Bayonetta, or A reminder That Sex Sells.

For once, a game is being made into a controversy, not by mainstream media (yet), but by gamers themselves. All the buzz about Bayonetta focuses on the extreme sexuality of the game. I can't remember the last time that sex and games were discussed with such fervor; it seems as if everyone with a gaming blog has devoted as least one post to this game.

Some of the opinions out there are really interesting.
Yahtzee from Zero punctuation thought the sexuality was "shameless" and criticized the ridiculous anatomy of Bayonetta. He described her as " a pencil stuck through two grapes."
Landry from elder-geek saw it as a form of "Sexcapism", and he makes an interesting observation about glasses-wearing protagonists.
Movie Bob, the game overthinker, spends over 9 minutes discussing the history of sexuality in games and comes to the conclusion that Bayonetta is the first female character to pull of the "sexuality as a means of empowerment" angle.
Gamegirl seems to agree with Movie Bob, praises Bayonetta femininity, and says the game is beautifully made.

I think the outlandish sexuality of this game is a crude, but effective marketing strategy. Games like GTA have shown that even negative press will help promote sales, and the makers of Bayonetta definitely picked up on that. I highly doubt that this game was designed this way to fit some artistic vision, or to empower women; it was made this way because controversial themes get people talking, and word of mouth is still the best kind of advertising there is.

I know I'm contradicting the title of this post, but, in the long run, controversy will out sell sex every time.

Swedish army team building game

Wow, this is super addictive/ hard/ cool. I just had to share this with you guys.

http://team.forsvarsmakten.se/english/

Confessions of a Bummed-out Gamer.

" I was alone, overweight, and divorced."

This is the story that CirrusEpix shares in his video The Only thing That I know. The video was posted on Youtube a few weeks ago, and it has caused quite a stir. Apparently, the only things CirrusEpix knows is that video games ruined his life.

He blames video games for the thousands of dollars he wasted on them, and the countless hours and experiences he will never get back. He claims that gamers are fine giving up their real lives for simulated ones that are full of depression and loneliness.

There is some truth to what he says, but he is also making a gross generalization. I would argue that most gamers aren't depressed and lonely, but there are extreme cases, such as that of CirrusEpix, where people lose control of their lives and suffer the consequences.

The ultimate flaw of this video is that he blames games for his own lack of self control. Can you imagine an obese person making a video that blames food for his condition? Well, this video is pretty much the same thing. Although video games are particularly awesome and engaging, to let them take over your life and essentially ruin it shows that you have some mental weakness, or even a disorder.

For some people, this message might be exactly what they needed to hear, and who knows how many compulsive gamers were impacted by this video in a positive way. It just bugs me that we are all thrown under the umbrella of " lonely and full of depression." Also, he claims that video game experiences are "not real." He is just downright wrong in this aspect. See my experience post.

CirrusEpix does amend his message by saying that "healthy gamers don't dwell on the games, but embrace the community." So, at least he realizes that there is a difference between a compulsive video game addict and a person who loves video games.

here's the link to the video.

 

Back to Communication

If you've read my post on communication, you should already be well versed with my theories explaining why we love to discuss games so much.

I ran into an example of this on Reddit the other day, and I wanted to share it with you guys. This instance of gamer communication isn't extravagant or eye opening, but it is solid, and the subject matter hits close to home.

The title of the thread is " I just started playing FF Tactics, and it's kicking my ass..." As soon as I read this, I smiled to myself. FFT is a notoriously difficult game, and I remember many bittersweet nights that provided me with entertainment and glory as well as grief and frustration. The fact that over 70 comments were made on this thread shows that this experience was shared by many fellow gamers.

The inspired and passionate discussion that followed was full of tricks and techniques that the original poster could use. The complexity of these strategies showed that some of these gamers spent a little too much time on this game, but it also shows how engaging this game was.

This discussion sparked many others. People started sharing links to mods, they discussed other worthy games, they ranted and reminisced about their own unique experiences, and they expressed their love for this game.

The thread was full with amorous quotes such as:

"I have utterly destroyed this game about half a dozen times, and this thread is making me crave playing it again."

"I WOULD KILL for a good browser-based multiplayer focused version of this game." [LOL]

"Oh my god do I love Final Fantasy Tactics. It may be my favorite game of all time."

This thread was posted on sunday (valentines day/ coincidence?). The game in question came out in January, 1998. For most of us, 1998 seems like yesterday, but it was 12 years ago.

Gamers truly hold their gaming experiences close to heart, and their passion for games can be quickly re-sparked by something as simple as a thread titled " I just started playing FF Tactics, and it's kicking my ass..."

Update on foiled shooting

In my last blog I shared the story of the school shooting that was being planned, but was luckily prevented thanks to Xbox live. I found another article that had a little more information about it.

School shooting plot foiled by online gamer

The details are a little fuzzy right now, but there is some buzz on the web about a Canadian gamer who reported a gamer from San Antonio because he was sharing his plans to shoot up his school and kill several classmates, which he mentioned by name.  This all happened while the two were playing an "unspecified team-based game online" on x-box live.

Canadian authorities worked together with Microsoft to track down the gamer from San Antonio ( that's in Texas), and he has been arrested.

That's all the info that has been released for now, but I will definitely try to follow up on this story.  As always, I'm fascinated to see some event in the virtual world have quantifiable effects on meat world. In this case, the effect can be measure in human lives.

Although this bit of news should be regarded as positive, I can't help but feel a little sick to my stomach when I think about kids that are so depressed and so damaged inside that they have no qualms about taking a human life.

These gamers were probably playing Call of Duty, or some other first person shooter, and while I would never blame a game for some for turning people into desensitized murderers, I would not say they are blameless either...but I'm going to save that for another post.


Source

We should have seen this one coming...

It seems like common sense now, but I'm still surprised at the news that Wii-fit related injuries are becoming so common that they have their own nicknames.

Wii-itis (LOL) started withe the use of the Wii-mote; doctors describe it as something similar to tennis elbow. Some cases have even led to stretched or torn ligaments, but these injuries aren't as serious as the ones that have been related to the Wii balance board.

Wii- knee, the least serious of balance board related injuries, is caused by erratic bending of the knees while playing games. I don't know at what difficulty these people are playing at, or how old they are, but dislocated knee caps have occurred during gameplay.

Falling off the balance board has led to head injuries, dislocated bones, and one case of traumatic hemothorax (bleeding around the lungs). As serious as this sounds, it's also hilarious. I'm surprised that there isn't a report for the number of injuries cause by accidentally wacking your friends over the head during a heated match of DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3. (click this link if you want to laugh)

Will this lead to diminishing sales for the Wii? maybe you'll think twice before giving grandma a balance board for her birthday, but I highly doubt that people stop playing the Wii because they might catch "Wii-itis." Any kind of physical activity has the potential to injure you, so this shouldn't be a shocker. In fact, people love to take risks, so this might actually boost Wii sales.

I actually see this as further proof that virtual world and meat world are becoming more integrated. I'll expand on the possibilities on another post =]

Oh yeah, got to share my sources. Check the original article.