For the longest time I’ve been a fan of Sean Malstrom, ever since he ran the website called “The Wiikly”, which he filled with amazingly insightful essays on why the Nintendo Wii was a breakout success, despite popular perception as a failure. Now he’s written something that I simply have to share.
Drawing a comparison between Breaking Bad and the gaming industry (I love it already) he argues that Classic Nintendo was like Walter White in his prime, complete with a clip from the show that he translates perfectly. Go over to his blog and read all about it. Be warned, though, if you haven’t watched the fifth season of the show you’ll have spoilers!
Basically he says that games should be measured by their “purity”, and that stuff like story and cutscenes are compensation for a lack of purity. (This would put Metal Gear Solid games far into the category of “impure”, but he still has a point.) I enjoy the analysis a lot, because even though I value things like atmosphere, world immersion, and commentary just as much as that “kick” he refers to, I wish everybody would be aware of the danger of neglecting game design purity.