This is now very old news, but I realized today I never made a post announcing or sharing my thoughts on the end of the format war. In case you live underground and haven't heard, Sony's Blu-ray has triumphed over HD-DVD as the next-generation entertainment/storage medium. I can't say I'm surprised. With a better storage capacity and a name with less than half the syllables of its adversary, Blu-ray has always been the better product in my mind. The final nail in HD-DVD's coffin was when Wal-Mart announced they'd only be carrying Blu-ray and DVDs henceforth. At that point, Toshiba threw in the towel and said they wouldn't be manufacturing any more HD-DVDs.
Do you think Blu-ray discs will be the last physical medium for the Blockbusters of the world to stand on, before Hollywood goes the way of the music industry? (That is, before it dies, slowly and painfully.) This year I've been renting movies a whole lot less than I did last year, despite living even closer to the video store. Although, the pitiful selection at Rogers Video doesn't exactly help. (In the last few weeks they've failed to have: Grosse Pointe Blank, Il Postino, America's Sweethearts, and Equilibrium, among others. Yeah. Shame shame shame!) Still, no matter where you go, nothing quite beats the savory flavor of freeness, something that March's issue of Wiredsays is going to be the new golden standard in the future of business. Indeed, more and more people are discovering the magic of Bittorrent, and sharing proliferates now more than it ever has. It's becoming difficult to keep track of everything.
Just a few days ago, for example, I discovered the amazing Stage6, which is YouTube-like in what it does and Torrent-like in what it delivers. The site offers full TV episodes of just about anything you want, but forget fiddling around with trackers and seeding, and all that other torrent nonsense. A whole episode of, say, Heroes, takes just a few minutes to buffer before it's ready for your viewing pleasure in full DVD-quality. Not bad for a video-hosting site! However, for reasons pertaining to its dubious legality, Stage6 is being shut down tomorrow, probably around midnight. So if you're like me and didn't know about it until now, you missed your chance! Still, we seem to be going through the same motions with movies today as we did with music back in the early 2000s. If you ask me, it's probably just a matter of time. Maybe one day we'll see a model in place where all films and TV are pay-what-you-want, a la Radiohead.
But, back to Blu-ray. One thing that's interesting about it is the fact that the PS3's power to groove with the format du jour is now more enticing. Also, if I remember correctly, they've scored a couple more exclusive and noteworthy titles since I last wrote about it. After all this time, I still want a friggin' Xbox 360. (And it might not be so far off - when I get a job this summer I should be able to meet this price as advertised on Newegg.) But perhaps now the PS3 will start getting some more, well, play. Back in the summer of '07, I got it straight from the horse's mouth that Sony intends for the PS3 to be a general entertainment unit, which seemed risky at the time since the format war was still in full-swing. Also, many gamers feel that software support is ultimately more important than the versatility of the medium. I cautiously count myself among those gamers, but I do see where Sony is coming from. I mean, let's face it: getting a two-for-one is sweet, because electronics are hella expensive. Especially when you're a student who will pay $500 for a course that teaches you how to transcribe English words into the phonetic alphabet, fork over another $100 for the textbook containing this worthwhile information, and then drop the course because, frankly, it kinda sucks. Ahem.
What's your take on the blu-ray takeover? Are you still mourning the passing of HD-DVD, (or thinking of buying a bunch of movies and a player for dirt cheap) or are you dancing on its grave, all decked out in your Sony memorabilia? How long will Blu-ray last, or will it have a lasting effect at all?
Check. This. Out. My media prof emailed this TED Talk vid to my whole class. I think this is spectacular:
Told you so. For those saying this is just what the iPhone does, note that this was recorded a year ago. Also, the iPhone doesn't support more than 2 points of contact to be computed at a time, whereas this device can handle at least 20 according to Han. (He does not give an exact number but demonstrates using all 10 of his fingers, and says somebody else could be there manipulating objects as well.) In any case, the potential for this technology is nigh unfathomable. The photo exploring and object sculpting are fun, but what really struck me was the demonstration he gave near the end involving animated characters. I've been excited to watch the nascent stages of Mo-Capping over the last few years, and now similar human life can be injected into objects to create a puppet-like medium. Plus, unlike super-high-budget Peter Jackson movies that can afford to Mo-Cap, the average artist with average resources can take this on easily. (Assuming this technology is to be made attainable by that demographic.)
Imagine the potential for video games, too. The possibilities are endless.
This is all especially interesting to me because it's a perfect example of the aspect of my class I've taken the most interest in: that is, the notion of moving toward interfaceless-interaction in various media, as discussed in one of our texts, Remediation by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin.
Thanks to Rockwell for the heads-up on this. I haven't actually gotten the chance to look at this very closely yet, but I plan to.
TED Talks is a yearly event that invites many of the world's most renowned thinkers and doers to give an 18-minute lecture on something they feel is really important. And you get to watch for free. Pretty sweet deal.
Apologies for the lack in posting again. I've been busy in the last couple of days working on this mammoth of a post for my class blog that goes into further detail about my seminar topic which I presented to the class a week ago. It's been a struggle because I wanted to use iMovie to spruce up the home-made media I planned to include, but in one way or another iLife's been very elusive. I couldn't use Kat's copy because our computer models are different, and my own install DVDs with iLife 06 are damaged beyond use. This means I'll most likely have to make a trip to Yorkdale Mall's Apple Store sooner rather than later. Fortunately, replacements are apparently free.
Don't know about you, but the news about ol' Heath bummed me out. Beware evil sleeping pills. RIP.
Attention, everyone! Journalism has hit a new low. Meet Kevin McCullough. This writeup, "The 'Sex-Box' Race for President" is probably the most reprehensible article I've ever read. We're all used to journalists using creative rhetoric and omitting key details to be misleading. This, on the other hand, is downright slander based on a bunch of bold-faced lies.
You can read the article for yourself, and the (currently just shy of 700) comments responding to it are more than enough of a supply of counters to McCullough's inane statements. The corresponding GP article also highlights the important parts.
That said, here's the rundown: BioWare's Mass Effect is a recent sci-fi adventure title for the Xbox 360. There's been a fair bit of hype about it, and it lived up to the hype when it was met with very favorable reviews. (Praise for the game emphasizes excellent story-telling, among other things.) Mass Effect's ESRB rating is M for Mature, meaning that retailers agree to refuse sale of the game to persons under seventeen. It's about the same as a movie being rated R, although this particular example has nowhere near the mature content of a contemporary R-rated film. Note that games that are exceptionally violent/course/explicit are shunned by mainstream platforms and consumers.
Mass Effect contains a controversial "sex scene" between the player-controlled character and another character in the story. Which two characters are involved varies depending on what character the player chooses to control at the start of the game, and what choices they make up to this point. In the scene, two characters are seen kissing, and what follows is some very dark footage of the characters' faces close together, a hand running down a back, and, oh yes, a glimpse of some buttocks for all of one second. Raunchy stuff. The sequence is less than a minute long, and the rest of the single-player content takes around 35 hours to complete.
Mr. McCullough's article claims that Mass Effect targets teenage boys around the age of 15. He calls it a sex game, a porn game, wherein players customize and control a graphic sex sequence for nearly 3 minutes. He even goes so far as to say, referring to the 360's internet connectivity,
"With it’s [sic] 'over the net' capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away."
And there's a lot more where that came from. Frankly, that statement alone is far more perverse than anything I've ever seen or heard of in a video game. McCullough goes on to challenge the American presidential candidates to address this pressing issue, and expresses the wish that constitution would bring down the hammer on seedy, unsavory firms like BioWare.
So what's the big deal? I'll tell you. As far as I can remember, I've never given a thorough explanation on this blog of my philosophy around video games as emerging media. And when I say "my philosophy", I actually mean a widely shared opinion that is basically considered fact by people who study or think about media. This incident of slandering an awesome game is a great example of what gets under my skin.
The fact is, video/computer games are an artistic medium just like books, radio, TV, film, et al. They are the new kid on the block, so it's easy to point our fingers at them and accuse them of being the root of all kinds of problems. TV, comic books, etc. endured the same criticisms in their infancy.
The biggest misconception that a lot of people are still operating under is that video games are for children. Video games, as a whole, are not for children. Pulled straight from the Entertainment Software Association's (ESA) website, the average gamer is 33 years old. Think of it this way: some movies are for children, but most of them aren't. Instead of assuming, "Oh, it's just a video game," when they buy video games for their kids despite being rated T or M, they need to realize that's no different from letting your kid watch Restricted movies - because things get rated a certain way for a reason.
It's upsetting to gaming enthusiasts, or media enthusiasts in general like myself, when the public, politicians, and other groups set unfair double standards for games versus other media, or otherwise target games for non-legitimate reasons. The attacks and restrictions not only impede the growth of the medium, but overstep the boundaries that protect civil liberties like freedom of expression. Additionally, it should go without saying that the medium does more good for people than stereotypes would have you believe. (Consider, for example, all the heart-warming stories that come out of a highly social game like WoW.)
That's why Kevin McCullough's article is infuriating to people. He slanders a perfectly legitimate and well-respected project, and then suggests the government step in and punish the artists. Why get angry if some idiot is flapping his mouth? Because a lot of people will listen to that idiot, not knowing any better themselves. McCullough's failure as a journalist was completed when he tried to defend his statements, summed up well in this interview-style post from popular game news blog Kotaku. The defense includes resorting to ad hominem attacks, (many times), dismissing the effectiveness of ESRB ratings, and other tomfoolery.
That's not to say all critics of games and gaming culture reason and argue like children. However, I think it's reasonable to ask that people refrain from dressing up speculation as discovery. Do your research, please.
Oh, by the way, want to see what all the fuss was about? A 57-second video clip of that attention-mongering sex scene is right on YouTube. Here it is. Warning: The following footage contains some heavy breathing and a bum. Feint of heart, weak of mind - avert your eyes!!
I went to three classes today. My profs all seemed to be taking the attitude that, "This is probably the most difficult/most work-intensive course you've ever done. We're not kidding. This is serious business."
Anyway, for my Media class I've been asked to keep an academic blog for the purpose of reflecting on course content, (readings and lectures alike). It's no small potatoes-task, weighing in at 50% of my final mark. The idea is to have the class maintaining our own little blogosphere. Posts on the academic blogs are expected to be done in academic way, with formal citation and the like. It's going to be a time-consuming project that I expect to take away from my posting here, but I'll maintain both as much as I can afford to. In fact, I predict the posting I do over there will fuel my fire to update here more often than I have been lately.
Important note: I specifically asked my professor if it'd be alright to link to the class blog from here, with the idea to get more people in on the conversation. He said it would be great to get some voices from outside the ivory tower, and by all means everyone is welcome so long as I'm vigilant at moderating incoming comments. The content will probably be difficult to relate to for people unfamiliar with our course material, but I'll do my best to make it accessible.
As of now there isn't much there, but more is on the way. Here it is.
I find it very interesting that, aside from that sorry excuse for a journalist trying to subtly demonize something she knows nothing about, the editors actually chose to (exclusively) use footage from the Black Temple trailer, which depicts children in a hazardous situation. Can you say, oh I don't know, obvious desire to influence? Good lord. I mean, it's no secret that mainstream media outlets put big slants on things all the time, but when, like me, you understand just how misleading this is, it makes them look pretty darn unprofessional. Or, maybe professional is what they are, since that's what professional media does.
This is all in relation to the story about Baby Grace, if you didn't know. The details are in that link, but basically some really screwed up parents tortured and killed their young daughter. As it so happened, they met on WoW. Dun-dun-dun! The whole point I'm representing here is: look at the numbers, people. Blizzard's got close to 10 million subscribers right now. Is it so surprising that, in a social game, two people met up and hit it off because they're both extremely screwy individuals?
There are 6.2 million teachers across all levels in the United States, (source) which is a lot less than the amount of WoW subscribers world-wide. If two teachers got married and did something horrendous like this, would people start pointing fingers at US Teachers' Colleges for instilling baby-killing tendencies?
Sorry that it's been almost a month since I last posted anything. The blog's not dead, I'll be coming back to it. I've just been busy, and sidetracked. And slightly disenchanted with the media industry in general, but this was just too juicy to pass up.
I want to share this thought-provoking video posted recently by Paul Stamatiou. It's from Professor Michael Wesch from Kansas State University, and is called "A Vision of Students Today". I'd like to say that a lot of the points this video brings to the table are very true, while some are questionable. I'll post the video first, and then say what I think. If you're going to read the rest of the entry, please watch the short video first. Otherwise you'll just ruin it, and this is worth looking at.
First of all, the whole "boo hoo I only get 7 hours of sleep a night" is completely ludicrous. Seven hours of sleep for me and everyone I know is a very good night. In reality, most students hit the hay somewhere between 2 and 3am, and start the day somewhere between 7 and 8. Also, in the point about being $20 000 in debt post-graduation, it's very important to note the following point, which was, "I'm one of the lucky ones". That is to say, you'd be lucky to finish owing only that much. Most people will be stuck with quite a bit more.
Most importantly, the attention they bring to to abusing laptops in the classroom seems to point a blaming finger at the technology itself. There's no doubt that there are lots of people Facebooking in class or doing other unrelated things. (On some campuses I know it's common to see people playing WoW in class.) But there's an equal number of people, at least in my classes, who are earnestly taking notes, following along with PDFs, using Wikipedia to quickly look up an unfamiliar term, etc. I use my laptop for all of these things in class on a daily basis, in addition to keeping my schedule straight and up to date using applications like iCal. I wish more people at Guelph were savvy enough to use Google docs to create collaborative notes like we saw at the start of that movie. Maybe I should get on my high horse and encourage this.
The point is, you're the one to blame if you don't have the self-discipline to pay attention and take notes instead of throwing a sheep at somebody on Facebook. I've made a concerted effort this year in a bunch of my classes to sit closer to the front, where the hard workers are most prominent and distractions from chattering bozos are at a minimum. And yes, you might end up sitting next to that annoying guy who puts his hand up in lecture every week to share an anecdote about his cat which he thinks is somehow relevant, but hey, it's not like you're going to (most) lectures to make friends.
One more comment - on the multitasking point - how true it is. While perusing the WoW forums the other day, I read an amusing story about a Hunter, (big surprise there!) that made their group wipe during a menial dungeon encounter. (For the uninitiated, that means the group all "died" and lost real time and game money.) Their reason? "Sorry guys, I'm trying to do a little studying for my exam in the morning and I stopped paying attention for a moment." Classic.
Now I want to segue to something else. In that video, we saw a fair number of Macs, which, culturally speaking, is a noteworthy part of the "vision of students today". I think it's a fair assessment that probably about a third of the laptops I see around campus nowadays are MacBooks, (or MBPs). To tell the truth, I'm a little irked that they're gaining popularity so quickly. And I can't honestly say if that's more because of the materialistic desire to stand out, or the sense of deflowered elitism I get when I meet more and more new Mac converts who don't know who "the Woz" is, but are happy to be looking hip. Windows Vista is the new Paris Hilton - the thing everyone loves to hate. And, honestly, I don't think there's that much to hate about it. Yet even if there is, it bothers me when people are all over the Hate-Vista-Love-Mac bandwagon but can't tell you a thing about either one of them, aside from "Macs are just so cool."
Am I far too elitist for my own good? Probably.
The other, more legitimate reason to be concerned with Mac Mania is the realization that the popularization of Macs will compromise the sweet, easy, Norton-less world we've come to know and love. By the way, it's not just me giving my unprofessional opinion - I'm getting this straight from Tech otaku Leo Lapporte's mouth. It's not as if Apple products have strong-like-bull security features built in. (Just look at Apple TV and the iPhone.) The reason Macs don't have virus problems is because - who uses a Mac? Yeah, nobody. Oh wait, no. Scratch that. It's all changing now. If everyone and their mother starts running OS X, you can be sure people will start writing viruses and other malware for it, and the next thing I know I'll have some abomination of software called iNorton going, "IM IN UR MENU BAR, HOGGIN UR RESOURCES"
Oh, and congratulations to Kat on her new MacBook. I won't pretend I'm not jealous of its Core 2 Duo-ness and the fact that she's running Leopard, but goodness knows she's probably the most deserving new Mac convert I know. May the Force be with you, may the RAM behoove you. Namaste!
I want to share these three awesome videos I discovered while blog-surfing today.
The first is a hilarious "death metal" spoof of the Red Rings of Death fiasco done by the good people on G4's Attack of the Show! It's popped up on several blogs today, including GamePolitics and The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. (I just found this blog recently. An often-funny news blog by a guy pretending to be Steve Jobs and looking and employing lots of satire to make points.)
The second is a fun lip dub of Harvey Danger's famous song "Flagpole Sitta", created by the lucky employees at Connected Ventures. Saw this on Amber Mac's blog, and I have to agree with her that I wish either of my workplaces were this much fun.
The third video is just this weirdly entrancing dance routine done to one of Daft Punk's classic tracks. This girl has some sweet moves! Found this on Ask Pud.
Kudos to Mr. Bogost, author of Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames, for getting in front of a mainstream audience and trumpeting the right things. Actually, I can't say I'm totally on-board with some of his interests. Maybe this is a naive opinion, but I don't think these unheard of games with blaring political themes are very important to the changing landscape of media. But by golly, to what he says in the beginning about acceptance as a mainstream medium - hear hear!
