Things as They Are.?

Gamecubism.

Anyone else out there playing Capcom's amazing and utterly surreal Killer 7? The final release of the fabled Capcom 5, a series of titles by Capcom supposedly exclusive to the Nintendo (thought it turns out they weren't), Killer 7 is a testament to the triumph of imagination, innovation and sheer audacity over occasionally spotty gameplay. Don't believe me? Check out these reviews: IGN | GameSpot. Although most "professional" opinions seem to say that players will either love or hate the game, user reviews are off the charts at the moment.

What's struck me as so unique about this game is not simply the visual design (though it's incredible), the story (which, though sometimes hard to follow, is quite allegorical and provocative in its dealings with war, peace and governmental deception) or the beautiful anime cutscenes (though they, too, are quite well-done) but, instead, the control scheme which, in a surprising move, actually decreases player control in lieu of increasing narrative immersion. In the game, the player has their choice of seven different assassins that can be swapped on the fly, each with their own abilities and personalities. Regardless of the character chosen, however, the player's path is already set-- you can press A to advance and, at certain junctions, you are given a choice of whether to turn, enter a room or take an object.

If this sounds a bit like Myst, you're partially right. Though the notion of track-based gameplay is certainly not new, the way that Killer 7 employs it to isolate the narrative just might be. Although the player may, at times, feel completely overwhelmed by the sometimes poorly translated and downright complicated story, it's clear that the developers wanted this feeling to be central to the game, and not take a backseat to the action (which is fun but repetitive) or the interface. In other words, though you may not know where you're going, the character always does, directing you towards either an increasing cast of cryptic poltergeists, an object to be used in a usually rote puzzle, or a showdown with a typically bizarre boss. And trust me-- this does not detract from the game one bit. Indeed, in the course of my early gameplay (I'm only about 8 hours in), when I'm trying to figure out what, if anything at all, is real and not hallucinated, this push towards story is not only welcome, but necessary. And in case I didn't mention it, it also allows for some truly stunning imagery.

If my opinion of this game somehow changes over the next few weeks, I'll let you know. Now, though, I'd urge anyone with even a remote interest in game design and execution to play this title immediately. It's quite simply the most original title I've played since Katamari Damacy.

The Distant Future.

Coming soon from Richard Kelly, the director of Donnie Darko, is Southland Tales, a film set in the "futuristic" landscape of 2008 Los Angeles when, among other things, the war in Iraq is still raging.

Of particular interest is the hugely ambitious six-part graphic novel prequel series (they're 100+pp. each, apparently) written by Kelly that will precede the film's release. It should be interesting to see how these books are pushed, given that Kelly is far from a household name and that graphic novels, despite their renewed academic and cultural status, are far from mainstream reading. Regardless, a six-hundred page prequel story for a film is quite unheard of, especially when it is released before any other chapters of the story have been told.

It also should be interesting to see how the public receives a film where cars come to life and copulate in suburban driveways. My guess is that they'll wait for The Transformers movie instead.

UPDATE: Seems like the site hosting the car sex sequence linked to above at www.treer-products.com is actually the site of a company in Southland Tales called Treer, whose motto is the omnious tagline "There is No Alternative". Similarly, I've also found a site for Sarah Michelle Gellar's character Krysta Now, a former adult film star trying to start a reality TV show (make sure you click on the Music tab), and this one for USIDent (presumably an acronym for United States Identification Enterprises, a biometrics company, I'd imagine).

Replication.

Although this news broke the other day, I can't help but post it. Seems that the Comic Con panel for Richard Linklater's upcoming adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly (whose animated/filmed visuals look amazing, by the way) featured none other than Dick himself or, at least, an android of Dick which sat next to the other panelists, took a couple of questions, mumbled lines like "Do androids dream of electric sheep?" and went on an extended monologue about the differences between his novel and the film Blade Runner.

Somewhere, in some distant cosmic empathy box, the real Philip K. Dick looks on in satisfaction.

The Reading List.

I've been working quite intently lately with the goal of having my schedule more or less fixed so that I can begin the real work of studying for my oral exams in the fall. Somehow, in the midst of all of the whispered negativity that seems to surround these types of exams (i.e. "a 6 month disconnection from reality", "I thought I was prepared until...", "the most stressful event of a PhD program", "pure hell", "What exam?", etc.), I'm looking forward to it. Although the thought of the end of mandatory coursework chosen from often-times less than comprehensive course lists has me pretty excited, I think that the optimism is more of a feeling of progress, of anticipating future successes (and failures) and, of course, of finally really getting to begin my research.

Having said all of this, I still have not finalized my list and it's very much still in the draft stages, even though I'm already reading titles that I'm sure won't get cut. I'm currently in the process of revising the list with my committee and with outside sources in various fields and, now, I'd like to pass it on to you as well. I'm looking for suggestions on anything from articles to fiction to poetry to film to games. Since I am a part of the English Dept. at UMd, it's madatory that I choose a literary period to accompany my theoretical focus. I chose 20th C. American fiction (original, I know) primarily because of the breadth of experience I have with the period, as well as the unique opportunities it allows me to study cross-sited narratives (such as War of the Worlds).

More specifically, though, the exam will center around the ways in which media act, react, sustain and disengage narrative in 20th C. America. Although many of my primary works will exhibit this through intermedia references, it is the increasing drift towards the cross-siting of narrative across media (and materialities) that I am particularly interested in, be it the presence of postcards as structural devices in E. Annie Proulx's Postcards, the anticipatory hypertextual footnoting of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest (yep-- I'm a glutton for punishment-- the book is close to 1100pp.) or the more recent spread of the Star Wars prequel narrative across several media channels. Consequently, my readings try to encompass a rather wide array of fields from film to genre studies to communal memory to cognitive narratology.

I recognize already some of the shortcomings of my list in this context-- I have far too little on film and gaming and perhaps too much on subjects like the body and technology (which, although important, might not have too much to do with my interests for this exam). I also recognize that much of what is here in non-codex media is vastly commercial-- a caveat that I feel I have to make not on the basis of quality but, rather, on the basis that it's my research that I hope will turn up lesser-known examples.

Anyways, enough with the qualifying speech. Here's the link to my reading list. Your thoughts, comments, encouragements and sympathies are, as always, very much appreciated.

Truly Social Software?

"The only way we can depend on each other is if we connect with each other. Connectivity leads to dependability which leads to specialisation and then productivity".

But how do we reach a balance between connectivity and the sustanance of regional particularities? An age-old question, I know, but one that needs to be asked with increased urgency.

Google Earth = Incredible.

I just spent the last hour or so playing around with (edit: that should have read googling off-- thanks, Tanya) my newly downloaded beta version of Google Earth and all I can say is wow. Although my early predictions about building heighth and depth were a bit overblown, it was still quite a rush to descend upon the DC area from the satellite's view. Easily one of the coolest freeware downloads ever.

...

My thoughts are with all of those affected by the London bombings. And while I'm at it, also with the civilians of Iraq and the soldiers of the "coalition", who face this sort of danger daily, and for many of the same reasons. And with the people of Afghanistan and the Sudan and....

The Guardian, by the way, is running a blog page cataloguing the various internet responses to this tragedy.

The Reverent Fog Fest

What: The Reverent Fog Fest, a free outdoor music festival at the Talking Head in Baltimore.

Who: Among others, William Basinski, creator of the four-disc epic The Disintegration Loops, which captures and remixes the sound of audio tape as it decomposes. Basinski also recently launched 2062, a multimedia studio catering to "unknown industries".

When: September 11th, 2005 [it's not listed yet on any site but trust me, it's happening]

I know it's a bit early to be making plans, but are there any DC area folks up for a trip to hear decaying media? I have no idea, by the way, how Basinski plans to do this live. I'd imagine there's going to be several other media involved as well.

"I go now to meet my destiny."

The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster, has seen it's last post. Even if you haven't been keeping up with Anakin's blog, I urge you to read this final post if you've ever had anything resembling an interest in Star Wars. The Darth Side contains some truly wonderful writing, relying on a refined version of the rampant fan speculation necessary in order to even remotely account for the shortcomings of the prequel films.

And just in case you don't know who Darth Vader is, here's a short description found on the blog:

"Darth Vader is an immaculately conceived knight-bastard imbued with magical powers who rules the known galaxy at the right hand of the merciless and brilliant Emperor Palpatine I. Though he maintains palaces on both Coruscant and Vjun, Vader spends most of his time travelling aboard Executor, the flagship of his deadly pan-galactic armada. He enjoys fixing things, listening to music, and crushing people's tracheas with his mind."

Pretty accurate, I think.