeservers.com/

[Gadfly2317]

Umm, not really.

You're thinking that this movie is going to have Catholics and Christians making a big stink, protesting and picketing movie theatres, or something aren't you?

Well... it's actually quite the opposite.

http://passionmovieinfo.freeservers.com/

They'll probably protest the video-game of the Movie though, "The Smashin' of Christ." It's kinda like "Whack a Mole" except that jesus keeps flailing his arms around making it hard to get him affixed to the cross . . you score points if you can get him nailed down in 15 whacks or less. Then the next stage he moves a lot faster and you are given fewer chances with the hammer. Excellent Shockwave game, though as far as games starring fictional characters go, I still prefer Mario. Hey, they could have featured "Mario" in "Smashin"--it would have been his 68'th game--butt-stomping the spikes.

Clearly GTA is the most "infamous" game of this generation. I don't know why anyone even introduced Madden or Halo. There is a difference between "famous" and "infamous." Infamous refers to something famous for its bad reputation. That's GTA hands down.

And on just plain "famous" Halo definitely isn't more well known than GTA.

[Bob-the-Fish]

Umm, not really.

You're thinking that this movie is going to have Catholics and Christians making a big stink, protesting and picketing movie theatres, or something aren't you?

Well... it's actually quite the opposite.

http://passionmovieinfo.freeservers.com/

Not the Catholics and Christians, the Jews. They have been quite vocal about the levels of antisemitism they percieve in the film. Gibson even cut a scene from the final version recently about the sentencing of Jesus by the Romans and the Jewish populace calling for his execution. I don't know if they'll go as far as picketing, but there has been an outcry.

Also, there are Christian and Catholic extremists making a stink about how the movie treats Jesus as a man not a deity. Since the movie has only had a couple of test screenings for various religious groups at this point, most if these people haven't actually seen the film and are taking other people's opinions and turning them into their own.

To tie this back into GTA, most of those who critisize that game don't play video games in genral and probably are basing their opinions on what the media and special interest groups are telling them.

[Zilla Man]

Great post, Trebor. Obviously you have good taste in television! :cool:

I saw the show too and the GTA line doesn't surprise me but I don't know that its infamy was the only reason it was mentioned. I say this because I think some one on the Law & Order writing staff (of all three shows) is a fan of videogames. Why? In this season alone there have been 2 Law and Order SVU episodes that had videogames (fictional ones) as subplots and even evidence in court in their plots! One was a Mortal Kombat knockoff, the other was a MMORPG.

The funniest thing was the Law and Order Criminal Intent that ran last month. It was about two videogame designers that worked on a successful FPS. One went good and the other was accused of murder. The hilarious thing was that these guys were so obviously modelled after John Carmack and John Romero (even down to their personal quirks) that it's plain that someone on the show has a serious gaming fetish.

Regarding GTA's infamy: I saw something a few years back on ABC's NIGHTLINE that scared the crap out of me. THe whole program was dedicated to GTA III and whether its violence would affect children's behavior. Well, they had a class room where they had 8 - 11 year olds mindlessly playing the game and giggling as they killed cops and innocent pedestrians.They then interviewed the kids and asked what they enjoyed most about the game. Of course it was the action/violence! This enraged me because:

A) Most parents that I know who have kids that age group don't let their kids play it (and rightfully so).

B) Never was it ever mentioned that stores can't sell this game to minors.

C) They never asked the kids why they enjoyed the action or if they'd ever be inclined to repeat the actions in real life.

To add a nail in the coffin, Ted Koppel then sat down with a clueless 19 year old self-professed fan of the game, a Washington DC Police Chief, and a child psychologist. Koppel then asked the boy about the game. The kid told him that there were missions that involved strategy not killing. He played the game for them and guess what? He ended up getting 4 stars and having the SWAT team after him! All we saw was the violence! It had obviously been edited for time, but when the session ended Koppel asked him for a comment. The kid never once said "Well, all the missions aren't like this" or "I screwed up, let me try again." There are several nonviolent missions early in the game...did we see the? No!

Then Koppel goes on to say that the game appeared "to have no redeeming value whatsoever" and why play it? The kid was dumbfounded of course. The child pyschologist then jumped in and mentioned Colombine and how this game could cause incidents like that on a national level! He then went on to bash the game more.

Then came the moment of truth: Koppel turns to the Police Chief and says "As someone who's had two partners killed in the line of duty, how does this it feel to see a game like this promoting such behavior?" My friend and I cringed as the you know what was gonna hit the fan. The chief said, "Well, Ted I don't personally care for the game but it seems like it could be a lot of fun for young people. I don't really have a problem with it. It's just a game." I was about to yell out a hallelujah but the child psychologist then stepped in about how the Police Chief was wrong etc., etc. The Chief merely shrugged and smiled.

My faith was restored a year later when Newsweek and Rolling Stone both ran features on Vice City calling it a work of art. Newsweek had a psychologist actually stating that the game, like many books and movies, was basically harmless when it came to promoting violence.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

The only way Madden is infamous is robbing the mainstream sheep yearly for barely any upgrades year to year...oh, and how could I forget "good ol EA" MAKING people buy the latest editions to continue playing online?

[Bob-the-Fish]

The only way Madden is infamous is robbing the mainstream sheep yearly for barely any upgrades year to year...oh, and how could I forget "good ol EA" MAKING people buy the latest editions to continue playing online?

That is really a jip ain't it? That's why I just bought NHL 2k3 and said srcew you Sega, I'm not paying $50 more for another hockey game that's the same thing. But somehow Madden manages to be one of if not the top seller year after year.

Your mention of internet play got me thinking again though. What's MS going to do with Live when the Next hits? Are they going to contiune the service to old Box owners or force you to buy the new system. And if the new one isn't backwards compatible, will that mean we never get to play RTCW, PR2, Halo 2, or RS3 online again?
If they do continue to extend Live to Xbox one owners, what will really be the incenive to upgrade? But if they don't, it'll really look bad in the eyes of their fans and give MS haters more ammo. Quite a pickle they got there.

[trebor]

Think about it,Mortal Kombat back in the 90's wasnt the best game in the world to play.However the over the top violence is what made the game a hit to begin with.Now if politicians would'nt have brought so much attention and publicity to the violence of MK it probably wouldnt have sold as many copies on the SNES and the Sega Genesis.

But because of that attention the videogame industry was changed forever.And from there the videogame rating system was born.Bottom line here is controversy is what makes the world go round.That goes for videogames,T.V. shows,music;etc. The more noise something makes the more people want to see of it.Its not exactly a bad thing when it comes to the videogame industry.Not at all.Even though GTA 3 and Vice City offended alot of important people around the country it was still one of the best selling games on the PC,the PS2,and the Xbox.

The one thing that we all should have learned by now is that you cant please everyone.And the videogame industry indeed is tailor-made for that saying.The hell with what people think about the violence in videogames.So what videogames get a bad rep? I dont see those outside negative aspects hurting videogame sells lately do you?

You should differentiate between what is good for sales and what is good for the industry as a whole.

All this negativity surrounding GTA has already produced negative impacts on the vid-industry - in the form of imitators. Publishers are going to start pumping out games like GTA simply to turn a buck, but us gamers are the ones who will lose out in the long term - simply because they will think that's what gamers "want".

[trebor]

Anyho, look at other products in recent history and you get the same thing. The Harry Potter series wouldn't be anywhere close to how big it is without the group of parents campaigning to get it banned from schools a while ago for teaching kids witchcraft. Or Pokemon, which was just a gameboy game till the schools started banning the cards and confiscating them. Looks like the Mel Gibson movie, Passion of Christ will have a similar effect. So let's take what we can get.

Well, to put this in terms of an analogy, since Harry Potter is so successful, should most new books or series of books aimed at the Harry Potter audience borrow heavily from Harry Potter, in order to be successfull?

Look at Pokemon. Now look at Digimon, Monster Hunters, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc. You see my point, yes?


GTA is definately the most famous game of this generation. Entire magazines have dedicated pages and pages to the ins and outs of III and VC. Those fanatics got on CNN trying to get it banned. I think the Austrailian government did ban it. Just about everyone who has held a PS2 controller has played it and loved it. It almost caused a law to be created to prevent games showing violence against the police force. Most games designed today feature "open ended gameplay like GTA III." People started throwing around words like censorship and freedom of speech in respose to this game.

I'm totally for the existence of GTA. What I can't stand is the "me too" imitators that will profit off of GTA's infamy, like a pack of bloodthirsty parasites.

[trebor]

Great post, Trebor. Obviously you have good taste in television! :cool:

I saw the show too and the GTA line doesn't surprise me but I don't know that its infamy was the only reason it was mentioned. I say this because I think some one on the Law & Order writing staff (of all three shows) is a fan of videogames. Why? In this season alone there have been 2 Law and Order SVU episodes that had videogames (fictional ones) as subplots and even evidence in court in their plots! One was a Mortal Kombat knockoff, the other was a MMORPG.

The funniest thing was the Law and Order Criminal Intent that ran last month. It was about two videogame designers that worked on a successful FPS. One went good and the other was accused of murder. The hilarious thing was that these guys were so obviously modelled after John Carmack and John Romero (even down to their personal quirks) that it's plain that someone on the show has a serious gaming fetish.

L&O has quickly become one of my favorite live-action shows on television. Between, NBC, TNT and USA, the show is on almost 24 - 7!

I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one of the SVU episodes you are refering to - with a mentally challenged teen in a foster home, with 3 "foster" sisters, correct? I also saw the Criminal Intent episode you are talking about, and I totally agree with you, somebody writing for L&O must be a gamer.

Either way, it is a fantastic show! But, back to the point...


Regarding GTA's infamy: I saw something a few years back on ABC's NIGHTLINE that scared the crap out of me. THe whole program was dedicated to GTA III and whether its violence would affect children's behavior. Well, they had a class room where they had 8 - 11 year olds mindlessly playing the game and giggling as they killed cops and innocent pedestrians.They then interviewed the kids and asked what they enjoyed most about the game. Of course it was the action/violence! This enraged me because:

A) Most parents that I know who have kids that age group don't let their kids play it (and rightfully so).

B) Never was it ever mentioned that stores can't sell this game to minors.

C) They never asked the kids why they enjoyed the action or if they'd ever be inclined to repeat the actions in real life.

To add a nail in the coffin, Ted Koppel then sat down with a clueless 19 year old self-professed fan of the game, a Washington DC Police Chief, and a child psychologist. Koppel then asked the boy about the game. The kid told him that there were missions that involved strategy not killing. He played the game for them and guess what? He ended up getting 4 stars and having the SWAT team after him! All we saw was the violence! It had obviously been edited for time, but when the session ended Koppel asked him for a comment. The kid never once said "Well, all the missions aren't like this" or "I screwed up, let me try again." There are several nonviolent missions early in the game...did we see the? No!

Then Koppel goes on to say that the game appeared "to have no redeeming value whatsoever" and why play it? The kid was dumbfounded of course. The child pyschologist then jumped in and mentioned Colombine and how this game could cause incidents like that on a national level! He then went on to bash the game more.

Then came the moment of truth: Koppel turns to the Police Chief and says "As someone who's had two partners killed in the line of duty, how does this it feel to see a game like this promoting such behavior?" My friend and I cringed as the you know what was gonna hit the fan. The chief said, "Well, Ted I don't personally care for the game but it seems like it could be a lot of fun for young people. I don't really have a problem with it. It's just a game." I was about to yell out a hallelujah but the child psychologist then stepped in about how the Police Chief was wrong etc., etc. The Chief merely shrugged and smiled.

My faith was restored a year later when Newsweek and Rolling Stone both ran features on Vice City calling it a work of art. Newsweek had a psychologist actually stating that the game, like many books and movies, was basically harmless when it came to promoting violence.

I agree with you, GTA is getting a bad "rap" in the way that videogames often get - like Doom and it's relation to Columbine. Bogus, to be sure, but unfortunately the more games push the limits of good taste, the more negative press they will be garnering.

GTA is one thing, being the original, it retains credence as being a "work of art". Cheap, "me too" imitators, on the other hand, will do much to propel violence, gore, sex and potty-humor to new levels, but without the underlying artistic element. The imitators will be standing on the shoulders of Rockstar, so to speak, but not have the artistic chops to warrant the bad taste.

I think this is a crucial phase for the videogaming industry. Kind of a turning point - the vid industry either retain it's artistic license and gamers will buy games based on artistic value - or - the vid industry will become more like the TV, Movie and Music industries and rely more on formula, imitation and hype.

The real question is what gamers will allow to happen to the industry, because ultimately we control it with our dollars. Do we want art or do we want forumlaic, cookie-cutter imitations? With sales of Beyond Good & Evil (what I consider to be an artistic game) being pitiful and sales of True Crime (an obvious imitation of GTA) being so high, I just don't think mainstream gamers have enough taste to support an artistic industry.

[Cuddly Knife]

>>I think this is a crucial phase for the videogaming industry. Kind of a turning point - the vid industry either retain it's artistic license and gamers will buy games based on artistic value - or - the vid industry will become more like the TV, Movie and Music industries and rely more on formula, imitation and hype.<<

It already is like the movie/music industry. That's why awesome games like Ico, Gitaroo man, Dark Cloud 2, and Eternal Darkness don't sell as well as they should, but Millions of people buy up buggy pieces of turds like The Matrix and tons of multi-plat games. And Madden.

[trebor]

It already is like the movie/music industry. That's why awesome games like Ico, Gitaroo man, Dark Cloud 2, and Eternal Darkness don't sell as well as they should, but Millions of people buy up buggy pieces of turds like The Matrix and tons of multi-plat games. And Madden.

Well, you obviously get "it". I was making a rhetorical statement. I already believe the industry has been tainted and will become as plastic and shallow as the movie/music industries.

Just trying to get the idea out there that the corportate conglomorate take-over of the videogame industry has already started to have negative effects, and therefore, isn't perhaps the best thing for the industry.

[thug]

Clearly GTA is the most "infamous" game of this generation. I don't know why anyone even introduced Madden or Halo. There is a difference between "famous" and "infamous." Infamous refers to something famous for its bad reputation. That's GTA hands down.


100% Agree, GTA is hands down the most infamous game/s of this generation. Just look at the sales figures, the press that Vice City got before and after it's release, and the influence GTA3 had on other videogames.

Halo is a beautiful game but definitely falls short of GTA in terms of popularity.

The Madden franchise is frickin' gold to EA Sports. I don't understand why people buy a copy of the game every year. I bought Madden 2001 when PS2 came out and then Madden 2004 when I bought my Xbox and I only see a little difference in the games. 2004 has improved player models, AI, and more features but I could care less. To me it's basically the same thing and it sells like hot cakes every year. Hopefully i don't buy another copy a few years down the road. I always play halfway through a season and get bored, then the game sits and sits. Madden is very popular, but in terms of influencial...the only games looking at Madden for ideas are the other football games. GTA influenced a wide variety of games...basically any game that went after a more open environment and more freedom to do whatever you want with the main character was influenced by GTA.

[Xguy]

Clearly GTA is the most "infamous" game of this generation. I don't know why anyone even introduced Madden or Halo. There is a difference between "famous" and "infamous." Infamous refers to something famous for its bad reputation. That's GTA hands down.

Thank you for the lesson in semantics. :)

Since the title of the original post was "(in)famous", I think the emphasis was on "famous", with the "(in)" part referring to its reason for fame.

Just me...I could be wrong.

[Zilla Man]

I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one of the SVU episodes you are refering to - with a mentally challenged teen in a foster home, with 3 "foster" sisters, correct? I

Yeah, that's the one! :D

L&O has quickly become one of my favorite live-action shows on television. Between, NBC, TNT and USA, the show is on almost 24 - 7!

I know! Especially SVU -- It seems to be on TNT and USA every night -- several times! I love Criminal Intent but keep missing it on the original runs, only to inadvertantly run across it the weekly rebroadcast. I tell ya, I've lost more game time because of these %$%^&$ damn shows! :mad: But I have to admit, all the CA blonde starlets out here can't hold a candle to Mariska Hargitay.... *sigh* :D

I think this is a crucial phase for the videogaming industry. Kind of a turning point - the vid industry either retain it's artistic license and gamers will buy games based on artistic value - or - the vid industry will become more like the TV, Movie and Music industries and rely more on formula, imitation and hype.

You're right. Unfortunately, this always happens when something goes mainstream. This is one area where I think Nintendo can make a difference. I was disappointed that Pikmin 2 didn't come out in Dec as scheduled! Even though it's a sequel, I think it would have reminded people of the creativity that can come from certain games.

[trebor]

I know! Especially SVU -- It seems to be on TNT and USA every night -- several times! I love Criminal Intent but keep missing it on the original runs, only to inadvertantly run across it the weekly rebroadcast. I tell ya, I've lost more game time because of these %$%^&$ damn shows! :mad: But I have to admit, all the CA blonde starlets out here can't hold a candle to Mariska Hargitay.... *sigh* :D

I totally agree - Mariska Hargitay is one foxy babe! All three versions of L&O have foxy babes, though. Regular L&O has the perky blonde Assistant District Attorney (can't think of her name), SVU has Mariska and CI has spunky Kathryn Erbe.

I swear though, for the past month and a half, my life has been one big L&O blur. Almost every single night is comprised of L&O. Which is great, because the other live-action drama I used to like, E.R., has been really sucking lately - so L&O has really filled the void.

Trivia time - did you know that Mariska Hargitay used to be on E.R. back in the day? Can you remember who her character was?


You're right. Unfortunately, this always happens when something goes mainstream. This is one area where I think Nintendo can make a difference. I was disappointed that Pikmin 2 didn't come out in Dec as scheduled! Even though it's a sequel, I think it would have reminded people of the creativity that can come from certain games.

You see, this is one thing people don't get about me, I don't dig Nintendo because I have this lifelong love with them. I dig them because they are the only videogame company that is trying to do something different. They go their own route.

Ultimately, I think the PS2 and the Xbox are incredibly similar - they are closer to each other then either of them compared to Nintendo. I appreciate any company that has the stones to be different - even if it hurts their image in the eyes of the masses.

[Powaron]

yeah but why havent you guys named mario as the most famous game i mean really if you ask anybody to the most known video game youll probably hear mario from a gamer or nongamer alike

[Bob-the-Fish]

yeah but why havent you guys named mario as the most famous game i mean really if you ask anybody to the most known video game youll probably hear mario from a gamer or nongamer alike

They're talking the most famous game of this generation. While Mario is certainly one of the most famous characters ever, he's not that big gamewise these days. People know who Mario is but they couldn't name a game he's in to save their life.

[Powaron]

They're talking the most famous game of this generation. While Mario is certainly one of the most famous characters ever, he's not that big gamewise these days. People know who Mario is but they couldn't name a game he's in to save their life.

well actually i would be willing to bet that anyone could name a recent mario game. and mario is of this generation at least hes of mine and of just about of everyone else on this site older than 15 years old. he may not be in console generations though but you didnt specify what kind of generation. anyways a few games they could name for the current gaming generation would be mario sunshine, mariokart, and the originals that gameboy advance brought back.