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Interesting read on Rise of Gaming, culture, consumpt'n
- SuperflyPete
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Article.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/1605899/do-you-...en-you-read-articles
Discussion of article at BGG.
To me, the salient line is "Irving Finkel believes this variety is deceptive, and that the popularity of Eurogames, and of modern board games in general – “thousands of games of no intrinsic value beyond their packaging” – tells us something unflattering about our consumerist society. Even discounting the Star Wars commercial tie-ins, many recent board games are iterations of the same basic rules repackaged with a different setting. "
He's not wrong on that last bit...there's a lot of the same ideas running around with different skins on. On the whole, I find the article a mixed bag and some sloppy journalism because he put so much stake in Irving Whatwhofuckesie's opinions.
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Haven't read the article yet, but this jumped out at me--looks like author disagrees, given the "So-and-so believes" setup.SuperflyTNT wrote: To me, the salient line is "Irving Finkel believes this variety is deceptive, and that the popularity of Eurogames, and of modern board games in general – “thousands of games of no intrinsic value beyond their packaging” – tells us something unflattering about our consumerist society. Even discounting the Star Wars commercial tie-ins, many recent board games are iterations of the same basic rules repackaged with a different setting. "
But this thesis is one of the reasons this site exists. One of the overarching "complaints" about Euros here is how many damn ways can I satisfy the king? An awful lot of these games are reduced to cube movement exercises and don't actually do much other that satisfy some primitive yearning to categorize by rules.
Totally unrelated, a quick plug for my new game, "IF IT PLEASE MILADY"
$89.95 with free shipping to my hometown, otherwise $30 extra ($120 Int'l). Kickstarter bonus includes a different color!!!!
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Most general interest articles, on any subject that you have a fair bit of knowledge of, are going to prove that Sturgeon's Law is in full effect. Which makes me wonder about the accuracy of articles on subjects that I don't know much about.
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- SuperflyPete
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That said, his point is valid on games that share mechanics. The thing is, I don't really give too much of a shit. I play games that I like, and if a game is exactly like another game I own but that game's cool, what's the problem?
If he's so smart, where's his game?
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- Erik Twice
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- Colorcrayons
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I recall reading his book in the mid or late ninties that was simply called ancient board games, I believe. It was a pretty good read, especially for someone who is interested in the history of that area.
What brought me to his books is that I was doing research on Sumero-Akkadian version of the Enuma Elish and how its relation to the much later work of Genesis and parts of Exodus for an exegesis. Apparently, the fellow found some clay referencing the great flood myth that was prior to the time of Hammurabi. (The date later turned out to be incorrect, though still quite ancient.)
This brought me to attend to his works and a few other research papers. The book on ancient games was good, I thought. I've had a love afair with these types of games since that point, and have even rethemed Aton to be more historically accurate in theme because I find the design so well concieved and even clever (despite one minor flaw that could only be noticed after a couple hundred plays, I digress...) because of these types of games.
SuperflyTNT wrote: The guy studies ancient games.
That said, his point is valid on games that share mechanics. The thing is, I don't really give too much of a shit. I play games that I like, and if a game is exactly like another game I own but that game's cool, what's the problem?
If he's so smart, where's his game?
Well, perhaps one studies a thing or things and lacks the creative spark to make something that matches the acme of example that you study? Thus he might not want to settle for anything less?
I personally share his opinion, but as you point out, and which I also agree, its about personal preference and I think some games just ring true with people because, mechanically at least, they just somehow mesh with how your brain operates.
The "problem" is that each redundant title isn't good for the long term health of board gaming, imo. It dilutes the drink to be less satisfying.
Anecdotal example. Survive; escape from atlantis. Great game. Usually what I use to get non gamers to understand how good boardgames can be. Then they get excited and want to play other games that hit that very same sweet spot. Easy to understand due to low rules complexity, a small amount of fuckery, cute yet horrid theme, etc.
And all I can think of is other games who are mechanically similar to suggest, rather than games wholly different but do share the same qualities. They see this game, and want not the same game, but the same sense of excitement and fun that they experienced but this time in a different game.
Playing a rethemed version doesn't hit the same chords to satisfy that need nor does a game that is so similar that it could be viewed as a reskin after a few plays. And if all you see is the same thing over and over, then you begin to see the products and then the culture stagnate from that lack of truely innovative creativity. Just because feld came out with yet another point salad, doesn't mean its actually innovative, its just another way of expressing the same damned idea.
But then again, the same could be said for wargames. And those have turned into a whole new genre among itself. Like pinball has.
It likely wil either refine itself as a category, or make it so that it implodes on itself because of lack of innovation. It really could work either way.
But again, agreeing with your point, let the consumers decide instead of the pedagogy for such a thing, because this is meant to entertain the masses, not be a point in a pedagogues notebook.
That said, it is a horribly writtten article with a mishmash of words. The article as a whole is just painful.
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