About ICO

[Vince]

Thowllly:

Are you sure? As I remember, the beings were excavating the now dead earth and their talk about wanting to retrieve as much as possible from him would seem to indicate that they're not an evolution of an AI/mecha being in which we'd have to assume (due to your "evolution" idea) that the mecha survived and prospered during the cataclysmic events that killed off human civilization. Thus, if they prospered - it begs the question: Why are they excavating and why were they so interested in the data held within the kid - wouldn't all data be preserved?

Besides, I think they flat out stated that the kid was all thats left of their civilization - mecha and all.

Marco:

Really? The ending killed the movie IMHO, I too figured ti was tacked on by Spielberg with it's love/peace/happiness style - so ET-ish.

 

[Fafalada]

ICO is one of the handfull of games that actually drew me into their world and I cared for it. This is in stark contrast to brainless fun some other games might provide, but I certainly know which game I'll remember longer. (and come back to over time).
And I think Marc is right on the mark in regards to ending. Whether or not it was intended by story writer, his explanation exactly fits impression and emotional impact the ending left with me.

As for AI's ending, it's the only part of the movie shot completely Kubrick's style (so much so I could have been fooled it WAS Kubrick directing it), so regardless of how you interpret the story, it was fitting IMO.
I did find certain other parts of the movie out place though, particularly the whole Wizard of Oz theme :?

No idea why it is so highly rated in the niche gaming circle.

Because your personal taste is not the benchmark for others.
You may like action and shooting games, some people hate them with passion, it's a matter of preferences.

 

[Thowllly]

Vince:
Maybe the cataclysmic event wiped out all the mechas memories? I don't know, but apparently Spielberg himself say (on the DVD) that they are robots, not aliens.

 

[rabidrabbit]

That's funny, how you can only post spoiler text on the lighter gray area

 

[marconelly!]

Vince,

I'm pretty sure they were robots, at least I thought so while watching the movie. It just seemed logical. I didn't mind that particular scene actually, but I thought the scene with holographic guy that explained them were t go was flat out attrocious

 

[zurich]

Only problem I had with ICO was the lack of replay value.. because once you figure out all the puzzles.. well, the game loses alot of its appeal :? Then again, I really have no idea how they would replayability to a puzzle game, so never mind

 

[rabidrabbit]

I did play ICO through at least twice, just to experience the mood again, and to get the lightsaber and Yorda's speech subtitled in english, and try out the different grain filtering options

 

[Ozymandis]

I liked the final ending in ICO. Maybe I'm just a silly sap who believes too much in "happily ever after" though

No idea why it is so highly rated in the niche gaming circle.

Finally, I would like more action in the game,...

I don't mean this as an insult, but chap, you're clueless. It's a shame the Xbox doesn't have games like ICO. Maybe it doesn't have big guns, big boobs, and fast cars but but it does have a sense of introspection and an emphasis on exploration, not to mention characters who are simple but at the same time very endearing.

 

[Dural]

Thowllly:

Are you sure? As I remember, the beings were excavating the now dead earth and their talk about wanting to retrieve as much as possible from him would seem to indicate that they're not an evolution of an AI/mecha being in which we'd have to assume (due to your "evolution" idea) that the mecha survived and prospered during the cataclysmic events that killed off human civilization. Thus, if they prospered - it begs the question: Why are they excavating and why were they so interested in the data held within the kid - wouldn't all data be preserved?

Besides, I think they flat out stated that the kid was all thats left of their civilization - mecha and all.

Marco:

Really? The ending killed the movie IMHO, I too figured ti was tacked on by Spielberg with it's love/peace/happiness style - so ET-ish.

They were definitely robots, watch some of the special features.

The robots were searching for anything that had to do with their creators and the kid was all that was left that had a direct link to their creators, humans. That is what they stated, that he is all that is left of that civilization, the civilization that created them. There are many religious references in the movie.

Love, peace, and happiness ending? Were we watching the same movie? Every human was wiped out and David also eventually dies, how do you consider this happy?

Look at the movie this way, it is a fairly tale being told by the robots and for the robots(the head robot at the end is narrating it from the beginning) and it should make more sense. There are many places in the movie where you can tell things were added by the robots because they didn't have all the information.

 

[maskrider]

I did play ICO through at least twice, just to experience the mood again, and to get the lightsaber and Yorda's speech subtitled in english, and try out the different grain filtering options

I think I had played through the game around 10 times, at least 2-3 times per version, and I have 3 versions (Chinese, Japanese and English PAL).

 

[rabidrabbit]

Ok, now the A.I. movie starts to make more and more sense.
I'll must watch it again.
I recall too, from the extras on the dvd that the aliens are indeed evolved robots. But for the casual viewer, and those who saw it ont the movies, it is not obvious at all, as it is not even hinted during the movie. That's why it is debatable if the aliens are robots was just a clever afterthought by Mr. Spielberg

 

[Thowllly]

The white text thing is a bit silly. A...

* SPOILER WARNING *

...should be enough.

I too thought they were aliens when I first saw the movie (and thought it was a bit stupid), but that was mainly because I had read on Penny Arcade that there were aliens in the movie. All my friends actually thought they were mechs, and I immediately changed my mind when I heard that, it made much more sense.

I don't believe that them being mechs was something Spielberg made up later. I just saw the movie again (and it made me cry ) on DVD. On the second disc (this was the region 1 version, BTW) selecting "Special visual effects and animation: ILM" then selecting â€￾Animating A.I." there was a segment about them starting at 4:15 called "The Futuristic Robots & The Specialist" (the one that talked with David was called the Specialist). There there is a storyboard sketch of the "aliens" and it's pretty obvious on that sketch that they are mechanical. Of course they could have made that sketch after the movie, but I still think they were supposed to be mechs all along.

 

[marconelly!]

********* SPOILERS *********

Look at the movie this way, it is a fairly tale being told by the robots and for the robots(the head robot at the end is narrating it from the beginning) and it should make more sense.

Yes, I've noticed that same thing, and thought it was a great idea and a great closure for the movie, that really made me forget some of it's weaker points in the scope of the greater picture.

There are many places in the movie where you can tell things were added by the robots because they didn't have all the information.

Wow, that's interesting! What parts exactly you are thinking of?

 

[Dural]

I don't remember exactly what, I haven't seen the movie in over a year, so I'll have to watch it again. One of the religious references I do remember is the number 6 being used frequently.


edit-it wasn't the number 6, but the number 7.

 

[overclocked]

Pretty ironic i can´t read this thread.
I´ve looked forward to this game for month´s and now i have a "pc-games" period of my life..

 

[London Geezer]

ICO is one of the very few games i played through and finished more than once. i only hope Nico will be bigger and better....

 

[marconelly!]

Bigger - that would be easy. Better - I can only hope so, but it would take a mirracle to repeat that magic once again, even more so to better it.

 

[zurich]

edit: god damn double posts.

 

[zurich]

Just saw AI.. wow, first movie in well, forever, that almost made me cry. I feel like hugging my mom now

I watched it without reading the spoilers in this thread and at first glance thought they were Aliens.. but in retrospect, I guess it makes sense they were mecha. That would explain the huge logic leaps in that 'Man-Hattan' stuff (ie: it being narrated by someone without any prior knowledge of the world).

 

[marconelly!]

Spielberg has really redeemed himself in my eyes. I used to think that he stopped being good director long time ago, and that time passed him by, but AI and especially Minority Report are some of the best movies in recent memory. MR not only feels like P.Dick's story but has an atmosphere just as one would expect reading his books. I thought Spielberg had almost transformed himself into another Kubrick after I watched MR...

AI, although I hated the Robin Williams scene, was a mighty fine movie overall, and had one of the most brilliant marketing campaigns ever devised (anyone remember Jeanine Salla? Man, that internet game was so clever and well thought out... in the beginning, that is. Later, the whole thing became too bloated for it's own good, it was almost impossible just to follow it, much less to participate :\