A Further look at Genre, Mode, and Milieu in Games.

So like the dense tool that I am, I totally forgot Paul mentioned the switch of the Porn and Video game classes. So instead of reiterating my same post from last week I’ll go on a slightly different direction, but still focusing on the criteria set out in Zach Whalen’s article.  I’m going to try and extrapolate as much out of the few Playstation 3 games that I have seen and possibly explain their mode, milieu, and genre. I apologize in advance for any incongruent or possibly erroneous statements I make.  I am not much of a gamer and don’t mean to offend those that are.

I got some further information on the games I have seen on an online gamers magazine/ review site. It iss one of the many sites that Whalen describes in his article.  The site is Gamespot.com 

The first game I have seen is Resistance: Fall of Man. I would have to say that the genre of this game is First person shooter.  When I compare it to the only other real first person shooter I have played and liked, Goldeneye for N64, I have to say this game is leaps and bounds above its ten year old predecessor.  The mode of this game is presented in a semi- RPG style game. It has a complex, yet simple to follow story line.  The Milieu of this game is definitely action.  Lots of gun-fire, explosions, and near death get-a-ways.

The second game, and only really other game I have seen, is MotorStorm.  It is an off the wall fast paced racing game. Totally crazy and fun for anyone to pick up.  The genre is obviously a racing game. I don’t know how else you would describe it.  You accomplish things in the game by winning, obviously. The Mode of the game is realistic, yet imaginative. The game play control is realistic yet the crashes are not.  These crashes make the game a lot of fun. You’re player can choose from motorbikes, quads, cars, and trucks.  When you crash on the bike you can see the guy go flying and break and bend in ways that incite “oooohhhs” like only great games  can.  The milieu of this game is “driving” according to Gamespot.  Seems fairly obvious.

Well that’s all I got for my own personal reviews, if you can all them that. I think this post was more of an exercise for myself to understand how games are organized into modes, genres, and milieus.  They are different than movie reviews and I think it’s important to understand the differences in interfaces between the two medias.

Evolution of games from ‘Blades of Steel’ to ‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour’

So for this week’s readings I could only open two of them. One, the Zach Whalen article, was rather interesting and talked about genres, milieus, and modes used in relation to games. I know I have played my fair share of games, especially as a kid. From watching my older brother play his Atari, to getting my first Nintendo system in 1989, to the present where the Playstation 3 has taken over my world of entertainment. My dad used to kick my ass at the original Blades of Steel for the original Nintendo. Two buttons was easy for him to figure out and thusly shame me time and time again. Now a days, give him a playstation controller and he’s royally F***ed.

When it comes to genres and milieus I tend to stick to the sporting categories. But then again, who wasn’t swept up in the first person mutli-player James Bond Goldeneye epidemic that hit the Nintendo 64 with alarming impact? Last month I was able to play a first person game on my brother’s playstation 3. It was disgustingly great. This game did not merely let you face each other, but you could go through the actual RPG game together at the same time. We both did our separate thing but were in the same game. I’m not a gamer by any means, but the detail and smoothness made me want to cry tears of sheer joy. The designers finally understood me and what I had always wanted in a game.

I don’t know if any of you noticed this article, but I came across a blog on the way the packaging of games has changed over the years. It is quite well done and worth the read if you are old enough to remember the old pc floppy disks and the original pc games. They were all so very alike when you look back on it now. Here’s a link to the blog, as it’s worth the read in relation to this week’s topic.

In relation to this article I can say I see quite clearly the difference in packaging of games. I had games very similar to the ones the author of that blog had. I had an India Jones PC game in 1990 that came with a large box that contained 5 disks, an instruction booklet, a story book, and a large newspaper that had to be read with 3D glasses. When I compare that to the last computer game I bought in 2005 it’s remarkable. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 came in a small box with an even smaller instructional booklet. It’s main instructional information came in a pdf file that you could open once you installed the game.

When I look at this Tiger Woods game I think about the first golf game I played on a computer. It was on my dad’s work laptop and it was some old Microsoft golf. The evolution from this game to Tiger Woods it amazing. The genre, mode and milieu are all the same in both the games, yet the technology is incredibly more advance. Kind of makes one curious what another 20 year will bring. Makes you think everything will be just Hunky – Dory for the future of games.

Dream Big and Screw the Supposed “Standard”

HOLY HELL!!!  When I read the Abby Friedrich article I almost burst out laughing.  First thing I saw was “The consumer isn’t a moron. She is your wife” but surprisingly enough that is not the part of the article that I found the most humorous. When I came upon the part when Friedrich claims that this scantily jean clad woman was the standard for women in our society I laughed.

These ‘hot’ girls in ads are not the standard. Everyone knows that, so why try and fool yourselves in believing them to be the standard. These advertisement models are not every guys’ dream girl for no reason.  These models are unattainable for both guys and girls.  So if anything they are not the standard, they are the “Ideal/ Dream”.

You may think I’m a dick but seriously, if you are self conscious because you don’t look like an advertisement model, then give your head a shake.  Maybe 2% of the population has ‘model looks’.  How can you justify naming these few people the standard.  If anything they are the deviation.

So they have beautiful faces.  I’m fine with my average face.  So they have rock hard abs. I’m fine with my average midsection.  So they are really really ridiculously good looking and have sex with other really really ridiculously good looking people. I’m ok with th…ok so I’m not ok with that.  But honestly whatever.  The majority of the population will never look as gorgeous as these models, but for me I can see a perfectly beautiful girl without her being the so-called ‘model figure’.  The majority of people have  a couple features that are absolutely breath-taking, but models just have an abundance of these.  Thank the genes/jeans for that.

As in the article, I understand that adolescents may not have the maturity to discern between these false standards and it is important to try and make the reality behind these ads clear.  My problem is with the so-called mature adults still having problems because they don’t look like the people in the ads.  These models may only have one thing going for them(although probably not always).  Their looks.  They could be dumb as fuck. Would you give up your life to be this beautiful individual that was bordering the knowledge of a 4 yr old?  I wouldn’t.

It’s important to dream and to attempt to achieve your dreams. That’s what makes a person successful.   Degrading yourself because you can’t always achieve your goals is dumb and irrational.  Dreams are Dreams because they are doubtful to be achieved.  It is important to remember this when looking at advertisement models.  They are not the standard to live your life by, for the majority of people they are the ‘dream body’ or ‘dream guy/girl’.  Therefore don’t get down on yourself for not achieving the dream or ideal. It’s only human.

Keep those Old Records on the Shelf, I’ll find the music by myself.

So there is this apparently ‘big’ revival of LPs according to David Hayes. I don’t understand it.  I have a hard time believing that ‘youth’ are that interested in LPs. I think they may be curious and find them kind of neat, but overall there is no way there are as many ‘youth’ interested in them as Hayes makes there out to be.

I understand the Nostalgia aspect of LPs that Hayes mentions.  It’s getting back to the ‘original’ form in which music was produced.  The album covers are many times, great artistic masterpieces.  But I know for a fact that most music of the LP glory-days is available in CD form now.  The original cover art is still the same, although I understand that it’s minuscule compared to the large LP covers, so in that aspect if you’re focusing on ‘art work’ then the original LPs are the only way to go.

Many times the CD form is superior to the LP form as inside the CD there is often lengthy booklets describing the music, lyrics, and band.   The music has been remastered so it’s clearer and smoother.  I guess this may take away the ‘nostalgia’ aspect of the music but then are you really listening to the album for it’s music or for it’s nostalgia. I think that if I want to hear a song I like then I want to hear it in as clear and smooth a deliverance as possible.

When it comes to collecting LPs I think that it is a relatively small group of individuals that still do so.  My father still has hundreds of LPs in our basement and I look through them and marvel at some of their complex artworks , yet simplistic form of deliverance.  I can appreciate what the original forms meant to the artists and the consumers, but I still enjoy the ease of listening to a CD or MP3.

As for the messages, experiences and lyrics from the LP glory-days, I totally agree they are more meaningful and complete.  I still would rather listen to a song from the 70s or 80s than today’s music.   That doesn’t mean I need to heard it on an LP to listen to it and appreciate its meaningfulness.  I can probably find most music like that in CD form or get it off the internet. This may be buying into the modern consumption patterns that society has set these days, but I’m ok with that.  I’m still getting the same out of the music as if I were to put it on a turntable.  The messages still get through to me and I can appreciate what made me and millions others enjoy this music from the first time we all heard it.  So keep those old records on the shelf, (they are ‘pure gold’ as my dad calls them), but I’ll find that same music by myself in a cleaner more compact form, because it’s that really what society is all about these days.  Quicker, cleaner, smoother and taller.  Who needs the days of simplicity where the music mattered and the world was freer? (sarcasm for those of you who missed it.)

Screw You Russell Smith. We’re not greasy, you’re just a dick.

Alright, well I did the viewing part of my assignment at the Galaxy Cinema in Sherwood Park. First off the building is located next to the mall there and is actually quite large and new. I noticed as I drove up that you can see the “Galaxy ” sign on the large building from quite a distance. Something I guess I don’t really pay attention to it when I see it, but this time I noticed. Yes I was aware. I was aware like a mighty beaver is of intruders. I noticed little things that I never would have were it not for this assignment. Some irked me and others amused me and tickled me right where I itch.

As you walk through the double set of doors you come across a few “instant ticket machines”. This is where I purchased my ticket for Ghost Rider. I also had the option of buy my snacks on this machine. but I did not. I had to see the oily product first to see just what kind of disgusting chemical I was going to put into my stomach today. I payed by debit and got my ticket. I looked into the lobby and found that there were only 5 other people in there. Two younger girls, a guy around 30 and a middle aged man with I’m assuming his wife. He looked slightly like a large lumberjack with his large beard. Russell Smith would probably have been revolted at this man’s shaggy facial hard and disregard for others having to see such unkempt-ness.

As I walked over to the food counter I noticed a piece of gum smashed into the carpet. (Like I said, I was aware today) It didn’t honestly bother me. It could have even have been mine from a week ago. Who knows. But the significance of this gum just reminds me of Russell Smith and what his reaction would have been to this piece of deliciousness smeared in the carpet. I’m guessing he would have turned red in the face at its revolting connotations of society and promptly shit his pants on the spot.

So anyways, as I waited to get some food there were only two girls in front of my brother, our friend, and me. I’m guessing they were 17-18ish, but who can honestly tell these days. They looked normal too me. Not greasy or abnormally grotesque. I decided on a large popcorn with butter and large Pepsi. So in Russell Smith’s view I am one of the greasy audience members that devours large buttery cartons of filth and gallons of liquid sugar. But you know what? So what. I like it. Does that make me a terrible person? I don’t think so. Does that make me a slob? I don’t think so. In fact I am willing to bet that I am in far better shape than this Smith character. If anything I should be calling him the slob.

So on our way to our particular theater I notice the wheelchair ramp. Something I don’t think I would really pay attention to normally, but there it was as I’m sure it always has been. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone in a wheelchair at this theater but that could just be me being blind again. I suppose most places now have to and are wheelchair accessible.

When I enter the theater I notice the lights are still lit and there is a slight chatter throughout. There were only a few seats available on the side so that is where we sat. My brother and I sit on either side of our friend who is a girl, because otherwise that’s just gay isn’t it. (who knows why its seen like that… it just is. I couldn’t care less but it’s almost like ‘proper’ etiquette or something. Like how you always leave one space between you and the guy at the next urinal.) The seats are quite comfortable as this theater is relatively new. They even slightly recline, and by slightly I mean they are angled so your back isn’t at a perfect 90 degrees. Besides who the hell sits that straight anyways.

Immediately the previews start once we are seated. One is for Spiderman 3.. ho-hum….then some car commercial.. again.. ho-hum… I start to look around and some people are talking, others are watching these previews like it’s a breaking news story. They don’t even seem to blink. I noticed that one long haired teenager in rather torn clothing even spilled part of his popcorn because he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen while trying to feed himself. Perhaps Smith has something here with the previews and ads section of his rant. But I don’t understand his angst at having to see other audience members and their actions. I didn’t get offended and want to puke at seeing this kid spill his popcorn. If anything it was amusing.

The movie starts and well… it’s alright but nothing special. People gasped or awed at all the right moments. I guess that always happens, but it kind of made me laugh this time at how obviously we are playing right into the whole “movie -going” experience that the big schmaltz factories and companies want us to do. There was one roughly late 20 yr old in front of me that kept moving a lot during the show. He kind of pissed me off as I had to move because of him every so often, but I guess it’s part of the experience.

At the end of the movie some people clapped and I still don’t get it. Who are they clapping for? The guy that played the reel up top? It’s something that disgruntles me, but were it not for this assignment it is something I tend to keep to myself. I don’t think society is disgusting for it, but that people are simply different.

In summary I think Russell Smith’s article is nothing more that a bucket of douche by one anally-retentive dude. I personally enjoyed the whole movie experience and all that it entailed. I liked to gorge on greasy foods at the movies. It’s fun. If you don’t want to have to experience going to the movie in these large pig-barns then don’t. Stay at home and drink your sherry and save your smug-ass remarks to yourself. If Smith thinks he is better and cleaner than others that go to the movie, he is a bum. We’re not greasy Russell Smith. You’re just a dick.

Those F*#$ing Ads – They pay our admission to the media

I find it quite interesting that many forms of media are still paid for the same way today as they were in the ‘Partisan Period’ as mentioned in Chapter 7 of our text. Advertisers were what kept the media (newspapers) going then by paying for production costs and it’s what keeps media accessible to us today for a relatively low cost.

With the internet comes all the great “Free” software out there readily available for downloading. Even such music sharing communities as Limewire and Bearshare use advertisers/sponsers to subsidize them in providing you this servive/media. If one is not willing to buy a subscription to their service, then you can still use it but with the ’sponsers’ packages that comes with this non-subscription method.

So in order to be able to provide you with their services/media, these companies use sponser money to do so. If you download one of these ’sponsered’ softwares, then you often get pop-ups to the sponsers advertisements and other unwanted garbage features that you didn’t initially set out to get. Rather clever little scheme they got going that’s been around for a long time now.

Kind of shows that media isn’t free. By turning on your tv/internet/radio you may not think about who pays for it all for you to enjoy. Fact of the matter is it’s very costly and advertising companies have excelled like mad with the technological boom of the last 50 years. If you were to sign on to the internet and go to a webpage for a reputable newspaper, you will notice that almost every single one has advertisements some place or another. Links to sponsers and advertisers are everywhere throught the internet.

To put this all into perspective. If advertisements were all of a sudden say to become illegal in public media or say disappear for some strange reason, where would the costs of production be supplied from? You guessed it… the ones obtaining this media…you and me. We could probably each be looking at a few thousand dollars extra, if not more, just to watch tv, view the internet, or read the paper.

So the next time you get angry at that retarded Cadbury commercial or for having to see Stupid Jared in another Subway commercial, be thankful. For these companies are saving you thousands of dollars every year and are enabling everyone to be able to access the media. For without advertisers, only the rich would be able to access the media.

And I don’t know about you but I need the media. How else would I be able to see such great shows involving FESTIVUS. Man that Jerry Stiller is awesome.

Hockey Night in Canada Gone??

Upon reading chapter 5 in our text (especially the part of television shaping cultures), I realized that one of Canada’s most culture influential programs might be changing drastically in the next year or so. Apparently CBC’s contract for the rights to Hockey Night in Canada (H.N.I.C.)is up soon. Supposedly TSN and other stations are bidding for it. CBC has already lost the rights to broadcast the next two olympics. The loss of the olympics, coupled with the loss of H.N.I.C. could spell disaster for the most Canadian station Canada has.

Can you imagine not seeing Don Cherry or Don Maclean doing H.N.I.C.? No more Coache’s Corner? What are these next olympics going to be like without Brian Williams heading the broadcast? With these Canadian personas under contract to CBC, they will have a hard time migrating over to TSN should it obtain H.N.I.C.’s rights.

With the potential loss of two of the country’s most recognizeable broadcasts, Canadian culture is on the cusp of change. I don’t care who you are, if you have ever lived in Canada you know who Don Cherry is. Very few Canadians will not recognize the theme song for H.N.I.C. when it comes on tv. Check out this clip as it shows quite well the steps CBC has come when it comes to H.N.I.C. It starts off with a modern song and video clips of the current NHL but when theme song comes on after it shows just how long H.N.I.C. has been on CBC.
With it being the longest running television program in Canadian history and one of the longest running ever anywhere, it has undoubtedly shaped Canadian culture.

Before there was satellite tv and high def cable tv, there were few channels and one of them was CBC. Every saturday night for the last 50 years H.N.I.C. has had a spot in millions upon millions of homes. Of the millions who played hockey growing up, they will all remember watching this program. Even millions who never had the opportunity to play the game, joined around the tv to watch it. Very few other programs, if any, have had the effect on Canadians that H.N.I.C. has had.

Hockey Night in Canada has been a part of my Saturdays from before I could walk. And now as I am months away from departing University life, I can still say it is a part of my Saturdays quite often. Sometimes you can find me, indulging in the great Canadian past time in a crowded pub, joined by many other H.N.I.C. fans watching CBC. I hope the possibility of this happening never goes away.

The Internet is waiting with 300 million “Friends”.

So upon reading Chapter 6 in our text and Karen Evans’ The Significance of Virtual Communities, I have decided that I agree with Evans. Sociologists are going to have to change how they define community. 

 A few years ago at Christmas my brother and I were in EBGames looking for a new game for our other brother. Now the two of us that were shopping are not gamers but when we were in there we saw an advertisement for some online community. It said somthing along the lines of “Join today and play immediately with 300 million friends.”.  Now upon reading this we started to laugh.  What nerds we thought.  We still joke about it.  300 million dweebs more like it.

But after doing this week’s readings I’ve come to realize that I may have been wrong. Is the online sites I go to differ much from some gaming community like this? Not really. Facebook is a popular site these days I go to and it’s no different besides maybe the ‘interests’ of the viewers.

Communities are being created by ‘likes’ these days.  The space concept is slowly being drowned out by the ability for people to ‘connect’ with other people they have never met in their lives. ‘Interests’ is slowly becoming a defining characteristic of Community.

I even have to admit that some online gaming things seem kind of cool.  I’ve never played the infamous World of WarCraft but I have seen a friend play it. He had the whole headset and everything and was talking to people from all over the world while he was playing this thing.  Their whole’interest’ was this game. Not anything else.   They were all of different ages. They had created this community based around their interest in this game.  There are other types of communities based on different interests.  (poker communities, sports communities, you name it.) Whatever you like there is a community out there for you.  You don’t even have to be anywhere near the people that share your interests.

 So I guess instead of labelling the 300 million “friends” as dweebs maybe I should take a look around and realize that probably everyone in our class is a member of a community somewhat like that one but with different’interests’. I guess we’re all part of one giant dweeb network community.

I’m ok with hating things for no good reason

After reading Jonathan Gray’s article Hate, Dislike, Disgust, Distemper, and Distaste I have decided that I judge things all the time and many times do so with little or no relevant reasons. I don’t believe this makes me ignorant.  I don’t tend to ‘damn’ things with out being educated about them, as Gray mentions many people do. I think it’s a right we have as humans to have our own opinions. Sure we may not always understand why we have the opinions we do, but would a more prominent study of anti-fandom be fulfilling and worthwhile?

The answer is not really.  Any new methods of understanding ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ by a new anti-fandom mindframe would most likely not be worthwhile as it would be lost in the hazy glow that has already encompassed media participants. Now that is a pretty packed statement made right there, but what is meant by it is simply: people don’t care why they ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ things/media.

Think about a television show that you absolutely dispise. You may know the reasons you hate it or you may not.  You may have simply thought it was stupid.  You may have never seen the show at all and you still hate it. Why is that?  WHO CARES. 

There is no need to study why people hate things. There are so many opinions out there that no matter what you can not appeal to everyone. So instead of trying to appeal to everyone by studying anti-fandom, people should merely try to appeal to those that like their product/show/music/themselves.

People should not feel bad because they dislike something. It’s not wrong to dislike things. Damning them is another thing, especially if uneducated about them. But Hey, I’m ok with hating things for no reason. I don’t need to know why I hate them.  Opinions are just that, and what appeals to one may totally revolt another.