it all comes back to Katamari
So it seems like this has everybody at work all in a buzz
http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/52720050320_095048_0_big.jpg
Usually I don't listen to rumors, but look at the source - Nintendo Power.
Being a DS programmer, I must say that I'm excited as well. I may a bit biased or partial, and no way do I mean to emphatically endorse any particular product, but I believe in the DS.
I believe that the DS, with its touchscreen (which allows for multiple types of more expressive interfaces), and its wireless, has much potential to bring people together.
I believe the internet is a good thing, but I'm afraid that it's had a side effect of driving a lot of people inside (and away from people) to interact with others.
Now that doesn't make any damn sense to me.
But with wireless mobile! And I'm not talking cell-phones, which are fragmented and not built for anything very useful (my phone is cool but gives me carpal tunnel).
With wireless mobile, I believe that there is the potential for Anonymous Social Experiences - the ability to interact with complete strangers, to break that ice that keeps us so separated from each other. To make each other laugh, and better each others lives.
Granted I'm not saying it's going to solve world hunger, but maybe, just maybe, it will make us better humans.
I've felt lately that humans have become so separated from each other, we are so connected, but these connections are so shallow, so meaningless in general, that they can't sustain our psyches. We need depth. More and more, we've been getting cotton candy, when we've wanted sustenance.
We all yearn for that sustenance that only others can provide.
But, now I get excited! Because I see a whole new path.
Let me give you a hint on why I'm so excited.
There is a story here:
http://www.links.net/vita/speak/vonnegut/
It revolves around two people that I admire greatly - Justin Hall and Kurt Vonnegut.
I know that Justin is a pioneer when it comes to researching this phenomena we call the Internet. You may not know his name, he's not very famous. But there have been many people like him, those who actually searched for something, who were ahead of their time, so much that nobody remembers them.
Justin has been studying the net, and I believe, has been trying to figure out this damn thing and its real effects on people and its possibilities. And like a doomed sailor, swam so far in it that he almost drowned. He's now on dry land right now, and I hope he jumps back in because I'm anticipating the treasures he'll uncover.
Kurt Vonnegut, is one of my favorite writers. I don't understand the man, his thought processes, why or how he writes. He just leaves me baffled.
So here we have these two schools - oldskewl and newskewl. And of course it's like Clash of the Titans.
read the story, it's comical. Especially when Vonnegut grabs Justin and says
"Can you get this from a computer?"
NOW!!!! I'm excited because I can see a future where the answer will be YES! YES I CAN! Not a world where machines replace people, but AUGMENT! Where machines don't replace pure physical social interaction, but facilitate it happening!
I know, cellphones can facilitate this, but what I foresee is a whole nother ballgame folks.
Hopefully, a non-threatening game like Katamari can help this movement. I can see it, and it gets me excited.
I must say though, I went a bit overboard today calling Katamari the "Citizen Kane" for game developers. But I still stand by my feeling that even though the game itself is not revolutionary, it came at a time that made it revolutionary. Our industry is hitting this weird state, quickly approaching the studio method that movies found themselves in the early part of their history. And we're tired. We're tired of the licenses, the first-person shooters, we're just damn tired. Gamers are tired, developers are tired.
but Katamari gives us that one glimmer of hope. That one game that makes those of us who are tired remember why we started this path in the first place. We just want to affect people, make their days better, express ourselves, have what we do affect others in a hopefully positive way. It's that indie album that comes out that makes you want to pick up the guitar again, it's that one movie that makes you feel that things will be ok, and not give up the fight.
The game gives us spirit where that spirit is lacking sometimes. It may not be our Citizen Kane, but it will definitely influence the next Orson Welles.
http://www.jeux-france.com/Webmasters/Images/52720050320_095048_0_big.jpg
Usually I don't listen to rumors, but look at the source - Nintendo Power.
Being a DS programmer, I must say that I'm excited as well. I may a bit biased or partial, and no way do I mean to emphatically endorse any particular product, but I believe in the DS.
I believe that the DS, with its touchscreen (which allows for multiple types of more expressive interfaces), and its wireless, has much potential to bring people together.
I believe the internet is a good thing, but I'm afraid that it's had a side effect of driving a lot of people inside (and away from people) to interact with others.
Now that doesn't make any damn sense to me.
But with wireless mobile! And I'm not talking cell-phones, which are fragmented and not built for anything very useful (my phone is cool but gives me carpal tunnel).
With wireless mobile, I believe that there is the potential for Anonymous Social Experiences - the ability to interact with complete strangers, to break that ice that keeps us so separated from each other. To make each other laugh, and better each others lives.
Granted I'm not saying it's going to solve world hunger, but maybe, just maybe, it will make us better humans.
I've felt lately that humans have become so separated from each other, we are so connected, but these connections are so shallow, so meaningless in general, that they can't sustain our psyches. We need depth. More and more, we've been getting cotton candy, when we've wanted sustenance.
We all yearn for that sustenance that only others can provide.
But, now I get excited! Because I see a whole new path.
Let me give you a hint on why I'm so excited.
There is a story here:
http://www.links.net/vita/speak/vonnegut/
It revolves around two people that I admire greatly - Justin Hall and Kurt Vonnegut.
I know that Justin is a pioneer when it comes to researching this phenomena we call the Internet. You may not know his name, he's not very famous. But there have been many people like him, those who actually searched for something, who were ahead of their time, so much that nobody remembers them.
Justin has been studying the net, and I believe, has been trying to figure out this damn thing and its real effects on people and its possibilities. And like a doomed sailor, swam so far in it that he almost drowned. He's now on dry land right now, and I hope he jumps back in because I'm anticipating the treasures he'll uncover.
Kurt Vonnegut, is one of my favorite writers. I don't understand the man, his thought processes, why or how he writes. He just leaves me baffled.
So here we have these two schools - oldskewl and newskewl. And of course it's like Clash of the Titans.
read the story, it's comical. Especially when Vonnegut grabs Justin and says
"Can you get this from a computer?"
NOW!!!! I'm excited because I can see a future where the answer will be YES! YES I CAN! Not a world where machines replace people, but AUGMENT! Where machines don't replace pure physical social interaction, but facilitate it happening!
I know, cellphones can facilitate this, but what I foresee is a whole nother ballgame folks.
Hopefully, a non-threatening game like Katamari can help this movement. I can see it, and it gets me excited.
I must say though, I went a bit overboard today calling Katamari the "Citizen Kane" for game developers. But I still stand by my feeling that even though the game itself is not revolutionary, it came at a time that made it revolutionary. Our industry is hitting this weird state, quickly approaching the studio method that movies found themselves in the early part of their history. And we're tired. We're tired of the licenses, the first-person shooters, we're just damn tired. Gamers are tired, developers are tired.
but Katamari gives us that one glimmer of hope. That one game that makes those of us who are tired remember why we started this path in the first place. We just want to affect people, make their days better, express ourselves, have what we do affect others in a hopefully positive way. It's that indie album that comes out that makes you want to pick up the guitar again, it's that one movie that makes you feel that things will be ok, and not give up the fight.
The game gives us spirit where that spirit is lacking sometimes. It may not be our Citizen Kane, but it will definitely influence the next Orson Welles.
posted by Lucas @ 9:12 PM
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