{"id":20325,"date":"2013-04-03T16:54:51","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T23:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/?p=20325"},"modified":"2013-08-30T11:48:31","modified_gmt":"2013-08-30T18:48:31","slug":"when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/","title":{"rendered":"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"take_me\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the reasons I love GDC is that it’s a forum for the most valuable voices and the least heard voices in the conversation about videogames: the developers who make them, who struggle with how to make them better, and who see first-hand the violence when ideas meet execution. For instance, this important observation about Bioshock Infinite’s opening comes from someone who makes videogames: <\/p>\n

When I reach the second floor of the lighthouse, I am supposed to have a moment there. A moment of shock, I assume. A tortured man, apparently dead, is sitting in a chair. But my first thought is…<\/p>\n

“Oooh shiny!”<\/p>\n

Because when you enter the room with the corpse, two big shiny coins are winking at you from the nearby table. The table right next to the corpse.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adrian Chmielarz neatly dissects how Bioshock Infinite is a brilliant exercise in storytelling, but a disappointing world design, especially compared to its predecessors. And it’s particularly apt coming from Mr. Chmielarz, whose Painkiller is a brilliant exercise in good game design, and an absolute non-entity when it comes to world design. You can — and should — read his comments here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I beg you, game,” he asks, “please do not reward me for not doing the right thing and for doing the silly thing of playing the game instead of behaving like I am in a different world.” When this happens in God of War: Ascension — walk to places the camera doesn’t show to find treasure — it’s no great loss. But when this happens in a narrative powerhouse like Bioshock Infinite, or Deus Ex, or Mass Effect, the damage done is considerable. Eating cotton candy out of the trash is no big deal in a Mario game. Doing it in front of Elizabeth just feels weird.<\/p>\n

I wish more people who made videogames also talked publicly and frankly about videogames other than the ones they’re making.<\/p>\n

(Thanks, Edge<\/a>!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-20325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-games","tag-bioshock-infinite"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite - Quarter to Three<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite - Quarter to Three\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Quarter to Three\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-03T23:54:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-30T18:48:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/take_me.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Chick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Chick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Chick\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a609bd1629ebbc177fb1d4839f5db3f\"},\"headline\":\"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-03T23:54:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-30T18:48:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":334,\"commentCount\":17,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/take_me.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bioshock Infinite\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Games\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/\",\"name\":\"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite - Quarter to Three\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/take_me.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-03T23:54:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-30T18:48:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a609bd1629ebbc177fb1d4839f5db3f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/take_me.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/take_me.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/03\\\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/\",\"name\":\"Quarter to Three\",\"description\":\"All games, all the time. Except for the bits about movies.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6a609bd1629ebbc177fb1d4839f5db3f\",\"name\":\"Tom Chick\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/qt3\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite - Quarter to Three","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite - Quarter to Three","og_url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/","og_site_name":"Quarter to Three","article_published_time":"2013-04-03T23:54:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-30T18:48:31+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/take_me.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Tom Chick","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Chick","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/"},"author":{"name":"Tom Chick","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#\/schema\/person\/6a609bd1629ebbc177fb1d4839f5db3f"},"headline":"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite","datePublished":"2013-04-03T23:54:51+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-30T18:48:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/"},"wordCount":334,"commentCount":17,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/take_me.jpg","keywords":["Bioshock Infinite"],"articleSection":["Games"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/","url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/","name":"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite - Quarter to Three","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/take_me.jpg","datePublished":"2013-04-03T23:54:51+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-30T18:48:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#\/schema\/person\/6a609bd1629ebbc177fb1d4839f5db3f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/take_me.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/take_me.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2013\/04\/03\/when-painkiller-meets-bioshock-infinite\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Painkiller meets Bioshock Infinite"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/","name":"Quarter to Three","description":"All games, all the time. Except for the bits about movies.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#\/schema\/person\/6a609bd1629ebbc177fb1d4839f5db3f","name":"Tom Chick","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com","https:\/\/x.com\/qt3"],"url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20325"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20329,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20325\/revisions\/20329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}