Our directives must be reassessed 2010-06-09T10:14:25-05:00 Cabal http://cabal17.com/index.php william@cabal17.com tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising Pivot Copyright (c) 2010, Authors of CABAL Rising 2010-06-09T10:00:00-05:00 2010-06-09T10:00:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.36

Currently Listening to: Sybreed's Antares, How to Destroy Angels Currently Watching: The Wire Currently Playing: Red Dead Redemption Currently Reading: Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy

Currently Listening to:
Sybreed's Antares,
How to Destroy Angels
Currently Watching:
The Wire
Currently Playing:
Red Dead Redemption
Currently Reading:
Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy ]]> tehadmin 2010-06-09T10:14:00-05:00 2010-06-09T09:54:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.35

So a new report indicates that violent video games only affect some people, and guess what its those that already aren't well adjusted. Big surprise. For the most part video games just reinforce already existing behavior. You can read my rambling on the topic after the break.

report indicates that violent video games only affect some people, and guess what its those that already aren't well adjusted. Big surprise. For the most part video games just reinforce already existing behavior. You can read my rambling on the topic after the break.

And guess what? Some people can actually feel bad about killing virtual people too. For example, I'm playing Red Dead Redemption at the moment, and I'm playing it as a white hat. And I often feel bad about all the random criminals I gun down, I wish there was a system to turn them over to the sheriff. Of course this is also a matter of being able to separate fiction from reality. In other game when I'm not trying to be engrossed in the world, I realize that everything is just code and it doesn't bother me what happens to everything. Its just like movies, good movies make you care about the characters, other ones not so much. And these people that become violent from violent video games will become just as violent from violent movies, music, books, or whatever.

UPDATE: I just found this article that pretty much proves my point. ]]> tehadmin 2010-06-06T14:33:00-05:00 2010-06-06T14:30:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.34

Recently, a bunch of DVDs of old anime OVAs from the 80’s and early 90’s have shown up at my local Hastings, many of which have been out of print for awhile. Some of these are shows I watched growing up and were part of the cause of my decent into being an anime fan, but some of them I’ve seen before. The first of these is an OVA from 1991, Burn Up!, which I just watched last night for the first time.

The first of these is an OVA from 1991, Burn Up!, which I just watched last night for the first time.The plot is overly cliché, three female cops go undercover to find out about a human traffic ring that captures young girls to sell to those of the wealthy elite without morals, and of course the youngest/girliest gets captured and the other two go to rescue her despite orders otherwise. The whole thing is rather generic, the cliché plot, no character real development, and no sort of message to the thing; but it has a certain charm. The show seems to know how generic it is, but it doesn’t take itself seriously, giving it a kind of fun energy you wouldn’t expect given its plot. The art has that nice liveliness that a lot of the pre-digipaint anime has; the characters show emotion far better than most modern shows that seem to have three or so static expressions for most of their characters. It’s also a fanservice show, but its feels more tasteful than most modern fanservice. Overall the show is incredibly stupid, but very fun. I just wonder if the follow ups have the same level of charm as the original, probably not. ]]> tehadmin 2010-04-17T20:53:00-05:00 2010-04-17T20:48:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.33

There has been a lot of back and forth between Ebert and the gaming community at large over whether or not games can be art. Like most gamers, I side with idea that games can be art, and I've played several that to me are unquestionably art. Well, Ebert recently posted his response to a (failed) argument of games as art by Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany. He spent some time disagreeing with definition of art used by Santiago, but reading Ebert's response it became very clear to me that his definition of video games is extremely outdated.

response to a (failed) argument of games as art by Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany. He spent some time disagreeing with definition of art used by Santiago, but reading Ebert's response it became very clear to me that his definition of video games is extremely outdated.

He states "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 then it ceases to be a game and becomes a representation of a story, a novel, a play, dance, a film. Those are things you cannot win; you can only experience them." Which if we go by Ebert's definition of a video game, most modern video games outside of multiplayer are not games. Does Grand Theft Auto IV have rules or points? No. Heavy Rain? No.
What Ebert descibes is a certain type of game, the arcade game. Modern games can effectively be divided into three categories: arcade games, toys, and interactive fiction. Arcade games are what Ebert claims can't be art, and I'd agree with him, they are entirely based on pulling off feats of skill and could be compared to sports like he does. Toys are interactive sandboxes like the Sims, there is no real point structure or even win condition. Interactive fiction is exactly what it says on the tin, and is actually what most modern games are. The win condition in an interactive fiction game is the same as a movie or a novel, reach the end of the story. There are usually no points, and if there are they don't really matter.

When gamers say games are art, they are usually talking about the latter two categories. Both of those game types are purely about the experience. And that experience is what makes modern games great. In a book or movie, you can grow to care about the characters and feel remorse when they die, but a game can do far more. Imagine growing to care about some characters and then being forced to personally kill them. That would cause much great emotion, wouldn't it? There are games like Portal, which have managed to feel that way about an inanimate object in the game. I can't think of a single book or movie that has done the same.

So maybe the terms should be changed and only arcade games should be continued to be called video games. That way Ebert could be right, but until it does, he's definitely wrong. ]]> tehadmin 2010-04-03T21:23:00-05:00 2010-04-03T21:22:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.32

Yes! One of the best OPs of all time to remain intact on the US release.

Yes! One of the best OPs of all time to remain intact on the US release. ]]> tehadmin 2010-04-05T23:49:00-05:00 2010-03-29T13:21:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.31

Back in college I used to have a message board, Illuminatus (or at least that was its final name, it had a long string of "growing" pains). In early 2009, I "shutdown" the board due to lack of traffic, really I just told everyone that most the posters had moved on to other places and told everyone to join a board many of the original members had moved to. Well, recently, a member I hadn't seen in a long time posted on Illuminatus, and since then some of the old regulars have popped by. Well, being a bit nostalgic for the old community, I've decided to revive the board. We are trying to have a more focused direction than in the past, but we have a long way to go.

Illuminatus (or at least that was its final name, it had a long string of "growing" pains). In early 2009, I "shutdown" the board due to lack of traffic, really I just told everyone that most the posters had moved on to other places and told everyone to join a board many of the original members had moved to. Well, recently, a member I hadn't seen in a long time posted on Illuminatus, and since then some of the old regulars have popped by. Well, being a bit nostalgic for the old community, I've decided to revive the board. We are trying to have a more focused direction than in the past, but we have a long way to go. ]]> tehadmin 2010-06-09T10:00:00-05:00 2010-03-23T16:46:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.30

Currently Listening to: Wumpscut's Wreath of Barbs Currently Watching: Dexter, Zeta Gundam Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III Currently Reading: Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy

Currently Listening to:
Wumpscut's Wreath of Barbs
Currently Watching:
Dexter, Zeta Gundam
Currently Playing:
Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III
Currently Reading:
Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy ]]> tehadmin 2010-02-12T22:37:00-05:00 2010-02-12T22:37:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.28

Download them now.

Download them now. ]]> tehadmin 2010-01-07T15:06:00-05:00 2010-01-07T15:06:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.27

Currently Listening to: Rammstein's Liebe Ist Für Alle Da, Infected Mushroom's Legend Of The Black Shawarma Currently Watching: Doctor Who Currently Playing: Team Fortress 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Currently Reading: Andrzej Sapkowski's The Last Wish

Currently Listening to:
Rammstein's Liebe Ist Für Alle Da, Infected Mushroom's Legend Of The Black Shawarma
Currently Watching:
Doctor Who
Currently Playing:
Team Fortress 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Currently Reading:
Andrzej Sapkowski's The Last Wish ]]> tehadmin 2009-11-20T14:23:00-05:00 2009-11-20T14:22:00-05:00 tag:cabalrising,2010:CABALRising.25

Alien Vs Predator for PC will support dedicated servers after all.

Alien Vs Predator for PC will support dedicated servers after all. ]]> tehadmin