Comments on: deus ex: final thoughts http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2008/10/deus-ex-final-thoughts/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:54:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: David Carlton http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2008/10/deus-ex-final-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-112701 David Carlton Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:05:38 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/?p=1148#comment-112701 Hmm, interesting points. I felt dragged along by the end of the game, but not in a good way, which is different from what you talk about in your first sentence: I guess the point here is that each little conflict in a game requires active energy in my part in the way that a game or a movie doesn't? Or maybe it's the difference in time scales - sustaining excitement over the last 45 minutes of a movie is one thing, sustaining it over the last 8 hours of a video game play through is another thing? I should reread the <em>Iliad</em>. And <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>. Far too long in both cases. Hmm, interesting points. I felt dragged along by the end of the game, but not in a good way, which is different from what you talk about in your first sentence: I guess the point here is that each little conflict in a game requires active energy in my part in the way that a game or a movie doesn’t? Or maybe it’s the difference in time scales – sustaining excitement over the last 45 minutes of a movie is one thing, sustaining it over the last 8 hours of a video game play through is another thing?

I should reread the Iliad. And The Lord of the Rings. Far too long in both cases.

]]> By: John Cowan http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2008/10/deus-ex-final-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-112688 John Cowan Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:10:31 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/?p=1148#comment-112688 Most movies, and the kind of books people call page-turners, don't have that problem: they are trying to drag you passively along with them into climaxing at the same time as the movie or book, so to speak. But some of both class have a different rhythmic structure; in particular, genuine epic tends to have a rocking-horse rhythm of tension-relaxation, tension-relaxation right through to the end, which is generally some time after the climactic moment. Two excellent examples of the latter are the <i>Iliad</i>, which has no shortage of extreme violence (the line "And he fell and his armor clattered on him in a heap" is a recurrent motif), but ends on a quiet moment demonstrating its moral point, which is that the death of even a hated enemy is tragic, not comic; and in our own time <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, the book more so than the movie, which is a compromise between the book's style and conventional movie style. Most movies, and the kind of books people call page-turners, don’t have that problem: they are trying to drag you passively along with them into climaxing at the same time as the movie or book, so to speak. But some of both class have a different rhythmic structure; in particular, genuine epic tends to have a rocking-horse rhythm of tension-relaxation, tension-relaxation right through to the end, which is generally some time after the climactic moment. Two excellent examples of the latter are the Iliad, which has no shortage of extreme violence (the line “And he fell and his armor clattered on him in a heap” is a recurrent motif), but ends on a quiet moment demonstrating its moral point, which is that the death of even a hated enemy is tragic, not comic; and in our own time The Lord of the Rings, the book more so than the movie, which is a compromise between the book’s style and conventional movie style.

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