ARG: A game that takes place in reality to achieve a goal that a set of gamers agree upon to determine the winner. Jane McGonical (Author of Reality is Broken) is attempting to see if 500 gamers can achieve the impossible and write about the future. If you are in the New York area, I implore you to check this out.
April 6, 2011
On the Paper Trail: Masters of Doom
This is a sample taken from Coldguy's other project The Paper Trail where he review books on Video Games.
Howdy partners welcome back to the trail, in this stop we have ourselves a geek classic here. Masters of Doom tells the tale of John Carmack and John Romero, how they once started as lowly programmers trying to push the edge of technology and somehow changed the entire culture of gaming for better or worse.
This story is madly fascinating by being brutally honest about the Johns and their rise to power. Carmack is a self motivated nerd who just wants to hammer out the code to get the job done, Romero is an experimental jackass that takes no solace in anyone else's emotions. These people are in essences uncaring pompous pricks that are really good at computers, they do the things their way and everyone hates them because of it. However at the end of the day there is still a passion that you can not deny from them.
This book is blunt, in the same manner as the Johns and pulls no punches with foul language and tells it like it was. It includes great mini biops on various people you know (American McGee and the ID Mom were among my favorites) as well as incorporate the culture at the time as well. One fact that I found hilarious was that one day after the US government forced the ESRB to come into existence Doom was released to the public via shareware.
It also tells you that both together managed a rise and fall for the glory that was Doom and Quake I, and how they were apart made Ion Storm and Id crash from its mighty perch. The various business dealings would make you head tilt upon how Eidos managed to put up with all the nonsense that Romero was cooking, or how in the world no one thought Carmack was a terrible business owner and not just a hard worker.
This book is a time capsule about early computer gaming, the excitement of having two people and a bastion of friends pushing computer hardware to the absolute maximum and creating the games that they wanted to have created and making a boat load of money using unorthodox methods. The book does not sugar coat anything it simply tells it like it was and excepts you to be mature enough to think it is awesome or just question why Microsoft would allow a Giant Vaginal door to take place with the members of Gwar hitting people with dildos (yes that actually happened).
If you grew up in the 90s this will be a blast from the past that you will love to revisit, if you are wondering where trolling started it also tells you that as well, or if you wondered how two people with no business skills managed to finance an empire based around video game it talks about that as well. A must read if you are a gamer to find the zenith into FPS that is still tried and true to this day.
Howdy partners welcome back to the trail, in this stop we have ourselves a geek classic here. Masters of Doom tells the tale of John Carmack and John Romero, how they once started as lowly programmers trying to push the edge of technology and somehow changed the entire culture of gaming for better or worse.
This story is madly fascinating by being brutally honest about the Johns and their rise to power. Carmack is a self motivated nerd who just wants to hammer out the code to get the job done, Romero is an experimental jackass that takes no solace in anyone else's emotions. These people are in essences uncaring pompous pricks that are really good at computers, they do the things their way and everyone hates them because of it. However at the end of the day there is still a passion that you can not deny from them.
This book is blunt, in the same manner as the Johns and pulls no punches with foul language and tells it like it was. It includes great mini biops on various people you know (American McGee and the ID Mom were among my favorites) as well as incorporate the culture at the time as well. One fact that I found hilarious was that one day after the US government forced the ESRB to come into existence Doom was released to the public via shareware.
It also tells you that both together managed a rise and fall for the glory that was Doom and Quake I, and how they were apart made Ion Storm and Id crash from its mighty perch. The various business dealings would make you head tilt upon how Eidos managed to put up with all the nonsense that Romero was cooking, or how in the world no one thought Carmack was a terrible business owner and not just a hard worker.
This book is a time capsule about early computer gaming, the excitement of having two people and a bastion of friends pushing computer hardware to the absolute maximum and creating the games that they wanted to have created and making a boat load of money using unorthodox methods. The book does not sugar coat anything it simply tells it like it was and excepts you to be mature enough to think it is awesome or just question why Microsoft would allow a Giant Vaginal door to take place with the members of Gwar hitting people with dildos (yes that actually happened).
If you grew up in the 90s this will be a blast from the past that you will love to revisit, if you are wondering where trolling started it also tells you that as well, or if you wondered how two people with no business skills managed to finance an empire based around video game it talks about that as well. A must read if you are a gamer to find the zenith into FPS that is still tried and true to this day.
April 5, 2011
Public Reading
I often get this to the point where it is not even funny anymore. When I go to read I am a cheap bastard, I go to the library, I go to a book store, hell I read a novella in a used book swap. I read in public and find that there is nothing wrong with it unless the owner of the place is a jerk and makes a rule to not allow you to read a book prior to purchasing.
Think about it, why the hell WOULDN'T you read a book prior to adding it to your collection?
If you wanted to buy a video game you want to make sure that the game is good, there is a demo where it gives you a sample of the game play and if you like it, in theory you would buy it. Unless you are shareware but that is another story in of itself. Everyone has the buyer beware gene in some form or another and wants to make sure they get a good product.
So I was at my local (surviving) Borders I checked out Zombie v Unicorn and the final result was I did not like it. I read several stories in a chair and kept to myself. However I got SEVERAL glances from various people looking at me read in public. I was even questioned about the book I was reading and WHY I was reading it and not just outright buying it.
It could be me but being a reader doesn't constitute me supporting everything blindly, I look for reviews, demos, other opinions, and any information to make an informed decision on buying things like a car, a computer, a cell phone, but why are books excluded with that?
Should I as a fan of reading blindly support an author without knowing his or her work to support the industry? If that was the case why the hell am I buying it outside of a meet and greet with the author self publishing the book themselves. Every industry from movies to music and books have the end game of the consumer wants more then they are willing to have and decisions need to determine what goes on top and what does not.
All in all, I am not afraid to say I do not buy every book I read and there should be nothing wrong with that, the fact that I am trying to get people together to encourage reading on a blogspot blog with other people should be adequate enough. I buy kick ass books only, why waste money on things you do not like and regret the purchase, buy only the good stuff and vote the your dollars on who should get more support.
Think about it, why the hell WOULDN'T you read a book prior to adding it to your collection?
If you wanted to buy a video game you want to make sure that the game is good, there is a demo where it gives you a sample of the game play and if you like it, in theory you would buy it. Unless you are shareware but that is another story in of itself. Everyone has the buyer beware gene in some form or another and wants to make sure they get a good product.
So I was at my local (surviving) Borders I checked out Zombie v Unicorn and the final result was I did not like it. I read several stories in a chair and kept to myself. However I got SEVERAL glances from various people looking at me read in public. I was even questioned about the book I was reading and WHY I was reading it and not just outright buying it.
It could be me but being a reader doesn't constitute me supporting everything blindly, I look for reviews, demos, other opinions, and any information to make an informed decision on buying things like a car, a computer, a cell phone, but why are books excluded with that?
Should I as a fan of reading blindly support an author without knowing his or her work to support the industry? If that was the case why the hell am I buying it outside of a meet and greet with the author self publishing the book themselves. Every industry from movies to music and books have the end game of the consumer wants more then they are willing to have and decisions need to determine what goes on top and what does not.
All in all, I am not afraid to say I do not buy every book I read and there should be nothing wrong with that, the fact that I am trying to get people together to encourage reading on a blogspot blog with other people should be adequate enough. I buy kick ass books only, why waste money on things you do not like and regret the purchase, buy only the good stuff and vote the your dollars on who should get more support.
April 3, 2011
WRA Episode 20- Troy
Well, three weeks late, but finally here. This week I'm digging into Troy, Wolfgang Peterson's cinematic shitstorm that dares to ask "What happens if we took the Iliad, ripped out all mythological connotations, and then completely fucked it up?"
So with that said...yeah I really don't have anything else to say about this thing. It speaks for itself.
So with that said...yeah I really don't have anything else to say about this thing. It speaks for itself.
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