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General discussion (archive)Release: Gone Home(276 posts)(276 posts)
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Posted August 12, 2014
Everyday items can tell an unbelievable story.

Gone Home, an interactive exploration simulator designed to delight the voyeuristic side of our personality, is available 75% off for Windows Mac OS X and Linux, on GOG.com. That's only $4.99 for the first 48 hours!

7th, 1995. 1:15 AM. You arrive home after a year abroad. You expect your family to greet you, but the house is empty. Something's not right. Where is everyone? And what's happened here? Unravel the mystery for yourself in Gone Home, a story exploration game from The Fullbright Company. Gone Home is an interactive exploration simulator. Interrogate every detail of a seemingly normal house to discover the story of the people who live there. Open any drawer and door. Pick up objects and examine them to discover clues. Uncover the events of one family's lives by investigating what they've left behind.

In Gone Home you'll return to the 1990s by visiting a home where every detail has been carefully recreated, and the sounds of a rainstorm outside wrap you in the experience. Discover what's happened to the Greenbriars by examining a house full of the family's personal possessions, and the notes and letters they've left behind. Use your powers of observation to piece together a story that unfolds as you explore. This is a nonviolent and puzzle-free experience, inviting you to play at your own pace without getting attacked, stuck, or frustrated.

If you're looking for an entirely different interactive experience that'll take you on an emotional trip, make sure to pick up Gone Home, for only $4.99 on GOG.com. The special 75% off release discount lasts only until Thursday, August 14, at 9:59AM GMT.
Posted August 12, 2014
Bought. Nice to see it finally on GOG. :)

This is kind of game that is perfect to be played with a cup of hot tea and on Friday night when you just want to relax at home - reading a novel, playing an adventure game or this.
Posted August 12, 2014
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RafaelLopez: Do you really think people disconsider the gay relationship entirely when evaluating a story like this? I mean, Brokeback mountain was a good example, it was a bad movie that wouldn't even exist if it wasn't about a gay couple and the graphical depiction of their love. Sometimes they just do a story where the drama of being gay is central, we have to admit it. Dragon Age has gays and no drama about it, if you want a comparison.

And forgive me for having a different opinion, but I too think some people praise stories *because* the drama of being gay is central. To me it's a clear trend.
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Toast_burner: It's not the drama of being gay. It's a coming of age story, it's about the characters discovering who they are and the difficulties these discoveries can bring. The drama doesn't come from the fact that they are gay, it comes from many issues such as society looking down on such relationships.

Isn't it odd that it's the people criticising the game are the ones putting emphasis on the characters being gay? Nobody is saying "this game is great, it has gay people in it!"
Well, sadly, most people I've talked with brought the "gay people part" as detrimental to the game, going as far as calling me a homophobe for not praising this game as they have. Maybe I am a cynical prick, but while Dear Esther or even Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs got some emotion out of me, Gone Home felt like a sappy love story to me (oddly reminiscent of Twilight's complete dependancy of the lead girl on her partner) with nothing to it. Many people say that if you made the main couple straight, it would fall apart completely and I am weri inclined to agree...
Post edited August 12, 2014 by emperorsfist
Posted August 12, 2014
Another game to add to my 'No Buy' list, right alongside Master of Orion 3, 1849, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Ultima IX.
Posted August 12, 2014
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AgentBJ09: Another game to add to my 'No Buy' list, right alongside Master of Orion 3, 1849, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Ultima IX.
Honestly, as someone who has Amnesia: AMfP on Steam, in its case one can enjoy the pretentious dialogues and a nice soundtrack. GH, however...
Posted August 12, 2014
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Toast_burner: It's not the drama of being gay. It's a coming of age story, it's about the characters discovering who they are and the difficulties these discoveries can bring. The drama doesn't come from the fact that they are gay, it comes from many issues such as society looking down on such relationships.

Isn't it odd that it's the people criticising the game are the ones putting emphasis on the characters being gay? Nobody is saying "this game is great, it has gay people in it!"
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emperorsfist: Well, sadly, most people I've talked with brought the "gay people part" as detrimental to the game, going as far as calling me a homophobe for not praising this game as they have. Maybe I am a cynical prick, but while Dear Esther or even Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs got some emotion out of me, Gone Home felt like a sappy love story to me (oddly reminiscent of Twilight's complete dependancy of the lead girl on her partner) with nothing to it. Many people say that if you made the main couple straight, it would fall apart completely and I am weri inclined to agree...
If you don't like it than ok, everyone is entitled to an opinion. However a lot of people in this thread (and else where) are acting like people only gave this game good reviews because it has gays in it. That view is so out of touch with reality it's rather odd.
Posted August 12, 2014
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Misanthropic: There is nothing of any real substance to Gone Home. It's little more than reality television in "game" form. That, along with thinking they were getting a horror game and the price-to-content ratio, are the problems alot of people have with it. Are you so utterly naive to think that if the game's plot focus was replaced with a heterosexual white male it would be just as critically acclaimed? Politics played a big role in Gone Home's popularity whether you are willing to admit it or not.
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Smannesman: Wasn't there some kind of drama around the creator of the game as well?
I might be confusing it with another game though.
There was, in fact. Steve Gaynor infamously claimed it was harassment for Steam users to post tags like 'not a game' on the Steam store page for Gone Home, and because Steam allowed them to filter out tags they didn't like, they removed that one among others. Thankfully, they can't strip reviews.

Keep in mind, Steam sells software that, rightly so, should be tagged as 'not a game.' RPG Maker and things like it. So, people substituted with 'bad value' and other things.
Posted August 12, 2014
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Toast_burner: Isn't it odd that it's the people criticising the game are the ones putting emphasis on the characters being gay? Nobody is saying "this game is great, it has gay people in it!"
Is it illegal not to think a game is great because it has gays in it?
Posted August 12, 2014
woo! another Insta-buy for me! Been interested in this one for the ongest time, now I can finally play it. sweet.
Posted August 12, 2014
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Smannesman: Wasn't there some kind of drama around the creator of the game as well?
I might be confusing it with another game though.
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AgentBJ09: There was, in fact. Steve Gaynor infamously claimed it was harassment for Steam users to post tags like 'not a game' on the Steam store page for Gone Home, and because Steam allowed them to filter out tags they didn't like, they removed that one among others. Thankfully, they can't strip reviews.

Keep in mind, Steam sells software that, rightly so, should be tagged as 'not a game.' RPG Maker and things like it. So, people substituted with 'bad value' and other things.
Software doesn't show up when you're searching for games and is clearly marked as such, so no it doesn't make any sense to tag something as not a game.

That wasn't much of a controversy either. The person did seem to be mistaking it for the Homesick controversy where the developer lied about needing surgery in order to get donations.
Posted August 12, 2014
Nice launch price - much appreciated GOG/Fullbright - i've been waiting for it to show up here and it was well worth it.
Posted August 12, 2014
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Toast_burner: Isn't it odd that it's the people criticising the game are the ones putting emphasis on the characters being gay? Nobody is saying "this game is great, it has gay people in it!"
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RafaelLopez: Is it illegal not to think a game is great because it has gays in it?
No it's just rather homophobic. It's like saying a game is bad because it has black people in it.
Posted August 12, 2014
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Smannesman: Wasn't there some kind of drama around the creator of the game as well?
I might be confusing it with another game though.
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AgentBJ09: There was, in fact. Steve Gaynor infamously claimed it was harassment for Steam users to post tags like 'not a game' on the Steam store page for Gone Home, and because Steam allowed them to filter out tags they didn't like, they removed that one among others. Thankfully, they can't strip reviews.

Keep in mind, Steam sells software that, rightly so, should be tagged as 'not a game.' RPG Maker and things like it. So, people substituted with 'bad value' and other things.
Oh yeah, I remeber that.
Posted August 12, 2014
Ah, I've been wanting this! For now it's added to my wishlist (for financial reasons), but I do hope to actually buy this at some stage, and I'm glad to have it available here.

Regarding the term "video game", I consider it to be an artefact title at this stage: it was assigned when video games were, I gather, pretty much exclusively games in the sense of challenges, competitions, etc. Over the years, the scope of those things that we call "video games" has broadened. They're no longer all about skill, or challenge, or competition. However, they retain what I consider to be the core element of video games: interactivity; the user taking part (or feeling as though they're taking part) in the experience. Playing a game--even a linear one--is a very different experience to watching a movie or reading a book, I feel.

I'm aware that there are those who only really enjoy video games that are "games" in the traditional sense, and I have no problem with that; but I disagree with the claim that only "game-like" video games are "video games".

Finally, I really don't agree with constraining a medium by its name, as it may choke the progress of that medium.

If the medium were to be renamed, it might be called something like "interactive media" (although that is admittedly a bit long), but I fear that it's not easy to have a renaming take hold widely.

For another example, look at the "Adventure" genre of games, which despite the plausibility of danger and violence in adventures very seldom include combat. (The name there comes originally, I believe, from comparison with the old game "Adventure" (also known as "Colossal Cave"): "Adventure" games were "games like Adventure", rather than "games in which one goes on an adventure".)
Post edited August 12, 2014 by Thaumaturge
Posted August 12, 2014
high rated
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RafaelLopez: Is it illegal not to think a game is great because it has gays in it?
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Toast_burner: No it's just rather homophobic. It's like saying a game is bad because it has black people in it.
No, that is an extremely narrow minded outlook (or overblown political correctness). Just because the game features a gay person does not make it good. The game, whatever the format, must have substance. People don't dislike Gone Home because it's about lesbians, but because it is a shallow romance story and it can be beaten within 30 minutes if you know what to do, no replayability and it costed 20 euros on Steam when it came out. Which is, for such a short game, way too much.
Posted August 12, 2014
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RafaelLopez: Is it illegal not to think a game is great because it has gays in it?
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Toast_burner: No it's just rather homophobic. It's like saying a game is bad because it has black people in it.
No.
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Community
General discussion (archive)Release: Gone Home(276 posts)(276 posts)
(276 posts)