& a blog

i’ve been missing my gaming fix lately. this time last year, i was rock band-ing daily a la berkman center, and even exercising my gamer theory with monthly mit-harvard game design meetings hosted by the ever brilliant gene koo.

anyway, between a brother who is no longer all that interested in video games (or staying up late for that matter) and an antiquated game system (wait, you mean they aren’t still developing titles for my beloved game cube?) i’ve decided its time for a change. something new. a next step.

i was tempted initally to buy an xbox 360. i love playing fifa 09 with my boys, and project natal will surely make that system all the better. PLUS, the xbox 360 has netflix interaction, and will soon have even more media possibilities- what’s not too love? the games basically. tho i love me some first person shooters, there’s really no reason to invest in a system that only does that with its time. ok, there’s also rock band and sports games, but they are really only fun with other people. ONE OF MY BIGGEST PROBLEMS IS LACKING A STEADY GAMING CREW (again, tears for the rock band core of yore).

as for the other considerations, the playstation 3, for all its awesomeness (like Little Big Planet) is too expensive. and the wii is too gimmicky. its like an arcade for your home, and i don’t want to buy an arcade. moreover, between my roomates next year, their should be one of each console in our apartment. SO WHY COMPLICATE THINGS.

plus, i love puzzle games. i loved myst back in the day, i loved games like journeyman project legacy of time, and adventure games. these genres have been forced into the ds market having been rudely rejected by adrenaline-addled Xboxers and PSers. no worries, i’m more than happy to find things like Professor Layton and the Curious Village or the much hyped scribblenauts in a single man machine. my prayers seem answered.

i struggled for a while about whether or not i should actually buy a ds. i researched into them extensively. i played a few, i read the reviews. at every turn i found myself more sold. the new dsi features suave (albeit slow) internet browsing, an online store with downloadable games (the next generation in video game delivery) and cameras promising both inventive game play and possible skyping/webcamage. one game called ghostwire will actually employ augmented-reality gaming, which uses the cameras to superimpose the game reality into your “physical reality.” i cannot wait to play/theorize on that.

finally, i am going to ars electronica this fall, and i’m worried about bringing along a full computer. i was thinking initially of getting a netbook for the trip, but i really only want one for the trip, not the long term. with the dsi, i may (note “may”) have a solution, as the dsi might be just the lightweight multipurpose ticket to bring to the festival. now lets just hope nintendo has a blogging platform working by then (plz wordpress?)

an animated summary of my arguements

i’ve been playing with a fun web 2.0 presentation tool called prezi this week. take a look at the slick little animation of my arguments that i composed on the beast in about a half hour. this thing is a very slick tool for showing your audience that slideshows are for cartesian minds, while prezi is for deleuzians. sort of.

http://prezi.com/128668/