en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/783446 Comments by mark_cullinane http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/boyle-coy-on-green-party-leadership-ambitions-497954.html#IDComment136242115 Good to see nuanced discussion is alive and well here. Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:26:16 +0000 http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/boyle-coy-on-green-party-leadership-ambitions-497954.html#IDComment136242115 http://blog.noaddedsugar.ie/2011/03/greens-must-drop-anchor-to-steady-ship/#IDComment135673213 Hi Bert. Thanks for your comments. There's plenty there to respond to! First of all, you're right that nothing I said above reinvents the wheel in terms of painting a picture of where our party currently stands. I've only been in the party less than two years and it has taken me some time to get up to speed, even roughly, on how we do business and the path we have taken. You mention that you have been calling for the development of a clear ideological identity based on the pillars of the international Green movement and indeed our own founding principles for some years now. I have no doubt that you have! I think that the present moment provides the best opportunity in a long time to embed these ideas into the party. You're right to argue that we need to convene a national convention which will examine all these issues. However, the kind of change that I think we both want to see happen will not happen by itself. There are a lot of progressives in this party but that doesn't mean that progressive voices will win out when it comes to voting on specific policy changes. This is why I think we need to start thinking about forming a loose group of party members who are interested in these kind of policy changes to start developing coherent alternative vision for the future of the party so we can make a powerful case to the rest of the party members when we do eventually have a convention to hammer out these issues. The kind of changes we're looking for won't happen by themselves. I think we both know plenty of folks in the party who share at least roughly common positions in relation to social justice particularly, and I think we need to start communicating with them with a view to working on this! Nobody else is going to do it for us. Anyway, I'd be interested to hear what you think about this. Also, I'll definitely read that article by Rudig, hadn't come across it before. Sounds like there were plenty of forewarnings in that paper! Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:56:24 +0000 http://blog.noaddedsugar.ie/2011/03/greens-must-drop-anchor-to-steady-ship/#IDComment135673213 http://blog.noaddedsugar.ie/2011/02/time-for-greens-to-take-stock/#IDComment131381277 Well at least it's a compost heap! Thanks for the comment Ahmed. It is worth remembering that none of the problems you mentioned were actually caused by us. I agree that our participation in NAMA and the IMF bailout raises big questions about our own convictions and competence, but it does not make us the main authors of what happened. You're right that we put too much emphasis on 'stability' and 'strong government' when what we should have been more concerned about is whether these actions were the right thing to do. Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:35:52 +0000 http://blog.noaddedsugar.ie/2011/02/time-for-greens-to-take-stock/#IDComment131381277 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/digital-foundry-pixel-porn/#IDComment125425445 That's not something I considered at all- From Leadbetter's own descriptions of his bespoke hardware I presumed that what he was using was top-notch hardware and rigorous methods of analysis. Interesting points. Wed, 2 Feb 2011 13:24:54 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/digital-foundry-pixel-porn/#IDComment125425445 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/digital-foundry-pixel-porn/#IDComment125425211 Hi Dervish. I don't really care for the tone of your comments - keep it respectful or just go elsewhere, alright?- but you do raise one key point that some other commenters have legitimately made. I think my article probably overstated the case that DF's coverage somehow damages other criticism elsewhere on the web. I'm happy to modify this position a little and say that one piece of technically-minded content doesn't cancel out, say, a piece of writing more focused on the experience of playing a game. However, I'm entitled to argue, as I did in the article, that DF's technologised discourse propounds a particularly narrow view of 'performance' that restricts its comment to only the most high-budget of titles. I'm not suggesting that hardware doesn't matter. Clearly, videogames are a highly technologically-dependent medium. But when we write about videogames, we can choose what we feel to be important and what we feel to be less important. I'm simply arguing for one over the other. You're free to do the same. And to go back to my first point- keep the comments respectful. We don't tolerate anything less. Wed, 2 Feb 2011 13:23:00 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/digital-foundry-pixel-porn/#IDComment125425211 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/digital-foundry-pixel-porn/#IDComment124926719 I think you raise a lot of useful questions there, and I find it difficult to disagree with most of them. I agree that DF can't be blamed for their own popularity, nor do they have some sort of responsibility to promote a different sort of gaming discourse. I also agree that framecounting and all the other DF activities don't in any sense nullify discussion elsewhere. I don't quite get the bit where you suggest that gaming is a "medium where money correlates with quality" though- can't gorgeous-looking games be made on a shoestring budget? I think they can- just not the kind of gorgeous that DF is preoccupied with. And this is the nub of my point- even on their own terms, DF is concerned with a very particular type of aesthetics that isn't really about aesthetics at all but a cold, mechanical kind of understanding that is about numbers (framerates,pixels,polygons,antialiasing,lag) without making sense of the effect of these things. I must say your final point that games criticism should never be about 'correcting the tastes of the masses' is an important one. The article may have had a bit of an elitist tone but I don't think that this is about correcting tastes- it's about making a case for what I personally believe to be important. As I said in a few replies on Twitter to readers, I'm not at all saying that aesthetic observations and discussions shouldn't be a part of games criticism- they certainly should- but maybe we should talk about the effects of visual beauty rather than preoccupy ourselves with the nuts and bolts of polygons and texture fill rates which should probably be left to videogame developers. Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:19:28 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/digital-foundry-pixel-porn/#IDComment124926719 http://noaddedsugar.ie/previews/hands-on-impressions/hands-on-sniping-spying-spies-chris-heckers-party/#IDComment110127592 Every time I think of this game I'm reminded of that level in Mission Impossible on the Nintendo 64 where you have to navigate your way around a party at an ambassador's residence whilst spying. If this game can channel some of the tension and excitement that I recall from this, then we're in for a treat. Also, the concept of a reverse Turing test is a fantastic one. Hope the execution lives up to the idea. Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:06:48 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/previews/hands-on-impressions/hands-on-sniping-spying-spies-chris-heckers-party/#IDComment110127592 http://noaddedsugar.ie/console/ps3/100-word-review-james-bond-blood-stone-multi/#IDComment109766885 Looks like GoldenEye is going to come off better in this cross-format competition. Bizarrely, Bloodstone AND GoldenEye were released on DS. And both were developed by the same team. Probably not a lot between the games. Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:13:13 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/console/ps3/100-word-review-james-bond-blood-stone-multi/#IDComment109766885 http://noaddedsugar.ie/wii/interview-felix-bohatsch-and-yet-it-moves/#IDComment106048928 Bastian, calling someone a moron isn't going to endear you to anybody 'round these parts. Next time, just make your point without insulting them. We're all adults here. Mon, 25 Oct 2010 21:26:43 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/wii/interview-felix-bohatsch-and-yet-it-moves/#IDComment106048928 http://noaddedsugar.ie/console/ps3/innovate-accumulate/#IDComment101173610 Good article. I think that the lack of thematic innovation in the vast majority of games is a general malady that affects movies, music and books just as much as videogames. The economic imperative to make a profit necessarily mitigates against risk-taking of any kind. Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:16:27 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/console/ps3/innovate-accumulate/#IDComment101173610 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/opinion-xbox-live-price-hike-and/#IDComment96941253 Ian, I think you're correct to say that each individual voting with their dollar or euro and refusing to purchase a game counts for very little individually, and this personal protest is unlikely to result in change. Yes, making some noise by contacting the publisher/dev is more likely to result in a change. But the key point Tom makes in the article is that there's a tendency for many of us to take the legitimate act of complaining to extremes, and invoke ideas like 'entitlement'. The relationship between consumer and publisher is indeed an adversarial one. They want to sell games, you want to pay as little as possible for said games. I really think that once we've made the informed decision to part with our cash for something, they owe us nothing beyond that. That's not to say that there aren't SOME lines that publishers shouldn't cross. But, save for things that materially break the deal that was originally made between consumer and publisher, we shouldn't feel that we have any right to have our demands acted upon. Sat, 4 Sep 2010 12:09:52 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/opinion-xbox-live-price-hike-and/#IDComment96941253 http://noaddedsugar.ie/handheld/ds/100-word-review-dragon-quest-ix-ds/#IDComment93113755 It's a real shame there's no online co-op play though, I don't know anybody with the game, and this could be the best multiplayer RPG since Secret of Mana. Which, as any Mana fan knows, is high praise. Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:19:28 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/handheld/ds/100-word-review-dragon-quest-ix-ds/#IDComment93113755 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91475323 I'd say buy it, absolutely! But it probably won't change your life, that's all. Sun, 8 Aug 2010 00:05:59 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91475323 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91446731 I think Red was being a bit flippant when he criticised Nathan Drake for being as one-dimensional as Master Chief. He is definitely a more likeable hero than most. Sat, 7 Aug 2010 19:41:47 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91446731 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91446424 I'm pretty sure that I got the price (1200 points) right. And that was the more constructive part of your comment! Sat, 7 Aug 2010 19:38:50 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91446424 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91420058 Thanks Red. That's a pretty damn good summation of what I was trying to say, but it took you several hundred words less to say it! I think you're right too about the overbearing exposition and backstory in most videogames, and I think we're growing increasingly tired of it. Sat, 7 Aug 2010 15:45:57 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/opinion/limbo-shows-teenage-videogame-journalism/#IDComment91420058 http://noaddedsugar.ie/previews/hands-on-impressions/hands-on-kinect-launch-line-up-flailing/#IDComment89853095 I had the pleasure of joining Barry at this Kinect hands-on in Dublin. I would echo just about everything he's said so far about the line-up. I confidently predict Dance Central to be a massive hit, because it genuinely rewards good dancing and offers a proper learning curve. I found Kinectimals to be a disappointing experience that really felt remarkably insubstantial. Cute, but I became bored in just a few minutes of playtime- and I'm usually a sucker for this sort of thing. Elsewhere, Rare's Kinect Sports amply demonstrated Kinect's achilles heel of controller-free gaming: The Wii Sports-aping title demoed a bowling minigame, which was technically inferior to the Wii version simply because of the lack of physical connection between the player and the 'ball'. While it worked quite well, it's actually a much more satisfying experience when you're actually gripping something. I think this issue of tactility is going to be a hallmark of debates surrounding Kinect in the coming months. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:43:34 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/previews/hands-on-impressions/hands-on-kinect-launch-line-up-flailing/#IDComment89853095 http://noaddedsugar.ie/gaming/review-limbo-worse-hype-machine/#IDComment89101116 @Chris- Microsoft are definitely taking advantage here, they have a long history of controlling XBLA pricing that may not be in the interest of the developer. @James I completely agree, developers need to be brave enough to realise that sometimes it's good to leave things like 'story' to the imagination. Ambuguity can be a great thing. Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:05:29 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/gaming/review-limbo-worse-hype-machine/#IDComment89101116 http://noaddedsugar.ie/gaming/review-limbo-worse-hype-machine/#IDComment88967448 It's definitely not cheap. Then again, I considered World of Goo a bargain at 15 euro. Sometimes I think we just expect downloadable titles to be dirt cheap regardless of who develops them, how long they spent making it, and how good the game is. I do agree with your point though that had it not been for the hype, this would've been priced lower. On the other hand, that's capitalism- and it's harder to criticise a cash-strapped indie developer than a behemoth like EA. Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:31:12 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/gaming/review-limbo-worse-hype-machine/#IDComment88967448 http://noaddedsugar.ie/gaming/apb-features-voice-chat-adverts-onion-predicts-future/#IDComment83118144 When we discussed APB at a recent EA event, we were pretty impressed at the flexibility of the game's payment options- allowing players to buy hours of gametime rather than calendar-based time periods, for example. But adding in audio ads is a less welcome innovation. Allowing players to purchase an ad-less 'premium VOIP' feature is galling, and begs the question- after the initial disc purchase, and the rolling monthly fees, how many times must players purchase a game? Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:46:18 +0000 http://noaddedsugar.ie/gaming/apb-features-voice-chat-adverts-onion-predicts-future/#IDComment83118144