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doshmanziari · 2 years

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Brick By Brick is moving to Substack

Hi, everyone.

As 2022 nears its end, I’ve made the decision to migrate to Substack.

Although I’ve written on, and for, various sites over the years, my personal hub has, since 2014, been this blog, originally organized around the videogame series Castlevania, and later switching emphases to titles including Demon’s Souls, the Dark Souls trilogy, and Bloodborne. As I wrote in Brick By Brick’s first post, “This site was also born out of the perception that there is a lack of critical engagement of the series that balances strong mechanical/structural comprehension and a micro-focus on audio/visual design.”

Below are some examples of my writing on videogames:

The Soul of Place: My Favorite Dark Souls Sites || No Escape

Ruins of Memory || DEEP HELL

Souls Games are Great, Except for the Messages from Some Players || Kotaku

Secret Geometries || Heterotopias, Issue 2

My Inner Scales || Unwinnable

Understanding the Sublime Architecture of Bloodborne || Kill Screen

Where Did the Fun Street Fighter Music Go? || Kill Screen

Economy and Thematic Structure: Symphony of the Night's Level Design || Gamasutra

A Study of Michiru Yamane’s “Dracula’s Castle” || VGMO

Masashi Hamauzu Piano Works δ・ε・T_Comp 1 || VGMO

Final Fantasy XII Piano Collections || VGMO

And here are some examples of my writing for this blog:

What is the “Deep”?

Formalism, Dreams, Souls

Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth

Putting Names to Built Things

Demon’s Souls || 2020 Notes [1]

Size and Sensibility || Elden Ring

Dark Souls 3: “More of the Same”

Selective Chromophobia & Castlevania

Overestimating Overviews of Overworlds

Rune Worth 2 and 3 and PC-98 Aesthetics

Aldrich and the Desacralization of Dark Souls 3

The quote above is reflective of my general approach to writing: that is, to perceive a discursive and/or analytic lack, and then to enter from that angle. In a certain sense, this is the basis of all criticism. But apparently inseparable from my person is an argumentative spark. Sometimes this has been to my detriment, as any characterological aspect can be. At its best, however, this “contrarianism” is insightful, and helps to form various pathways between apparently disparate fields and ideas. See, for example, my piece for DEEP HELL, and how it uniquely forms a through line between grain silos, Disney World, Umberto Eco’s work, nymphaea, and . . . Demon’s Souls.

In 2020, I felt that the subject of videogames was no longer interesting enough to be a topical go-to, and so, for the sake of expanding my range, I switched over to an alternate Tumblr blog. Then, in 2021, I migrated most of my posts over to a preexisting, now-renamed Medium account (originally intended for conversations about Boston’s newer architecture), which began to take priority. But Medium has long been in a place where the most visible articles, and perhaps the predominant associated audiences, have an intellectually thin and corporate bent; and, of course, the writing is done for free.

Below are examples of my more recent writing to demonstrate its combination of range and specificity:

Stop Hitting Yourself: A Brief Examination of the “Karen” Meme

Femboy Hooters as Consumerist Ephebic Sexuality

UFOs, Disclosure, and the Religious Impulse

What is Radical Music in 2021?

The Age of the Class Clown

DALL-E 2 and Objective Art

What is “Wholesomeness”?

A Phenomenology of Gazes: Nope

A Response to a Critique of Betsy DeVos’ Mansion

The Obfuscating Effect of Contemporary Non-Materialistic Ufology

Strangled and Mangled: Classicism and Its Ersatz After Architecture’s Commodification

To be transparent: I’ve also maintained a Patreon page since 2016, uploading the totality of my material — visual art (including comic books), music, and writing — at the end of each month. If that sounds more appealing than a purely text-based subscription, I’d point you that way. I’ve created an account on Substack as a way of consolidating and compartmentalizing my written work on a by-subscription basis, and to give it a more suitable platform.

None of the above means that I’m flat-out done writing about videogames. In fact, I have plans for an upcoming piece on the Castlevania series and Michiru Yamane’s music, with a focus on Symphony of the Night and (probably) Lament of Innocence. I’m excited to get to work on this, since practically all of the writing I know of on these soundtracks is of the interchangeable Consumer Reports variety. I’ll also continue to share any visual material here, whether it’s my own artwork, others’, or more sets of screenshots.

The original Thoughts Thought While Walks Walked was, I think, ultimately one of the many byproducts of the pandemic and its transformative effects (some good, some bad). As I began to open new doors and admit a fuller range of my abilities, sympathies, and antipathies, I started writing much more frequently and voluminously, and treading into areas which, beforehand, I might have considered nonsensical, off-limits, or not worth considering.

If you’re interested at all in the topics covered above, and are looking for considerate, exacting, and particular writing on them, please support me with a subscription on either of the aforementioned platforms.

I hope to see you on Substack!

#Castlevania #DARK SOULS #bloodborne #Akumajou Dracula #elden ring #soulsborne #videogame criticism #brick by brick #Metroid #metroidvania

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kaylia1991 · 4 years

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No regrets (CoVid 19 diary Part II)

In the past few weeks our lives have been turned upside down. The CoVid19 crisis has changed all of our lives significantly. Curfews, prohibition of contact, toilet paper shortages, closed borders, fear, death, restrictions of liberties, surveillance... The world is a different place now. We are living in a real life heterotopia. These new circumstances are teaching us a lot of lessons. One of them is that our privileged lifestyles are nothing we should take for granted. Especially in Western societies. We became ignorant and completely oblivious toward the uniqueness of the abundance of possibilities our lives had to offer. We took them for granted. Most of us have not seized opportunities presented to them. And I cannot blame most of us because we figured that there will be a point in our lives where we get to do it. Unless you are confronted with the possibility of death or societal breakdown, you automatically assume that there will always be another day, another month, another year where you can travel to a certain place, party in a certain club or engage in other activities. We were so freaking naive. Raised in a society where growth and globalization were a given. The pandemic is a painful reminder and wake-up call to so many of us.

And yet I wondered why am I less affected than most of the people around me. Today it finally hit me. The past 4-5 years have been a constant struggle. The issue of death was a present topic around me. At the same time, I battled mental health issues and underwent therapy. This therapy finally led me to the conclusion that I found too many excuses to say no to everything that might be considered as irresponsible. I did not live. I did not test my boundaries. I used to give into societal expectations rather than being myself. I am decent. I am kind. I am empathetic...and yet, I can be quite a child and love to joke about inappropriate stuff with my very special friends who I love deeply. 2019 was a year where I said „yes“ to almost everything trying to find me and figure out who I was. What I liked and did not like. Within a year I did the following things: Travelled to Marocco, went to shisha places frequently, attended 2 Bachelorette parties, went to party in Mallorca and bought a Dirndl to celebrate the real Oktoberfest, saw my favorite metal band live, went to theme parks (freaking 4 times), went to Hamburg and the Reeperbahn, went to Bologna (twice), went to Berlin with my male best friend and attended a very questionable event, partied in a rock/metal club with someone I’d rather forget, got way too drunk, went on a very unsustainable cruise, went on a trip to Budapest with my mother and her partner (something we haven’t done in a decade), made new friends, rode in an ambulance... and did a few other sometimes pretty stupid things. I took so much criticism for all of this. I have to admit, some of these activities were mistakes. But overall, I had a bloody good time. I have zero regrets.

Every step along the way taught me an important lesson. I have changed. I am still me but more content with myself and I know who I am. And guess what... most of these activities are impossible to do now. I did these things before it was too late. Guess I just got super lucky. No bloody clue. But I appreciate the fact that I ticked a lot of things off my bucket list and lived like there was no tomorrow trying to improve my, at the time, fragile mental health. For this actually made me stronger to endure what all of us have to endure now… and be a rock in the sea.

#rant #personal #corona #covid19 #depression #mental health

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mi4012huilaampang · 5 years

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RESEARCH ON HETEROTOPIA - ARTIST: YOU JIN

Continuing on the research of artists related to Heterotopia, one of them is You Jin. He is a Chinese active artist who has participated in group exhibitions internationally, and he graduated from Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in China. In 2016, he held a solo exhibition, The View of Heterotopos in Alternative Space Loop, Seoul.

“Though You Jin’s district characteristics in painting, he combines different temporal and spatial dimensions on a single composition, with the attempt to bring forward implications of and alternative perspectives on the strange and complex specialties and temporary nature in our times.” In his artwork, you can see the composition is complicated because he combines different elements with each other from the modern life. It seems disordered but somehow tidy and neat, moreover his work are very colourful which make me feel like he is emphasizing on some issues or cultures shown in them. Besides, the reason that I like his artwork is because the space of the canvas is packed with his creations, and it gives out an illusion that you are entered into the world of the Heterotopia he created.

(Resources/References - Photo 1, 2, 3: [en.cafa.com.cn/the-view-of-heterotopos-you-jin-solo-exhibition-opening-september-2-at-alternative-space-loop-seoul.html])

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mi5014jordaniveson · 5 years

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2 - Mother Nature & Industrialisation

The tone of the story could shift depending on who is the lodger or the homeowner.

If Nature is the homeowner, then the story would be quite dark as its more of an invasion of the home and it is forcibly changed to accommodate the personification industrialization.

This would most likely be set in a forest or somewhere without any human influence. Depending on where it is set, Mother Nature’s design would also change to match.

If Nature is the lodger, the same story would be used but almost as if nature is reclaiming its land.

Most likely a factory with smoke and fumes billowing out, showing the negative effects of climate change.

This concept is heavily influenced by the issue of climate-changing and Greta Thunberg’s message of how we’re effectively killing the planet.

_____

To show that the lodger is initially welcomed into the ‘home’ there has to be a patch of their location within the homeowners, similar to a heterotopia. Because they're both manifestations of concepts, their presence would be a manifestation in some form as well. For instance, a small park or section of trees would be within a factory; or a small village nearby a vast forest.

Industrialisation would do something to anger mother nature which either causes her to retaliate or push the homeowner out.

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unmarked-stream · 6 years

Photo

https://wetruckwell.tumblr.com/

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Recently I have been playing a lot of the video game Eurotruck Simulator 2. A very silly game in the simulator genre that is popular in Germany. The gameplay entirely consists of what is essentially virtual labour. Moment to moment gameplay involves driving long distances in a truck, and obeying speed limits and road regulations.

I’m interested in this game for a few reasons:

- The idea of virtual play as virtual labour. There is no distinction here between the act of playing and the act of working. The game favours realism, and, although the distances you have to drive have been shrunk, longer jobs still require multiple hours of driving time. The game is consciously dull, yet remains captivating and enjoyable.

- The restrictions of a “simulation”. What has been simulated well? - the feel of driving, the aesthetics of driving. What has not been simulated well? - people, mostly. Glitches in software reflect a broken world. The glitchy and simplified people reflect the broken and abject, posthuman forms we now live within due to the internet.

- The ease of travel and cross-border travel in the age of Brexit. Borders are barely represented at all within this game, apart form the Channel ofc. The game is therefore very optimistic about Europe and the ability to travel/work across borders.

- The relationship between natural landscape and human intervention. Almost every angle of every landscape you will see while driving has been in some way scarred by industrialism. Pylons, roads, bridges, constructions sites, etc.

I have been using the game’s built-in Photo Mode to undertake a virtual photography project exploring these concepts. All the photos have been documented on this blog:

https://wetruckwell.tumblr.com/

----

The methodology for this project in relation to SCALE is that there is a play here between anticipated scale/distance of the “jobs” you complete. Travel is shortened and made simple by the simulation, crushing our conceptions of time and distance, perhaps in a similar way to the way the internet functions... or the invention of steam trains.

I wrote about this last project, but I attended a workshop and talk by Gareth Damian Martin on video game photography. His framework is using Foucault’s concept of the heterotopia. He explains it here in the introduction to Issue 1 of his Heterotopias Zine:

In the talk he explored the work of photographers like Thomas Demand who create and photograph dioramas and representations of spaces:

I tried to adopt this approach in my Eurotruck Simulator photography - approaching the car crashes, construction sites, petrol stations, hotels, and other liminal spaces as miniature reflections of real space. I focused on the brokenness of the simulation and the destructive reach of humans.

to reflect on this work:

I like it! I think this is some of my most successful and succinctly realised project. Although I think the link to Scale is a little tentative, I’ll continue to develop it in the future. In his work, Gareth Damian Martin uses analogue photography to add a layer of further distance to his work - playing with the entanglement of analogue and digital image decay - glitches, pixels, film grain. Maybe this is something I could explore in the future. Or do some filmic work within this simulation. Maybe the spaces could be spaces for me to perform in? What happens when I turn the game’s space into a space for me to use?

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aaliyakhane9-blog · 6 years

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Contextual Studies

Combined Lecture Notes

Week 1: Where do Ideas Come From? (2/10/18)

This lecture briefed us on the idea that there are no limits to ideas even with a deadline or final product because anything can be further developed, something to consider when starting and ending this project as I can still carry on with it in my own time to develop it further.

Week 2: Culture (09/10/18)

Culture is defined as a way of life of particular group of people, they link their own general customs and beliefs to it. This is differentiated through peoples living styles, religions and many other factors that could be linked to a personnel.

Symbols can have many different meanings and interpretations for example changing the orientation of a shape can lead the symbol having a complete new meaning e.g. the Nazi symbol which is signifies as the swastika but in Hinduism it presents a token of luck and fortune.

Week 3: Voyeurism (16/10/18)

Week 4: Text & Image (30/10/18)

Text and image are the main elements that make up graphic design. Although it is said that a picture speaks a thousand words we are able to make lettering speak through images as well as it is more informative and precise especially when providing viewers with a exact meaning to the content.

Week 5: Space & Place (06/11/18)

6 principles of Heterotopia…

Deviation Heterotopia - cater for individuals whose behaviour is different in relation to society in which they live = e.g. Nursing home or prison

A society, as its history unfolds can make an existing heterotopia function in a very different fashion. Each heterotopia has a precise and determined function within a society. E.g. cemetery

Heterotopia capable of juxtaposing in a single place several spaces, several sites that are in themselves incompatible. E.g. theatre set

Heterotopia are linked to slices in time. Usually begins to function at full capacity when individuals arrives. Provides a break for people from traditional time. E.g. museum

Heterotopias have opening and closing systems as they are not freely accessible like a public space. E.g. prison

Heterotopias have a function in relation to all the space that remains e.g. brothel

Week 6: People & Identity (13/11/18)

The psychology of selfies segment was interesting, it gave an insight into what selfies are really all about and what it means to different people. A selfie is a photograph taken of someone on a smartphone or webcam and shared through social media like Instagram or Snapchat. The first selfie was taken in 1833 by Robert Cornelius, however looking back into history we have been documenting our existence since cave paintings which is one of the earliest forms of art. We can also argue whether self-portrait paintings are selfies although they contain inner emotions and are more planned, but the similarities that self-portraits have with selfies is that flaws may be hidden and not provide an honest meaning.

Week 7: Time & Sequence (20/11/18)

Timescale of movement is achieved by repeatedly photographing the same subject or object over a long duration of time or using a long exposure.

Timescale representation in photography has 3 distinct visual themes:

· Memory

· History of movement

· Aesthetics/affects

A body of work that depicts a continuous history or a timeline of the same subject, Paul lander our lecturer calls it a “Visual time capsule.”

Week 8: Language (04/12/18)

Semiotics

Study of signs and their use or and interpretation

Investigation into how meaning is created as well as communicated

Not science, but the ways of analysing

Historians believe that Ferdinand de Saussure was the first to come up with the idea based around semiotics

American Philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce took Saussure’s concept of semiotics and developed a more complex system

The concept was centred around the idea of interpretation

This theory also helped Roland Barthes, a French theorist and his analysis of various cultural materials

Saussure believed that a sign is made up of two things, a “signifier” (the form) and a “signified” (a concept or an idea)

But Barthes thought differently and said that signs are either ‘denoted’ or ‘connoted.’ Denotation (direct meaning) what it literally is, and Connotation (interpreted meaning)

Week 9: Sound & Movement (11/12/18)

There are 2 different types of sound Diegetic Sound (known as actual sound) and non-diegetic sound (known as commentary sound.

Diegetic sound source is visible on the screen or whose source implies to be present by the action of the film. Depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame it can be seen on or off screen.

Non-diegetic sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action, this is basically background noise that only the audience hears.

Week 10: Colour (08/01/19)

BLUE PERIOD

Produced such work between 1901 and 1904

He painted essentially monochromatic paintings in shades of green and blue tones

this influence of painting style occurred after the suicide of his friend

The series of paintings show powerful emotions and mood t,

He truly captured his feelings and his reaction to his friends death

ULTRAMARINE

deep blue colour pigment originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder form

Called “beyond the sea” because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afghanistan by Italian traders during the 14th and 15th centuries. ( literally from beyond the seas)

The finest and most expensive blue used by Renaissance painters. usually only used to symbolise holiness like on the paintings of the Virgin Mary

ELECTRIC BLUE

Close colour to cyan

Representation of the electric spark which connotes is name.

THINGS COLOURS CAN DO

Can change an effect our moods e.g. Red: passion or lust

I enjoyed this lecture and finding out how colours can influence a persons mood and emotion which is something I want take into consideration when making my print visuals. I need to think about what colours and tones attract the audiences and make them feel a certain way towards my social issue

Overall I found the majority of lectures hard to relate back to own personal work as they covered quite complex topics which sometimes didn't relate to anything that was in the project. Some lectures did help but were hard to explain and put down on paper.

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mi4015andrewjung · 5 years

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Ideas for my own Heterotopia

Treatment Plan

As an extension of previous semester module visual language 1 we are presented with visual language 2. This module has assigned us to explore the idea of Michel foucault's philosophical concept, Heterotopia through visual mediums. The very idea of heterotopia although mistakenly can be seen as a other form of Utopia or Dystopia but only derived from those words but its very stark definition is - “A space within a space accessed by everyone which when placed parallel gives the impression of upsetting the external factors.” With this broad theme to explore, the route that my project will partake is exploration of the heterotopia- “A Butterfly Atrium”. This project will explore the relationship and adaptation of a butterfly towards the atmosphere ever-configured by the farmer.

The main characters which the project will dissect are a farmer and a butterfly. The story will set in a fictional futuristic time whereby the humans have managed to extinct all forms of nature and the only closest aspect to nature which prolonged are the butterfly atriums. The butterfly atriums are being seen as accessories to society as remembrance of the days nature inhabited the world excessively. The only element which accredits the manifestation behind human’s greed and consummation of energy without care for reflection seem to be the survived butterfly atriums. Therefore, the butterfly farmers are established as a integral part to society in order to continue providing spaces for the butterflies to stay longer. The story will lean into possibilities upon the butterflies adaptation of the atmosphere the farmer integrates and how the interior spaces changes impact upon the butterfly.

The series of events which the audience will be displayed are the outcry of human population and their repentance of desecrating nature and the efforts they place towards conserving their only last space resemblance to nature. The fundamentals of the story will be the extent behind the butterflies coexistence with the configurations made by the operator and the activities they do to adapt or fight the configurations. Butterflies are fragile, and delicate whereby a slight change in their habitation can threaten their lives. According to Butterfly conservation.org

butterflies comprise many values to our society from economic to social value. My project will explore the butterflies values and the migration of human errors towards leading the butterflies to a faulty position. Mainly, focusing on the scientific value and ecosystem value of the butterfly species. In addition, human species making an effort to cling for the survival of butterflies to maintain some sort of false testimony that they have not destroyed nature entirely.

The main themes will be adaptation and with that broad theme I believe it resonates to a wide-audience due to the fact human species are a product of adapting to multiple environments and abiding to changes. I wish for the audience to realise the importance of a often natural reserve and the effects of our actions to the often unseeable or small species affected by them. Seemingly the reverse of the butterfly effect whereby a small flap of a butterfly wing can deter the time continuum this project will explore the action of the humans onto butterflies regarded not the main issue in our world today- but the difference between small and radical impact are similar in principle in my opinion.

https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/why-butterflies-matter\\

https://sciencing.com/what-do-butterflies-do-environment-4580181.html

https://www.hunker.com/12169327/how-to-attract-butterflies-to-a-butterfly-house

https://www.butterflyfarm.co.uk/attraction/plan-your-visit/about-the-butterfly-farm

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symbianosgames · 7 years

Link

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from curator/video game industry veteran Simon Carless, rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend. This week's highlights include a GDC talk on 'the aesthetics of cute', the hidden story of TOSE, & the return to car wrecking of key Burnout developers.

Another interesting week of longer-form 'things', and I've been ruminating a bit on how these videos and articles intersect in weird but neat ways with 'breaking news' or 'hottest games'. Seems like you'll get at least _some_ bleed-through - for example, this week we have Battlegrounds, Signal From Tolva & Night In The Woods again, all of which are newish or interesting releases.

But many of these pieces are evergreen & exist separately of the 'hot reactions' grind. Which is good. Exist too close to the 24-hour hype cycle, and you'll miss trends and more thoughtful takes like some of these good folks. VGDC aims to reverse that. We hope you think we do a good job.

- Simon, curator.]

-------------------

Guild Wars 2’s art style passes from father to son (Philippa Warr / RockPaperShotgun) "Recently I had the chance to talk to ArenaNet (and thus Guild Wars 2) art director Horia Dociu about his work at the studio. One of the interesting things about his promotion to the role is that he succeeds his father, Daniel."

We’ve been missing a big part of game industry’s digital revolution (Kyle Orland / Ars Technica) "Last year, the Entertainment Software Association's annual "Essential Facts" report suggested that the US game industry generated $16.5 billion in "content" sales annually (excluding hardware and accessories). In this year's report, that number had grown to a whopping $24.5 billion, a nearly 50-percent increase in a span of 12 months. No, video games didn't actually become half again as popular with Americans over the course of 2016. Instead, tracking firm NPD simply updated the way it counts the still-shadowy world of digital game sales."

Warren Spector believes games 'need to be asking bigger questions' (Alex Wawro / Gamasutra) "Gamasutra sat down with Spector at GDC last month to catch up on how the process is going, roughly a year into his full-time gig at OtherSide. It was an interesting conversation, especially if you're at all interested in where games are at these days, where they came from, and what sorts of stories they're best at telling."

A Rare Look Inside Nintendo (Otaku / Game Escape / YouTube) "This clip is an excerpt from the French documentary film "Otaku" by director Jean-Jacques Beineix from 1994. It appeared dubbed on German TV some time later, which is the version you are seeing here. It has, to my knowledge, never been released in English. The subtitles are my own. Content is the intellectual property of the original rights holders."

An Interview With One of Those Hackers Screwing With Your 'Black Ops 2' Games(Patrick Klepek / Waypoint) "He's not there to ruin your stats. He's there to sell you software that'll let you launch a DDOS attack from your Xbox 360. [SIMON'S NOTE: this is crazy - modded Xbox 360s that find other player's IP addresses and can DDOS them?! I had no idea.]"

Put a Face on It: The Aesthetics of Cute (Jenny Jiao Hsia / GDC / YouTube) "In this 2017 GDC session, Hexecutable's Jenny Jiao Hsia explains why cuteness as an aesthetic may be worth exploring for developers who want to push against current trends in game design."

Proc. Gen. and Pleasant Land | Sir You Are Being Hunted (Robert Seddon / Heterotopias) "It was a perfect rustic idyll, in its way. Perfectly lovely, nestled between the grassy fields. Perfectly quiet, as only dead places can be. Perfectly still, because a player careless enough to create a disturbance might attract the robotic hunters. Big Robot’s Sir You Are Being Hunted had, through the digital governance of its landscape generation algorithms, somehow perfected the British countryside."

How video games were made - part 3: Marketing and Business (Strafefox / YouTube) "In this final chapter we cover the business side and marketing of 8 and 16 bit games. [SIMON'S NOTE: Lots of archival footage in here & SO much work cutting it all together - and the other entries in the 'how video games were made' series look pretty good too!]"

Video Games Are Better Without Stories (Ian Bogost / The Atlantic) "A longstanding dream: Video games will evolve into interactive stories, like the ones that play out fictionally on the Star Trek Holodeck. In this hypothetical future, players could interact with computerized characters as round as those in novels or films, making choices that would influence an ever-evolving plot. [SIMON'S NOTE: lots of responses to this all over the Internet - here's a couple of good ones from the Waypoint folks.]"

'Burnout' Series Creator Talks Remaking Crash Mode for 'Danger Zone' (John Davison / Glixel) "Spend longer than a few minutes talking with fans of driving games about which series they'd love to see revived, and invariably someone will bring up Criterion's Burnout. Unlike contemporaries that were leaning harder into realism and officially-licensed cars as a response to games like Gran Turismo, the first Burnout – released by Acclaim for PlayStation 2 in 2001 – was unapologetically action-focused."

Famitsu Special Report – The Mystery of TOSE (Famitsu / One Million Power) "This is the real story behind TOSE: The game development company that’s been making games for nearly 38 years (since 1979), but hardly any gamers know. [SIMON'S NOTE: Brandon Sheffield covered TOSE for Gamasutra back in 2006, but by and large, they've been PRETTY vague about what they work on - which is fascinating.]"

How Three Kids With No Experience Beat Square And Translated Final Fantasy V Into English (Jason Schreier / Kotaku) "One day in the late 1990s, Myria walked into the Irvine High School computer room and spotted a boy playing Final Fantasy V. There were two unusual things about this. The first was that Final Fantasy V had not actually come out in the United States."

Night in the Woods is Important (HeavyEyed / YouTube) "An analysis of the recently released game - this video contains very minimal spoilers but watch at your own discretion.."

Designing the giant battle royale maps of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (Alan Bradley / Gamasutra) "For Brendan "Playerunknown" Greene, the creator of Battlegrounds, the vision for his game world was born from extensive experience creating and manipulating environments that direct players to play his games the way he intends them to be played."

All We Have Is Words (Matthew Burns / Magical Wasteland) "Sometimes I give the impression of knowing Japanese, but I really don’t. I have no claim to it. I never made a real study of the language, I don’t know kanji and thus can’t read at all, and even in speech I can’t exchange more than pleasantries or the most rudimentary logistical information. [SIMON'S NOTE: I believe this is a subtle 'subtweet'-style article response to the recent Persona 5 translation furore? Maybe?]"

Changing the Game: What's Next for Anita Sarkeesian (Laura A. Parker / Glixel) "Anita Sarkeesian’s talk at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco falls at an unfortunate time: 10am on the last day of the conference – a Friday. Most attendees – a mix of indie programmers, mainstream publishing teams and media – are still bleary eyed from the night before. And yet, at five-to-ten, the small room on the third floor of the Moscone Convention Center is standing-room only."

The quest to crack and preserve vintage Apple II software (Leigh Alexander and Iain Chambers / The Guardian Podcast) "Why has the quest to hack old Apple II software become the best hope we have of preserving a part of our cultural history? How do these floppy discs – still turning up in their box-loads – shine a light on the educational philosophies of the 80s? And do a new generation of gamers risk losing whole days of their lives by playing these compelling retro games in their browsers?"

Video Games Help Model Brain’s Neurons (Nick Wingfield / New York Times) "Since November, thousands of people have played the game, “Mozak,” which uses common tricks of the medium — points, leveling up and leader boards that publicly rank the performance of players — to crowdsource the creation of three-dimensional models of neurons."

Longtime 'Star Citizen' Backers Want Its New Referral Contest to Die in a Black Hole (Leif Johnson / Motherboard) "Developers of multiplayer video games often host referral programs encouraging existing players to recruit their friends for a boost in cash flow, and in that regard, the new referral contest from Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games isn't much out of the ordinary. The same can't be said of the reactions from the players themselves."

Localization Shenanigans in the Chinese Speaking World (Jung-Sheng Lin / GDC / YouTube) "In this 2017 GDC session, IGDShare's Jung-Sheng Lin discusses a wide variety of possible issues that can arise when undertaking Chinese localization for your game. These problems include grappling simplified vs. traditional Chinese, naming problems, UI & fonts, and China-specific policies that may relate to localization, political implications, and more."

Good Game/Tech/History Youtubers (Phoe / Medium) "[SIMON'S NOTE: this got birthed after a conversation I had with Phoe in the Video Game History Foundation Discord chat - he watches a lot of good retro/interesting YouTube, and there's a number of recommendations in here I was unaware of!]

Red Bull TV - Screenland (Red Bull TV) "Plug into the fresh stories within the world of video games and game design. The personal tales, wild new developments, and unexpected genres shed new light on what gaming means in the world now and what it could mean in the future. [SIMON'S NOTE: this is an entire _season_ of gaming documentaries, including with Frank Cifaldi (Video Game History Foundation), UK cult classic Knightmare, and lots more.]"

Tim Schafer tells the story of Amnesia Fortnight (Philippa Warr / RockPaperShotgun) "“I started feeling a little bogged down by the scope of [Brutal Legend],” says Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine. “It was really huge and I felt like the team had been doing it for a long time and had a long way to go yet. I felt like they needed a break.” That break was Amnesia Fortnight, a two week game jam during which anyone at the developer can pitch an idea and, if it’s selected, lead a team to turn it from concept to working prototype."

The Signal From Tolva: The Best Game Ever (Matt Lees / Cool Ghosts / YouTube) "New video! Matt dives into a spooky robot world, to talk about some of the cool design aspects of The Signal From Tölva. [SIMON'S NOTE: Can't emphasize enough that Cool Ghosts has some of the best game criticism on YouTube. Please patronize them! (On Patreon, not by talking down to them.)"

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[REMINDER: you can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekend at http://ift.tt/2dUXrva we crosspost to Gamasutra later on Sunday, but get it first via newsletter! Story tips and comments can be emailed to [email protected]. MINI-DISCLOSURE: Simon is one of the organizers of GDC and Gamasutra, so you may sometimes see links from those entities in his picks. Or not!]

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james-silenthill · 1 year

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9 people you want to know better!

TYSM @horrorcomedies !!!

last song i listened to: CyberGod by shrum! I've been really into red devils and purple ringers lately, I love industrial shit I cannot lie

currently watching: im kinda inbetween shows rn since succession ended, im thinking of sopranos or brba/bcs, but starting something new is soooo much work

currently reading: I have so many things im reading technically... slaughterhouse-V by Kurt Vonnegut, House of Leaves, The Poetics of Space by gaston bachelard, my friends been reading me mistborn, AND!!! the second issue of the zine Heterotopias by Gareth Damian Martin. I've been really into architecture lately, i can blame silent hill 2 for this. And Jacob Geller. I'm farthest percentage wise in HoL, and just started poetics of space AND heterotopias

current obsession: erm........ silent hill 2 O_O I'm getting into rdr2 rn and HoL obviously but. Silent Hill is my special place they make me crazy over there im gonna replay sh2 soon

no pressure but O_O @clownfucker9000 @kineema @munbunelle @soapypartiallycleandishes @privatemumbles @eyeimagery @too-music @definitelynotclayface @sithbian

#O_O #delete later skater

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bulletpointspodcast · 8 years

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Episode 34: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

The internet ate our original Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days episode, but now, after a year of preparation, we’ve done a new one. If this disappears, too, it’s officially a curse.

Patrick, Ed, and Reid pull themselves out of the gutter, covered in knife wounds and trash juice, to talk about IO Interactive’s 2010 crime game. We’re joined by critic, editor of the new Heterotopias zine, experimental narrative PhD student, and returning guest Gareth Damian Martin.

There isn’t much to say here that won’t be discussed in the episode proper, but suffice it to say that Dog Days is a very good game, fully committed to making a shooter about desperate killers look, sound, and feel as unsettling as it should.

Anyone interested in Dog Days (and good writing in general) should check out the first issue of Heterotopias, edited by Gareth, for the Rasmus Poulsen interview and Dog Days photos we reference throughout this episode.

If you enjoyed listening, consider checking out Bullet Points Monthly. We’re currently wrapping up a month of articles on Resident Evil 7, and have an older edition on Battlefield 1 that includes an article by Gareth. If you like what we’re up to we have a Patreon, which you can support by either pledging to or sharing around.

#kane & lynch 2: dog days #io interactive #square enix #kane & lynch 2 #kane & lynch #podcast #videogames

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architheoryblr-blog · 8 years

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Normative Theory and Urban Concept Model

Development of Urban Theories from Kevin Lynch to David Graham Shane

Summary: This article is a short review of these two books: Good city form and Recombinant Urbanism. These two books could be the guide books or the references which can direct architects and urban planners to do urban design practice. Good city form is about how to achieve a good city by considering performance dimensions. In this book, Lynch described three leading varieties of normative urban theories, and proposed a general theory--five performance dimensions. Recombinant Urbanism based on Lynch’s work, attempt to provide strategies to deal with hybrid patchwork of contemporary urban environment.

Keywords: Normative theory, Urban concept model, urban design, Kevin Lynch, David Graham Shane

Good city form and Recombinant Urbanism are both about normative theories of cities. Normative theory of cities mean some coherent set of ideas about proper city form and its reasons, this kind of theories should focus on comprehensive metaphor of what a city is and how it works. Urban model technique is a good tool to express normative theory, first proposed by Kevin Lynch: a model is a picture of how the environment ought to be made, a description of a form or a process which is a prototype to follow. David Graham Shane continue to deepen urban concept model which based on Lynch’s idea. Shane want to use his model to explain the fragmented contemporary city. In his study, we can see the evolution of Lynch’s theory, and how to use urban actors to show the city structure in different periods.

Good city form is the last book of Kevin Lynch’s whole life. This book combined his most important ideas of city design, both a summation and an extension of his vision, a high point from which he views cities past and possible. This book is divided into 3 parts, values and cities, a theory of good city form, and some applications. First part is talk about the values. From the urban cities, we can see that the settlement pattern is the result of human attempt and value orientation. But there are some hidden and neglect values that we can’t easily recognize, that could be found in the utopia and cactopia theories. The garden city by Howard, or the broad acre city by Wright, are all famous utopia theories which can reflect the heaven, what the people want in the future. And the hell is about cactopia, it is vivid and specific, which reflect what people hate. It is more impressive than heaven. Because it is hard to describe the ideal world, but it is easy to portray the worst environment.

Lynch also classified the theories of cities into three kinds, planning theory, functional theory and normative theory. This book try to create a normative theory to answer the question what is the good city and how is it made. So he propose a question: Is a General Normative Theory Possible? Compare with the functional theory which is answered what cities are, the normative theory is about what cities ought to be. The most important normative theory in history is the cosmic model, the machine model, the organic model.

The cosmic model assert that the form of any permanent settlement should be a magical model of the universe and the gods. The two best-developed braches of cosmic theory are those of China and India. The reason the ancient people built the city, is the relief of the universe, the royal part were in the best place of the city. The second one is the machine model, this model bas been useful where settlements were temporary, or had to be built in haste, or were built for clear, limited, practical aims, as we see in so many colonial foundations. The third one is organic model is much more recent, the city is thought of as an organism, this is most used in the area which has more landscape, such as the riverside or the green belt.

The second chapter is about a theory of good city form, it is the dimensions of performance. Performance characteristics will be more general, easier to use. There are five dimensions he had mentioned: Vitality, Sense, Fit, Access, Control.

In my opinion, the advantage of this book is not just the splendid theories, the dimensions to judge the urban design, but also the logic that how he connected all this ideas. In his book, he want to introduce a normative theory, so he discuss is it possible to have a general theory to all the cities. Then he explain the relationship between values and cities, and list some famous normative theory in the history, to prove that it could be possible to produce a normative theory of good city form.

The three city models that Kevin Lynch had mentioned are still very useful today, but they are difficult to explain contemporary city. Contemporary city has some special features which are different from former city. As Shane wrote in his book, “The city is a chaotic feedback system, is a patchwork of heterogeneous fragments”, so some traditional urban models can’t explain the phenomenon of contemporary city. Based on Lynch’s three normative model-the city of faith, the city as a machine, the ecological city, Shane try to propose a “recombinant” systems which related to city-modeling techniques, to discuss how urban factors operate in today’s environment.

Recombinant Urbanism develops the urban-modeling techniques, first pioneered by Kevin Lynch, into a comprehensive framework for the fast-growing discipline of urban design. Covering the origins of urban design in North America and Europe, it discusses the main approaches that have evolved to deal with the fragmented contemporary city. It also looks at the influence of participatory planning processes, zoning codes, imagery, finance, and marketing on urban form. Shane describes how the very same forces at work behind the freedom of the individual have also led to a widespread urban dispersal. In the final chapters, Shane brings his argument up to date with an exciting and innovative vision of contemporary practice, in which urban actors combine urban elements in networked cities. While the urban-planning touchstones of pattern recognition, scaling, urban morphologies, and zoning codes remain at the fore, their role is stressed as a transient one. They are presented as ever-changing structures, subject to constant feedback and alteration by a changing cast of catalytic urban actors.

Recombinant Urbanism is divided into five chapters. The first two chapters are about the definition and application of city theory and urban design. In this chapters he did a lot of literature review of urban theories which inspire him to build his concept model. In the next three chapters, he explain three elements of urban actors and how they work in the evolutions of cities. His new urban conceptual model explains the urban model shifts with the combination and recombination of three basic urban elements: the enclave, the armature, and the heterotopias that play key roles both in stabilizing cities and in catalyzing transitions from one city model to another.

Conclusion: Urban concept models show us the form and the process we should follow during the urban design project, and these two books also show us the thinking logic about how to build a research structure of urban theories. With the change of the times, the focus of urban issues has shift, the corresponding urban model is also gradually evolved. We can see that in Shane’s model are more complex than before, because we have more technologies and more urban problems to solve now.

Renferences:

1. Lynch K. Good City Form[M].Cambridge: MIT Press,1984.

2. Shane D.G.. Recombinant Urbanism: Conceptual Modeling in Architecture, Urban Design and City Theory[M]. Academy Press, 2005.

ZHOU Yunjie, [email protected]

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symbianosgames · 7 years

Link

- Simon, curator.]

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Night in the Woods is Important (HeavyEyed / YouTube) "An analysis of the recently released game - this video contains very minimal spoilers but watch at your own discretion.."

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#IFTTT #Blogger

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symbianosgames · 7 years

Link

- Simon, curator.]

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Night in the Woods is Important (HeavyEyed / YouTube) "An analysis of the recently released game - this video contains very minimal spoilers but watch at your own discretion.."

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#IFTTT #Blogger

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symbianosgames · 7 years

Link

- Simon, curator.]

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Night in the Woods is Important (HeavyEyed / YouTube) "An analysis of the recently released game - this video contains very minimal spoilers but watch at your own discretion.."

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#IFTTT #Blogger

0 notes

symbianosgames · 7 years

Link

- Simon, curator.]

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Night in the Woods is Important (HeavyEyed / YouTube) "An analysis of the recently released game - this video contains very minimal spoilers but watch at your own discretion.."

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#IFTTT #Blogger

0 notes