vox-populi
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Levine: Occupy Wall Street and tea party mirror revolution in BioShock Infinite
Irrational Games' creative frontman Ken Levine started Occupy Wall Street in a city in the sky, a year before the first tent was pitched on the ground in Manhattan -- and if his timeline of events in BioShock Infinite is any indication of our own future, we'd better start building some evacuation skyhooks yesterday. Levine draws parallels between the fighting political factions in Infinite, the Founders and the Vox Populi, and the OWS and tea party movements, in an interview with the Washington Post. But it doesn't start -- or stop -- there: "In this world, we came up with the idea of looking at what was happening at the time of the game [the 1890s], with the jingoism movement and the nationalist movement versus internationalist movement," Levine said. "This was before the tea party, before Occupy Wall Street. Actually, when people saw that demo, they thought we were aping the tea party; they thought it was a hit piece on the Tea Party. But these movements tend to happen. There have been nationalist and nativist movements many times through history. "As we developed these opposing groups," Levine continued, "the Founders versus the Vox Populi, it was interesting to see this play out in real time, so that the fictional movements we're creating that are set in this heightened past are almost being duplicated in reality." The polarizing views in the game mirror real-life partisan perception of the BioShock games, Levine said, with people on both sides vilifying them for opposing reasons. Infinite demonstrates a possible outcome of such political extremes, with Columbia seceding from McKinley-era America and devolving into violent drama. "I hope the real-life movements don't head to the same place, though," Levine said. "I'm not going anywhere nice, I'll tell you that much."
Ministry of War announces Vox Populi contest
If you're ever wanted to put words in the mouth of an MMO NPC (and who hasn't), now's your chance. Snail Games USA has announced the Vox Populi contest for its free-to-play MMORTS known as Ministry of War. The title, currently in closed beta, is a browser-based MMO that allows players to conquer territory as one of four ancient civilizations (China, Egypt, Persia, or Rome). To get in on the contest, and play puppet-master to your very own MMO NPC, head to the beta forums for the complete contest rules and requirements. Entering the Vox Populi competition also makes you eligible for a beta key, and you could be one of five finalists to compete for the coveted grand prize of having your quote spoken by an in-game villager.
E3 Vox Populi: Who had the best press conference?
Yesterday, we asked a few people on the show to give their reaction to the following question: "which of the big 3 press conferences (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) impressed you the most?" Here are some reactions we got:Ben Sawyer: Digital Mill / Games for Health"Sounds like Nintendo won. Microsoft shows incremental improvements and Sony had ... a messy conference"Libe Goad: AOLMicrosoft won. They were actually showing some games. And games that i want to play! I'm really fascinated by Live Everywhere ... They're really leveraging the Microsoft monolith to put games everywhere.Brandee: PMS Clan"Well I didn't see any of the press conferences, so I'll be more general. When you let someone else go last you give them the edge. Nintendo was last to unveil the really big details. Microsoft and Sony have announced their prices, and now they've left it open for Nintendo to price their console at a really reasonable price."Carinda: Gameinatrix.com"Just on reputation alone, Nintendo. I haven't paid too much attention to the conferences but everyone's talking Nintendo."Ryan (college student)"Initially Sony, but i think the balance has shifted to Microsoft. They're doing some cool stuff."
Real people speak out about Wii [Update 1]
As a way of formalizing the "all my friends think Wii is [insert adjective here]" meme that's flowing through our comments system, we've set out three questions that will reveal what friends, relatives and strangers really think about the Nintendo Wii. All the people in this informal vox populi were shown a piece of paper with the word "Wii" drawn on it and asked: how they think it's pronounced what type of product they think it might be once they're told that it's the name of Nintendo's next-gen console, what their immediate reaction is.If you'd like to take part, just follow these guidelines and post your vox pops in the comments. The whole point of the survey is to record unrehearsed and therefore instinctual responses to the name -- so make sure your subjects haven't heard of the Wii before and that they weren't aware of the survey before you asked them to take part.Female, aged 30. From Hong Kong.Q: How do you pronounce the name?A: "Wee" (got it first time)Q: What does this name make you think of?A: A urinal? Candy? It's kind of trendy, kind of modern. Maybe a trendy urinal? Maybe a sporting goods product? Maybe something that goes fast, like rollerblades? Probably a product for little kid because it's simple and very simplistic.Q: What if I told you it's for a games product?A: Games are supposed to be complicated. I wouldn't have guessed that.
