tps | xirdalium

beware the frying pan

Posted on Monday, 3rd April 2017 by zephyrin_xirdalApril 3, 2017

The most ferocious weapon in “Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds!” This is actual online gameplay (nothing staged, never met the other player before), enhanced with music and sound effects – purely for entertainment purposes. In “Battle Royale,” both the novel (Takami 1999) and the movie (Fukasaku 2000), early on it is made clear that the contestants will “end up with a randomly selected weapon.” In the movie the Training Video Girl adds, “Not everyone will get a gun or knife! You might get lucky, and you might not.” Shuya Nanahara, #15, draws the big lot: “What’s this? I can’t fight with a … Continue reading →

grand theft time

Posted on Wednesday, 15th April 2015 by zephyrin_xirdalApril 16, 2015

Unfortunately I got a daytime job. That’s unfortunate—in a way, granted—’cause ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ (GTA5) for PC finally hit the storeshelves yesterday. Just returned from the store a minute ago and unpacked the thing. As you can see above till now Rockstar has done everything right. You get a fine box and not some cheap plastic DVD sleeve from the dumpster, as usual. And of course there’s the printed map of Los Santos … and seven, yes seven DVDs. I’ll shove the first one into my machine in a second. Around the web since yesterday there are horrible stories … Continue reading →

there’s a glow

Posted on Thursday, 3rd April 2014 by zephyrin_xirdalApril 3, 2014

This is the music video for the song ‘There’s a glow’ by the band NO, a Los Angeles-, respectively Echo-Park-based Indie sextet, which just published its debut album ‘El Prado.’ Filmmaker Johnny Agnew almost entirely filmed the video within the computer game ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ (GTA V | Rockstar North 2013)—my, my, how ↵machinima has developed since I first posted about it in 2005 or so. I especially do like the ironic, humoresque ambience and narrative of the video, very gamer-like. And as we are already at it: not that I’d have time for it, but where are … Continue reading →

damascus it is

Posted on Monday, 11th March 2013 by zephyrin_xirdalMarch 11, 2013

On 26 February 2013 TV2 of Denmark needed a backdrop for a report on the current conflict in Syria. As it seems someone at the station searched the web for a suitable picture and hit upon a beautiful vista of the old city of Damascus. But the picture shows Damascus as it most probably has looked during the time of the ↑third crusade (1189-1192). Above that the picture doesn’t depict anything from the empirical world, but is a still from the computer game ‘↵Assassin’s Creed‘ (Ubisoft Montreal 2007). Quite tell-tale is the wooden beam attached to the minarett at the … Continue reading →

environmental malfunction

Posted on Sunday, 9th October 2011 by zephyrin_xirdalOctober 14, 2012

After our conversation in the elevator unfortunately is interrupted by ↑Francis Pritchard entering, ↑Megan Reed has to go and meet ↑Athene Margoulis, ↑David Sarif‘s executive assistant. The latter is my boss, the founder and CEO of ↑Sarif Industries, whom I now have to meet up in his office. And quite an office it is [see above], although not as impressive as the one of ↑Dr. Eldon Tyrell—but then again Sarif Industries is characterized as ‘a moderately-sized biotechnology company.’ For that the building housing his company is quite impressive. While talking with the old man [strange to say that, … Continue reading →

shooter saves life

Posted on Monday, 21st January 2008 by zephyrin_xirdalOctober 14, 2012

The computer game “↑Max Payne“ (MP, 2001) was ↑banned in Germany, due to “socioethical disorienting effects,” it supposedly causes. In July of 2002 “↑America’s Army“ (AA) was released—since then I am wondering why nobody over here has the idea to ban that game. AA, which is distributed for free over the Internet and on free DVDs, is a tactical multiplayer first-person shooter owned by the United States Government and released as a global public relations initiative to help with U.S. Army recruitment. […] Professor Michael Zyda, the director and founder of the MOVES Institute, acknowledged “↑Counter-Strike“ (CS) as the … Continue reading →

welcome back to bright falls

Posted on Wednesday, 16th January 2008 by zephyrin_xirdalOctober 14, 2012

cyberian nomadism confirmed Once a real member of a real online community, always a member. ADM, whom I know since ye olde days of Max-Payne glory, yesterday evening sent me an e-mail, notifying me of the resurrected ↑BrightFalls.net—plus dipping my nose into the fact, that the Alan-Wake related links in the sidebar of my blog are outdated. The relaunch of ADM’s site is a perfect up-to-date example of what, among other things, I am always bragging about in the academical realm: “My” community is the central slice of the online-fanhood gathered around the games “Max Payne” (Remedy Entertainment 2001), … Continue reading →

gamic

Posted on Thursday, 10th January 2008 by zephyrin_xirdalOctober 14, 2012

Believe it or not—there is not yet an entry for it at Wikipedia: ↑gamic [pronounced. game-ick] is a combination of the words ‘game’ and ‘comic’, meaning a graphic novel based on screenshots made ‘inside’ a computergame. Gamic is the ‘still-side’ of ↑machinima. One could say that gamic has the same relation to machinima as graphic novels have to animated cartoons. As gamic and machinima are no formally defined genre-concepts, but contemporary ‘native cyberculture concepts’ the boundaries are bleeding. Sometimes gamics are seen as a sub-genre of machinima, and there are true borderline cases ↵like the MP2-based “↑The White Room“, to … Continue reading →

second person view

Posted on Monday, 29th January 2007 by zephyrin_xirdalOctober 14, 2012

Detail from a promotional screenshot for ‘Max Payne’ (Remedy 2001), forcing the viewer to look down the bore of Mr. Payne’s gun while he is shooting at the onlooker. There are ↑first-person shooters (FPS) and ↑third-person shooters (TPS)—what about the second person’s vantage point? Imagine a game where you always are looking through the eyes of the non-player character (NPC) with which your avatar currently interacts. In the case of e.g. a ↑shooter game you may see your actions from the perspective of the character you are about to shoot … from the perspective of your victim. Wikipedia … Continue reading →

pantomime

Posted on Thursday, 21st December 2006 by zephyrin_xirdalOctober 14, 2012

Yesterday evening four of us took the chance to test the ↑↑Wii console. A little art gallery here in Munich takes part in the “Wii Crib” promotional event, which we take to be quite clever. The gallery is situated on the ground floor and has large display windows facing the street. For the passers-by we must have delivered a strange picture, four people waving around like mad in an almost empty room for no apparent reason. What we liked best was “Tennis” from the “↑Wii Sports“ suite [see above, and note my—second from left—tennis-pro stance ;-]. The first apparent … Continue reading →

xirdalium

Blog by Zephyrin Xirdal (since 2001)

Tag Archives: tps