Accidental Education

Yesterday, I took a break from playing Assassin's Creed 2. I never finished it previously, but since I found the next game in the series, Assassin's Creed 2 Brotherhood, cheaply on Steam, I thought it would be fun to finish number 2 first. And it really is fun, it's a great game on so many fronts.

But I'm slightly off the point. As I was taking said break, I came across this thread on Reddit, where the original poster wonders whether the cities in Assassin's Creed 2 are modelled on the original, historical places. Now it turns out that as far as anyone can make them exact, they are faithful replicas.

Then the thread creeps off a bit, and a teacher explains how much he admires games like this. Not because he plays them himself, he doesn't, but many of his 9^th graders light up when he talks about the area and the time period, because they have “been there” so to say.

Several other games such as Crusader Kings II, the Total War series and Europa Universalis 1-3 are also mentioned, and the thread really brings out how much history and geography anyone who plays these games can learn without even trying!

Back in the dim mists of time, when I was in school, there weren't really any games like this. Sure there were plenty of games, but the technology required to make games like the once mentioned above was ten-twenty years away.

That was however, the era in which I discovered role playing games. And what a discovery that was! Before, I absolutely hated geography, loathed it's very existence, but RPG's changed all that. All in all I can honestly say RPG's and computer gaming have taught me English, Geography, a lot of History and even Math (which I also despise), and best of all; without even trying!

That's the actual point of this post I suppose. The art of not only making learning fun, but making it invisible as well.

So before you accuse a gamer of wasting his time, make sure they aren't actually studying...

Let's Play

Today I want to talk about the joy of watching Let's Plays, or LP's.

I'm sure many of you already know about these, but for the uninitiated, I'll explain.

A Lets Play is a recording someone makes while playing a video game. What they see is what you see, as if you were playing it yourself. Many also like to add running commentary as they play, and with the right person, this can add a lot to the experience.

'Hang on', I hear you say. 'Watch someone else play a game? Why would I ever want to do that?'

There are in fact several very good reasons, lets take a look.

The perhaps biggest reason is money. Games are not cheap, even with services like Steam, and especially console games are ridiculously expensive. Add the cost of the console to that, if you don't own one (like me) and a Let's Play becomes a wonderful way to enjoy the many great stories that are out there, rather than go broke or miss out all together.

Another good reason, is to look at the LP as a preview. You can't really trust official trailers as these are often cherry picked to show off a particular scene, or are even sometimes misleading. An LP is an honest portrayal of what the game is about. Naturally, if you want to play the game at some point, you have to be careful not to spoil it for yourself.

Next we have games that are no longer available. There were, as an example, several great games released for the Nintendo Gamecube back in the day, but it's not that easy to lay your hands on them any more. To this we can also add the economic factor mentioned above. Again, Let's Play to the rescue.

Finally, you might want to find out what a popular game is all about, but it might not be a game you want to play yourself. For me personally, I love horror games, but can't stand all the sometimes arbitrary puzzles the game designers are so fond of. This makes Let's Plays very convenient.

So, where do you go to find these? Youtube is usually the easiest place, but a simple Google search of “game name LP” ought to do it.

But hold on. We're not quite finished yet. I still want to go through what makes an LP good. This is without a doubt a question of taste. I like to look for one where the player has a good voice and a suitable sense of humour. They also need to know when to just keep their mouths shut, as a cut scene is easily ruined by excessive babbling. If it's a horror game, I prefer the player to be a bit on the jumpy side, as their fear reaction heightens the mood for me. Browse around a bit, and you will eventually find one you like.

This weekend I watched this Let's Play of Dark Souls, a game that would make me tear my hair out, but instead Northernlion gave me several hours of pure entertainment. Well worth watching!

If you aren't convinced by now, let me just put it like this: can you watch sports without playing said sports yourself? If your answer is yes, you know why you can watch Let's Plays. It may be just another form of entertainment, but a very good one.

Conspiracies and dirty secrets

Today I want to bring two great shows to your attention.

State of Play (2003) and Utopia (2013).

Both are british, meaning they are fairly short, clocking in at six 1-hour long episodes, but they both manage to pack in a lot of story in these six hours. And I mean alot. Neither show is the kind you can watch with one eye while doing something else. You will need to pay attention.

Why did I choose to talk about these two in particular? Well, aside from being absolutely amazing, their common denominator is the conspiracy theme.

However, they approach this theme from two different sides. Where State of Play spends most of it's time in the realms of media and parliament, Utopia runs mostly in the streets, back rooms and abandoned buildings. This creates two very different atmospheres.

Both shows contain a fair amount of violence, with Utopia coming out on top, if that matters to you. In fact, Utopia dares to “go there” to such an extent that I was quite shocked. But I have to applaud them for daring to push boundaries. A great story sometimes have to grab you by the neck and shake you about a bit. Push you out of your comfort zone.

When it comes to the characters, State of Play has it over Utopia in my book. The characters in Utopia aren't bad by any means, and I'd like to commend the child actors in particular, but they aren't as deep or compelling as the cast of State of Play. I just found myself caring more about the people in State.

Next, let's take a look at the core of the shows; the conspiracies. State of Play has a more run of the mill kind of conspiracy, with pretty normal means and motives. Utopia's goals are harder to explain without spoiling anything, but suffice to say, I was pretty confused at first, and finally rather blown away.

If I were to call State of Play a normal show, I'd do it a disservice. It is not normal, but only in how it elevates itself above the rest. It looks normal, and it acts normal, but dark things hide under the surface. That said, I believe most people could watch it and like it.

Utopia on the other hand, is not for everyone I think. Brilliant but pretty disturbing. I'd say it recommends itself more to people with broader interests. Definitely not a family show, so put the kids to bed.

I have heard rumors of a second Utopia season, but I have no idea if this is true. I certainly hope it's not, as it's good as it sits. Less is without question more.

State of Play was made into film in 2009, starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, but I can't and I won't recommend this film. It's pure garbage, especially compared to the show. Stay away.

So now I've given you twelve hours of exciting entertainment. No excuse to claim you're bored. Have fun!

As per your request

An idea for a  horror story that came to me last night when I was falling asleep. Enjoy!

It sits there in my inbox. The clip. Taunting me, daring me to watch it. I don't want to, but I don't know how long I can stay away.

I got the first clip six days ago. At first I thought it was from a friend, but on closer inspection, the email address was slightly off. The email itself held no message, the subject line only said ”Per your request”. Being around the start of April, I figured it must have been a joke, but the video was seriously weird. Besides it wasn't funny. Quite the contrary, it was incredibly atmospheric and creepy.

A long shot descending a concrete stair, filth and discarded items slowing the journey down. The lighting was very poor, in fact there was just enough light to make out general details. The video had no sound, apart from a static buzzing that faded in and out.

At the bottom of the stairs, the camera rested, almost dwelling on a narrow corridor disappearing into darkness. It then panned slowly to the right, past a broken door frame, paint flaking off it's cheap finish. Harsh shadows threw the room beyond into a jagged mosaic of wet, stained concrete. Mostly empty, the chamber contained a few pieces of smashed furniture. Suddenly something scuttled in and out of frame across the lower right hand corner, and the clip cut off. That was all. In total, three minutes to the second.

I'm not ashamed to say I was pretty freaked out. It made no sense. I asked around, but none of my friends copped to making and sending it. A couple of days passed, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Finally, on Friday night, I pulled it up and watched it over and over again. I tried to figure out what the scuttling thing was, but I had no luck at all. It was too bulky to be a rat, it's motions were too crab-like to be a cat or a dog. Finally I gave up and went to bed. I slept badly, my dreams violated by the clip and it's undulating static buzzing.

When I woke up, my head was pounding and I felt like shit. With a cup of coffee at hand I sat down at my computer, and found another mail in my inbox. The subject line the same ”Per your request”. Again the message box was empty, but there was a new clip attached. I carefully scanned it for viruses, but it came up clean. I double clicked it.

The clip started exactly where the first one left off. Now entering the room, the camera panned slowly to the left, and I got the unpleasant feeling that the scuttling thing was right behind me. The camera kept turning, and a pale blurry mass came into view. As the picture slowly came into focus, the static buzz rose sharply in volume and I saw a manniquin standing stiffly in the corner. Her white plastic body was naked and she had what looked like jam smeared all over her groin, running in sticky red rivulets down her legs. The camera focused in on the dripping mess, before crawling obscenely up her body. My stomach bubbled as the camera passed her breasts and stopped at her face. Like all manniquins it held an empty, vacuous stare, but the way the corners of her mouth was pulled down made me feel like she was disgusted. After lingering on her face for what seemed like forever, the camera started to turn to the right. The buzzing was still almost painfully loud, but I didn't care. The picture swept across the filthy room, everything a hazy mess, and stopped at something I thought might be an old bed. As the focus sharpened, I saw that it was indeed an old rusty steel-framed bed with a nasty, stained mattress. Just as the picture became clear, a shrill scream tore through my speakers and something pale slammed into the lens from the left. Everything went black.

I screamed and knocked my coffee off the table.

The rest of the day was spent in a feverish haze. I thought about going to the police, but they'd just laugh at me.

Could it be some kind of art project? I knew several artists in college, some quite freaky and out there. That idea calmed me, that had to be it. Someone had made this as a project and sent it without warning to maximize the effect. Come Monday, they'd call and we'd laugh about it. But as darkness fell, the fear came creeping back. Unable, even unwilling to sleep, I spent the night watching anything I could find on the web to distract me. Comedy clips, failed stunts, anything to stop thinking about the videos. Maybe I should have tried to read instead, I don't know. Doesn't matter now.

I jerked awake in my chair, unaware that I had even dropped off. The clock showed 4.15 am. I rubbed my swollen eyes, and saw I had an unread mail. My whole body tensed up, and my hand shook so badly I barely got the page up. Same sender again, same goddamn subject line: ”As per your request”. I opened the mail. This time there was only a message.

”You got what you wanted, now payment is due.”.

I couldn't say how long I sat there just staring at the message. As the sun slowly rose above my windowsill, I became aware of another mail. Same subject line again. No message, just a clip.

Barely able to breathe, I started it.

Not the basement this time. A street. My street. My front door. The same sickening buzzing. Then it cut off.

My gut cramped and I vomited all over my lap. When the heavings stopped, there was a new mail, a new clip.

I don't want to watch it.

I think I have to.