Penny Arcade - Comic - Autovore

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Penny Arcade - Comic - Autovore

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

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poipoigirl

That would be me. Watching a movie and enjoying it regardless of what people say.

RenegadePhantom

From what I've seen RPO is just Pop-Culture reference the Movie. An easy way to toss as much as possible at the screen and try and engage some nostalgia. Lazy, in other words. I'll watch it on Netflix I guess, but I'm not rewarding this crap with 20 bucks for a movie ticket and a soft drink.

Skull2185

poipoigirl wrote: »

That would be me. Watching a movie and enjoying it regardless of what people say.

No!

This is the internet, and I demand you stop enjoying anything and have 0 fun! :P

KoopahTroopah

RenegadePhantom wrote: »

From what I've seen RPO is just Pop-Culture reference the Movie. An easy way to toss as much as possible at the screen and try and engage some nostalgia...

Sounds like the book! Can't wait to see it! :bzz: I got tickets for Wednesday night in IMAX 3D. Should be a treat.

Christian LeBlanc

Internet: "It's ok to like what you like!"
Also internet: "Unless it's that awful movie with all the nerd culture references."
Awful movie with all the nerd culture references: "Thank you for all the free advertising, internet!"
Me: Last time I think about any of this, I hope.

Kagera

I don’t care if it’s a nostalgia fest as long as the base film is good. If it’s like Pixel though where the references are the sole reason for the film then that sucks.

So hot take: if it’s a good movie then it’s good. If it’s a a bad movie then it’s bad.

Sadgasm

So... is no one going to acknowledge that this is literally just the latest incarnation of meda cashing in on nostalgia like they've been doing since the 50's? It's not a unique occurence There's a whole generation reaching their 30's and middle age, depressed, anxious and terrified of death and their own obsolence, it's money on the table.

JustAMoth

Honestly, the book was only kind of a nostalgia vehicle, and in many ways I felt like that managed to be to its detriment. I really enjoyed it! But I think I'll enjoy it more presented with the spirit the movie seems to have.

I hope it is actually good.

Jacob Singer

I can't remember the last time a non-comic or non-Star Wars movie caused such nerd angst.

Allaun Silverfox

I would have liked the book more if the main character wasn't a whinny jerk the whole way through. That and it is fairly an obvious wank fest for the author. I'm a little surprised that he just didn't use his real name and have himself as the character.

Linktm

This comic is super accurate. Thank you for this.

Lord Cab

I signed up for an account to say there is a typo in the first pane ("in in"). That is all.

Hahnsoo1

*shrugs* It's a Spielberg-directed movie. He's a good director.

Edith Upwards

Never before have I read a book where I wanted every character in it to experience eternal damnation. Even 1984 had Julia!

Jortalus

Such a simple way to portray the ineffectiveness of haters. Fans don't care about the opinion of haters.

Gabe in this comic is me watching The Last Jedi, while Tycho is all the anti-Disney haters.

jwalk

Cameron_Talley

You can't tell me that if people could live in an online fantasy world where they can create anything they want that there wouldn't be a million Millennium Falcons and DeLoreans. I think the book and movie is pretty accurate with what our pop-culture obsessed society would do when presented with something like the Oasis.

MichaelLC

Cameron_Talley wrote: »

You can't tell me that if people could live in an online fantasy world where they can create anything they want that there wouldn't be a million Millennium Falcons and DeLoreans. I think the book and movie is pretty accurate with what our pop-culture obsessed society would do when presented with something like the Oasis.

And SO much Wookie sex. They're as big as a club, you know. Take a man's head clean off..

Narcissist

jwalk wrote: »

I mean....people take off sweatshirts. A little imagination isn't impossible. More importantly, that Sea of Thieves rep tho.

iamnameless

Geek culture references: the movie. Plot is paper thin, one dimensional characters... I don't know why people like this.

Quid

I view Ready Player One similar to Tycho

There’s Nostalgia, which I would say is characterized by a tenderness for the past, a weak point which - like that of a Giant Enemy Crab - can be struck by media for massive damage. This is a thing we share with one another. There is also a calcification of Nostalgia that is something like a Catechism, where it becomes a rigid instrument of worship and control that I don’t have much use for.

The constant, unceasing references irked me. It came off as putting the 80’s on a pedestal of perfection.

Also in line with Tycho’s post, I wouldn’t fault anyone for enjoying it. It’s always nice when someone can find something they enjoy.

Sadgasm

Quid wrote: »

I view Ready Player One similar to Tycho

There’s Nostalgia, which I would say is characterized by a tenderness for the past, a weak point which - like that of a Giant Enemy Crab - can be struck by media for massive damage. This is a thing we share with one another. There is also a calcification of Nostalgia that is something like a Catechism, where it becomes a rigid instrument of worship and control that I don’t have much use for.

The constant, unceasing references irked me. It came off as putting the 80’s on a pedestal of perfection.

Also in line with Tycho’s post, I wouldn’t fault anyone for enjoying it. It’s always nice when someone can find something they enjoy.

Maybe you had to grow up in it, but looking back, it all just sorta looks like the 90's with shittier budget.

dennis

Sadgasm wrote: »

Maybe you had to grow up in it, but looking back, it all just sorta looks like the 90's with shittier budget.

That describes a lot of the actual 80s, yes. A shittier budget, and a lack of self-awareness at the ridiculousness of it all.

OctoberRaven

I'll probably give it a shot. Even if it's just a barrage of references, that'd still make it better than the Alfheim Online art of Sword Arc Online.

Pyrian

dennis wrote: »

That describes a lot of the actual 80s, yes. A shittier budget, and a lack of self-awareness at the ridiculousness of it all.

Cheesy and sincere do go well together, though, like macaroni and also cheese. Adding budget and self-awareness doesn't always - or even usually - improve matters.

dennis

Pyrian wrote: »

dennis wrote: »

That describes a lot of the actual 80s, yes. A shittier budget, and a lack of self-awareness at the ridiculousness of it all.

Cheesy and sincere do go well together, though, like macaroni and also cheese. Adding budget and self-awareness doesn't always - or even usually - improve matters.

We may have two different conceptions of "self-aware", I think, as I wouldn't say "sincere" is its opposite.

H3Knuckles

The few trailers or promos I've seen for it didn't look like it would be good, and however relevant it may be to the story's premise, there's something about having a constant barrage of pop culture references that makes me leery of whether the project actually has any merits on its own or is just trying for an easy cash-in. That said, if it's good I'll go see it, I don't have an ideological opposition to it like in-comic Tycho seems to. I just have doubts it'll pan out well.

MarcinMN

Jortalus wrote: »

Such a simple way to portray the ineffectiveness of haters. Fans don't care about the opinion of haters.

Gabe in this comic is me watching The Last Jedi, while Tycho is all the anti-Disney haters.

I'm with you on liking The Last Jedi, but I think the anti-Disney haters would claim that THEY are the fans. lol

Drascin

Quid wrote: »

I view Ready Player One similar to Tycho

There’s Nostalgia, which I would say is characterized by a tenderness for the past, a weak point which - like that of a Giant Enemy Crab - can be struck by media for massive damage. This is a thing we share with one another. There is also a calcification of Nostalgia that is something like a Catechism, where it becomes a rigid instrument of worship and control that I don’t have much use for.

The constant, unceasing references irked me. It came off as putting the 80’s on a pedestal of perfection.

Also in line with Tycho’s post, I wouldn’t fault anyone for enjoying it. It’s always nice when someone can find something they enjoy.

From the chunk I read before leaving it with a "blegh", this is in fact kind of exactly what the book is. Nostalgia as Nerd Catechism. I never got the feeling that there was any actual enjoyment involved. It was all just so... performative, so trivia-based. These are the Nerd Knowledges that You Must Know to be a Nerd and achieve Nerd Nirvana. I still have no idea of why or even if the character or author actually likes, say, Back to the Future. It's just a thing that is there and you know and the fact of knowing it marks you as more cultured.

I'm all for references and cameos and stupid fanservice (in the old meaning, not the "boobs" meaning) if they're done in a fun way, but that was not RPO.

AngelHedgie

Drascin wrote: »

Quid wrote: »

I view Ready Player One similar to Tycho

There’s Nostalgia, which I would say is characterized by a tenderness for the past, a weak point which - like that of a Giant Enemy Crab - can be struck by media for massive damage. This is a thing we share with one another. There is also a calcification of Nostalgia that is something like a Catechism, where it becomes a rigid instrument of worship and control that I don’t have much use for.

The constant, unceasing references irked me. It came off as putting the 80’s on a pedestal of perfection.

Also in line with Tycho’s post, I wouldn’t fault anyone for enjoying it. It’s always nice when someone can find something they enjoy.

From the chunk I read before leaving it with a "blegh", this is in fact kind of exactly what the book is. Nostalgia as Nerd Catechism. I never got the feeling that there was any actual enjoyment involved. It was all just so... performative, so trivia-based. These are the Nerd Knowledges that You Must Know to be a Nerd and achieve Nerd Nirvana. I still have no idea of why or even if the character or author actually likes, say, Back to the Future. It's just a thing that is there and you know and the fact of knowing it marks you as more cultured.

I'm all for references and cameos and stupid fanservice (in the old meaning, not the "boobs" meaning) if they're done in a fun way, but that was not RPO.

The problem is that saying that the issue people have with the book and movie is about nostalgia is really missing the argument. Vox had a good piece on why the backlash to the movie exists and why it didn't happen to the book - the short version is that there's actually a lot of questionable and rather toxic bits in the book (for example, the fact that a black lesbian character portrays herself as a white man on the Oasis says some very uncomfortable things about the world of the book), but we weren't all that good at seeing it until a certain incident put everything into stark relief.

Albino Bunny

Cameron_Talley wrote: »

You can't tell me that if people could live in an online fantasy world where they can create anything they want that there wouldn't be a million Millennium Falcons and DeLoreans. I think the book and movie is pretty accurate with what our pop-culture obsessed society would do when presented with something like the Oasis.

Second Life already exists and it's way more about people's weird sex stuff than it is about nostalgia.

flamebroiledchicken

I've said this elsewhere on these forums, but the superior nerd nostalgia-porn novel is YOU by Austin Grossman. It's about a guy in the 90s who goes to work as a game developer with some old friends, and ~mysterious~ things start happening around their next big game release. It's full of specific references to the heyday of 90s PC gaming, but unlike RPO, the references are not the point of the story. Not a perfect book by any means, but if you want to indulge on some nostalgia for the Ultima days, that's the one I'd read.

jwalk

Narcissist wrote: »

jwalk wrote: »

I mean....people take off sweatshirts. A little imagination isn't impossible. More importantly, that Sea of Thieves rep tho.

sure but, where did he put it? it's not draped over the back of the seat... I don't see it folded up in his lap...

surely he didn't just throw it on the dirty, sticky, horrible theater floor?

dennis

jwalk wrote: »

Narcissist wrote: »

jwalk wrote: »

I mean....people take off sweatshirts. A little imagination isn't impossible. More importantly, that Sea of Thieves rep tho.

sure but, where did he put it? it's not draped over the back of the seat... I don't see it folded up in his lap...

surely he didn't just throw it on the dirty, sticky, horrible theater floor?

Cars exist.

Also: adjacent seats.

Phaserlight

I get it would be "R" rated but... can't we at least get "Reamde" the movie?

I feel oddly obligated to support this film because I support VR.

Mr_Grinch

For what it's worth I caught the movie last week, and I've read the book.

The book annoyed me with the constant obtuse 80s references. I finished it and didn't mind it, but it wasn't great.

The film entertained me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The references ARE in there but they're not handled as heavily as in the book, they're not the sole reason for its existence. Instead it's a simple story told pretty well, it looks absolutely fantastic and as a bonus you occasionally get to spot movie/video game characters that you like.

(The below plot points are spoilers for the film. They are DIFFERENT from the book, so even if you've read it you risk spoiling the film)

As a spoiler, the second challenge was awesome. I loved it:

It was set in the movie The Shining. It was an almost exact replica, down to the lighting and look of the film. Watching CGI characters stumble all over it was entertaining, I can see some finding it 'offensive' but it's done with so much charm that I couldn't help grinning throughout all of it.

And the first challenge was:

driving backwards in to the wall at the back was, presumably, a subtle nod to Ridge Racer which I absolutely loved

Basically if you liked the book a bit you'll probably like the film. If you didn't like the book but enjoy fairly light hearted action adventure films and dig video game and movie references then you'll probably really like the film.

If you're a massive fan of the book and are looking forward to a page-by-page adaptation then you're going to be let down. It is massively changed, in my opinion for the better.

Rius

I liked the book well enough to reread it a couple times, but I don't think anyone like me who also has greater than two brain cells to rub together wanted to see a page-by-page adaptation. I think that'd be an awful, terrible movie, haha. And I have always figured Spielberg would know better.

Bremen

I'm in an odd position on discussions of nostalgia because I actually didn't read RPO for the references. I've been big into VR gaming for years and had it suggested to me as a vision of a VR based future with some interesting ideas. So I read it on that basis and found it a light but fun read; not something I'm likely to re-read but I certainly don't regret buying it.

And sure, the references were there, and I got some of them (I'm a bit too young to get others), but they were more just pretty background fluff so I guess I found them more enjoyable.

T-Danger

Cameron_Talley wrote: »

You can't tell me that if people could live in an online fantasy world where they can create anything they want that there wouldn't be a million Millennium Falcons and DeLoreans. I think the book and movie is pretty accurate with what our pop-culture obsessed society would do when presented with something like the Oasis.

Let's be honest though, in real life half the people in the Oasis would either be Goku, Kirito, Inuyasha, some kind of furry, or Ugandan Knuckles or whatever annoying meme character is trending that week.

LieutenantDan

in in