For those of you who don't know who Carl Sagan is, find out now. He is a scientist who wanted the world to know how beautiful the intricacies of the universe are, and was willing to share the information. He was brilliant, prolific in writing and in television production, and one of two men that Asimov admitted surpassed his own knowledge. Essentially, a scientist and an intellectual badass.
To have a small celebration to a day that has almost ended, I think a remix complete with autotune and philosophical ideas should do the trick.
November 6, 2010
November 5, 2010
Are there "female" games?
Before I start, I want to say hello to any new readers I acquired from the Bioware forums. I'm glad you all liked my female characters in games essay, and I hope some of you will like this one.
Around the same time I realized a lot of people on the Bioware forums were reading my post, I also had a small conversation with some people after work. I was mention how surprised I was that I liked Call of Duty: World at War's campaign. Never thought I would be that into it. A friend asks why and I mention about the campaign was engaging and fun yada yada yada. And then he mentioned that he notices girls play only certain games, that they like a particular part of game.
Other that the Sims 3, I don't play any "particular" games that are supposed to be female-friendly. I love FPSs, RTSs, RPGs, and a lot of other types of games that usually have a male following. But gender-wise, I'm definitely female. So... I'm an outlier?
I don't think so. This is what I think: While growing up in the society we live in (at least in the western world), girls are taught, and not intentionally, that video games are not for them.
When I was growing up, my little brother was the reason we bought certain video game consoles. I would try them and never got into them. It turns out it's because other than Kirby, I SUCK at platformers. Absolutely horrible. That's what my brother would usually play, and he mastered it. He is also better coordinated than I am in general, making it easier for him to pick up the control schemes. I noticed that when it came to my friends, the girls just never got the video games, even if they grew up with them around.
Part of it is because the video games were not gender-neutral. Gender meaning the social expectations of the sexes. A lot of video game characters are fulfilling gender expectations of glory, either being overly sexualized or the penultimate of the gender. I've mentioned this before.
Considering the industry decided to have mostly male heroes over the years, over time there were more heroes that boys and men could relate to then girls and women. And like a lot of "toys, parents will pick out the one that has their children's genders represented. Boys play with GI Joes and Might Max Figures, girls play with Barbie and American Girl Dolls. So over time, since video games had more male heros, more parents bought their games for their sons and daughters got pushed out of the market. Girls didn't grow up with video games, and as they grew up it was easy to just dismiss video games as a "guy thing."
Let's be honest, that's just by theory, but it's what I've observed in my childhood.
With this in mind, I think women have just adjusted to not be video game players in general. The numbers have increased in years, but it's a slow and steady thing. I don't think there's been a big push because for gender in our society, it's not considered "lady-like" to even participate in fictional violence. The most we get are women's leagues in some sports, and usually not heavy contact sports like american football.
Recently, recognizing the purchasing power of women in general, there has been a push to identify what would make a successful game that women would like to buy. Two E3's ago that attempt was extremely ridiculous and stereotypical girl games, not even woman games. Now because the industry is talking about it, the mainstream gamer is talking about it as well.
To me, it isn't quite a mystery. Just stop making it seem like games are just for guys. How do you do that? Well, less characters that look like human beefcakes or barbie dolls, and probably more normal-looking characters. Less over sexualized characters and more realistic depictions of bodies and goals.
That doesn't necessarily make games more female friendly, but it makes them more gender neutral. And that makes games welcoming to EVERYONE.
I'm not saying that the video game industry HAS to do this, but if they want more female gamers, this is the first step.
Around the same time I realized a lot of people on the Bioware forums were reading my post, I also had a small conversation with some people after work. I was mention how surprised I was that I liked Call of Duty: World at War's campaign. Never thought I would be that into it. A friend asks why and I mention about the campaign was engaging and fun yada yada yada. And then he mentioned that he notices girls play only certain games, that they like a particular part of game.
Other that the Sims 3, I don't play any "particular" games that are supposed to be female-friendly. I love FPSs, RTSs, RPGs, and a lot of other types of games that usually have a male following. But gender-wise, I'm definitely female. So... I'm an outlier?
I don't think so. This is what I think: While growing up in the society we live in (at least in the western world), girls are taught, and not intentionally, that video games are not for them.
When I was growing up, my little brother was the reason we bought certain video game consoles. I would try them and never got into them. It turns out it's because other than Kirby, I SUCK at platformers. Absolutely horrible. That's what my brother would usually play, and he mastered it. He is also better coordinated than I am in general, making it easier for him to pick up the control schemes. I noticed that when it came to my friends, the girls just never got the video games, even if they grew up with them around.
Part of it is because the video games were not gender-neutral. Gender meaning the social expectations of the sexes. A lot of video game characters are fulfilling gender expectations of glory, either being overly sexualized or the penultimate of the gender. I've mentioned this before.
Considering the industry decided to have mostly male heroes over the years, over time there were more heroes that boys and men could relate to then girls and women. And like a lot of "toys, parents will pick out the one that has their children's genders represented. Boys play with GI Joes and Might Max Figures, girls play with Barbie and American Girl Dolls. So over time, since video games had more male heros, more parents bought their games for their sons and daughters got pushed out of the market. Girls didn't grow up with video games, and as they grew up it was easy to just dismiss video games as a "guy thing."
Let's be honest, that's just by theory, but it's what I've observed in my childhood.
With this in mind, I think women have just adjusted to not be video game players in general. The numbers have increased in years, but it's a slow and steady thing. I don't think there's been a big push because for gender in our society, it's not considered "lady-like" to even participate in fictional violence. The most we get are women's leagues in some sports, and usually not heavy contact sports like american football.
Recently, recognizing the purchasing power of women in general, there has been a push to identify what would make a successful game that women would like to buy. Two E3's ago that attempt was extremely ridiculous and stereotypical girl games, not even woman games. Now because the industry is talking about it, the mainstream gamer is talking about it as well.
To me, it isn't quite a mystery. Just stop making it seem like games are just for guys. How do you do that? Well, less characters that look like human beefcakes or barbie dolls, and probably more normal-looking characters. Less over sexualized characters and more realistic depictions of bodies and goals.
That doesn't necessarily make games more female friendly, but it makes them more gender neutral. And that makes games welcoming to EVERYONE.
I'm not saying that the video game industry HAS to do this, but if they want more female gamers, this is the first step.
November 1, 2010
New in November
When it rains it pours.
I am going to make this a short post, because nothing on my end is one hundred percent yet, but I think hope is on the way.
I may have full time employment with a decent wage. Woot! Just a couple more days to see if that's confirmed.
I am writing a novel and some other stuff for other blogs. More on that as it continues.
I may be taking over RPGChicago... to some extent. If things go the way they do I don't know how I will be everywhere at once like I'd want to be, but I will definitely be figuring stuff out.
And now for something that's a definite on the Boyfriend's end. Here is a link to a sneak peak of what he's working on. In the month his company will be reveal more details about his project.
So, a lot of new is happening in November. Wow. I'm going to be busy. Kind of awesome, don't you think?
I am going to make this a short post, because nothing on my end is one hundred percent yet, but I think hope is on the way.
I may have full time employment with a decent wage. Woot! Just a couple more days to see if that's confirmed.
I am writing a novel and some other stuff for other blogs. More on that as it continues.
I may be taking over RPGChicago... to some extent. If things go the way they do I don't know how I will be everywhere at once like I'd want to be, but I will definitely be figuring stuff out.
And now for something that's a definite on the Boyfriend's end. Here is a link to a sneak peak of what he's working on. In the month his company will be reveal more details about his project.
So, a lot of new is happening in November. Wow. I'm going to be busy. Kind of awesome, don't you think?
October 29, 2010
Cyberpunk Costume Update
It's almost Halloween and I barely got this thing going at all before yesterday!
The Boyfriend was a super help in being crafty and assembling stuff, along with helping me cannibalize much of his old equipment. With that, I am going to post some pictures of what I have so far. I would love to add more but this might be it for this year. Next year I will build on this design.
So the first thing I worked on was the glove.
I took a black glove and took off the finges, add some the inside elements of a keyboard to the glove and then added the wires. I wanted it to look like my fingers had some input as well as buttons on my glove. I added the wire to go up my sleeve so that way it looked like it connected to my body.
 |
| Up close and personal. |
Now the goggles.
Her you can see them with the wires. At first I tried to glue some circuit board capacitors to the edges but that didn't work. I also didn't get some LEDs like I wanted to but I hadn't given myself the time to get some. However, the Boyfriend had some other cool stuff to add to the goggles.
I took parts from a broken webcam and attached them to the right side of the goggles. I put one of the button parts from the keyboard and put it on my goggles so I could ad something to it later. Maybe buttons without holes or something like that, maybe paint it. I put a little external wire to make it stand out more.
And I also have a while from that side that will actually plug into the right side of...
the vest. It took forever to find any kind of cheap clothing that I would be willing to glue random stuff over, but this had the right material, even if I don't like the white button.
Here's the point of interest on the vest, with some old connectors. Again the keyboard parts show up, along with a couple cards of RAM and some cable for flair. I forget what the connections for that lower left thing is but it helps bring a lot of the costume some life.
Here's the whole thing together. Not super impressive but it gets the idea across.
And here is the cord of the goggles connected to the vest, but of course since everything's black you can't really see it.
I think I may put some more stuff on it today or tomorrow, but I think for randomly hunkering down without much of a plan and very limited budget, I think I did pretty well. Ninety percent of this was done yesterday, and once again I want to proclaim to the world I have the best boyfriend, who delayed working on stuff for his company to help me piece together all of this. He even filed things down and used "dangerous" equipment to help get things apart. It was fun to do together.
We'll see where this goes, as times goes on I may work on this to make it better for next year.
October 27, 2010
Need to be PC on the PC? Enemies in video games.
Alright, this isn't a topic I have thought about too much and I might not write much since my arm has decided to spazz out on me this week. But it's something I was thinking about, and I want to apologize for the dry spell of writing. Now to get back on track.
I am sure a number of you are aware of the controversy Medal of Honor suffered because they were going to use the Taliban as the opposing force in their game. Many politicians and families of those lost in the U.S. Army's recent conflicts, were offended and outraged by that possibility. They said it's "too soon".
So what the Medal of Honor do? They just removed the name Taliban. But it didn't remove the characteristics. They're still insurgents in the Middle East. You could argue that you're still fighting the Taliban even if they're not called that name.
I can understand the alterier motives for the army officials to some extent, but as a consumer I get screwed over. I think a good number of us do. Sure, I love fighting enemies in space or in fantasy settings or in alternative universes or even in the past. But sometimes you want something more in the modern day. Games like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty try to provide that, but because of public perception and feelings you can't make it too realistic.
I'm an empathetic person. If I were grieving a loss of a family member that served in the army, I wouldn't want to see any of these games. I am not sure if I would be as publicly outraged or scorned as some of the people speaking out in the articles linked above, but that outrage can hurt sales. You don't want your consumer feeling guilty when they go to the local store to buy his or her copy of Modern Warfare.
However, sometimes the better stories are soaked in truth and realism. Video games cannot grow as an artform if public opinion is going to alter what's produced. There are plenty of books, movies, and pieces of art that are offensive. Some of them were created with the full intention of offending, and most of them weren't. To have video games become a full part of art, we have to be willing to make games that will make people angry, even if you might lose a customer or two.
Another random point entirely--I would like more realistic enemies and organizations in general. Call of Duty has a problem with bringing in the russians when they're no longer relevant. To be fair, a good number of companies have a similar issue. But if you want to tell a modern story, make it relavent to current events! America is probably more worried about whatever China is doing than Russia these days. Just a pet peeve.
Anyway, back to the original point-- there are a lot of people who want video games to be considered art. It's an impossibility if we continue to conform the "artform" to the expectations of our culture's morality.
I am sure a number of you are aware of the controversy Medal of Honor suffered because they were going to use the Taliban as the opposing force in their game. Many politicians and families of those lost in the U.S. Army's recent conflicts, were offended and outraged by that possibility. They said it's "too soon".
So what the Medal of Honor do? They just removed the name Taliban. But it didn't remove the characteristics. They're still insurgents in the Middle East. You could argue that you're still fighting the Taliban even if they're not called that name.
I can understand the alterier motives for the army officials to some extent, but as a consumer I get screwed over. I think a good number of us do. Sure, I love fighting enemies in space or in fantasy settings or in alternative universes or even in the past. But sometimes you want something more in the modern day. Games like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty try to provide that, but because of public perception and feelings you can't make it too realistic.
I'm an empathetic person. If I were grieving a loss of a family member that served in the army, I wouldn't want to see any of these games. I am not sure if I would be as publicly outraged or scorned as some of the people speaking out in the articles linked above, but that outrage can hurt sales. You don't want your consumer feeling guilty when they go to the local store to buy his or her copy of Modern Warfare.
However, sometimes the better stories are soaked in truth and realism. Video games cannot grow as an artform if public opinion is going to alter what's produced. There are plenty of books, movies, and pieces of art that are offensive. Some of them were created with the full intention of offending, and most of them weren't. To have video games become a full part of art, we have to be willing to make games that will make people angry, even if you might lose a customer or two.
Another random point entirely--I would like more realistic enemies and organizations in general. Call of Duty has a problem with bringing in the russians when they're no longer relevant. To be fair, a good number of companies have a similar issue. But if you want to tell a modern story, make it relavent to current events! America is probably more worried about whatever China is doing than Russia these days. Just a pet peeve.
Anyway, back to the original point-- there are a lot of people who want video games to be considered art. It's an impossibility if we continue to conform the "artform" to the expectations of our culture's morality.
October 20, 2010
Quick Question for the Masses.
My writing for my trilogy is going slow. Was able to quickly type out two chapters, and ending the one I'm on now is hard. But I'm suddenly re-inspired by my DeWitt on Titania blurb I did. And for once, I'm hoping I'll get a response from you guys.
Would you, my dear readers, like to read more about this universe?
I may have an idea in the works which would be more immediate satisfaction for you, dear readers. Please let me know if you would at least like to see more. If you don't want to comment here, email me at d20sapphire AT gmail DOT com.
And for those of you who respond--thanks. I appreciate it.
Would you, my dear readers, like to read more about this universe?
I may have an idea in the works which would be more immediate satisfaction for you, dear readers. Please let me know if you would at least like to see more. If you don't want to comment here, email me at d20sapphire AT gmail DOT com.
And for those of you who respond--thanks. I appreciate it.
October 18, 2010
VIVA LA REVOLUTION! Or how I will support developers with my money.
I woke up late this morning because LAN Sunday went late last night, ate a pancake, and then decided to see what the sites I usually kept up with were doing. I saw Game Overthinker had a new episode, and I love his rants, so I watched it. And then I got dragged into a revolution.
Watch this (about 17 minutes long) to see what I'm talking about.
For those of you who may not have time to watch it, the Game Overthinker points out the direction that the gaming industry is going right now--in the direction where only games that they know will make bajillions of dollars will be sold. The blame is going to one mega giant corporation--Game Stop.
I used to work at Game Stop, so I don't see it as evil. But I can see how it's business model is threatening game developers everywhere. If any company has a bright idea for a game, it either has to fit into an existing franchise, be so solid that publishers will know it will sell, or it will never get published. Why? Because the used game market prevents the previous profits that publishers knew they would get over time from happening.
I think I stated earlier in the blog that the game companies only own the ideas and intellectual properties that they sell continuously. Once they sell a complete game in the fancy box the first time, the person who owns that physical copy of the game is the consumer. Since many consumers will now sell their games when they're done playing them, which then get resold at Game Stop, there is a huge consumer base that is willing to wait the week to get a resold game at a cheaper price, even if that price is only a 5 buck difference.
This is bad for developers who are up and coming and want to try something new, like the Boyfriend and his small company who will be looking for investors in the next year or two. We want to support the little guys, not just because they are little, but because they have more incentive to promote innovate ideas that gamers will love. If you don't want more of the same, help these guys.
You're allowed to not like the big guys like EA or Activision. But everyone has their favorite developers--personally I have been a fan of Maxis, Valve and Bioware a lot these days, and those are just the big names. Luckily with the PC gaming market it's easier to get the little guys in there too. But you still have to go out of your way and try to find them. If the developers who do new and interesting things don't get support, we're never going to get new and interesting things.
Here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to buy new games when I can. Right now it's easy for me to do that since I use Steam for my PC gaming. But it's going to mean saving up for stuff on my Wii. I got my eye on Kirby's Epic Yarn. That's going to hurt my meek pocket book. But if I really want it and I want to support the right people, I will. And I'm not going to buy used games. Easier said than done, but that's what I want to do.
If you guys want to support developers, listen to the suggestions in the video above and see what you can do. Any little step is going to help the video game industry listen, especially when it comes to where we'll be spending out money.
Watch this (about 17 minutes long) to see what I'm talking about.
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