http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/ Latest comments for News Games: Georgia Tech Journalism & Games Project en-us Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:29:19 -0500 http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/batman-and-the-rhetoric-of-incarceration.html#comment-405 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:29:19 -0500

<p>He didn't need to toss it far. Really, he needed to be able to chuck it two feet upwards in one case and drop it straight down in another. Good point about the ergonomics of Batarang industrial design, though; thanks!</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/batman-and-the-rhetoric-of-incarceration.html#comment-404 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:07:43 -0500

<p>"he would spray a Batarang with explosive gel, throw it at the breakable ceiling, and detonate it."</p> <p>No. A Batarang covered in explosive gel would radically alter the aerodynamic properties it has. It would not fly.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/08/proceduralizing-terror.html#comment-396 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:43:19 -0500

<p>When is someone going to run 9/11 north/south towers simulation mod with this engine?</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/01/history-of-fantasy-sports-and-its-adoption-by-sports-journalists.html#comment-393 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:34:32 -0500

<p>Didn't know that Fantasy Golf was the first. We used to play it for a few bucks when I was still in college, quite some time ago. Now everything is to high-tech, with massive betting involved. I think we had more fun with just a piece of paper and the names of out teams written on it.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/dihar-games-and-semiotic-domains.html#comment-392 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:20:24 -0500

<p>This is pretty much one of the best serious games I've played. It was fun, sorta funny and managed to teach a thing or two about managing a successful business within the confines of the constitution.</p> <p>"A player may come away from the game with a fun experience and with some knowledge gained, but the player may not realize the unique role that civics plays within our lives. If practicing constitutional law is so similar to waiting tables in a diner, then why is it so important that we learn about civics?"</p> <p>Could it also be said that this game is exactly about the role civics plays in our lives? The "gameplay sensation" or "experiential metaphor" (created through the design) when loosely coupled with the constitution seemed to feel like it was about civics. It is a game about decision making with the constitution as unwavering and the object to test success or validity against. So placing the player as the manager of this business abstracts the mundane activities of every day life and creates this place where he must constantly face decisions that directly relate to the constitution in relevant ways and you are rewarded for submitting to/affirming/gaming the system. </p> <p>Something I don't dig on this game is the title: "Do I have a right?" Far too submissive. I would have much preferred "Do I have a case?"</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2008/12/digital-photography-methods-for-creating-a-higher-truth.html#comment-390 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:05:02 -0500

<p>Interesting look at how the lines between journalism and photography clash to bring photojournalism. </p> <p>Yes, there are some opponents, but I still think what a photojournalist can present is more important than what can be faked.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/03/readin-the-paper-for-the-puzzlers.html#comment-382 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:22:40 -0500

<p>To answer your first question I think that the majority of papers do have online classifieds now. Although Craigslist is free and more popular so they still do not stand a chance.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/08/how-different-groups-spend-their-day.html#comment-381 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:11:00 -0500

<p>It is a dumb graph, but I do like your perspective on it.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/03/black-monday-inside-trader-and-chartgame.html#comment-373 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:27:34 -0500

<p>we still play the dos version on an old tandy computer we would like to find a new version to play on a new computer any idea's</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/batman-and-the-rhetoric-of-incarceration.html#comment-368 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:34:08 -0500

<p>I guess I didn't mean to say simply removing the cutscene would have worked.</p> <p>The reason the gargoyle traps needed a cutscene was because the idea of the Joker's men setting explosive traps for Batman was new. If this was something in the core of the game -- bombs in doors, dead bodies (an interesting use for the cowl, eh), vents, etc -- the player would then not feel cheated when suddenly confronted with a new type of explosive in a new location.</p> <p>The idea of henchmen setting ambushes, however, was well established. Would you have been annoyed if, in one stealth room with gargoyles, the enemies suddenly turned on spotlights and started looking up? That would also throw the player out of their usual pattern.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/batman-and-the-rhetoric-of-incarceration.html#comment-366 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:00:13 -0500

<p>Hey Michel, sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I saw your Tweet that you'd finished the game and hoped you'd stop by with your thoughts, so, awesome!</p> <p>I agree with you completely that literally every Batman-like improvisation was delivered in a cutscene, which is shoddy. Do you think, like I suggested, that they should have built the game from the ground up to allow it... or do you think quick-time events would at least make it "Batman-enough" for us?</p> <p>As to the abrupt cut between intentional and improvisational play... yeah, I figured out fairly early on that the absolute winning move was to find a duct and hide in it. They can shoot you when you're in a floor duct, yet somehow the air ducts in the walls and ceiling are safe? Makes absolutely no sense unless a wall is obviously obscuring it. I tried to avoid that method because it made it no fun for me, which meant that when they finally put the bombs on the gargoyles it became pretty awesome. That's when it felt natural to me, setting up traps that I knew I could run past and then detonate if I were in a tough spot and really using the floor grates to my advantage (which had risks if I accidentally downed a guy near one). One question I have, though, based on your wording is... what kind of smooth transition would you want between the two modes of play? The follow-up to that comes from this:</p> <p>"Every new threat is also introduced at the intentional planning phase."</p> <p>What games have you played where you actually liked it when a new threat was introduced during the improvisational phase? Usually this just completely pisses me off, maybe because usually I've seen this done in a QTE and all of a sudden you don't know how to twist your analog stick correctly (I'm looking at you, Bully) and you've wasted the past 5 minutes of your life. If you have some good examples of how you think introducing novel elements during panic mode works, I'd love to hear em!</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/batman-and-the-rhetoric-of-incarceration.html#comment-365 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:07:23 -0500

<p>The inability to combine items into complex tools is part of the larger problem of the game suppressing and preventing player creativity.</p> <p>After I got my zip line tool I tried using it to crash feet first into crumbling walls. It didn't work. I also considered somehow throwing explosives onto walls out of reach but knew none of the mechanics supported this. There is exactly one way and one tool that can be used to get each Riddler item. It's the worst kind of "figure out what the designer wants" because it is followed by "wait until the designer gives you the means".</p> <p>Every cool improvisation Batman does do is without player input. He set the explosive trap for Croc automatically. He sprayed explosives on his fist in a cutscene. Even in the introduction he grabs the Joker's neck when the power briefly goes out while the player is as confused as the guards. Which is it? Are we Batman or are we along for the ride?</p> <p>Stealth combat, okay there is some creativity required there, but it is all intentional play. String this guard on a gargoyle, set an explosive trap here, glide kick that guard, etc. You can get really creative with this stuff, but when shit hits the fan there is basically no smooth transition to improvisational play. You hide in a vent or hop between gargoyles until the guards lose track of you then set up the exact same traps you might have when first entering the room. </p> <p>Every new threat is also introduced at the intentional planning phase. The gargoyle explosives were a perfect chance to throw the player into an improvisational phase, but instead of leaving them as a surprise to disrupt the player's plan, they gave it away in a cutscene.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-364 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:10:54 -0500

<p>I guess I can say this with certainty, at least: whether the people following the rules have the duty to distinguish between what's malicious or not, the rule system is broken if it allows somebody to game it so easily.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-363 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:00:52 -0500

<p>Your first comment is basically the difference between a reporter and a columnist. Writers on sites like Kotaku and Joystiq straddle an uncomfortable line between the two, which is probably why the right answer here is so difficult to ascertain (and why it's so perfect for EA to play with). </p> <p>"Their job is to report the facts of an event."<br /> What I'm struggling toward is a reason I think that, ontologically, the fake protest and Sin to Win are events while the reception of the checks wasn't. I don't know what the word for it is. It's a personal moment that doesn't demand sharing (though, as Crecente said, there are practical reasons to have at least recorded whatever the recipient chose to do).</p> <p>Badiou might help with this, or tell me I'm completely off. Ian?</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-362 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:26:27 -0500

<p>Hmm, my own understanding is that it's not the job of a reporter to decide what is or is not despicable or malicious. Their job is to report the facts of an event or the truth content of a statement, etc. If there are people who are claiming that something is despicable or malicious then they should report that, and perhaps in that context provide direction for people who feel similarly.</p> <p>I'm not terribly familiar with the coverage of the Sin to Win campaign, but I thought reporting on the controversy surrounding Shadow Complex was the right track for these sorts of things. There were two sides to the issue and both were given their say. </p> <p>Maybe because Sin to Win was specifically about publicity the enthusiast press decided to handle it differently. Where I think we may agree is that they handled it poorly. </p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-361 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:42:34 -0500

<p>Also, you left out my favorite from that list of great artifacts: Quine's indeterminacy of translation</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-360 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:12:49 -0500

<p>Ahhh you broke through my mental barrier by putting 1/0 and 10/5 next to each other like that. Okay, awesome, thank you for the lesson! For some reason I had this utilitarianism thing in my head where they recognized that 1 year each would be less negative utils than one person serving 10, but of course it's stupid to think that somebody would be thinking like a utilitarian in that context. I know there are utilitarian modifications of equilibria, but am only familiar with Rawls' maximin. Do you have any favorites?</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-359 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:32:21 -0500

<p>It's the specified property of the payoff grid. If I cooperate (remain silent) you get 1 year in jail for cooperating or go scott free for defecting. If I defect (squeal) you get 10 years for cooperating and 5 years for defecting. It doesn't matter what I do. It's not a matter of expecting the worst or predicting the other guy's decision or anything like that. *Regardless* of what I do you are *always* better off defecting.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-358 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:01:16 -0500

<p>I don't understand how you're always going to get a better payoff from defecting... is it because you don't know that if you both remain silent you'll receive the minimal punishment? I guess I must have misunderstood the amount of information the prisoners have. I thought it was a brilliant dilemma because, even if I'm in there with somebody I've know my entire life, I don't know if they're going to betray me or not (because people act differently under duress)... so I *have* to betray them to protect myself.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-357 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:58:06 -0500

<p>So, that early on the campaign I think a lot of us thought the idea of doing an ARG-like protest was a clever idea. This is why I make the point of marking Sin to Win as a lynchpin. I'm not asking people not to publish publicity stunts, but rather to blackball campaigns that have turned malicious. And once the campaign turns malicious, you should explain why before going silent. I don't think the mainstream Sin to Win coverage went far enough toward helping people make a comprehensive decision on the matter. They said, "this is despicable, and some people think it's discriminatory and harmful to the female booth attendants" with maybe a link to a smaller site explaining why.</p> <p>Nobody said, "If you too think that this campaign threatened the well-being of the booth attendants not hired by EA, this here is a form you can fill out to send a complaint to the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment, which handles such cases pro bono and has jurisdiction over Comic Con." This gets me back to the GM example. I think investigative journalism is news a priori because it seeks punitive answers to a possible criminal or civil wrongdoing. This is the watchdog role of the media, basically.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-356 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:29:25 -0500

<p>>> rational self-interest demands that both prisoners betray each other, because both actors assume that the other will betray them...</p> <p>Well... not quite. The reason a rational PD player chooses to defect is not because he assumes his opponent will defect. It's because *regardless* of what his opponent chooses to do he is better off defecting. This is why the PD is so interesting. It doesn't matter what I do, you are *always* going to get a better pay-off by defecting. So how could you not? It's so simple! It's so obviously the correct choice. And so two rational geniuses, applying indisputable state-of-the-art game-theoretical decision-making techniques end up worse off than a couple of random schmucks who decide to cooperate. That's why it's a dilemma. And that's why the PD sits alongside Gödel's incompleteness, Wittgenstein's silence, Duchamp's urinal, and Heisenberg's uncertainty as one of the great artifacts of the 20th century's fascination with interesting stuff that happens at the edges of systems.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-355 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:17:53 -0500

<p>Fair enough! I think you have a less extreme example in your piece:</p> <p>EA hired a bunch of actors to pretend to be conservative protesters in a bid to garner media attention. Should the scheme be reported on even if it is to some extent giving EA exactly what they wanted?</p> <p><br /> </p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-354 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:35:16 -0500

<p>This isn't a particularly difficult dilemma for me. Your example is a crime, and the method you suggest exploring it by would be investigative journalism. The case of the checks isn't a crime, and the coverage of it requires no investigation. I'll think of a corollary that fits this case better and then get back to you on what I think about it.</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-353 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:33:05 -0500

<p>You say that certain events are news a priori, but that a press release is news a posteriori. Do you think that details about the campaign itself, what's going on and how people are reacting to it, is news a priori? </p> <p>For instance, say GM started paying people to steal classic Corvettes as a way of getting the name in papers or on the evening news. Should a reporter expose that practice even though it could be argued that doing so furthers GM's campaign?</p>

http://jag.lcc.gatech.edu/blog/2009/09/gaming-the-game-press.html#comment-352 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:11:00 -0500

<p>GameSpot's internal search is almost completely broken, and Google doesn't show anything other than a forum post about you burning your check. Alex found out about the cake by listening to the GS podcast, which I think would cause me to spontaneously combust if I listened to it. I'll ask her if they mentioned it.</p> <p>I've mostly only seen headshots of you, while I've seen Totilo's less-than-imposing figure in full. I'm not going to buy that you're more of a stick unless I see YouTube videos of you two weighing yourselves in a doctor's office on a proper metric scale.</p> <p>Also, I'd like to reiterate what I tacitly implied in the comments: I have immense respect for Kotaku's efforts in leading other enthusiast press sites in engaging in proper editorial work. The fact that you came back with this lighthearted comment after I was so desultory in the article only confirms that you're one of the Internet's most effing charming princes.</p>