Not sure how I feel about the black lives matter thing affecting video game reporting. If anything it was very smart of Eurogamer to not allow comments on said article. Videogames are a means of escape, why ground them so heavily in the harsh reality of current events? And in the case of Eurogamer, it'll just give more ammo to those that find them to be too outspoken leftist and veering towards barely gaming related editorials too often.
Personally I find the idea that the artistic press (in any medium) should not editorialise outside of aesthetics to be utterly pathetic; by the same token, I equally sympathise with art for art's sake. (Do I find whining about the length of a skirt being too long or too short depending on which side of #gamergate you're on to be incredibly banal? Absolutely, but full respect to them for caring about art enough to get so annoyed by something so insipid). As for Eurogamer specifically, I feel like any publication shouldn't be too worried about what its detractors say. I don't think this will put off too many of their visitors, and if it does it's unlikely to last very long.
As an aside, while much of my videogame playing is for literal pain relief, I do not find videogames to be a means of escape; but I've never understood escapism and, frankly, I'm disappointed that I even need pain relief. I'm not sure if that counts as escapism, though.
Escapism: the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.
You could argue that reality, with its capitalistic tendencies and accompanying bureaucraty, is unpleasant for most of us. Furthermore the goal of most media is to tell a story and sweep us along in its fiction.
As such, escapism is a close friend to many, unless you feel it is only escapism when it becomes a hindrance, an issue in and of itself.
I know what it is, but I don't understand it. For instance, videogames are very much a part of capitalism (the Soviet Union actually had some videogames, but I digress), so playing games would not be escaping capitalism so much as participating in it. Games also often have very bureacratic structures; at the very least, much of how they function is arbitrary and makes sense only because we expect that to be how a game functions!
As far as a story sweeping us along with it, we are thus participating in the experience of a story: if that means we are escaping something else, by doing that something else we also must then be escaping from the story!
This is not meant to be criticising escapism at all, it's just a strange concept to me; people finding comfort and joy in something makes me happy! And again, distraction is the next best thing to marijuana and morphine for pain relief, with advantages over them for chronic use (at the cost of the level of relief), so this may be a confused questioning of the concept of videogame escapism from someone who plays games in part for pain relief which may actually constitute a form of escapism in the first place?!
Not sure how I feel about the black lives matter thing affecting video game reporting. If anything it was very smart of Eurogamer to not allow comments on said article. Videogames are a means of escape, why ground them so heavily in the harsh reality of current events? And in the case of Eurogamer, it'll just give more ammo to those that find them to be too outspoken leftist and veering towards barely gaming related editorials too often.
I was also a little upset to see so much of the current social and political situation invading the game sites I go to. I knew Facebook was going to be a goddamn mess, along with other social media.
Don't get me wrong, the black lives matter movement is super important, and it's nice to see attention brought to what's going on. But even my wife who is biracial and pretty damn liberal (at least she was before we started seeing some of the left-wing nut jobs out there), is sick to death to death of how pervasive it's gotten. Seems like it's the only topic that has existed for the past week. It's gotten to the point that if you need a mental break the only option is unplug.
So on a related note, half of the rooms in my home are repainted.
What's the expression for doing something to indicate that you are doing the right thing, but not actually doing anything to solve the issue (like chaning your forum avatar on Earth Day etc...)?
What's the expression for doing something to indicate that you are doing the right thing, but not actually doing anything to solve the issue (like chaning your forum avatar on Earth Day etc...)?
I don't know, but you seem to have described a large part of my job.
I know what it is, but I don't understand it. For instance, videogames are very much a part of capitalism (the Soviet Union actually had some videogames, but I digress), so playing games would not be escaping capitalism so much as participating in it. Games also often have very bureacratic structures; at the very least, much of how they function is arbitrary and makes sense only because we expect that to be how a game functions!
As far as a story sweeping us along with it, we are thus participating in the experience of a story: if that means we are escaping something else, by doing that something else we also must then be escaping from the story!
This is not meant to be criticising escapism at all, it's just a strange concept to me; people finding comfort and joy in something makes me happy! And again, distraction is the next best thing to marijuana and morphine for pain relief, with advantages over them for chronic use (at the cost of the level of relief), so this may be a confused questioning of the concept of videogame escapism from someone who plays games in part for pain relief which may actually constitute a form of escapism in the first place?!
I don't think escapism is about truely escaping, it is about the illusion of escaping. Hence the fact that they're 2 words.
A good example I've just now totally thought up as a hypothetical situation with no relevance to actual recent happenings would be if you'd start painting the rooms in your house as to not have to be confronted with social and economic distress.
What's the expression for doing something to indicate that you are doing the right thing, but not actually doing anything to solve the issue (like chaning your forum avatar on Earth Day etc...)?
I don't know, but you seem to have described a large part of my job.
What's the expression for doing something to indicate that you are doing the right thing, but not actually doing anything to solve the issue (like chaning your forum avatar on Earth Day etc...)?
Virtue signalling? You're thinking about virtue signalling all wrong, though; virtue signalling isn't meant to be an avenue for change (even if that's what the people virtue signalling think), virtue signalling is conservative consolidation. The evolution from America's utterly insane stance on crime reaching its Clinton peak to the burgeoning realisation of some of its failing reaching conservative thinking is what we're witnessing with virtue signalling like this. It should also be noted that virtue signalling is only easily noticable or commented upon when the conservative position begins to change. My favourite example of this in games media is in Hyper. Hyper used to be full of anti-aboriginal and anti-working class virtue signalling in the form of runing jokes about Redfern; these were long held conservative positions so no one noticed. When anti-racism started reaching conservative thought, the change from racist virtue signalling to anti-racist virtue signalling stuck out like a sore thumb.
Edit: your memory is faster than my typing. Oh well.
What's the expression for doing something to indicate that you are doing the right thing, but not actually doing anything to solve the issue (like chaning your forum avatar on Earth Day etc...)?
Virtue signalling? You're thinking about virtue signalling all wrong, though; virtue signalling isn't meant to be an avenue for change (even if that's what the people virtue signalling think), virtue signalling is conservative consolidation. The evolution from America's utterly insane stance on crime reaching its Clinton peak to the burgeoning realisation of some of its failing reaching conservative thinking is what we're witnessing with virtue signalling like this. It should also be noted that virtue signalling is only easily noticable or commented upon when the conservative position begins to change. My favourite example of this in games media is in Hyper. Hyper used to be full of anti-aboriginal and anti-working class virtue signalling in the form of runing jokes about Redfern; these were long held conservative positions so no one noticed. When anti-racism started reaching conservative thought, the change from racist virtue signalling to anti-racist virtue signalling stuck out like a sore thumb.
Edit: your memory is faster than my typing. Oh well.
You are confusing "dog whistle" for virtu signalling.
Making Redfern asides is as you describe above a dog whistle for those in the know to pick up on (that those not in the know would not hear). Virtue signalling is wearing a red fucking ribbon to show your support for AIDS research when you spent more money on the ribbon than any actual donation (if you made any donation at all).
wearing a red fucking ribbon to show your support for AIDS research when you spent more money on the ribbon than any actual donation (if you made any donation at all).
I'm not going to mingle in this discussion, but I just wanted to state that I hate the above. acquintances of ours put a message out they were making and selling bracelets and that they'd donate €1 or 2e per bracelet sold to a good cause. It's just marketting. I donated a healthy sum to the good cause directly without blowing my own trumpet about it. Result is a lot of people probably think I'm a heartless scrooge.
edit: this may or may not be a case of virtue signalling, depending on how the debate between Aspro and Foolz goes.
You are confusing "dog whistle" for virtu signalling.
Making Redfern asides is as you describe above a dog whistle for those in the know to pick up on (that those not in the know would not hear). Virtue signalling is wearing a red fucking ribbon to show your support for AIDS research when you spent more money on the ribbon than any actual donation (if you made any donation at all).
Nope, not at all: this was virtue signalling what sort of person they were while living in Redfern (to make it clear that in spite of being based in Redfern, they were neither poor nor black). It's no coincidence that these statements were directly replaced with anti-racist statements, and their sexist jokes with third wave feminist commentary: both of which also explicitly imply that in spite of living in Redfern they are neither poor nor black. It's also worth noting that at the time, there was no need to dogwhistle anti-aboriginal and anti-poor sentiment in relation to Redfern LOL.
It also means it can't be confused with other forms of virtue signalling as detailed above.
Also, Vampyr is no longer on games pass. Oh well. I started Plague Tale anyway, as I'm having trouble with updating Metro Exodus. Microsoft Store is a travesty. Engaging opening, I just wish they'd put their effort into the French dub instead of the English one, as it really adds to the atmosphere; but the English one is very clearly what they want you to be using.
So in genuine game related news, Sega is releasing a Game Gear Micro. I'm sure we're all thrilled about that. They are releasing four different ones in different colors, each for $50 with four different games on them. I'm not exactly sure who the target audience here is, but I'm sure "has a poor sense of judgment" was written in their customer profile when they were putting the marketing on this together.
Certain doom averted as the infinite possible futures rearrange themselves!
Not sure how I feel about the black lives matter thing affecting video game reporting. If anything it was very smart of Eurogamer to not allow comments on said article. Videogames are a means of escape, why ground them so heavily in the harsh reality of current events? And in the case of Eurogamer, it'll just give more ammo to those that find them to be too outspoken leftist and veering towards barely gaming related editorials too often.
Personally I find the idea that the artistic press (in any medium) should not editorialise outside of aesthetics to be utterly pathetic; by the same token, I equally sympathise with art for art's sake. (Do I find whining about the length of a skirt being too long or too short depending on which side of #gamergate you're on to be incredibly banal? Absolutely, but full respect to them for caring about art enough to get so annoyed by something so insipid). As for Eurogamer specifically, I feel like any publication shouldn't be too worried about what its detractors say. I don't think this will put off too many of their visitors, and if it does it's unlikely to last very long.
As an aside, while much of my videogame playing is for literal pain relief, I do not find videogames to be a means of escape; but I've never understood escapism and, frankly, I'm disappointed that I even need pain relief. I'm not sure if that counts as escapism, though.
You could argue that reality, with its capitalistic tendencies and accompanying bureaucraty, is unpleasant for most of us. Furthermore the goal of most media is to tell a story and sweep us along in its fiction.
As such, escapism is a close friend to many, unless you feel it is only escapism when it becomes a hindrance, an issue in and of itself.
I know what it is, but I don't understand it.
For instance, videogames are very much a part of capitalism (the Soviet Union actually had some videogames, but I digress), so playing games would not be escaping capitalism so much as participating in it. Games also often have very bureacratic structures; at the very least, much of how they function is arbitrary and makes sense only because we expect that to be how a game functions!
As far as a story sweeping us along with it, we are thus participating in the experience of a story: if that means we are escaping something else, by doing that something else we also must then be escaping from the story!
This is not meant to be criticising escapism at all, it's just a strange concept to me; people finding comfort and joy in something makes me happy! And again, distraction is the next best thing to marijuana and morphine for pain relief, with advantages over them for chronic use (at the cost of the level of relief), so this may be a confused questioning of the concept of videogame escapism from someone who plays games in part for pain relief which may actually constitute a form of escapism in the first place?!
I was also a little upset to see so much of the current social and political situation invading the game sites I go to. I knew Facebook was going to be a goddamn mess, along with other social media.
Don't get me wrong, the black lives matter movement is super important, and it's nice to see attention brought to what's going on. But even my wife who is biracial and pretty damn liberal (at least she was before we started seeing some of the left-wing nut jobs out there), is sick to death to death of how pervasive it's gotten. Seems like it's the only topic that has existed for the past week. It's gotten to the point that if you need a mental break the only option is unplug.
So on a related note, half of the rooms in my home are repainted.
What's the expression for doing something to indicate that you are doing the right thing, but not actually doing anything to solve the issue (like chaning your forum avatar on Earth Day etc...)?
I don't know, but you seem to have described a large part of my job.
I don't think escapism is about truely escaping, it is about the illusion of escaping. Hence the fact that they're 2 words.
A good example I've just now totally thought up as a hypothetical situation with no relevance to actual recent happenings would be if you'd start painting the rooms in your house as to not have to be confronted with social and economic distress.
escapism is perhaps too grand for what reading or gaming provides.
how about "a welcome distraction"?
Remembered. Virtue Signalling.
Virtue signalling? You're thinking about virtue signalling all wrong, though; virtue signalling isn't meant to be an avenue for change (even if that's what the people virtue signalling think), virtue signalling is conservative consolidation. The evolution from America's utterly insane stance on crime reaching its Clinton peak to the burgeoning realisation of some of its failing reaching conservative thinking is what we're witnessing with virtue signalling like this. It should also be noted that virtue signalling is only easily noticable or commented upon when the conservative position begins to change. My favourite example of this in games media is in Hyper. Hyper used to be full of anti-aboriginal and anti-working class virtue signalling in the form of runing jokes about Redfern; these were long held conservative positions so no one noticed. When anti-racism started reaching conservative thought, the change from racist virtue signalling to anti-racist virtue signalling stuck out like a sore thumb.
Edit: your memory is faster than my typing. Oh well.
You are confusing "dog whistle" for virtu signalling.
Making Redfern asides is as you describe above a dog whistle for those in the know to pick up on (that those not in the know would not hear). Virtue signalling is wearing a red fucking ribbon to show your support for AIDS research when you spent more money on the ribbon than any actual donation (if you made any donation at all).
I'm not going to mingle in this discussion, but I just wanted to state that I hate the above. acquintances of ours put a message out they were making and selling bracelets and that they'd donate €1 or 2e per bracelet sold to a good cause. It's just marketting. I donated a healthy sum to the good cause directly without blowing my own trumpet about it. Result is a lot of people probably think I'm a heartless scrooge.
edit: this may or may not be a case of virtue signalling, depending on how the debate between Aspro and Foolz goes.
Nope, not at all: this was virtue signalling what sort of person they were while living in Redfern (to make it clear that in spite of being based in Redfern, they were neither poor nor black). It's no coincidence that these statements were directly replaced with anti-racist statements, and their sexist jokes with third wave feminist commentary: both of which also explicitly imply that in spite of living in Redfern they are neither poor nor black. It's also worth noting that at the time, there was no need to dogwhistle anti-aboriginal and anti-poor sentiment in relation to Redfern LOL.
Slacktivism has always been my term of choice.
It also means it can't be confused with other forms of virtue signalling as detailed above.
Also, Vampyr is no longer on games pass.
Oh well. I started Plague Tale anyway, as I'm having trouble with updating Metro Exodus. Microsoft Store is a travesty. Engaging opening, I just wish they'd put their effort into the French dub instead of the English one, as it really adds to the atmosphere; but the English one is very clearly what they want you to be using.
Hey, Atari! Release a Lynx mini with the entire library, please.