Things as They Are.?

More to Read, More to Write

As a means of keeping track of my working notes while preparing for my oral exams, I've started a new blog (thanks for the help, Jason), Triggers and Traces. My current focus in the readings is the ways that media, or an awareness of media, serve to shape and structure the narratives of each work. What sorts of connections are there between, say, an awareness of the materialities of print and the narrative scope of a given work? Can we attribute the presence of certain modes of consciousness (i.e. perceptual, action-based, etc.) to an understanding (or lack of understanding) into the workings of a larger medial ecology? In what ways can we begin to chart the presence of various media in narratives (in content, in remediation, in transmediation) as we move towards increasing media convergence? How does one medium work to accomodate/ destabilize another?

All of this, of course, will hopefully feed into my current interests in transmedial narratives, which I'm increasingly beginning to think demand an approach that places these texts in larger production practices.

Anyways, the content on the site will vary, ranging from quotes to notes to related links. Please feel free to comment, as I'm working in several different fields at once and, admittedly, I'll more than likely miss some connections that otherwise might be obvious. Thanks!

Sit, Ubu, Sit.

After a long and seemingly indefinite hiatus, UbuWeb is back up and running, with plenty of new stuff. And, yes, that is Samuel Beckett in the lefthand corner.

Some of my early favorites are DJ Food's Raiding the 20th Century: Words and Music Expansion and Marshall McLuhan's 1970 Dick Cavett appearance (it never ceases to amaze me how many articulate, intelligent conversations Cavett managed to find his way into). Also, for all you concrete poets out there, there's Derek Beaulieu's an afterword after words: notes towards a concrete poetic.

A Revolution or Just Plain Revolting?

Nintendo has finally revealed the details of the controller for its new console, codenamed Revolution. Thanks to a nice writeup at Wonderland, we can get a sense of exactly how this controller will work, although, judging by the picture above, I have a feeling that description won't come close to experiencing what Iwata-san describes below (I especially like the notion of using it as a flashlight):

In order to have a controller that anyone can understand, we have come up with a design that doesn’t look like anyone else’s controllers. And we have changed game design too! This controller has a Direct Pointing Device. Revolution can detect precisely which location on the screen the controller is pointing at. With this technology, you can point at a location intuitively, but Revolution can detect your distance from the screen, and the angle of your controller. These controllers are wireless. It is intuitive! At the same time for vet players it is fresh and surprising. We can also use multiple controllers at the same time. Multiple players can be engaged in an intense squash game, or a slow, precise cooking game. You can play musical instruments with two controllers at once! A fishing game with rod-like action! Wave it.. and you can jump.

So this is with one hand. But another characteristic is its flexibility for expansion. You can expand the Direct Pointing Device: this connector is the gateway to enormous possibilities for expansion. Today I have just shown what we call the nun-chuk style expansion! [haha]We are planning on including this controller with the basic Revolution hardware package. In the first person shooter genre, very important overseas, we believe the nun-chuk will set a new standard, for instance you can intuitively explore in the dark using it as a flashlight. Just as supermario 64 defined the 3d console standard, I’m looking forward to seeing how this play control can change play for games like Zelda. I hope you are as excited as I am to see the final outcome!

Now I need to explain why we are proposing such a significantly different play style and controller. There are people in each family waiting to pick up controllers, and people who would never touch them, but anyone would pick up a TV remote. Why? We thought that the notion of moving right and left hands simultaneously and nimbly is maybe a psychological barrier. To expand the population we had to design a controller that could sit on the living room table and look relevant to them. So we made it compact. Also just like a TV remote, it can be manipulated for one hand. The hurdle for nongamers must be significantly lowered. The revolution controller will enable all users to intuitively play from the same starting line. With such expansion like nun-chuk, you can use both hands too. It will provide brand new feeling for controlling FPS and action games. I want you to look forward to seeing how your most beloved games will feel with this new controller – and how as developers you will change your games too!

We have a great opportunity to develop innovative software with great ideas. Brain Training DS had a small development team, and took advantage of the new design. 10 people, and total development, was less than 4 months! Many have been concerned that time and money and risk for next gen is too much. Nintendo wants to provide a stage on which to showcase your ideas. Nintendo is willing to help bring those ideas to life, if seeing the controller today sparks new ideas, Nintendo is ready for your proposals!

We are not only going to offer small and simple games, but we are also going to establish a new standard for game control. We need to get novice and veteran players. We can’t expand without both, and because of this we need to propose a wide variety of software, encompassing many different sizes and types of games, Since the launch of famicom 20 years ago, the game industry has evolved significantly. Even now there are many people who believe in the idea that as long as we continue with just making games more gorgeous we will continue to expand. But the final judgment will be made by games players around the world. Those people can carry on in that direction if they believe in it, but we don’t believe in it. The changes in the Japanese market, the reactions to DS, and the emerging changes in overseas markets, are assuring us that we need to create new innovations completely different from the past. Touching puppies have allowed vets and novices to start from the same starting point. We’re making great sales, I believe that it is the job of all of us, the creators, to continue to supply people and constant innovation is key.

When games can no longer surprise, people will grow tired of gaming. So we need innovation in console games as well! The uniqueness of the innovation must be intuitively understandable. This will dynamically change the way we play games. We’d like to join forces with everyone in this industry to improve our products so they are enjoyed by many more people to come. Thank you very much.

Say what you will about Nintendo's strategy lately, but this bit of news has a lot of people talking. So-- will innovation triumph over processing power? Is there room for both to succeed in the market?

"And the people..."

"Who didn't have the money to get out, probably suffered the worst."-- MSNBC, 1:34am, 9/2/05.

NOLA.

All I can feel right now, all I can see, is the spirit of a city that won't ever die. I was married there under a tree, and its roots were strong. Nothing can take that spirit away. Be strong, New Orleans. 1-800-435-7669.

And while we're at it, be strong Iraq. Be strong Darfur. Be strong Afghanistan. The good will out. It has to.