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Beneath the surface of Animal Crossing
Kudos to 1up and Nadia Oxford for posting a truly excellent article that examines how the personality traits of Animal Crossing players are reflected (and distorted) in their endearingly constructed and personalized towns. The findings point to something quite sinister, with many suspicious objects and design choices littering each of the four towns that the author pays a virtual visit to. As with anything overly cute and seemingly free of worry, there's just something not right about these towns. Take for instance, the many mysterious and seemingly innocent holes that litter the landscape in one town. "I asked about the holes, and No. 1 assured me that they were his roommate's doing -- maybe he was digging for a mole cricket and didn't bother to fill them in. I answered in the affirmative...but, unbidden, an image came to mind of the town ablaze, its screaming animals attempting to flee the inferno, only to be barred by a man-made moat."Or how about the subject that, in real life, often works in the presence of children, and yet has a town overrun with foul-mouthed citizens donning considerably rude articles of clothing? It's interesting to note the differences and similarities between the player and their in-game representation, especially in this case where said representation is an entire, socially (dys)functional town. Games such as these often allow us to express ourselves in ways which suit our personality, but also in ways that don't. With no real repercussions to worry about, we can often get away by acting out of character or trying an approach that we'd normally attempt to avoid. How do you and your Animal Crossing denizens match up?
Flock updated, for real this time
Last week we thought the Firefox-based Flock browser had updated their developer preview to 0.60, adding a slew of new and updated features. A TUAW reader noted a slight mix-up in the actual version that was available for download, and everyone was left scratching their head.Over the weekend, I noticed that they actually have updated the developer preview - to version 0.5.11. While the version numbers are different, I'm pretty sure the added/updated features are still right on the money, and there's quite a few of them. As you can see in the release notes, new features include: Firefox-like auto-updating, a second online bookmark service, Shadows.com (which adds some neat ideas to the del.icio.us bookmark sharing paradigm), the ability to keep some bookmarks private, spell checking (c'mon, Firefox!), drag and drop Flickr uploading, better blogging and RSS engines, and much more.Once again, while this is still a developer preview (which means it will act funny and crash from time to time), I highly recommend checking out Flock if you'd like to see what a "social web browser" is all about.
Changing "games"
There's food for thought on the table over at Game Politics--is it time to say goodbye to "games" and rebrand the entertainment form that we know and love? The word "game" has been used for decades, but its connotations are perhaps too ingrained for today's market, as GP's commentary says:When video games came along a quarter-century ago, even their creators saw them as children's entertainment. They were marketed to kids in retail toy stores - still are, in fact. Such critics will always equate "games" with "toys" - and thus with children. Despite the fact that many games aren't kid-friendly, much of the controversy surrounding video games centres on the relationship between children and the mature content found in certain games. Is it time to give games a new name? GP argues that such a step could help differentiate adult-oriented titles and those meant for children.It could also help to legitimise our hobby--"interactive entertainment" has a more grown-up ring to it than "games", although any mention of the word "adult" turns it into a risqué euphemism for pornography. This isn't the first time this concept has been discussed--Frontier's David Braben brought up the idea last year. However, the sticking point seems to be coming up with a term that has the universal appeal of "game". Many people are attached to the labels "game" and "gamer", and changing the terminology we use every day is not an easy task.
Real friends, real relationships forged online
This article at 2old2play takes a look at how we form relationships with others online, questioning the assumption that "real life" friends are the only sort of friendships worth having. Getting to know and like people via Xbox Live and other services isn't the exclusive domain of the nerd, nor has it been for some time.While friendships formed online have been flourishing for years, the advent of easily available voice chat certainly makes it easy to feel close to those you play with on Xbox Live. Spending time together in the same place, even if it is a Halo 2 map, can lead to heart-to-heart conversations -- hanging out in the pregame lobby, or just wandering around a map with friends, brings Xbox Live close to feeling like a virtual world rather than a framework for FPS combat.
