p0nd - Boing Boing

p0nd, a flash game, offers a wonderful and haunting experience, especially the ending. Now this is art. Eat it, Ebert! [Peanut Gallery Games via IndieGames]

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Anonymous

hahahahahahaha
Anonymous

nasty trollses… nothing to see here
Anonymous

History will remember Roger Ebert as the man who instigated all video game community to finally take it to the next level, and make Video Games the 11th Art.
querent

any waking life fans in the mix?

good stuff. i’ll pass this along.
Toby Clark

I am so disappointed. I had assumed this would be p0rn featuring Amy Pond. Bah!
Pete

I’m all for one-button mechanics in games. I’m all for expansive concepts that reach beyond genres.

But I didn’t get any further than the doorstep in this game, despite persisting in it. Disappointing – I couldn’t work out how to bring any finesse into the manipulation of the one button, and kept on getting the same message a few seconds into the game. That’s not a learning curve, that’s a point of failure.

Stylistically, the few game screens I saw reminded me of Loom, which was both a good game AND art when it was released. Even now, it stands out (although it’s point-and-click style dates it heavily).
saru

Honestly, I thought the quote at the end was in slightly poor taste.

Of course, I consider all of Roger Ebert’s statements about video games are in slightly poor taste as well….
I wish him the best with his illness. I think he’s an excellent writer, and a very intelligent man. But he’s also just plain wrong. No need to go into it here.

I liked the game though. Amusing ending.

For anyone still looking and still having trouble, you wait for orbs to appear, then hold space to inhale until the last one passes your lips, then let go to exhale.
Anonymous

WTF? If that’s art, then count me in Ebert’s camp.
fireinwinter

“Wonderful and haunting.” A perfect description

Definitely proof that video games can have meaning beyond simple entertainment.

I especially liked the quote at the end.
Anonymous

duskcheetah … getting the same thing you are… i think were missing the proper outro
Anonymous

I like video games. And I like art.
They are not in the same league. So what?
What is the offense?
There is art that I hate, boring art,
like some operas.
Games are meant to be fun to play, that’s
it.
A boring game offends me, not Roger Ebert
telling me they are not art.
Are gamers ashamed of their hobby, so
they need to think of themselves as more than
just players?
Why do games NEED to be associated with art?
Roger Ebert did not say that games were not fun.
He said they are not art.
And they are not!
Anonymous

The whole deal is a stupid premise.
“Games are not art”
How about this:
“Mario Brothers is more popular than
Jesus Christ”
Truth? Maybe…
but it will sure offend a lot of people.

If I say:
Video games will never be religion!
are you going to take the bait too?
Anonymous

Another place to download it for PC: http://rjlayton.com/pond/
bardfinn

Ebert /did/ apologise for the inappropriate commentary on video games.
- cory
  
  Not exactly. He basically said that he was foolish to express an opinion about something he really knows nothing about.
  
  He want on to say that video games would never be art, and that he wouldn’t change his mind about that.
  
  He also didn’t apologize.
  
  So, yeah. Ebert: good movie critic, good writer. Terrible pundit about video games. In short: “arguing on the internet is like competing in the special olympics”.gif.
Anonymous

If I understand Roger Ebert’s viewpoint correctly, it is not that something like p0nd cannot be art, it is that when something like p0nd becomes art, it is no longer a game. That is, art and games are mutually exclusive.

It isn’t a viewpoint that I personally agree with, but many here seem to be raging against a Ebert of their own creation.
Anonymous

how exactly was that haunting? peaceful, atmospheric, calming… not even close to haunting though.
jemmons

“This Account Has Been Suspended”

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANY OF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT :’(
- nnguyen
  
  try this: http://sites.google.com/site/p0ndtemp/home
  - Hattmannen
    
    Thanks for the link. Unfortunately I couldn’t download it from there. Google docs said I’ve reached the bandwith limit for viewing non Google docs files.
    As far as I can remember though, I haven’t downloaded anything from Google docs…
    Too bad… I’d really like to have a go at this game.
- Anonymous
  
  Same here. :,(
Rob Beschizza

PTFG!
Anonymous

While I personally disagree with Ebert regarding videogames as art, do you not think it’s in somewhat poor taste to tell him to “eat it”?

You know, since he can’t eat anything what with that pesky cancer he is battling and all. Just a thought.
Ghede

Ummm. Is it supposed to restart after you reach the pOnd? If so, I don’t get it.
QRohlf

I have a feeling that it has no ending, and the joke is that it loops you back to the start so you play it over and over again thinking it just messed up. I didn’t really feel like finding out.
Zavorio

Ebert on video games = Ebert reviewing a movie he never watched. Lets forget about the whole thing and move on with our lives.
fatjonny

It does have an ending. If all you use the space bar for is breathing, you didn’t reach the end.

Good stuff. :)
QRohlf

Nevermind – There is an ending. Not really what I was expecting.
Anonymous

You have to play it to the end without “holding in” an orb too long I’m guessing. Got it the second time and definitely a weird ending.
Anonymous

1) game: please explain yourself or GTFO. It took several tries (and unnecessary restart delays) for me to figure out which specific unhealthy breathing pattern I was expected to perform.

2) too hard didn’t finish. I cannot mash my spacebar that fast without getting uncomfortable.
duskcheetah

Am I doing this right?

The character walks through all 3 or 4 scenes. I use the spacebar to collect all of the orbs. At the end, after the text displays, heavy dissonant music plays, and the game resets. Am I missing something?