Oooohing: Mirror's Edge - the first person jumper

Mirror's Edge looks like an interesting game - dealing very effectively with what until now has been the blight of the first person perspective game genre - moving effectively around the space.



This is the official blurb from EA.

In a city where information is heavily monitored, agile couriers called Runners transport sensitive data away from prying eyes. In this seemingly utopian paradise, a crime has been committed and now you are being hunted. You are a Runner called Faith - and this innovative first-person action-adventure is your story.

Mirror's Edge™ delivers you straight into the shoes of this unique heroine as she traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat and fast paced chases. With a never before seen sense of movement and perspective, you will be drawn into Faith's world. A world that is visceral, immediate, and very dangerous. Live or die? Soar or plummet? One thing is certain, in this city, you will learn how to run.

Watching: The Hollowmen

I caught The Hollowmen last night - the new show from the people at Working Dog who have previously brought us The Late Show, The Panel, Frontline, The Castle and Thank God You're Here.

I'm a believer that you need to give any new show a few episodes to find its feed - the first episode has a lot of work to do in introducing characters and scenarios and setting "the vibe" and the following shows then build on this to develop something which is either great, average or mundane. It takes time to flesh out characters and they are a core part of what makes a show work.

Working on this principle, I'm happy to give the show a bit longer to get going - I liked what I saw last night but I don't remember actually laughing at anything. It seemed partially as though in their focus on covering important social/political issues (the government response to childhood obesity), they didn't quite have time to bring the funny.

I could see where it was meant to be funny - Santo Cilauro's role as the team pollster allowed him to rephrase focus group comments into bureaucratese but even this seemed a little forced and repeating the gag a few times didn't make it work any better. There also seemed to be a heavy focus on finding laughs in the nuances of language used in the halls of power but I got the feeling that this would be a lot funnier to insiders than most people (myself included.)

The show is played very cynically, very subtly and very drily and I suspect it was far more accurate than we'd like it to be. At the same time, this could be one of the reasons that I found it almost a little disheartening - which may be why it wasn't as funny as I'd have liked. Shows like The Games and Yes Prime Minister have both managed to skewer similar territory very effectively, with equal levels of cynicism and yet drag a lot more humour out of the experience.

As I've mentioned, the characters are a key element in any show and need to be given time to develop - as yet, they all seem a little grey and samey. Rob Sitch and Santo Cilauro seem to have dragged large chunks of their Frontline characters into the show - Santo still has that timid, dorky but likable thing going on and Rob is still a bit hopeless - though much less self important now. (Not that this is a huge problem, I liked both of these characters but am already a little tired of Sitch's new shtick of never having a pen).



Lachy Hulme as the head of the Central Policy Unit seems the most likable, everyman kind of character - trying to actually come up with good policy in the face of organisational disfunction and Merrick Watts (of Merrick and Rosso fame) puts in a good show as a wily advisor in the department. As yet, the rest of the characters are really yet to emerge - but as I say, all in time.

I was a little surprised that it's such a hugely male dominated environment - figuring the upper levels of the Public Circus would be a little more PC and have a few more senior women but then again, these guys would have done their research and maybe it's how it is.

I liked the way the show just dived right into the action, assuming that viewers would be cluey enough to work things out as it went along and was able to really dig into a social issue - again, I have to draw conclusions to Frontline in the way that this was done. (Which is great, as I loved Frontline).

I just hope it can be as funny as Frontline, because after a point, cutting as it might be, it could well turn out more depressing than entertaining.

If you like politics and social issues, smart tv, Frontline, The Games, Yes Minister or even The West Wing, give it a go.

You can watch full episodes online at The Hollowmen website at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/hollowmen/#/watch (But the video player only seems to work in Internet Explorer - hmmm).

Awwwing: the techno kittens

Looking forward to: The Hollowmen

The Hollowmen is the latest show by the Working Dog folks, the people behind The Late Show, Frontline, The Panel and Thank God You're Here. On this form alone it would seem like a must watch for at least the first two shows (which in my mind is how long it takes to get a sense of show's potential).

The fact that it's based around politics in Canberra and takes what looks like a Frontline type approach to the whole exercise - broad general humour mashed up with smart social comment - for me makes it an absolute must.

It's set in the Central Policy Unit of the federal government -

a special think tank personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him in the most important job of all - getting reelected.

It's all about the world of public servants and political advisors - the unelected "power behind the power".

They've been very careful to keep the details scant - the most you can get is from the website at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/hollowmen/#/home, which does offer some promise.

It's a little interesting that is taken so long to come to screen - given that the idea first came up when Santo Cilauro was making a documentary in 1996 about Paul Keating's last election campaign. Harder to get it made while little Johnny was running the show?



(Not entirely sure if there is some subtle point being made by using music from a New Zealand band on the promo - perhaps the sound designer is a kiwi)

Watching: Vexille

It's been a while since I've seen a new anime (and particular in a cinema)but now that I've seen Vexille, I'll be making more of an effort.



While it's still full of robots, nanotechnology and well more robots, Vexille tells a fairly straightforward story for anime which would be at home in a Hollywood sci-fi action blockbuster. Actually, scratch that, this leaves the aforementioned blockbusters in its dust, even though it's easy to see the influence that these films have had on Vexille.

The CGI has enough artistic style added to it to avoid any kinds of uncanny valley issues and in the process creates a sometimes impossibly beautiful world that truly demonstrates the eye-candy power that this form of animation has to offer.

To talk about the story in anything but the scantest detail would be to give away what is a pretty cool plot which in the tradition of great sci-fi has plenty to say about where we might be going and what happens in the wrong people (i.e big business) are making the decisions. Vexille works well because it is able to bring these elements to the screen but at the same time offer enough character insight to make them sympathetic.

Suffice to say, if you're not averse to robots, action and awesome special effects, Vexille is well worth a look. I may even go back for another go. Within the first two or three minutes of the film I had this big nerdy "that's-so-awesome" grin creep across my face which didn't leave for hours afterwards.

Grrrrr'ing: YouTube forced to hand over all user data

Global media behemoth Viacom has forced Google (owners of YouTube) to hand over information about every video that every user has ever watched, according to this story on Wired.com

Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.

This story has 7331 Diggs (user recommendations) on Digg and more than 960 comments - suggesting that the Internetz has a thing or two to say about this.

The battle between big business and freedom just kicked up a notch.

On the other hand, it could be worse - as one Digger comments "at least it isn't PornTube" :)

Flashing: my ePeen

Epeen is as rude as it sounds and doubly geeky.

Urban Dictionary describes it as:

short for electronic penis, this is used for losers on the internet to try and boost their self esteem by using a facticious item such as the epeen, usually refered to in size.
my epeen is bigger than yours
did you see the size of his epeen?

To put it another way, it's the nerd equivalent of talking about how awesome you are based on your latest bit of hardware - in the same way that car people talk about dropping in a 351 hemi with added donk (or whatever it is that they say).

Anyways, all of this aside, I am a little pleased with myself about my latest tech purchase, a 16GB USB drive from Zazz.com.au at the bargain price of $59.95

(Though it amazes me to think that 10 years ago I spent something like $2700 on an iMac which had a 4GB hard drive.)

Zazz is one of those sites that offers one product at a bargain price for one day and so far it's been pretty good. Well worth adding to your rss feed.

Following up: on the Dmitri phone message

Ahh bless the Internetizens and their enthusiasm for responding to (and pisstaking) pretty well anything that appears online.

I mentioned the two Dmitri ("Canada's greatest lover and seducer") phone messages the other day and I'm happy to see that someone has posted a response to this video/audio up on Funny or die.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Setting: a new world record

Ok, so perhaps there may have been 7,999,999 other people involved but keep an eye out for the next Guiness Book of World Records, I'm sure I'll be mentioned personally.

This was all to do with the launch of the latest version of Firefox - Firefox 3. I'm still mostly using Flock to be honest but there is one feature of Firefox that I've particularly been enjoying - what they call "the awesome bar". (How can you go wrong with a name like that?)

It means that you can now just type a word in the address bar and Firefox will display a list of all of your previous pages with that in the name somewhere. Nifty.

I haven't done tests as such but it does seem to run faster as well, which is always nice.

Pitying: this guy and the object of his affections

This is two phone messages left by a guy - going by the name Dmitri - who has apparently been reading a few too many of those "how to pick up girls" books - or something, who knows what is going on.

They are kind of painful but at the same time compelling. (You have to love the classiness of the man in his listing of the kinds of women he won't date and why he is such "a catch")

Evidently there is a whole creepy back-story to this as well - which you can find here. (I will say that this is all internet talk so who knows what's true and what isn't but if even a fraction of it is, then eyyyeeeewwww.)


Douchebag Phone Message - Watch more free videos

Actually, on digging a little further, this guy apparently has a website, which lists him as "Canada's greatest lover and seducer". He runs workshops and does a bunch of other stuff and is in the process of making a documentary - presumably about himself. This image from the top of his website is revealing, describing his opponents as femi-nazis.



As I say, I'm not 100% sure that this is all for real - it could be a well constructed hoax, but once again, if it is, then eeeyyyeeeewwww.

LOLing: Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!

It's probably not ha-ha funny but this short video of some live-action role playing gamers gives me an amusing new mental soundtrack to play when chatting to some of the nerds who play those kind of games. (No-one in particular of course :)

Loving: the GTA IV radio stations

Yep, I'm still playing GTA IV (some may even say obsessively but I think I have it under control :) and one of the many reasons is the richness of the music. I am discovering so many great tracks in the course of just cruising around the city that often I'm happy enough to just drive and ignore the stories and missions altogether.

This list (from Zergwatch.com ) gives a sense of what's there. The only station I'll generally quickly flick past is LCHC - Liberty City Hardcore - just a little too shouty for my tastes.



The Beat 102.7
DJ: DJ Mister Cee and The Evil Genius DJ Green Lantern
Genre: Contemporary Hip hop

Tracklist:
Styles P - "What's The Problem"
Uncle Murda - "Anybody Can Get It"
Qadir - "Nickname"
Busta Rhymes - "Where's My Money"
Maino - "Getaway Driver"
Red Cafe - "Stick'm"
Tru Life - "Wet 'Em Up"
Johnny Polygon - "Price on Your Head"
Swizz Beatz - "Top Down"
Nas - "War is Necessary"
Kanye West feat.
Dwele - "Flashing Lights"
Joell Ortiz feat. Jadakiss & Saigon - "Hip Hop (Remix)"
Fat Joe feat. Lil Wayne - "Crackhouse"
Mobb Deep feat. Havoc & Prodigy from H.N.I.C. Part 2 Sessions - "Dirty New Yorker"
Ghostface Killah feat. Kid Capri - "We Celebrate"
Styles P feat. Sheek Louch & Jadakiss - "Blow Your Mind (Remix)"
Papoose - "Stylin'"



The Classics 104.1
DJ: Mixed by DJ Premier
Genre: Old school hip hop

Tracklist:
Group Home - "Supa Star"
Brand Nubian - "All for one"
Special Ed - "I Got It Made"
Jeru the Damaja - "D. Original"
Marley Marl feat. Craig G - "Droppin' Science"
MC Lyte - "Cha Cha Cha"
Audio 2 - "Top Billin'"
Stetsasonic - "Go Stetsa"
T. La Rock & Jazzy Jay - "It's Yours"
Gang Starr - "Who's Gonna Take the Weight"
Main Source - "Live at the Barbeque"



Electro-Choc Electrochoc
DJ: François K
Genre: Modern Electro/Dance Rock

Tracklist:
Padded Cell - "Signal Failure"
Black Devil Disco Club - "The Devil in Us (Dub)"
One + One - "No Pressure (Deadmau5 Remix)"
Alex Gopher - "Brain Leech (Bugged mind remix)"
K.I.M. - "B.T.T.T.T.R.Y. (Bag Raiders Remix)"
Simian Mobile Disco - "Tits and Acid"
Nitzer Ebb - "Let Your Body Learn"
Kavinsky - "Testarossa (Sebastian Remix)"
Chris Lake vs.
Deadmau5 - "I Thought Inside Out (Original Mix)"
Boys Noize - "& Down"
Justice - "Waters of Nazareth"
Killing Joke - "Turn to Red"
Playgroup - "Make it Happen"
Liquid Liquid – "Optimo"



Fusion FM
DJ: Roy Ayers
Genre: Funk/Jazz-Fusion

Tracklist:
David McCallum - "The Edge"
Roy Ayers - "Funk in the Hole"
Gong - "Heavy Tune"
David Axelrod - "Holy Thursday"
Grover Washington, Jr. - "Knucklehead"
Aleksander Maliszewski - "Pokusa"
Ryo Kawasaki - "Raisins"
Marc Moulin - "Stomp"
Billy Cobham - "Stratus"
Tom Scott &
The L.A. Express - "Sneakin' in The Back"



IF99
International Funk IF99
DJ: Femi Kuti Genre: Funk & Afrobeat

Tracklist:
Lonnie Liston Smith - "A Chance for Peace"
War - "Galaxy"
The O'Jays - "Give The People What They Want"
Gil Scott-Heron - "Home is Where The Hatred Is"
The Meters - "Just Kissed My Baby"
Mandrill - "Livin' It Up"
Manu Dibango - "New Bell"
Fela Kuti - "Sorrow, Tears & Blood"
Femi Kuti - "Truth Don Die"
Creative Source - "Who Is He And What Is He To You"
Hummingbird - "You Can't Hide Love"
Fela Kuti - "Zombie"



JNR
Jazz Nation Radio 108.5
DJ: Roy Haynes Genre: Jazz

Tracklist:
Count Basie - "April in Paris"
John Coltrane - "Giant Steps"
Chet Baker - "Let's Get Lost"
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers - "Moanin'"
Miles Davis - "Move"
Charlie Parker - "Night and Day"
Roy Haynes - "Snap Crackle"
Sonny Rollins - "St. Thomas"
Duke Ellington - "Take the 'A' Train"
Dizzy Gillespie - "Whisper Not (Big Band)"



The Journey
DJ: A computer
Genre: Ambient/Chillout

Tracklist:
Global Communication - "8:07"
Terry Riley - "A Rainbow in Curved Air"
Steve Roach - "Arrival"
Michael Shrieve - "Communique 'Approach Spiral'"
Jean Michel Jarre - "Oxygène, Pt 4"
Philip Glass - "Pruit Igoe"
Tangerine Dream - "Remote Viewing"
Aphex Twin - "Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 CD2 TRK5"a
Ray Lynch - "The Oh of Pleasure"



K109 The Studio
DJ: Karl Lagerfeld
Genre: Disco

Tracklist:
Peter Brown - "Burning Love Breakdown"
Tamiko Jones - "Can't Live Without Your Love"
Gino Soccio - "Dancer"
Suzy Q - "Get On Up And Do It Again"
Electrik Funk - "On A Journey"
Don Ray - "Standing In The Rain"
Cerrone - "Supernature"
Rainbow Brown - "Till You Surrender"
Harry Thumann - "Under Water"
Skatt Brothers - "Walk The Night"



L.C.H.C - Liberty City Hardcore Liberty City Hardcore
DJ: Jimmy Gestapo
Genre: Hardcore Punk

Tracklist:
Murphy's Law - "A Day in the Life"
Maximum Penalty - "All Your Boyz"
Underdog - "Back to Back"
Leeway - "Enforcer"
Sick of it All - "Injustice System"
Cro-Mags - "It's The Limit"
Sheer Terror - "Just Can't Hate Enough"
Bad Brains - "Right Brigade"
Killing Time - "Tell Tale"
Agnostic Front - "Victim in Pain"



Liberty Rock Radio 97.8
DJ: Iggy Pop
Genre: Classic Rock

Tracklist:
The Smashing Pumpkins - "1979"
Steve Marriott's Scrubbers (The Stooges) - "Cocaine"
Godley & Creme - "Cry"
The Sisters of Mercy - "Dominion/Mother Russia"
Stevie Nicks - "Edge of Seventeen"
ELO - "Evil Woman"
David Bowie - "Fascination"
Q Lazzarus - "Goodbye Horses"
Black Sabbath - "Heaven and Hell"
Bob Seger &
The Silver Bullet Band - "Her Strut"
Iggy Pop - "I Wanna Be Your Dog"
Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak"
Genesis - "Mama"
Hello - "New York Groove"
Queen - "One Vision"
The Black Crowes - "Remedy"
Joe Walsh - "Rocky Mountain Way"
The Who - "The Seeker"
Elton John - "Street Kids"
Heart - "Straight On"
ZZ Top - "Thug"
R.E.M. - "Turn You Inside Out"



Massive B Soundsystem 96.9
DJ: Bobby Konders
Genre: Dancehall

Tracklist:
Burro Banton - "Badder Den Dem"
Choppa Chop - "Set It Off"
Mavado - "Real McCoy"
Jabba - "Raise It Up"
Bunji Garlin - "Brrrt"
Richie Spice - "Youth Dem Cold"
Chuck Fenda - "All About Da Weed"
Chezidek - "Call Pon Dem"
Mavado - "Last Night"
Spragga Benz - "Da Order"
Bounty Killer - "Bullet Proof Skin"
Shaggy - "Church Heathen"
Munga - "No Fraid A"
Buju Banton - "Driver"



Radio Broker
DJ: Juliette Lewis
Genre: Alternative Rock

Tracklist:
The Boggs - "Arm in Arm (Shy Child Mix)"
Cheeseburger - "Cocaine"
Get Shakes - "Disneyland, Pt 1"
LCD Soundsystem - "Get Innocuous"
The Prairie Cartel - "Homicide"
Juliette & the Licks - "Inside the Cage (David Gilmour Girls remix)"
Unkle feat. The Duke Spirit - "Mayday"
The Rapture - "No Sex For Ben"
Tom Vek - "One Horse Race"
Teenager - "Pony"
Les Savy Fav - "Raging in the Plague Age"
White Light Parade - "Riot in the City"
Deluka - "Sleep is Impossible"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
The Pistolas - "Take it With a Kiss"
Ralph Myerz - "The Teacher"
Greenskeepers - "Vagabond"
Whitey - "Wrap it Up"
!!! - "Yadnus (Still Going to the Roadhouse mix)"



San Juan Sounds
DJ: Daddy Yankee
Genre: Latin/Reggaeton

Tracklist:
Calle 13 - "Atrévete-te-te"
Daddy Yankee - "Impacto"
Hector El Father - "Maldades"
Voltio feat.
Jowell & Randy - "Pónmela"
Don Omar - "Salio El Sol"
Wisin & Yandel - "Sexy Movimiento"
Tito el Bambino - "Siente El Boom (Remix)"
Angel y Khriz - "Ven Bailalo"



Tuff Gong Radio
DJ: Carl Bradshaw
Genre: Reggae/dub

Tracklist:
Stephen Marley - "Chase Dem"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Concrete Jungle (The Unreleased Original Jamaican Version)"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Pimper's Paradise"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Rat Race"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Satisfy My Soul"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "So Much Trouble in the World"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Stand Up Jamrock"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Wake Up & Live (Parts 1 & 2)"



The Vibe 98.8
DJ: Vaughn Harper
Genre: Soul/R&B

Tracklist:
Ne-Yo - "Because of You"
R. Kelly - "Bump N' Grind"
Mtume - "C.O.D. (I'll Deliver)"
Alexander O'Neal - "Criticize"
Ramp - "Daylight"
Isley Brothers - "Footsteps in the Dark"
Jodeci - "Freek'n You"
Lloyd - "Get It Shawty"
Jill Scott - "Golden"
Loose Ends - "Hangin' On A String"
Freddie Jackson - "Have You Ever Loved Somebody"
Dru Hill - "In My Bed (So So Def remix)"
Marvin Gaye - "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"
Minnie Riperton - "Inside My Love"
Barry White - "It's Only Love Doing It's Thing"
C.J. - "I Want You"
S.O.S. Band - "Just Be Good To Me"
Ginuwine - "Pony"
Raheem DeVaughn - "You"



Vladivostok FM Vladivostok FM
DJ: Ruslana
Genre: Eastern European music

Tracklist:
Gruppa Kino - "Gruppa Krovi"
Marakesh - "Zhdat"
Zvery - "Kvartira"
Seryoga - "King Ring"
Seryoga - "Liberty City: The Invasion"
Splin - "Liniya Zhizni"
Basta - "Mama"
Leningrad - "Nikogo ne Zhalko"
Ranetki - "O Tebe"
Dolphin - "RAP"
Glukoza - "Schweine"
Ruslana - "Wild Dances (Ukranian FM Version)"
Oleg Kvasha - "Zelenoglazoe Taksi (Club Remix)"

LOLing: I'm a Marvel / I'm a DC (Iron Man / Batman)

I've mentioned this series before but I hadn't seen this one and it's worth a look.

LOLing: World of Workcraft

Apparently in my ignorance or jealousy or something, I've been making a number of disparaging remarks about World of Warcraft recently.

In the interest of restoring the balance (or perhaps further taking the piss), I present - World of Workcraft - the game WoW characters play after a hard day of killing dragons and whatnot.

WeGame.com - WoW Videos

Enjoying: Snarky Amazon comments about a $500 audio cable

The Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable is a 1.5 metre cable designed for digital audio.

Advertising for the cable lists these features:

* Dedicated DENON LINK cable made of high-purity copper wire
* Get the purest signal from multi-channel DVD and CD playback through Denon receiver
* Connector and cable structure designed to thoroughly eliminate adverse effects from vibration
* Rounded plug lever on connector to prevent bending or breaking
* Measures 1.5 meters long (59 inches)

It costs $US 499.

Not surprisingly, this has somewhat amused the knowledgeable nerd community, who believe that it is no different from a $US 5 dollar CAT networking cable and have bombarded the product review section of Amazon.com with some hilarious snark.

A caution to people buying these: if you do not follow the "directional markings" on the cables, your music will play backwards. Please check that before mentioning it in your reviews.

After I took delivery of my $500 Denon AKDL1 Cat-5 uber-cable, Al Gore was mysteriously drawn to my home, where he pronounced that Global Warming had been suspended in my vicinity.

Yes, I had perfect weather: no flooding, no tornadoes, the exact amount of rain necessary, and he pronounced sea levels exactly right and that they were not going to rise within five miles of my house.

Additionally, my cars began achieving 200 mpg and I didn't even need gasoline. I was able to put three grams of cat litter into the tank and drive forever.

Ooh - looks like Denon didn't like the feedback they were getting - and the fact that they have been made a laughing stock by the geekistocracy. The site and all the reviews appear to have been pulled from Amazon as I was collecting quotes.

Oh well.

Enjoying: Requiem for a day off

What do you get when you cross the teen hi-jinks of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the grim descent into junky hell of Requiem for a Dream. A grim descent into teen hijinks? Maybe, just with less hijinks. (That Requiem for a Dream - great film as it is - can bring anything down.)

This very nicely cut together mash-up trailer from Benjifilms shows you how.

Enjoying: A Prisoner's Dilemma

A Prisoner's Dilemma is perhaps the most engaging piece of theatre I've been to since I saw David Mamet's Speed the Plough. I saw Speed the Plough maybe 15 years ago and it has this amazing moment right near the end which hinges on one decision that one of the characters has to make. The pause while the character is waiting to tell the others what he is going to do is just nail-biting.

A Prisoner's Dilemma revolves largely around decision making as it is a pretty thorough investigation of Game Theory. (According to Wikipedia - Game theory attempts to mathematically capture behavior in strategic situations, in which an individual's success in making choices depends on the choices of others.)

In essence it boils down to cooperation, trust, selfishness and betrayal.

It frames a series of short discussions and examples of practical applications of Game Theory inside one of the classic Game Theory scenarios, the Prisoners Dilemma.

Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated both prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal: if one testifies ("defects") for the prosecution against the other and the other remains silent, the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must make the choice of whether to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How should the prisoners act?

(Wikipedia)

The play sees the prisoners in their cells between a series of these interrogations, discussing a range of ethical problems related to game theory and playing games (such as rock/paper/scissors) to pass the time. Where this play really kicks things up a notch is that most of these discussions then have a heavily interactive element, with members of the audience called upon to make the decisions that are the basis of these problems.

This is done in a very (computer) game like manner, either using a torch (with blue and red cellophane squares) as a sort of mouse cursor for a basic point and click adventure game puzzle, remote controls to move the actors around the stage, joystick controllers to determine player/actor actions in a poisoning game or the simpler action of drawing stones from a bowl.(Or choosing not to)

Not surprisingly, this was right up my alley having been swimming around in game design theory for the last few months and it was an incredibly effective way of making the audience a significant part of the show.

As a show itself, it was simply but well staged - it made use of some really interesting trombone generated electronic music and the performances were strong. The performers were also quick enough on their feet to accommodate the unpredictable audience actions (even though decisions tended to be either/or scenarios).

Sadly the season has finished in Canberra but if you get the chance to see it, do.
Interestingly, they tour it as an educational piece and take it to maths nerd conferences a lot as well.

They also track the decisions made in each show and post the stats on their website, which is just so nerdy is has to be cool.

LULzing: Sn4tchbuckl3r's Second Chance

From the people who brought you "You sujck at Photoshop" comes an equally funny spin-off series - Sn4tchbuckl3rs Second Chance.

Sn4tchbuckl3r was Donnie's World of Warcraft guild buddy who was often interrupting his angsty photoshop tutorial/relationship crises with increasingly persistent demands to come back and play the game.

This new series sees Sn4tchbuckl3r coming to terms with his MMORPG addiction and seeking help in a new (Second Life/Sims looking) game dedicated to teaching gamers how to be better people.

I've only seen the first episode so far but it's absolute gold. They've made about half a dozen so far with more to come.

Best gag so far - "What's the key command for curling myself up into the foetal position and crying myself to sleep?" "Shift-Command-C - but it's not available until beta 2".



(Evidently there all also plans to revive the "You suck at Photoshop" series too (which recently picked up both the Best How-to and Best Comedy series videos in the Webby awards). A story on Wired tells us that:

"Once fans began to realize this was the end of Donnie Hoyle, there was a sudden outcry of anger and confusion," said Hitch, who voices the tutorials, in a phone interview. "People were sending hate mail ... posting [threatening] comments and generally doing everything in their individual web 2.0 power to get us to bring Donnie back."

Hate mail and threats? - FFS, seriously. What are some Internet people like?

Anyway, I'm happy to hear it will be back as it is a great series.

Still playing: GTA IV

Ok, just a couple of quick updates:

Niko Bellic can swim (I haven't tried swimming under water yet)

The radio stations really are awesome - spent a few hours driving around Liberty City last night to some very cool jazz. The music you choose really does create a different mood to the gaming experience. Given the "reality" (as far as I know anyway) of the city and the hundreds of films set in New York, it's hard not to make connections. One minutes you're driving around Mean Street, another it's Annie Hall. (Now if I can just find a nerdy looking guy wearing glasses playing clarinet to run over with my Hummer/Patriot, the gaming experience will be complete.)

The social commentary keeps getting better as well on the Fox-like (Weasel) radio station - hard-core Neocons banging on about the need to scrap the minimum wage, health care and so on because it's making America uncompetitive - not sure you'll be getting that in Duke Nukem Forever. (And the little ubernerd kid whose solution to world hunger - "it's a supply and demand problem" is to compost a majority of the worlds hungry poor people to increase food production - all played with a perfectly straight bat and all hilarious.)

Playing: GTA IV (Finally) (Spoiler free)

I've been waiting for this installment in the Grand Theft Auto series for a long time - and longer than most given that I've been embracing the role of diligent student and deliberately not playing it until I finished my big uni assignment for the semester. (Ironically, an assignment all about playing games - oh the torture :)

Anyway, 01.30 yesterday morning saw me typing the final words of my critical reflection of the project and so I trundled into work yesterday morning happy as Leisure Suit Larry to collect my copy of GTA IV from a colleague who had been safe-keeping it for me. (I don't have a whole lot of self control when I'm procrastinating so it seemed like the best idea). Managed to avoid ducking home early (tempting as the prospect was) and after dinner settled in for some quality time in Liberty City.

It's funny the impact that working on my uni assignment has had on me, a large part of it was dissecting FPS games into key elements (which applies equally to any kind of game) and I'd say there were at least a dozen points in the game where I found myself thinking - oh, that's clever, I really like how they've used contextual HUD information there. Fortunately, this wasn't too distracting and just added to my emotional enjoyment of the game as an artifact. (Gaah, stop it. Stop it now brain - you don't have to be smart any more, just shut up and drive :)



I will make use of the Jarvinen model (Jarvinen, 2007) - sorry :) to talk about my initial responses to this game though as it's a good way of covering all the bases.
Jarvinen says that all games - sport, cards, video games etc - need to have at least 7 of these 9 elements - Player, Game Mechanics (what you can do), Components (the things you do stuff to), Game Environment (the playing field), Rule Set, Information (your score, health, etc), Theme (story and style), Interface (controllers etc)and Context (when and where it's played.)

Player: I've just been playing the single-player mode so far - there's so much to see and do (and fortunately I think I've made it through most of the earlier necessary-but-trudging training missions). Given the head start that pretty well every other GTA IV player has had on me, I suspect my early experiences of Multiplayer on Xbox Live will see me getting seriously pwned, but that's ok.

Game Mechanics: As I say, there's already plenty of stuff to see and do in the game. I took a bit of a wander around the space after going through the opening sequence and just tried out the buttons and tooled around. This showed me that you in addition to the usual run/jump/fight/steal cars/drive thing you can pick up small items and throw them.

After a few hours play (during which time more activities get unlocked or explained), I can also shoot, stab, use my mobile phone, use the internet, watch tv, play darts, going bowling , hail a cab, climb fences, catch the train, try on clothes, get a lap-dance and give money to homeless people. I can also get drunk, which hugely affects your ability to walk and drive. This is by far the most impressive and accurate re-creation of the way you see things when drunk that I've ever seen on screen. It captures that hazy, sliding around and lurchy quality to perception in a way that actually made me feel slightly ill.

They've done a lot of work with fighting in this game - it's not just a matter of mashing away at punch and kick buttons until your opponent goes down - you need to intelligently move around and duck, block and time your blows. (Or, you know, just shoot tha mutha uckers)

One thing that surprised me a little bit was the fact that I couldn't swim. Jumped in the river and drowned in seconds. Given that your character (Niko Bellic) just got off the boat after spending 7 months in the merchant navy, this is pretty weird. (Maybe he learns to swim later or something, I don't know)



Components: the objects, the stuff in the game, notably the cars/motorbikes/trucks/etc, the furniture and the other characters. In a word, awesome. None of the other GTA games are set in the present and I've always wondered how modern stuff would look in the game - the design is beautiful and the eye candy is delicious. Something else that I've really appreciated so far is that you don't have to grind through hours of (albeit fun) gameplay before you get to drive cooler and better performing cars. I was hooning around town in a BMW clone and fancy sports cars within an hour or so of starting the game.



Game Environment: The other part of the eye candy is the amazingly detailed and well textured world Rockstar have created for you to freely roam around in. (If you're not aware, GTA IV is set in Liberty City, their version of New York City, which closely mirrors the real thing). So far I've still only wandered around the island on the right and the little one at the top and it is just massive. Very easy to just roam about looking at cool stuff. It does suffer from that sandpit game curse of having most of the doors locked but given the size of the place, it's understandable.

Sound is of course the other big part of the game environment and it is equally kicking. World sounds (cars, people on the street, machinery, etc) are crystal clear and spot on and the in car radio stations (something which has always set the GTA series above the pack) have been cranked up another notch of awesomeness. They cover everything from hardcore metal to smooth jazz, electro, reggae, Russian pop (better than you'd think) and at least another dozen disparate genres. Throw into the mix some hilarious and scathing social commentary via the ads and the conservative shock-jock talk radio and peace-love and mung beans community radio stations and you have aural pleasure.

Rule Set - what you can and can't do and your goals in the game. This is partially tied to physics, partially to story and partially just to good practice. As I've mentioned, you seriously can't swim, unsurprisingly you can't jump down more than a flight of stairs without getting squished, the cars handle more realistically that in previous games (and thus more trickily) and as I've mentioned, your skills totally go to hell when you get drunk.

Oh and you can't jump up on stage in the strip club to dance with the girls - evidently management frown on that and the bouncers will beat you.



Information - points, health, money - all that kind of stuff. It also includes maps, mission briefings, stats and the like. The GTA games provide you with a trainspotterish wealth of information about everything that you have done in the game. The stats section, which tells you everything from the percentage of the game you have completed to how far you have ridden trains to how many car tyres you have shot, spreads to something like 7 different (scrollable) screens.

Of course, none of this is generally mission critical, this stuff is presented through the usual heads up display which gives you your map (which makes use of GPS technology to show you the best routes to take) and your health bar (which is discretely - possibly too discretely as I kept losing track of how badly injured I was - tucked on the side of the circle your map sits in). Other information is displayed depending on whether you need it - if you are carrying a weapon you can see how much ammo you have, if the police are chasing you, you can see your wanted level and when you get or spend some money you get a running tally. If you don't need the information there and then, it's taken off the screen to allow you to enjoy the Liberty City eye candy. Very nice design principle that.

I mentioned that you also get a mobile phone - game characters can call or text you (and you can call them) and it also seems to have an organiser (though this hasn't been activated just yet). When you get shot, you see a blood splatter around the outside of the screen which sends a definite message that you need to not get shot again. There are subtitle options - which I thought I'd find useful in working out what the rasta gangsta was saying, but it turned out to be just as slangy and indecipherable in text as sound.

There is also internet access (though I appear not to have unlocked that in the game in any meaningful way just yet) and if you steal a police car you can access their computer network as well. (Again, not yet unlocked in the story but the fact that you can get to the initial screens - just to get a "network problems" message - offers hints of rewards to come.)



Theme: The story and the style of the game - As I say, I haven't gotten far in to this yet, still working through the getting settled, teaching you how to play the game and use the controls and so on phase at the moment. The gist is that you are Niko Bellic, a Serbian (?) guy who fought in the war, made some bad decisions and has come to the U.S for a fresh start, inspired by the stories of success from his cousin Roman. Roman isn't quite the high flier he has made himself out to be and so the direction we are headed (as with pretty well all the GTA games) is to make it big any way you can.

So far there has been a little bit of trouble with Albanian loan sharks, some dealings with Russian gangsters and the befriending of a rasta gangsta.

In spite of all the hype about "murder simulators" and such, there have been a number of positive behavioural messages subtly slipped into to the game already. You are praised for not driving drunk and taking a cab instead and chided for not calling someone when you have to break a date with them. It doesn't seem possible to make money by beating up/mugging innocent people on the street either (not that I've given this a red hot go) - only bad guys. Fortunately, this hasn't detracted from the game experience, if anything, given a little depth to it.

Interface - the controller. The controls for the Xbox 360 seem to have stayed pretty much the same with a few tweaks and improvements. Automatic targetting and free targetting have both been put on the left trigger (the latter using a half squeeze only). Camera control is ok (and I really like the ability to completely remove the HUD entirely - though maybe this isn't a new thing) but takes a bit of getting used to and it would be nice if it locked onto Niko's back a little more but this is a small quibble. It would be interesting to see what might be done with motion sensitivity in the control system but I'm happy as it is.

Context - when and where you play - not so relevant here - although I can see some potential for creating machinima out of this game (it's just so frackin' pretty), so a PC version would be needed for that. (Coming next year apparently).

So yeah, it's pretty awesome.

(The shots that are littered throughout this post are actual gameplay shots as well, not just prettied up cut-scene animations. This really is what the game looks like. Given the eye-candy, I guess another context aspect would be that it would be even better played on a big kick arse 50 inch plasma tv :)