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“Hard Boiled” #tbf
In the late 80’s and early 90’s no one changed the comic book game quite like Frank Miller. Without him, Batman might still be considered a child’s hero. #tbf / throw back friday, because my editor forgot to put this up yesterday.
In the late 80’s and early 90’s no one changed the comic book game quite like Frank Miller. Without him, Batman might still be considered a child’s hero. With his contributions like “The Dark Knight Returns” and “Sin City”, he helped pave the way for a brand new way to look at comics. No longer were comic books seen as a children’s medium for stories about men who wear their underwear on the outside. Comics were evolving to tell stories of sex, blood, betrayal, and human complexity. That’s not to say those stories didn’t exist before, but Frank Miller was able to bring this new world into the sun for the mainstream to understand that these stories weren’t just for merchandising rights, these comics had something to say. One comic in particular stands out in both its story telling as well as its breathtaking attention to detail, thanks to outstanding artist Geof Darrow. In September 1990, “Hard Boiled” was released on shelves and, although it’s been criminally overlooked, it still remains to be one of the most fun comic book experiences I’ve had to date.
“Hard Boiled” is a comic unlike any you’ve probably read. The main “protagonist” lives, what he assumes to be, an average life. With a wife, two kids, and a dog, it all adds up to a picket fence kind of life that describes the quintessential American dream. His name is Nixon and he’s a tax collector, or so he thinks. Through the duration of insanity that is “Hard Boiled”, Nixon’s memories change, his name and his occupation are often times jumping back and forth, rarely sticking to the same story. After an insane shootout in a public space leaves him broken and bloody, the reader sees him be taken to a lab where a large team of surgeons begin to put him back together. How you ask? Because Nixon isn’t a normal guy like he is lead to believe, but an android. His purpose and existential truth are hidden from him as he carries out, what he believes to be, a normal nine to five type work, completely oblivious to the almost humorous amount of carnage and collateral damage he is causing. This book is often times so violent that the reader can’t help but laugh at the insanity laid out in impressive detail.
This book spares no punches in its nihilist critique of American self-indulgence and hedonism. With ads and product placement sprayed aggressively throughout the entire book, it’s easy to see the writer and artist were out to make a statement on rampant consumerism. “Hard Boiled” takes place in the future in the city of Los Angeles where the population is growing in number and declining in morality. One instance has a two page spread with a veritable “Where’s Waldo” of human depravity in which people are having sex in the street and beating each other to a pulp, all lit under the comforting glow of streetlights and neon sex store signs. It’s a beautifully macabre vision of the future of human society. The humor is laid out with a light film of guilt as you giggle at the absurdly violent acts that Nixon finds himself dishing out yet not realizing the gravity of his actions. Every explosion, bullet fired, or chest punched happens with a complete lack of understanding and there is something oddly funny about the extreme nature of violence and the innocence that Nixon portrays regardless of the horrendous acts he has/is committing.
Where this book stands apart aside from its humor is the artwork. Geof Darrow wastes no time inserting details most artists wouldn’t even consider. Each panel contains an impressive array of line work that really set the stage for the reader’s comprehension of the story being told. Larger panels feature even more minute details, showing trash on the ground, bullet casings, even product labels and the nutrition tables on wrappers. Even without dialogue it might be understandable what is happening in the comic simply by the story being told in the artwork. I recently purchased the book years after borrowing it from a friend’s dad and, going through the book again for the fourth time, I’m able to find hidden jokes I never noticed in my previous run-throughs. Nixon’s ugly mug gets put through more hell than a roller coaster through Satan’s house and each ass whooping he receives is laid out in black blood and skin tears exposing his metal innards. Nixon, at one point, gets into a comically insane car accident and gets a full page showing his horrendous battle wounds including gears jammed in his back, an impaled oil dipstick, spark plugs in his knees, and a very clearly broken arm, all the while egging on his opponent to keep fighting. Nixon’s complete ignorance to pain is made so much more fantastic with the artwork, which spares no detail about just how damaged he truly is. Geof Darrow also does an incredible job setting each atmosphere apart, the lab in which Nixon is housed and repaired is guarded by men with more guns than any human would ever need and is inhabited by human and androids alike.
The androids in the story are subservient beings to humanity but have had enough of it, well, except Nixon who remains blissfully unaware of his true existence. The other androids are doing their best to ensure the freedom of their people but they need Nixon to wake up and understand he’s a slave to the corporation he works for, which has him literally destroy the competition (hence all the carnage). One android in particular also works for the Willeford Company but urges Nixon to come to his senses about his true existence in order to finally overthrow humanity and gain their true, sentient freedom. I’m sure there is a deeper meaning in there somewhere but I was too busy looking at the sweet explosions and outrageous body count to consider the idea that maybe the creators were implying we are all slaves as consumers and supporters of corporate America… oh my god.
The ending of the book has the reader pining for more but more is never delivered. There is something bittersweet about that idea. Although the story and art are much larger than life, the truth is that things don’t always immediately work out. Then again, with this story it can be hard to decide what ‘working out for the better’ would even mean. On one hand, we grow sympathetic of the androids, on the other, their cause is to potentially end the human race. It’s never clear what their motive is, but I assume it’s probably genocide because I’m American and it’s my God-given right to assume everything wants to kill me and you can’t take that away from me. That is true freedom, which is all this book may or may not be challenging. Are we truly free? Or are we all slaves just to products and corporations? Just because there isn’t an ugly guy with a shitty mustache and a comb over leading the country may not necessarily mean we are “free,” hell, what does freedom even mean? I don’t know, but if you want to see lots of blood and bizarrely compelling acts of moral depravity, be sure to get your hands on “Hard Boiled.” Some things never go out of style.
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5 AAA Games and Their Budgets: How much was spent, how much was made, and was it worth it
5 AAA Games and Their Budgets: How much was spent, how much was made, and was it worth it in the end.
In the videogame community, it’s impossible to have never heard of an AAA game (commonly pronounced Triple-A game), either during the marketing phase or thrown around amongst gamers. At some point in time, you’ve probably picked one up yourself. The term AAA game is commonly used by big publishers and developers simply as a marketing tactic to deem their game as “better” or “innovative,” but most of the differences between AAA games and indie games simply comes down to the budget and production team behind the scenes. While indie games or smaller developments will have much smaller budgets, AAA games can have an average development budget of around $60 million to $80 million, but many have been known to double, triple, or even quadruple that budget. Some of these games required thousands of employees ranging from programmers, developers, artists, composers, writers, and more, with even more extensive marketing campaigns as well.
However, once a game is created and released, many fans don’t consider the budget that went into creation when purchasing, but many will know whether or not it was deemed as an AAA game during its marketing campaign. The question comes in whether or not a game is truly worth being deemed an AAA game. Is it just the budget that deems whether or not a game is AAA? Is it simply just a tool used by big developers to hype their game up? Or is there something more nitty gritty about the details of development that causes a game to become an AAA game. To analyze these questions, here’s a list of 5 AAA games and their budgets–how much might have been spent creating the game, how much was made, and if fans deemed it to be worthy of that praise.
1.) Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Budget: Not concretely stated, but Odyssey was reportedly around $500 million
Earnings: Around $1 billion at release
Released in November of 2020, most players seem to have enjoyed this installment in the long-standing Assassin’s Creed franchise. Valhalla takes place in a viking-era Norway, following the main character Eivor who seeks revenge against the man who killed their parents and slaughtered their town. During the narrative, Eivor also deals with the political affairs of enemy kingdoms, prophetic visions, and the titular assassins the franchise is known for. Through Eivor, the player engages in snappy, fast-paced combat and a well-written story. According to Google, players seem to have enjoyed this installment, as 89% of Google users liked AC: Valhalla. Although the budget hasn’t been concretely stated, a similar AC project of this size, Odyssey, reportedly had a budget of around an eye-popping $500 million. While that may seem like an unreasonable budget, upon release, AC: Valhalla sold around 17 million copies at $60. Therefore, at around $1.02 billion, AC: Valhalla broke even on release, even with a potentially enormous budget. According to Ubisoft, Valhalla set a record-breaking number of sales, quickly becoming the company’s top-selling PC launch ever recorded. In this case, both the players and the company agree that this AAA game’s large budget was worth it in the end.
2.) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Budget: $100 million
Earnings: $620 million
Released in 2011, Skyrim was the fifth installment in the long-standing and well-known Elder Scrolls series. While the previous installment, Oblivion, also had an impressive revenue count of around $280 million, Skyrim more than doubles that at around $620 million. Set in a nordic inspired fantasy country called Skyrim, 200 years after the events of Oblivion, the player takes on the role as the dragonborn, a mythical human with the ability to learn shouts. The player takes on the quest to defeat Alduin, a dragon that is prophesied to end the world. With an open-world and a heavy emphasis on adventure and roleplay, Skyrim follows the theme of playing the game the way you want, the same way all the installments of the Elder Scrolls series seem to play out. Although the game reportedly cost around $100 million to develop, it seems the fans believe it was worth it. According to Google, around 96% of Google users liked the game and upon release the game received critical acclaim. Years later, Skyrim still remains relevant primarily due to the thanks of modders and DLC content that remasters the game and keeps it fun years after release. Despite the impressive success and revenue, fans are still waiting for the sixth installment in the Elder Scrolls series ten years later, primarily due to the fact that Bethesda seems to be focusing on Elder Scrolls: Online in the meantime. As of right now, the only hope fans have seen for Elder Scrolls VI was a small teaser trailer released in 2018.
3.) Cyberpunk 2077
Budget: Roughly $316 million
Earnings: $563 million
Although Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was widely regarded, in the kindest terms, as a shitshow, CD Projekt Red still managed to pull in around $563 in sales revenue after spending around $316 million in budget. The largest concern around Cyberpunk 2077 was the marketing. At first, the game was marketed as an innovative, open-world RPG set in a mature and futuristic cyberpunk world, with the player’s main stomping ground Night City. However, somewhere during the development of the game, the genre was changed from RPG to action-adventure, leaving many fans scratching their heads. Upon release, the game was riddled with hilarious game-breaking bugs, the main-story campaign was ridiculously short, and the graphics and gameplay was optimized only for new-gen consoles, leaving those with older consoles playing on choppy, low-quality graphics. According to Google, however, around 71% of Google users liked the game. While that may seem like a pretty decent average when considering the launch the game had, in comparison to other averages on this list the game performed very poorly. With media and reviews also displaying player dissatisfaction, in this case the Triple-A eye-popping budget was not worth it for most. However, it can be easy to blame the developers when it comes to Cyberpunk 2077’s downfall. However, the amount of times the game’s release was delayed, along with the pandemic happening at the time, it was clear that the development team was crunching hours on a game that just simply needed more time to be developed. But that wasn’t the team’s fault, per se. The truth of the matter is that due to the budget and due to the marketing and hype surrounding the game, those at the corporate level likely pushed the game to be released when it wasn’t ready. Many gamers can vouch, though, that most would like a game to be bug-free and optimized before release, and with a well-paid, well-rested, and no-crunch studio behind it, too.
4.) Red Dead Redemption 2
Budget: $80 to $100 million, while some sources reporting as high as $300-$500 million
Earnings: Around $1 billion
The long awaited prequel and second installment to Red Dead Redemption was released in 2018 and received universal acclaim from critics and fans alike, making it an extremely well-received sequel. Although it had expectations to live up to, both as the prequel to the first game and with a budget of up to $100 million, RDR 2 seemed to live up to the hype. Set in a fictional recreation of the Old West in 1899, RDR 2 centers around the story of Arthur Morgan and the notorious Van der Linde gang. After a robbery goes wrong, the gang is thrown into turmoil and decline as they deal with lawmen, rival gangs, and… swamp zombies. With a stunning open-world and an immersive, well-crafted story, Red Dead Redemption 2 was worth both the wait and the budget, for Rockstar Games and fans alike. According to Google, 96% of Google users liked the game. For a Triple-A game, this one seemed to be worth both the marketing and budget.
5.) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Budget: $81 million
Earnings: $200 million
Are AAA games worth it in the end?
Another CD Projekt Red game for the list, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had a much better reception than Cyberpunk 2077. The Witcher series is the game franchise that threw CD Projekt Red into becoming a major league development studio. Originating as a book series written by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher franchise follows the story of Geralt of Rivia, a white-haired legendary witcher who is thrown into a story of fate, family, magic, and lots and lots of monster-fighting. Marketed as an action role-playing game, the third installment in the series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt follows the story of Geralt as he aims to protect his adopted daughter, Ciri, who is running from a mythological Wild Hunt. With dynamic environments and advanced artificial intelligence, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was a game that set the expectations for CD Projekt Red. However, this game performed much better than Cyberpunk 2077, according to Google around 95% of Google users liked The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, making its impressive budget seem worth it in the end. With the success of The Witcher 3 and the fail of Cyberpunk 2077, it calls into question the validity of marketing a game as AAA. While both had impressive budgets, one was clearly more polished and ready for release than the other, but both had the expectation of being a well-developed, well-funded game.
With this list in mind, we can see that there are some games with high budgets that tend to perform better than others. However, all are marketed as Triple-A games, leaving consumers to decide whether or not the game is worth purchasing in the end. However, with such large budgets and strategic marketing, AAA games tend to be pricier than indie games and many will even take some form of pre-ordering into account. For some games, this pre-order works out if the released, final product lives up to consumers’ expectations. However, in the case of Cyberpunk 2077, many felt duped that this AAA game was marketed to be amazing, innovative, open-world, immersive and ended up pre-ordering a game that did not live up to their expectations. With Cyberpunk, the case is more severe than other disappointing games, since some bugs upon release were entirely game-breaking. Still, as I personally had finished playing the main campaign in all of ten to twelve hours while still playing side missions and roaming around, I felt that the game’s steep price just simply wasn’t worth it.
For me, this makes the culture and hype surrounding AAA games a bit trickier. While the marketing and budget are there to back the hype up, these games tend to have a harmful environment surrounding them both with consumers and developers. While consumers may be duped into pre-ordering an expensive game that doesn’t live up to the hype, developers, artists, writers, and programmers are forced to work overtime and “crunch” to make these games presentable for release. With such steep budgets, one would think that these developers would be able to sustain a reasonable work schedule, but many are overworked, underappreciated, and underpaid. This leaves one to wonder if AAA means anything at all when labeling a game, or if it’s simply a way for big videogame corporations to market their game as “innovative” and “better,” while mistreating their development team to get there. As is commonly the case, a bigger budget does not necessarily mean a better game, as many critically acclaimed indie games such as Stardew Valley or OneShot were created with little to no budget. Therefore, it’s important to take a look at the culture and expectations surrounding AAA games. What really makes an AAA game different from the others? Is it marketing, budget, or the development team behind it? More importantly, we should analyze the culture behind AAA games to realize that, sometimes, the pressure and the hype of creating an amazing game can leave unfair expectations on the team behind the scenes, leaving many developers underappreciated and overworked. If bigger budget games means mistreating workers to the point of exhaustion, AAA games might simply just not be worth it in the end.
From the very beginning of esports, games have commonly been dominated by men on the competitive scene, a trend that has continued through time to the present day. And yet, as we see a shift for inclusivity on a global scale, the gaming community is also marching toward more inclusivity for women and marginalized genders.
But not without the help from the community.
In the recently released and increasingly popular game VALORANT, one of these community-run organizations is Galorants–something that started as a Discord server, but grew to be far more important.
Beginning as a looking-for-group Discord server spawned from the VALORANT subreddit, Galorants grew at a pace that no one could have predicted. What began as a safe space for women to support each other away from the toxicity they often face in gaming communities, the server had grown to be much more. Within the first week, the server had grown to 600 members. By the second week, 1,000. And now, a server that is less than a year old, they are close to reaching 10,000 members, a quick and massive expansion for a Discover server–all consisting of women or marginalized genders.
“We knew by the second week of creation that this server would be huge and we wanted to make sure we made a lasting impact on the female-gaming community.” – Nicci Barker, Owner of Galorants
And with this power in numbers comes the ability to support. The amazing staff behind Galorants and the owner, Nicci, have taken advantage of their growth to provide opportunities and support for women and marginalized genders within the gaming community. Whether that be providing a platform to make friends and support each other, to help women grow in esports, or by hosting women-centered esports tournaments, Galorants looks to change the game for women and marginalized genders in the VALORANT community.
To support Galorants and their endeavors, consider following them on Twitter here.
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