The american response to "Hand-egg".

Disclaimer: this post has nothing to do with the topic of this blog, but it is so worth sharing.

A while ago, someone put up a picture that shows why American football should be called "hand-egg," and it's actually pretty funny.

Recently, someone posted a comeback to this pic on Reddit. I give you "WTF bizarre stick-ball."

enjoy!

My Heroes =]

What do the words “extra lives” mean to you?


Most gamers would think of a green 1-up mushroom or a similar life-giving icon. Even if you’re not a gamer, the meaning of the words “extra” and “lives” implies something very positive.

I’m sure that Tim Troppoli had this in mind when he decided to name his organization Extra Lives. 

“WTF* is Extra Lives?” I asked myself as I clicked on a link that was advertising a The Legend of Zelda marathon.

Around new years, a group of gamers began broadcasting themselves playing through various Zelda titles. The marathon was to last 80 hours.

Like most people, I found this endeavor amusing, but, ultimately, it seemed like a ridiculous waste of time; it was something I would never do.

There was one redeeming factor, though. These guys were accepting donations for a charity called Free the Children. The initial goal was $2,000.00 and, at this point, they were just over $500.00.

The fact that they’d raised $500.00 by playing video games was impressive enough, but I doubted that they would be able to reach their goal. However, even during this initial state of skepticism, I noticed that the chat room of the site was buzzing with people encouraging, reminiscing, making jokes, and giving advice to the players; they were also donating. I knew I’d stumbled unto something worth following up on.

When I checked the site later that night, I was shocked to see that they had almost reached their goal. The chat room was pushing for the goal to be increased, and  I couldn’t comprehend what the hell was going on.

Why were so many people so eager to give their money to this website that was essentially just broadcasting a group of friends playing video games?

The best answer I can come up with is that the combination of nostalgia brought on by the game, the sense of community that was fostered in the chat room, and the benevolence of the goal over-powered the hearts of the viewers and turned them into frenzied philanthropists.

I watched in awe as goal after goal was met, and finally they passed the $12,000.00 mark, enough for Free The Children to build and furnish a school in a developing nation.

It’s been over a month now, and I’m still dumb struck with admiration. Extralives.org is an amazing organization. They not only inspired this blog post, they inspired my whole blog and my passion for analyzing the gamer community. Did I mention that these guys are in high school? 

I can’t wait for the opportunity to start my own game marathon for a charitable cause, and I can’t wait to see what the gamer community will do next.


Extra Lives

Free the children

WTF= what the fudge (I try not to curse)

Fair Game, by Michael Bywater.

I just came across an excellent article that was published in "The New Humanist" and submitted to eurozine. It's pretty much my first two blog posts in one, but I honestly think my posts are written better. Still, it's worth checking out.

I'm glad that established writers are addressing these issues, and that I'm not the only one that thinks of games this way.

Update on Australia

Thanks to Reddit, word about a new petition regarding the rating of games is quickly spreading. EB games, the country's largest video game retailer, started the petition when they realized that there was so much support for changing the censorship laws.

I suspect that EB games became aware of this movement through the many social media outlets that gamers use. ( my blog being one example =])

Over 50,000 people have responded to the petition, and an overwhelming 84% want the law changed. The Australian government is actually accepting submissions to a discussion paper on their site, and it seems like change is inevitable.

Hopefully, this case of censorship will soon be a thing of the past.

If you'd like to see the news article, click here.

To see the discussion on Reddit, click here.

For the Australian governments discussion page, click here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Interview With Raidon04, the Shenmue 3 Facebook campaign starter.

SEGA has expressed a willingness to resurrect the Shenmue series, but only if they can get an exclusivity deal. Although Shenmue 1 and 2 are highly praised, the games didn’t sell as well as SEGA hoped.

What’s interesting about the Shenmue franchise is how passionately the fans have been campaigning to let SEGA know that they demand a third installment. There are several campaigns out there, but one of the more dynamic ones is the Shenmue III Facebook campaign.

These 3,681 fans have made their own trailers, promos, and have done a few hilarious stunts to get SEGA’s attention. The group has been around for over 4 years. (I need a fact check on that >.>)

I got a chance to ask Raidon04, the founder, a few questions regarding the latest tease from SEGA.
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GamerBabel: Ok, so Sega has just announced that it would make a Shenmue III. Naturally, fans everywhere are rejoicing with renewed hope.

How do you feel about the big news of SEGA actively trying to find funds for a new Shenmue installment?

Raidon04: Well having actively campaigned for the release for quite some time, I have become rather skeptical of any indefinite news coming from SEGA. Over the past few years SEGA has commented on Shenmue on the possibility of a new sequel a few times. The campaign has been rigorous and non-conceding with many members contacting SEGA to enquire directly. Any news from SEGA has always been of obscurity with no definite response. This news can be taken with optimism or indeed it can be received like a Red Herring, I try and retain the former.

GamerBabel: With over 3,600 members and a bunch of different initiatives taken over the years, how much influence do you think your specific group had in this turnaround? Does SEGA know the name of Raidon04?

Raidon04: I think the group has been rather effective in spreading a reminiscence, thus rekindling peoples' minds of the pleasures of the game. Both this group and a few other smaller Shenmue campaigns have been proactive in taking different initiatives to pressure Sega to look back on the Shenmue saga. Some of the campaigns have been rather comedic and fun such as the 'show sega the money' scheme which asked fans to photograph themselves composed in Shenmue-like character outfits with their money showing willingness of purchase. Whilst other schemes ranged from toy-capsule mailing to SEGA as well as emails. We have heard responses from SEGA, with as always; obscurity. The group continues to grow and creates further popularity upon the net thus ever increasing the probability of that golden question being brought upon in SEGA interviews. So I do believe in the group's effectiveness. SEGA has received contact from me and have returned the favour. Other prominent former and current employees of SEGA have also been contacted and returned the gesture including famously the voice actors of Shenmue but no definite answer has been answered in any queries from myself. What has been clear although is the willingness of the voice actors to reprise their roles.

GamerBabel: When you started this campaign, did you expect the kind of response you have gotten from people?

Raidon04: I had faith in the group’s effectiveness of course. Although skepticism was an occasional issue due to financial failings of the games but I did not let that perturb me in establishing the group and advertising the campaign accordingly. The online petition, which has been in circulation for the last few years, was testament to the popularity of the game due to the copious amount of signatures, which at the time had a total of around 20,000.

GamerBabel: In general, are you impressed with the gamer community's ability to mobilize and bring about change in the world?

Raidon04: (laughs) Yes I do believe that the gaming community has a very influential amount of control. The video game industry has opened many new avenues within education, employment and has affected culture, journalism and the Entertainment Industry as a whole. I think the amount of opportunities and pleasure that such has established is indeed a good thing, but like most things in life; 'Too much of a good thing can be bad'. As long as the industry does not become too excessive, as the larger it will become the more regulation will be incorporated.

GamerBabel: Any extra thoughts you'd like to share with us?

Raidon04: I have always viewed games not merely as an engrossing entertainment, but as an aesthetic creation. Many games in the industry are beautiful creations of art with resplendent graphics, exquisite music and effulgent story lines. I think too many people play games merely for the enjoyment of the self whilst overlooking the aptitude of artistry put in the game. I think recognizing and appreciating the game forms even more captivation, and its something we should all do more as gamers.

GamerBabel: Thanks, for your time Raidon, and best of luck with the campaign.

I couldn’t agree more with Raidon’s responses, and his campaign is a shining example of what the gamer community can be/achieve.

Sadly, SEGA’s wavering stance on Shenmue has led to many fans becoming skeptical, but all of us still hope to take on the role of Ryo Hazuki and continue the adventure!

For the original article, click here.

That’s all for this post. Keep an eye out for the next one ;D

WoW more important in China than Google

Going off of my last blog post, which highlighted the political activism that gamers were demonstrating in Australia, I would like to bring up the recent conflict that Google faces in China.

Basically, Google threatened to pull out of China because it has been the target of many cyber attacks. 384 million people use Google in china, but there were no complaints from them; nobody cared.

To them, Google is just a search engine, and it is just as good as the other ones available.

What’s really interesting is how this quarrel compares to the WoW fiasco of last year. Sometime around June 2009, WoW went off-line because of some shady government bureaucracy that I don’t really understand, but the important thing is that close to 40,000 gamers were actively protesting until WoW was finally brought back.

Although some may see this behavior as obsessive, Gamers are passionate about their games, and they have learned that working together makes them a force to be reckoned with (pardon the cliché).

If you want to know more about Google’s situation in China, click here.

To catch up on what happened last year with WoW, click here.

=]

Saving the world without confronting the final boss.

Classics like Double Dragon and Contra introduced the world to co-op gaming. These intense games emphasized teamwork, and showed gamers everywhere that there is strength in numbers.

The satisfaction derived from clearing a level, beating a boss, or completing a game is usually exhilarating, and being able to experience this with your friends made victory that much sweeter.

Whether we realize it or not, these games were teaching us a valuable skill. As I’ve said before, the ability to work with others in pursuit of a common goal defines the influence of a community, and gamers practice teamwork quite often.

It’s no wonder then that we see the gaming community making its mark in the fields of philanthropy, policy making, and economics. For the sake of brevity, I’ll stick to one recent example of gamers influencing Australian policy.

The Australian government received a lot of criticism a few months back when its plans to censor the Internet were announced. Citizens protested in various ways, but nothing really came of it. Now the Australian government is attempting to prevent games with adult ratings from being sold.

What ever is a gamer to do? Well, if forming your own political party and preparing to run in elections against established politicians seems ludicrous, then you are not an Australian gamer.

The gaming community formed the Games 4 Croydon party, and they are preparing for elections that will be held March 20. How is that for teamwork? Of course, we still don’t know if they will be successful, but if we look at gamer statistics, such as the average age of the Australian gamer (30), we can get an idea of how strong their voting power is.

I’ll certainly be blogging about the results as soon as they I know them. Keep an eye out for that post ;D