Share the Gameplay! ..and on the Art of Texting

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I'm yet to experience a significant other who's also a gamer, and so I haven't had any trouble with sharing gameplay with someone. I could play as long as, and as often as I could afford to, and beat a game--or not--on my own. But apparently, when your girfriend/boyfriend is a gamer, too, the couple needs to share the console. And so tricky and sticky situations arise. And this MTV's Multiplayer blog entry linked above lays this out pretty well.

However, what caused me to link it is not this. Rather, it's about the girl's subtle gesture... in texting. Here's the quote (after responding to a picture message showing the progress her boyfriend made without her with plain "nice"): "Couldn’t he read the underlying message in my previous “nice” response? I mean, come on, if I had been excited about his rapid progression, I would have included an exclamation point or a smiley face, obviously."

LOL.

Ah, the art of texting...

Importance of Religion

이 넓은 세상에서, 이 크나큰 지구에서 나는 이 자리에 매일같이 나와 하루 9시간을 컴퓨터 앞에서 이렇게 누구나가 다 할수 있는 자그마한 라이브러리들을 쓰고있다. 이렇게 지내기를 이제 벌써 100일하고도 1일째. 이런 진부한 스케줄로 짧은 인생의 시간을 쓰고 있다고 생각하니, 왜 사람들이 그렇게 종교를 찾게되는가 알것같다.

인간은 본능적으로 자신 삶의 의미를 찾는다. 내가 왜 이 자리에 서 있으며, 그 뜻은 무엇인가? 내가 여기서 무엇을 해야하는가, 혹은 내 의무를 다할 곳은 어디인가? 하지만 이 세상의--정확히는 우리들이 살고 있는 사회의--대다수 일개미같은 사회의 일꾼들은 매일같이 똑같은 일을 하며 진부하게 살고있다. 물론 종종 개개인의 크고작은 이벤트가 있지만, 그것도 잠시뿐, 모두들 계속 돌아가는 사회에 이바지하기 위해 식상한 생활로 돌아오게된다. 매일 반복되는 나날에 사람들은 점점 삶의 의미를 잃어가고, 더욱 자신의 중요성을 찾게된다. 그것을 충족해 주는 것이 바로 종교인 것이다.

너무 냉정하게 말하는것 같지만, 난 종교를 비판하는 것이 아니다. 큰 그림으로 이 사회를 봤을때, 종교는 사람들을 물레방아 돌아가는 듯한 삶에 중요성을 주고, 그리하여 가장 큰 일꾼인 middle-class에 있는 사람들을 만족시켜줘 사회에 많은 도움이 되게 해준다. 그리고 사회의 풍습과 특성을 만들어 주기도 하며 양심이란 것을 모두들에게 심어주기도 한다. 하지만 그런 종교가 한 사회의 뿌리가 될때는 정말이지 모든 나쁜일의 원인이 되는 듯 하다. 그런것을 보면 정말이지 we should take religion with a grain of salt--이게 여기에 맞는 말인지는 모르겠지만.

...누군가가 이런 발상을 오래전부터 하여 책으로 내놨을 듯한 느낌. 누구 없을까?

When We Start Dating Playing Games...

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So the world has two kinds of people: Casual audience, and hardcore gamers. Hardcore gamers tend to place gameplay over content (loosely used to mean script, lore, presentation... everything that can be found in other media like movies), while its the opposite for casual players.

Then maybe I was thinking from the perspective of general crowd? I always believed that when gameplay and in-game mechanics (physics, AI, and so on)become something to be criticized for not being believable instead of getting praised for being fairly interactive--in other words, when realism in games is taken as granted--is the time games can evolve into something greater. I even thought having okay gameplay that is fault proof so everyone can pickup controller and experience what a game has prepared, which will be very short compared to today's games, will be great, as long as the content is very, very compelling.

I guess this is true, for I am looking forward to the day when the market for games become comparable to that of movies, which may not be so far out.

Suicide Bombing Though Gaming

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Today feels very different. My brain is rolling hard, and unlike other days, I did not feel sleepy or grumpy at work. ..Well, almost. Besides my brain working hard, I've landed on several interesting articles. One of which is the story linked above. It's a post about the author starting to use--all unintentionally--suicide bomb strategy that of terrorists' to hurt elite players before dying himself. (More specifically, it involves less skilled player running straight to advanced player shooting at them, sticking a granade on them before being killed. Which, after few seconds, kills the shooter as well.)

If you're a gamer, then this may be trivial as you may have done this several times before. However, there is no denying that it does simulate same strategy of terrorists, or Japanese pilots during WWII.

The author goes in deeper, linking this experience to various other subjects. One key quote:

"Athough I've read scores of articles, white papers and books on the psychology of terrorists in recent years, and even though I have (I think) a strong intellectual grasp of the roots of suicide terrorism, something about playing the game gave me an "aha" moment that I'd never had before: an ability to feel, in whatever tiny fashion, the strategic logic and emotional calculus behind the act."

And this ability to let people experience and "feel" something that otherwise would not be possible, is something only interactive medium like video games can deliver, in my opinion. And that is something game must perfect.

New PS2 SKU for $99?!

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Just when I was planning to get myself a PS2... I actually thought there will be a price drop, but not whole another SKU!

If this rumor is true, which I think it is true, I can't buy PS2 right now and get money back using low price guarantee since it'll be two totally different product!!

What should I do?? Should I just get it at $129, and say I'm paying $30 for 2 months of gaming, or should I wait for the new model...? (But I already ordered Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition..!!!)

I hate Sony... x'(

Hello Kitty News for Wii

Wii = household entertainment system, meaning people with families are large portion of the install base. They have kids, who may be very young, and may not be suitable for news segments adults watch.

What if there's a little program they can download, for a small fee, onto their Wii, which downloads a series of news for kids, and some audio clips along with them, and play them using 3D figures such as Hello Kitty, or some other characters for kids who tells them what's going on in this world? By selecting only ones that are suitable for kids, dressing the screen with flashy and cute mascots, it will grab children's attention.

Just a thought.