Peter’s Blog

The Escapist: “Mass Effect Saves Humanity - for What?”

Heidegger is arguably the most influential philosopher of the 20th century; he is inarguably the most controversial. His thinking on what it means to be human in a technologically advanced world still informs debates on genetics, medicine and artificial intelligence today. He was also a Nazi. You just have to deal with this sort of thing in contemporary philosophy.

There’s a fantastic article in the latest Escapist called “Fighting with Monsters”, about the portrayal of journalism in the game Beyond Good and Evil

Games Without Frontiers: Going Gunning With My Imaginary Friends

Videogames, in effect, are beyond Turing. As Simon Bart, a sociologist who studies videogames at Concordia University in Montreal, put it in a recent paper: “The solo game is posthumanistically social.” It’s about the pleasures of hanging out with machines even when you’re aware they’re merely machines.

Sony officially announces Skype on PSP - Engadget

This is awesome, except for the fact that it doesn’t work on the original PSP (ie the one I have). In other PSP news, Justine got me PaRappa The Rapper for Christmas.

Crayon Physics Deluxe looks really incredible. Watch the video on the site.

Interesting review of Blacksite: Area 51 on Wired. It looks like Harvey Smith, of Deus Ex fame, has put together another politically compelling game.

Very interesting Wired News post: Suicide Bombing Makes Sick Sense in ‘Halo 3′

I just finished Metal Gear Solid Ac!d² and here is what I learned:

1. There is no acid trip in the game. Neither are there any other drug-induced trips included, unless you include the lame 3D vision mode (yes, flimsy 3D glasses included!).
2. Mercenaries are totally badass. Forget what you thought about them being the washed-up dogs of war, they’re actually the elite of the elite!
3. The ICC is very powerful and rogue American generals quake in fear at the thought of being handed over to them.
4. It is totally consistent with being an elite military agent to wear a red and black leather mini dress that just barely covers your ass and to have breasts that porn stars would be jealous of.
5. All women, including trained killers and experienced scientists, have massive breasts and like to wear low cut shirts that leave little to the imagination. Their bosoms heave dramatically at the slightest exertion, such as stretching.
6. It is perfectly logical to mount nuclear weapons on a 40 foot tall experimental bipedal robot (a Metal Gear).
7. Two people can take down a Metal Gear with little more than pistol fire and the occasional rifle shot when 8 Abrams tanks firing on it all at once have no effect and planes wouldn’t even dare attempt to attack.
8. A Metal Gear can unleash multiple barrages of missiles, machine gun fire, and laser bursts but the hanger it is in won’t be affected at all.
9. It is unremarkable that a defence contractor’s chief of security is twice the size of a normal man, wears a black and red trench coat with Nazi symbols, a pickelhaube, and a metal face mask behind which his eyes occasionally glow neon blue.
10. It is not inconsistent that the Chief of Security’s name is Vince. He has the demeanour and long, dirty blond hair of a surfer.
11. Most guns have an effective range of about 20 feet.
12. The M4 is the least deadly gun in existence in terms of damage per bullet.
13. Only weak and completely unprotected soldiers will be killed by a Claymore or grenade. Most operatives just shrug it off.
14. It is possible to dodge the burst of an assault rifle fired at you from a foot in front of you.
15. Mind control and human cloning is very real. The process of creating mind-controlled clones always gives them the ability to walk on ceilings, ignore the effects of flames, and other such improbable things.
16. The revelation of mind-controlled killer clones and rampaging robots will shake the world’s political and economic systems to their very cores.

The Guardian has an incredibly insightful interview with Richard Bartle, creator of MUD in the late 70s. His explanation of burnout in virtual worlds is really interesting:

People go there as part of a hero’s journey - a means of self-discovery (shh! don’t let the players know - they think it’s just “to have fun”). When they’ve grown as people and become the individuals they set out to become, they have no need to play any more.

I was reading an article in The Escapist today and was reminded of one of my favorite games: Shadow Watch. It’s not particularly long or has an amazing story, but the solid tactical combat and great style make it one of my favorites.