I Think “Irked” is the Proper Word to Use Here

Here in the lovely realm of Communication Studies that I call my home, as well as in the world of some other social sciences, we’re pretty big on stereotypes. Stereotypes give us these preconceived notions that tell us how we’re going to act with other people. Yes, stereotypes are often painted in a negative light, and when you hear about them they’re more than likely being used that way, but thinking outside of that box, it is simple to see how we use them in our daily lives.

Everyone’s beliefs factor in to their stereotypes, and more often than not, we see that we, as gamers, are rarely credited with a positive stereotype. Michael Abbott once spoke on a podcast (an episode that I cannot remember) that even he, as a professor, gets strange looks when people walk by his office and see him playing something on his PS2 (thus giving me a model to aspire to: an in-office PS2). Even in the world of academia, and in an age when videogames are such a prominent media, gamers and gaming are still looked at as something off-base by those outside of our world.

For a class assignment, I chose the topic of communicating while playing games, specifically, whether players prefer online or local co-op. However, when discussing the assignment with someone, a comment was made that irked me at the time, yet for brevity’s sake, I chose to look past it. This comment was along the lines that it was strange for me to choose communicating while playing games as a topic, because videogames are primarily an isolated activity. Like I said, I didn’t comment on it, but it’s had me thinking about it since yesterday.

How many people of the world still hold this view? In days when online co-op shooter Left 4 Dead has gigantic billboards and the Wii is bringing together people in living rooms across the nation, while also letting thousands of people play locally or online in Mario Kart, do people still view games as primarily anti-social activities? I know the nights my friends and I get together for some L4D online, or gather at my house for some Rock Band 2 would argue otherwise.

Bite Size 2008: Downloadable Content

Bite Size 2008 is my wrap-up of moments in games from the past calendar year. This post is themed around stuff that is downloadable. Check out this listing for the rest of my Bite Size 2008 posts!

Racing Along “She Is Beautiful”

Along with being a huge gamer, I also try to listen to a lot of music. So, as a music enthusiast and a gaming enthusiast, I was excited to see the release of Audiosurf. It could almost be defined as relying on user generated content, since you provide the MP3s for the game to generate tracks for. The first track I loaded up on the tutorial level was Andrew W.K.’s “She Is Beautiful”, and that really set the par for the course. I had a blast playing, and got to listen to a song I enjoy going a little crazy to. What was even more fun, was playing songs I’ve written. Especially the songs with tempo changes and parts that crescendo and accelerando and the opposites, allowing me to have this extremely varied experience of playing a game backed by music I’ve written. This is an easy grab for one of my top titles of the year.

 

From The Screen To Your… Screen?

I’ve been a huge fan of Penny Arcade for years. Even when my interest in gaming waned a bit (during a period in high school when I thought I had the skills to be in a band), I still checked Penny Arcade daily. Then, as if a reward for my perseverance, we were told of Penny Arcade: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. However, I was skeptical of the possibilities of the PA game. I feared the humor would not translate into the game, and that it would simply try too hard to be Penny Arcade-ish. These fears were alleviated with the release of the game to XBL and PC. It hit all the nails on their heads, with spot on comedy along with a world that evoked the PA atmosphere on top of a game that was not dull and derivative (Unlike Lost: Via Domus, but I still played that). From start to finish, the six or eight hours I spent in the PA game were enjoyable, and the second one was equally so. I am a bit afraid for the rest of the series, but if it is only a four-part story, as the opening video implies, then it will be over before it gets too stale. Here’s to Episodes 3 and 4.

 

Something About An Atomic Bomb and Platforming

Braid. What can I say that has not already been said? (I totally meant to make that entire sentence full of links but I got lazy, but you still catch my drift). The ending of the game floored me, and totally threw me for a loop. Aside from the big reveal in Bioshock, this was one of my most significant “OMFG” moments in gaming ever. I salute Jonathan Blow and all his hard work, and as the gaggle of my friends and I sat to discuss Braid, we could only speak highly of it.

 

Honorable Mention That I Do Not Want to Write a Paragraph For:

Harmonix gets an honorable mention for their consistency with providing DLC every week! I’ve scored some tracks that I simply love playing, and I commend them for that!

That’s all for today’s post! I’ve got a few more moments to count down – probably two posts worth - and then I’ll discuss the course I’m charting for 2009. Back tomorrow with more!

A Dream Coming True?

It was a mumbled rumor on the internet months ago. Today, I saw rumbling of it on Joystiq, Kotaku and MTV Multiplayer. Then, the icing on the cake came in a Wall Street Journal article. Tomorrow at 10 AM EST, the world will find out, the where, when, why and how. We already know who. The Beatles coming to Rock Band has the potential to be the highest selling track pack/expansion that the game could get.

I'm not going to lie, this is no way an unbiased article. This is where I pull out my fanboy card for both Rock Band and The Beatles. I actually have a band in Rock Band 2 named Beatlemania! with John, Paul, George and Ringo in it. No matter what they release, how they release it, I will slap down my USD or MSP or whatever currency it takes to purchase tracks. I can only imagine rocking out to "Helter Skelter", or wailing through the solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", or even singing some of their poppier early work such as "From Me to You".

No matter how you slice it, having the largest rock and roll band in history in Rock Band is a very big deal.

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