A Blog on Games: The Electric Boogaloo

- aphorisms & assorted notions on digital games -

[emilselectricboogaloo]

[allsystemsnominal]

The Evolution of MechWarrior: 1989-2012

[oldgamemags]

An advert for Mechwarrior 2 for CD-ROM

[emilselectricboogaloo]

I've made this analogy before: Imagine a world where all the major Hollywood film studios, with the sole exception of Disney, made almost nothing but horror movies like the Saw films. Every high-profile studio release that isn't a Disney movie is a torture porn film, and if you want to see anything different at all, you have to go to film festivals and indie circuits. Now, I actually like the Saw films, but I would have concerns about the general health and artistic viability of the big movie industry if this were the case, and would wonder what it said about the consumer culture we live in if the major content-producers didn't see fit to make anything except that genre. Even though I occasionally want to see a film like that, that doesn't mean I want it to be the only kind of film made, or that that audience is the only audience that should be served by the industry.

-faceless007 on Neogaf

[emilselectricboogaloo]

If we take pluralism to be the presence of several groups and cultures within the same society - occupying unequal position in relation to social standing, public respect, social and political power - circumstances in which toleration is required are reconceived as being produced by the majoritarian (negative) perception of traits, habits, and practices of minority groups which are singled out as "different" and excluded from what the majority defines as standard forms of behvaior. Such situations of cultural domination then develop into contests over the public toleration of differences. This occurs when the appear of minority groups in some public/political space is perceived as vociferous and provocative, and hence as an invasion of the political domain of particular identities and a plea for special consideration which cannot be ignored. In such cases, I defend toleration of differences in the public sphere not on the grounds of an argument showing the compatibility of the recognition of differences with neutrality, but on the grounds of justice. Indeed, the public exclusion of differences is unfair, because it treats members of minorities differently from the members of the majority, whose identities are openly visible everywhere in the political domain. It unjustly keeps minorities in a marginal position of second-class citizenship. Toleration can be seen as responding to and satisfying these requirements of justice if it is understood as a recognition of the excluded, marginalized, and oppressed identities. It can, however, work as a form of recognition only if it is considered symbolically as a public gesture intended to legitimize the existence of differences and place them on the same footing as the habits and practices of the majority.

Galleoti, Anna Elizabeth (2002), Toleration as Recognition, Cambridge University, p. 10

[guiltysparktan-blog]

In fact an interesting argument could be made that physical perfection is ever present in gaming. Regardless of whether it is the curvaceous volleyball girl, the muscular hero or the hefty redneck, is not every character carefully designed to appeal to stereotypes or the mindset of players..? Surely there is a reason why women in Hollywood are pretty, why the men are also pretty, or why this guy (Noel Gugliemi) is always a Mexican gangster.

The fact is, that in fictitious portrayals, the writer or director is trying to impart an ideal to the reader or viewer and they use whatever their medium is to accomplish that to the best of their ability. I can not say for certain what the need or reason is for big breasts in a fighting game truly is, but as long as their is a growing demand for it and it sells, these games will continue to be made. After all, this isn’t Dead or Alive we are talking about, it is Dead or Alive FIVE! So the creators must be doing something right.

[emilselectricboogaloo]

The last couple of paragraphs are kind of flawed in regards to the claim that fictional media and its creator try to impart an idealized version of males and females, as well as the appeal to “if there is a demand for this type of thing, then it is acceptable”. 

Regarding the claim that these represented females/males are idealized, you unfortunately overlook or neglect the aspect of for who the characters are idealized. The target audience for primitive, big-breasted doll-faces is certainly not your average female player and I could easily imagine that they don’t necessarily see that particular type of woman as being their ideal. As such, the writers or creators aren’t producing these absolute idealized characters thanks to an universal ideal, but as a way to appeal to a certain demographic/mindset. Which I think is fair to conclude that it’s a male audience. The physical perfection you are referring to is mostly addressing heterosexual male audiences, and thus isn’t something female players are able to identify with. The “reason why women in Hollywood are pretty, why the men are also pretty, or why Noel Gugliemi is always a Mexican gangster” is because the content in which these things occur is addressed to and specifically targeting white heterosexual males.

Moreover, even if we agree that females are not the only ones being reified and treated unfairly (meaning that men are also subject to reification), then that does not excuse either type of sexist portrayal. It is a common argument to state that “if male characters are hypersexualized, then it’s okay that female characters are hypersexualized as well”, but this is a flawed and incorrect statement to make - two wrongs don’t make a right, and it should be clear which of two genders is already marginalized and in the extreme minority.

Regarding the claim “as long as there is a demand for this, it will continue to be produced.” While I agree that capitalism and financial profitability are great motivators for producing certain objects, the fact that the objects in question are to some extent morally indefensible should provide sufficient evidence that economics is not (or should not be) the sole deciding factor when it comes to putting controversial objects into the world. One has to take other societal and moral factors into account when crafting certain experiences that might negatively affect other people.

[guiltysparktan-blog]

While I do not disagree with your position I believe we are taking about two different things. From what I gather you are more of the mind that from a creative expression standpoint, developers need to be more conscious of the world they are unleashing their creation into and be more responsible about it. My position is that, these developer’s do not really owe anything to anyone, the burden is really on those receiving this and if they do not agree with or are offended by these products, then they need to censor themselves from it, one can not presume to force developer’s to refocus their work simply because it is offensive to some. It is a very relative issue and in my opinion, no more “correct” to ask a developer to alter, remove or create something less than offensive; than it it is “wrong” to create something offensive. We are not talking about educational standards which need to be politically correct; these are third party developer’s who have their own vision; and one can not presume to know, without a doubt, that these developer’s are targeting “white heterosexual males.” While it is a safe assumption, it is still merely an assumption; especially considering that the lead director of DOA 5 is Japanese and sales were split 50/50 between Japan and the rest of the world for total units sold, so if anything this was targeting Japanese heterosexual males. 

As for the question of economics, it again, is not so black and white. What is moral or “morally indefensible” very often has little to do with the production of a series by a major corporation. While I am of a mind with you that perhaps these sorts of games are morally bankrupt, that does not justify telling these developers how to make a game they spend years of their lives and buckets of money on for only two reasons, creative expression and making money and I don’t believe anyone else has the right or moral high ground to dictate how they ought to do that.

Of course, as we see the medium of computer games grow into something more than just entertainment, I believe there is a level of responsibility some members of the community need to take on in order to direct the future of the industry forward. The computer game industry will continue to be dominated by capitalist entertainment for the foreseeable future; that much is certain. What is growing alongside of it in the form of computer game academics and education is something completely different, and this I believe is where your argument flourishes. The people in this burgeoning wing of the industry have an opportunity to create something morally sound and beneficial for the whole of society, and indeed games like DOA 5 have no place there. As for the “Hollywood” like satus quo of the entertainment producing industry, I think that instead of criticizing what is currently going on and pointing out what is sexist and what is wrong: the market itself needs to demand these changes by affecting sales and profits. 

Anyway, take that for what you will, it is my two cents at any rate ~ looking forward to a lively response.

[emilselectricboogaloo]

Nice clarification on your position. From what I can understand on where you are coming from, I think this discussion basically boils down to the whole freedom of speech argument. Should people, especially creative ones, be allowed to express whatever they desire, regardless of consequences? That is an incredibly difficult question to decide and holds many complexities and nuances that would muddy the debate.

Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that people *are* allowed to express whatever they want, but they are also morally responsible for the expressions they put out into the world. As such, if these expressions cause any harm (i.e. yelling ‘fire’ in a theatre, or contribute and recreating harmful stereotypes of marginalized social groups in an already racist and sexist cultural context), then the creators of such harmful expressions need to own up to it and receive the condemnation their immoral behavior requires. I am of course not referring to any legal action, but more akin to telling a child that it needs to stop hitting on the other (less popular) children.  

[guiltysparktan-blog]

In fact an interesting argument could be made that physical perfection is ever present in gaming. Regardless of whether it is the curvaceous volleyball girl, the muscular hero or the hefty redneck, is not every character carefully designed to appeal to stereotypes or the mindset of players..? Surely there is a reason why women in Hollywood are pretty, why the men are also pretty, or why this guy (Noel Gugliemi) is always a Mexican gangster.

The fact is, that in fictitious portrayals, the writer or director is trying to impart an ideal to the reader or viewer and they use whatever their medium is to accomplish that to the best of their ability. I can not say for certain what the need or reason is for big breasts in a fighting game truly is, but as long as their is a growing demand for it and it sells, these games will continue to be made. After all, this isn’t Dead or Alive we are talking about, it is Dead or Alive FIVE! So the creators must be doing something right.

[emilselectricboogaloo]

The last couple of paragraphs are kind of flawed in regards to the claim that fictional media and its creator try to impart an idealized version of males and females, as well as the appeal to "if there is a demand for this type of thing, then it is acceptable". 

Regarding the claim that these represented females/males are idealized, you unfortunately overlook or neglect the aspect of for who the characters are idealized. The target audience for primitive, big-breasted doll-faces is certainly not your average female player and I could easily imagine that they don't necessarily see that particular type of woman as being their ideal. As such, the writers or creators aren't producing these absolute idealized characters thanks to an universal ideal, but as a way to appeal to a certain demographic/mindset. Which I think is fair to conclude that it's a male audience. The physical perfection you are referring to is mostly addressing heterosexual male audiences, and thus isn't something female players are able to identify with. The "reason why women in Hollywood are pretty, why the men are also pretty, or why Noel Gugliemi is always a Mexican gangster" is because the content in which these things occur is addressed to and specifically targeting white heterosexual males.

Moreover, even if we agree that females are not the only ones being reified and treated unfairly (meaning that men are also subject to reification), then that does not excuse either type of sexist portrayal. It is a common argument to state that "if male characters are hypersexualized, then it's okay that female characters are hypersexualized as well", but this is a flawed and incorrect statement to make - two wrongs don't make a right, and it should be clear which of two genders is already marginalized and in the extreme minority.

Regarding the claim "as long as there is a demand for this, it will continue to be produced." While I agree that capitalism and financial profitability are great motivators for producing certain objects, the fact that the objects in question are to some extent morally indefensible should provide sufficient evidence that economics is not (or should not be) the sole deciding factor when it comes to putting controversial objects into the world. One has to take other societal and moral factors into account when crafting certain experiences that might negatively affect other people.

[emilselectricboogaloo]

Our always already embodied selves in the context of defining the activity known as 'sports'

Sports are almost always intuitively recognized as being physical. The activity usually revolves around performing extraordinary feats with one’s body, often against other similarly abled competitors. Although this necessary condition of sports always involving a physical activity point toward our society’s established notion of the definition of sports, it also indicates that we as human beings culturally celebrate a certain existing phenomenon that exists – this being the social consensus on a specific physical activity among each other.

If we agree that sports require bodily exertion in order for the activity to be considered a sport, then it is necessary to detail to which degree this bodily exertion is defined. Is it the mere move of a hand? Or is it a full bodily movement? I am sure many human activities would not be considered a sport, despite the fact that the involved hands are moving (like Chess). Additionally, the necessary condition of physical activity runs into several problems once we ascertain that our sensory apparatus and cognition are embodied. When moving Chess pieces or allocating units in a digital strategy game via mouse clicks rely on our bodily perception of the activity in itself the definition of sports become murky and muddy. 

[emilselectricboogaloo]

Silent Hill 2, 3, & 4 - A Guide to a better HD Collection

If you are already familiar with the notoriously shitty port of Silent Hill 2 & 3 for the 360/PS3 by Konami, then you would probably still feel the need of being able to play these atmospheric survival-horror experiences in pristine graphics without any tampering with the original material (as what Hijinx and Konami somehow did to the HD versions).

To combat this need to restore some of the gaming medium's finest pieces, I created a thread on Neogaf a month ago or so, which specifically serves as a guide to how you can experience these games, along with their evil half-brother Silent Hill 4, in whatever resolution you desire, without any bugs, and with whatever anti-aliasing and antisioptric filtering you need. All you need is a PC and access to the PC versions of Silent Hill 2, 3, or 4 (as well as not being afraid of tweaking some files). If you follow this guide you will be able to play the games like the attached screenshots in this post.

The link to the thread is right here

[emilselectricboogaloo]

To the Moon: An Interesting Failure

For a game that gets lauded for its original treatment of a complex theme, I think To the Moon (Freebird Games, 2011) failed in an interesting way because it carelessly glosses over the intricacies of dream versus authenticity, which is the primary principle for everything that takes place in the story. Professional reviews, user impressions, etc. have applauded the game for its emotional and intellectual worth, but I would argue that our understanding of what this game achieves needs to be adjusted. I adore To the Moon for its original premise and the melancholic depiction of a real life full of hardships and regrettable choices. Pitting this otherwise untreated topic of the hardships of life against a topic of the possibility of having your memories altered to something unauthentic, yet much more desirable, is so thought-provoking and stimulates some really nice discussion on the value of authenticity. Would you prefer to live a life full of happiness, yet unauthentic, or would you rather live an authentic life despite its inherent challenges and negatives? As cliché as such a discussion might be, it even serves as an counterargument from the libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick against utilitarian ethics. As such, many possible creative avenues could have been pursued and elaborated upon. Unfortunately, To the Moon never fulfills this creative and intellectual potential, as it completely neglects to comment on whether or not it was acceptable to change a person's memories (independent of the person's consent) into a fake, but  pleasurable past. All the terrible events that were in reality part of the patient's life are erased from his memory before his death, yet the game never takes a moment to ponder or reflect on whether or not the (implicative) happy ending players have been witness to was actually a 'good' ending. Because everything that the patient's wife, family, friends, etc. had experienced together with the patient were erased and reduced to simple obstacles without any worth. Therefore, the game only amounts to conveying a simplistic take on the difficulties of life's challenges. Even worse, the entire dream vs. reality concept and its affect on how we can understand ourselves as human beings gets reduced to a primitive plot device without any thought put into it. Other flaws of To the Moon certainly exist (dialogue, forced humour, unnecessary main characters, meaningless and poor game mechanics, among others), but the superficial and non-reflective treatment of a complex theme is to me the damning one, due to the fact that it's just another low-brow video game story in allegedly intellectual/artistic clothes. This is more of a constructive criticism, as I really think that the game industry needs more games like To the Moon, albeit with a bit more depth to it (and interesting mechanics would help as well). Finally, I think that To the Moon is a symptom of a larger problem: That the flaws of many games that deal with original and non-childish topics are usually forgiven, because of the contemporary lack of games with intellectually stimulating narratives and mechanics. It seems to me like gaming enthusiasts usually make the assessment that because the topic is unlike others, then its originality in itself is sufficient for being a good game. However I think this is a disingenuous assessment to make, as the originality not as important as the execution of the game in question. As such, if the these otherwise interesting attempts at treating complex issues would reflect more on the content they are dealing with, instead of settling for the originality in itself as the quality of the game, then they will become much better experiences and more importantly, raise the bar that other likewise games should at minimum adhere to.

[emilselectricboogaloo]

The criticism of technology

It goes without saying that the criticism of technology is an often-repeated phenomenon. Science fiction media have for example provided us with plenty of warnings against future scenarios in which a certain technology has altered humanity and the world in almost apocalyptic ways. It could be argued that new breakthroughs in all areas of human life tend to be met with a skeptical look, as the criticized technology in question uncovers and allows for new potential possibilities for human to use them. . It is often the case that the technology in itself is scrutinized, as seen in the many warnings of the potential negative ramifications of a new technology. However, as Heidegger mentions, technology can be regarded as ready-at-hand, meaning that the technology in question is defined (some would say ontologically) by how we human agents use it.   Therefore, when human agents then use specific technologies for certain purposes, the potential criticism can sometimes be misplaced in its focus. It is not necessarily the intrinsic ontological features of a technology which should be targeted for positive criticism, but rather how we as human agents use it. Thus, the characteristics of a technology are not necessarily the conveyor of the negative consequences we sometimes see in society, but the technology is what it is due to our use of it. As a consequence of such a viewpoint, rather than solely lambasting the characteristics of the technology, the focus should take the human use into account. When people use a virtual avatar to enforce certain values or viewpoints, or when a social software displays fast and superficial social behavior, it is not necessarily the technological object that brings the values into the world, but the human agent using this technology

[emilselectricboogaloo]

Embodied Play - Oculus Rift

For my presentation in the Computer Games Culture class I chose to relate the case of the head-mounted VR display Oculus Rift to the topic of embodied play. According to the uncritical assessments by some gaming news sites, the Oculus Rift promises to deliver more immersive and engaging experiences through the device’s stereoscopic representation of a digital game with the ability of headtracking. Although the Oculus Rift lessens the gulfs between execution and evaluation (Norman, 1988, p. 51), the device is flawed in several areas and initial expectations need to be adjusted. The device for example assumes that the user is sufficiently familiar with the controller syntax (cf. Kirkpatrick, 2009, p. 135) in terms of intuitively knowing where the buttons on a controller are placed and what they do. Moreover, its application to other genres might be impossible in some areas.    

Furthermore, the promise of complete immersion is a PR term that is analytically flawed, especially when the term is used to denote the potential capabilities of a primarily visual technology like the Rift. This criticism is motivated by the phenomenological assertion of human experience as being always already situated (cf. Merleau-Ponty) as bodies. Additionally, the promise of complete immersion through a specific medium goes against the nature of how media actually function according to Bolter & Grusin (2001), who point out that media always acknowledges its function as media through the dual logic of immediacy and hypermediacy.     

However, the Oculus Rift serves as a technology that in its failures uncover otherwise hidden knowledge regarding how we as embodied agents experience games. The technology motivates a discussion on how we understand the gaming experience in terms of interface (cf. Bayliss’ definition), how games as artifacts are accessed by agents unfamiliar with the syntax of the controller, and finally how the supposed ideal of immersion rests on the flawed condition of visual engagement (thus neglecting the bodily conditions we as embodied agents live by).  

[emilselectricboogaloo]

Actor-Network Theory & Infinite Regress?

So recently the so-called ‘actor-network’ theory has knocked against my academic door throughout the last 8 months or so. Maybe this sudden introduction to an apparently well-known social-scientific theory has something to do with me becoming more and more familiar with the humanities that aren’t specifically analytical philosophy. Nevertheless, it is an interesting experience to become aware of a popular suggestion to a fundamental ontology that isn’t necessarily treated within analytical philosophy. In my opinion, the actor-network theory holds many interesting points in regards to how we as moral agents can understand how non-human entities serve a causal function in our everyday lives. Although I do have a problem with ascribing agency or intentionality to non-human “actors” (cf. Searle’s Chinese Room), the entire design, structure, and embedded values in these non-human artifacts certainly are significant in how they affect us (and vice versa). However, providing an overview of all the causalities between different actors in a holistic network seems to me as a daunting task. It might be epistemically fruitful to pursue such an endeavour, but the mapping of all actors in a complex network seems to me, at least initially, to run into one of Munchhausen’s/Agrippa’s trilemma, in which “that which is brought forward to make a given matter credible needs yet something else to make it credible, and so on ad infinitum..” (Vogt, 2011), i.e. the problem of infinite regress. Mapping one actor and then an entire network of actors through their causal relationship could easily be objected to motivate the problem of infinite regress, as even the tiniest actor could be considered an influence, which should be mapped. Luckily for Latour and the other ANT followers, this skepticism-objection is able to be disproved if one applies a coherentistic theory of truth. However that would probably entail that Latour & Co. abandon their social-constructivist ontology.

Applied resources Vogt, Katja, "Ancient Skepticism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),      URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2011/entries/skepticism-ancient/>.    

[emilselectricboogaloo]

Within the many comments that I have made all over the place, I have always stated that “I love games.” But I don’t mean it like “I love any game.” The games that I am referring to when I say “I love games,” are the games that moved me, that stayed with me even unto this day, those excellent games that I appreciate and respect. As a game designer, I can see a “light” in my predecessors. Every game comes in a different package, but those with an almost holy light that shines with an irrepressible brilliance are the ones that will go down in history as epics.

Hideki Kamiya - Okami Official Complete Works, Udon Entertainment, 2009

[discovergames-blog]

This is an interesting piece on Okami, a game I loved very much.  The article is about the influences that Okami draws from, and how it ultimately betrays those influences with some of it’s visual choices.  Interesting stuff.

[emilselectricboogaloo]

I played this some years back, but the latest revisions to Dolphin have improved upon the compatibility and rendering of the 2D assets. Needless to say, it's a gorgeous game (although the HUD isn't able to hide).

[emilselectricboogaloo]

Homeworld 1.

Accompanied by Paul Ruskay's excellent ambient soundtrack

One of my favourites games and an example of how the evolution of game development is not rationally cumulative, seeing how its visual and game design within the RTS genre have not been improved upon since.