Music in Video Gaming: Great Achievement or Greatest Achievement?

In my very first blog post, I presented gamer comics to you fine people, showing why they were super awesome (in scientific terms.) Then in my second blog post, I presented more comics, but in a more parody milieu.

And now we go once more into the breach. The gaming breach. And don't think for a second I'm not proud of sneaking a Shakespeare reference into a blog post about video games.

OC Remix. The OC Remix is mercifully unrelated to the prime time soap opera of similar name. Instead, it's a community dedicated to remixing music from various video games and presenting them in new and interesting ways. Some of them are serious adaptations of themes from games (such as this version of the iconic Gerudo Valley theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) while some are more parody (such as this version of the Chocobo Theme from the Final Fantasy series.) They're not all great, they're not all even good. Some of them are just plain bizarre. But it's an interesting take on part of what makes video games as popular as they are.

ZREO. ZREO has largely the same idea as OC Remix, except that it focuses specifically on Zelda. The Zelda series has always had extremely memorable music, from the very beginning on the eight-bit system. Anyone who's ever played will know that the theme is so recognizable that once learned, it's never forgotten. Yes, I can name that tune in three notes. (Video games, Shakespeare, and old game shows are the pop culture reference hat trick.)

ZREO is beautiful and OC Remix is creative beyond measure. That's all you need to know.

Peter, Please!

This website was given to me by one of the fourth graders at the school in which I work. Although that may be a combination of both bad and good, the truth is that almost every other fourth grader joined in the conversation about how many times they have fooled their friends using this website. www.peteranswers.com. On this site, you ask an imaginary tarot reader to answer your questions. I realize that this may be beyond our age group, but the conversation turned into all of the kids telling me how they have had a myspace since 2nd grade, while some of the first graders explained their time spent on you tube. Is this a scary realization to anyone else? I mean, I have seen many a you tube video, and in all honesty, is that what we want our first graders "accidentally" clicking on while browsing the internet? Come on people, parental controls, please!

Cell Phones and Kids

Cell phones in today’s society are a must have, it seems like if you don’t have one or one of the newer style phones you are just out of the loop. I remember I had to wait until I was sixteen years old to get a cell phone, and I felt like I was the last person to get one. Now, I see all these really young kids with them, my little cousin who is in the fifth grade got a cell phone for her birthday this month and said that she was one of the last kids in her grade to get a phone. I mean personally I think it’s crazy the way that this young of a person has to have a phone, maybe in emergency, but it just feels like kids are starting things at such a younger age now. There are also so many different styles of phones now with internet on them and everything, it’s like all you need is your phone anymore. We’ve come a long way since the day of the bag phones, but the most interesting is that these kids have to have cell phones to fit in with our pop culture.

Dudeism

Jefferey "The Dude" Lebowski is the main character in the Coen Brothers' 1998 film, "The Big Lebowski". This charcter has spawned a religion, Dudeism, based on The Dude's lifestyle. Followers are expected to adhere to a strict regimen of White Russians and Creedence 
Clearwater Revival tapes. If you are a fan of the movie, 
it is an entertaining read, so check it out!

sudoku

Sudoku is a Japanese game that has recently taken America by storm. Although this game comes in a variety of formats, the most common consists of a huge square made up of 81 small boxes that are partitioned into 3x3 boxes containing nine small boxes in each. The goal of the puzzle is to fill each individual box with a number from 1-9 so that each number is not repeated straight across, down, or in each partitioned box of nine smaller squares. The game is simple but addicting. I am evidence of this because I do Sudoku constantly. I fill the squares in while watching television, while in lecture or while I'm just bored and have nothing else to do. In addition, the prevelence of Sudoku in our culture only exacerbates my situation. Sudoku is everywhere; there are sudoku websites online, sudoku is found in our own college newspaper (U Weekly and The Lantern), Mac's even come equipped with Sudoku as one of their games. Sudoku serves as the crossword puzzle of our generation and the puzzle we can't seem to quit. With this said, I'd like to apologize for posting this link that will inevitably aid in procrastination and break even the most diligent student's resolve to study: online sudoku

Toothpaste for Dinner

Here is today's drawing from Toothpaste for Dinner. Toothpaste for Dinner is a site with a collection of comics drawn by a man named Drew who is located out of Columbus, Ohio. Everyday since 2002 Drew has uploaded a different drawing everyday. His cartoons are characterized by the black and white simplicity and also by it's off beat humor. Here's the link:

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/

Guitar Hero

Easily the most popular rhythm-based video game of all-time, the Guitar Hero craze has swept the United States. Chances are that you have played this game, and if you haven't, you've at least seen it in action. If you're one of the six people in the country that don't know what I'm talking about, here's the premise:

1. Take one plastic guitar with five "fret" buttons.
2. Pick a song to play, which range from tracks by the Rolling Stones to songs by Disturbed.
3. Play the notes by matching up the on-screen buttons with the buttons on the guitar and strumming in time with the song
4. Congrats, you're a Guitar Hero in training.

Why has Guitar Hero been so popular since its release? I attribute it to how easy and fun it is to pick up and play, no matter what your skill level. A great selection of songs spanning three Guitar Hero games (with one 80's rock expansion) also helps keep newer and older fans coming back. With the release of "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" later this summer, don't expect the Guitar Hero fad to go away any time soon. Now if you'll excuse me, I hear Metallica's "One" calling my name...

007

One of my favorite books/movies is From Russia With Love, which is part of the James Bond franchise. What started out as a series of spy novels has turned into one of the longest running movie franchises ever, and it continues to grow with the release of the next film this November. The reach of this character has by far surpassed the expectations of its creator, Ian Fleming. Fleming died shortly before the release of the third movie, Goldfinger, which has become one of the most popular films in the series. The James Bond series has branched off into video games, spin-off novels, and it has even been spoofed with the Austin Powers movies. There are fan groups all over the world. One of the websites that you can go to is http://www.mi6.co.uk/mi6.php3
At this site, there are a bunch of updates every week that have to do with everything Bond, from the release of the next film's title, to cast autograph sessions, and when you can see a movie on TV in different countries. Even if you have never seen a 007 movie, or read one of the books, you know the basics about them: girls, guns, gadgets, and a maniac trying to take over the world.

American Idol

I was actually really surprised to see that no one has posted about American Idol yet. You've at least heard of the show or listened the the music of the winners on the radio. The point is that you know of it whether or not you watch it. But in case you've been living under a rock for the last six years, American Idol is a reality television show where the contestants from all over the country participate in a singing competition. In the initial stages, three judges--Randy, Paula and Simon-- select a group of 24 people out of thousands of auditions. Those 24 are then able to perform live on television. The best part of the entire show is that America votes for the winner. American Idol has made Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood household names. Even nonwinners, like Chris Daughtry, have benefited from being on the show. This season's contestants are proving to be the most promising yet. As for me... I'm rooting for the guy with dreads :)

Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like is a blog that pokes fun at "white culture" by listing things that, according the website, all white people love. This list includes: Expensive Sandwiches, Knowing What’s Best for Poor People, Kitchen Gadgets, and many others. This list is by no means representative of 
all white people, but rather stereotypical 20-30 year olds. This blog has many pop culture references and is 
amusing to read, as you many see many things that are 
applicable to you or your friends.

Juggalo Culture

Juggalos are the fans of the music group Insane Clown Posse (ICP). They  believe in "The Dark Carnival",  a philosophy outlined by six Insane Clown Posse albums. They are also devout drinkers of the bargain brand pop, Faygo. For some reason, these fans are insanely devoted. Many have one or more tattoos showing their commitment 
to the band. They even  have their own version of Myspace, Myjuggalospace. To me, this whole things seems 
ridiculous. It seems crazy for these people to have such a high level 
of devotion to clown-themed music that most would agree is not that great. Insane Clown Posse has been declared "the worst band ever" 
by various publications, and their music has been described as a
combination of the "worst aspects of goth, punk, gangsta rap, rave,
nu-metal, and real metal". Even though I may not understand juggalos,
their devotion is a sight to behold as they post pictures of themselves in clown face paint on the internet.

pirated entertainment

With the advancements in technology and mass distribution, "bootleg" copies have become common in culture. The two most common forms that I have found are in music and movies/television. To create bootleg movies, many people go to the theater with a handheld camera, tape the whole movie and then post it online or make copies of the tape and sell them illegally. In most cases, the bootleg copy of a lower quality and grainy or hard to hear. In addition, many music pirating sites have been a controversial part of society for years. Limewire and napster are two such websites. Recently, the government is attempting to reduce pirated culture by threatening its existence with legal consequences. One way that they do this is by going into university servers and looking and individual student's activity on this shared network. I'm not sure on the details, but I believe if you share your music, they can see this and sue you based on how many songs they have. Although unsure of the details, I am positive that this exists because my friend, a former student at OU is currently undergoing legal ramifications for her songs. Although the government is punishing these acts, I'm sure that pirated entertainment will not cease to exist, however, will people's fear of legal ramifications result in its becoming less mainstream?

The Education Arcade

In class we touched bases on the game Revolution. I tried to download the game after having to create a username, password and the rest of that jazz but I still could not play it. From looking at the game the graphics are indeed nice and it does somewhat have a goal to educate others about history and does a good job of giving players a chance to show their smarts by competing with others but perhaps this is a little too much. Those of the African American Community may become offended when they see that this 'game' actually has slaves in it. Games are a part of pop culture but offending others is not. African Americans have suffered enough when slavery actually occured and to add this to a computer game may give others the wrong idea. What would whites think if it was the other way around? Since most of the modules are posted by annonymous and not someone with at least a screen name it makes the game questionable.

here is the link just in case
http://www.educationarcade.org/revolution

The LEGO Community

A while ago I went to google to look something up and I noticed the word google was pictured differently than usual. It was spelled out using Lego bricks in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first lego brick. It reminded me of how much I used to love playing with Legos when I was younger. I decided to search for Lego on google instead of whatever it was I originally was going to search for and found some interesting sites. There is a vast community online created by fans of the toy. One of the sites I found, lugnet.com, is a site that has forums to discuss legos and report news items. another site, brickshelf.com, is a site where fans can upload pictures of creations they've made with their own bricks. I spent some time looking through some of these and they range from models that look like something I would have made when I was 6 or 7 to models that I had to look at closely to see if it was actually made out of legos. I also found some sites that incorporated legos into gaming. I thought these were kind of interesting. I also found that there are conventions held all over the place where people come together to create large scale models such as cities or castle villages. Here's a video of the set up of one of these conventions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pVJqHqyIWo&mode=related&search=
After looking at all of these sites, it kind of made me want to dig out my legos and start building something.

Now children can get their "creep" on!

webkinz! the new plush animal craze (there is a new one every year or two) is here and they are taking their product further than any stuffed animal has been. webkinz are stuffed animals that you can purchase at various retailers, and they come with a number tag around their neck. the owner can, then, go to www.webkinz.com and register the doll, give it a cute name, customize a room for it, feed it, play with it, etc. the creepy part is that kids can invite other kids into their room to play together. as if we haven't been warned enough to keep children from the internet. neither here nor there, these webkinz are taking over! from a pop culture aspect, webkinz are just the latest popular plush collectible, similar to trolls/beanie babies/bratz/etc. Webkinz havea one up on the previous products though, the interaction. which i think will make it the most widespread, and popular fluff-movement ever.

Ugg Boots

I'm sure most of you have seen these boots before. Ugg boots have become very trendy on college campuses, and on OSU's campus as well. It seems like one out of every five girls walking around campus wears a pair. Ugg brand orginated out of Austrailia and became extremely popular in the US a few years ago. The site that I got this picture from also sells this type of boot. They were sold out for the season, however they cost $150. A little too pricey for me.

eco-friendly websites

For some reason it never works when I try to post the links.
Here they are again...hopefully it works this time!

http://www.thegreenloop.com/aboutus.asp
http://environment.about.com/od/earthtalkcolumns/a/ecofashion.htm

Eco-fashion: Trendy and Eco-Friendly

This post is in connection to our class discussion about how certain political causes seem to move in and out of fashion. One such cause that is very in mode right now is that of saving the planet. Everywhere you go you see signs telling to you "go green" or "protect the environment". While it can be frustrating that some people inevitably only care about these causes because they are cool, at least the cause is getting some attention/support from its trendiness. It is probably better to have support for the sake of coolness than to not have support at all. I found a couple of websites that explain what exactly eco-fashion is and why it has suddenly become so popular. The general idea behind it is that the clothes are made from organic materials, using minimal energy and recycling materials throughout the process. Also, they often try to engage in fair trade policies with the countries where the products are made, which is more of a human rights issue than an earth issue, but this just shows how many of these causes are interconnected. One quote that I liked from one of the websites, greenloop.com, is "if you are going to be a walking billboard, be a billboard for a cause". I think that pretty much sums up the trend of eco-fashion. The other website is an article which goes into how this affecting the world of high-fashion, with top designers beginning to utilize eco-friendly materials at Fashion Week in New York in 2005. So, from the third-world factories where fabric is created to the haute-couture designers of Fashion Week, eco-fashion is truly making a statement in popular culture right now. Here are the websites:
<>
<>

Achewood

I think Achewood (www.achewood.com) is a great example of people using new media and mediums to spread good work in the digital age, and the power the internet has over pop culture. Achewood was recently listed as the #1 graphic novel of 2007 by time magazine. I think that an almost entirely black and white webcomic about a collection of stuffed animals, robots, and cats being tauted as the greatest graphic novel written in an entire year shows in itself the pop culture capital it has accrued. A viable self-sustaining entity, it is a rarity in the webcomic market in that Chris Onstad, who writes Achewood, doesn't need to work. Also a rarity in the webcomic world is the lack of the gag-a-day style in lieu of larger, character driven stories over many months or even years. And perhaps the most peculiar is Onstad's use of in-character blogs, cookbooks, merchandise, etc.- taking other pop culture objects and using them to further instill his object into popular culture. All in all, it is a very unique piece of literature.

Comics On the Web Are Not Always Webcomics

Those of you on this thing we call Internet (or, alternatively, interwebs, intarnuts, netterzone, world net webterverse, those there internets, or information superhighway) may be aware of the backlash against certain newspaper comics.

Those of you who are not clearly do not frequent the same segments of the interwebnuts superwebway as I do.

At any rate, two of the main offenders are Garfield and Marmaduke. Garfield is decried as clichéd, predictable, simplistic, repetitive, and clichéd. (You see what I did there?) Marmaduke, however, is clearly written by a person who is insane. One upon a time, this would have ended with someone making a website about how much they don't like one or the other, then host it on Geocities and stop thinking about it after about a month.

But this is the internet. And bad pop culture has nowhere to run.

First, there is Garfield Minus Garfield. It presents the very same strips seen in newspapers worldwide, with the simple modification that Garfield is removed from them. Once that is done, we're reminded that we're dealing with a comic about a man whose sole point of contact is his cat. In the words of the summary of the webpage itself: "Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb."

And for Marmaduke lovers, don't think you're getting off easily either. Marmaduke Explained should not be as funny as it is, since it's basically a summation of a comic, and then goes on to explain why things are not funny therein. This particular comic highlights the hilarity as the author of the blog goes insane.

Oregon Trail

After someone mentioned Oregon Trail in class the other day it made me miss the days of playing Oregon Trail in elementary school. So I went online and found a copy of it and started to play. It was everything that I remembered, my roommate got dystentry and another one drowned. This game was wildly popular when it was released and someone has gone through the trouble to create an Apple II emulator. That is a piece of software that allows you to play games from other systems. That in it self is impressive, however remember that the Apple II came out in 1987. It was a bit difficult to find a copy of Oregon Trail, especially because I have a Mac Laptop, however once I downloaded it I found that you have the ability to change the screen so it can look like the original Apple II. You can have the green screen with the scan line across as well as have full color with no scan lines. A quick search through Facebook shows hundreds of groups dedicated to this game. This just goes to show that because doesn't have great graphics (by today's standards) doesn't mean that it can't stand the test of time and be popular more than 20 years later.