Tie-in game

Here’s an example of an older tie-in game from the South Park series. It’s funny and easy to play, but the argument could be made that it addresses some issues of real importance. Check it out.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/games/cc/rescue/index.jhtml

Favre

Bret Favre recently retired from the NFL after 17 seasons as a quarterback. He holds pretty much every significant passing record. But the endless highlights and newspaper articles fail to accurately capture his greatness. Leave it to 16 years of video game appearances to fully show how great Favre was. Check out this post for screen caps and commentary on various games throughout Favre career. While it says it is a 16 page article, the article is only a few paragraphs per page—the rest is a screen cap and user comments. I recommend skipping around. While the focus of this piece is to show Favre through the ages, it also shows quite a bit about football video games. I really enjoyed this and any Madden fans need to take a look.

http://sports.ign.com/articles/858/858013p1.html

adventure!

I referenced old-fashioned text adventures in my response post, but I’d just like to point everyone a little more explicitly to Scott Adams’ adventures, available, as far as I know, free for download at his website and several other places. It makes me a pretty hopeless geek to know the name Scott Adams as related to this archaic gaming style, but they’re actually surprisingly fun, and definitely challenging. I’m dreadful at them, so I only play with them once every three years or so, but just as the popularity of weird things like radio drama is on the rise, so is the popularity of the text adventure (also known as interactive fiction) as an art form and story-telling device. Not really unlike Choose Your Own Adventure, but with some more possibilities, and less dying… usually. Not with this game, though.

Ownership and video games

http://games.asobrain.com/index.html

Hi everyone. The above links to a site with a few java games (which, I’m sorry to say, require free registration), most of which I have never heard of or seen. One of the games, however, is entitled “Xplorers” and to those in the know is a blatant copy of the German board game Settlers of Catan designed by Klaus Teuber. There’s even a disclaimer at the bottom of the site that states that “Xplorers” has “no connection” with “The Settlers of Catan” or Klaus Teuber.

This obviously ties in with our discussion in previous classes of “legitimate” authorship and ownership, and highlights the fact that video games are subject to the same kinds of issues that surround digital music and video remixing. In this particular case, at least, AsoBrain (the site that runs the game) does not seem to be obviously making any kind of profit off of The Settlers of Catan, and may in fact be stimulating increased interest in the board game. In terms of connectivity, I can now play Settlers of Catan (which is a wonderful game if you ever have the chance to check it out) with my little brothers back home…and I’ll probably end up getting them expansions or variations of the game for birthday or Christmas presents.

That having been said, are there any ethical issues that arise in making “clones” of video games (without modifying or critiquing those games)? Does anyone else know of specific instances where there might be “questionable” authorship and ownership of video games?

the sims

As we get into the video gaming portion of the course, I decided to finally start playing the Sims 2 game for Playstation 2 that I bought a few months ago. It is one of those games that once you start you can’t really stop because it takes a lot of time and patience to create the perfect environment. It’s really unsatisfying to pause the game when your Sim has needs for: social, bladder, hygiene, hunger, fun, energy, comfort, and room. There is never a point where the Sim doesn’t need something. And there is always room for growth in the game, whether your Sim needs a new job, a romance, another house. It’s interesting how today’s culture is intrigued by simulation games and living through the lives of animated characters.

I’d be interested in hearing people’s experiences on Second Life and what that is like in comparison to the Sims…?

NIN Ghosts

Hey guys,

It looks like the Nine Inch Nails are following the marketing strategy that made In Rainbows a chart topper. They have released a new album called Ghosts which is available (9 of 25 tracks) for free on their site. It has minimal vocals and is designed to be remixed and mashed in a style similar to the Black Album. Download it here!
If any of you remember the days of Napster and its demise you will realize the hypocrisy of NIN’s release.

e

Madness? This is DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!!

So just an interesting experience I had yesterday concerning the whole “spring forward” deal. See, I didn’t realize that daylight savings started yesterday. I’m horrible with remembering these kinds of things. And yet, when I had to meet my friends at 3, I made it on time. How could this be? It’s simple!

I don’t use any kind of time-telling device that isn’t automatically monitored to adjust for daylight savings!

i.e. Technology stole an hour away from my life.

The only clock I have that I needed to adjust manually was my wristwatch, which I didn’t notice was wrong until now because I have a hard time using it (it’s analog; I can’t read it well). I use my cellphone or computer for everything else. I had a radio alarm clock, but I got rid of it once I discovered how much easier and efficient it is to just use my cell.

I’ve never had this happen to me before, so I thought it might be kind of interesting to share it with you all.

🙂

Responses for March 11

The Jenkins article and beginning of Bogost’s book make arguments for the specific ways that videogames function as a specific medium with a particular rhetoric and aesthetic mode. What aspects of gaming do you find most distinctive, and how do they work to persuade or create an artistic possibility?

I also want to collect links to online games that seem relevant to our study – try to play around with some of them to get a sense of different possibilities. Here are a few that Bogost discusses or that offer examples of political games:

Darfur is Dying

McDonalds Game

September 12th and Madrid

Redistricting Game

Persuasive Games – Bogost’s own studio, which includes the Dean for Iowa game and many others

A victory for fair use… and over Michael Savage

I thought this story is very relevant to the movie we watched in class the other day. A judge in San Francisco ruled that a Muslim Civil Rights group had the right to rebroadcast and criticize four minutes of Michael Savage’s radio show because doing so was social commentary and fell under the terms of fair use.

Also, going back to the podcast David and I did, it’s interesting to wonder whether the publicity Michael Savage gets for his bigoted statements is a good thing or a bad thing. Either way it’s good that Savage’s frivolous law suit got thrown out.

Political Remix Videos

I know that everyone is probably getting sick of all the remix videos that are being posted. But I found this one that is actually a campagin ad for Hilary Clinton made from a mash up of Jack Nicholson clips. I think it is interesting how remix videos have now become a tool for political campaigns. [youtube U9NUPLaoUdo]

I’m on YouTube!

So a year and a half ago I was only using my computer for email, AIM, and TextTwist. My sister actually made a Facebook account for me and then gave me the password. Now I’m blogging with you guys, running Firefox, and uploading video to stream on the net. Woohoo! What a rush.

YouTube was surprisingly easy to join and use. Easier than, say… navigating a Mac! (I run Windows… and I LIKE IT! You can all jump out of the shadows and eat me now.)

I only have one video up so far, my final project for Sight and Sound I, and I don’t know if it counts as remix culture. It certainly borrows from other media and even has something to say about it, and I’d like to know what you guys think.

Is it sad that I take extremely nerdy glee from being able to embed videos in this blog thing?

[youtube 37pi39U2NEk]

Another movie remix

[youtube TF3z-j8o39I]
Now this one is a bit different than the shining or office space remix trailer because it doesn’t try to “remix” the film’s genre, storyline, etc. but rather takes one aspect of fargo (i.e. how it portrays south dakotans) and analyzes it. Interesting to think about how remix videos can function differently.

Big Blue Dress

So my boyfriend is a 1337 pwnzor Tauran druid ftw, btw, and sends me these crazy things. The previous video reminded me of this one, which is one of the better ones I’ve seen.　It’s also musical, to a very catchy song. One more way MMORPGs invade the lives of non-players like me.

And remember; “A man who’s truly skilled can look quite good in twill!” Oh dear, that was a bit much, even for me…

[youtube vqO7zEWu0W0]

roflmao?

Brian, Derek, and I have a friend who plays WoW. We generally find it’s better not to ask, but sometimes it gets us really tasty bits of internet culture, such as this video. It’s worth watching until the credits start rolling.

I present to you “ROFLMAO,” a re-imagined “Mahna Mahna.”
[youtube iEWgs6YQR9A]

On the subject of robots…

Alright, so my titles need work. But this is a webcomic that I read, which I’m pretty sure no one else does. Thus I shall enlighten you as you have enlightened me. Most of them are single panels or short multipanel comics, with continuity stemming from the Transformers franchise. It’s a commentary on the whole picture, from Generation 1 to the fandom to mistakes Michael Bay hasn’t even made yet. The latest edition is of the latter category, and it updates every Monday.

Matt Moylan’s Lilformers