That was such a delightful segue into something I mentioned to Dr. Marks that I would try and provide. This is just a taste of GTA:SA, the game under discussion, again in our last class.
This scene is more splodey than it is violent, but I shied away from any real depictions of violence.
I promise I will post things of more academical scholarly type interest at some point, but for anyone that's interested in interactive games as utopic and hasn't played any, here is a taste.
Incidentally, if anyone is also interested in following up on gamers and gaming, and doesn't have access to a console I am more than happy to hand over my PS2 and a couple of example games for a week or so, or for that matter bring it to class.
Also, for you enjoyment, a sex orgy from WoW (that is, World of Worldcraft) the most popular online game in the world. Too nerdy for even a committed geekgrrl like myself, this game has become synonymous with perverted online sex play, interspersed with BATTLING OF TEH FOE! You may know if from the South Park episode... 'how can you kill that which has no life..."
WoW is about as dorky gamer as it gets, but keep in mind it has a population of over ten million world wide, with continuous reports of being the cause of ended marriages, madness, and more than one case of gamers dying while playing from lack of food, etc. It's an extraordinary phenonomen, and population wise far outweighs the much better known Second Life, as discussed in this cnet article:
http://news.cnet.com/Counting-the-real-Second-Life-population/2100-1043_3-6146943.html
Next time I will post something about Zizek and teleology, I sware ;P
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4 comments:
I know we haven't got to Oryx and Crake yet, but you can see Margaret Atwood trying to play with the idea of computer games as a utopic (or creative or even polemic?) space and failing miserably.
Her representation of the internet of the near future seems not only completely one dimensional, but also years behind the present actuality.
At least Stephenson had a certain prescience going for him - you could even say that perhaps the geeks who contributed to the formation of the internet that we have and use today read and were influenced by Gibson and Stephenson, and in this way - literature actually played a role in the creation of our current society.
Who said anything about interactive gaming being irrelevant to our utopianism?
Actually, in terms of interactive gaming, one of the things that's been most interesting to those who create these games (and yes, I will name drop once again and say I know some of the people who design these things)... one of the expectations/assumptions of these designs was always that people would prefer a Stephenson type model of 'avatar'. That is, a persona that might reflect the true self, but be in some way enhanced. What has, in fact, been far more popular are the fantasy worlds in which reality is entirely abdicated. (This leads to such epithets as elf-sexx0rs, that is, people who form relationships within entirely fantastical characters.)
One of the most interesting things about these environments is what happens when the created meets the real. I refer you to:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24249543-663,00.html
One of the things I hear most often commented on, in online communities, is the fact that these sorts of clashes between the real and 'unreal' are more often the result of Second Life type environments, where people present themselves as almost true to life representations of self, and are far less common in LARP scenarios (LARP = live action role play) where the distinction between what is and what has been created is more defined.
This is a real issue for the 'geeks' who create these environments. Stalking is a real dilemma, and in many of these worlds, be it MOO, MUD, SL, WoW or NWN (never winter nights, another online role play world) they have begun to take action, reminding people that there is a difference between IC (in character) and OOC (out of character), many of them adopting different channels for either one, or else recommendng that people prefix conversation with either OOC or IC.
As for Stephenson and Gibson directing the creation of these worlds, I remain unconvinced (although constantly impressed with Jenn Martin's scope of knowledge etc.) D+D (dungeons and dragons) were around long before cyberpunk and its ilk, and in fact have played a much bigger part in the creation of these worlds than either writer. I see it more as ... well... Gibson is an exception, since he combined the noir visual world of film to the issue of cybernetics, and so did create something new. I would maintain, however, that fantasy role play was in existence long before the technology caught up with it.
Something that might give a brief insight into all of this palaver, is connecting to:
www.kingdomofloathing.com
This is a very cynical, self aware site, which began as something of a piss take of LARP type games. It's very fun, and quite addictive, and happily web based, so easier to contact than most of these games. If you go to the chat channel there you get a good taste of what the communities in these worlds are like. Not in any real sense, since WoW, MOOs and MUDs go out of their way to seem like 'real' spaces, but KoL does give a nice taste, or insight, into what sort of people are about, playing these games, and how seriously they are taken.
Also, Mark, don't get defensive. It will only make me cross and sarcastic. There are only so many times I can tell you how clever you are. Actually, I have been reading Zizek, and he's cool as hell, so take it as a compliment.
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