Game Ranter Banter: Lara Croft, Roger Ebert, Curt Schilling And The 3DS XL

The Game Ranter Banter is a place where we talk about the biggest news of the week, which means many of our readers are probably expecting this intro to revolve around our controversial booth babe editorial. No, we'd rather talk about something more important: can you believe Earth Defense Force 2017 is coming to the Vita? Man that is gonna be AWESOME! In this week's Banter, our writers discuss Curt Schilling's downfall, Roger Ebert's comments on The Last of Us, the 3DS XL, the reaction to Tomb Raider's alleged 'rape scene,' and father tropes in games. Let's begin.

Less than eight years ago, the only thing bloody about Curt Schilling was a sock that soaked up the legendary pitcher’s blood from his injured ankle as he willed his team past the Yankees and into the World Series. Now all that remains of Schilling is a bloody reputation. It would be wrong to claim that I know everything about this unfortunate tale of a former All-Star pitcher and the collapse of his company, 38 Studios, responsible for the recent game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. What I do know is that ego drives many athletes, an ego that has never let them down, and has always told them they would be successful in what they do. Schilling made it big in Major League Baseball, with career earnings of $114 million over 19 years – figures that the average person simply cannot fathom. I don’t shed many tears for athletes who throw away their fortunes on ill-advised or ill-managed investments. I have no sympathy for Schilling. He had a God-given talent to throw a baseball, and made millions upon millions of dollars throwing doing just that. Speaking to WEEI-FM in Boston on Friday morning, Schilling said his baseball fortune is “tapped out.” If that wasn’t enough, he’s being sued on several fronts due to the collapse of 38 studios and the loss of the $75 million that the state of Rhode Island loaned him. Ego drives many successful people, from sports to business to entertainment and back again. The danger therein, however, is that success in one area doesn’t necessarily translate into success in others. Schilling has found this out the hard way, and it has cost him his baseball fortune, his reputation, and the jobs of over 300 hard-working people (though some jobs were saved by fellow developers). It was so much simpler when it was just about a blood-soaked sock.

Earlier this week Nintendo pulled the proverbial curtain off of the newly designed 3DS XL. With screens 90% larger than the current 3DS system, the device really does look like a nifty upgrade. That being said, there's one noticeable attachment that many were speculating would be at the forefront of a 3DS redesign – a second circle pad. For whatever reason – likely affiliated with trimming down the cost of the XL – the Big N left out the one thing that made the most sense for a new 3DS model. One of the biggest reasons why gamers were salivating at the thought of a new 3DS in the first place was to eliminate the bulkiness and need for batteries that game along with the Circle Pad Pro peripheral. Instead, Nintendo is just serving up a larger version of the same hardware, and it feels like a missed opportunity.

Roger Ebert doesn’t play video games. Roger Ebert doesn’t analyze video games. If I had to wager a thumb or two, I’d guess that Roger Ebert doesn’t really care about video games, either. But the legendary film critic is prolific in his writing, and ever since two pieces he wrote in 2005 and 2010 established him firmly in the 'Games Aren’t Art' camp, he’s reveled in his status as the pariah of a multi-billion dollar industry. The reason gamers still talk about Ebert today, however, isn’t to debate him on artistic merits – I think we all agreed to disagree on that after the firestorm of 2010. The critic still grabs headlines because he’ll sail a cagey tweet across the bow, sponsoring another author’s gripe with a certain game, and it’s inconspicuously meant as a low blow to the industry as a whole. This week’s tweet regarding The Last of Us was a prime example; so was March’s on Dark Souls. I know it’s frivolous to fixate on his assessments (technically, Ebert refrains from passing any judgment of his own), but it’s equally frivolous to nitpick a perceived flaw in a remote section of a medium, belittling an entire industry full of hardworking creators who turn out scores of innovative titles each year. And let’s say Ebert’s endorsement is right – The Last of Us sucks: it’s a reality of 'Art' that a critic who reviewed The Artist and The Human Centipede 2 in the same year should be well acquainted with.

With the release of Inversion earlier this month, I couldn't help but notice one annoying trend in video game storytelling: fathers. Many developers have become all too comfortable with the father trope, having gamers play as a father either fighting to protect or avenge their family. This year alone we've seen three titles succumb to this trope: Prototype 2, Resistance: Burning Skies, and the aforementioned Inversion. Now yes, Prototype 2 might be the only one of these games that's good, but they still exemplify what's so bothersome about this plot device. Many developers are seemingly content with throwing a little tragedy the main character's way, tragedy that's never expanded on. Telling the player their wife and kid died is ineffective when the player never had an established relationship with them in the first place. Heavy Rain - despite its narrative flaws - attempted to circumvent this by having the player spend time with Ethan's son. Whether or not it made an impact depends on the player, but at least David Cage realized there has to be a reason for the player to care beyond "lol the kid's gone, go shoot things." Tomb Raider Rape Ranter Banter

I was one of many gamers initally surprised at the mention of an attempted sexual assault in the upcoming reboot of Tomb Raider. Not because of moral outrage that a group of skilled storytellers would try to include a truly terrifying threat in their tale of female strength and survival, but glad that somebody was finally going to have the guts to make Lara Croft more than a caricature. Of course, the developers at Crystal Dynamics quickly backed down, explaining that Lara's rise from 'Lady Croft' into the legend we know wouldn't feature threats to her gender. As a male I'll concede my authority to female gamers, but more than anything, I'm left in disbelief at just how little faith was placed in the developers to handle the issue at all. Whether it's due to presumed immaturity on their part, the games industry in general, or perhaps even the audience in general not being seen as mature enough to grasp the significance of such an encounter, we're clearly not there yet. It's particularly disappointing for me, since the brief moments of Heavy Rain featuring an undressed woman (the character being played) chased through her apartment by masked men was, honestly, one of the most terrifying gaming experiences I've ever felt. Aside from direct gameplay, the scene of obviously attempted sexual assault actually did teach me about female vulnerability more than any soapbox-shout would have. But to Lara? No, no, no. It's a shame, really, since featuring such a tough and confident portrayal of the female experience would go a long way in the team's desire to make Lara Croft into a real human being.

That's all for this week's Game Ranter Banter. As always, let us know what you think of this week's news in the comments, or on Twitter @GameRant and Facebook.com/GameRant. If you have specific topics you'd like any of the team to cover, don't hesitate to ask.