Shigeru Miyamoto

“Video games are bad for you? That’s what they said about rock n’ roll!”

     –Shigeru Miyamoto (born 16 November 1952) is Nintendo’s most respected video game developer.

Notes toward an abstract

Topics

The conference will highlight research in the following topical areas:·         Interacting bodies in material-semiotic places. For example, the study of body movements, interacting bodies and objects-in-interaction in the situated configuration of material-semiotic space and virtual places. An example can be found in the interactions of citizens and visitors in public places and aesthetic environments, such as museums. More precise ways of analysing affordances and mediational means need to be investigated. Findings will be applicable to the design of innovative, democratic, habitable places and to the crafting of mobility practices in spatial planning, design and policy.

The study of body movements

Interacting bodies

Objects in interaction

Material- semiotic space

Virtual space

Analyze affordances

Apply to the design of innovative, democratic, habitable places

What is Rock Band:

“Rock Band” is an electronic game that requires at least two players in a “band” to use game controllers that look and feel like musical instruments to simulate play with known rock music.

The controllers, are drumsticks that beat an electronic drum kit that’s about half the size of a real electronic kit, a black and white guitar that has the markings and is branded as a Fender Stratacaster, and a microphone that functions as a digital recording mike as well as a controller for the game.

Though individual players can play on solo tours, there must be at least 2 people who play in the rock band. Xbox live connects wirelessly to the players’ home internet connection, and so game play can happen with a member of the band in one living room, and another member of the band in a living room half way around the world.

The objective of the game as a rock band is to go on tour, beginning in the hometown of the band within the game, and to travel nationally, then internationally to play larger and larger auditoriums. The goal is to win fans, unlock songs, and earn money within the game to improve transportation and buy clothes and instruments.

The game is played as each member of the band “play” the same song at once that the band chooses. The guitar player presses a combination of keys on the guitar controller like notes. The guitar player watches the screen and sees color coded dots move down a fret board in the game, and he presses the corresponding color coded key. The drummer does the same by striking the color coded drum pad with the drum stick in unison with the color coded note falling down the screen of the game. The singer, actually sings into the microphone, and the game registers pitch, and intensity of the voice, with a bar on the screen that shows whether the singer is sharp, above the note, below the note or on key.

Because the playing is networked through XBOX and because there’s a growing social network community of Rock Band players, one objective of the game might be to earn more points as a band and to compete with other bands in other places.

What are the places:

The living room, bar or dormitory where the game is played on a screen through the Xbox system

The world of the game, where bands can originate from and begin touring in virtual towns like Boston, Rome, Los Angeles or Berlin

The arenas where the bands play, small clubs and large ampitheaters where real players can meet virtually and play ‘gigs’

The social network space of rockband.com where the community surrounding the game discusses songs, information about new bands in the real world, and tips on playing the game

The world of XBOX live, which is like a social network, that provides the technology so that band members who are in separate real spaces can talk through headphones in real time. XBOX live also allows for players to share their playing habits and preferences with other players who also belong to XBOX live

The world of rock music itself with the history of rock music, references to rock music in American culture—part of the pleasure of the game is to know a song that’s familiar and get to “play” along with it, or to learn a new song, and discover an artist that the player may not know already.

The Bodies:

There are the human bodies that are in the living rooms and bars and dormitories, interacting with game controllers that have the same shape and feel as real instruments

            These human bodies can be dressed in pajamas or a suit, these bodies sit on the couch or stand in front of a crowd at Rock Band events held at bars

There are the bodies that the player creates as his or her “rockers” or avatars who can take on whatever characteristics that the player chooses, within the confine of the choices for the avatar.

            Rockers can: have wild hairdos, be racially diverse, have tattoos or no tattoos, have wild outfits, or more tame out fits

            Rockers cannot: be old or fat or inappropriately hairy

            **The player can choose his or her Rocker to have a performance delivery style of Rock, Punk, or Gothic, the Rocker will move within the game and “dance” according to the style of movements associated with these rock genres

The crowds in the virtual bars, arenas and auditoriums…sway and rhythmically shake fists when “into the music” boo and turn away when the game is being played badly

What I want to do:

Analyze new media to understand electronic, networked, roleplaying games as sites of learning and connection instead of just distraction and diversion

What ways can we shape virtual environments to promote social cohesion?

To understand the potential of creating a virtual body that is actionable by the real body. (the real body must move in time and space in order for the virtual body to progress through the virtual world)

The key feature of this game is that one cannot play it alone. Real players are necessary. How does that inform the direction that new media might take to bring people together in meaningful ways, to productive ends?

Are actions in the virtual world valid? Do they have consequences?

How do other games with similar features compare with Rock Band? Second Life? Games for the Nintendo WII?

What does the participation in the game world tell about the actual player? Economics, race, gender? Access, cost of entry?

What might a game like Rock Band portend for virtual performance spaces? Collaborative spaces?

Why is this kind of heightened, fantastical communication important? What function does this communication serve within US culture?

What about the desire to be famous/rockstar? Auslander writing about the democratization of rock and roll during the late 1960’s—any one can pick up a guitar and play. In reality, it takes a lot of practice and skill to play an instrument well. How do we unpack the fantasy of “being” a rock star? What’s frustrating about not being a rock star? How is it then satisfying to pretend one is a rock star, validated by fans, traveling the world, looking sexy or outlandish, having talent and presence?

What goes into the choice of self as an avatar? How do people choose avatars? Like themselves? Like rock stars they admire? Completely UNLIKE themselves?

What makes this game so relevant and popular now? What need does this game fulfill in the American psyche? Why is it useful to re-embody oneself within the game?

Will the game discourage players from actually playing real instruments, since the game is not a substitute for musical ability (South Park episode—about Guitar Hero)

Can players of online, networked games accept the games as substitutes for real life person to person contact? What makes that relaxing? Is face to face contact anxiety producing? Do players consider gaming online with friends a form of social interaction? Does it replace human contact? Should we privledge human contact above mediated contact? What new kinds of information, communication is shared when the interaction between bodies is mediated through the ontology of the game?**********

What does the paradigm of the game tell us about the cultural space from which it comes?

 

Issues

Issues that contributions may address include:

• The substantive and critical contribution that the discipline of geography (and the ‘field’ disciplines) may have to research in discourse and interaction studies, and vice versa.
• The impact of recent, critical studies of mobility and motility on the theories and methods of analysis in discourse and interaction studies.
• A critical assessment of the assumptions about space, place and mobility that are common in discourse and interaction research.
• New research methods for collecting, archiving, sharing and analysing data from complex ‘field sites’ in which embodied and virtual actors interact with discourses in place and dynamic artifacts and archite

From Wikipedia:

 

[edit] Affordances as perceived action possibilities

In 1988, Donald Norman appropriated the term affordances in the context of Human–Machine Interaction to refer to just those action possibilities which are readily perceivable by an actor. Through his book The Design of Everyday Things,^[4] this interpretation was popularized within the fields of HCI and interaction design. It makes the concept dependent not only on the physical capabilities of the actor, but also their goals, plans, values, beliefs and past experience. If an actor steps into a room with an armchair and a softball, Gibson’s original definition of affordances allows that the actor may toss the recliner and sit on the softball, because that is objectively possible. Norman’s definition of (perceived) affordances captures the likelihood that the actor will sit on the recliner and toss the softball. Effectively, Norman’s affordances “suggest” how an object may be interacted with. For example, the size and shape of softball obviously fits nicely in the average human hand, and its density and texture make it perfect for throwing. The user may also bring past experience with similar objects (baseballs, perhaps) to bear when evaluating a new affordance.Norman’s 1988 definition makes the concept of affordance relational, rather than subjective or objective. This he deemed an “ecological approach,” which is related to systems-theoretic approaches in the natural and social sciences. The focus on perceived affordances is much more pertinent to practical design problems from a human-factors approach, which may explain its widespread adoption.Norman later explained that this adaptation of the term had been unintended.^[5][6] However, the definition from his book has become established enough in HCI that both uses have to be accepted as convention in this field. 

Hey Man Turn it Up! Is that Experimental Cream Cheese?!

Ah, I love when I find a very simple way to add variety and excitement to my life. Friends, I’m talking about my recent discovery of gourmet cream cheese. At Wheatsville Food Coop, where I like to shop on occasion, I found that they sell tasty cream cheese spreads in their prepared food case.  With a price of about $3, this is not an expensive treat, but I thought, “Hey, experimental cream cheese, sounds like a 1968 Rock Band!”

So here are the ones I’ve made so far:

Italian Spread

This is great on bread for a sandwich or roll instead of meat.

1 Box of Generic Cream Cheese (leave out of fridge for an hour or so to soften)
1 Can of Black Olives, drained, then coarsely chopped
1/4 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes cut into strips
1 Table spoon Minced Fresh Rosemary
1/2 – 3/4 Cups Chopped Italian Parsley
1-3 Cloves of fresh garlic, minced (use more or less depending on who you’ll be kissing later)
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
Salt  and Fresh Pepper to taste ( I used Fleur De Sal, which is a finishing salt. I like it in the cream cheese because it basically disintegrates into the mix)

Mix all this stuff together, and stir covered in the fridge.

GORP inspired Spread

I think you could probably use anything sweet and dry you have on hand for this. Dried cranberries, m&m’s, what have you.

1 Block of Cream Cheese
1 Cup Pecans
1 Single Serving Box of  Raisins
1/4-1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix it up! Store covered in fridge. Tasty on apples, as well as breads and crackers.

I’m thinking I might try smores spread, with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham crackers. Or, I might do an Asian Spread, dried crumbled nori, toasted chopped almonds, toasted sesame seeds, etc. I think the key is to keep the mix in’s dry, so they don’t break down and make the cheese watery.