It was OK, but I still don't understand why, after learning that one of the Deathly Hallows is an invisibility cloak, Harry didn't go
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT I HAVE ONE OF THE GOD DAMN DEATHLY HALLOWS. LIKE I HAVE IT AND HAVE HAD IT SINCE I WAS A LITTLE KID WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS RON RON SERIOUSLY YOU HEARD THIS STORY WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE AND DIDN'T BAT A FUCKING EYELASH WHEN WE USED THE INVISIBILITY CLOAK LIKE EVERY DAMN DAY BACK THEN WHAT THE HELL BRO"
Let's be reasonable, people
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Stuff that's happening
So apparently there's a lot of hooting and shrieking going on about violent video games and whatnot. Now, I'm nothing if not an ignorant and uninformed person. This is what happens when one does not have access to TV news, newspapers, or the will to find reliable sources of news on the Internet. So, I don't really know what the people on either side of this issue are arguing. But I know enough about stupid reactionary idiots and the nature of fabricated moral panic to have a basic idea.
The thing that most annoys me about this is that the violent video game most often cited by the anti-game people is Postal 2, a game specifically designed to be as obnoxiously inappropriate as possible. This game is A. Over 10 years old and completely irrelevant when talking about modern gaming, B. taken seriously by approximately zero percent of the gaming community and is considered kind of a crappy game, and C. Seriously, what the hell?
Worse still is the Grand Theft Auto hate. Every mention of the series is sure to come with a mention of prostitute-killing, painting a wholly inaccurate picture of the games and gaming as a whole. Here's the deal: Most of the people who have an opinion about this issue have never played video games or are so ignorant of them that they may as well not have--this in and of itself is absolutely ridiculous and makes me miserable--and therefore most of what they know is based on what has been told to them. When they hear whore-killing linked with GTA so often, it follows that they would connect the two in their minds. Since they hear little else about them, GTA becomes "that game where they give you points for killing hookers" (nevermind the fact that "points" as a game design concept have long become irrelevant and are rarely if ever used). Couple that with GTA being one of the most prestigious series in modern gaming, and you have a lot of ignorant people who associate an entire branch of media with killing prostitutes. AND THAT'S TERRIBLE
I mean, here's the deal: GTA is about giving the player freedom. They can do whatever they want. They're in a city, and, as cities are wont to do, they are full of people. The player, being equipped with weapons, is able to use them against any of said people. Some of said people are appareled in clothing befitting of ladies of the night. It is therefore possible to discharge the player's weapons upon such women. Is there any benefit to doing so? No. Is it ever required or even recommended to the player to do so? No. Let this sink in. GTA mostly stars anti-hero gangsters who adhere to a basic honor-among-thieves moral code. They aren't much worse than the mobsters one finds in mafia movies. Of course, the player can be a total dick and kill every pedestrian during gameplay. But they can also get in an ambulance and save people's lives. But that doesn't matter: GTA is the game that gives you points for killing hookers. The news said so.
But that said, the fact is that most video games are, in fact, violent. Most games have the player shooting a gun of some kind. Oh no! What horrors! Humanity will always have games and contests--it's the way we are. Video games are a way to live out that need in ways that wouldn't be possible in real life. Take, for example, Team Fortress 2, a popular competitive shooting game where your team must shoot, explode, stab, bludgeon, and burn the other team to death. When I play this game, am I doing so because I am an aggressive person? Do I like to hurt others? No. I'm playing the game because, like all human beings who enjoy games (that is to say, all of them), I wish to test my skills against others, hoping to emerge the more talented competitor. Team Fortress is about strategy, skill, and quick decision making much more than it is about murder. I suspect other popular games like Call of Duty (which I haven't played) are similar. The satisfaction a player gets from a challenging kill isn't due to their primal, immoral bloodlust and violent nature, but the same satisfaction a chess player gets from saying "checkmate" after agonizing over dozens of moves. Really, why isn't there more controversy over violent chess games? I mean, you can kill whores in GTA, but in chess, you can kill clergy and female heads of state!
Anyway, I don't want to continue this anymore because I'm getting mad and have work to do.
The thing that most annoys me about this is that the violent video game most often cited by the anti-game people is Postal 2, a game specifically designed to be as obnoxiously inappropriate as possible. This game is A. Over 10 years old and completely irrelevant when talking about modern gaming, B. taken seriously by approximately zero percent of the gaming community and is considered kind of a crappy game, and C. Seriously, what the hell?
Worse still is the Grand Theft Auto hate. Every mention of the series is sure to come with a mention of prostitute-killing, painting a wholly inaccurate picture of the games and gaming as a whole. Here's the deal: Most of the people who have an opinion about this issue have never played video games or are so ignorant of them that they may as well not have--this in and of itself is absolutely ridiculous and makes me miserable--and therefore most of what they know is based on what has been told to them. When they hear whore-killing linked with GTA so often, it follows that they would connect the two in their minds. Since they hear little else about them, GTA becomes "that game where they give you points for killing hookers" (nevermind the fact that "points" as a game design concept have long become irrelevant and are rarely if ever used). Couple that with GTA being one of the most prestigious series in modern gaming, and you have a lot of ignorant people who associate an entire branch of media with killing prostitutes. AND THAT'S TERRIBLE
I mean, here's the deal: GTA is about giving the player freedom. They can do whatever they want. They're in a city, and, as cities are wont to do, they are full of people. The player, being equipped with weapons, is able to use them against any of said people. Some of said people are appareled in clothing befitting of ladies of the night. It is therefore possible to discharge the player's weapons upon such women. Is there any benefit to doing so? No. Is it ever required or even recommended to the player to do so? No. Let this sink in. GTA mostly stars anti-hero gangsters who adhere to a basic honor-among-thieves moral code. They aren't much worse than the mobsters one finds in mafia movies. Of course, the player can be a total dick and kill every pedestrian during gameplay. But they can also get in an ambulance and save people's lives. But that doesn't matter: GTA is the game that gives you points for killing hookers. The news said so.
But that said, the fact is that most video games are, in fact, violent. Most games have the player shooting a gun of some kind. Oh no! What horrors! Humanity will always have games and contests--it's the way we are. Video games are a way to live out that need in ways that wouldn't be possible in real life. Take, for example, Team Fortress 2, a popular competitive shooting game where your team must shoot, explode, stab, bludgeon, and burn the other team to death. When I play this game, am I doing so because I am an aggressive person? Do I like to hurt others? No. I'm playing the game because, like all human beings who enjoy games (that is to say, all of them), I wish to test my skills against others, hoping to emerge the more talented competitor. Team Fortress is about strategy, skill, and quick decision making much more than it is about murder. I suspect other popular games like Call of Duty (which I haven't played) are similar. The satisfaction a player gets from a challenging kill isn't due to their primal, immoral bloodlust and violent nature, but the same satisfaction a chess player gets from saying "checkmate" after agonizing over dozens of moves. Really, why isn't there more controversy over violent chess games? I mean, you can kill whores in GTA, but in chess, you can kill clergy and female heads of state!
Anyway, I don't want to continue this anymore because I'm getting mad and have work to do.
Woes re: Dracula
Reading Dracula makes me really self-conscious that I don't write journals (let alone well structured and narratively compelling ones).
I mean even if I were to write journals I don't think I'd remember all that dialogue.
I mean even if I were to write journals I don't think I'd remember all that dialogue.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Oh man
Do I ever write gigantic walls of text. Oh well, I never claimed to edit any of this stuff, and it's better to have too much to say than too little. Sorry my two readers (that is, myself and my imaginary friend Klondike Robert [disregard part about having an imaginary friend {I don't, honest}]).
P.S. Check that correct usage of squiggly brackets, brackets, parentheses, and period, in that order! Yeah, I'm an English major, and am cool.
P.S. Check that correct usage of squiggly brackets, brackets, parentheses, and period, in that order! Yeah, I'm an English major, and am cool.
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