As is my habit, here is the powerpoint slides from my presentation for the Association of Internet Researchers conference in Seattle next week:
As is always the case with conference papers this is severely cut down from the actual dissertation chapter. However, I hope that it makes the point that we need to reevaluate and redefine our assumptions regarding the concept of “third places.”
Last week I got both my newest issue of Edge magazine (I’m in the USA so there is probably a newer issue out in the UK already) and PC Gamer in the mail on the same day. PC Gamer just eliminated their cover disk which means it wasn’t in plastic so I flipped through it first and then opened the bag Edge came in and noticed this:
They aren’t exactly the same image but they are quite similar. I think Edge is better since it is more sedate but the neon colors are a bit odd to my eye.
This isn’t the first time that two magazines have had similar cover images. In fact, once Edge and Gamepro had nearly the exact same image on their covers.
Warning, rant ahead.
<rant>
You may not have heard this but the economy sucks.
You know what else? Being a grad student sucks, too.
I’m trying to finish my dissertation (got all the chapters written and a couple revised) and I’m sick of being poor. This is especially true now that it doesn’t look like I’ll be teaching in the fall and no teaching = no money.
This stinks but to make things worse, I’m going to a conference in a couple months and the student rate is over $200. The student rate??? WTF? Let’s just put that in perspective: In my department when I did have funding I made less than $13,000 a year. Then you add in airfare to the conference. Right now the cheapest flight I can find is $339. Then you add in a hotel. Of course the conference isn’t held in a Day’s Inn or some cheap hotel. The conference hotel’s “conference rate” with $447. Split 3 ways (I’m going with two other people) that’s $149 a person. Now we’re up to $688 and that’s if I don’t eat anything the whole time I’m there and somehow get to the airport and back for free. At the very least then this conference would take up over 5% of my year’s salary — assuming I had a salary.
Now obviously the conference can’t be held responsible for the cost of airfare but over $200 for students and being at an expensive hotel? Of course you can stay at another hotel and save some money but then have to walk all around a strange city. I did that at one conference and when I arrived in the city and got a taxi the driver said, “are you sure you really want to go there?” and I ended up making sure I was back in the hotel before dark every day. And of course there are travel grants and things that some conferences give but how many of those do they give? I’ve never seen a conference give out more than can be counted on one hand.
Then there is also the price of books. Recently a book came out that sounds like something I really need to read for my dissertation. The price? $99. For a book. Textbooks are often more expensive but often they can be resold. The good news is that this particular book is also available as an electronic version (only password protected pdf as far as I can tell and not on the kindle or nook). The bad news? The ebook is also $99. (ok, to be fair I found one site selling it for the rock bottom price of $89…). I know authors don’t really have any say in the price (which is why I’m not naming the book. I’m not here to shame a fellow academic by any means.) but $99 for an ebook seems a bit of a markup to me. I’ll try to get it through interlibrary loan but since the book just came out the library may say that it is too new to get that way (something I’ve been told before).
I can’t wait until I get tenure. Not only will I never wear pants again but I’ll go out to eat without checking my wallet first…
</rant>
ok, rant over….
In the days after the Supreme Court declared that videogames are entitled to First Amendment protection I spent a lot of time reading comments on major news websites. I know I shouldn’t have been but I was really shocked at how many comments were ignorant or the result of really poor literacy skills.
In addition to the usual comments implying that film ratings are legally enforced and people seeming to think they are First Amendment experts by claiming that this wasn’t a First Amendment issue, there were some that were so crazy or so hyperbolic that I really wanted to believe they were super sarcastic trolling but sadly I don’t think most of them were.
It is easy to judge people without giving them a chance to respond so as much as I want to I won’t make snarky comments about these. These come from major mainstream news sites, not some fringe extremist site. So here are some of the more “interesting” comments:
by adrenalin666 June 27, 2011 9:50 PM EDT
does anyone believe that the republican party is not just about money?daddy bush and bush jr. made this supreme court and this is the crapola that comes out of these schmucks?????
what parent does not want control over what goes into their child’s head?
as a parent how do i influence my child to become the kind of person that i think they should become… to be a good person, be a good citizen, to see people as human beings and not as objects….but the SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SAYS THAT I DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL MY CHILDREN WHAT THEY SHOULD WATCH, WHAT THEY SHOULD DO AS AN ACTIVITY, WHAT THEY SHOULD BE LISTENING TO, WATCHING, SPEAKING…..
WHO THE HELLLLL DOES THE REPUBLICAN COURT THINK THEY ARE????
kiss my arse christian right wing taliban, teaparty…. a hols.
by nleeklee June 27, 2011 7:22 PM EDT
This is obviously wrong. We have no standards as a nation. It’s the evil business that can hire the “best” lawyers and cause its side to win. These store owners have no morals. It would be better if they believed in hell, because it is real, and they are going there. Sadly, though, if they relented and switched professions or jobs or careers, someone else would fill the gap. This shows that Christ’s words about few being saved are true. No matter how much evil is in this world, salvation is still real; those who choose to follow Satan will pay their dues in eternity, while those who follow Christ enjoy all the blessings of heaven forever. Nothing can cancel out the salvation believers have, are experiencing, and will receive when Christ returns. Praise the Lord!by Canuck42 June 27, 2011 5:27 PM EDT
nolalou..you are obviously one of the individuals who believes that it is all right to corrupt young minds and create criminals for the sake of extreme freedom of expression. There has to be limits to freedom of expression. When freedom of expression begins to corrupt society, it is not freedom of expression. It becomes propoganda. You are obviously one of those who love violent games. Do you allow your children to play them, too? By the way I live in the best country in the world and it’s not the USA.by freeamerica31 June 27, 2011 5:55 PM EDT
Your right. How about the next time a pedophile sits down next to your kid and ask them “you wanna play house” and your kid says yes. We don’t want to violate their freedom of choice! If we don’t have limits on choices to protect our kids when parents or under adult supervision isn’t around, where does the freedom begin and stop? You have to have laws to safeguard children from those adults who would take advantage or keep them from content not suitable for their age.by slatep June 27, 2011 2:43 PM EDT
Parents do not have much choice, because these are almost the only video games on the market.eyeofsauron
Hoover dam got built because of the lack of opinions. Nothing is possible noadays; freedom this, freedom that…. where is common sense. what good does encouraging bad behavior do? stealing, killing ….. to the kids, taking a real gun and blowing people up is pretty numb after a while even if it’s for real.living4life
A few video games are art. Most aren’t. Then again, most modern art isn’t art. Now that the average person is allowed a ‘valued’ opinion that must now be respected, society is dying in every way. Idiocracy all the way!cubiksrube
video gamers need to wake up to the fact that the violence in games is a tragic error from the 90ies:
Graphics card needed to be sold with visceral impact, while there was not money to develop actual content.
What’s easier than to populate the hi-res 3D world with targets you need to kill because they threaten you?
Why did the games never make as much progress as the graphics?
And why does it appear is if the only way to demo new graphics was to make another version of the +- same killing game?David
Brooklyn, NY
June 27th, 2011
1:00 pm
My sense is that there are “Manchurian Candidates” placed on the Supreme Court by rogue regimes seeking to destroy the US from within. No other explanation to these latest rulings make sense.foxhound4
Jersey City
June 27th, 2011
2:25 pm
Since the rise of violent gaming, too many children in all age groups under 18 have died by the hand of another young person known to them, using, most often, a gun, followed by knives and swords.JC
Westchester NY
June 27th, 2011
6:50 pm
Scalia has got rocks in his head. He is Pharisaic in his interpretation of the law straight by the book, no common sense. The right thing to do for society’s sake would be to limit children’s access to violent material. This is a no brainer. And of course the material that children see, and hear has an incluence on them! Another no brainer. Just look at how fashions, habits, and behavior has changed over the last few decades based on the kind of music and popular entertainment that was “in” at the time.
If you take Confucius, Plato, Aristotle and Buddha they all would agree on this that what people hear, and see will influence their minds and behavior. Scalia is on the other side of boat.Johnsy
Long Beach
June 27th, 2011
10:12 pm
This is absurd. Those kinds of games should simply be banned altogether.
I’m working on a post about some of the more outrageous comments I’ve seen in reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling that video games are entitled to the same protections as films and music. I covered a lot of the more common misconceptions in a prior post where I discussed how film ratings are not legally enforced, how it actually is a first amendment issue, how violence is different than obscenity, and how media is different than regulations on alcohol and/or drugs. I’ve also discussed how there is no rape in Grand Theft Auto and how unless some store is still selling Custer’s Revenge or Rapelay then there aren’t any games that do feature rape. There is, however, one thing I don’t think I have covered: Tennessee.
When people try to correct the misconception that film ratings are legally enforced, occasionally someone will mention Tennessee. People will claim that Tennessee has a law which legally enforced film ratings. As far as I can tell this notion was started by a story appearing on a local Tennessee television’s website. In the story someone asked if film ratings were legally enforced and the television station replied:
In Tennessee, the legal age to buy a R-rated movie ticket — IS 18!
It’s not a new law, either.
Tennessee Code 39-17-907, enacted in 1989, states, “…viewing a motion picture designated “R” for restricted audiences, persons under eighteen (18) years of age not admitted unless accompanied by parent or adult guardian…”
Violating the law is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a $2,500 fine and/or 11 months and 29 days in jail.
It seems like this story has been picked up by a few people since it was posted online and quoted as the truth. The problem is that the tv station is only quoting half of the sentence. If you read what the tv station wrote it doesn’t even mean anything. Here is the full text of the pertinent section of the law:
2010 Tennessee Code
Title 39 – Criminal Offenses
Chapter 17 – Offenses Against Public Health, Safety and Welfare
Part 9 – Obscenity
39-17-907 – Restrictions on showings.39-17-907. Restrictions on showings.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to exhibit for public consumption, whether or not the exhibition is for compensation, any motion picture, film, movie, or videotape that depicts sexual conduct as defined in ยง 39-17-901, unless the exhibition is within a theater auditorium or other enclosed area that effectively removes the exhibition from the view of members of the public who are not voluntarily engaged in viewing the motion picture, film, movie, or videotape.
(b) Each theater at which two (2) or more motion pictures are shown in the same building shall maintain adequate supervision of the customers to prevent minors from purchasing a ticket or admission pass to a motion picture designated by the rating board of the Motion Picture Association of America by the letter “G” for general audiences or “PG” for all ages, parental guidance advised, and then viewing a motion picture designated “R” for restricted audiences, persons under eighteen (18) years of age not admitted unless accompanied by parent or adult guardian, or “X,” persons under eighteen (18) years of age not admitted.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
I’m no lawyer but as I read it the law is saying that theaters have to have people around to make sure kids don’t buy tickets for a G or PG rated movie and then go see and R rated movie. It doesn’t say anything about making it illegal to sell R rated material to minors.
Last week’s episode of On The Media had a segment on a documentary about Second Life called Life 2.0. Now, I’m no fan of Second Life. I’ve long been on the record that I don’t get Second Life. I still don’t get it. I know my fellow academics love to write about it but I don’t know why. I mean, I liked Snow Crash as much as the next guy but I still think Second Life is boring.
Regardless, at the end of the On The Media segment they mentioned something I did think was interesting: the Life 2.0 documentary is going to appear on Oprah Winfrey’s Network in August. Now, the low ratings OWN is getting aside, I think it is interesting that this documentary would air on a channel aimed at women rather than one aimed at gamers or one that regularly airs documentaries. They seem to think that this is something that would appeal to their audience.
Watching the trailer, I guess I can see why. It looks like the film focuses on the more extreme aspects of Second Life by featuring stories about two people who met online and left their spouses, some guy who has an avatar of an underage girl, and, of course, someone selling things.
I don’t know if this will appeal to OWN’s target audience or not but I do know I will be tuning in to watch.
Back when Duken Nukem 3D came out there were lots of people pitting Duken Nukem 3D vs. Quake and arguing over which was better. Well, now that Duke Nukem Forever is out I don’t think there is really any game to compare it to.
Even if you ignore the storied history of the development of DN4, the game is really dated in lots of ways. The graphics look like they are about Doom 3 level. The humor is straight out of the previous game and the weapons are too. It also really feels pieced together from numerous different parts. There is a random strip club section which is just pointless. Perhaps weirdly, there is a whole section in an alien space ship that feels like it was taken from Prey complete with doors that look like vaginas. The physics are pretty weird too. For example, in one section you have to stack some barrels to tip over a shipping container and when the container begins to tip over one of the barrels floats in midair and if you get too close to them you bounce off weirdly. The most dated thing about it, however, is the gameplay. There are parts that feel very dated with basic physics puzzles and numerous boss fights.
The game it reminds me a lot of the original Half-Life for some reason. Oddly enough, Duke Nukem Forever was originally meant to come out back around the same time Half-Life came out. I wonder if it had came out back then if people would be pitting Duke Nukem Forever vs. Half-Life?
As it stands, Duke Nukem Forever is eminently forgettable. There is some juvenile and offensive misogyny in the game which might spark some controversy on slow news days. I think that Gearbox really just wanted to shove this out the door as quickly as possible so they could make their own Duke Nukem game. Maybe that one will be more memorable…
So I’ve played through the single player portion of Portal 2 twice now — once normally and once with the commentary (although I did miss one of the comments at the very end because I pressed a button before I got to click on the commentary and then didn’t have an opportunity to listen to it). I haven’t played the co-op part though because I don’t have any close friends with Portal 2 and I don’t want to play it with strangers.
Anyway, I enjoyed Portal 2 but I wouldn’t say it was perfect. I wished there was more of the Rattmann stuff and while I’m a big comic book fan the Lab Rat comic wasn’t enough. I also felt the gel stuff, while fun, felt kind of unnecessary and like padding.
I think my biggest issue is with the writing. Without going into spoilers, I’ll just say that Wheatley’s storyline was extremely predictable and the revelations of GLaDOS was immediately obvious. Most irritatingly, for me, was Cave Johnson. He just seemed way too similar in style and humor to Team Fortress 2’s Saxton Hale.
A couple days ago I also had the opportunity to read through Geoff Keighley’s The Final Hours of Portal 2 ipad app. And by “had the opportunity” I mean I downloaded a copy of it not that I got a special showing or anything. And by “downloaded a copy” I mean I pirated it and then unzipped the ipa file and looked through the jpeg files that the text is embedded on because I don’t have an ipad. Apparently, the text is available on the Kindle
I found The Final Hours to be a quite fascinating read. I was left with wanting more though. I really liked books like Masters of Doom and the criminally out of print Game Over even though they are both flawed. While it is unfair to expect a $2 app to be the size of a full book, I would like to see The Final Hours of Portal 2 to be expanded to full length.
I’m a sucker for Valve games and I’m a sucker for “making of” books (about games I care about, mainly) so it is little surprise that I liked Portal 2 and The Final Hours of Portal 2. Like everyone else, though, I’m really waiting for more Half-Life.
Just a fyi, I updated wordpress and once again had some trouble with it so if anything is broke please let me know.
Upgrading the blog software makes me feel like I do when I have to take my vehicle into the mechanic. It should be easy but it never is. Whenever you change one thing it turns out there are other things broken.
Next time my hosting bill is due I’m going to bite the bullet and move to a host that automatically updates wordpress for you.
This week at the Digital/Media, Race, Affect, and Labor Conference at my alma mater Bowling Green State University, I presented the aforementioned second half of my dissertation chapter on whiteness at LAN parties. As promised, here’s the slides from my presentation:
It starts out the same as the previous presentation so don’t think it is the same slideshow or anything. Now to try to get the dissertation finished!