The Gaming Life Chose Me

I have only recently gotten into video games so I know a little bit about the industry. Back in my childhood, what I considered to be a great video game was Jump Start 1st Grade.

If you can remember what the dog's name is then you will know why I played it.

For the longest time I was on the side that argued that any game that didn't teach was mindless drivel that did would only end up hurting you in the long run. Then, I started college. And I was dared to take a few laps in Mario Kart 64. I failed miserably.

Go left he said. It's a shortcut he said. Ugh...

So I started here and once I mastered every land from Koop Troopa Beach to the Rainbow Road, I took to the Internet and played flash arcade games, Browser based MMOs, and finally downloaded Steam and started playing Star Trek Online, DC Universe, and Portal. I've seen a lot of games that make me question the worth of video games, but then there are those that make me wish I could be a part in making such art.

Compare the above with the below. No contest on what has better story telling capacity, and yet, the lesser game still has so many players and avid fans.

Video Games

I peg myself as a video game enthusiast, however I have no consuls and very rarely if ever play them. I tend to get more exposure to the gaming community by watching other people play them.

One of my favorite groups is RoosterTeeth/ Achievement Hunter. They do let's plays, and other various shows. They are one of the biggest groups in the gaming community.

Personally, I prefer the girls who work for them, which is probably because the gaming community is filled with enough guys already.

My favorite person involved in RoosterTeeth/ Gaming/ Youtube is Meg Turney. She gets a lot of judgement from the fandom because she is dating Gavin, who already worked at RoosterTeeth when she joined. She met Gavin through her job at RoosterTeeth, so when She came back to RT, people assumed that she got the job because of him.

I also identify a lot with her because she identifies as bisexual. She really helped me discover my own sexuality. While I am not Bi, I am pan, and a lot of her videos talk about discovering her sexuality. She talks about things I can relate to easily .  She also has a really good video on Bisexuality and the community. Many bisexuals and other minority orientations don't feel like they are part of a community, and the internet and people like Meg help people feel included.

Oh gaming!

Gaming. Such wonderful times I had.

Yeah if you couldn't tell, I'm not a gamer. Or at lease I'm not anymore. Let me explain. When I was a kid to about...junior year of high school, I was a gamer. Not like a HUGE gamer, but someone who does play video games for a decent chunk of time. Ever since I started playing Pokemon on my Gameboy Advance, I was a video game geek! Then I just grew out of it. I didn't grew bitter with the gaming world. This was before GamerGate. I was just...well for the lack of a better term alienated. Now like I said I didn't turn bitter with the gaming world, but I felt like my cynical worldview just fell out of it. One of the reason was DLC and Online exclusives, particularly the indie games that were from the documentary last Thursday. I didn't have online because we could not afford it. So that is part of it, but I just didn't like the idea of buying add-ons online to enhance the gaming experience. I would feel like it would be enhanced IF IT WAS ON THE DISC TO BEING WITH! I feel like it was a bit of a cop-out. But really, it was because I'm behind with the times. I could never keep up with the increase of new games coming out, not just with the exclusive online games, but with what's coming out from other companies. And whenever it did, it would be from the message board of the same people nagging about how Call of Duty is the same game over and over and over again with them making the same arguments over and over AND OVER AND OVER! It was tiring! I wasn't up for the people to keep on saying these things! There's also the increase in technology that I felt was a bit gimmicky than adding to the experience. It was a mess.

But I do not have any begrudges with the gaming world. Yeah there are issues, like the Gamer Gate fiasco and the CoD hating sheep! But really, it all comes down to passion. Theses gamers and developers (going back to the documentary) have a passion for something that they love. They love gaming! They love the idea of playing and being a part of a bigger world! A world where they are the heroes! How can I hate them for that? Let me use an example of one of my passions, music. Like gaming, so many people do have a deep love for it. Whether it's for the bands or artists that makes the songs that they love, or the people that trash on a band that makes nothing but trash. And like CoD sheep, the music equivalent for that right now is One Direction! Guess who doesn't care? That's right! THIS GUY! COME AT ME! But anyways, I can get into a discussion about why I am a music nerd, why I still buy physical copies of CDs and vinyls when it's "dead," why I don't find Green Day sell-outs, and why Mumford and Sons SO should have not won Album of the Year over Frank Ocean! But my point is that it's the same thing! Those gamers have the same passion that really anyone has. Whether it's the people that watch (or brainwash, depending on whoever you talk to) reality TV, or the movie buffs, or the teachers that teach their students about a medium made for stupid kids (see what I did there?), it's all a passion! Don't hate. Salute!

Also yes I know I'm behind on my post. Silence you puny mortal!

Lava

The dream technicians at Pixar have given us toys, robots, cars, fish and rats. But none of the production house's previous efforts truly prepares one for the sight of a lovelorn, crinkly-eyed Hawaiian volcano crooning its loneliness to the heavens.

Lava, a short film that will screen in advance of Inside Out, the Disney-owned studio's latest movie, features the tones of musician Kuana Torres Kahele as the lovesick mountain. The film's director, James Ford Murphy, who is also Pixar's head of animation, said that, to create Uku the volcano's unique countenance, designers combined the features of Kahele with those of Jackie Gleason, the Honeymooners star, and the bulldog from the classic Merrie Melodies short Feed the Kitty.

Video Games

Video games has always been a passion of mine.  This is why I am in animation for and see myself as being a video game designer one day.  As of right now I have been huge on pc games such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends and Rune Scape.  All of these games not only require programmers, but also animators.  I think that one day I would like to learn the particular programs that Blizzard, Riot, and Jagex use to create their games along side of my animation background to help them develop new environments characters and code to help create new aspects in their games.  However, their is unfortunately not a lot of video games out there that also relate to Christianity.  I believe there have been a few games that have been created that have this kind of aim in mind, but they have never made it big.  It's hard for me to say where a Christian like me could use my interest in video game design for God's work.  I guess it will have to be like animation/films that sneek in these values unless you look at them hard enough.

What Even is Pokémon?

As a kid, I was not allowed to have a Gameboy or any video games for that matter. Instead I had books because that's what my parents decided was more important for me to be doing. Was that a fair decision? I don't know. Despite that, I don't resent them at all for the choice that they made, but I will be the first one to tell you that it makes for some pretty strong reactions from other kids my age. When I tell them I don't know anything about Pokémon or Nintendo, I get these looks that would convey that I have an extra head on my shoulders. It's something like this:

It's true. I cannot play video games. I would rather do math homework than play a video game because I can't bear to show the world my complete lack of knowledge about anything gaming. The thought of Mario Kart even stresses me out because of how terrible I am at it. On a number of occasions, my best friend tried to teach me how to play Little Big Planet telling me "Rachel you can't even mess this up." Well. Yeah. The best I can do is play guitar hero, but most people don't even consider that a video game. In 7th grade my friend gave me her old Gameboy and I tried it. Once. Since then, it has sat in a plastic bag. 

This is not to say that I don't like video games. In fact, I've always been amazed how taken our generation is with them and how much of an influence they've had. I hadn't really thought about everything that went into the making of a game until we watched the documentary in class the other day, and I left feeling extremely in awe of the detail and and precision that it takes to program something that seems so taken for granted. I guess they're not so "childish" after all. 

Gaming...

Okay, first off I don't think I can consider myself a "gamer". Yeah, I have consoles like the Wii, PS2, Xbox 360, Nitendo 64, and the original Nitendo but I just can't really see myself as a gamer. Partly because I don't get as excited (well not as much as I used to when I was little) anymore, I guess I lost interest in some of the games. Now don't get me wrong, I definitely love the classics like Super Smash Bros, Zelda, Mario, and some others that you can't find unless its with an older console (like Gamecube) today.


Personally though, I really like Zelda rather its the Orcarina of Time, Wind waker, Majora's Mask, or Twilight Princess and yes, even the newest one Skyward Sword (Yeah, there's a new one called Hyrule Warriors but I don't have a Wii U and I'm not just going to spend money on that console just for one game) they always allowed me to have fun when I needed it, especially in times of stress and work. But all in all, to me games are a different realm for me and to be quite honest I don't care if I qualified as a "gamer" I just play them for the enjoyment not the bragging rights. And there you have it...my opinoin anyways.

Video Games

     I have never really considered myself a big video game fan, but I do enjoy playing sports video games. I also have kept up with the changing video game platforms by getting a PS4 several months ago. I have three sports games and Netflix that I use it for and that's about it. I mostly like to play the sports games with/against friends. The game my friends and I play the most is NBA 2K15. We like this game the most because of the back and forth scoring and the fast pace of play. The added realism of 2K15 also makes the game more enjoyable and causes it to feel like a real NBA game. Another cool feature of the game is the up to date rosters that the game uses which takes into account team's injuries, trades, and free agent acquisitions. All these facets of the game added together make for a great experience and any sports fan should definitely check out.

                             

 

Video Games

I've never been a fan of video games, but I have played a few when I was younger.  I still remember playing Mario with my friend Michael, it seems like the video games from the early 2000s were simple and fun without being violent.  I which that video games were like that today instead of being violent and full of gory stuff.  I think I'll just leave video games to the ones who create them and the ones who play them.

Gamergate

Hey, let’s rustle some people’s feathers.

So, since we talked about women in animation and we’re currently talking about video games, let’s combine the two. More specifically, how women are treated in the video gaming world. If you’re a part of the video game culture, you probably know where I’m going with this. If you haven’t heard of #gamergate, I’ll let Chris Kluwe summarize. 

“#Gamergate, for those unaware, is what happened a bit over a month ago, where an angry neckbeard posted demonstrably false allegations about his ex-girlfriend, claiming she slept with video game site reviewers for better scores for her games (again, demonstrably false), and then a whole bunch of other angry neckbeards on the Internet went full Denis Dyack and spitfrothed themselves into national attention by making an array of threats on numerous female game developers, including ones about their death, tried to hide behind a shield of “it’s about journalistic ethics because they said gamers are dead,” and generally proved why the Internet needs to be burned to the ground and the ashes salted.”

His whole article is great. Give it a read here.

One of the female critics that has been the victim of the “gamergate” is Anita Sarkeesian, a well-known feminist critic that runs the feminist frequency website and gives talks on women in modern media. 

She was scheduled to give a talk at Utah State University a couple of weeks ago. Some of the lovely anonymous gentlemen who are part of the gamergate movement threatened her, one of whom threatened to shoot up the school if the talk was held. She cancelled the talk when her request for metal detectors at the doors was denied, a move she made to protect herself and the people who wanted to hear her talk. The Salt Lake Tribune has an article that has the full details, including specifics of some of the messages sent to her.

The sad thing? This is the norm for her. Ever since she started her youtube channel, she's faced backlash and threats from men in the gaming community. Someone actually made a game where you click on her face to beat her up. She's had her private information leaked online many times. And she's not the only one. 

Felicia Day wrote a well worded and quite eloquent blog post on why she was afraid to talk about this issue in the gaming community. (The post is here but it's on tumblr, which isn't available on ResNet.) Almost immediately after the post went up, she was doxxed and her personal address was posted online. Here's a kotaku article on what happened if you want to read up. 

The video game community has always been a little on edge about the topic of women, but I have to wonder what fuels this obsessive hatred towards female and feminist critics. What is it that goes through their minds when they threaten these women with rape and death? (Remember friends, rape threats tend to be used as a display of power)

There's also the issue of the hypocrisy in these types of gamers. They want video games to be taken seriously, to be viewed as art. As soon as we turn a critical eye on games, however, they start saying things like, "It's just a game, don't take it so seriously!" instead of realizing that art has a lot to say about the culture we live in and can even start to sway that culture. I could make an entire post just on that. 

Sorry, this went on longer than I anticipated. I have a passionate love of games and a passionate hatred of the vocal culture. Those things clash on occasion.

Pixar films

The Pixar short films we watched brought me back to the good old days.  With bugs life and monsters inc. they were both brilliant Pixar movies. They included very good graphics making everything look and feel real. Bug life was my favorite at the time it came out. A misfit ant, looking for "warriors" to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.
Monsters inc on the other hand was a brilliant Pixar films with the story about monsters scaring kids for their scream and also one day one of them snuck out and didn't know these two monsters had them until one day one found out and tried to kidnap her. Finally they brought ger back to her door where she belonged. 

What is Funny?

Comedy is not a science, it's art. Therefore there are no rules and it can be very subjective. What one person finds funny another might cringe at. 

One thing worth noting is that when analysing comedy and what is funny, it is almost like it is only visible out of the corner of your eye. As soon as you try and look directly at it and analyse it too much... all of the funniness disappears... 

Why do we find things funny? Why does this reaction force us to convulse and make that noise? 

I have no idea. 

There is no simple answer to why something is funny... Something is funny because it captures a moment, it contains an element of simple truth, it is something that we have always known for eternity and yet are hearing it now out loud for the first time. 

I think that our need to feel intelligent comes into play a lot in finding things funny... maybe humour is actually the overwhelming joy at feeling intelligent. Somebody tries to put on their shoes standing up and falls over in the process. They look foolish, we therefore feel intelligent as we are not the one falling over trying to put on shoes. 

We laugh. 

Someone makes a clever joke and only a few people get it. If we get the joke we recognise the person as being clever and feel clever ourselves as we understood the concept. 

We laugh. 

So is humour partly to do with self congratualtion at being intelligent? 

Comedy is full of opposites and contradictions.

Pixar Shorts

I loved watching the Pixar short films, always have since I was a kid waiting for the Pixar movies to start.  The short films are all funny and tell a great story in a short amount of time without overdoing it with the computer graphics or trying to make them look realistic (except for the creepy baby) which may have contributed to their success.  I wish that we could have watched all of the short films in class, but there isn't enough time in class to do that.  I'm just glad Pixar stuck with the same style that they have used for years (sorry for keeping this short).

A Letter To MoMo

Okay okay, So I have to admit that my interest in Anime is growing a  little bit. At first I wouldn't like to watch anime because it just seemed odd to me unless it was Dragonball Z and One Piece. Or if I couldn't sleep at night because all Adult Swim would show is anime cartoons, but watching A Letter to Momo makes me appreciate anime just a little bit more because I find interest in the characters, the story, comedy and my favorite, the exaggerated expressions when the the character is in shock surprised.

pixar

Ahh, Pixar. I know I've talked about how animation isn't usually my thing, but I do enjoy some animation, and yes, most of it is mainstream. I'm sorry I like the mainstream. No actually I'm not sorry. Anyway, I remember watching Pixar shorts when I was younger and they were always really cool. They're still cool! I recognized all the shorts we watched in class, but I could never remember which movies they went with.

I really didn't know how hard it was to animate CG like that. Pixar made it look so easy and nice, I didn't realize how long, and how much work went into it. Especially when I was like 5 or 6, I had no idea how animation worked. The point about how each short was sort of experimental for different things in upcoming movies was interesting. I really never thought about it like that. Like they did Geri's Game right before they did a movie with real people in it, or Birds tested the feathers. I just thought that was interesting point.

Pixar storytelling really is top notch and makes the shorts and feature films so much more rich and interesting. There's also huge speculations that everything in Pixar is connected and in the same universe or something - I've read all the theories and get lost every time, but I know they pay a lot of attention and add easter eggs into every movie. So, in short, Pixar is awesome, and I'll leave you with this guide for story telling:

(But just the link because the picture is really long)

 

Pixar Storytelling Rules