zachasablog

[zachasablog]

The way this guy keeps engaging with these unserious questions so genuinely and actually reaches good logical answers is so entertaining lol

[zachasablog]

Videogame News Digest Week of 4/15/22

Coachella is coming to Fortnite, developer Epic Games announced in a blog post. Fortnite has a history of hosting live musical acts such as Ariana Grande and Travis Scott so though this most recent collaboration with Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival won’t feature digital concerts, it’s none too surprising. From now until May 16th players can tune into Icon Radio in-game to hear music by 30 Coachella headlining artists including Billie Eillish, Harry Styles and Doja Cat. Players will also be able to purchase the “Rocking Coachella” and “Dancing Coachella” bundles, with the former being available this weekend while the latter will drop on Thursday April, 21st. In addition to a variety of new player skins the bundles also introduce accessories like the Finfin Back Bling, or Neon Biter Pickaxe which are “reactive to music.”

Fortnite developer Epic Games also received significant investments this week from Sony, as well as The Lego Group owner Kirkbi. Both companies have invested $1 billion dollars apiece in a move which Epic founder and chief executive Tim Sweeney said “will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences, and creators can build a community and thrive.” For Sony this most recent investment comes in addition to previous investments, of $250 million and $200 million. Epic Games and The Lego Group have previously announced intentions to collaborate for purposes of creating family-friendly spaces in the metaverse. Epic Games in turn also announced this week their own investment in Brazilian game studio Aquiris, developers of  throwback arcade-racer Horizon Chase, as well as a publishing deal for Aquiris’ next two games.

There were a number of game announcements this week as well, certainly none larger than that of Kingdoms Hearts 4. In a stream celebrating the series’ 20th anniversary Square Enix debuted a trailer for the game featuring a more photo-realistic Sora in what appears to be a real-world Tokyo apartment(so real-world in fact that dedicated fans have already located its actual counterpart.) Though the trailer does feature series stalwarts Donald and Goofy it's notably absent of any other Disney worlds or characters, though a hint of what many fans have interpreted to be an AT-AT foot in the trailer has kicked off speculation as to whether recent Disney acquisitions like Star Wars and Marvel may be on the table for the crossover series. In addition to the next numbered entry in the franchise Square Enix also announced a new mobile title, Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link, with a closed beta test planned for 2022.

Publisher XSEED Games announced a wider release for 2021 Switch-exclusive No More Heroes III. This release will bring the latest entry in the saga of otaku/assassin Travis Touchdown to PS4, PS5, Xbox and PC this fall with “improved HD visuals, framerates, and faster loading times.” A day one physical edition includes an artbook, CD, and a replica of Travis’s “MOE '' license plate, which this reporter implores you not to put on a vehicle you don’t want keyed.

Pokemon GO developer Niantic showed off their first original game since their partnership with Nintendo, Peridot. The virtual pet game seems to take inspiration from the developer’s history with the pocket monster franchise, tasking players with raising on the titular peridots, each of which will differ in visual appearance, personality, their likes and dislikes, and their abilities, which Niantic says will be accomplished through a combination of artist created assets and procedural generation. Players will be able to raise their peridots from birth to adulthood and breed their peridots with other players to pass down traits. Peridot will utilize Niantic’s camera-based AR technology Lightship, which allows the game to “recognize different real-world surfaces such as dirt, sand, water, grass, and foliage.”

Ever embattled publisher Activision Blizzard also found themselves back in the news this week for a variety of reasons. Blizzard Entertainment debuted the first gameplay footage of Sojourn, the first new character shown from Overwatch 2. Sojourn’s kit places a high emphasis on player accuracy with a strong projectile secondary and high-powered hit-scan ultimate, and seeks to present a character that scales in proportion to player skill according to a blog post from Blizzard Entertainment. Sojourn is also the first playable black woman in Overwatch, the lack of representation in this regard has been a frequent point of criticism for Blizzard’s shooter.

Blizzard Entertainment also received an infusion of fresh talent this week with the official merger with Activision Blizzard studio Vicarious Visions. Vicarious Visions previously worked with Blizzard Entertainment on the 2021 HD remake of Blizzard’s 2000 dungeon crawler Diablo II. Prior to this Vicarious Visions has headed the HD remakes of Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 1+2 as well as working on franchises such as Crash Bandicoot and Skylanders. Vicarious Visions confirmed via tweet that the studio will remain based in its current location in Albany, New York.

However this week also saw allegations leveled against California Governor Gavin Newsom accused of attempting to interfere in the state’s ongoing lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for gender discrimination. The accusations come from the former assistant chief counsel of California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH,) Melania Proctor. Bloomberg reported that Proctor resigned in protest of the firing of DFEH chief counsel, Janette Wipper, by the Newsom administration. In an email sent to DFEH employees Proctor alleges that Newsom sought to interfere with their lawsuit, that he “repeatedly demanded advance notice of litigation strategy and of next steps in the litigation” and “mimick[ed] the interests of Activision’s counsel.” In a statement to Kotaku the Communications Director for Governor Newsom denied all allegations of interference claiming they are “categorically fake.”

Meanwhile, Activision breakaway Bungie has announced its transition to a “digital-first” structure. While full remote employ was only indicated available in California, Florida, Illinois, Oregon, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington in the initial tweet Bungie later clarified their statement on twitter. Don McGowan, general counsel at Bungie explained in a tweet “Basically it’s states where we already have a tax presence.” A spokesperson for the developer also elaborated in a statement to IGN that "this is only the start of our transition to a digital-first approach to hybrid work. We plan to open new locations and will make additional announcements as they become available."

Reporting out of Business Insider this week indicates that Microsoft is considering the addition of in-game advertising by “select brands” in certain free-to-play Xbox games. According to sources these ads would appear in racing or open world games as digital Billboards. Business Insider also reports that Microsoft is approaching the matter with caution, wary of disrupting games and irritating players. In a statement to Kotaku a Microsoft spokesperson commented that while the company is “always looking for ways to improve the experience for players and developers,” it had no further comment on in-game ads at this time.

Finally in the strangest headline out of the world of gaming this week; three persons arrested in London in connection with the hosting of an unlicensed Club Penguin clone. Club Penguin, the popular children’s MMO was purchased by Disney in 2007 and ultimately shut down in 2017. In the years since Disney has not hesitated to use legal force to shut down fan attempts to keep the online game alive. Popular clone Club Penguin Online was forced to shutdown in 2020 for copyright infringement. Now Club Penguin Rewritten, which started in 2017 and boasted more than ten million users, has voluntarily shutdown in response to a communication from Disney and turned the website over to City of London Police. The site now reads, “This site has been taken over by Operation Creative, Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU).” The three persons arrested in connection to the operation of Club Penguin Rewritten were reportedly released.

[zachasablog]

Review:  Un Chien Andalou

Salvador Dali's 1929 film Un Chien Andalou utterly defies logic. The film is a disjointed series of surreal images with nary a meaning or motive to be found within. This incomprehensible nature is even observable beginning with the film's title, translated Un Chien Andalou means “an Andalusian dog” but there is no dog, Andalusian or otherwise to be found in the film. Just because the film doesn't make sense doesn't mean that it's without merit though, indeed the surreal nature of the film gives it the ultimate freedom to present any combination of images it desires, making it in my opinion one of the most visually interesting films in existence. Scenes like that of a man trying desperately to reach a women, all the while  hampered by two pianos which he must pull, each with a Jesuit priest being pushed in front of it and with a dead donkey on top defy logic, but at the same time are deeply unsettling because you recognize the subconscious part of our brain that could craft such an image. The images from Un Chien Andalou tap directly into the same part of our brain that crafts our dreams, that defies all logical and rules of society, the same part of our minds that we are usually so reluctant to acknowledge in our waking moments, the part of our minds that Un Chien Andalou forces us to acknowledge with it's surreal, dreamlike imagery. Despite its lack of traditional narrative the film does show considerable aptitude at other more traditional film techniques such as building tension in the viewer. In the opening scenes of the film a razor is slowly drawn towards the open eye of a women, and you brace for the decidedly unsettling, cringe inducing image, only to have it quickly switch to a shot of a long, thin cloud passing over a full moon. As you sigh in relief at being spared the gruesome imagery and take a moment to acknowledge the Dali's cleverness at the switching imagery the film tricks you yet again, showing you the image you had originally anticipated, and are now completely unprepared for, in graphics detail as the razor cuts across the awaiting eye and its' vitreous humor spills out in dense globs.

Un Chien Andalou isn't necessarily a pleasant experience, the imagery it presents is bizarre, unsettling and on occasion outright disturbing. But it is a wholly engaging and worthwhile experience, one that asks you to discard logic, reason, and any attempts at analysis and and simply submerge yourself in the deepest recesses of the human mind.

[zachasablog]

Good Men, Good War: The Reaffirmation of Cultural Memories in “Call of Duty: World at War”

In 2008 “Call of Duty: World at War” was released for home videogames consoles and computers. Developed by the studio Treyarch “World at War” is the ninth entry in the popular “Call of Duty” first-person shooter series. The game casts the player in the roles of Marine Raider Private C. Miller and Red Army soldier Private Dimitri Petrenko as they play through missions based on various historical battles from the Pacific Theater and Eastern Front. “World at War” was both a critical and commercial success, selling 3 million copies in the first two months after its release and earning an average of 84% positive reviews across its various versions according to the reviews aggregation site Metacritic(Metacritic, 2008). Due to this high degree of visibility and prestige I believe that “Call of Duty: World at War” is a perfect candidate for critical attention. To this end I will examine how “Call of Duty: World at War” reconstructs the Japanese as an unmitigated evil in order to uphold the “Good Men, Good War” American narrative, how it re-contextualizes the Russians and Germans in order to ensure said narrative is not transferred to that conflict and how the game attempts to substantiate its claims of historical accuracy. In the following sections of this paper I will provide a brief overview of “Call of Duty: World at War”, touch upon some important theoretical ideas which will be employed, offer my analysis, and finally examine how my own identity may have impacted my critique of it.

In my analysis of “Call of Duty: World at War '' it will at times be necessary to refer to specific characters or events from the game in order to help illustrate some particular point. For this reason I will now provide a brief synopsis of the major characters and events from the game. As mentioned previously players in this game alternate between two characters; C. Miller, an American marine and Dimitri Petrenko, a Red Army soldier. C. Miller’s story begins on the island of Makin, held captive by Japanese soldiers, a group of Marines. The campaign follows the marines through battles at Makina, Pelelui and Okinawa. Key characters in addition to Miller are Sergeant Roebuck and Private Polonsky.

The Russian campaigns begins in the aftermath of the siege of Stalingrad, the player as Dimitri is pulled from among the dead and dying by Sergeant Victor Reznov who informs Dimitri that he has been hunting German General Heinrich Amsel, and that he will need Dimitri’s help to finish his mission. Dimitri and Reznov, along with the Red Army, then push into German territory, all the way to Berlin and the Reichstag.

It will also be necessary before I begin my analysis to touch upon some theoretical concepts that will play key roles. The first is the idea of procedural rhetoric, as defined by Ian Bogost(2008) in his essay “The Rhetoric of Videogames”, which is the rhetoric arising from the systems of rules, incentives, and win and loss states in videogames. Second is the idea of collective memory and cultural narratives, or the widely agreed upon narrative of a given event in a nation, society, or cultures history(Archibald, 2002). In particular I will be examining the “Good Men, Good War” collective memory in regards to American involvement in the second World War (Brakow, 1998)

Cast as the player is as an American and Russian soldier it would naturally follow that Japanese and Germans soldiers would be the antagonists of the game. “World at War” does not attempt to endow its villains with any particular level of nuance, which might complicate the “good men, good war” narrative that the game upholds(. This well accepted cultural narrative is most strongly enforced in the American campaign and in turn the portrayal of the Japanese soldiers opposing them is especially unempathetic. The portrayal of Imperial Japanese soldiers in  “World at War” is consistently dehumanizing and constructs a cruel, duplicitous and fanatical identity. This in turn is used to support the hegemonic narrative that overwhelming force is the only way to fight such an enemy, and thus implicitly reaffirms the logic used to justify the atomic bombing of Japan, even as the game sidesteps direct commentary on the matter. 

To begin, there are no named Japanese characters in the entirety of “World at War '', an indignity visited upon no other faction represented in the game. Even the Germans are acknowledged to have individual identity, through the character of General Amsel, an evil individual no doubt, but an individual nonetheless, and one through whom the individuality of the Germans as a whole may be implied. The Japanese meanwhile are only ever addressed through the pejorative collective noun “Tojo,” or on occasion “those animals.” In “Making Sense of Identity,” Sen(2006) examines how while people rarely attach singular identities to themselves, singular identities are often applied to individuals by others, particularly in hostile contexts (Sen, 2006, p. 31). This certainly seems to be the case here, “World at War '' reduces all Japanese characters to a singular identity marker and then attaches to that identity marker a number of negative characteristics. As mentioned previously the only interaction the player has with a Japanese character is scene in which they torture the player character. This interaction establishes the cruel character trait. This characterization is reinforced and extended by the narration from Corporal Roebuck as the mission begins in which he states, “if what we know about the Japanese is true it might be better if they are [dead].” “World at War'' also characterizes the Japanese as duplicitous. In almost all of the Pacific Theater missions, excepting Black Cat in which the player is confined to a plane, the player must beware of various traps set in the environment, such a pits from which enemies may emerge suddenly, grenades which detonate when the player crosses a set threshold, or trees in which snipers may hide. Even though similar tactics, such as leaving snipers in trees, were utilized historically by German forces on the Eastern Front, no such ludic representations manifests in the Russian campaign. This characterization is reinforced narratively as well, in the mission Hard Landing in which Polonsky inspects the body of a downed airmen only to discover it is rigged with explosives. The final and most dramatic instance of this come in the final Pacific Theater mission Breaking Point, two Japanese soldiers appear to surrender only to suddenly attack, if the player does not respond quickly both Polonsky and Roebuck can be killed, thus punishing the player mechanically for trusting the intentions of the Japanese soldiers.  Finally, the Japanese are characterized as fanatical, a common characterization in the accepted narrative of World War II used to justify the use of extreme force against the Japanese while maintaining the “Good Men '' characterization of the Americans. This characterization is represented mechanically by the banzai soldiers present in the Pacific Theater level who charge the player with bayoneted rifles regardless of any danger. Notably this mechanical function is carried out in the Eastern Front missions by German Shepards, thus the procedural rhetoric of the game tacitly endorses the characterization of the Japanese as animals, in this case meaning they are without human rationale. In the final level of the Pacific Theater campaign “World at War '' even procedurally reproduces the rhetoric of needing massive force to stop such a fanatical and irrational foe. Breaking Point does not end until the player calls in airstrikes on a series of buildings at Shuri castle, until then an endless wave of Japanese riflemen and banzai chargers will pour forth, regardless of how many the player fells by conventional means. The Japanese must be demonized in this way to preserve the “Good Men, Good War” narrative through its trans-location to the pacific theater. The established narrative relies on having an unmitigated evil for a foe so that there can be no question as to the righteousness of the conflict. In the absence of Nazis the Japanese must become that unmitigated evil.

The need to preserve this established narrative also influences the characterization of the Russians and Germans in the Eastern front campaign. To leave the Germans as the unmitigated evil they are typically portrayed as would risk transferring the heroic narrative to the Russians, when the game implicitly argues it belongs solely to the Americans. To this end the evil of the Germans is in fact mitigated. To accomplish this several steps are taken, first there is no mention of the Holocaust, even Hitler is never mentioned by name, only a few passing references to “The Fuhrer.” With the atrocities of Nazi Germany conveniently out of sight “World at War” sets about recharacterizing the Germans as weak and cowardly. Only in the first Eastern Front campaign mission “Vendetta” are the Germans ever portrayed as on the offensive, after that point they are always in retreat, with German soldiers literally fleeing from the player character once enough of their allies have been killed. Repeatedly in the Eastern Front campaign the player will come across scenes of Germans surrendering or too injured to fight. Always at these points the player will be ordered by Reznov to execute them, when questioned as to whether or not the Germans ought to be shown mercy he simply replies that they showed none in Stalingrad so they, “deserve nothing in return.” Not only are the Russians characterized as vengeful but also cruel, in the mission Ring of Steel a group of German soldiers are cornered in a subway, Russians soldiers not only execute the surrendering men but do so via molotov cocktail, leading to an agonizing death. This characterization of the Russians who exhibit such unabashed cruelty against such weak foes is necessary so they cannot assume the heroism traditionally attributed solely to Americans and uncontroversial allies like the British in the “Good Men, Good War” narrative. 

“Call of Duty: World at War” makes repeated overt and implicit claims to historical representation. The game begins with a warning that it depicts honestly the brutalities of war, level interstitials are accompanied by live action news footage from the era with narration about the progression of the conflict between missions, and missions are based on historical events and played out with period accurate weaponry and equipment. However true historical representation this is not. Firstly because true representation of the kind of brutality that “World at War” so boldly claims to capture is impossible. In the book “In Witness of Memory,” Maclear(2003) examines, “the impossible task of representation”(p.234), or the inability of mediated forms to properly transmit certain types of memories and in particular certain traumas.The claim of historical accuracy is also made hollow by the fact that the game can not, nor does it attempt, to portray the war in its entirety. The entirety of the American campaign in the Pacific is reduced to three battles, and even more narrowly the perspective of a single unit during those battles. As the game must, because of the various restraints put in place by deadline, budget, and manpower, be selective in what it represents is becomes a “deliberate attempt to shape the collective memory by means of particular kinds of communicative message”(p. 54); as laid out by Carole Blair(2005) in her essay “Communication as Collective Memory.”

Finally, Treyarch’s claim to historical accuracy is further damaged by its patent refusal to acknowledge any of the political context surrounding the war. In his essay, “Have You Played the War on Terror?” Roger Stahl(2006) theorizes that war games such as “Call of Duty: World at War” create a new identity, the “virtual citizen-soldier,”(p. 125) which by placing citizens in a soldiers role, where they’re prerogative is not to be critical of a conflict but to unquestioningly follow orders, depoliticizes the virtual citizen-soldiers understanding of warfare as a whole. At the very least this depoliticization of the war works to forestall critical engagement with the subject matter. For example such depoliticization means that while reducing all Japanese to a singular malevolent identity “World at War” does not have to address the implications this would have in regards to the internment of Japanese Americans, which was conducted under the fear and suspicion that all Japanese were monolith in their desires and loyalties and would present a danger to the United States (Sturken, 1997). More insidiously it could be seen as operating as an Ideological State Apparatus, as defined by Althusser, being a cultural and communicative text which reinforces the ideology of the dominant state power by affirming the rightness, and goodness of the state’s use of a Repressive State Apparatus, in this case the military (Althusser, 1970, p.142)

These are the conclusions I have come to after undertaking a critical analysis of “Call of Duty: World at War.” “Call of Duty: World at War,” upholds established collective memories surrounding American involvement in World War II. In particular it works to uphold the cultural narrative of “Good Men, Good War,” in which an unambiguous conflict is fought against a patently evil foe, allowing America to be portrayed as unambiguously righteous in its motives. To continue this narrative in the context of the Pacific Theater the Japanese are constructed as an unambiguous evil, and to ensure the narrative remains America’s alone the Eastern Front conflict is reconstituted, with Germany being portrayed as a meek and foolish aggressor facing the cruel and crushing vengeance of Russia. Furthermore I have concluded that “Call of Duty: World at War’s” claims of historical accuracy are fundamentally inaccurate at best and actively harmful at worst.

I am not however an objective observer, I have my own perspectives and biases which certainly influenced my perspective on matter. I am an American citizen, I believe myself to be a critical one but I cannot rule out that this may lead me to look more favorably or with a more forgiving light upon the actions attributed to American characters. That said I do find myself wary of any American made depiction of the Soviet Union, and as such I may be being overly critical of the game’s portrayal of the actions of the Red Army.

References

Althusser, L. (1971). “Ideology and ideological state apparatuses (notes towards an investigation).” In B. Brewster (Trans.) Lenin and philosophy and other essays (127-186). New York: Monthly Review Press

Archibald, R. R. (2002). A personal history of memory. In J. J. Climo & M. G. Cattell (Eds.), Social memory and history: Anthropological perspectives (pp. 65-80). Walnut Creek, CA: Aha Mija Press. 

Blair, C. (2005). Communication as collective memory. In G. Shepherd, J. John, & T. Striphas (Eds.) Communication as….: Perspectives on theory (pp. 51-59). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

Bogost, Ian. “The Rhetoric of Video Games." The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Edited by Katie Salen. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 117–140

Brokaw, Tom (1998). The greatest generation (pp.1-44). New York: Random House.

Metacritic. (2008, November 10). Call of Duty: World at War. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/call-of-duty-world-at-war 

Sen, Amartya. (2006). Making sense of identity. In Identity and violence: the illusion of destiny (pp.18-39). New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Stahl, Roger (2006) Have You Played the War on Terror?, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 23:2, 112-130

Sturken, Marita I (1997). Absent images of memory: Remembering and reenacting the Japanese Internment. Positions, 5 (3), 687-706

Treyarch. Call of Duty: World at War. Activision, 2008. Xbox 360. 

[zachasablog]

Review- Assassin's Creed: Unity

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Bad games are not, and have neverreally been, much of a commodity. As such  simply being a  bad game, which it most certainly is, will be counted second among Assassin's Creed: Unity's many sins.  Primary among them is being an utterly disappointing game, a much more rare, and thus impressive feat.

First it should be said that the game is not completely without merits. Paris is visually breathtaking, whether gazing out upon a fully rendered city from atop a building or milling in a hundred person throng on street level.  AC:U's attention to detail at both the micro and macro level presents a beautiful world to inhabit. However, without solid systems to fall back cracks soon begin to appear in the beautiful facade.

Piece by piece you begin to notice what's disappeared, the ability to switch weapons in combat or move bodies or dive underwater, and the little frustrations begin to mount as repeated you find your toolbelt cut smaller and smaller. The entire effort comes off feeling hollow and rushed, bits and pieces half-finished ideas stretched into a full game. Unity does manage to introduce a few interesting ideas to the series. The ability to adjust desired direction while free running makes the traversal feel better than ever and in particular makes getting down buildings feel as natural as getting up, as task that's always come off as cumbersome and awkward in the past. Furthermore the ability to seamlessly enter the interiors of some buildings helps the city feel more lived in and opens up new routes to consider during traversal, though combat in these interiors also shows off some of the worst of Unities' camera. While interior environments and more precise movement are nice they feel like small comforts in face of Unities core failures.

Under the circumstances it's difficult not to speculate on whether or not all Assassin's Creed: Unity need was a bit more time to find its feet on the next gen  tech and grow its ideas out a bit more. Its easy to see why the idea of annualized Assassin's Creed is attractive to Ubisoft, regular commercial success provides dependable income for the company and a successful annual franchise can be an important status symbol for a publisher as Ubisoft continues to assert themselves as a top-tier publisher. Its difficult however not to wonder what Unity could have been if Ubisoft just let the developers have a bit more time

Unities' narrative content doesn't help the situation much. Arno manages to be the blandest Assassin's Creed lead yet. An off brand Ezio who manages to go the whole game without developing a personality I found myself struggling to care about Arno or anything of the equally bland characters that surrounded him. Arno's childhood friend and former Templar Elise does finally manage to add an interesting, or at least entertaining character to the cast but her return to the main cast at the beginning of the third act feels too late to help much. Modern day segments are completely absent from this entry and the only tie back to the meta narrative occurs via voice over commentary by Assassin agents after story mission.

Finally underlining it all are the technical problems that run rampant. Bugs ranging from minor graphical glitches or pathing issues to console locking crashes. The games technical problems are simply too frequent and game breaking for any game and doubly so now so long after release.

At the core of Unity there's an idea for a good game, but it's built on a base that's been so thoroughly gutted that it rarely manages to be anything other than in turns broken, rout, and frustratingly austere.