As most of my friends know, I love comicbooks, especially the classics like DC. I like some Marvel comics, but I like DC more. There's just something very interesting about classic American style comicbooks. Today I came across this article about Wonder Woman's costume change . At first, I thought it didn't really make much sense to change the character in the first place. I think that when we start trying to revamp storylines and characters we take away the original meaning and history. I would not go as far to say that DC made Wonder Woman look "un-American", just because they took away her stars and colors. If DC really wanted her to be American, they would not have created her to be from a mythical place in Ancient Greece. As usual, people use the internet as a way to display their dislike for the current events in politics and it has been a "fashion statement" to politicize everything in our current culture. I dismiss the comments for the article as an American fear of change and difference. I feel as long as if the new version of Wonder Woman is as good or better than the original, it should not really matter. I plan on writing my own graphic novels, and I would not want to have it "re-imagined" thirty years from now.
The fans, as fickle as they are, should be grateful that DC chose not to re-image her as an anime style character. The comicbook for Wonder WOman 2.0 was released today, so I couldn't find an appropriate photo for her costume.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Quick Post: The New XBOX 360
I know that I should have posted this when I first saw it, but Microsoft has already released a newer, slimmer version of the XBOX 360. The article that I read about this says that they are going to discontinue the current model and that it will sell for a price drop of $100 off the original price. I do not plan on buying a new system anytime soon unless the one I have breaks on me. Instead, maybe if I have a chance, I'll get a better internet connection for gaming than the current connection that I have.
Eddo Stern Lecture Review
This is an older post from another blog for my digital media class in Spring '10. The reason why I am posting this here at a videogame/scifi blog is because when I thought that I was going to see something from a real game designer I was seriously disappointed. So, I decided to put the original post in one color and my true opinions about the exhibit in another color. Of course, I'll update this post with some images and video documents of his work. The blue highlight is what I wrote in the critique that I wanted to stress.
The Eddo Stern Lecture was held on April 14 2010 in RGJ Room 2006. His works consist of digital media and game art. He is from Televiv, Israel. He has experience working with sculpture, video, performance and fame design. His main focus in digital art is videogames as an art form. The content of his work varies from cultural, political and dark to comical and ironic.
Stern’s first performance work was the Tekken Torture Tournament which consisted of the hack version of Tekken, reconceptualized. Micro controls sense the life bars in the game and take control over the players’ muscles. This performance featured Tekken champions from Australia who could not even take the pain. Videogames usually are disconnected from the player even when the gamer is completely disengaged in the levels. This tournament proves that gaming experiences can be fully brought to life.
Unlike his Tekken Torture Tournament, Stern’s Waco Resurrection fully programmed and simulated performance installation based on the Waco incident with David Koresh. It consists of one to four players and has headsets that are modeled after Koresh. It also has voice recognition and players can chant “super powers”. The goal of the game is to collect as many followers as possible before the compound burns. More followers increase aura. There is a ten minute countdown before the character dies in the game inevitably. The content in the game mixes history with fantasy. Its intent is to relive the Waco tragedy.
Eddo Stern’s current project is a videogame that is playable for blind and deaf gamers. Like Waco Resurrection, this new installation is based on real life accounts. Gamers are played as Jon Walker Lin. The game has headsets that are designed to accommodate those without sight or hearing, and they are supposed to create a way to trade physical attributes for extra powers. Stern says that one of the biggest challenges to this game is creating heads-up display to fit the needs of blind and deaf videogame players. For this game, he has an audio HUD instead to accommodate blind gamers. Those who have all senses can experience the blind/deaf experience in this game.
Stern also creates sculptures that embed technology and hacked games. Keyboard Castle is one of his works where the mechanical bot plays the hacked version of Everquest in everlasting loops and it randomly talks to those who are engaged in it. The structure of the sculpture is modeled after a castle. Fort Paladin is a hacked version of America’s Army. Like Keyboard Castle, Fort Paladin has a bot that runs on itself and is structured like a medieval castle.
I had a second to ask Stern if he has ever presented any of his games at videogame conventions such as PAX and E3. He answered yes. When I asked him about their reaction, he tells be that he has either been well received or met with scorn by the game designers there.
My reactions to his pieces are unique to any other piece that I have seen in art so far, because I could not fully comprehend the intent of his work. I am both a budding artist and someone who loves to play videogames. As an artist, I found his work to be creative and original, especially his sculptures. From seeing his presentation on his game designs, I am not so much in favor of them. However, as a gamer, I find that his games may not be well received by the gaming world. The idea of creating something for people who are blind or deaf is great. I feel that mainstream game designers can learn from him. I believe that the idea of videogames as art does not sit well with me, unless the game is written well enough to have a tasteful and artistic meaning. I also find that his games that are based completely on tragic events may trivialize what really happened and it may be more received by the digital art world than the gaming world.
I think that first, the average gamer would not appreciate that fact that a game designer placed art over the integrity of the game. I appreciate that Stern wants to expand his work to blind and deaf gamers. Accomodation and diversity are really needed in the gaming industry. However, to fork over about $100 for a cheesy headset is asking too much for an average gamer who is currently in college. Unless the game is damned good, he can forget about setting that price.
Second, I found his Tekken challenge to be strange, at best. When I wrote a critique of this lecture, I could not really state how I felt about his performance pieces, because I had to critique his work as art, which I had a hard time even doing that. I am die hard fan of the traditional definition of art, even after taking Digital Media classes. I feel that Stern's work is killing the definition of what true digital media art is and the tradition of the mainstream gaming industry, which still has a hard time accepting the indie games.
The Eddo Stern Lecture was held on April 14 2010 in RGJ Room 2006. His works consist of digital media and game art. He is from Televiv, Israel. He has experience working with sculpture, video, performance and fame design. His main focus in digital art is videogames as an art form. The content of his work varies from cultural, political and dark to comical and ironic.
Stern’s first performance work was the Tekken Torture Tournament which consisted of the hack version of Tekken, reconceptualized. Micro controls sense the life bars in the game and take control over the players’ muscles. This performance featured Tekken champions from Australia who could not even take the pain. Videogames usually are disconnected from the player even when the gamer is completely disengaged in the levels. This tournament proves that gaming experiences can be fully brought to life.
Unlike his Tekken Torture Tournament, Stern’s Waco Resurrection fully programmed and simulated performance installation based on the Waco incident with David Koresh. It consists of one to four players and has headsets that are modeled after Koresh. It also has voice recognition and players can chant “super powers”. The goal of the game is to collect as many followers as possible before the compound burns. More followers increase aura. There is a ten minute countdown before the character dies in the game inevitably. The content in the game mixes history with fantasy. Its intent is to relive the Waco tragedy.
Eddo Stern’s current project is a videogame that is playable for blind and deaf gamers. Like Waco Resurrection, this new installation is based on real life accounts. Gamers are played as Jon Walker Lin. The game has headsets that are designed to accommodate those without sight or hearing, and they are supposed to create a way to trade physical attributes for extra powers. Stern says that one of the biggest challenges to this game is creating heads-up display to fit the needs of blind and deaf videogame players. For this game, he has an audio HUD instead to accommodate blind gamers. Those who have all senses can experience the blind/deaf experience in this game.
Stern also creates sculptures that embed technology and hacked games. Keyboard Castle is one of his works where the mechanical bot plays the hacked version of Everquest in everlasting loops and it randomly talks to those who are engaged in it. The structure of the sculpture is modeled after a castle. Fort Paladin is a hacked version of America’s Army. Like Keyboard Castle, Fort Paladin has a bot that runs on itself and is structured like a medieval castle.
I had a second to ask Stern if he has ever presented any of his games at videogame conventions such as PAX and E3. He answered yes. When I asked him about their reaction, he tells be that he has either been well received or met with scorn by the game designers there.
My reactions to his pieces are unique to any other piece that I have seen in art so far, because I could not fully comprehend the intent of his work. I am both a budding artist and someone who loves to play videogames. As an artist, I found his work to be creative and original, especially his sculptures. From seeing his presentation on his game designs, I am not so much in favor of them. However, as a gamer, I find that his games may not be well received by the gaming world. The idea of creating something for people who are blind or deaf is great. I feel that mainstream game designers can learn from him. I believe that the idea of videogames as art does not sit well with me, unless the game is written well enough to have a tasteful and artistic meaning. I also find that his games that are based completely on tragic events may trivialize what really happened and it may be more received by the digital art world than the gaming world.
I think that first, the average gamer would not appreciate that fact that a game designer placed art over the integrity of the game. I appreciate that Stern wants to expand his work to blind and deaf gamers. Accomodation and diversity are really needed in the gaming industry. However, to fork over about $100 for a cheesy headset is asking too much for an average gamer who is currently in college. Unless the game is damned good, he can forget about setting that price.
Second, I found his Tekken challenge to be strange, at best. When I wrote a critique of this lecture, I could not really state how I felt about his performance pieces, because I had to critique his work as art, which I had a hard time even doing that. I am die hard fan of the traditional definition of art, even after taking Digital Media classes. I feel that Stern's work is killing the definition of what true digital media art is and the tradition of the mainstream gaming industry, which still has a hard time accepting the indie games.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The "Direction" of Ungrounded
Because I do not have cable to join in on the excitement of E3 2010, I have been going into other interests within the geek/nerd spectrum. I always had an aquired taste for science fiction. So, I decided that instead of exclusively writing about videogames, I'll also be writing about science fiction movies, televisions shows and books. I started this summer with the Battlestar Galactica series. I plan on eventually writing a long overdue review on this show. I believe it's worth reviewing, and writing about in depth. I still plan on putting other posts here about videogames, tech and music.
TV Shows for this Summer and Fall of 2010:
What I plan on writing for these TV series:
Books I will be Reading/ Reviewing
TV Shows for this Summer and Fall of 2010:
- Battlestar Galactica (Reimagined)
- Caprica (prequel of BSG)
- Stargate SG1
- Stargate Atlantis (Spin-off)
- Odyssey 5
- Dr Who
- Star Trek (Very First Episode to Final Episode and Movie)
- Babylon 5
- FireFly
- Andromeda
- Jake 2.0
- Jeremiah
What I plan on writing for these TV series:
- Reviews for all shows
- The cultural relevence of BSG
- My opinion on the best scifi show ever made, after watching all series
- Star Trek vs Star Wars (If you're a fanboy/girl, leave my site. I don't need romantic ideas based on opinion here)
Books I will be Reading/ Reviewing
- Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (BioShock)
- Atlas Shrugged By Ayn Rand (BioShock)
- Anthem by Ayn Rand (BioShock)
- Darkness Falls by Kyle Mills
- Watchman (Graphic Novel)
- Maus and Maus II by Art Spiegelman (Comicbook, not scifi)
- Dune Series by Frank Herbert
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K Dick
- Various books by Octavia E. Butler
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