We like texture

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone.

I'm in front of the telly. My Carlsberg half-litre is within clutching distance. Trent Reznor blaring on a TV radio channel. Rain, rain, rain. So far, this is THE PARTY OF THE YEAR.

Why do people expect so much from the last night of the year???

I'm definitely going to give it my best shot. We've bought some booze, and will soon be heading to some public place to be as merry as the next group.

But elsewhere, people are dancing in a club, having paid at least 40 pounds to get inside. Any other night of the year, they could be there for free, or at least a third of what they paid on the 31st of December.

Again: why do people expect so much?
Post a Comment

Pedestrian crossings

I press the button, but take the opportunity to cross before the light turns green. A line of cars queues up in front of the zebra crossing, frozen by the red light even though there are no pedestrians near the crossing.

Crazy christenings

An ethnically Indian grocery boy struggles to put a box on the top shelf. His name tag reads: Stalin.

Masters of the universe

Homeless people distributing The Big Issue have obviously realised that at Christmas, competition is fierce.

Two of my favourite sales pitches:

"The Big Issue, the ideal Christmas present... for someone you don't really like."

and

"Buy The Big Issue so I can pay my butler!"

Eavesdropping

London is arguably the best location in the world for eavesdropping.

Barely pipping the riveting political discussion on the US's relations with OPEC countries I overheard today, this one between two little girls was pretty special:

"So if you had to get rid of a bomb, where would you put it?"

"I'd put it really really deep in the ground."

"But then it would go off and it would kill all the earthworms."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, that wouldn't do, would it?"
Post a Comment

An internet cafe in London, 10.35pm

Two spots down, an Arab man is reciting the Koran over Skype. It's just us. He seems excited by the discussion. I think its some kind of informal correspondence course. He laughs quite often, like a schoolboy, which I like.

Tonight was my second lonely one. I felt displaced (which I am) and without friends (which I'm not). In fact, two of my best friends in the world are here in London with me. But when Thean goes to work, and Jolani's away, I feel like the last Smurf in the world.

It will pass.

What I wanted to say is that this blog is still going. I will continue to barf my thoughts here for the next year, the cold one in London.

I picked up my camera for the first time in a month just two days ago. I want to show you some pictures of angels and classical figures in black and white, but it must wait for now.

See you soon.
Post a Comment

Strange thing to discuss on my comeback, but it's all I have words for, you see.

I've been saying goodbye to too many friends as I prepare to leave for London. So, the only other thing having consumed my conscience in the last month being games, I will share some of my thoughts on the subject.

Firstly, they are important. Or will be, soon enough.

Do not doubt for one moment that within fifty years, some game designer's name will be mentioned in the same breath as Fellini, (Lucien) Freud, or John Lennon.

It's bound to happen. Games are, in the widest sense, an interactive medium. That's it: they are interactive. Usually, they set objectives and challenges for the player but they can also be merely an interactive experience.

The point is, there's nothing that brackets games into the simple-minded Space Invaders stuff that we are used to.

First we had games for adults. Soon we will have games for artsy-fartsy Oxbridge adults.

Intellectually, there's nothing demeaning about user-participation in narrative. It's very post-post-modern.

Mario 8, coming soon to the MOMA. It can happen.

Now, you must ask: Why Niel, why? I'll try and convey my excitement to you.

Some interesting things about games right now:

1. People aren't just interacting with games, they are reinventing them


a minor modification to Doom 3. Light up zombie foes with your Hello Kitty night light

Mods are reprogrammings of a game's content. They offer endless opportunities for creative reconfiguration (and cultural/textual/psychological analysis) and represent a "taking the power back" effect unparalleled in other media.

2. Anyone can join the fun



User-friendly kits that promise to let anyone make their own game within a week are appearing everywhere.

It's drag-and-drop, it's DIY. Nothing to be scared of, just go.

It means that creative people, people with ideas and stories in their heads but no idea how to make games, can now do so. Result? Better stories, better ideas, better games.

I'm hoping this might happen to me. What happens when a journalist tries his hand at writing a game? I hope to find out.

3. Interactive is changing



The latest Christmas must-have is the Nintendo Wii. It's like other gaming consoles that kiddies (and adults) go gaga for, but it's distinguishing feature is that its controller responds to motion. So, if you're playing Wii Tennis, guess what, you wave it through the air like a tennis racket.

It's cool because it's only the beginning. A movie doesn't understand it when I punch. When I dance. But soon, games will and that could be a cool thing. It could be an arty thing.

Nothing can kill the radio star. Or the film star. But games can sure put them on the dole.

See you soon, readers.
Post a Comment