Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35142 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20817 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7405 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3967 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3492 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2074 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2582 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2250 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2494 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3009 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1971 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3692 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2619 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2461 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2289 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2505 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Talk about other nerd culture stuff in here.

What PLAYER ONES are you READYING?

More
08 Mar 2018 16:11 #265089 by Michael Barnes
Since Wonka was brought up...I assure you that there will be no scene in RPO anywhere near as great as the one where the scientist uses the computer to locate the last golden ticket.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 16:12 #265090 by RobertB
edulis wrote:

I read the book on a road trip. I was assumed and entertained. It wasn't great, but I didn't find it offensive.


My coworker said the same thing. "Read it on vacation. It was okay."

I think we've kicked RPO around before. I'm not all that nostalgic for 300-baud modems, cassette tapes, and the Cold War, so I might not be its target audience.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 16:29 #265094 by Michael Barnes
People- especially those infected with what James Murphy called "nostalgia for the unremembered eighties"- tend to forget that a lot of things about that decade s-u-c-k-e-d. Like how you would get called a faggot and be threatened to get your ass kicked if you were wearing a Cure shirt. Or any number of completely empty, boring TV shows that are practically forgotten. And tons of genre movies that fell by the wayside because they were cheap, sleazy and outright bad. There's a myth of the 80s now, just like there was a myth of the 50s in the 80s.

A friend of my wife had an 80s-themed birthday party a few months ago. It was a costume thing. I thought, well shit, I'll just wear my painted leather jacket that I actually wore in the 80s. It has the Misfits "Die, Die My Darling" thing painted on the back and some other logos (Killing Joke, Germs, Dead Kennedys, Adicts, Subhumans, CRASS, Christian Death, The Damned, etc.). I had a friend paint it for me in 1988, and I sort of affectionately call it my "letterman jacket". So we go to this party, and of course it's all of these folks dressed in these extreme, exaggerated, cartoon 1980s costumes. And I'm just thinking "this is NOT what it was like in the 80s, no one dressed like this shit." But then this camera operator (it was a film biz thing) from Brazil comes up to me and says "now THAT is like what I wore in the 80s". I felt so vindicated. So we talked about punk rock all night.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Colorcrayons, Nodens

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 16:39 #265096 by mads b.
The book is really about some of the worst parts of geek culture. A lot of the plot revolves around the "characters" having spent countless hours on movies and games in order to memorize them, and that is just the worst. If you enjoy books and movies that way, all power to you, but in RPO it's presented as the pinnacle of being a geek. It really isn't. Also, being in a VR environment and having to replay all scenes verbatim from your favourite movie does not sound like perfect entertainment, it sounds like shit.

I sort of hated the book, and I like all kinds of trash as long as it has a resemblance of a story arch.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 16:46 #265097 by Da Bid Dabid
I think its the worst book I've ever read. Finished because it was for sci fi book club and I wanted to eviscerate it to the fullest. Everyone hated it, but somehow they claim "The Difference Engine" was worse (was read before I joined).

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 16:49 #265099 by Legomancer
Nothing I've encountered from the portions covered in the podcast, what I know of Cline, and what I've seen of Cline (he's in that Atari: Game Over documentary on Netflix, which I watched) indicates that he is approaching this with even the merest hint of skepticism or criticism. It's just a non-stop celebration of all the things he loved when he was a kid, strung together loosely with a plot that makes no sense and a Mary Sue protagonist almost redefines the genre.

Lord knows I've read some shitty books in my life and have a soft spot for some weak-ass nonsense, but this is just...holy cow.

I was curious as to what people on BGG were saying about the upcoming movie and I can't find any discussion of it at all, which I thought was weird.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 17:14 #265101 by Colorcrayons

Da Bid Dabid wrote: I think its the worst book I've ever read. Finished because it was for sci fi book club and I wanted to eviscerate it to the fullest. Everyone hated it, but somehow they claim "The Difference Engine" was worse (was read before I joined).


As a fan of the difference engine, I cannot possibly see how that was worse than RPO. Gibson and Sterling worse than Cline... They would need some seriously in depth qualifying analysis to back up that pretty god damned wild assertion.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 17:14 #265102 by ChristopherMD
I hated the eighties. The only things 80's I feel any nostalgia for are some favorite movies and I can just re-watch those.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 17:17 - 08 Mar 2018 17:53 #265103 by jeb
PILIN' ON BRAHS! we did this back here: fortressat.com/forum/10-ameritrash/19957...ads-ready-player-one

Still admiring that shit sandwich review. Goddamn, get on my level.

Yeah, I hated it. The point is made above a couple of times:

What I've come away with is that the criticism of RPO is limited to "just a list of references" and "lol this sucks" because there is seemingly nothing more to say about it. There's nothing else there. The plot really is just a delivery system of "remember this?" with nothing animating it. None of the items referenced are analyzed or appraised, they are simply summoned and dismissed. In fact, the emphasis seems to always be on rote repetition, memorization, and mechanical mastery, nothing more. No meaning is ascribed to any of these things.


I resent its success, which is weird, because I am all for other folks doing well. If you want a rock-solid 80s good time for nerds, watch SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. I know you were all busy at THE EXPENDABLES when it came out and laid a fat stinky turd at the box office, but watch it now and love it.

Jeb
RATING: Awesome
Last edit: 08 Mar 2018 17:53 by jeb.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 17:24 #265106 by Mr. White
I'm still partial to Turbo Kid for my neo-80s movie kicks.

I lived with a lot of fear in the 80s from the cold war and nuclear annihilation. I don't hate the 80s though. I had a good time by and by and there'a lot of cool stuff that came out of the era. I think being inspired by the 80s to create something new is good and fine. However, to me, RPO doesn't appear to do that. Instead of creating anything it, so far in my read, just lists successful and cool stuff _other_ people created while being devoid of any artist merit itself.

How did the book blow up anyway? Did it get good reviews anywhere? Who was praising it?

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 17:30 #265108 by Black Barney
I've sat through the trailer a few times now. It should absolutely speak directly to me and my interests but I feel completely unaffected by it with a strange strong desire to NOT see it. I don't know what that is. On paper, it looks like something that I would dig.

But I really liked when Iron Giant showed up. That tugged on my heartstrings and then I felt kind of mad that they used that image to evoke a feeling when it's not The Iron Giant I'm watching here.

I'll wait for reviews. I'm sort of expecting another A.I. type of movie. Something with some really great moments but really long and drawn out.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 17:45 - 08 Mar 2018 17:51 #265109 by Mr. White

jeb wrote: I know you were all busy at THE EXPENDABLES when it came out a laid a fat stinky turd at the box office


Hey, wait. Wasn't The Expendables itself an 80s throwback flick?
Last edit: 08 Mar 2018 17:51 by Mr. White.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 17:56 #265111 by jeb
I am comfortable lumping THE EXPENDABLES in with READY PLAYER ONE as exercises in shitty nostalgia.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Mr. White, Black Barney, Gregarius

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 18:01 - 08 Mar 2018 18:02 #265113 by Mr. White
I'm not going to lie...besides the unnecessary jab towards women at the beginning, this fan made trailer had me HYPED for the flick back in the day. That Andrew WK song can sell anything I guess...

Last edit: 08 Mar 2018 18:02 by Mr. White.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
08 Mar 2018 18:10 #265117 by Colorcrayons
If it doesn't have Joe Esposito playing during a montage, it is fail.
The following user(s) said Thank You: dysjunct

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 0.184 seconds