Game Over

So this is it.

This is the end of the road.

As said in the opening post of this blog, I'm a student at Rutger's university. This blog was made as an assignment for Strategic Presentation , which was a course discussing how to manage your social media account in the modern world, how to build up a brand name, and how to get your image out there and appeal to an audience.

Now the course is ending though, ans with that this blog shall too end- it's been an interesting ride, even if my publishing schedule wasn't the most consistent.
The collaborative podcast, I have to say, was an interesting learning tool- not only was it one of my first experiences with the creation of an MP3, it was also one of the first group projects I've done at Rutger's university, and gave me a decent idea of what to expect going forward. I also learned, a bit begrudgingly, that a podcast format does not lend itself too well to a review style- the lack of any visual cues or indicators makes it very difficult to discuss any specific scenes or moments that occur throughout, or even give the audience a brief idea of what the form of media (in this case, it was Night In The Woods) even looks like, which in gaming in particular, is a very big flaw: many games rely specifically on their graphics or art style, and not being able to actively share that in a review detracts from the experience.

The class too has taught me a decent deal. There's a considerable deal that goes into managing a digital brand- keeping a consistent identity, knowing your target audience, knowing how to connect to that audience, etc. Having to run this blog helped eep that in mind, connecting all projects I do in relation back with a consistent name (or, well, semi-consistent admittedly at points) and links connecting all of them back to the blogspot page proper.

Three Memes

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another post from Video Games Versus Contemporary Issues. Right now it is my favorite time of day: Meme time!

YAY

For this post, we're going to be examining three memes of mid april, 2018, and horribly, horribly date this blog in the process while doing so, discuss it's origin, what the whole point behind it originally was, et cetera. So, with that said:

#1. Original vs. Un-tumblrized

So, this whole meme isn't considered all that offensive or weird in it's current state, following the basic comedy "Before and after" shtick. The whole method of 'making' the meme is to put a character on one side, and either distill the character's traits to the point of absurdity on the other, or otherwise just any unflattering picture will do in a pinch.

What's interesting, though, is how the meme originally started. According to KYM (Know Your Meme),
" After an image began circulating of a comparison chart between the female character Tank Penny from Fortnite and an “un-tumblrized” version which imagines her skinnier, whiter and in skimpier clothing, people began to create humorous parody versions."
The original post's "ideal" (in the words of Patrick Davidson) was a sexual (and, really, sexist) attempt to recreate the character in the original creator's image, more or less removing anything actually unique or interesting about her in the process. It was first posted to 4chan, and quickly screenshots of it spread outwards.

When Tumblr saw the post, and subsequently re-posted it for their own usage, they were... less then thrilled.

Pretty much immediately they started to post their own versions of the meme as a parody, and soon enough it spread off of Tumblr, and into the ether that is the internet at large. 

#2. "Change my mind"

In contrast to Tumblr, this meme instead comes from Reddit. Steven Crowder, a right-winged comedian/podcaster, set up this little booth outside of Texan Christian University, and posted the image to his twitter. At this point, he had been running a small series of podcasts where he invites random people to walk up to him and attempt to argue about his opinions against him on the street, and for this episode- well, you see the sign, presumably.

The picture soon got posted onto reddit, where it quickly got picked up by nearly every subculture on the site- though, the anime/manga and video game communities in general seemed to take a liking to it specifically, using it as an imageboard to 'humorously' make controversial opinions known (or make fun of people with said opinions, it can be difficult to tell at times). They'll white out the sign so it's left completely blank using either a photomanipulater, or even just with a basic drawing tool like microsoft paint, and then edit Mr. Crowder's portrait in the photo to either be a different character, or removed entirely, like so: 

#3 Ugandan Knuckles

Well, this is a bit of a blast from the past (memes work at light speed, by the time people can register they became a meme, they're already forgotten). Ugandan Knuckles was originally a video from the game VR chat, which is an open-sandbox chat program that allows users to create their own models, and due to sitting in what seems to be a little bit of a legal greyzone (The game is free, so any copyright broken is being done so noncommercially), it leads to things like this.

The meme itself is almost a perfect example of a meme being less of a set 'advice animal', or template, and more of a concept- the idea of Ugandan Knuckles (A Sonic the Hedgehog character becoming something of a racial stereotype) is what drives the humor, whether it's done through video games, animation, or images.

Podcast: Night in the Woods Review/Retrospective

Link to the podcast here.

Hey again everyone, here's a new podcast upload for the likes of you to listen to! Today's podcast is about the game "night in the woods", and specifically is a review/retrospective where I talk about my feelings towards the game, and my general thoughts and opinions on it, as I seem to have transitioned towards a podcast format on this.

Imagine retrieved from Flickr, used under Creative Commons License

 Along with that is a shout out to beyond 12: Beyond twelve has been helping underprivileged young adults manage their finances during their college education, to help keep them organized and in a safe place. check them out at beyond12.org .

I'd also like to give a really big shout out to my partners, Eliana Hriczo and her blog The Chaotic College Experience , Jenna Patel of The College Compass , and Taylor Selmon of Sneak Her Culture , they were a really big help with this, take a look at them!

VIDEO: Gamergate Origins

For this weeks post, instead of a normal word blog, i'm instead going to post an original video, created over the course of a couple days. The video was intended for people who generally didn't follow the gamergate controversy at all while it was still going on, and instead waited until recently to finally look into it. In the comments you can see that the video had already been found to someone... opposing my side. Hopefully, google search results and people looking up Gamergate on youtube itself will lead to more people discovering my video, due to the use of keywords being a big factor on what'll pop up when searching for a video.

Clip is from the Colbert Report

Other sources used: https://web.archive.org/web/201409022... https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/te... https://www.recode.net/2014/10/10/116... http://store.steampowered.com/app/270...

New Header and a discussion on image editing

As of February 15th, 2018, this blog has had a new header, designed in Photoshop. The two images used in the new header, "Dualshock 3", originally posted on flickr.com by the user "Joo0ey" with some rights reserved under creative commons, primarily that attribution has to be given, but can be . The other image used, "untitled" (really, it doesn't have a title) on pxhere.com, unattributed (both the creative commons license states it can be used without being attributed to the original photographer, and there is no hint at his name on the site to begin with). The reason behind using these two images is simple: beyond the fact that they're both creative common licensed, the idea of using a game controller to be the representation of this blog- a blog specifically about video games, and their community, feels like it's a proper fit. A controller is a player's gateway into actually doing what they enjoy, and no matter what they use, it might very well be the biggest connecting factor within the video game community.

The creation of the header for this blog involved the use of many Photoshop basics- I'm not an expert in any capacity with it, but the main process involved were the use of four layers, with the top two layers being the creative common's pictures mentioned above. The title of the blog was written out and turned into a transformable object on the third layer, below the pictures, and finally below that was the background, which was removed and turned transparent, so the color of the blog itself would show through. A blur filter was applied to Dualshock 3 specifically, and the two images were brought together to minimize any gaps between the two, before merging layer one and two into a singular layer so they would show through the clipping mask. By using the multiple layers, editing what appeared in the image- that the remote controllers showed through instead of the background, was easy, by simply shifting the where the overlap occurred. The expediency provided by image editing software like Photoshop- To quote Matthew of 'Articles from computation culture', "Instead of working on a single design, with each change immediately (and in the case of physical media such as paint or ink, irreversibly) affecting this image, she now works with a collection of separate elements." (Matthew, "inside Photoshop") The use of multiple layers made changing the design to be more aesthetically pleasing a speedy process, instead of having to start from scratch like if it was done with physical media.

I think anyone who's used a windows computer within the last couple decades at least has some knowledge that MS paint is a thing. MS paint is a free software (Well, free in that it comes with your $600+ computer, so I think that technically makes it really expensive) that only accepts a single layer at any time. This means that if you wish to make any edits to what you've drawn, you very well might have to rework entire portions of the image instead of a singular layer of it. This doesn't mean anything made with it is inherently bad or wrong- People have drawn photo-realistic images using it, but it makes any mistake possibly cataclysmic. The mindset behind the use of something like photoshop, or adobe illustrate though, is perhaps the starkest contrast to the likes of MS paint and other programs like it, " painting programs allowed for the capture of free-form gesture. This produced a lack of precision but also an increased capacity for expression." (Davidson, "Because of the pixels.") MS paint isn't meant to be used professionally- it's for goofing around, making things because you feel like it, not because you're being paid to. It's to draw photo-realistic Santa Claus because you feel like you want to, not because it's to be professional or sold. Adobe products, and most products with multiple layers available, have a strict "business" feel to them. They're designed to be sold, and that's probably why the program costs an arm and a leg to even purchase access to if you aren't using Pirate Bay to get it illegally.

Welcome to Games Versus Contemporary Issues (or: GvCI)

When it comes to leading hearts and minds in the first world, mass media certainly seems to come out number one. The movies and shows of a day can show just how matters and issues were discussed and viewed at the time, giving us in the modern day a glimpse of just how public opinion has shifted. Movies and TV aren’t the only media in production though that have been changing to compensate for new views on the world: one of the newest, and by far one of the most controversial, and under-discussed, forms of media today, yet also one of the most popular, is the realm of video games. In the same way that people can obsess over their favorite movies, people do the exact same for their favorite games- but with how modern this media is, the fandoms and subcultures that have arisen are nearly entirely online. 

What this blog is for is to document how social shifts and changes have been mirrored in the world of games, and perhaps even more importantly, the responses of the fans. The fact that the subculture that watches and plays games on a more-then-casual-basis, collect and meet nearly exclusively online has made the most vocal also exhibit the worst traits associated with the less popular sides of the web: name calling, death threats, an overzealous attitude towards any attempts to change… This is a blog that’ll attempt to sum up and explain some of the more confusing and obscure controversies in gaming subculture, including those involving race, sexuality, and gender in a subculture that not many know much about, and hopefully be useful to both people who never played a game, and people who want to understand just what their friends are getting all up in arms about because the main character of a video game happens to be black.

Can't have minorities in our recreational time according
to some people.
(Watchdogs 2 by Ubisoft, November 15th 2016, image acquired from Wccftech.com)

The images on this blog are protected under U.S fair use laws; specifically Section 107 of the U.S copyright act. According to it, "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research", the use of copy write protected material is allowed. (Columbia University, "Fair Use"). Video games are a primarily visual media- the use of images will be necessary at points to give context to issues pertaining to it. The alternative would be to use only images protected under creative commons, which allows sharing and usage of an image for free, with stipulations ranging from having to attribute the source to not being able to sell or modify the image in any way. Creative commons is much more easy- but, with it, the ability to critique would be limited, as I'd be limited to images like this.

Not much to criticize here, admittedly.
Art found at pixabay.com

Sources Cited: