I typically don’t watch the “original movie” machinimation… not because of anything specific… I just usually don’t like them.
Today though, a friend linked me to Selserene’s newest one and I have to say I’m impressed. The production value of this almost frightens me a little… but then I’m enjoying it too much to really worry about that.
How long before this type of creativity really makes it big? And if it did, would the game owner (ActiBlizion in this case) be able to take a cut from the profits?
Below is a direct quote from a Boston Globe interview with a Psychiatrist named Dr. Jerald Block. Please to read:
BLOCK: Some people come in for trouble with Internet porn. But the computer gamers tend to be harder to treat. People feel a lot of shame around computer games. Whereas, it’s socially acceptable to have a porn problem.
IDEAS: You can’t be serious. You mean your clients are more ashamed of …
BLOCK: …playing World of Warcraft than looking at porn. Yes.
In the interview, Block goes on to say that pornography addictions are a socially accepted problem for an adult to struggle with, but videogaming is still considered something for children, therefore adults are more ashamed of it. He also states that this shame is the reason “internet addicted children” are the focus of so many studies, while adults around age 30 (the majority of gamers) are overlooked.
Back in Austin safe and sound from the big city of San Francisco. My wife and I flew out to attend a party thrown by 1C Company. It was held on Russian soil, at the consulate (I felt like I was surrounded by KGB agents) and went pretty well. They had a lot of games to show off and even more free Vodka to drink.
Work has me slammed, so I don’t have time for much today. Instead, I will point you to Damien’s Blog where you can watch a Rogue tank Gruul. If I’m not mistaken, this is a group of 4 people and a cameraman dragging the big guy down.
I’ve been getting to hang out fairly frequently with a good buddy of mine from work. He’s a gamer/game dev just like I am and he has a little girl who is around 6 years old. The more I hang out with him the more I realize that not only are my gaming hours going to fade due to new responsibilities, but once the kid gets older my game SELECTION is going to narrow as well.
I’ve been watching my friend as he prevents his little girl from seeing and hearing the strong content in games like Gears of War, Army of Two, the Conan MMO, and GTA IV. Where for as long as I can remember, I could sit down and play whatever game I wanted, whenever I wanted… there will soon be “before bedtime” games and “after bedtime” games.
This is in no way something that could make me regret having children… it’s just another one of those parts of parenthood that I never REALLY considered. Sure, I knew I’d keep my kid from playing certain games until I felt that they’ve reached an appropriate level of maturity, but I never thought about them wanting to watch me play MY games.
Does anyone have other similar tidbits that I may not have considered?
A few weeks ago, my wife and I rented a documentary from Blockbuster called “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.” When I picked it up, I was expecting a comedy, or at least a ‘Mockumentary,’ but it turned out to be a completely accurate account of one man’s journey to be the best Arcade Donkey Kong player in the world.
Twin Galaxies is the world authority on player rankings, gaming statistics and championship tournaments, with pinball statistics dating from the 1930s and video game statistics from the early 1970s.
As the electronic gaming industry’s premiere statistician, Twin Galaxies preserves the history of gaming in a historical database, which documents the historical milestones of the electronic gaming hobby as it evolves into a professional sport. [ref]
I’d never heard about this before I watched the documentary, but it’s pleasing for me to know that a recordbase like this exists. Twin Galaxies is very meticulous about their both recordkeeping and about what records are accepted into the database. Players must either register scores while in the presence of a judge or by submitting a videotape of the entire play session where the score is made.
Go and take a look, maybe you have a score that could get you in The Guinness Book of World Records — Twin Galaxies is the authority for all videogame score records published there.
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