Author Archives: jlutz3

Let’s Talk About Porn

Today in class, Cole brought up the point that no one had talked about the “Titillation” chapter from Ian Bogost’s book, and that only several (I believe 20 or so) video games have ever attained the ‘Adults Only’ rating from the MSRP.  More importantly, he raised the question as to whether or not video games will ever get to the point of other pornography medias (such as movies and the internet), or will video game industries continue to strive for the coveted M rating system for their games.  I found this point interesting since pornography is prevalent in all other media types, with the exception of video games.  It makes sense that major video game industries would want to not release any titles with an ‘Adults Only’ rating, as it may sway loyal buyers, especially parents, away from the brand.  However, with pornography being a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States, it is interesting that video games haven’t tried to cash in.

One reason that video games may not have tried to release a pornographic game is that making a video game is much more complicated than making a real life pornographic movie in that it requires much more effort and programming; something that perhaps a whole team of developers would not want to be associated with, especially if they are established.  Also, putting money into a game that may or may not be a success, or rather not even be allowed to be sold, is another inherent risk of making a risqué video game.  However, I believe that pornography will start to spill over into video games (not that I am petitioning for it).  With the vast market of pornographic material already available in other media outlets, it’s hard to believe that video games will not soon be next.  It will take a ‘special’ group of developers, programmers, and a morally loose company to allow such a thing, but pornography will soon be available to play on your home consoles, so make sure to look out for your kids!

Using Video Games to Socialize

Re-posted from earlier but to the right place this time.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/video?id=5826748

 

Much of the discussion in class has been about what video games can do for people.  When playing the game “Passage” in class, I found it interesting that if you picked up a wife it would then be more difficult to do more things in the game, such as navigate around different obstacles.  While we all made the obvious metaphor that having a wife can hold one back from fulfilling other goals in life, I looked more deeply into the thought that being entangled in video games lead to a less social aspect of life, or not picking up your wife to be able to navigate around more obstacles in this case.  However, contrary to the ‘stereotype’ of gamers, playing video games is a useful tool to socialize these days.  In fact, 97% of teenagers are considered gamers, whether it is casual or intense role-playing games that take up many hours.  So if you want to fit in, it seems that you need to play video games (not really).  But thinking as to how video games has been a topic of social discussion in my life, I have found more often than not that video games has been a social tool to not only meet, but further a relationship with other individuals.  A common example that many can relate to is Pokemon.  If you walk into a room and ask who likes/has played Pokemon Red or Blue as a child, the chances are most people have and you will immediately share something in common with that person.  I think it’s important to keep in mind that while we talk about how we can use video games for our individual gains, such as visual aesthetics, music or pranks, the interactive nature of video games be useful as well.

The Value of Music in Games

In his essay “Play Along – An Approach to Videogame Music,” Zach Whalen describes the role of music (which for the sake of argument will include the actual music during gameplay along with the sound effects encountered throughout the game) as an essential part to video games.  One of the trajectories that Whalen states musical sound follows is expanding the concept of a game’s fictional world.  One of the best examples I can think of that allows the operator to further enter the game through the musical soundtrack is the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater.  Whenever the player would drop into the two minute course, a different alternative punk song would come on to give the operator a sense of actually being the skater listening to a music track while slashing around town.  However, when I think back to memories I have of playing Tony Hawk, the first thing that comes to mind is the soundtrack rather than the gameplay itself.  While there are other elements of the game that stick out, such as collecting tapes and button mashing ridiculous trick combos, the soundtrack still sticks out as being one of the best parts of playing Tony Hawk.  If I were to say that one of the best parts of playing a video game was the soundtrack, I would most likely not think highly of the gameplay.  Despite this fact, Tony Hawk became a classic for the Nintendo 64.  The question that I have from this conclusion is whether or not the music in a game can surpass other elements of game, such as the gameplay itself, in an effort to boost the overall experience of the game?  Can the musical satisfaction of beating a level, such as at the end of any Super Mario level, give more joy to the player than just the pure satisfaction of beating a level?  Does the music in a game expand the concept of the game as Whalen states, or does the music set up a basis for the game to follow throughout the narrative that the gameplay must expand upon?

HUD in contact lenses

http://www.geekosystem.com/terminator-contact-lens/

After talking about diegetic and nondiegetic acts in video games, I thought how video-like controls could be incorporated into everyday life.  The nondiegetic operator act, or acts of configuration and setup, allow for the operator to often pause a video game and gain an advantage by changing weapons or displaying statistics.  These types of controls are often referred to as the HUD, or the heads up display.  However, what if a HUD was possible for real life? What if we could all see our own and other people’s statistics? This could soon become reality with the incorporation of a HUD into contact lenses.  First designed to help diabetics monitor their blood sugar, a HUD has been successfully tested on rabbits.  With this technology soon becoming available, how faded does the line between video games and reality become?