Some Thoughts on the Film “Gamer”

It’s been a while since I last blogged, the demands of my Masters exam kept me away from writing. After all that writing, the last thing I wanted to do for a while was more writing. It’s been a month, and I’m feeling a bit twitchy in the fingers…so it’s time to type again.

First off, my Video Game Memories segment is still on, and I have the next post partially sketched out.

The main reason for writing is inspired by my very recent (like, five minutes ago) viewing of the film Gamer starring Gerard Butler (and his abs of titanium).

I agree with Common Sense Media‘s review of the movie: whatever social commentary on mediated violence it’s making is lost under a heap of gratuitous slaughter and boobies.

Nothing is wrong with that, if that’s what you’re looking for, however I see it as a lost opportunity to make people seriously think about the directions in which social networking and gaming are going.

I believe that the creepiest part of the film is Ken Castle’s (Michael C. Hall) creation of a digital/live-action hybrid program called Society. Imagine a no-holds-barred version of The Sims in which people are paid to have their minds digitally controlled by people who pay to live out their sordid fantasies through them.

Another scene that received my attention is near the beginning of the film where the convicts are playing the game and one of them “tea-bags” the person that he just killed.  By showing how immature and lame it is with live-action players, the director showed how unbelievably immature and lame it is in virtual space.

I was a little dismayed that they portrayed the person who was controlling John Tillman’s (Gerard Butler) wife a grossly obese shut-in who touches himself while being naked in front of the computer in the dark.  I’m insulted by the stereotype….okay…it’s a little true…well…at least I don’t sit in the dark!

The thematic crux in all this film (besides the Running Man plot rip-off…Ludacris is no Mick Fleetwood) is that society can become desensitized to the rights of others through digital mediation. When we lose contact with others, we lose contact with our own boundaries.

I’m not going to lie, I enjoy capping the occasional foo’ (very occasional, I’m not very good) on Modern Warfare 2‘s multiplayer. However, we can’t let ourselves forget there are living, snacking, energy-drinking, people that are being shot at on those rendered battlefields. We don’t have to be nice, but we don’t have to be insensitive either.

For those who are thinking about playing online shooters, here are some suggestions to living a happy life.

• Trashtalking. It happens. But please, please use another insult besides “You’re gay”.  It’s totally unoriginal and bigoted. If you are going to be a bigot, may I suggest, “You live in a state that’s not California!”
• Hacking. Sore losers will accuse you of it. Everyone seems to be doing it. No, they’re not. Don’t be one of them.
• Stretch. Seriously. Get up.Walk around. Stretch. Play. You will feel better.
• Okay, that’s it. If I think of something else, I’ll post it.
• -R.

Video Game Memories: part one

This will be the first in a series of posts that will provide a personal, qualitative study into my own life as a gamer. I propose that there is a philosophical, and perhaps spiritual connection between gamer and digital games.

Part One: Combat.

For most of the gamers that I met in my undergrad studies, their first love (in gaming) was with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), or the Super Nintendo (SNES). They were the group of gamers that have fond recollections of stomping gombas, whipping Dracula to death (at least, until next time!) and getting KO’d by Tyson’s ferocious (…and did I mention “cheap”? ) uppercut. However, by the NES’s release in late 1985, home console gaming had already been around for more than a decade.

My life as a gamer began six years prior to the NES’s entrance into the lives of Americans. On Christmas of 1979, my father presented a used (from my uncle) Atari VCS or 2600 to my two older brothers and I. It was already connected to the color TV.

Side Note: Remember those TVs that had the remote control that made a high-pitched buzzing noise when the button was pressed? Remember how weird it felt to put your tongue on the part where the signal came out?  (…ok, it was just me then.)

When that TV blinked into life, I was greeted with my first console game. The pack-in game Combat. Combat was the home version of the arcade game Tank! The objective was to manuver your tank (as the pixelated glob on the screen was supposed to be) into a firing position and blow away your opponent. When a tank gets hit, the tank spun like a pinwheel.

As with learning how to play chess (I learned how to play by age six) , my first antagonist was my father. In an Oedipal feat of skill, I defeated my father. Thinking on that night now, he may have let me win. Either through pity or inexperience, that was the only time I beat him at Combat.

Up to the age of ten, my father was the one who introduced me to home gaming experiences. For good or ill, I have him to thank for my start.

NEXT: Chuck E. Cheese, P.J. Pizazz, Showboat and Divorce.

Verily, Thy Pants Art on Yonder Ground

…with your pants on the ground.

Crazy phenomenon, right?

I know that I totally missed the train on this song. However, “General” Larry Platt’s diatribe on urban youth culture has caught on quickly. I’m thinking of the ways why it was so effective…I mean…it’s catchy, that’s for sure. However, I think that the audience was ready for it.

1. Really, I think that many communities may be tired of the style itself. I’m guessing that when Platt was fighting for civil rights and helping his community, he didn’t imagine that two generations later that many would be copying fashions that promote conspicuous consumption.

2. Ennui. Yeah, I said it. Ennui. I think we are becoming weary of the 20th century and all the crap that came with it. I think there were thousands of really great things and people that came out of it. But, I believe that this song is holding a lens to something that has overstayed its welcome. 1 out of 10 are jobless; families are struggling in this country. Then how can young people stand around with “gold in their mouth” while 200,000 people are dying in Haiti? Why have we donated millions (that have been unused so far), sent a rapid response, and people still suffer?

I don’t have easy answers, or compose fair rhetorical questions (see the end of last paragraph). I do know that we need to take the changes that are coming and roll with them. We can succeed as a nation, as consumers, and as individuals. We need to let go of the shameless and empty pursuit of vast wealth, overnight fame, conspicuous consumption (do you REALLY need those rims?) and drug-assisted athleticism.

The sooner we can see our situation and roll with it, the faster we can get better.

I know that this is a gaming blog, so in spirit of this post, I’m including a relevant link.

I encourage educators, kids and the curious to check out Ayiti: The Cost of Life. This is a simple simulation that asks the player to help a friendly Haitian family survive and succeed in spite of poverty, sickness and violence. This can be a great learning tool for Social Science teachers who wish to immerse their students in current events.

Don’t buy gold, buy a game! Seriously. Perhaps I’ll give my reason in my next post.

-R.

10 Best Films of the Decade (That I’ve Seen)

Alright! The Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year gauntlet has been navigated with varying degrees of success. One more look back at the last decade in list form.

As with my last post the only criteria is that the films were released between 2000 and 2009. Once again, in no particular order with number one being the exception.

10. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

9. Gladiator (2000)

8. Sin City (2005)

7. Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2 (2003/2004)

6. Super Size Me (2004)

5. Lord of the Rings (2001 – 2003)

4. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

3. Nochnoy dozor-Night Watch (2004)

2. Star Trek (2009)

1. Good Night, and Good Luck (2006)

Two reasons why I chose George Clooney’s Biopic for number one. First, and less importantly, it was a clear message to a press that had become too cozy with the Bush administration’ s agenda. Second, and MOST importantly, it was the movie my fiancee and I saw on our first date. That in itself makes it the best film of the First Decade.

-R.

Top Ten Games of the “First Decade” (That I’ve Played)

First off, I’d like to settle this whole, “What do we call the last ten years?” debate by claiming that we should call it…wait for it…The First Decade.

Why?

Pretty easy. It’s the first decade of the second millennium (or Willennium if you’re still ‘Jiggy’ wit it.) C. E. , or Common Era. That’s the secular term increasingly used by historians.

In the more intangible sense, it’s the first decade in what I would like to call The Future. If the collapse of Communism in the 1990’s was the end of history (yeah, right), then the First Decade is the beginning of the future.

So enough of this musing. I’ve haphazardly put together a list of the ten best games I’ve played this decade. The only criteria is that the games were produced between 2000 and 2009.  Oh yeah, this list is in no particular order….

Top Ten Games of the First Decade (That I’ve Played)

1. Final Fantasy 9 (2000, Square/Enix)

2. Resident Evil 4: PS2 Version (2005, Capcom)

3. Cannon Spike (2000, Psikyo/Capcom)

4. Half-Life 2 (2004, Valve)

5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003, BioWare/LucasArts)

6. Soul Caliber II (2002, Namco)

7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Nintendo)

8. Rock Band 2 (2008, Harmonix/MTV Games)

9. TIE: Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance (2001, SnowBlind/Vivendi Games)

–. Champions of Norrath (2004, SnowBlind/Sony Online Entertainment)

10. Quake Live (2007-2009, id Software)

Number ten was a little tough. I would have went with Combat Arms Online (as I play it more), but it still has too many technical issues and the gameplay still favors hackers and those who shill out money for exclusive equipment. Quake Live may be based on 1999’s Quake 3; but it is superior to Combat Arms in its elegant simplicity, accessibility and the way it matches players of the same skill level.

This list is not set in stone, ask me the same question tomorrow and you’ll get a different answer. It was fun remembering all the games I’ve played.

What are your top games of the First Decade? It doesn’t have to be ten, but a few will do. Let me know.

-R.

A Dork in Progress

If you are used to reading the MySpace Blog (the link probably brought you here), this is just a continuation of my gaming/life blog.

I’ve been doing a bit of writing of late and will post them. I will also be posting a few “Top 10 lists” for the first decade of this century. Will they make any sense? Probably not. No. Not really.

For those who read, I hope this this works out.

-R.