:Old Man Murray

A major theme in Old Man Murray criticism was the accusation that many new games failed to add any original ideas to the medium. Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve, cited the opinion of Old Man Murray as a factor when designing the popular and iconoclastic Half-Life. Wolpaw and Faliszek would even become writers for Half-Life 2 episodes and other Valve games. Old Man Murray often took aim at the conventions embedded within game genres.

Two of the site's attacks on stale game conventions have received particular attention from game developers and journalists. One was the April 2000 "Crate Review System" essay, which half-seriously introduced the "Start to Crate" metric as an "objective" measure of the overall quality of a video game.{{cite web |url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/39.html |title=Crate Review System |publisher=Old Man Murray |date=2000-04-26 |access-date=2009-09-15 |archive-date=2009-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916074059/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/39.html |url-status=live }} The Start to Crate was the number of seconds from the start of a game until the player first encountered a crate or barrel. By 2000, crates and barrels were a commonplace of video game map design; according to the essay, the first crate "represents the point where the developers ran out of ideas". This essay has had a significant impact in future game design, in part for pointing out "a good gauge to determine just how creative your game is",Rogers, Scott. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8w_ETFmHrewC&dq=oldmanmurray.com&pg=PA341 Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129174913/https://books.google.com/books?id=8w_ETFmHrewC&dq=oldmanmurray.com&pg=PA341 |date=2023-11-29 }}, Wiley, 2010 p. 341. Accessed March 3, 2010. and driving designers to a point where games are "at the stage where warehouse based level design is not de rigueur".[http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/647/features/647/10_trends_in_game_.php 10 Trends in Game Design] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711070801/http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/647/features/647/10_trends_in_game_.php |date=2011-07-11 }}" Gabe Newell mentions that there was such a worry about the crate cliché that eventually the team gave up and made a crate one of the first things the player sees and manipulates, figuring that this "was the Old Man Murray equivalent of throwing yourself to the mercy of the court".Raising the Bar, Valve LightBox Interactive's Matthew Breit considered the "Start to Crate Time" system the "first actual critical look at a level design trend", making him self-conscious of the off-handed use of crates in his level designs to fill an otherwise empty room. Ernest Adams of Gamasutra cites Old Man Murray as being the original source of the sixth condition of "twinkie denial" named in the article: "I can't claim crates without pallets as an original Twinkie Denial Condition because the Old Man Murray guys thought of it first...".{{cite web |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2317/the_designers_notebook_bad_game_.php |title=Gamasutra |website=Gamasutra |access-date=2012-03-09 |archive-date=2012-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203164045/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2317/the_designers_notebook_bad_game_.php |url-status=live }} A decade after the original "Start to Crate" article, it can still be found as a tongue-in-cheek metric for game quality.{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/03/red-steel-2-review/ |title=Review: Stand, Shoot and Slash in Red Steel 2 Wii |work=GameLife |publisher=Wired |date=2010-03-23 |access-date=2011-03-04 |first=Chris |last=Kohler |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629031311/http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/03/red-steel-2-review/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web | author=Xoduz | date=December 7, 2009 | title=Start to Crate-times in MMORPGs | work=Guru Meditation Error | url=http://blog.xoduz.org/2009/12/07/start-to-crate-times-in-mmorpgs/ | access-date=2011-03-10 | archive-date=2011-08-12 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812164552/http://blog.xoduz.org/2009/12/07/start-to-crate-times-in-mmorpgs/ | url-status=live }}

Another essay, "The Death of Adventure Games", mocked the elaborate and contrived puzzles that adventure games of the time used to confound the player.{{cite web | url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html | title=Death of Adventure Games | publisher=Old Man Murray | date=2000-09-11 | access-date=2011-03-04 | archive-date=2021-04-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413140705/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/77.html | url-status=live }} Wolpaw uses an example from Gabriel Knight 3: the game requires the player to make his character fashion a false mustache from hair collected from a cat by means of sticky tape and to attach it to his lip with maple syrup — all to impersonate a man who himself has no mustache.{{cite web|last=Wolpaw|first=Erik|title=Death of Adventure Games|url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/78.html|work=Old Man Murray: Features|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2011-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305074309/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/78.html|url-status=live}} The essay and its examples have been highlighted in analyses of the failing adventure game genre in the early 2000s.{{cite web|last=Young|first=Shamus|title=The Rise, Fall and Rise of Adventure Games|url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/8016-Experienced-Points-The-Rise-Fall-and-Rise-of-Adventure-Games|work=Experienced Points|publisher=The Escapist|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2010-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827182905/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/8016-Experienced-Points-The-Rise-Fall-and-Rise-of-Adventure-Games|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Bronstring|first=Marek|title=The Future of Adventure Games|date=19 December 2003|url=http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,318|publisher=Adventure Gamers|access-date=2 March 2011|archive-date=19 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119211837/http://adventuregamers.com/article/id,318|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology|year=2005|publisher=MIT Press|location=Boston, MA, USA|isbn=978-0-262-19536-2|url=http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10659|author=Michael Mateas|author-link=Interaction and Narrative|author2=Andrew Stern|editor=Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman|pages=642–669|access-date=2011-03-14|archive-date=2011-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222170805/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10659|url-status=live}}

Other features of Old Man Murray included web browser games such as Alien vs. Child Predator and Virtua Seaman{{cite web|last=Wolpaw|first=Erik|title=Virtua Seaman|url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/725.html|publisher=Old Man Murray|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2024-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703063848/https://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/725.html|url-status=live}} as well as serious interviews with leading game developers.{{cite web|last=Wolpaw|first=Erik|title=Serious Sam: The Interview|url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/73.html|access-date=2008-08-21|archive-date=2008-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509162942/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/73.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web | last=Wolpaw | first=Erik | title=Serious Sam: The Second Interview | url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/75.html | access-date=2011-03-02 | archive-date=2011-03-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110306051434/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/75.html | url-status=live }} The Old Man Murray forums were a hotbed of discussion on games and other topics. When updates began to slow on the main website the forums remained active. When Faliszek removed the forums, many of the regular posters migrated to a new site called Caltrops.{{cite web | author=AOQA | date=July 14, 2011 | work=SQA Forums | title=Re: knol — the new Wikipedia with about.com thrown in | url=http://www.sqaforums.com/printthread.php?Board=UBB33&main=441669&type=post | access-date=2011-03-10 | archive-date=2011-07-16 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716122926/http://www.sqaforums.com/printthread.php?Board=UBB33&main=441669&type=post | url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.byond.com/members/ACWraith?command=view_post&post=1855 |title=ACWraith's Fooldom Come — In Memory of Old Man Murray |publisher=Byond.com |date=2005-07-07 |access-date=2009-09-15 |archive-date=2009-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401055930/http://www.byond.com/members/ACWraith?command=view_post&post=1855 |url-status=live }}{{cite web | url = http://www.apezone.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=4332&sid=504485d6ff69ed6ddb3bf3c763d5a5a4 | work = How did you find Apezone? | title = Explanation, stories, etc | publisher = ApeZone | access-date = 2009-09-15 | archive-date = 2009-04-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090401065221/http://www.apezone.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=4332&sid=504485d6ff69ed6ddb3bf3c763d5a5a4 | url-status = live }}

The Old Man Murray website is still online {{As of|2023|lc=on}}, but for archival purposes only; the site is no longer updated. Faliszek continued to run Portal of Evil and its affiliate website system until February 6, 2011.{{cite web|last=Faliszek|first=Chet|title=RE: So Poral(sic) of Evil is officially dead now?|url=http://www.poe-news.com/forums/sp.php?pi=1002465861|work=In House Stories|publisher=POE News|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2011-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715101215/http://www.poe-news.com/forums/sp.php?pi=1002465861|url-status=live}}

Though the site has been defunct for decades, many leaders in the video game industry consider the site fundamental to both game design and video game journalism today. In March 2011, Rock Paper Shotgun's John Walker asked games industry figures for commentary of the site's legacy after he found the website's Wikipedia article was nominated for deletion.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Joel |date=2011-03-04 |title=Remembering Old Man Murray, the Website That Rebooted Games Journalism |url=https://kotaku.com/remembering-old-man-murray-the-website-that-rebooted-g-5776550 |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=Kotaku |language=en |archive-date=2022-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226150441/https://kotaku.com/remembering-old-man-murray-the-website-that-rebooted-g-5776550 |url-status=live }} Gabe Newell, the CEO of Valve, likened the site to "the Velvet Underground of post-print journalism". Bryan Lee O'Malley, creator of the Scott Pilgrim series, attributes his inspiration and success of the series on the Old Man Murray's comedic treatment of video games. Both Mike Wilson of Gathering of Developers and Roman Ribarić of Croteam believed that without the strong interest from Old Man Murray toward the Serious Sam demo, ultimately leading to the founding of Croteam, the game "would likely have died in the hands of whatever internal team the property was handed to".{{cite web | url = http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/04/the-remarkable-notability-of-old-man-murray/ | title = The Remarkable Notability Of Old Man Murray | first = John | last = Walker | date = 2011-03-04 | access-date = 2011-03-04 | website = Rock Paper Shotgun | archive-date = 2017-10-27 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171027180340/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/04/the-remarkable-notability-of-old-man-murray/ | url-status = live }} Popular video game critic and satirist Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw cites Old Man Murray as a major influence for his style of highly nitpicky writing and humor and has consistently praised games that Faliszek and Wolpaw worked on.{{cite web |url=http://www.geek.com/interview-zero-punctuations-yahtzee/ |title=Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee Interview: Ben Croshaw & The Escapist |publisher=Geek.com |date=2008-02-14 |access-date=2012-03-09 |archive-date=2008-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080707082151/http://www.geek.com/interview-zero-punctuations-yahtzee/ |url-status=dead }}[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/videos/zeropunctuation/2655-Yahtzee-Visits-Valve-a-Travelogue.2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613061526/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/videos/zeropunctuation/2655-Yahtzee-Visits-Valve-a-Travelogue.2 |date=2011-06-13 }} Yahtzee Visits Valve, a Travelogue

Eric Church of Electronic Arts also called these criticisms "satire at its most effective", as it spurred "serious thought and discussions about the assumptions of game design". Dean O'Donnell, a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Interactive Media and Game Design school, includes the "Death of Adventure Games" as required reading in the student courses, considered it both a strong example of game journalism and game design considerations. Kieron Gillen, former deputy editor at PC Gamer, praised Old Man Murray for taking advantage of the nascent internet culture in their writing and presentation, and attested that "they had a genuine impact in how people thought about games". It has also been cited as being "among the most respected commentators and journalists."Squire, K. (in press). Critical education in an interactive age. To appear in Diana Silberman Keller, (Ed). Mirror Reflections: Popular culture and education. NY: Peter Lang Publishers. On the other hand, John Adkins of Mic wrote that Old Man Murray's mordant tone and sometimes deliberately offensive humor contributed to toxic elements of internet and gamer culture, such as Gamergate.{{cite news |last= Adkins |first= John |date= July 12, 2017 |title= The untold origins of Gamergate — and the gaming legends who spawned the modern culture of abuse |url= https://mic.com/articles/180888/erik-wolpaw-chet-faliszek-old-man-murray-untold-origins-of-gamergate-harassment-abuse-gaming-culture#.yPzWAmybB |work= Mic |access-date= October 3, 2017 |archive-date= August 20, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170820003857/https://mic.com/articles/180888/erik-wolpaw-chet-faliszek-old-man-murray-untold-origins-of-gamergate-harassment-abuse-gaming-culture#.yPzWAmybB |url-status= live }}

In March 2006, Wolpaw won a Game Developers Choice Award for Best Writing for co-writing Psychonauts, an award he shared with Double Fine studio head and Psychonauts co-writer Tim Schafer. Schafer referenced Wolpaw's work with Old Man Murray on the official Double Fine blog, as a way of drumming up attention for the game.{{cite web|last=Schafer|first=Tim| publisher = Double Fine | work = Action News|url=http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/wednesday_march_10_2004/| title = Comments | date = 2004-03-10 | access-date = 3 March 2011}}{{cite web | last = Schafer | first = Tim | publisher = Double Fine | work = Action News | url = http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/funny_thing_about_that_last_post/ | title = Funny thing about that last post | access-date = 3 March 2011 | archive-date = 10 July 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110710145659/http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/funny_thing_about_that_last_post/ | url-status = live }}

Faliszek and Wolpaw were hired as writers for video game developer Valve in 2005.{{Cite web | publisher = Steam powered | url = http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/member.php?u=190396 | first = Chet | last = Faliszek | title = Account | date = Jan 2005 | edition = Forums | access-date = 2009-10-08 | archive-date = 2017-06-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170605000044/http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/member.php?u=190396 | url-status = live }} Faliszek has spoken numerous times about his work as a designer for Left 4 Dead,{{cite web|last=Crecente|first=Brian|title=Chet Faliszek Talks Left 4 Dead's Future|url=http://kotaku.com/#!5118863/chet-faliszek-talks-left-4-deads-future|website=Kotaku|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2012-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228043027/http://kotaku.com/#!5118863/chet-faliszek-talks-left-4-deads-future|url-status=live}} while Wolpaw has done the same for both Portal{{cite web|last=Walker|first=John|title=RPS Interview: Valve's Erik Wolpaw|url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/10/31/rps-interview-valves-erik-wolpaw/|website=Rock Paper Shotgun|date=31 October 2007|access-date=2 March 2011|archive-date=27 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827184326/http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/10/31/rps-interview-valves-erik-wolpaw/|url-status=live}} and Portal 2.{{cite web|last=Remo|first=Chris|title=Portal 2's Wolpaw: 'I Do Not Want To Resurrect A Three-Year-Old Meme'|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29015/Portal_2s_Wolpaw_I_Do_Not_Want_To_Resurrect_A_ThreeYearOld_Meme.php|website=Gamasutra|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2010-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620021958/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29015/Portal_2s_Wolpaw_I_Do_Not_Want_To_Resurrect_A_ThreeYearOld_Meme.php|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Yoon|first=Andrew|title=Video Interview: Portal 2's Erik Wolpaw|url=http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/16/video-interview-portal-2s-erik-wolpaw/|publisher=Joystiq|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2011-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222071400/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/16/video-interview-portal-2s-erik-wolpaw/|url-status=live}} The connection between the quality of writing in these games and the authors' previous work on Old Man Murray has also been noted by various reviewers.{{cite journal|last=Staff|title=Review: The Orange Box|journal=GameAxis Unwired|date=December 2007|issue=51|page=39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uuoDAAAAMBAJ&q=oldmanmurray.com&pg=PA39|publisher=SPH Magazines|issn=0219-872X|access-date=2020-10-24|archive-date=2024-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703063847/https://books.google.com/books?id=uuoDAAAAMBAJ&q=oldmanmurray.com&pg=PA39#v=snippet&q=oldmanmurray.com&f=false|url-status=live}}

• On the Quake III Arena map Q3DM19, the OMM logo is on the back of the antenna lift.{{cite web | title = Quake Level Q3DM19 | format = JPEG | publisher = Old Man Murray | work = News | url = http://www.oldmanmurray.com/images/news/shot2.jpg | access-date = 2011-03-02 | archive-date = 2011-07-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722135121/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/images/news/shot2.jpg | url-status = live }}
• The Old Man Murray website appears on all the monitors within the game Postal 2.{{cite web|last=Jonsey|first=Ice Cream|title=Review: Postal 2|url=http://www.caltrops.com/review0018.php|work=Reviews|publisher=Caltrops|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2011-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708112326/http://www.caltrops.com/review0018.php|url-status=live}}
• Old Man Murray is thanked in the first level of Serious Sam by avatars of the game's programmers. Old Man Murray had been one of the game's few media champions during its development cycle, thanks to its uncomplicated, Smash TV-esque gameplay.{{cite web |url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/news/299.html |title=Seriously, What The Fuck Is Going On? |publisher=Old Man Murray |date=2000-06-04 |access-date=2009-09-15 |archive-date=2010-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415055317/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/news/299.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/73.html |title=Serious Sam: The Interview |publisher=Old Man Murray |date=2000-06-09 |access-date=2009-09-15 |archive-date=2009-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830191100/http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/73.html |url-status=live }}McDonald, T. Liam. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4gEAAAAAMBAJ&dq=maximum%20pc%20old%20man%20murray&pg=PT36 "Random Thoughts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129174913/https://books.google.com/books?id=4gEAAAAAMBAJ&dq=maximum%20pc%20old%20man%20murray&pg=PT36 |date=2023-11-29 }}, "Maximum PC", August 2000, accessed March 3, 2010.
• Delarion Yar, of the XYZZY Award-winning graphical text adventure Fallacy of Dawn is depicted throughout wearing an Old Man Murray shirt.{{cite web |title= Actors In Text Games: Part One |url= http://www.joltcountry.com/index.php/features/actors-in-text-games-part-one |publisher= Jolt Country |access-date= 2011-03-02 |archive-date= 2011-07-13 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110713115625/http://www.joltcountry.com/index.php/features/actors-in-text-games-part-one |url-status= live }}
• In the game Oni, the first crate seen in the Warehouse bears a label saying "-OMM- TTC 1.1", a reference to the site's tongue-in-cheek Crate Review System.{{cite web | url = http://wiki.oni2.net/Easter_eggs#Old_Man_Murray | title = Easter Eggs | publisher = Oni Galore | access-date = 2011-03-03 | archive-date = 2011-07-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110723232833/http://wiki.oni2.net/Easter_eggs#Old_Man_Murray | url-status = live }}
• Old Man Murray is referenced on multiple occasions by various authors on the humour web site Something Awful,{{cite web |last = Gutierrez |first = Zachary "Spokker Jones" |url = http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/no-we-not.php |title = No, We Are Not Selling Doom 3 Today |publisher = Something Awful |date = 2004-08-01 |access-date = 2011-03-03 |archive-date = 2011-03-09 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110309064839/http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/no-we-not.php |url-status = live }}{{cite web |last = Mikal |first = Hassan "Acetone" |url = http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/survey-shenanigans.php |title = Have I Got A Deal For You |publisher = Something Awful |date = 2008-01-10 |access-date = 2011-03-03 |archive-date = 2011-07-16 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716104242/http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/survey-shenanigans.php |url-status = live }} with which it shares some aspects of its humour. Among the frequent references is the quote "If anything this has been the worst year for gaming journalism since Old Man Murray stopped updating roughly three weeks after they started the site."{{cite web |last = Parsons |first = Zack "Geist Editor" |url = http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/five-worst-gaming.php |title = The Five Worst Gaming Articles of 2005 |publisher = Something Awful |date = 2005-12-30 |access-date = 2011-03-03 |archive-date = 2024-07-03 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240703063848/https://www.somethingawful.com/news/five-worst-gaming/ |url-status = live }}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.oldmanmurray.com Old Man Murray]
• [http://www.caltrops.com Caltrops]

Category:Video game news websites

Category:American comedy websites