cronjob ·
February 21, 2011
· Filed under Linksplosions
8-Bit Terrariums by Jude Buffum
- The Bygone Bureau – Fear and Gaming: Being and Nothingness and “Minecraft”
I almost missed linking to one of these! It’s a good thing I caught myself: I recently told Bureau editor Kevin Nguyen by Tweet that if I missed one, he ought to phone the police, because I must be in trouble. I’m okay, guys! I have a free, 6-month subscription to OnStar!
Have you been reading all these? I keep telling you to. Mr. Gourlay’s approach to games is something I have heard called "experiential," which is a descriptive word that I like but barely understand how to pronounce aloud. I think I’m kidding? Maybe.
Even though I am not a mother, I have watched children play and have felt defensive and nurturing only until I got in on the game myself (at which point I will start shouting, "Boo-yah! No mercy! In your face! ...Sorry"). But there is something sharp and moving—so sharp that as a reader I don’t even see it coming until it’s too late for me—about Mr. Gourlay’s relationship with a game (_Minecraft_) as contrasted with his relationship with his 9-year-old daughter.
- BBC News – Polish game recreates communist shopping hell
A new educational board game simulates the stress of shopping—the long lines, the shortages—in 1980s communist Poland.
- Paste – Games: Features – On Videogame Criticism
A series of letters between Tom Bissell and Simon Ferrari. (via editor @kirkhamilton on Twitter)
- You Are Not So Smart – Deindividuation
On identities authentic and assumed, the difference between conformity and deindividuation, and the anonymous mob. (via @chmmr)
- CNN.com – ‘Sims’ creator: ‘Games are not the right medium to tell stories’
This is one of those things that make me ehhhhhhhhh, because Will Wright is an inarguable visionary and I know what he is saying and how it makes sense, but I just ehhhhhhhhhh.
Still it’s nice to see some discussion of "Bar Karma," Wright’s crowd-scripted TV serial on Current, and anyway we all should embrace conversations about narrativity versus sandboxing with the goal of eventually furthering the form or whatever.
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cronjob ·
February 18, 2011
· Filed under Linksplosions
- "Infinite Lives" – A CSS Experiment
Lookit! An anigif I made for this site’s sidebar in 2006 (I was sitting at my desk avoiding some work) has inspired this CSS web project!
- Wasabi Sunshine – Resident Evil T-Virus Charm Necklace
Pretty neat!
- New Yorker – The Book Bench – Nintendo Lit: Gatsby and Tom Sawyer
"Anyone hoping for a level of fence-whitewashing or a trip through the graveyard will be sorely disappointed. Ultimately, Injun Joe appears, riding the neck of a giant green serpent, and Tom finally rescues Becky, who is imagined, as most women are in Nintendo-world, as a blonde princess in pink."
- The Great Gatsby – For NES
Ugh, the hype is true, because this is great. 2D class warfare platforming action!
- video game release calendar
My old pal Adam: "I wanted to see release dates for video games in a less noisy, less hype-filled form so in keeping with my new mantra of ‘less complaining, more problem solving through extremely rapid prototyping’ I made my own video game release calendar thing."
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cronjob ·
February 7, 2011
· Filed under Linksplosions, Personal Essay
- MetaFilter – Dickwolves
Reading the MetaFilter thread—which took me
at least a day, because I needed to read very carefully—clarified a lot of concepts. It was, indeed, the conversation no one expected. Measured and moderated in a neutral court, this dialogue did a lot of work for me that I never could have done on my own in any good time.
I know not everyone will be able to do all the necessary reading, or even make total linear sense of the back-and-forth there, because who has the time, and maybe that really has been the issue from the start.
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cronjob ·
February 4, 2011
· Filed under Linksplosions, Personal Essay
I get angry, but not that often. Or maybe I am angry a lot. But in my adult life I have always stepped lightly around my own opinions. That timorousness has helped maintain a lot of friendships that might otherwise not have lasted. My best childhood friend and I, for instance, have completely opposite, rabidly passionate beliefs. We have carefully cultivated a friendly and loving political distance. She and I understand the stakes. We know that, if we begin those conversations, we won’t stop, our feelings will be hurt, and no one will win. That is why she is my best friend. I have the same relationship with, you know, my mother.
Maybe nobody needs to know everything I’m thinking at any given moment, or how I feel about health reform or gun laws or Larry Elder (it’s complicated). Maybe there are some fiercely held opinions I’d do just as well to keep under my hat, just as I’d do well not to march up to a friendly acquaintance and scream “I hate you and everything you stand for.” No, I tiptoe, genuinely working hard to not alienate my fellow humankind. There’s no reason, ordinarily, for me to take up arms and get in your face and go THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.
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cronjob ·
February 3, 2011
· Filed under Linksplosions
“Graph paper is favored by all game designers, and this little gem was found at Global Game Jam 2011 in Vancouver. I love trying to figure out what this game is about, and how it plays.”
- It’s Not for Everyone – Faces
My ears perked up when Wiley mentioned the differences between Mii and XBL avatar creation. Pretty interesting stuff here.
- G A M E S T O R M
"Game developers love brainstorming: they use notepads, whiteboards, napkins, Photoshop… anything they can dump ideas onto! They make calculations, lay out interfaces, doodle character designs, and collect their thoughts. Unfortunately, these glorious scraps almost always get thrown away, and rarely get looked at again. This is a creative museum where I collect and share the best of these scraps, to both preserve them and let them inspire others." (via @Capy_Nathan)
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Jenn Frank ·
February 2, 2011
· Filed under Personal Essay
I bet I’ll come to regret this, but I’m going to tell you a secret I’ve never been comfortable with sharing before this moment: I’m a huge asshole.
I mean, I’m the biggest asshole I know. That’s because I barely give a shit about hurt feelings, because I’m a narcissistic fuck who is the center of her own universe. Until now I’ve tried to keep my being an asshole under wraps, but the sheer effort takes a lot out of me. If I troll the Internet, I’m careful to use an anonymous name that won’t get traced back to me. I fight myself to not use slurs: for instance, I don’t call things “gay” anymore, because my gay friends all convinced me to stop. I’m really careful to not call anything “retarded” if I’m talking to someone who knows someone who is retarded, but sometimes it slips out anyway. I’m doing my very best to hide my interior asshole from the lot of you nice people.
But it’s time for me, finally, to trudge out of my flamboyantly asshole closet and come clean with you.
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