Domain Names

I had this forwarded to me in an email a few weeks back and thought it was pretty funny and some people might appreciate it... Guess we should always think about these things first...

Everyone knows that if you are going to operate a business in today's
world you need a domain name. It is advisable to look at the domain
name selected as other see it and not just as you think it looks.
Failure to do this may result in situations such as the following
(legitimate) companies who deal in everyday humdrum products and
services but clearly didn't give their domain names enough
consideration:

1. A site called 'Who Represents' where you can find the name of the
agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange
advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there's the Italian Power Generator company…
www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New
South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you're looking for computer software, there's always www.ipanywhere.com

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is
www.cummingfirst.com

9. Then, of course, there's these brainless art designers, and their
whacky website: www.speedofart.com

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at www.gotahoe.com

Second Life

The quite funny Stuart Jeffries 'infiltrates' the virtual reality site Second Life.

Google+YouTube=True?

According to the biggest Norwegian (gossip) newspaper VG, Google wants to buy YouTube. Since most of you probably won't understand a word that is said in that article, here is the site they're referring to, The Wall Street Journal. A "person familiar with the matter" has said Google is in talks with YouTube to buy the website for 1,8 billion USD. It's still in a sensitive stage and could brake off. But if they do, that would mean Google has managed to take over yet another of the worlds most popular websites, and is slowly making a bigger and bigger impact on users of the Internet. I wonder where it will end. Will they take over the whole Internet?

Emily

Digital Tech Ads

Howdy,
Here's a site I found a few weeks back, apologies if you already know/seen it, being a kind of retroist I'm a lil slow on the uptake. The electronics and technology section of Ads of the World (http://adsoftheworld.com) has a few interesting ads displaying the whole digital etherealness and 'organic' nature of a digital lifestyle as shown in the global tech ads from the lec. I especially like the Brit-designed AOL series, they are one of the few who don't rely on a heavy, hi-tech image or the verisimilitude visual effect. But judging from some of the comments, they seem a bit too hopeful or maybe their idealism is lost on viewers too caught up with in-your-face digital images. The advert copy asks: "Does Learning About Different Cultures Make Us More Tolerant? /Discuss." And on another: "The Internet. Is Freedom of Speech a Right, or a Wrong?" There are a few ads showing digital tech simulating an affinity with nature. The Panasonic HDTV adverts rework a few 'elemental' blockbusters. There's also a set of ads for SFR displaying the effects of over reliance on the mobile phone: having a meal with one hand and twisted fingers!
Stella

Mobile Media, how much had you used yet?

After went through the website about Mobile Meida Japan, http://www.mobilemediajapan.com/...
I just wondering this, I got my ipod, psp and mobile phone, and I almost carry them with me 24/7, and three of them are have the modern power to access to internet, they are part of the Mobile Media, but the thing is, I used none of them as a media…
So I just wondering how many people watch new or movie on their cell phone, Or access internet on the psp…

Peter Jackson...the gamer?

It was announced last week that Peter Jackson and Microsoft are going to be working together to establish “Wingnut Interactive”. Peter Jackson will have the opportunity to create a new breed of interactive video games.

Jackson said that new technologies which are available will help them to express themselves creatively in a whole new way. We all know that Peter Jackson has a “pretty good” imagination, and with the chance to sit down and try to bring his ideas to life, I’m waiting for him to come up with something freakish and out of this world – some thing that will change the gaming sphere forever. There are many in the race to redefine the gaming world, like Kevin touched on in the lecture. And I think Jackson is going to give the field a run for their money, after all he is working together with Microsoft, so I’m thinking that he’s going to have a few recourses at his disposal.

Jackson himself said that, "his vision, together with Microsoft Game Studios, is to push the boundaries of game development and the future of interactive entertainment."

I know that the gamers out there will be eagerly anticipating seeing what ever Jackson is going to come up with…I know I am.

old skool games all the way:)

When I was younger I used to be so into video games, I’m talking Sega Saturn, Sega Master System, Sega Mega drive etc. I guess I was only into them because of my big brother whose main purpose in life was to treat me like a boy. You see, he didn’t get the little brother he had prayed for, and I think it was a by-product from the fact my mum actually treated me like a boy; I still remember the time she gave me a bowl cut. Anyways, the days of street fighter and tekken was actually amazing, in comparison to these days, from my perspective, games just don’t have that same feeling of excitement. This nostalgic pleasure I have as a result of saving weeks of pocket money just so I could get a game boy pocket, still haunts me. Games have just started to get way too complex in their graphics. Maybe I am making a sweeping generalization, but I reckon games shouldn’t have to become so intensified by trying to become more ‘real’ or imaginative. When still playing Sega, I can still become immersed in the game, so why do game producers have to complicate graphics and all that stuff. At the end of the day, it’s just technological advancements and the need for more money I guess.

In continuance with games and their advancements, in the past week all my flat mates and I have been trying to clock ‘Crash Team Racing’, a game from the original play station. It is actually the best game ever invented, and actually also the best way to distract me from doing my essays. Games like Grand Theft Auto San Andreas on play station 2 are violent and X-rated, taking away the fun of cute characters like crash bandicoot. So why are the creators of games like these interested in representing such material? Maybe they are trying to push the boundaries of representation.

These are just a few things that I have pondered, so if you guys have any thing else to add or want to rebut my one sided view of games, feel free.

Rachael Chiu

Do you know who chat with you now?

Virtual identity is a really complex and important issue for the internet or cyberself world. Communication is the essential aspect of the internet, but how do we know the one we communicate with is honesty or deception?
This is an interest game, which called “The Turning Game”, and this game call “tell” you whether you are a male or female. For instance, “Here's a sample Q & A from people trying to portray women: "What's your best beauty tip? Nicky says: Mix your own concealer with Oxy10. It's a better colour than the one that comes out of the bottle. Rhonda says: Always blot your lipstick with a piece of tissue." Who was really a woman? Nicky.” (The example here is from the internet.).
There is a question, do we really care who we chat with?
For me, I do not. The reason we chat on line is not to find out what the reality is, but on the other hand, is what the fantasy is!
In the chat room, we can be everyone. The very important reason we are here, is talking to someone we’d like to, we do not necessary to know who we talk with. Is she a really girl? Is he a really doctor? I do not care.
However, this sort of carelessness is based on no hurt, the deception is not acceptable!

Jess the (lying) Kiwi...

Did anyone else see the ad for Campbell Live tomorrow night?

Their lead story is about a girl called Jess who started a video blog on Youtube under the guise that she is an american girl from a highly religious family. It became one of the most popular on Youtube. Anyway it turns out it was all make believe and young Jess is a bit of a fibber.

Look for it tomorrow night, might be interesting, definately topical.

Mobile Media Me

Judith Butler says that identity- gendered, sexed, raced, and otherwise- is “the repeated stylization of the body, a set of repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance, of a natural sort of being”. In other words, our identities are effects of ('contoured' and 'constituted' by) how we engage with people, interact with objects, and otherwise act in the world. Identity is not a unique, unified, fixed entity, but rather a creation composed of the manners in which we talk, walk and sit, what we wear, what we tell ourselves and others we like, and so on. These personal characteristics are imported from culture.

In light of yesterday's lecture, it seems that the technology we use and how we use it should be added to this list of identity-making conventions. If you work from Butler's conception of identity, one must conclude that those of us who are integrating mobile media devices into our lives are indeed becoming cyborgs. Not only are such technologies becoming physical and emotional appendages to our selves, they are also playing an increasingly significant role in the very constitution of who we are as individuals!

Milk idol?

Hi, well I found this and thought I would share it. Just because it is inane and I'm procrastinating esays...

http://www.milkchillers.com/

What would Habermas say?

Blogosphere as a postmodern public sphere:

It has been argued that the tabloid news and in particular tabloid talk shows can be seen as a modern reinterpretation of Habermas’ ‘public sphere’. Using this same kind of reasoning I feel that we can also view the blogosphere in the same light.
It is argued that tabloid talk shows give the opportunity to everyday people to voice their views and interact. Effectively providing a platform to broadcast and debate, while forming (or as critics have argued) reinforcing ideas. In the same way blogging offers a similar degree of democratic merit in that it provides a platform for everyday people to speak and debate. I realise that it is easy to overstate the democratic nature of the blogosphere. As many people still don’t have access to the Internet it could be argued that it doesn’t fulfil this aspect of a ‘public sphere’. But Internet use is constantly spreading and becoming cheaper. It is conceivable that in the not to distant future it will be accessible by almost everyone.
People have also raised questions of the rationality and nature of the discourse and communication the blogosphere. Sure I accept that a lot of it is pretty menial stuff, but there is still a good deal of rational considered debate that occurs, it would be basic intellectual snobbery to disregard this. And as it has also been argued any communication is good to an extent.
I feel the blogosphere is probably the closest thing we have at present to a modern reinterpretation of the ‘public sphere’ as conceived by Habermas.

In my opinion this is a good example of how new media and techno culture are allowing people to start communicating with others on a broader level. Reinvigorating public debate with out the mediating effects of the mass media. A more direct, ‘pure’ form of communication and discourse, if you will.

Sweet Jesus I hate Cellphones

WARNING! WARNING! THERE IS A NEW TEXT MESSAGE FOR... Barry. I REPEAT, THERE IS A NEW TEXT MESSAGE FOR... Barry.

I swear, cellphones will be what pushes me over the edge. I don't care that you like the Black Eye Peas, and neither does anyone else in the bloody cafe. I don't want to see your slighty-askew photos taken as you pout your lips and drape your fringe over one eye. I get enough of that on Myspace thank you. Look, nobody wants to see your blurry, framing video of your Converse sneakers, or that time you tried to pirate Garfield 2. Just get a few beeps, that's enough to let people know they are wanted. Video calling? Watch the Jetsons if you're that desperate for pseudo-human contact. I think cellphones have become just a tool which people show off. Look, I have four billion megapixels, I have Bluetooth, I can take videos and upload them to my blog while sending them to my iPod and podcasting it across the net while downloading my friends latest videos while receiving a call and texting my latest blog entry in while OH, my MP3 of My Humps is finished downloading, time to listen to that AT FULL VOLUME I mean, these other people on the bus want to hear it too, right?

Oh, and I can play Snakes.

But I found this a few days ago: Screaming Cellphones. They have developed a cellphone ringtone that screams when the phone is stolen. While this may seem like a good idea, I feel that there will be several teenagers who find the fact that their cellphone rings like such very amusing. I think technology that helps people catch criminals is awesome, but teenagers are pretty dumb. They need a phone that EXPLODES when stolen.

Or this case: .Cellphone Snaps. An 18 year old snapped pictures of her mother in a domestic abuse case to show the police when they showed up. Soon, we will all have the capability to film one another, and we'll never leave the house for fear of being snapped, Bluetoothed to a nearby computer and Photoshopped into very compromising positions. I don't even know how you could tell if you did snap someone with a camera, all the cellphone camera images I have seen remind me of my old Commodore 64. It's either a man robbing a bank or Pac-Man, I can't tell.

CNET got people to rate what cellphones they liked the best. Now, I know very little about cellphones, but here is the link: .Rating the phones.

I loathe cellphones. If every cellphone in the world all of a sudden vanished, not only would I not be worried, I would laugh. Heartily. Stephen King has a novel where cellphones turn people into mindless zombies.

And that makes me smile.

Rape on MUDS what the #@!*

How far is too far when creating identities in MUDs and actions that go on in them? For the main essay question for this paper I revisited Sherry Turkles reading “Who Am We?” and I found a couple of lines that really disturbed me. I quote…

“A 21 year old collage senior defends his violent characteristics as ‘something in me; but quite frankly I’d rather rape on MUDs where no one is harm is done.”

Now I am no expert in phycology, but Sherry Turkle is and at the end of the reading she explains that,

“If we cultivate our awareness of what stands behind out screens personae, we are more likely to succeed in using virtual experience for personal transformation.”

So as our 21-year-old college students claims, “no harm is done.” How about your own mind! If one keeps ‘acting out these situation’ according to Turkle has a high chance of developing that same nature in there real life.

What is most upsetting is there doesn’t seem to be anyone policing these sorts of things. So there doesn’t seem to be a ‘how far is to far’.

Sim Life/ Hail Ants

**Insane Rant**

I recently found an old catalogue of Maxis games back in the PC transition stage, when Sim City 2000 was king and a whole slew of different Sim games were on the way. Ranging control from ants, cities, islands, and even animal evolution, I came to the conclusion that all simulations contain elements that are innately sinister. For all of your creative exploits, there were an equal number of destructive methods with hich you can undo all your hard/easy work. The metal cycloptic terror from Sim City, sending your ants to the spiders, making your created species a combination of really bad parts. Even popular game 'The Sims' has super potential to mess with artificial life (my brother enjoys the torment of no beds or lit fireplaces next to beds). These simulations of supreme control over a certain realm can better show the innate psyche of a person's mind than a 1st-person shooter in my opinion because there are options that easily cater to both.
Facing imps with chainsaws in Doom or nuking out other civilisations in Civilization? Clearly those who choose domination victories are the most evil of us all.

**/Insane Rant**

New Xtra Plans

http://www.xtraplans.co.nz/unleashed/

Xtra has released new internet plans. Pretty simple.

There is also a long awaited Unlimited Bandwidth plan for $50. Though it has strict use conditions such as no downloading more than 700meg between 4pm and midnight or they will call you up on the phone and bully you. There is a clause called "Traffic Management" so at any time of the day they can slow down peoples downloads to any speed they see fit to stop network congestion. So not exactly unlimited in speed as it claims and restricted unlimited downloads.

The Nerds Have Won

Well folks, its official: I'm giving up technology. Its just too stressful, the nerds have won. Read this excerpt that I stumbled across on the web looking for blog topics:

"By Spring 2004, an invasive mind control technology known as a "Frequency Fence" is slated for implementation onto global society. This Frequency Fence is a bio-neurological, electromagnetic induced form of mind control which will block your higher sensory abilities. A literal "perceptual harness" or "mental prison" will be built around you without you even knowing it is happening, and the scariest part is, your five senses will not alert to you that anything is wrong.

All electrical power generating stations, and the appliances that draw power from them will be utilized as a carrier for this electromagnetic distortion. The human body has a natural immunity against such invasion, which the instigators of this technology will repress by introducing a certain organic, elemental compound into the world's water supply, and by transmitting specific wave spectrums of light directly into the human optical faculties. Technologies such as broadcast television, and the internet, will be utilized to transmit the specific wave spectrums of light."

Rev. Terry-ana Robinson. http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/globalmindcontrol.html

This article goes on and on talking about how every form of technology will be implented to assist in the complete take over of global mind control. And i thought that cell phones were bad. Now i won't even be able to control any of my actions. Next thing i know, I could be buying all these products that I don't need to feed corporations, or supporting some bogus political movement, or worse yet, spending time writing on this blog...

Actions must be taken, or we will all be ruled. No control over our thoughts, systematic usage of our bodies and actions for the enemy; This is our future. I suggest boiling all forms of water before consumption for at least a week, maybe even mix in some bleach to kill the organic elemental compound. The health risk may be high, but its better than risking our mental states.

I will be moving into the hills, there is no other safe place to be. Drinking only rain water I have witnessed falling from the sky, I alone will be free from this mind control. Any who wish to join me I'm afraid cannot, for you may already be working for the enemy.

And as technology engulfs what was once called humanity, I will shed a tear in my lonesome abode far from any civilization. We use to be so free, so happy, so...human. In the name of progress, we have created an unrivalled dystopia unimaginable in our wildest thoughts. It seems as if it has finally happened, the oppressed are now the oppressors. There is no hope. The Nerds Have Won.

...good thing i found that website.

The Rritual Act of the Mobile phone

Drawing from the reading "Towards a Sociology of the Mobile Phone" mainly sourcing 'On the Mobile'a comparative research study understaken by Sadie Plant. The idea of being on the mobile in public considered as a 'ritual act' and the different rituals of use in public spaces. The two rituals of use she proposes when recieving a call; the removal of oneself from the immediate social situation or taking the call and speaking while the people with you look on in suspense. Interesting, how which would be considered more offensive, depending on the social predicament in which you find yourself in and the nature of the phone call. At dinner, in a meeting, in a Church, at a sports match, wedding or the school production. I guess it depends on your mobile etiquette or the way in which you use your mobile phone, as an extension of yourself or a means of communication, an accessory or some or for all those reasons. The terms 'innie' and 'outie', which Plant uses to distinguish behaviour by mobile users, holds alot of truth to it. "Innies use their phones as unobtrusively as possible whereas outies integrate phone conversation into their situation of copresence". The contrast she uses of a formal restaurant, where mobile phone use is banned and then in an informal café, where phones are displayed on tables and are used without hesitation. I find in Auckland we would represent, well majority of us would be 'Outies'. This is due to the environment and lifestyle and the make-up of the city, the various cafés, professionals, CBD, occupations, our materialistic nature and in a way the osentationus of Auckland and its people. This may seem a sweeping generalisation, but walk through Auckland, as I did and without suprise, Mobile phones were visualbly everywhere, being spoken into, put out for decoration, text messaging and some about to be used. I guess, I experienced a social situation, when this super imporatant businessman, decided to whip out his phone and used it, while I was having Dinner at a formal restuarant, Pizza Hut (nah, just kidding) A place in Posonby, cant remember the name. I sat their annoyed how rude I thought speaking so loudly and using a mobile phone in this social environment, not only did I find him obtrusive with his phone, but his total disregard for other people, but then again mobile phone etiquette is something that has no universal rules or regulations (maybe in specific restaurants and places), but generally I think it is up to personal interpretation of the social situation and how you choose to respond.

Radio, video, Boogie with a suitcase...

Just came across this really sensible column at Pitchfork about the proliferation of talk about pop music due to the web and how it may have 'democratised' criticism, or at least the potential value of what we write as ordinary but invested consumers of music.

Waterproof Technology – Why hasn’t it been invented yet?

I have been spending many hours in the bath, soaking in pinetarsol, to keep myself SANE and to stop me from itching myself to death due to a rubella rash. At first I looked forward to the idea of having baths, I was like, Yay I can just lie there and relax and do nothing but after about 10mins of that, I was over it!
I needed something to entertain me, so I grabbed a book but of course it got all soggy (even though I was being so cautious to keep my hands dry). After that I resorted to pulling out some old plastic toys and I tried to play with them in the bath. After,
"Hello what’s your name?"
"My name’s barbie"
"My name’s Ken"
"Lets make-out" I was pretty much over that too. What was I thinking? That the pinetarsol reminded me of a time all those years ago when I had chickenpox that I could go back to my child’s psyche? Okay, so maybe I was thinking that – but it didn’t work!
What I wouldn’t do for a waterproof cell phone or even a book. I expressed this concern to a friend and she suggested that they already made some rather entertaining waterproof technology in the form of "adult toys". Haha I had to decline this offer, as I’m covered in red spots so sex is the last thing on my mind – unless it’s between barbie and ken. But seriously, I think there is a market for books printed on recycled plastic, or waterproof PSPs… I’d buy one!

Point of Interest, just as I was writing my essay

Alright, so my essay was basically about virtual identity, well this dude has taken it abit over the top.  I would have expected this person who is 41, would have worked out the difference between what is in the real world and what is in a fantasy world.  If you stabbed someone in a fantasy world that's alright cause no one dies and you can't kill a person through their virtual identity.  But this person exchanged his make believe sword for a real one and kill the poor dude who stole his virtual sword.  What an idiot I say, but here's the article about it anyway enjoy.

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1448800,00.html 

Mash-ups: The Bastardisation of Music or Emergence of a new genre?

The lecture on music in the digital age found and the reading by Sean Ebare very interesting and informing. What I found interesting the most was that view on how music is, psychologically, inextricably related to identity, difference and social group consciousness (Ebare 2004). What I found interesting about the reading which goes hand in hand with the lecture was the issue of genre, which Ebare describes as being in the center of music consumption and manufacturing. That music which can be more easily narrowed into a genre is easier to market and accepted by listeners as there are already fan bases situated around them. In regards to this point, a question comes to mind; what happens then to songs that are considered hybrids, these so-called mash-ups? What genre do they hall into?
In addition to that is what was discussed in the lecture by Nabeel Zuberi in regards to mash-up/remix culture, a phenomenon which is relatively still new about 6-7 years I think Nabeel mentioned. I have heard mash-up albums like the collaborations between rapper Jay-Z and band Linkin Park and various other remixes and sampling but never really thought about the legalities behind them. The dialogue between singer/song writer George Clinton and artist Hank Shocklee I found very insightful on questions of originality and ethics of sampling amongst artists, as I always wondered myself how much exactly would artist have to pay for a certain amount of sampling as it is pretty much everywhere nowadays. I definitely believe that credit should be given where its due, for instance using a sample of a composition in a new song with added instruments or a little alteration of the original; but what would happen in the case of using excerpts of a song? How would one figure out how much credit and remuneration the original artist should get? And whether or not it is actually applicable as is another question; although it is being made from the sort of building on of the template of the original piece, but in its own right becomes a total different composition in the process. This lecture and reading has really helped me to start to think more about the passive and proactive audience on how this relationship changes with the introduction of technology and software in which numbers of amateur musicians are growing. This has all just ended up bringing up more questions, anybody have anything to add to this?

-RiX

Hackers on cnn

This afternoon whilst channel surfing around 4.15pm, my flatmate and i settled on CNN. After watching a montage of images of troops in Iraq with commentry that was less than informitve, a story came on about prominant republican politician in the United States. Mark Foley was caught allegedly sending sexually explict emails to a teenage male and CNN was displaying quotes extracted from them. During the story however, the television seemed to be experiencing digital rain fade of some kind and the pictures became static and chopped up. Then came the great part. Amongst all this 'rain fade' a string of words flashed up across the screen. I quote "sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick sick". Either someone at CNN has a job terminating humour or someone managed to infiltrate the system and display what they thought of the politician.

this weeks reader

Hey guys..

in regards the gaming notes, Steven Poole quotes that "so to blame video games directly for childhood violence is absurd". I hav to say i disagree with this argument based on the columbine shootings related to violent video games as well as that highschool kid who took grand theft auto seriously which led him to actually kill police officers?? (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147722,00.html) war, horrer and violent type games should not be at arms reach at all. Isnt the war that is going on now in the middle east enough? do we need to expose kids to more war and violence? no! absolutely not! The same goes to television programs. kids should be supervised.

I was completely shocked when a friend told me something which had actually happened. A while ago her sister was watching buffy the vampire slayer (when it sue to screen in the day time) with her 5 year old brother. the sister kept shouting at her kid brother to get out of the room because of the violence but he wouldnt listen and she kept nagging to the point where he got up went to the firewood box, took a pointy piece of wood and starting charging at her. (she then explained that he had watched buffy drive a stick into this demons chest to kill him. so i assume that the little brother was so sick of her nagging and shuoting that he wanted to do something about it. im sure his intentions were only to scare her (so i hoped).

violent games and tv programs do have an impact on children on some level. Parents shuold stay alert at all times. know their childrens friends and where they are and what theyre doing. The should not expose their kids to such violent games and programs because it can affect their moral choices.

Gaming Immersion

I've been a Massive street fighter fan since i was a kid ever since "street fighter 2" was put outside the diary down the road. Since then i've started playing several other games such as halo and the GTA series. One thing i stay away from now is RPG games. RPG stands for role playing game and one of the fundamental elements of them is to increase the stats of your character. The first RPG game i played was Final Fantasy 7 on PS. the reason i stay away from them now is because of the total sense of immersion i get from playing them. I was able to play final fantasy for hours skipping the luxuries of sleep and food. Unlike street fighter, the storyline of final fantasy 7 was as complex as a Quientin Taratino film. Building up a character, rather than selecting a preset character gives RPGs the edge in immersion over other gaming genres. I think the immersion of video games are more powerful than that of film and books especially RPGs which is the reason i choose to stay away from them now lol.

old-school

Apologies if anyone else has already written on this tangent but... the fact that old-school games
elicit just as much emotive response as new games comes as no surpirse. Obviously games crept their way into people's lives somehow and the fact that the gaming industry decided to invest in it shows there was something people were attracted to. This is now evident in the plethora of websites providing nostalgic access to '80s games (in particular). For example, this music lyrics site, and MAMEs - multiple arcade machine emulators - e.g. MAME plus!. (Check out Grow Up mag - there's an article about in there.) There is just something about the simplicity and irritating repetitiveness that is enjoyably fascinating.

(Good timing for this lecture too cos I have just been given a Nintendo 64 to shut me up from my endless ravings about the fantastic games I used to play on SNES. Those were the days... And now I have both depending on what mood I'm in - Far Cry and Diablo for hours of fun that makes my head go funny and Nintendo for sharing with friends. Who could want more?!)

Kevin's thesis sounds interesting too. Look forward to reading it.

Video Game Narrative ??!?

I thought the last lecture raised some interesting questions about the nature and value of video games... however I still can't clearly articulate what the difference between video games and other media forms is. I scribbled down a lot of questions in the lecture and kept comparing video games to novels in my head in an attempt to try and understand the differences between the two - especially in regards to their uses of narrative.

For instance in the question of the difficultly to ascribe a fixed narrative or meaning to a game - Isn't a game just a interchangeable set of interpretations of a pool of information. This seems quite similar to a novel where readers will work through the text and recognise a narrative. Even if the narrative of a video game is different to that gained by another player it's still based on interpreting the codified meanings of the game... with a preferred way(s) to navigate our way through the text.

Games still contain shaping factors very similar to those used in novels and films to create narrative. - Are different players experiences so different from a preferred and alternative reading of another type of text?

One difference pointed out in the lecture was that of diegetic and intra-diegetic spaces and the idea of immersion but I still cannot see how this immersion is so unique. In video games choices you make supposedly become part of the story, but essentially the story is already written and your choices limited within the code of the game... If I were playing a first-person shooting game I couldn't decide that killing people was boring and that I would prefer a game of tennis within the game world...on a less abstracted level, I couldn't decide that I wanted to kill my own team because this would be an alternative reading and would be 'punished' within the game.

Another difference was that of dying and re-spawning... but isn't the goal of re-spawning just to get another change to 're-read' the options the game gives you in order to understand how the game works... is this so different from re-reading a page in a book that you do not understand? I can't see how except that the game is set up to make it difficult to understand in the sense of knowing exactly what you have to do to be successful or win. The book gives you only one choice, to turn the next page or stop reading. A game gives you many more but they are the same kinds of choices.

I like the idea of video games being multi-linearity rather then not linear at all... maybe video games contain multiple narratives rather than being incompatible with the idea.

Kevin suggested that players start and end at the same point of a game but who they are when they get there is different – as a personal reaction to their own choices – thus the meaning is in the personal interpretation of code and symbols just like a novel....

nostalgic

my gaming resume is sad. the first ever computer animated game i played was a Donald Duck conveyor belt game at my friends house where donald moved groceries. exciting stuff. Keeping up with the play we had sega with Alex the Kid and Sonic the Hedgehog (see the link for how much it's changed) which at the time was amazing and addictive then Nintendo and Nintendo 64, all being up-graded until finally we finished with a playstation2 of which i will only play any tekken or DVDs on, basically because thats all i can do. I'm still infatuated with Sonic and the Super Mario Brothers, doom for a while and street fighter though the angst of it wore me out. The quality of animation and the secret links and codes that you have to know or download is scary. You can forget how much everything is moving forward without you. The gaming industry is said to be worth about 16 billion dollars. Movies are being made from games- Silent Hill, Halo, Doom etc and even moviemakers like Peter J want to make games. Regular sporting games have been made into control games where we see our celebrity sports heroes play at our every control. OUR control. My view is, gaming is control, its identity and power or capability to improve. I get the idea that a reason the industry is so enormous is because we're always looking forsomething more to improve on and conquer. Tekken 3 had a something that everytime you conquered all the rounds and contestants, you saw avideo and sometimes gained a player. this probably happens in most games and its addictive. ands its alwasy geting bigger and better thats why we're always buying and they're alwasy coming up with bigger and better. Games like Sims and Age of Empires, i believe are part of our desire to create a different identity from our own thats controllable and without judgement. like barbies or lego. And there's the games like grand theft auto or tony hawke actually most games, where you can pick and choose the appearnce, nationality of your character there's even a boxing game where you can stretch or thin out the length of your fighters nose, waist hairline mouth etc. obviously this must play a significant role in gaming. I think that becuase the more often yuou keep playing a game the better you get and you can only get better is another attraction to the game, who wouldn't want a world where if you fail you can completely start again and wipe your mistakes. GAming is the future, so one will have to keep up with the play though i'm not gonna go out and buy the xbox 360. probably because the only games i like playing are the ones where my brother says i'm cheating by pressing all the buttons..i.e street fighters tekkens. this is also why my gaming knowledge is limited.

Some cool general Games Facts

I've never been a 'games-crazed nut', I must say. However, by having a 12 year old brother and being close with a games-wizz cousin who recently moved to London to work for Sony on PS3 games, I have been extremely exposed to them and been taught some very cool little facts!

The games industry itself is considered to have started in 1971 with Pong, which is held to be the first widely-available computer game (there were games before that but generally not publicly available), and has grown to be worth about US$7 billion in the US alone in 2005. That's huge!

Microsoft's XBox game Halo 2 sold US$125 million worth of copies on only its first day!! That was higher than any film's first-day box-office takings, proving what was said in the lecture about the games industry out-selling the film industry!

What I thought was awesome is that the biggest-selling PC game of all time is The Sims, which has sold 58 million copies since its release in February 2000. The Sims is one game that I must say I did get addicted to for a while. Apparently it's considered to owe most of its success to its cross-gender and cross-age appeal, which makes sense I guess.

The game industry is said to be similar to the book industry in that the market is controlled by a number of large publishers, who control production and distribution of the product. Studios (which may be independent, signed to a publisher, owned by a publisher, or internal) produce games which are then produced, marketed and distributed by a publisher (or by the studio itself in the case of independent studios). Interesting stuff! Early games were made by only one programmer and progressed through small teams of three or five compared to today's 100+ people teams, haha.

A single top-tier game typically takes between 2 and 5 years to develop with teams ranging in size from 20 to 100+. the team is diverse, comprising programmers, artists (characters, environments, visual effects), animators, producers, designers, AND sound engineers. A significant number of new titles are based on popular movies (e.g. Shrek), books (e.g. Harry Potter) and tv shows (Dragonball Z, etc etc etc), as most of us know. This is all attempting to "cash-in" on the success and marketing of the other formats, similar to the DVD special features etc discussed last week!

A significant market also exists for so-called 'casual' games, which are generally designed to be simple, fun and appealing to the mass-market. Often made by "indie" developers, these are fast to produce and generally have lower production values, but emphasise the fun factor over hyper-realism. The market for games consoles is currently dominated by three large companies - Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Each has a so-called "next-generation" console either recently released (Microsoft's XBox360 and Nintendo's Wii) or coming soon (Sony's Playstation 3). Sony is largely held to have been the "winner" of the previous generation of consoles with its Playstation 2 as it significantly outsold XBox and Nintendo's GameCube. As my cousin mentioned above will never let me forget!