Gosh DARN it, Campo Santo! If it wasn't for the regional price difference I would have bought it right away. :/

Still, cool to see this here, especially since I sent an email about releasing elsewhere than Steam. I guess I wasn't the only one, by far. ;)

What is the price where you are? It's $18 USD.

oh no, not at all. as i mentioned: i see hitting a ball back and forth as a game – labelling it as no game because reasons sounds ludicrous to me. however, i misread you a little because i thought you argued that games are things you can win, and if you can’t win, it’s not a game. (minecraft)

yes, i got that impression. i guess that is the point of contention then: i don’t see why i’d require that competitive (in the widest sense – competing against an opponent, against a situation, or anything really) element necessarily.

and, as the bulk of my argument goes: even if it is not a game by someone’s standards, i like how interactivity in games influences how storytelling feels. thus, the example why having the player push a button in mgs3 is a narratively meaningful choice on the part of the creator, and thus also, yay walking simulators. and if i remember right, you wanted to know why people like these games/not-games/whatevers. for the same reaosn i like reading comics, or reading prose, or watching films.

I voted for this and I waited for this. I also hoped for a bit more that 10% in a sale though because given that this game is said to be quite short the release on GOG which makes me happy only leads to the fact that it is now on my wishlist. I'll probably have to wait for a better sale even though I am extremely curious about it. At least I try to resist. With the regional pricing (which in itself imo is an extremely unfair concept) it's also more expensive than it should be which is another argument for me to wait.

Cf Huizinga's "Homo Ludens" and Caillois' "Man, Play and Games". You're referring to "agon", the competitive aspect. If you don't disagree that when kids "play" cops and robbers (or tabletop D&D) that also constitutes a game, then you need to include something more ("mimicry"). There are also luck-based games (throwing dice, etc) and there's having fun via experiencing something visceral (playing on swings, drinking, etc).

Sorry for guerilla-posting, but I figured I might write something rather than nothing, even though I haven't read everything in your post, let alone the entire thread (which some might consider quite unlike me). Stuff to do; games to play.
Also - it ultimately doesn't matter what one calls a game and what one doesn't. These are post-factum classifications that just organize; they don't add information, lest they distort the truth. It's academically nice, but useless to the general public much in the same way as determining whether something is or is not "art" is - the thing remains stubbornly itself, whatever name we use and whichever class of objects we toss it with. kthxbye

Wow...

How many Channels finished their LPs of this game weeks ago and GOG only gets it now!?

Developers didn't want to release it here before. Please point your criticism to them directly. They should hear it :)

Yeah, I mean c'mon! I would've gladly bought the game on GOG had I known they were going to release it here.
Now I have it on Steam and have no incentive to buy it again.

It's a great game and it has my full recommendation, but I'm bummed it's released on GOG now instead of right from the beginning.

The keyword you may looking for simply is "immersion". If a story is told in a way that it makes the "player" feel like he/she actually is living it it adds to the experience a lot. Often in these so called walking sims you are still able to make choices to influence the story or you may just decide where and when you want to look at something or examine something. There often is no challenge involved in this but that for me is not the point or definition of a game. A game wants to be enjoyed and experienced - nothing more. If the only thing I would have to do is pressing one key there would not be much of immersion for me though. Even in "Dear Esther" that is not the case - you have to decide what you want to examine when and this alone gives you the feeling that you actually are in this setting. But I have to say that those games also need something in return to be enjoyable: you have to be able to LET yourself immerse you. A little bit of imagination is helpful too.

My prime example for this is a well known scary movie "The Blair Witch Project". I assume you know the movie but if not - in general it tells the story of some people going into the woods, hearing some storys and seeing some trees. The only thing that was special in this movie (at least when it was released) was the fact that it tried to appear like if you where actually IN the movie holding the camera. Well, I watched this movie with friends and while doing it we talked about other things (because he just came back from america) only noticing that those people were walking and talking and it was raining and it was dark and then we saw somebody talking in a tent with a flashlight and at the end (climatic suspense) there stood a person on the wall and ... the movie was over. It did not work because we did not LET ourself immerse. I watched this movie weeks later alone and it was a total different experience.
The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter is NOT a walking sim but a real adventure with actual puzzles in it.

I find this very compelling. I love a good narrative and atmosphere. I think fenixp sold me on this being a good acquisition rather than a flake. Added to WL!

A list of Washington State peaks with fire lookouts:

http://peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=5004

"This list is an attempt to show all summits in the state of Washington that currently have a fire lookout. This kind of list can get a little murky, since some of them are barely standing, but for now the goal is to be as comprehensive as possible. At one point there were as many as 750 fire lookouts in the state."

Really? Then I don't understand how it is regional priced (giving me store credit of about 2 Euro) and costing 17,99 Euro? So it is NOT more expensive in Germany?

Yeah,sorta,with a lot of hand holding so not really puzzles to me,i've played both and firewatch in MY opinion is closer to ethan carter(not saying it's the exact same thing)than dear esther or gone home,like a said at least in firewatch you have some sense of purpose in your exploring and have a part in moving forward the story instead of having a passive role
I don't bother with the walking sim term since it's really a nonsensical label to me,anyway i agree with the rest of your post as i don't think we're in disagreement over the fact of what is necessary for a game to be enjoyable :)

I did not say that they were very difficult ;)

Probably true...