A Simulation of a Simulation
by Joel Jordon
Disneyland Adventures was announced at Microsoft’s E3 conference, and it promises to bring “the magic of visiting Disneyland Park to millions of homes around the world.” They’ve “faithfully created the entire park for your family to explore.” It’s a simulation of a place that’s already a simulation. Is this where the world ends?
(Yes, this is the sort of E3 coverage you can expect here.)
by Joel Jordon
The Internet is all astir about Activision’s newly announced Call of Duty Elite service that’s going to charge a subscription fee for certain features in new Call of Duty games. This post isn’t really about the controversy over the subscription fee because I don’t find it all that interesting and you can read all about people’s opinions on it on forums all over the Internet. What I found interesting was some of the free features that were listed in a FAQ for Call of Duty Elite. Here are a few:
– Access Elite through the web as well as Elite’s free custom iOS and Android applications for smartphones and tablets
– Track and share thousands of stats with friends – k/d ratios, score-per-minute, win % and loads more, all represented in easy to understand charts and infographics
– Analyze advanced heat maps detailing your match-by-match performance – where you killed or got killed, when it happened, and more
– Career? Start tracking your Call of Duty career – everything you wanted to know about your performance across the franchise starting with Black Ops
by Joel Jordon
Portal 2 is about relationships. It’s about Chell’s relationships with GlaDOS and Wheatley, who hold power over her and lend the game some of its feminist subtext. These relationships are in many ways metaphors for abusive relationships from which Chell desires to be liberated. But the game emphasizes how neither Chell nor the player has any control over her situation. The player has no agency, and the anticlimactic ending serves as a metaphor for his or her “breakup” with the game. The player’s relationship with the game, in fact, might represent the game’s most oppressive relationship. All told, the lack of player agency and all of the game’s metaphorical relationships offer a unique commentary on power.
The Game Manifesto 