I still mumble the main theme to myself from time to time..
Grim Fandango
71–80 of 129 posts
Re: Grim Fandango
#72> Taken as a game rather than the movie it often seems more interested in being It's interesting how movies today seem to be the "top" art form: there are books, comics, videogames that want to be movies, but never in the other direction. (There are books and games based on movies, but they are clearly secondary.) I wonder if there could be some other art form that would be "above" movies in this sense.
video games revenues are usually 5x those of video games. call movies 40bb per annum mobile games alone are ~100bb. Finish Him.
Isn't most of that revenue from F2P user hostile mobile games?
That'd be like counting TikTok as part of the movie revenue.
Re: Grim Fandango
#73> Taken as a game rather than the movie it often seems more interested in being It's interesting how movies today seem to be the "top" art form: there are books, comics, videogames that want to be movies, but never in the other direction. (There are books and games based on movies, but they are clearly secondary.) I wonder if there could be some other art form that would be "above" movies in this sense.
video games revenues are usually 5x those of video games. call movies 40bb per annum mobile games alone are ~100bb. Finish Him.
I doubt many people consider Candy Crush to be a good example of an art form. It’s just an app designed to manipulate human psychology to extract maximal profit.
Re: Grim Fandango
#74What a year for games 1998 was. Grim Fandango, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Half-Life, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Starcraft.
So many factors contributed to big investment in the mid-90s. Windows had exploded, followed by the Playstation a few years later; 3D became relatively easy to use in all games; the US economy was doing well; the internet was full of promise.
It would all come crashing down only a few years later, but it was a massive wave.
Re: Grim Fandango
#75[flagged]
Re: Grim Fandango
#76I think one understated problem Grim Fandango had is that it's too adult. Today "adult" often means "there's sex and/or gore", but the content is still simple and juvenile. But Grim Fandango isn't like that, it's just full of themes that probably confused the heck out of almost every kid that tried to play it. Like the very first chapter throws you right into office politics. You deal with stealing a job from another…
> Today "adult" often means "there's sex and/or gore", but the content is still simple and juvenile. That's indeed an unfortunate fact. In fact, most "adult" stuff is actually for teens or young adults. Teens love sex and gore, they want to be edgy, they want to prove they are not children anymore. Actual adults, the kind with jobs and families, are usually passed that. They may still enjoy their sex and gore, but it…
Look, that is also a twisted perspective.
"Adult" = "involving maturity". It is not the topic, it is how it is processed - with developed vs juvenile abilities.
And "adult" is not a janus word, representing both the mature trait and its lack thereof: the second is just given by severe misunderstandings of maturity because of deficiency or twisted incentive. The same works for other words, such as "art".
Re: Grim Fandango
#77Excellent article and absolutely fair points by the author. As a kid I completely fell in love with the characters and ambiance, but got hopelessly stuck in Act 1. In fact, I don't think I ever made it out. But man, what a great story and what a beautiful style. I always half expected to see Hollywood pick this up and turn it into a movie. Just imagine what the folks at Pixar could do with this (with Tim Schafer as e…
It’s much too eccentric for the Pixar formula. They are family movies first and foremost. Characters need to be understandable and relatable to an eight-year-old.
The Pixar movie with similar themes is 2016’s “Coco”. It’s a fine production, but the themes are much less adult than in Grim Fandango.
Re: Grim Fandango
#78One of my top 3 favorite games of all time. When it comes to story and characters, I cannot think of any better game. Recently finished it for the third time on Nintendo Switch.
Re: Grim Fandango
#79Well I certainly cannot relate to the criticism. I played the game early on as a teen (and every few years since) and while, at times difficult, I never thought the puzzles were "confusing", it seemed like a pretty organic combination of styles of puzzles built into the game. The head turning dynamics I have also found to be quiet pleasant as it made me relate to the character more. Not that criticism is bad but Grim…
I remember watching my teenage cousin play it as a young child and being really drawn in, then when he let me play I remember getting frustrated because I had no idea what to do, it ended up being more fun watching him play
My only experience with the game is watching a YouTube playthrough. Great game from that vantage point.
Re: Grim Fandango
#80I think one understated problem Grim Fandango had is that it's too adult. Today "adult" often means "there's sex and/or gore", but the content is still simple and juvenile. But Grim Fandango isn't like that, it's just full of themes that probably confused the heck out of almost every kid that tried to play it. Like the very first chapter throws you right into office politics. You deal with stealing a job from another…
Here's the thing - I remember playing it as a kid and so many things, arguably most of it, went way over my head: the whole travel agent thing and getting ahead in the office, dia de los muertos, the references to noir, the weird but gorgeous mexican art deco combo, I knew nothing about any of it. But I still loved every second of it. It made the world feel very rich and real even if I didn't fully get it, in a way t…
I think that was part of the fascination of PC:s as a kid. Police Quest or Civilization and so on. It was this kind of adult world that you knew little of and were exploring on your own, or with your friends. The games were not holding your hand. It often was game over. But you could try again. Also, your parents were never involved in any way (except financing the thing). The audience of PC games was different than console games. They expected more from the player. Sometimes it was frustrating, but often times I think one learned something. Also one had to use the dictionary sometimes. There were also less other things competing for their attention so kids had more persistence...