Extra Credits: Bad Writing

This week, we discuss video game writing and the importance of narrative.

Come discuss this topic in the forums!
http://extra-credits.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1261


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http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00577/

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New episodes on PATV every Wednesday!

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• extra
• credits
• james
• portnow
• daniel
• floyd
• allison
• theus
• video
• games
• bad
• writing
• narrative

[ExtraCreditz]

We're going to start distributing our back catalog of episodes in more places over the next few months. Penny Arcade TV will still have exclusivity on the newest episodes, but you'll start seeing the classic ones on Youtube, Blip and numerous others. Enjoy!

[RabidFlaminChipmunks]

So Extra Credits, whatever happened to that voice acting episode? Kind of like to see it.

[benwubbleyou]

I'm not saying that I just spent roughly an hour and a half watching your videos, but I spent an hour and a half watching your videos...

[ProkoLokor]

There are a few games with good writing and bad story. Like Mass Effect 2.

[SwobyJ]

@Dixavd FFX's structure is pretty compelling. It's major scenes are mostly hits, but.. it's smaller scenes are mostly misses - full of cheese, cultural (Jap/Western) mistranslation, and very bad English dubbing (Yuna fit the role, but the actress was clearly inexperienced. Tidus' actor is horrible imo).

[Xanatos712]

Crysis 2 is a good example of bad writing. Control is always wrenched away from the player during cutscenes and 'cinematic' moments and the other characters don't talk TO the player so much as talk AT them. Come to think of it, as a player I didn't feel like I was important to the game's story whatsoever. At the end of the day it was really the suit that mattered, not the person controlling it.

[Evanhalf2]

YES!! ESTRADASPHERE!!

[Soulsphere001]

@ShadowWolfRising

Don't they always provide their Email addresses at the end of each video?

[Bradjg1978]

I'm sorry but when he said how hard is it to find a script writer. I'm thinking of all the bad movies, plays, and other stuff out there. It's not easy to find a good writer period. Yeah, I know it's about how complicated games are verse movies/TV.

[djaevlenselv]

@ellellwright

I assume it's for the same reason that book based movies are rarely as good as the book. Just like writing a book is different from writing a film, writing a film is different from writing a book, and unless you understand the difference between the mediums the translation can easily go wrong.

[thebigJ1er]

Maybe you could put the date in the title? Several of the episodes deal with more or less current events, so it would help.

At least number them, so new viewers can keep track, or people who missed several in the middle (like me) can keep track.

[schindelerium]

Great analysis, but... one little bit of hypocrisy. When talking about Silent Hill, you said that they did a great job demonstrating the weakness of the main character... except, you said, the most recent ones. But Shattered Memories, the newest one, did this better than any other, by not allowing you any weapons and forcing you to run and hide. Hell, you even had a picture of it. I understand you're more talking about SH 4 and 5, but still. Is it because it's a sort-of-remake? I'm curious.