Grand Theft Auto IV
Looking from certain corners of the internet today you’d be forgiven for thinking that the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) had caused all other events in the world to pause. There has, simply put, been an avalanche of press for the video game. Apparently it might just clock upwards of $US400 million in it’s opening week (yes, that’s a lot of money). And to keep commentators on violence in the media (and specifically videogames) happy, somebody in London obligingly stabbed someone else in the line to buy one of the first copies of GTA IV. If you prefer something equally silly but a whole lot less violent (except, perhaps, to themselves) someone in the US is trying to set a record for continuous gameplay by enduring more than 25 hours in a row of GTA IV (and, yes, it is of course being streamed live across the net, complete with Twitter updates).
However, one of the more interesting subjects to emerge in the press frenzy surrounding the game’s launch is the revival of the synthespian (or synthetic thespian) debate, which last raged seriously when Gollum and his contemporaries proved CGI folks could give their flesh and blood companions a run for their money. Nowadays, it’s videogame (anti-)heroes getting the limelight. As Asher Moses reports for The Age:
He’s the biggest name in entertainment but you won’t find him striding down the red carpet or cavorting with Hollywood starlets under the watchful eye of the paparazzi. No, Niko Bellic, set to become the most high profile Slav in entertainment since Borat Sagdiyev took the box office by storm 18 months ago. He is among the new breed of entertainment personalities who, rather than being cast, are built from scratch by a team of programmers and graphic designers. He’s the protagonist in Grand Theft Auto IV and, just days after hitting the streets, is already giving flesh-and-blood Hollywood stars a run for their money. Launched around the world at midnight on Monday, Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) is on track to become the biggest entertainment launch in history. Analysts have predicted the title, which has inspired near-perfect reviews from most gaming magazines, will sell at least 6 million copies in its first week.
Sure, the synthespian issue is wedged amongst hype about sales and violence, but it’s certainly an interesting question: to what extent do gamers ‘inhabit’ the characters they play and to what extent will they idolize these characters (provoking some interesting notions about the changing nature of celebrity culture … do we actually need celebrities to even have a supposedly ‘real’ version to idolize?).
For Australians, one of the other notable features of GTA IV is that, thanks to the fact that we still don’t have an R18+ category for games, our version of GTA IV has been toned down to get rating approval.
Update: Australian Game Pro reports that Australians attempting to import the international version of GTA IV (which doesn’t meet Australia’s MA15+ game rating limit) would be guilty of importing prohibited goods and could be fined up to $110,000!
[Photo by Rappzula CC BY NC SA]
Bored of Facebook?
You should probably listen to The Facebook Anthem:
This one has to be for Jean! [Via Alex]
Update: And what would Facebook be like in the “real world”?
Links for April 28th 2008
Interesting links for April 28th 2008:
- Viralcom [Joey and David] – Wonderful satirical series of high-end videos which look at user-generated content, looking at the imagined high-end producers behind each viral hit! (Boy puts mentos in sister’s coke doesn’t just come from nowhere!) đŸ™‚
- Mobile phones outnumber Australians [ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)] – “For the first time the number of mobile phones in Australia exceeds the population, with recent growth being driven by a dramatic increase in 3-G phones…. there are now 21.26 million active phone services in the country.”
- Uni chief lifted text from Wikipedia [Australian IT] – “Griffith University vice-chancellor Ian O’Connor has admitted lifting information straight from online encyclopedia Wikipedia and confusing strands of Islam as he struggled to defend his institution’s decision to ask the repressive Saudi Arabian Governme
Links for April 27th 2008
Interesting links for April 27th 2008 through April 28th 2008:
- Nielsen Online: Produsage Trends in Australia and New Zealand [Produsage.org] – Using details from Nielsen Online, Axel gives an outline of how many Australians and Kiwis are using Web 2.0 tools, and how many are “produsing” (lowdown: a lot use, less make).
- Being a Researcher at a Liberal Arts College [Just TV] – Fascinating reflections from media scholar Jason Mittell and the pros and cons (mainly pros) of teaching in a US liberal arts college rather than one of the the larger, more prestigious, universities. (Esp useful for those of us outside looking in!)
- Israeli jailed for Facebook photo [BBC NEWS | Middle East] – “Israel has sentenced a soldier to 19 days in jail for uploading a photograph taken on his military base to the social networking website, Facebook. … The case follows widespread reports about the potential security risk of soldiers posting photos …”
Public Lecture: ‘Disability & Digital Cultures: Brave New Worlds, or Just New Forms of Injustice?’
Who: Professor Gerard Goggin , University of New South Wales
Where: Alexander Lecture Theatre, UWA
When: 6pm, Monday, 5 May 2008
The Blurb: From networked computers and Internet platforms such as blogging, YouTube, Second Life, and social software, through mobile phones, digital television and entertainment, digital technologies are at the centre of the dynamics of contemporary culture.
Disability is a pivotal part of this digital life. People with disabilities are playing an important yet under-appreciated role in the user-powered creative innovation coming out of digital cultures. At the same time old problems of accessibility and exclusion remain, while new forms of oppression and stereotyping are emerging.
In this lecture, Professor Goggin will explore this rich theme of disability and digital cultures, with case studies drawn from YouTube, Second Life, and mobile phones. He looks at the pressing concerns of accessibility, investigate what is distinctive about people with disabilities’ use of digital technologies, as well as considering how disability is being represented and constructed in new digital cultures. Finally, he will consider how these developments in disability and digital technology fit into the larger social, cultural and political arrangements of Australian life.
Biographical Note: Gerard Goggin is Professor of Digital Communication, and Deputy Director of the new Centre for Social Research in Journalism and Communication, University of New South Wales. He has had a long time interest in disability, digital technology, and media culture. With Christopher Newell he is author of “Digital Disability” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), and many other papers on technology, disability, and society. Christopher and Gerard’s second book “Disability in Australia: Exposing a Social Apartheid” (University of New South Press, 2005) was awarded the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Arts Non-Fiction prize. Gerard’s other books include “Global Mobile Media” (2009), “Internationalizing Internet Studies” (2008), “Mobile Technologies: From Telecommunications to Media” (2008), “Mobile Phone Cultures” (2007), “Cell Phone Culture” (2006), “Virtual Nation: The Internet in Australia” (2004), and “Digital Disability” (2003). Gerard is editor of the journal “Media International Australia”.
This public lecture precedes a one-day Seminar on Driving Change in the Disability Sector, sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies, the Western Australia Disability Collective and Equity & Diversity UWA.
Update: For those interested, Goggin’s lecture is now available as either streaming audio or for download here.
Mayer and Bettle are back!
Anyone who has ever tried to explain the importance of Creative Commons licenses to a new audience has probably played them the wonderful CC Mayer and Bettle Animation which was created back in 2005 by Pete Foley and others gathered together by CC Australia. The video features two animated characters whose adventures in downloading, copyright and content creation lead them to explore the utility of CC licenses for creators and for audiences. It’s also quite funny (featuring “the best song in the world!!”).
The great news is that the two central characters, Mayer and Bettle are back, joined this time by a new player in the game – Flick – in a new animated tale. This one looks at CC licenses in more depth, with a focus on making money off content creation while still using CC licensing. You really need to watch the original animation first for this sequel to make sense, but it’s another fine effort from CCau, making CC licenses understandable and accessible to a general (non-lawyerish) audience!
Update: For more info and a higher quality download, check out the official CCau blog. [Via Elliot’s CC Blog]
Neon Dreaming…
Did I mention I’ve been teaching in Blade Runner’s Los Angeles William Gibson’s Night City Hong Kong this week? The first time I came to Hong Kong, it was like stepping into a city I’d already met – it was total immersion in the world of cyberpunk, where unashamed capitalism suffers neither restraint nor irony. This visit is no different: at times I love and admire the city, and at times it gives me nightmares, but I’m sure I’ll never ever be able to say that I’m ambivalent! (And the cityscape lends itself rather well to a few photos here and there, too!)
Links for April 14th 2008
Interesting links for April 14th 2008:
- The new digital paparazzi [On Line Opinion – 14/4/2008] – Peter Black discusses “the new digital paparazzi” which are more likely friends, family, or even ourselves, posting photos online with little concern for personal privacy. Black argues that this is evident of a shift in the way privacy is thought about.
- Civil liberties expert slams email spying plans [ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)] – “The head of the Australian Council of Civil Liberties, Terry O’Gorman, says tighter laws to protect Australia against cyber terrorism threats are not needed.” (In the wake of proposed laws which would let certain employers read their employee’s email.)
- Study: Pirated Web Video Peaks 12-18 Hours After Broadcast [WatchingTV Online] – “Unauthorized viewing of popular TV shows on video-sharing Web sites like YouTube peaks between 12 and 18 hours after an episode is broadcast, according to a study conducted by Akamai Technologies and content-identification service provider Vobile.”
Marshine on Phobos!
Following on from my previous post about Mars and the wonderful work of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) project, I just had to post the image above which is of “Marshine” (sunlight reflected off of the surface of Mars) on Phobos, one of Mars’ moons. You can see more of Phobos at it’s HiRISE page, but just take a minute to look at that amazing image. For me, at least, it really captures the imagination and a sense of wonder about our wider universe! [Via]
Tama Leaver dot Net by Tama Leaver is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.