Monthly Archives: September 2006

What an excellent way to be a fan!

27 September 2006

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I’ve been completely smitten by Keane’s “Crystal Ball”! I know, I’m late and everyone else is probably sick of it – but I’m completely and utterly smitten!!! I saw a clip of the music video and there was my favorite B-actor (oh dear…is that an insult?)! Does anyone else have those? Actors that you just adore, but don’t remember the name of?

Anyways, wanted to have a look at the whole video and naturally headed over to YouTube! And, naturally the RIAA had requested the video removed! Idiots!

But ofcourse I found so much more interesting stuff with the song!!! A Lost mashup! An adorable puppet! A Harry Potter love triangle drama! Three best friends portraying the weirdness of growing up (I think)! An amusement park mash-up! And….

Well…I think I’m gonna have to stop there, the song’s starting to wear thin in my ears! Hehe!

I think this stuff is just adorable and entertaining (although I really shouldn’t be spending this much time enjoying myself). And ofcourse….how could I ever mention fan culture without mentioning machinima?!!! Hehe!

Historical Simulations and AI

25 September 2006

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So…Peter S. Jenkins is alive and well…it seems…and challenging my thoughts again. Now…I’ve only skimmed through this, and I honestly can’t decide if he’s gone mad or if he’s one of the genius future thinkers of our time!

I’m gonna have to have another go at it…but let me present you with: “Historical Simulations – Motivational, Ethical and Legal Issues”.

After skimming through it – I feel like I’m still not sure what he means with historical simulations and AIs! I mean…he starts off pretty boldly:

“The notion that the perceived world is an illusion or a simulation has arisen for centuries in the works of philosophers, mathematicians, and social scientists. A recent variant on this theme, posited by Nick Bostrom of the University of Oxford, is that it is possible that we are forms of artificial intelligence in an ancestor, (i.e. historical) simulation created by a future society.”

And then he gets me back to nodding – because he mentions McLuhan’s ‘rearview mirror effect’ and some of Castronova’s ideas of using ‘synthetic worlds’ but I suppose I’m just nodding from recognition – because my hair just rises up when he starts using words like apocalypse!

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Some WoW stories

25 September 2006

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Firstly…this gruesome, yet somehow hillarious story from a very unfortunate WoW’er on his way to meet an in-game friend in Canada. It all started with an ipod and an airline toilet – to then having to explain WoW and guilds to two very angry detectives! Poor thing!!! Terrifying, but so surreal, you just can’t help but laugh!

And then there’s this very amusing post pondering how a rich person could buy their way into überdom in WoW, how much it would cost a.s.o. – I loved it!!

Basshunter strikes again

25 September 2006

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This time it’s a song about gaming. Pretty much singing that they’re sitting there in ‘venten’ (which I think is an abreviation for ventrilo) and playing a little computer games (interesting to think that the direct translation would be ‘playing data)!

Update: Oops! I was wrong! He’s actually singing about playing DotA – Defense of the Ancients.

It’s, you know, something to blog about without having to write too much;)! Interesting, at least!

Thanks, i1277!

Girl gamers

22 September 2006

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I had the priveledge of meeting a new enthusiastic Media Masters student a few weeks ago looking to write something about gaming. Yay!!!!! From what I understand, she had grown up being a bit of a gamer and didn’t quite understand why other girls weren’t as well. We ended up having a conversation about the phenomenon “female closet gamers”. You know the type…the girls who’ll gladly dismiss games as a waste of time and a nerdy thing – but secretly they have a nintendo at home! Anyways…it seems like this is the topic she wants to pursue – and I just thought I’d throw it out there and see if anyone knows of someone doing something of the same research?

I guess she’s gonna have to divide between casual and ‘serious’ (although I hate that word) gamers. And I know I’ve got some articles hidden away here somewhere in my del.icio.us. (it’s taken me SUCH a long time to find a tagging system that actually works for me – some stuff just gets lost). I’m wondering how best to tackle such a question.

I’ve already mentioned Hilde Corneliussen (also…didn’t a student from good ol’ HI department hand in a thesis about this recently?)and Torill Mortensen. Also Henry Jenkins ofcourse.

The student is a blogger – AND WE LOVE BLOGGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So bless her!!!

She’s written a post where she ponders about tackling the Nintendo Wii and how they’re trying to bring in the casual gamers and women (in Norwegian) and I was thinking it might be interesting to analyse how the Xbox360, PS3 and Wii differ in their advertising.

But I thing she’s more of an audience kind of gal! I’m wondering if the answer lies in finding the hardcore female gamers who are out of the closet, interview them to see if they think it’s a big deal or not? And I think maybe she should stay away from MMORPGs – because they sometimes seem to be an exception. And I think it would be cool to look at 20 year olds and above.

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Silence Variations

21 September 2006

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Yay! Finally!!! The Silence Variations is now available for download!!!

I suppose we were all stunned in August, 2004 – when some thieves manage to just casually steal Munch‘s famous ‘Scream‘ and ‘Madonna’ paintings. And when I say casually – I mean just taking the darn things off the wall and running out of there!

So Overdog Games designed this magnificent game for Bergen Kunsthall‘s Game On exhibition last year.

“Silence plays out endless variations on this theme, as a two-player computer game installation: Wave your guns, find the paintings, and get the hell out. If nobody gets hurt, all is well. It’s the classic heist story, but with a twist: There is no flaky partner, no smart-ass heroes, and no wise-cracking cops. Too simple? Well, this time that’s the tune.”

The paintings have finally been retrieved! And the game is finally available for download! Yay!

And they warm my little ol’ heart when they also release the code under a Creative Commons license!! Bless them!!!

I want more, more and MORE!!! Bogost has also picked up on it! Yay!!!

"The Days After"

20 September 2006

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By now we’ve all read about the dreadful Montreal college shooting, which is devestating! And I understand, truely, the desire to find an answer to ‘why?’ – it’s something I ask myself, as well! And ofcourse violent computer games are on top of the medias ‘answers’ list. Bogost discusses this best – I’m not going too dwell on it here.
I just found this machinima film when on a little ‘brain break’ – and thought it was a tad relevant. Just because it’s made using Grand Theft Auto, which usually gets the worst rap when discussions of ‘violent games lead to violence’ occur. I’ll admit it’s kinda sappy – but I enjoyed it. And isn’t it amazing that such a non-violent film can be made in a violent game? I love that!

So here’s an interesting dilemma!

19 September 2006

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I’m a terrible sister!! My sister’s birthday is tomorrow and I STILL haven’t found her a gift! She lives in Australia and I’ve been surfing around for a couple of days trying to find something VERY modest for my student budget. There’s a few options out there that seem modest…but the cost is so much more!
So…my sister is an eager WoW’er…and I’m wondering….how unethical would it be for me to buy her a gift certificate for virtual goods?

EA – Angel or Devil!!

9 September 2006

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I absolutely adore Chris Bateman (but then again what games blogger don’t I, adore?)!! Lately he’s sorta been combining game and blog, which I think is really interesting!

Latest is a game to see whether EA is good or bad! We, as readers, are urged to contribute our thoughts on EA with points towards ‘angel’ and ‘devil’! Very interesting!

I’m still trying to gather my thoughts on the subject! But it will definitely be in the back of my mind as I sit here at uni on a Saturday night trying to focus on producing good work and trying to surpass my self doubts!

If you have any thoughts on the subject I hereby urge you to contribute!!

Velvet-Strike

7 September 2006

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This is new to me…and oh…how beautiful!!! I’m truely touched!

”

Velvet-Strike is a collection of spray paints to use as graffiti on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the popular network shooter terrorism game “Counter-Strike”. Velvet-Strike was conceptualized during the beginning of Bush’s “War on Terrorism.” We invite others to submit their own “spray-paints” relating to this theme.”

It’s just…beautiful! Anti war graffiti in such a ‘reality-like’ war game? Amazing! And as they state:

“You are for or against us, you are with us, “the one”, or you are with the enemy is the underlying logic of the West, as I understood a talk by Marina Grzinic at an international cyberfeminist conference in Germany in December 2001. (Pre-axis of evil.) Although computer games replicate this binary competitive logic maybe there is something ultimately subversive in the knowledge that it is only a game, that at any moment you may switch sides with the “other”, you may play the terrorist side in Counter-Strike.”

and

“Reality is up for grabs. The real needs to be remade by us.”

I’m such a sucker for movements like this!!! Gives me so much hope! And I’m going to stop now before I get all sappy!!