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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

From the shelf - II

City of Darkness comemorates one of mankind's forgotten relics, unfortunately bound to be obliviated. What we're dealing with of course is the story of that most mythical of places of yore, last century's rotten fruit of anglo-sino debauchery, the by-product of Hong Kong: Kowloon Walled City.
Alas, this is not entirely true, for the Walled City had been part of the Kowloon bay area for a long time, long before the acquisition of Hong Kong Island by the English. It was this landmark in World history that changed what was once a small, rural and peaceful town, whose famous walls had been set up as fortification for that coastal area. However, after the island transaction a series of misinterpretations of the article in the contract relating to the possession of Kowloon remained in debate... pretty much until the end of Hong Kong's lease in 1997.
This granted Kowloon the title of enclave and, almost, freestate; and it was this apparently effective yet twisted commune that stemmed so far from anarcho-syndicalism as possible made itself into what it was: a haven for the poor and outcast.
While living conditions could be compared to the common slums, it was the lack of government interference, legislation and, most importantly, service that set it apart. Buildings sprung up into the skies until the set limit of 14 stories had been reached (due to the proximity of Kai Tak airport), and for the most part could be traveled above ground, with various passages between them at upper levels. Water was drawn from wells and electrical wires were everywhere, a massive web that was so much a visual part of the City.

Who was to gain from this experience were not as could be easily thought and wrongly publicized, the black market and drug dealers (although they played their part, mostly in using the City as a temporary hideout) but free-enterprisers, like factories and medical offices, who came to the city as a way to set up shop while avoiding prohibitive land taxes in the populated and high-rolling Hong Kong island. And this was in fact what set it apart from the common slum. What transpires from this wonderful book is how Kowloon was made up of such a hardworking and tighknit community; a community who made a honest living and looked out for each other. Basic principles of associativism were followed to ensure basic services like electricity and trash collection could be brought from the outside, while even despite the absolutely labyrinthic nature of the streets, a regular postal delivery service could be mantained.
The book itself, more than a history book, presents itself through interviews with a series of inhabitants from the city at the time when the first evacuation waves started. This, coupled with the marvelous photographic work by the authors, gives a tremendous and invaluable insight into the lives of these hardworking men and women who, despite their harsh living conditions still looked forward to a good future within the city and couldn't hide disappointment in its evacuation (compensations were handed) and destruction.
Kowloon Walled City was desinfected and demolished by wrecking ball in 1993.

For more on this subject:
Kowloon Walled City Park
Video footage from inside Kowloon Walled City
Kowloon Walled City Japanese Expedition
Seminal 80s movie Bloodsport set in KWC, starring J.C.Van Damme

And Zeus smote him with a thunderbolt

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Annabel Lee



It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.



For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Edgar Allan Poe

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Hamlet

Hamlet, contrary to what one may suppose, uses Shakespeare not in the same way as Fatale used Wilde, or even American McGee’s Alice used Carroll. Quite differently, it simply borrows characters and situations from the Bard’s utter classic. Thus, while feeling a bit like a “story skin” on top of what is very essentially a puzzle game, it makes it all the more accessible, and is quite light entertainment.
This one seems a no-brainer for AmanitaDesign (Machinarium, Samorost) fans: it’s a pure puzzler with a slick character and environment design. However, unlike Amanita’s games, it suffers from having perhaps less talented authors. The characters are endearing, taking us back to cartoons from the golden age of animation. The mouse pointer is (I suppose) an hommage to Neverhood’s very own, which was quite a nice, and deserved, surprise. The puzzles however aren’t as inventive. There’s no item menu, so every puzzle is solved within the same screen. They’re also very familiar, from the folkish style ones that are present in Prof. Layton games, to adventure games’ staples. All in all, you won’t see anything new that will make you think differently.
The music department is also a far cry from Machinarium’s superb compositions, although it plays its part.
Bottom line, this game has a lot of visual style that should appeal during the hour or so that it takes to be beat. Other aspects however show that this game is very much an independent and singular effort, that just doesn’t have as much polish as the token oeuvres of the genre. However, it is worth the single play, and I’ll be very much looking forward to improvement in Romeo & Juliet, the next game in the series.
Hamlet demo

Flower



I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils

W. Wordsworth

Has poetry made its way into video games now?
From a design standpoint, Flower is perhaps the greatest experience in the medium ever made. Furthering the exploits of tgc’s previous flOw, but now in a fully 3D environment, Flower drops us on fields and lets us indulge in simple rambling delights. Though there are objectives and even secrets for the most challengeable players, there is no doubt that what stands Flower apart is its accessibility to a new audience. Again furthering the exploits of flOw, Flower has perhaps the most simple and accessible controls in a videogame, with full SIXAXIS directional control and any face button for a small boost. This ties down with the simplicity and slickness of the style. Adepts of a pure design, you’re set with nothing but the bare essentials; there’s no HUD and no menus. The goal, either, is ever explained but through the gameplay: should you wish to, collect petals that add to your gust of wind, and rejuvenate the world.
You’re presented with 6 stages, which makes for quite varied atmospheres, however short. A full completion of the game will last longer though. Flower’s finesse reaches its climax, appropriately, in the last stage, a true visual and playable delight, and one of the better moments I’ve found in this generation of games.
Flower expands on flOw’s concept of straightforward design in videogames. Much more than numbskull ramblers, they entice the user with freedom within game rules, and an incredible sense of immersion. Flower’s superb visuals and soundtrack do much to this effect. The coupling with the sensible control scheme almost brings the player forward into the world, as if grasped by the wireless plastic wand into a dream world of eco-human critique.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Songs from the Bell Tree - I


Jirô Taniguchi couldn't have been more proud.
Fictional realism, while absurd in theory, gathers itself as a transition between the utopical realism and delirious fantasy, aiming for a best result in achieving creativity (defeating reality) but giving it common sense (disabling fantasy). The best of both worlds can be seen in this picture. While having for inspiration a measure of reality, with complex weather, construction poles, signs, electrical boxes, and the like... it takes it away by enabling game, and not life, design to come in place. The roads are mathematically correct, with a flat texture, the children are mostly rigid and you can't defy the gamerules. However, it gives us a comical coke immitation in Bell Wood's Cola ('bell wood' meaning 'suzuki', the director's surname), as well as original capsule toys.
The storefront is also a delight. Quite the antithesis of modern stores, notice how only letters are involved in its advertisement. In fact, if you can't read them, you could only take for granted the soft drink and toy dispensers at the front, as a hint to what might be a convenience store. This is pure design: it maintains all the usefulness, but those barren, almost dirty and old doors give us something to yearn for. That it gives us no look into what goods, if any, they might be trading in, cloaks it in a shroud of mistery, filling us with emotions as we stand by and dare enter. I'm not going to ruin anything for you, but it's quite a surprise inside, and it definitely does not disappoint.
That proves another point. If realism and fantasy are both defeated, there must concepts created to maintain the level ground; meaning that from then on out, the coherence standard is artificial, but still created by the author.

From the shelf - I


Mr. Shirer's personal experience as a journalist and american living in Germany doesn't cloud too terribly this thoroughly detailed account of the last of the charismatic empires of Europe.
Although far from an impartial affair, it gives good light on these turbulent and dramatic times, and shows very well how the spokes of high politics turn.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

First short - Short work




O Lord! They're hangin' white men now!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

In my time of dyin'


Well, in my time of dying don't want nobody to mourn
All I want for you to do is take my body home
Well, well, well, so I can die easy
Well, well, well
Well, well, well, so I can die easy
Jesus gonna make up, Jesus gonna make up
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed.

Well, meet me Jesus, meet me, meet me in the middle of the air
If these wings should fail to me,
Lord, won't you meet me with another girl ?
Well, well, well, so I can die easy
Well, well, well
Well, well, well, so I can die easy
Jesus gonna make up, Jesus gonna make up
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed.









Lord, in my time of dying don't want nobody to cry
All I want you to do is take me when I die
Well, well, well, so I can die easy
Well, well, well
Well, well, well, so I can die easy
Jesus gonna make up, Jesus gonna make up
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed.



Essay nr.2:

Guiltily, Mort Jackson eyes over his wife. It had been some time since their eyes had last met; vanity is a word for the frail – none more than Mr. & Mrs. Jackson. Those dull, lifeless eyes are void of the shining which had once enthralled Mort who, then at the might and full potential of having reached legal age, was eager to cover them with his manliness. “Shine” is not kept forth unto the years’ passing. It’s as such a guarantee as vascular illness. Why would Mort, consistent male, masteroftheuniverse, have instead the gaze of guilt in his? What foul play by Nature on such a commanding creature-God. Mort is baffled, as guilt is spread now across his face, thick drops of sweat being actually showered from within, masteroftheuniverse in a microcosmos, eyes as white as dead skin, skin moist and itchy, adrenaline is playing its part, but guilt will not be subsided.
His legs must be bent, a chair! Alas, poor Mort, now mere dust at the sight of those dull and void eyes of his wife, how tragic, how humane. To never be under control that is the real thing, to be swept in waves to the oblivion of the self, to never merge, to understand naught, bliss.
Eyes ever closer, throat ever tighter; gasping for air, he reaches for the Mrs’ hands, something, but it’s no use, there he goes, down.
What’s there to think about in a time like this, grasping at one’s throat while kicking about in the ground? Odd as it seems, Mort’s mind is not unplugged. Rushing dreams pour through his mind’s eye, vivid and disturbing, but absolutely true. An unruly class of apes living on luxury quarters, Sodom and Gomorrah revisited in all the top tourist destinations, and a great mistrust between all the different Peoples. Into the future he goes, a great racial war, the suicide babies, the christian sodomites, the muslim harlots, the scum of the earth in primordial broth, as though the Great Satan himself is the master mixer, and there is just an overwhelming feeling that seems to unite just about everybody to commit mass murder, in accordance to the latest fashion.
All the while Mrs. Jackson has turned Mort’s body downward, and slipped the knife into his hand, taking the recommended hygienic guidelines for the appearance being suicidal.
Consequence was minimal - she would never be happy.

End.

Its meaning is universal: It is the permanent or semipermanent bond between a man and a woman, establishing responsibilities between the couple and any children that ensue.

No matter how sexually attracted a man might be toward other men, or a woman toward other women, and no matter how close the bonds of affection and friendship might be within same-sex couples, there is no act of court or Congress that can make these relationships the same as the coupling between a man and a woman.

This is a permanent fact of nature.


Married people are doing something that is very, very hard -- to combine the lives of a male and female, with all their physical and personality differences, into a stable relationship that persists across time.

When they are able to create children together, married people then provide the role models for those children to learn how to become a man or a woman, and what to expect of their spouse when they themselves marry.

It's about grandchildren. That's what all life is about. It's not enough just to spawn -- your offspring must grow up in circumstances that will maximize their reproductive opportunities.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Heavy Rain

Despite the occasional gloom, the use of lighting and colour is top notch


HR would be better defined as a convergence of two ill-fated genres: the interactive movie and the adventure game; to its manifest advantage it provides more than enough improvements to both. While it trades adventure’s staple puzzles for QTE-laden action sequences and does away with item inventories, it does manage to get a much tighter focus on storytelling and character development (often times a “less-than-stellar” characteristic of even modern adventure games, due to pacing issues and uni-dimensional leads); as for interactive movies, it’s by far the most dynamic experience ever done in the field, due to its adequate replay value, easy controls and overall good cinematic direction and sensibility (apart from some aspects to be explored further down), meshed with addictive pacing and fantastic (imo) character design.

Ever since first clips had come about, the beginning sequence had always seemed to me the most enticing, and I was thus very eager to sit down and try it. Not just the “lost child” premise, but the bit that came before, which ends up having tutorial purposes (not to Shenmue and Fahrenheit fans of course), but presents nonetheless a far undertapped scenario, the familial, so to speak, rummaging. Just like the first character we get to play with, we wake up into this world, which isn’t yet filled with the titular heavy rain, and presents us in morning glory one of the most unique and dazzling sequences in videogames. Akin to Ryo Hazuki’s first delvings in Hazuki manor, you’re free to explore your house; while the level of environment interaction is not on par with Shenmue’s (but then again, no game is and probably will ever be), it’s still far and beyond the scope of usual adventure and action/adventure games.

From the start it behaves less like a videogame than most. Many complained about character control; that seems to me a non-issue. I found it in fact very familiar to Shenmue’s control, with a non-analog button to go forward (but in this case, pression-sensitive) and an analog to look around. If there is sometimes a bit of control confusion that is presented by the camera which sits usually not behind you in 3rd-person fashion but is usually more dynamic, akin to the adventure genre. I support this decision though, because due to the game’s nature of indoors settings and cinematic approach, the dynamic camera suits it best and, coupled with the control scheme, allows for non-videogame architecture to be used, and thus more realism. What I mean by this is, unlike most videogames where room/city architecture is suited for 3rd person cameras, with room to walk around with no objects near (so you don’t get stuck), in HR there’s a more realistic architectural disposition, with more realistic rooms. Think for instance of Shenmue’s almost “race-track” streets or sort of void Kowloon appartments, or GTA’s stripped down feel of interiors, and you get the point, I reckon.
Still, many objects can be interacted with and many chairs and tables to sit or lean on, particularly in HR’s dynamic conversations.
The QTEs are of course a big part of it, but they feel for the most part organic with the controller (and thus with yourself). Sometimes you make mistakes because of what you thought you had to do isn’t what you end up doing, but this proves itself an interesting piece of design, just like in Far Cry 2, the fact that you’re not always in control.

Keeping up with what I thought was one of the best characteristics of Fahrenheit, HR uses several characters to tell the same story. This helps keep things dynamic and fresh, as most scenarios are usually in unique locations, keeping things constantly different and exciting. Despite the gloomy look of the heavy rains the visuals keep fresh and original, a valid gift from adventure games (without the need for token international metropolises à la Broken Sword).
The four main leads are extremely well designed. Although the detective and criminologist are a sort of cliché of their professions (the detective even drives a vintage style car), they amaze above all by the realism with which they’re portrayed. This, I think, comes from the game’s unique euro-sensibilities, something which has been gradually lost since the 90s. This would be matter for a complete dissertation, but the fact is, like japanese and american games are, for the most part, different, so are european (through their many game-developing countries) different; that is, when they’re not trying to immitate the more profitable (apparently) american sensibilities.
In fact, and despite the game being clearly set in America, I found myself taking full advantage of being able to play the euroversion (mainland only, I’m guessing), and my first time through was played in German, despite not knowing one bit. I know, crazy, and I have been on medication lately, but it just seemed so much more in sync with german drama/cop shows like Cobra Alert that I just couldn’t resist. The fact that the town was not heavily localized also helped, as the more gloomy bits seem just out of former eastern Germany; everything, I don’t know, the characters, the clothes, the rain, the lack of non-white characters? (Mad Jack seemed almost like a more tipical depiction of black people in japanese games; a sharp contrast from the funk-clichéd but endearing character from Fahrenheit)… it did help that the german dub seemed to be one of the best, with good voice actors, and none of the “french actors playing american” problems that hampered the english dub.
Apart from the four leads and some other characters (the store owner, the killer’s mother (how often do you see a character like THAT in a videogame?!), lt. Blake…) there’s a big difference to the level of detail in other characters, being bland and sometimes (as is often the case in games) repetitive. Although this might be something that wouldn’t stand out if the leads weren’t so defined…

Another thing that obviously stands out are the imposing themes exploited. Love and loss, parenting, sacrifice, even drug abuse and illness… obviously the dramatic scope is wide and usually well oriented. If everything is not to everyone’s taste, I think we have to agree that the simple inclusion of themes like these in a videogame is worthy of merit by itself; any psychoanalist will tell you that much more than being fragged by an alien invader, losing a child is the greatest pain that can be inflicted.
The soundtrack is also much better-than-average by videogame standards; it does suffer on one thing, which is length. The themes are short, although due to the also short nature of the game, they don’t get dramatically repetitive.
Where the game suffers most is, I think, not in the overly-dramatic sequences, which after all are very fresh for the genre, but the rate and quality of cinema nods, which end up dettaching from the experience (after all, you forget about the game, and remember the movie it is hommaging). 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Se7en… can you spot them all? Tarantino picks this off right because his movies are “comedical”, and it suits its pacing. In the field of self-designated “interactive drama”, it just can’t be played out like that. Cage seemed to have wanted to put a lot of stuff in. Perhaps the thing that is missing in videogames is the position of Editor.
A lot of plotholes have been pointed out as well, but again, this seems to me like complaints from people who want to be spoonfed everything and not willing to think or interpret things by themselves. It may seem convoluted at times, but everything can make sense when you understand that these are not your average unidimensional, superactionhero characters.
On a final note, I’d like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the unlockable art pictures. They’re a beautiful insight into the locales of the game and it’s a dear shame that they didn’t put it out as an artbook in a special edition (which, for what it was, was incredibly disappointing).



As an adept of both “non-game games” and adventure games, Heavy Rain suits me in every way. As a PS3 exclusive I’d deem it almost mandatory to try an original experience that is easy to get into and provides a sort of experience seldom given in the medium (and definitely not with this polish).
Personally, I can’t wait to see what QD pull next.