I know that one makes new goals on New year’s day but, for me, that only insured that I didn’t spend any amount of time actually thing about what I wanted to accomplish in that year and, worse, not following through. Last year at the end of July I wrote out a large list of goals. I gave myself a year to accomplish some of them, others I gave myself more time (five or ten years.) That year recently came to an end and I wrote about how I did here (the short version: pretty darn well.) I spent the last 2 weeks thinking about what I wanted to do this year and why, any time an idea came to me I jotted it down and then went back to whatever I was doing, after it was all over I had quite the list. I then sat down and reviewed them, using a few criteria: why did I want to do this? Could it realistically be accomplished in a year? Is this something that should be broken down into multiple goals? Does this make me a better/more interesting/smarter person? With the criteria I whittled it down to a list that I felt was workable for the year and wit my multi-year goals.
Here is my list of goals for the year between August 4, 2009 – August 4, 2010
1. Get my scuba diving license
2. Go skydiving
3. Become an Oddfellow
4. Brush-up on my Latin – Read Harrius Potter et Philosphi Lapis
5. Write 10,000 word story (this is for NaNoWriMo)
6. Complete my BFG fleet, Horde army, and Chaos army (maybe too much here…)
7. Make a gaming table
8. Climb Half-dome in Yosemite
9. Get in great shape (swimming, running, cycling, maybe I should look into Triathlons?)
This set-up is complicated by the fact that no one can quite agree on who to poo-poo and what exactly deserves to have paeans written to its glory. Video games though just aren’t taken seriously and game journalism is seen of more as a cheer team rather than a bastion of stimulating conversation and critique.
Respect to a media isn’t given until those who profess a love for it, denigrate the majority of it… In an effort to bring more creditability to video gaming I’m offering this list of 10 things you’ll absolutely need to be one of those snobbish elitists you’d see if you ever went to art galleries, indy-music gigs, or read the New Yorker…
It seems in order to be taken seriously by the art industry, and the world at large, you have to poo-poo a lot of things while singing the praises of a small few… This set-up is complicated by the fact that no one can quite agree on who to poo-poo and what exactly deserves to have paeans written to its glory. Video games though just aren’t taken seriously and game journalism is seen of more as a cheer team rather than a bastion of stimulating conversation and critique.
Respect to a media isn’t given until those who profess a love for it, denigrate the majority of it… In an effort to bring more creditability to video gaming I’m offering this list of 10 things you’ll absolutely need to be one of those snobbish elitists you’d see if you ever went to art galleries, indy-music gigs, or read the New Yorker…
10. Braid – Braid is the future of video games, movies, life, everything. Don’t believe me? Just asks its creator, Jonathan Blow, who has managed to make his own ego the main selling point of this brainy platformer. Now, you don’t actually have to beat the game, you don’t even have to play it. Simply mention Braid, or it’s creator, in any video game discussion as an excellent example of form reflecting content, or comment on the delicate and multi-layered story in a condescending voice and you’re peers will soon be asking you what games they should like and why.
9. Zork – As a connoisseur, a collector, a critic you know the importance of packaging, how the context of an item contributes or detracts from how that item is perceived and interpreted. Zork is one of the most famous PC games ever made, familiar to even those outside of the hobby. So you know that Zork was originally sold in small plastic baggies with a 36-page booklet, right? and that is the version that you have. Why is this important? Because you own a piece of gaming history before it was commercialized, before the hobby was “sold-out.” It is important to play Zork so that you see just how far the format has degenerated since its inception… Here is story-telling! Games today eschew story in exchange for fancy graphics and complex sound tracks, all wrapped around 12 year-old male power/revenge fantasies. You also need to play Zork, in order to know what a grue is, in case your expertise and right to belittle everyone and everything to do with the hobby is questioned.
It's Thinking...
8. Sega Dreamcast – Sega tried so hard too, The Dreamcast was the companies swan song before they got out of the hardware business altogether. Why do you need one? Well because as a snob you know that the biggest isn’t always the best, in fact, you’ve based you’re entire value system around hating and vilifying anything that the majority like. The Dreamcast is the perfect system, not only because it had a surprising number of great games on it, as well as truly bizarre ones that help your connoisseur cred, but it also failed to be commercially successful. Not because the system had actual technical flaws, It’s parent company had used up any good-will consumers might have had towards them long before, or a myriad of other reasons. It failed solely because the proletariat failed to perceive its glory, but snobs recognized its greatness which is why they still own one and endlessly talk about how much better it was than the PS2.
7. Any board game designed by a German – If you follow the broader world of gaming you know that there has been a recent revolution in the boring old world of board games. Over the last few years European game designers have muscled in on the boring American market bringing to our shores such games as Carcassone, Puerto Rico, and numerous other board games that aren’t Monopoly or Life with a new skin… Having at least one of these games shows that your love of gaming transcends boundaries and medias. It also shows that your snobbery does as well, “If it isn’t designed by someone with an accent in their name it really isn’t worth playing.”
6. Any game that sells on the secondary market for more than $200 – Obviously it has to be complete… That cardboard box adds anywhere from $25-$100 dollars to the aftermarket price. Why do you need one of these? For a number of reasons: you get to brag to everyone just how much your complete MIB copy of Panzar Dragoon Saga is, not that you care about that sort of thing; it shows that you you take care of your collection, that you are not a gamer, anyone can be that, you are a collector: that you have impeccable taste, others might have to scrape together a small fortune to get their hands on a game everyone, belatedly, recognizes as great, you bought it when it first came out, when everyone else was buying garbage like Killer Instinct you picked up a copy of Earthbound.
sexy, sexy, text
5. Softporn Adventure – Software erotica, wasn’t always easy to come by… In fact digital images of naked women weren’t even possible with early computers, and early attempts at digital pornography are more disturbing than titillating. Softporn Adventure was one of the first digital attempts at adult oriented gaming. The game lacks any graphics and is tame even by the standards of its time. Despite all that the game created a huge controversy and was bootlegged and pirated across America’s high school and college campuses. This rare piece in your collection tells people your love of the art isn’t bound by bourgeoisie attitudes toward sex, feminism, and class. Bonus snob facts: This game was originally published by On-Line Systems, which would become Sierra On-line, and is the only game the company made that does not include graphics. Also Roberta Williams (creator of King’s Quest and other adventure games) is naked in a hot tub on the cover.
4. Japanese copies of Games released in English – That’s impressive that you own Casltevania 1,2, and 3 complete MIB. Did I tell you I have a copy of Akumajō Dracula, Dorakyura Tsū: Noroi no Fūin, and Akumajō Densetsu? No, well I do. What’s that you have Final Fantasy 3? That’s nice, check out my copy of Fainaru Fantajī Shikkusu. Things are just better when you can’t understand them, also they have crosses and boobies in the original versions.
3. An irrational, undying, love for some game designer – It really doesn’t matter who… Sid Meier, Hideo Kojima, Shigeru Miyamoto, Tomonobu Itagaki, the Gollop Brothers, Brian Reynolds, Hironobu Sakaguch, the list is endless… As long as you’ve picked one and will defend any and every game, statement, or bowel movement they’ve ever made. You’re not a fanboy though, so you’re going to have to dress up your slavish commitment up in big words, and technical terms… Talk about moving the media forward, paradigm shifts, innovative controls, restructuring design elements, advanced responsive AI, groundbreaking story-telling, etc., etc.
2. A videoed speed-run of your favorite game, tool assisted doesn’t count – As an expert on all things gaming, you must occasionally show others just how amazing you are at games. Also, you’re better than them at games. One of the best ways to do this is to go through a game, preferably a hard one, as fast as you can without dying recording the whole time and then upload it to YouTube where the whole world can bask in the glory that is you… The video above, by Toad22484, is a speedrun of Contra, and it clearly shows how much better than you he is at gaming… With your own you’ll also be able to assert your dominance over the unwashed gaming masses…
you wish you owned it
1. An original arcade cabinet or prototype/demo cart – Either one. Possessing one of these not only shows you’re better than other gamers, disposable income to blow on superfluous collector’s items… Having one or multiples of these lets people see how you’re doing your part to preserve video game heritage. It will also make them jealous.
So there you have it, 10 things you’ll need to enter the gamerati elite. Best of luck I look forward to our hobby becoming as shallow, hollow, and joyless as other forms of mass entertainment are today!
Last Wednesday (6/10/09) there was a fairly large protest (maybe as many as at the tea party) on the north steps of the state Capitol in California. People from all over the state came to protest Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts to state programs that offer subsidized medication to Californians with the HIV or AIDS… I got it all on camera!
I spent all week trying to make a damn flowchart for my Civics post… No, luck as every program I used wanted money to export or the UI was unintelligible. I’m still working on it and as soon as I have something it’ll be up here.
Last Wednesday (6/10/09) there was a fairly large protest (maybe as many as at the tea party) on the north steps of the state Capitol in California. People from all over the state came to protest Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts to state programs that offer subsidized medication to Californians with the HIV or AIDS… and I was there to capture it with my Flip Mino! Cutting the video into numerous sections and posting it on to Youtube is what took the rest of the week… I’ve also been dealing with planning for a wedding and such (no, you’re not invited… yet. If you’re reading this I’m sure you probably will be at some point, you can email me if you have questions…), so the blog hasn’t received the attention it usually gets.
I recorded about an hour of the protest and was able to get 9 speeches, 8 of them by State Legislators all of whom were Democrats. I’d speak about the state budget but this isn’t the place for it and there isn’t one yet to look over and comment on. The legislative conference committee is still reviewing the Governor’s constantly revised budget… I think that mid next week the Senate and Assembly will start to take the budget up and as they do I’ll comment then. Back to the subject at hand, below you’ll find some of the videos I posted on youtube, here is the link to all of them:
This is 30 minutes before the protest and I just walk-through and look at the signs… shortly there after my Mino froze (I fixed it)
I’m showing this one because I appreciate Assemblyman Ammiano’s candor and no-nonsense approach
As I said the rest are on Youtube at the link above and you can watch them there at your leisure…
This is something that all games (video or otherwise) do well. They introduce simple concepts that are easy to understand and then slowly require the player to master these rules to progress.
World of Goo
I started playing World of Goo last weekend. I’ve been playing it obsessivley since and beat it just a few days after purchasing it. I’ve spent a large chunk of my free time moving the slimy building “blocks” around the screen.
Sitting here now I’m trying to isolate just what about this game made it so engaging. I suspect that like many things that people find entertaining over sustained periods of time it is that the rules are easy to learn but difficult to master. World of Goo is easy to pick up and play, even if you’re unfamiliar with video games, in minutes you’ll be manipulating the goos into simple structures like bridges and towers and unconsciously dealing with such complex issues as weight load and structural balance. The game slowly demands that you construct better and better structures in order to solves the puzzles while providing a sand box mode where you’re free just to build with the the goos.
This is something that all games (video or otherwise) do well. They introduce simple concepts that are easy to understand and then slowly require the player to master these rules to progress. Using our brains natural tendancy to reward itself when it solves a problem to keep us playing their game!
If you haven’t tried the game yet I hope you’ll at least pick up the demo, and give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
I know that one makes new goals on New year’s day but, for me, that only insured that I didn’t spend any amount of time actually thing about what I wanted to accomplish in that year and, worse, not following through. Last year at the end of July I wrote out a large list of goals. I gave myself a year to accomplish some of them, others I gave myself more time (five or ten years.) That year recently came to an end and I wrote about how I did here (the short version: pretty darn well.) I spent the last 2 weeks thinking about what I wanted to do this year and why, any time an idea came to me I jotted it down and then went back to whatever I was doing, after it was all over I had quite the list. I then sat down and reviewed them, using a few criteria: why did I want to do this? Could it realistically be accomplished in a year? Is this something that should be broken down into multiple goals? Does this make me a better/more interesting/smarter person? With the criteria I whittled it down to a list that I felt was workable for the year and wit my multi-year goals.
10. Braid – Braid is the future of video games, movies, life, everything. Don’t believe me? Just asks its creator, Jonathan Blow, who has managed to make his own ego the main selling point of this brainy platformer. Now, you don’t actually have to beat the game, you don’t even have to play it. Simply mention Braid, or it’s creator, in any video game discussion as an excellent example of form reflecting content, or comment on the delicate and multi-layered story in a condescending voice and you’re peers will soon be asking you what games they should like and why.
6. Any game that sells on the secondary market for more than $200 – Obviously it has to be complete… That cardboard box adds anywhere from $25-$100 dollars to the aftermarket price. Why do you need one of these? For a number of reasons: you get to brag to everyone just how much your complete MIB copy of 
4. Japanese copies of Games released in English – That’s impressive that you own Casltevania 1,2, and 3 complete MIB. Did I tell you I have a copy of Akumajō Dracula, Dorakyura Tsū: Noroi no Fūin, and Akumajō Densetsu? No, well I do. What’s that you have Final Fantasy 3? That’s nice, check out my copy of Fainaru Fantajī Shikkusu. Things are just better when you can’t understand them, also they have crosses and boobies in the original versions.
