Something new: Silent Hill 4

Silent Hill 4 is cool because it continues on with the incredibly creepy storyline that have scared the crap out of me since it first came out. It was only 10 bucks, so I felt compelled to by it even in my current dryspell of money-havingness. I havn't gotten to play to much yet due to finals and all, but I did start it up and wander around a bit. It's looking good so far.

Extra Credit

Steven Johnson coins the fraze the "sleeper curve" in his book Everything Bad is Good for You. The sleeper curve is the idea that we, as Americans, are getting smarter based on the advancement of our cultural activities. He states that the indroduction of these many new kinds of entertainment, communication and text (DVDs/video-games, text messaging, weblogging) are not hindering our advancement, but allowing us to accomplish more based on our craving for challenge and knowledge. I think this is a very interesting revelation. I've always noticed that those intune with our technological advancements are more knowledgable on a broader sence as opposed to a single person who studies souly in one particular area of expertice.

Just today, I was discussing my own theories of dimentional space, velosity and tragectory with a co-worker, but what do I know about physics? What do I know about math and airspeed, friction, objects in motion? Nothing. I know nothing about them. Yet I study them on a daily basis through activities which I have deemed as forms of entertainment. It's only a matter of time before curiosity gets the better of me and I have to find out the "why" something happens.

The one thing that I can see that the sleeper curve does not teach us is moderation, comprehension and reality. If our entertainment entrances us so much that we focus all our time and energy in to it, we need a way of knowing when to do something else, because our entertainment, no matter how intellectualy stimulating it may be, does not tell us not to view/do it. Like a siren's song, we focus, we solve, we enlighten, but we need to know how and when to stop. Many a joke has been made of the enthusiest who neglects personal hygien in his persuit of "enlightenment". The understanding of right and wrong is loosly handled in the entertainment world with few, if any, mentions to the consequences of the actions taken by our "real action heros". Granted the sleeper curve can influence our real life virtues and morals, but only if we let them. There still remains a big diference to the one who chooses to, at first attempt, solve their their problems with words and the one who intuitively feels the need to annialate any obstacle that doesn't agree or fit in with their own personal agenda.

Cultural Super Models....

In "Cultural Models" by James Gee, he defines the cultural model a the virtues and ideas we hold ourselves to because of our upbringing, parental influence or current situation. He believes that through the use of "duel" story telling, the audience can either choose to make an unbaised decision or pick a side based of the familiarity one story shares with their own cultural model. The destinctions between right and wrong are blurred when we are able to live through that which is different from our own beliefs.

He made an interesting note about how in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle the player can choose to play as the "good guys" or the "bad guys". The only diference between the two are their goals, yet the player is still playing to win and feels as though his cause for wanting to win is just enough to achieve the goals of the character he is playing, whether it be to destroy the world or to save it. The player becomes more familiar with both sides of the story and shares feelings and concerns for all it's characters.

Something New: Final Fantasy XI

Or to be more specific, Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan, the newest expansion pack to the MMORPG that offers more than just the conventional upgrade and list of new missions. The Empire of Aht Urhgan is vast, huge, beutiful and dangerous. Since my avatar is not of the level that can participate in a majority of the newly added content, I will tell about the exciting things that I was able to accomplish as a level 46 thief. I think the main draw for me and everyone else who ran out to purchase the new expansion pack was the three new jobs that can be unlocked; Blue Mage, Corsair and Puppetmaster. I have just finished unlocking the last job last night and I had already been playing for a week. The popularity of the new jobs is surprisingly contagious, everyone wants to have these new jobs. I haven't even unlocked all the normal jobs I've had access to (I believe I have Paladin, Dark Knight and Bard left to do) and still, like many others, I had to have access to all of these new jobs before I could continue my everyday virual existence.

But that's not what I found most surprising about this new expansion. The creation of the new jobs was like setting everyone's counter back to zero. High levels were hanging out with low levels, those with more experience were open and willing to share it with those who had less. The most interesting story I have to share was my jouney to become a Corsair. After dying for the forth time out in the wilderness of Arrpago Reef, I was about ready to get back on the boat and go home. I had no idea where I was going, or what I was even suppose to do and quite frankly I was getting sick of dying. I "shouted" for anyone who was doing the mission, or knew what they were doing or anything that could help me get this one, incredibly evasive new job. There was no answer. I hung my head, paid the boat fair, and got on the ferry. All of the sudden I recieved a tell from someone inviting me to their party. I asked what was up, and they said,"your doing Corsair, right?" I ran off the ferry and joined the party. There were three others, all high level. One of them, "Tenla", was guiding us. She was generiously using her magic to keep us hidden from the monsters that would kill me iin two hits. we ran through the marshe, stopping only to reapply the spells that kept us hidden. We had almost made it to the reef when a Mature Treant came down on 'Reap". We decided to fight it, and what a fight it was. This thing was kicking our collective asses and I couldn't even hit it. Even the high levels had to use all their power and techniques to make a dent in this thing....then the imp came. Maybe we could have beaten the Mature Treant if we had it alone, but the imp was a problem. Tenla put the imp to sleep and we though we had this one in the bag, but then, another imp showed up. We started dropping like flies. We ran, hoping to make it to the zone area. Unfortunatly, there was a lamia and two undead skeletons blocking the way and the only ones getting through were the thieves, that was me and another guy I can't remeber the name of.

Tenla fell in the thick of the lamia spawn area, Reap fell just before the zone (I hate when that happenes). I needed to revive my new found friends because I was dead meat with out them. We made it to he reef but we still had no idea where to go. We needed a black mage's "tractor" and a white mage's "revive". There was no way to get Tenla out of the lions' den without it. As luck would have it, there was a party of two coming toward us; a black and a white mage. We were able to regroup, revive, and return to the mission. Out of gratitude, we added the two newcomers to our ranks.

Like a centipede, we crawled though Arrpago Reef, making sure we didn't leave anyone behind, refreshing our spells, and tring to remain unseen. Something that we weren't used to was that the lamia and imps had "true site". This means that even with the affects of "Invisable" and "Sneak" (the spells we had been using to evade detection) if we came close to one of these creatures it would attack regardless. So it was a very dangerous task to undertake, but it was well worth it.

Something new: Kingdom Hearts 2

Since I have finished Indigo Prophecy, I have to find a different subject to report on to continue my video game blog. Kingdom Hearts 2 is a game that I've been playing in between sessions of Indigo Phophecy, and I am really enjoying the experience. Even though the premiss of the game is to tell a story that involves Disney and Square-Enix characters co-mingling in the same universe, the game succeeds because it is able to tie a part of our childhood to the experience of being a young adult. Even as an adult, I myself have been transported to a simpler time in my life. A time when I wasn't concerned about carving out a niche for myself in this world, but more so when I was able to enjoy life for what it was... But then again, the innocence of the game is met at some points with reality. Emotions are felt with the characters, sadness, anger, joy. Real experiences are simulated, dealing with loss, death, dispare, only to be countered by their opposites. The feeling I get when playing this game is not one of the detached viewer who feels little in regaurds to the characters he is controlling, but a deep emotional connection to the lifes of the character portrayed on the screen. No longer is Goofy a rediculus character or Donald Duck an annoying, hot tempered side character. The attachement to these personea have become more intimate do to the time spent with them. We, as players, are allowed to see a full spectrum of emotions that these characters exude, not just the ones we are suppose to see in the short time spent watching them in some of their cartoons.

The avatar and the self...

In "Hyperidentities" by Miroslaw Filiciak, he makes a connection between the self and the avatar. He states that in the modern times in which we live, we have more options as to what way we want to portray ourselves as individuals. In previous eras, a person was defined by their profession. Today, the individual is defined by their interests and their hobbies, the work portion of their lives is used to fuel these entertaining activities. The avatar is an example of this. He argues that the avatar is not just an extention of the user, but the user itself, fulfilling themselves as an individual in cyber space. Much like the position of a career oriented individual of yesteryear, today's individual's independence, their importance, is derived who they choose to be, not who they have to be.

Indigo Prophecy: Week#8 (it's finally over!)

Yes, it's true. I have beaten Indigo Prophecy, and, I have noticed something about a narrative with a multiple branching story line. It is very hard to keep a white sock out of a wash of red shirts. This means that to make a fulfilling and enriching story with deep characters, a captivating plot and continuity is one thing, trying to make a story that goes in every direction and still have things make sence at the end is a whole different ballgame. I musta got the "not so good" ending because I end up as a super zombie fighting against the Orange Clan and the Purple Clan. The Orange Clan where the guys behind the mayan oracle, but the Purple Clan totally came out of left field. Something about them being an AI that became conscious and wanted to rule over mankind (psst, they apparently brought me back to life after the oracle killed me and my ex-girlfriend). The bums that played a quiet role in the game were actually a secret organization watching events unfold, The Indigo Child didn't do anything but deliver that fatefull message to whatever, Tyler goes to Florida with his girlfriend, Carla somehow falls in love with Lucas (the killer) and they have sex in a train car and apparently, the world is ending....

This really is an interesting story, and I would not mind actually knowing the whole story as opposed to just the part I was able to play through. But, it's not going to be by playing the game. I'll find a FAQ about it somewhere and I'll read the events, but I'll be damned if I have to sit there and "play" through that absolutly horrid gaming experience again. The ending wasn't even worth watching... I played the end chapter again to try and get a "better" ending, but to no avail. Why Indigo Prophecy?!? WHY!?! Why do I actually feel like I'm not having fun when I play with you. Why is your Simon sez gameplay so worthless and pitiful? Why are your graphics, control, camera, ect. so terrible? I read the credits..... the director appologizes to his son for the many long hours away from his family, working on this game.... it must be really disappointing to know that his son will remember that producing this craptacular title was more important than coming home at night to his family. But here's the real kicker....they totally left it open for a sequel. I'm sorry Mr. Cage, I wish you the best of luck next time....but I really want my $50.00 back.

I, Avatar: part 2

In an article written by Sherry Turkle, she argues that the lives we lead may not be the actual reality that makes us, as an independent being, exist. It becomees apparent to ludologists that one's presence in a virtual space most often leads to the creation of a more liberal minded personae. These personae become ways for individuals to express themselves in ways they couldn't in the constraints of their "physical" reality. It is also being argued that a person can feel more like themselves with the assistence of a virtual persona than they can in the physical relm where one might feel trapt by their current job, living arrangement, physical shortcummings or social status. This being said, can not the drudgery of an unwanted (or unfulfillinf) existance be less real than one enjoyed on the virtal plane? If a person finds the time spent in a virtual world more fulfilling on a productive and social status building level, than why can't that existence be considered that person's true reality?

Indigo Prophecy: Week#7

If ever there were a game that I would dred having to actually play, it would be this one. The gameplay mechanics are uniteresting and down right boring, and that damn simon sez game is really pissing me off. It's almost like playing a video game version of "Point of View"; it is a movie that should have never been a game.

In it's defence, I must say that the story is actually quite interesting. Unfortunatly, it took this long for it to reveil any hint of it's mystic splendor. Yeah, it's about a secret cultish group using a Mayan oracle to witness the events of the future. The ritual killings that have been happening in the game were caused by this oracle who posessed "executers" to kill victims so the two headed snake god would open it's mouth so the oracle could view the events of the "other world"; a world of gods and the dead. Fantastic! It should have been a movie. As a matter of fact, it is a movie... a movie that won't end because the player has to actual play the game in order to have the plot of this movie unfold. And as I have already stated earlier, there are plenty of other things that I would rather be doing than actually playing this "game", like ramming my head into a wall until I became unconscious.

Upgrading myself to Cyborg...

In the article "As We Become Machines" by Martti Lahti, she dicusses how we, as gamers, are slowly evolving into half human, half machine entities. This is due inpart by our obsession to become something other than what we are in reality. Though the experience differs in reguards to how a game is played, the end result is the temporary fulfillment of discarding one's physical body in favor of a digitized one. In respect to PC and counsel forms of gaming, the player has the choice of solitary play or play in numbers with friends, but the experience is most likely restricted to the home. Though the experience is rich in mental and physical stimuli, one does not usually have the option of attaining this euphoric experience outside the home due to interference from unwanted, outside stimuli, noise, social encounters.

The arcade is a different senario. Like a collusium where gladiators come to prove their worth in a sea of fierce digitized combat against each other or a previous champion who has left his mark on the scoreboard, the arcade is a sanctuary for those who wish to share, learn, and impress others with their skill. Purely a social gathering ground, the illusion is lessened by the intereaction with numerous others, the blending of multiple sounds and music, and the contant diappearance of money from one's wallet.

The portable video game experience is the closest simulation one can recieve outside the home of the virual space. Though images are displayed in less grandure (ie. a small screen, and down graded preformance) the portable system is used by those who wish to entertain themselves in that which they are most familiar with, from taking care of a virual pet "Tomagotchi" in a quarter sized system able to be carried in one's pocket, to "World of Warcraft" running in full on one's high priced labtop.

The devices used to interact with a system are the future of the interactive experience. To fully submerse one's self in a virtual environment is the ultimate goal of the gaming experience. With new an inovative ways of doing this such as dance pads, styluses, Sony's "eyetoy" and virual reality (even gaming "spaces" such as the "Battletech" pods) we become ever closer to the point where we will be able to leave our physical beings and completely and utterly become someone else.

There are some simulations best left to the narrative.

In "Stories for Eye, Ear and Muscles" by Torben Grodal, he raises the question of whether video games should be observed as a narrative (like a story being told to an audience) or as a simulation (the act of simulating an experience). Granted, the temptation of calling call video games a simulation of real life would be understandable, but I personally have not made that comparison before unless the game was officially listed as a "simulator". Games series like Grand Tourismo and Ace Combat are viewed as simulators due to their ability to mimic, with super exact replication, the power of their vehicles, the different sounds that each one would make, and their faults and advantages (don't try to chase an F-22 with an A-10 "tank killer"). Even though a narrative mayor may not be present in these simulations, it's not the drawing factor that interests the audience, the realism of tearing around in a Dodge Viper or the imitation of the F-14 from topgun is the real reason for playing these games.

A narrative on the other hand puts you in the shoes of a character and sets you out upon a path so as to tell the story of the events that befall this particular character. I can see where the author of this article can believe that in this day and age, the sand box gameplay of games such as the Grand Theft Auto series can be viewed as slightly more simulator like than a traditional narrative. But to me, there seems to always be a set path to follow and a intriguing stroy to be told, regaurdless of how fat/skinny/buff you can make your avatar appear to be (see Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas) And what's so realistic about shooting a bunch of random people just to get arrested, die, and end up outside the closest police station? If it were a actual simulation wouldn't it be necessary to punish the avatar and the player for the "crime" they commited. If you take for example one of the many drive-bys you can participate in, a simulation would show you that tension, the screams of your victims, the bits of grey matter splattering against your ride as you blow the head off some hapless rival gang member, an eyeball hanging from it's socket, teeth shattering, heads exploding, the whole nine yards! Just the mention of such an activity makes my stomach turn. That, in a sense, is a simulated narrative. The real life ability to feel as though you are directly linked to the person who pulls the trigger. The ability to know the difference between shooting actual people, and ragdolls that just flop over and dissappear. That in itself would construct a situation that I would not be eager to repeat or recreate or realise in any material form, not even on the fictional level at which it is being displayed. I would definatly consider my other options and weigh the consequences of my actions before I wanted to experience anything like that.

Is it really bad if it's good for you?

In his book "Everything Bad is Good for You", Steven Johnson talks about the importance of the new media in which most young adults are enthralled with. He makes a comparison between books and video games stating that even though the popluar trend of bashing videogames as a waste of time, his arguement includes the good aspects of both subjects. He states that books stimulate the mind, force it to exersize itself, and even though video games are considered unstimulating by some, the truth is that they are very stilmulating, causing the player to use his mind and overcome the obstacles in his way. He also argues that video games will one day surpass the intellectual stimulation of books, but I argue that that time is already here.

My reasoning for the this is because there are many times where the only narrative avalable is through written text. The vitual world created through MUDs and MOOs is textually based, leaving the only graphical representations in these worlds to be created through use of letters and signs on the keyboard. RPGs, on the other hand, mostly tell an entire story though written text, forcing the user to read the story as he plays it. The simple graphic representations of old RPGs are evolving in to gougeous, high poly-count characters and locations (since they are leaning toward a more cinimatic presentation these days), but most still retain the presents of the telling of a story through textual means. One can say what they want about videogames, but the truth is, they promote the same useage as books, but to a diffferent extent. And since text has been easier to create in videogames than sound or scripted voice, then one must consider that early videogames were more similar to an electronic narrative (ie, a book) than Johnson believes them to be.

Indigo Prophecy: Week#6

Interstingly enough, after a few boring puzzles and the more infuriorating "simon sez" game, the story started to pick up speed. While I was alternating between the two groups of characters (Carla and Tyler, the cops, and Lucas and Marcus, the two brothers) I was forced to make a choice between the them, knowing full well the storyline and the links between the charaters. The game pits you against yourself, first trying to save Lucas, and in the next scene tring to capture him. Things get really weird when Lucas starts to lose his mind; when the cops raid his place it's trashed, with a large red pentagram painted on the floor and what seems to be blood all over the walls. As Lucas is confronted by the police he uses his new found powers to "matrix" on outta there and make his excape. The direction the story has taken has made me sympathize less with Lucas and more with the personal lives of the police officers. I just wish there was more of a balence between the story and the remedial tasks that need to be accomplished to advance the story.

Indigo Prophecy: Week#5

Why does it seem like it's becoming a chore to sit down and play this game. It's not that I don't like the story, but the things I had to do this week were completely rediculus. Push a blind lady around? Feed the birds? Collect candles? Find matches? Close the drapes and turn off the lights? was it really necessary for my avatar to preform all these unentertaining, remedial tasks just to advance the story? Oh! And what's with the "play the Simon sez" game during important parts of the narrative? How are you suppose to know what's happening in the story if your attention is being distracted the very mini-game that lets you advance the story in the first place!

Gonzalo Frasca...rolls right off the tongue, don't you think?

Pertaining to an article called "Simulation vs. Narrative" by Gonzalo Frasca, she debates the differences between the simulation and the narritive in a game/gaming environment. The arguement proposed is that in this modern age in which we live in, the narrative, the story, is being lost in the overwhelming and continual growth of the simulation. To this, I have to say, I do not believe. In my personal opinion, simulation may be great and the more things about reality that can be simulated the better, but users, players, consumers, whatever you want to call them are more likely to pick up a title for the combine efforts of the simulation and the narrative. There have been many times a simulation of reality in a game has been promoted but fell through the cracks do to weak story elements, and likewise, a narrative might be engrossing but with not as much gameplay as the user would have been expecting (I'm looking at you "Metal Gear Solid 2"). So yes, I have to agree that simulation and narrative need to share the spotlight for a game to be successful (and good marketing is nessecary as well, poor poor "Beyond Good and Evil".)

Don't hate the player, hate the game...

The article "From Gamers to Players and Gameplayer" by Bernard Perron has the author creating new catagories for words that we are already familiar with. He has chosen words that can be recognized in in multiple languages and still retain the same context. In the same way Roger Caillois has defined agôn, alea, mimicry and ilinx, Perron has divided the user into three catagories, the gamer, the player and the game player. Each is defined by specific identities that constitute what makes that particular user fall into a certin class. The way he has defined each class makes sence if you don't care about why he has chosen to classify a semi-related term to a particular action. Consider the "Gamer", granted he gave an explanation of where the word originated from, but how does the catagory, "Gamer", classify a user that likes to identify themselves as the avatar? Likewise for the "Gameplayer" catagory. The Gameplayer supposibly enjoys the act the challenge, the obstacle... The gameplayer will become part of the game just for the sake of conquering it. And I believe the "Player" falls into the catagory of one whose interest is based around the experience of the game as oppose to it's mastery. One could use any combination of gaming terms to classify these types of users...even expand on it. What about the "Fragger"? Someone dedicated to first-person shooters who loves fast paced, respawnable action. How about "Solo", the user who has the ability to play with other users, but tends to want to play alone with no outside intereaction. The "adventurer" could play RPGs, the "Agent" could be interested in the action aspects titles, The "Earnhardt" would be all about the racing simulator.

I believe that the terms he has coined for the purpose of his catagorization are appropriate, but these groups also have the ability to be broken down into many sub-groups.

McMahan's way

Alison McMahan discusses in her article, "Immersion Engagement and Presence", several analitical veiw points for determining what makes a game interesting to a user. When she defines "immersion", as in being submerged in something (like water), the first thing that came to my mind was the immersive quatilies of an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game). Since I have yet to experience multiple MMORPGs, I will discuss the one I am most familiar with, Final Fantasy XI.To be immersed in something like a game, that game must have certain qualities that attract a user and keep them entertain throughout their entire experience. The idea of having a massive world to explore helps when immersing a user. More, and contantly changing content also factors into whether a user will find a particular virtual environment worthy of consuming mass quantities of their time. Some attachement to reality also helps (bathrooms, restraunts, souvenir shops) users feel confortable in their new "reality".

The idea around immersion doesn't nessecarily involve the graphical or audio aspects of a game. Even thought humans are attracted to visual and aural stimuli, such things are not a nesessity to immerse a user into a virtual relm. Take for instance the poplularity of the MUD (mutli user dimention) or the MOO (MUD object oriented). Though they are purely text base, the immersive qualities they have continue to attract users their simplistic worlds.

Indigo Prophecy: Week#4

I was a little rushed on time this week and I didn't get to sit around to much even if it was to do my "homework", but I managed to queeze in a little time with Indigo Phophecy. Unfortunatly, nothing really important happened. Some new game mechanics were interesting, one of the characters, Carla, is claustrophobic and to keep her from freaking out I had to balence a meter in it's center without deviating too much to the left or right. I also had to do a "find this crap" for a NPC mission which was tedious and boring, but the NPC I was doing it for, a little chinese guy with a big Brooklyn accent, was pretty funny. Other than that, nothing terribly exciting... I did get the chance to do a chapter over again; the one where Lucas's ex comes to pick up her stuff. Yeah, third times a charm. I was able to woo her with my guitar playing and then she was putty in my hands, and then it was off to the bedroom. HAHA! Kind'a makes me wonder why they broke up in the first place. So far, she was the easiest thing about this game. ^.^

Aerial Rave

Taking into consideration the topic discussed in "Space in the Video Game" by Mark Wolf, the maximization of space within the relm of the program is used in mostly every modern gaming experience. One instence that comes to mind, other than the games that imploy continuious 3d processing, still resides in the land of the 2d fighting game. Though most thought that the 2d design of yore would be replaced by spiffier looking 3d fighters, the proof is in the pudding, most 3d fighters flop while 2d continues going strong. The examples I'd like to use are Guilty Gear XX and the Marvel vs. Capcom series. The traditional boundaries of the 2d fighter were restricted to a surface (something that represented the ground.) Over time the onscreen view of the genra was able to incorperate a pan from one side of the screen to the other. The pan opened up areas (though small) that gave the player less of a claustrophobic feeling and gave the players more space in which to fight. With the next generation of 2d fighters, the bar remains consistantly raised; taking a que from elements introduced in games like Mortal Kombat 3 where players could hit opponants into new areas by knocking them through walls or cielings, the empty space above the avatar's head is no longer safe. Through the advent of the "launcher" and the "aerial rave", game makers have opened a new demention for players to pummel their opponants in. The use of the space above the avatar's heads became a battle field that was no safer than the one on the ground. This space was now included in the level design (along with the paning sides) and could be reached whenever the player felt like taking the fight to another level.

Indigo Prophecy: Week#3

This week in Indigo Prophecy..... things were rather slow. Not only had I played through some of the scenes earlier such as the police station scene and the park encounter, but in some cases I botched the more interesting aspects of the "choose your own path" gameplay the second time I played through it. It wasn't as much fun if you can get Tyler and Sam to do their early morning wake-up dance (I didn't get to see what happened at the end the first time because I switched back over to Carla and then interupted their love making with a rude phone call), and this time, I didn't get to see it at all. Total bummer. Oh well, I did do better this time around with Lucas's ex-girlfriend. She got loose with a glass of gin, then I got to play her a song on me guitar, but when the time came to kiss her I botched it again and told her to leave, lol! I think that aside from the horrible camera and player control scheme, I have found something else that irks me about this game; the labeling system. Here's an example, when Lucas's ex-girlfriend comes in you have a list of subjects to choose from. One says "drink", the next says "stuff" and the last one says "news". I automatically though that the option "stuff" was talking about unimportant events in their lives. This seems to happen a lot throughout the game, I feel hindered by not knowing the "right" answer when I misinterperate the selection of answers presented to me.

I, Avatar

While reading "Playing at Being" by Bob Rehak, an arguement that the avatar that takes the place of the user in an interactive vitual space is not only controled by the user, but literally becomes an extention of the user's conscienceness. In turn, the represented avatar gives free licence to the user, allowing the user to live (and die) through their virtul representations. Appartently the avatar, being an extention of the user's conscienceness, not only represents the user visually but also as a missing piece to their own ego. Even in situations where the avatar only mimics the user's input, outputting it back to the user in a slightly different way (ala Weizenbaum's ELIZA, page 122 of The Video Game Theory Reader), the user is still compelled to study the responce of the avatar even though they are already privy of the result. The part that I don't seem to understand about what the author is relaying involves the field of his study in general. When did people start thinking about the psychological aspects of taking control of a vitual "I"? When did Freud get involved? Did people really think about the "why" when they created these devices? Can't the same affect be attained in a less visually stimulating game of chess?

My question for this author is about his reference to Freud's explanation of the fort/da. The fort/da, as I am to understand it, is the entity that takes the place of the nurturer when the nurturer is absent (such as a doll, a stuffed animal, or in Freud's grandson's case, a spool.) The explanation the author gives is that, if and when a fort/da is nessecary to represent loss, it will sure inturn represent retreival. By becoming accustom to loss, the child can begin to develope coping mechanizims to aid them in the, far to often than not, lonely road of life ahead of them. The way the author uses this description is that a user can become attached to the avatar representing them in the virtual space within the absence of other nurturering individuals. Is this a positive or a negetive aspect of behavior? Should the idea of a fort/da even be relevent when describing the intereaction between a user and an avatar? Doesn't the avatar empower the user as apposed to reling on the user's coping abilities to eventually come to terms with reality? Though the idea between the two is similar, I'd have to say that their execution fall in to two different catagories, the artificially empowering avatar, and the realistic epowerment of the fort/da.

The gamer sub-culture and the next generation

I found the article "Archetypes on Acid" by Rebecca R. Tews very interesting. I was enthralled by everything from the inaccurate studies performed on the gamer populus to the Jungian references of character archetypes. The only thing that confuses me about this article is the title. Archetypes on Acid? The context in which the only reference to the drug is used was on page 176, "Here they (the archetypes) appear as if on LSD--caricatures of the traditional images, highly transformed by technology, color, speed and sound, but elementally the same." I understand the need for an eye catching title, but I highly dout how the comparison between story archetypes of old and more modern story archetypes can be referenced to the act of experienceing a highly mind altering hallucinagine.

If I were to comment on one of the logical aspects of this author's arguement, it would have to be on the ability to automatically become interested in a subject that a child might observe a parent participating in. Since the generation video games were made for are now adults and have children of their own, will the use of video games become an inherent trait that will now be passed through generations? Maybe, but history has already shown us that when children come of age, they usually move away from their parents in mainly every aspect of their lives. Does this mean that the next generation will shirk off their learned childhood activities in light of something cooler than what they're parents (us) enjoy doing in their free time?

WARTIME!

The article "Gametime" by Patrick Crogan (The Video Game Theory Reader) is an interesting and complicated article that flows back and forth between strong arguements. Though different, they share the common thread of their own purpose, why they are what they are. One point of interest would be the definition of "pure war", the act of retaining the interests of war by promoting and glorifing it even in times of peace. This is a very interesting subject to me, why would we need to excite the masses with the drums of war if they have no where to march to? Is it to keep them on the perpetual edge so that they are more willing to heed the call when the time comes?

What about the consequenceless act of killing the image a man in a virtual space. Does this act alone prepare to us to pull that heavy, metal trigger on the battlefield? Will the particle effects of a real time game engine desensitize us enough so that when we actually do have to wipe what's left of the enemy's grey matter off our faces, we'll take a certin delight in seeing a high definition, real time life extiguished before our very eyes. Will this become the ultimate thrill?

On the other hand, what kind of history can we learn by being entertained by simulated events from the past. Is it possible to consider what life as the enemy would be like? Will historical facts leak into the already determind status quo. Will the simulation allow us to think as individuals instead of gun totting, virtual soldiers of fortune?

Indigo Prophecy: Week#2

Ok, so this week was interesting because there was no space on my memory card last week, and I had played til I got to the part with Lucas and his ex girlfriend, and when I went to exit the game all my progress had been lost. So... I started over, no big deal, right? I did a couple things different this time around in the restroom (I still got caught a couple times by the cop *grr!*) but even though I knew what to do, there was still a sence of ergency, probably brought on by the horrible character control (nothing like running into walls when your trying to get away.)

Oh well. I'll continue from the point at which I get to play as the investigators. So you can play as both, but you'll have to switch off from one to the next to notice different things about the crime scene. Tyler (one of the investigators) was feeling tired, so I had him go into the kitchen and get himself some coffee. So, afterwords, I interegated the waitress. I was a little more demanding this time around (nothing different appeared to happen from it though.) I checked out the restroom again, found everything I had hid as Lucas, ie, the body and the knife. Then I went out to talk to the vagrant, my line of questioning still bore a fruitless conversation (hint: don't be so concerned about his well being), after that, I got in the car and left.

In the next scene I once again played as Lucas Kane. I awoke in bed thinking that the whole affair had been a dream, then I noticed the blood stains on my sheets from when I had cut myself in the restroom of the dinner. I got up quickly tring to clean up my appartment so that if anyone came visiting, they wouldn't think that I had just killed a man! I ran to the bathroom to bandage my arms, wash my face and take a leak. I knew there that a cop was going to be coming around soon, so I didn't waste any time like I had the first time I played this scene. Lucas has a hallucination about a cop coming to the door and you get to play a fun little "simon-esc" mini game where you have to get the combination right to know what the police officer is going to be looking for, mainly the bloody sheets and the sweater I was wearing the night before. Crap! I left it on the floor! I picked it up and threw it into the washing machine. After tuning down the sheets of the bed, I was ready for the police officer's surpirse visit. When the cop showed up I was able to maintain an air of innocence and the cop didn't suspect a thing, (lol "killer" me 1, "cops" me 0)

Mr. Bungle lives in us all...

This is dangerous territory we're stepping into here; is there really a difference in actual harassment and virtual harassment? The arcticle "A Rape in Cyberspace" by Julian Dibbell makes mention of an incident that occured in a textualized virtual space (commonly refered to as a MUD or a MOO) that he was able to bear witness to it's execution, punishment and the "social" ramifications that occured during what is commonly known under the title of the virtual rape. This study involved a vitual entity know only by the name Mr. Bungle. To keep a long story short, Mr. Bungle was able to use the objects, tools, rules, ect. of the virtual text based space known as LambdaMOO to assult other characters in this space. Most users found his actions extreemly offensive, and his victims felt violated. The only remedy to this horrible crime was the proposed execution of the Mr. Bungle persona. For more detail on the steps that were taken to disapline the Character know as Mr. Bungle, I encourage you to read the article, but as someone who has knowlege and experience in and of the virtual space, I can only make a judgment on the grounds of the information of the article and of my own experiences. I state that Mr. Bungle lives in all of us, because, like him, we have all felt the urge to test the boundaries of the virual world. As the person behind the character stated, "It was purely a sequence of events with no
consequence on my RL existence." That is one of the freedoms of existing in the virtual space. Granted, such a concept was still young in December of 1993, rules had not been defined and consequences were issued in an unruly, dictorial fashion, but it takes time to bring order to chaos. Even though most portrayed themselves in a civilized manner, there was still an urge to commit acts that would be punishable in reality. I myself can relate to what Mr. Bungle feels, because I had felt it too when I was young. A sence of freedom in a place where I could test the limitation of the "socially" acceptable. How many times had I experienced a thrill from getting another person so worked up that they would actually threaten to "find out where I live and kill me." That's a bold statement even in the virtual world. Just think, someone was about to dedcate time, money, even a life imprisonment or death just because of some ridiculous words uttered by a child. That reaction alone is worth throwing a virtual chair into a crowd of virual people.

The Sims: still bound to the standards of reality?

In "It’s a Queer World After All: Studying The Sims and Sexuality" by Mia Consalvo, the lifestyle of the Sims is brought into question. Though the Sims environment can be thought of as a virtual space in which users can create a virtual exsistence for their avatar regaurdless of the societal norms, Mia Consalvo has picked apart the open minded ideas and discovered that there are still limitations that seem to be inforced by the physical world. One such limitation involves "shade", or in the real world, race. Though the Sims has equal opportunities for all it's make believe people, Consalvo has brought to light the issue of the limitations placed on the physical appearence of an individual avatar based on what "shade" color their skin is. Another issue raised was the sexual orientation of an individual avatar. Though sexual orientation isn't a fixed element in the Sims, the actions of the user through the avatar can sway or erase any feelings toward another character, regaurdness of their sex or race.

Fair Play: Violence, Racism and sexist depictions of women!?! The gaming industry should be ashamed of themselves...

Or at least that's the popular opinion today. Interactive media entertainment has become the whipping boy for a new generation of the unspeakable. The images and characters depicted in games are found by some to be ultra violent, extreemly sexist and racially biased, and the study composed by the Children NOW organization is more than helpful in pointing out the inadequacies portrayed in the now mainstream culture of interactive entertainment. Even though I may agree with some of their subjects mentioned in the article, such as "E" isn't for everyone, It's hard not to get the feeling that the Children NOW organization is attacking the gaming industry about an issue that has existed long before it even was recognized as a problem.

Since the gaming industry is rather new to the sphere of acceptable entertainment, we must remember that it is still in it's infancy, and everyone knows that children don't just inherit bad habits, they learn them from their parents. Am I suppose to believe that racism wasn't running rampant before "Grand Theft Auto" was invented? People weren't viewing women as objects before "Tomb Raider's Lara Croft"? Violence didn't exist before "The Warriors" took to the virtual streets and beat the crap out of other gang members to protect their turf? "The Warriors"!?! The movie alone promoted and glorified the ultra violent, and that was back in 1979, before the videogamer even became a subculture.

Even though I'd love to talk about the sexist portrayal of women in every sphere of our existence creating a fictional image of what women are suppose to model themselves after (I'm looking at you, Barbie!), there is one part of the Fair Play atricle that really catches my attention, and that is the issue of race.

The article mentions that the prodominant character users are able to play as in video games is more likely than not a character that could be considered "white". The article clocks in with 52% of male playable characters are white and 78% of female playable charaters are white. The runner up to the white playable character is the black character with men taking 37% and women taking 10%. They continued to pick apart the "important" races till the remainder could be thrown into the "others" catagory (I guess my race isn't important enought to be considered anything but other) but I found something very curious, they had marked Native American men down as 0%, the other 0% went for Latina women. Now this must be some kind of mistake because I can think of three playable charaters of Native American decent right off the top of my head, Turok (Turok: Dinosaur Hunter), Night Wolf (Mortal Kombat 3) and T. Hawk (Super Street Fighter II). One other that might be conidered is Tak (Tak and the Power of Juju) though I'm not sure of his true origins (and that the game might have been published after the article was written). So I took a look at the list of games reviewed in the back of the article and to my surprise, there were only 70 games reviewed as source and the three I just metioned were not on the list (Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament has a half Native American half Chinese woman, Julia Chang, but that:

1. falls under the womans' playable character catagory and
2. might bring to light the atrocities commited against the Chinese and the Native Americans in the days of the early west.)

(Face!)*

With thousands of games to choose from, this review was comprised of a meer 70 games, with similar, if not repeating titles;

Tekken 3 (Playstation)
whose characters are also included in:
Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2)

Pokemon Gold, Silver and Yellow (GBC)
Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2 (N64)

The Sims (PC)
The Sims: Livin' Large (PC)
The Sims: House Party (PC)

Tony Hawk Pro Skater (GBC)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater (Playstation)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater (Dreamcast)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (GBA)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (Playstation)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (Dreamcast)

With this in mind, I could not, in good faith, consider the Children NOW organization's report to be a fair evaluation of the entire gaming industry's alleged lack of morals and deconstuctive methods that may be influencing children by considering a large portion of their games rated under the "E" for everyone. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that the scare tactics used by some organizations to insite mob rule is based on faulty or half baked truths. Can one really count Tony Hawk as a reference six times?

*message from the author

Indigo Prophecy: Week#1

I chose "Indigo Prophecy" to report on in my Game Journel based on my personal knowledge of the gaming industry. I had known about it since mid summer 2005, and at that time I had no desire (or time) to branch into foreign territory. But, with the introduction of the Game Journel, it became my first choice because of all the good things I had been hearing about it. The only real negetive aspect of the game was that it wasn't selling. I know how difficult it can be to get a great new idea into the hands of an audience, but the unknown is usually pushed aside for the familiar. So since I had to choose, I chose "Indigo Prophecy", I'd hate to see it go the way of "Beyond Good and Evil" (Another great, innovative, and unforgetable game. I own it now, but it tanked in the sales department and was quickly swallowed by the sea of the familiar and the kitch.)

You probably already guessed it but, SPOILER ALERT!!
(There, nice and big so no one can miss it)

"Indigo Prophecy" begins with you playing one of the main characters in the restroom of a New York City dinner. A short movie plays and afterword, you find yourself tring to escape from the restroom because while in a trance, the character you play kills a fellow paytron of the dinner. Not knowing what is going on, you must make your escape.

I really liked this part because there were so many things I could intereact with in the restroom. I tried to wash the blood off my hands, I was able to dry them with the electric hand drier as well. I tried to hide the body in one of the stalls, but there was a trail of blood left behind. In a panic I tried to mop up the blood but there were still streaks. I took a leak (which had an effect on my emotion bar, +5! sweet!) I even shook the condom machine, maybe some freebies would fall out. I had to do something, and fast, because there was a cop in the dinner as well and a little side screen showed that he was heading to the restroom. I tried to get out the window but there were bars across it. I didn't know what to do! So the cop came in and noticed the streaks on the floor. I didn't wait around to see what he was going to find. I ran out the restroom door and began a mad dash for the front door. As I opened the door, the waitress yelled after me "hey! what about your bill!". I was outside now, the snow was falling. I had to keep running. Apparently I couldn't get to where I needed to go on foot and the only way out was by car. Luckly, cars were passing by and I could highjack one, right? Well.....I could, but I thought I'd take a look at my other options, I was in enough trouble already, wasn't I? After a little looking around I found a cab. Sweet, no car jacking for me. The cab took me home and the scene ended.

In the next sence, I got to play as the two investigators who were assigned to the murder case. This was interesting because as the inspectors, I got to piece together clues about what happened just as though I had been at the scene of the crime, which is wierd, because I was.

This game is a lot of fun. I only have a couple gripes about it. the first thing being the old "tank style" control system of the characters and horrible camera that only reposistions when you tell it to. Move, turn camera, move, turn camera, it's hard to do when your in a hurry. The next gripe I have is about the dated graphics. They are very remenisent of the more recent "Grand Theft Auto" series (3, Vice City, San Andreas) where the character and scene models could be scaled back because the content of the games was so great. Most players didn't notice that the models where almost pre-PS2 because they were so busy allegedly doing the back seat bounce with a prositute, who was later run over so the player could recollect their money.

These problems aside, "Indigo Prophecy's" multiple narrative choices make it fun and interesting, I'll be reporting more on this later, because now I'm hooked.

Paradigms and Syntagms...

In the case of Paradigms and Syntagms, both can be measured on a X and Y axis. The syntagmatic axis (running horizontally) defines the body of the of the subject while the paradigmatic axis (running vertically) defines the context of the subject (the action; the event.)

Signs.....

In this reading, it discusses Saussure's original interest in the study of signs was focused around the linguistic attributes of communication, ie literature and the spoken word. The reading also discusses the importance of the signifier and the signified and which, if either, were more important than the other (does the signifier define the signified, or does the signified define the signifier).

The section of this reading I found interesting was the comparison between the French and the English word for sheep. The French word mouton is used to identify both the animal and the meat of the animal, where as in English, we call the animal a sheep, but it becomes mutton when the sheep makes the transfer from animal to food. I guess the same thing can be said for fish. In the English language both the animal and the food are refered to by the same name, fish.

Intro to sign-ology?

Apparently, the main idea of Semiology is the study of "signs" and the affect they have on their viewer, listener, experiencer, ect. It sounds like an interesting subject but, unfortunatly, those who appear to have a vauge understanding of what "it" is, these semiotologists, can still only concieve a idea of their own through postmodern babble which was first spewed out of the mouth of their predicessors.

In regaurds to what actually grabs my attention in the area of the introduction article isn't the one, but the many times the author and his kind try to explain to the reader what semiology is. There is, in my opinion, no better way to scare your audience than to talk over they're heads just for the sake of making it seem like you know more than they do. Can the "study of the sign" not simply be explained as {an action/event that causes a predetermined/instinctive reaction in an individual or in a society}? It sounds pretty simple to me once I was able to trim the fat off this word apon a pedestal. It certinly didn't need a 15 page introduction.

PS. Postmodernism is (has become) a tool used by those who have absolutly no idea what they're talking about to confuse their audience. They are the magicians of the artistic world, appearing to become something they are not........intellegent.

Open for business

Well, here it is....the begining of the end. I promised myself that I would never submit to the trendy act of becoming a socially acceptable blog author. The world doesn't need to know about this humble little existence of and I don't feel the need to share it. This blog is for skool related purposes only! It is not, and I repeat, NOT so I can exclaim to the whole world how unevenful/uninteresting my life may or may no be, and no, I don't feel the need to attach myself to a comunication medium that is used only to credit one's self for living their lives and inform others of the struggle they had to go through to do it. Well, now I'm just putting more trash on the internet and everyone knows that we don't need that.