culture

Non-Gamers Should Care About Gaming

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Venture Beat had an unusual article on why non-gamers should care about gaming. It’s a pretty interesting read, but what’s really interesting to me is the very idea itself.

As a gamer, I take the existence of my hobby and its industry for granted. I also assume, rather ignorantly, that there’s a certain barrier between me and non-gamers, even if it’s changing. That’s a given, a cultural assumption.

Of course as the article notes, it’s not true. Gamification, causal games, more games, etc. really do blur (and destroy) the gamer/non-gamer boundary. This boundary breaching is probably happening faster than many crusty old gamers like me may realize because of casual, mobile, and geek being chic.

So now that I’m actually thinking outside of the shrink-wrapped box, what do I see coming up in the gaming/non-gaming boundary:

  • Goodbye to boundary in the next 5-10 years. The only reason not to game will be because you don’t have access to the technology or the time. But gaming will be very omnipresent.
  • Design meltdown. Once gaming is so widespread, with more audiences than it’s used to, designing games is going to be more challenging. What demographics will game designers run into that they never encountered before?
  • Getting more businesslike. Gaming has had many a moment of not-exactly-professionalism. When it’s more widespread, that’s going to have to change. Expectations for businesses, of performance, of support, will alter.

What does it mean for future and current gaming professions:

  • If you’re not thinking out of the box you’re not moving ahead. Get ready to embrace a less bounded game world.
  • Act professional. It’ll make sure you survive and it’ll be expected.
  • Stop making the same damn game. Your audience has changed.

– Steven Savage

SOPA On The Shelf?

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It appears that, more or less, SOPA is shelved.  Now we know these things can change, but still this is promising.  Between the petitions, anger, a potential January 18th internet protest, the White house statements . . . yeah, it's not looking good for SOPA and it's Tweedle-dumb PIPA.

This is a serious loss for the bill(s), and does fit some of the recent political happenings:

  • Congress is rampantly upopular
  • The awareness of the bill was broad, and the protests effective – and the "nuclear option" could have been devastating.
  • There is not consensus on this issue.
  • If you notice, the question of interests breaking the internet for their own gain dovetails well with the increased questions of wealth inequality in America.

Will it come back?  My guess is yes, somewhat.  There's probably a series of bad bills that will come out of this, or one glorious last stand of dumb to be made.  So as always, vigilance.

One important thing to come out of this though is that there's a "storyline."  A narrative – interests are trying to break the internet and people have to stand up to them.  It's a lot more believable than "piracy is destroying us," a lot more sympathetic to people, and frankly more true.  People got involved who would not have gotten involved and have adsorbed and internalized this storyline.

It's part of a much larger culture now, and it won't be going away or fading easily.

– Steven Savage

Review: Nollywood Babylon

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If you make films or any media, if you're interested in film culture beyond the usual geekonomic US-Japan-Bollywood-UK group, then you need to see the movie "Nollywood Babylon."  It's right here at Neftlix and you can read a summary here at IMDB.

If you're still wondering why I'm saying this, as opposed to following my every word unthinkingly, let me sum up the film.

This is a look at the Nigerian film industry, an industry that differs so vastly from ones in other countries (yet is huge), and is such a different look at filmmaking, it's incredibly informative.  It will make you think about media, culture, and technology – if you have an interest in film culture in Africa, that's a plus, but that's just one thing you'll learn about.

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