The Death of the Arcade

This week I found myself going to an arcade with a four year old. As soon as I walked through the door I had flashbacks to the 80’s, when arcades ruled. Children dumpped their coins into the latest video games, and roamed the arcades claiming high scores. Young social lives formed around these places. THIS used to be the place to be, but what I saw an empty arcade full of flashing lights. Regardless of the other factors contributing to the desolate scene- the impressoin had already been made. Arcade games have been replaced- the industry has moved on.

I walked around to see what games the few people (mostly hidden in the corners) were playing. Shooting games, driving games, allmost all multiplayer inherently, like racing. I started to think more about the endangered arcade game, and the future of gaming. I began to trace the steps from this place to where we are today. I thought of the children that bought an Atari/Nintendo/Sega Genesis/Neo Geo/Jaguart 64… Then everyone realized that not having to put coins in meant you needed more games. So the industry made games as fast as they could- regardless of quality. Multiplayer emerged as an important aspect, but adding controlers was nothing in the face of the mother of all platforms- the internet. Even consoles have been forced to incorporate online gameplay. Gamers are no longer satisfied being the best on the block. They want to compare their scores the the best the PLANET has to offer.

What started with kids looking over their shoulder to keep the high score in Donkey Kong, has grown and grown and broken barriers that nobody knew were barriers. Found ways to draw people together, and draw people in with all sorts of new gameplay. The better this interaction between people- the more successful modern titles are.
So what conclusions did I draw from all of this? The mobile gaming industry is flooded with over 40,000 titles… it might pay the bills to make poor quality games, but the winners in the mobile industry will innovate and find new ways to bring people together. A well made, well thought out game, that brings people together in fun new ways- a recipie for mobile gaming success!

(now I just have to make http://www.zombieapocalypsemobile.com to have all those things)

Afghanistan War Vet on Osama Bin Laden's Death.

My first reaction upon seeing that Osama Bin Laden was dead? “CRAP! This war was so close to being about peace, and now it’s about killing again.”

There is something inherently wrong about celebrating another human beings death. I absolutely understand the benefits of this particular person NOT being part of the currently alive, however the cheapening of human life in any form leads the human heart to bad places. When we cheer in the streets at his death we are telling young Soldiers and Marines that we want them to take lives, and their killing will be celebrated. When in order to end any conflict in the middle east we must start the seeds of peace where our feet are most firmly planted: Afghanistan.

Moving forward it is of utmost imortance that the focus on all sides is on non-violence, improving living conditions, and building the middle east into an educated, civilized, safe place for any human being to live. It is my greatest fear that this death will cloud the beauty of peace and remind the worlds citizens of the great violence that we are capable of- when it is of the utmost importance that we remember that humans are meant by nature to be united.

Turning the world "Inside Out" with your iPhone.

Today I took a self portrait with my iPhone, I uploaded this to www.insideoutproject.net, this picture will now be blown up to poster size, sent to me, and I will paste it on a wall in my neighborhood. I'd like to think of it as my first escapade into street art:


So what the heck is going on? I just finished watching this wonderful TED Talk by JR, in which he talks about the past several years he's spent going around the world putting up photographs of the local populations. His destinations included Israel, Sudan, Rio De Janeiro, Sierra-Leone, and the list goes on. Everywhere he went, he would take pictures of the locals and paste their giant bust on walls, or their eyes on the side of buildings, tops of trains- you name it. The idea was to remind people that the city was theirs. I love this concept of taking ownership of the world around you. Not just for the strength in numbers, but for the concept that pride is what you make it. In Africa they printed images on vinyl, and used them to cover the roves of large huts. People felt so much ownership of their new roof that they even kept their sections when they moved away.

HOW TO:
You can upload your own self portrait and receive it back in full poster size to be put up around your town! http://www.insideoutproject.net Now if you don't want a giant picture of yourself on your nearest street corner: you're crazy... This is good old fashioned fun you can accomplish with an iPhone in 10 minutes.


All you need is a simple light source, close and diffused (anything opaque works to diffuse). Here I chose behind my door to get a nice blank background- wanna keep it pro now! Set that light close and and above your face, and don't really worry if it's yellow or orange just as long as it's strong- your final product is B&W remember. Standing about 1-2 feet away from your light and about 2 feet off the wall, hold your iPhone just below the light (as you're looking at it). Be careful to get everything in with your framing and start snapping. This is the part where you look stupid a lot:

Next comes the difficult task of choosing which photo to stick with... I went with "Big head has a secret"... but believe me "give'em the tongue" was a close 2nd... Finally, turn your chosen product black and white (super easy in almost any photo application). If you want to add a touch to the final product feel free to play with your contrast and brightness. I always like upping the contrast and dropping the brightness a little with most B&W. Once you're happy- upload, and enjoy!

Feeling Gameful!

I have been spending a fair amount of my time on gameful.org recently. If you are not familiar with Jane Mcgonigal or her work you can catch up really quickly by watching her TED talk. The basic Idea of her book, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change The World, is that video gamer energy can be directed into things that are good in the real world.

The fast breakdown goes like this: Wikipedia took 7 years and 100 million man hours to create. It was done for FREE by users interested in contributing to the project. The contribution system was set up like a GAME where contributions allow players to level up, and contribute to more important pages based on level. Other players checked and rated their contributions- like a GAME- to determine the wikipedia data that the players agreed was accurate.... ok so.... World of Warcraft has enough man hours poured into it globally that Blizzard could make 1 wikipedia every 6 days.

In short: all the quality work energy of our generation is being poured into gaming- into virtual worlds, but if we direct that energy back on the real world then we could REALLY start tackling some of this worlds major problems.

This is my hope for Zombie Apocalypse... I want to encourage gamers to interact with their neighbors instead of logging onto a virtual community. I want people to walk 20 blocks because it gets them points in my game, and they've started to lose weight- 2 strikes against driving. I want strangers to laugh with eachother in public because "I just killed your guy in a funny way". I want my players to be able to fight "tsunami monsters" to support the relief effort in Japan. In short- I want to make a game that changes the way people see the world for the better.

Macho Marine Poetry

I write a lot, but I don't often write poetry... Guess it's a macho Marine thing left over from the corps. That being said, poem time:

If our entire lives were a dream, ourselves floating through its scenes, then our creations are our wake in otherwise still waters. When we arrive at the end of our dream we can turn and see the ripples that stream from our fingers touch. Extending backward and chasing us down from the dreamers hands our ripples stream. But, Hollow is the man who rears to touch and careless is the man who would only seek to make waves.

For many people art is the trace we leave behind so that when we die we can be sure the world knew it was WE who existed here. No other mind, no other person, no other thoughts could have combined to create that one unique thing by our hand. This is how I feel about my film: Removed From Reality Editing and creating the film ensures that my experience will not be lost.

The Absurdity in Lybian Conflict

We are all watching the scene unfold in Libya like we have watched so much political turmoil around the world. The details and the players change but this story is not a new one. Small country leaders are known for their need to "project power" so that their small country does not feel so weak in a big pond. Why do we bother being shocked to find out that a man who has been left as god of a small nation has taken certain liberties? These dictators are not told NO very often so when the subject of "hey should we kill these people that don't like you?" comes up- it's pretty easy for them to justify it to themselves as "doing what must be done to lead their poor little country."

The people tend to accept some of these liberties to some extent- especially if the living conditions haven't recently worsened. The people involved around these leaders, and sometimes the populous as well, have a tendency to forgive their leaders in the hope that it will strengthen their small nation. Violence leading to more violence eventually causes a boil over where the dictator is unwilling to give up power. He see's himself as the leader that has been making sacrifices for the people, and thus the true leader of said nation.

If you step back and look at the situation like this it's quickly apparent that EVERYONE involved wants the best for their small nation. Under equipped civilians are running into an armed military each believing that they are strengthening their world by doing so, when they are choosing the WORST option possible. It's like a distance runner amputating their leg so that they can finish the marathon with no blisters... AND WE FEED INTO IT! We consider these things like they are legitimate solutions because it's what happened LAST time this was on CNN so why would they do it any different THIS time it's on CNN. There is no rational reason to arm the 'freedom fighters.' Giving them guns only signs their death warrant, and it tells the world that we approve the killing that will be carried out in the name of the fallen for generations to come.

While I offer no direct solution (beyond Gaddafi realizing the point I'm trying to make and giving up all nice and quiet like). I will not allow myself to consider solutions that lead to more deaths. I always remember one Gandhi quote that sticks with me- "For this cause I would be willing to die, but there is no cause for which I am willing to kill."

Our own countries history may have been born of blood, but our greatest rebellions have come at the hands of peaceful men. Civil Rights. Women's Rights. Human Rights. We as Americans have created our own version of rebellion, and built peace into our government system- presidents are inevitably fired after eight years, regardless of their performance. No violence, no questioning, no standoff in the desert- they just leave peacefully. I remain happy that I live here.

The Next Generation of Cinema.

It's a statistically charted fact that movies are getting worse. The old studio system is clutching for sure things only to find gems like "Skyline". They can't even get a winner with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in "The Tourist." There are many more, and better examples, but why is this happening? Are we witnessing the death of large studio cinema as we know it?

I believe that we need only to look to reality television to see why cinema is beginning to struggle. Audiences are considerably less amused by invented stories than they are watching crab fishers slide around an icy deck for an hour, and it's because those crab fishermen are REAL. Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine detailed this phenomenon in their book "Authenticity." Most people living today have grown up in media soaked environments- Televisions and radios, later computers, and now smart phones... We have become well trained in identifying authenticity and reality over the years. Every day the falseness of our surroundings makes us long even more for "real" things.

Hollywood hasn't changed a damn thing, and that's exactly the problem. The next generation of cinema will not lose the big budget film, but rather grow in a new way. I believe that documentaries will find a more aggressive and active role in filmmaking and in society. Most documentaries tend to take an 'observer' role -fly on the wall style- and tell a story that requires the audiences reaction. However, whistle-blowing an warning aren't enough for audiences... we are smart and we want to see what is being done in response to the threat that a film identifies. We've begun to see ACTIVE roles of the documentary filmmakers in their approach to problems. The Cove is the story of what filmmakers went through to tell you WHY you should care about dolphin slaughter. Super Size Me wasn't just about the fast food industry, director Morgan Spurlock caused health damage to his own body to illustrate his point to his audience. Catfish follows filmmakers discovering who the scary person at the other end of Facebook actually is, and in a very REAL way we get to discover the lonely stranger at the other end of the internet. Born to be Wild doesn't just warn of orphaned animals from poaching, it follows the rehabilitation of the animals and the hardships their caretakers go through.

What all these films share is that they refuse to sit back and show you the problem without DOING something about it. Active documentaries like this will strike a chord with audiences everywhere. Not just warnings, but REAL action with REAL results will strike chords with audiences everywhere. To make easy easier- digital camera equipment these days will allow amazing access to every corner of the world where someone has a story worth telling- as the story happens! As time goes on production quality will grow, and production time will drop. At this point these stories will be from action to the audiences with all the polish of feature films- and maybe, just maybe, the audience will join in.