VIDEO GAMES were invented in 1947 by a guy trying to show people how cool science and technology were in a museum, he worried that the rest of his museum was boring. Cure your boredom with this fun little show guide.
VOCAB
Game Streamers- An online streamer or live streamer is a type of social media influencer who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience. They make money off of views and tips, and try to be entertaining. Kai Cenat (one of the most famous) makes 1-3 million dollars just playing games on camera.
Subs - Gifted subs on Twitch are paid channel subscriptions that one user buys and gives to another viewer for free
Silent Hill - Silent Hill is a psychological and occult horror franchise about exploring inner demons, guilt, loss, and exploring you’re emotions in a mysterious misty town in Maine.
Sims- Dollhouse, sandbox game that allows you to live and watch “life”.
Indie Game- Indie video game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams, and typically without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most AAA games.
Kirby- Kirby's signature skill is his ability to inhale objects or creatures and spit them out as projectiles, as well as the ability to suck in air to float over obstacles. His Copy Ability grants him the power to adopt the abilities of the creatures he inhales, while also wearing various costumes or transforming his shape. He uses these abilities to rescue various lands. He’s like Rogue but weird… lol
Captain Falcon- Protagonist of the F-Zero series. He is an F-Zero racer and a renowned intergalactic bounty hunter. But we’ve never actually seen him do any bounty hunting….
Piranha Plant- An Enemy of Mario.
Super Smash Bros. - Smash Bros is a 4 Player non-traditional fighting game featuring various Nintendo Character and even some 3rd party characters.
Internet Troll - A troll is a person who posts mean, false, or upsetting messages online just to make people angry or start a fight
FUN DEEP THOUGHTS FOR NERDS
Do video games allow us to explore our shadow?
Carl Jung thought we constantly living as a Persona which is great for society and survival, these tribal relationships allow us to create incredible systems but that can be hard on the ego and soul. To not explore these other sides of ourselves, desires that can be lived in a video game but real life. Also seeing things you're not supposed to do allows for inherent pleasure which is why we like certain TV shows too. People are interested in authenticity. In video games, you get to do things you never normally could. So we can explore our psyche, the light and dark in a much healthier way.
Being the Bad Guy:
New Yorker writer Simon Parkin says Untitled Goose Game where you walk around as an obnoxious Goose causing terror on the town gives you a feeling of control in a time where you have so little. And perhaps a metaphor for fighting those who are in control when you’ve finally had enough.
Are the choices you make in a game real?
Carl Jung and Nietzche thought that Good and Evil were not inherently written into the universe, people create these categories based on survival and tribalism. Is it inherently wrong to sometimes twist these things around to better see things with more perspective? Assassin’s Creed scrutinizes major powers in history to help us imagine that just because the dominoes fell the way they did, doesn’t mean they weren’t manipulated. Perhaps the Templars are always pulling strings, even things that seem innocent could be potentially malice. BioShock and BioShock: Infinite and Last of Us make you question at the end if you were actually playing as the good guy afterall. What seemed like all of the rights choices, were actually horrendous, and making you play as these characters bearing the illusion of control, forces you to ask yourself if all of your own decisions are the correct ones.
Ship of Theseus?
People tend to release games either unfinished or live with monthly or even weekly updates? Does this mean it continues to be the same game? In Minecraft and Fortnite the world is always being manipulated… and the gameplays and goals are completely yours, if the substance, objects, and even form of the game is susceptible to change what defines a titled video game. If the game keeps changing and people keep adding things to add, and it costs you... do you ever own it? With the death of physical discs this becomes a bigger question.