I've never played EVE Online, and I don't even really understand how it works, but I find it fascinating. Last week saw the biggest battle in the game's history. This breakdown from The Verge is headlined like a real-life dispatch from the frontier of mankind's space-faring endeavors: Largest space battle in history claims 2,900 ships, … Continue reading Epic EVE battle, Critical games criticism, indie developer self-publishing
Month: July 2013
Zimmerman media coverage, remediation in Game of Thrones, Scorcese on reading cinema, and much more
William Saletan at Slate shows how media coverage has misrepresented Juror B29's comments on the Zimmerman trial verdict:The reports are based on an ABC News interview with Juror B29, the sole nonwhite juror. She has identified herself only by her first name, Maddy. She’s been framed as the woman who was bullied out of voting … Continue reading Zimmerman media coverage, remediation in Game of Thrones, Scorcese on reading cinema, and much more
Hacker’s death, wearable tech, and some Cyberpunk
White hat hacker Barnaby Jack was found dead in San Francisco this week; he was 35 years old. From the Reuters article on his death: His genius was finding bugs in the tiny computers embedded in equipment, such as medical devices and cash machines. He often received standing ovations at conferences for his creativity and … Continue reading Hacker’s death, wearable tech, and some Cyberpunk
Mice memory implants, augmented reality trends, predictive policing, more
In case you haven't already heard, scientists have implanted false memories into the brains of mice. Scientists have created a false memory in mice by manipulating neurons that bear the memory of a place. The work further demonstrates just how unreliable memory can be. It also lays new ground for understanding the cell behavior and … Continue reading Mice memory implants, augmented reality trends, predictive policing, more
Thoughts on Oculus Rift, modding, and assessing games journalism and criticism
Jeff at Holy Grenade extolls the value of access to gaming journalism: Gaming journalism is, by some accounts, a broken field. By others, its unjournalistic process is a symptom of reporting online, where advertising revenue is minimal, at least when compared to revenue from newspapers or magazines. And that isn’t just exclusive to gaming journalism … Continue reading Thoughts on Oculus Rift, modding, and assessing games journalism and criticism
The Ideology of Scarface, Community as PoMo masterpiece, Present Shock reviewed, etc.
I posted a video from the PBS Idea Channel on Baudrilliard and hyperreality a while back, and hadn’t kept up with the channel since. I recently came across a couple of their other videos and enjoyed them enough to want to share. This video assesses the TV show Community as a postmodern masterpiece: And in … Continue reading The Ideology of Scarface, Community as PoMo masterpiece, Present Shock reviewed, etc.
2nd Update: Žižek responds to Chomsky’s “Fantasies”
Žižek v. Chomsky continues: Žižek has responded to Chomsky's last comment in an article in the International Journal of Žižek Studies. You can read the entire article here, select excerpts follow. I am particularly interested in how Žižek focuses on conflicting definitions of ideology as a key factor in Chomsky's misunderstanding of Žižek's work: For me, on … Continue reading 2nd Update: Žižek responds to Chomsky’s “Fantasies”
Next-gen gaming with Oculus Rift, McLuhan on surveillance state, Rushkoff on viral media
Brian Phillips at Grantland thinks spy movies present a fantasy of tourism: The spy is the ideal tourist because he represents an inner self perfectly contained within an outer self that is adapted to any possible location or circumstance. Travel can broaden him by the width of a new sexual conquest, but for the most … Continue reading Next-gen gaming with Oculus Rift, McLuhan on surveillance state, Rushkoff on viral media
Update: Chomsky contra Žižek
Noam Chomsky has responded to Žižek's response: Žižek finds nothing, literally nothing, that is empirically wrong. That’s hardly a surprise. Anyone who claims to find empirical errors, and is minimally serious, will at the very least provide a few particles of evidence – some quotes, references, at least something. But there is nothing here – … Continue reading Update: Chomsky contra Žižek
Multiple angles on gaming’s Ebert, Kubrick, and Citizen Kane
Roger Ebert ruffled some feathers a few years ago when he declared that "video games can never be art". One obvious difference between art and games is that you can win a game. It has rules, points, objectives, and an outcome. Santiago might cite a immersive game without points or rules, but I would say … Continue reading Multiple angles on gaming’s Ebert, Kubrick, and Citizen Kane