PA Kickstarter creeps close to 450k goal

The Penny Arcade Kickstarter has been going for almost a month now, and while at the time of this writing they've made $410k, almost twice their $250k goal, they're still a far cry from their ultimate and still-secret goals at the one million dollar mark.

Penny Arcade’s undertaking is straightforward and still fascinating: raise enough money to make the site ad free for an entire year. Be sure to read their Kickstarter for full information, but here's a short summary: eliminating ads, and therefore the time needed to organize, sign on, and create advertising content, would free up time for a plethora of new and exciting projects.

I was surprised at first, because I don't find their ads to be intrusive. I'd even say that it's easy to forget Penny Arcade even has ads. The ads on the site don't include flashing images, bright colors or sounds, and they never pop out and take over the user's screen. Each ad is carefully chosen, and games are only advertised if they have first been played, and more importantly enjoyed, by the Penny Arcade team. They are ads that can be trusted, assuming you respect Penny Arcade’s opinion.

Once one understands that the ad removal is less about the actual ads and more about sparing time for new projects, then it's easier to rev up your excitement engines and start kicking money toward all of the goals.

Penny Arcade Kickstarter goals that have been achieved so far.

Personally, I find their goals to be awesome and inventive. Fans can, so far, expect the leader-board ad to be gone for a year, a new six page Automata comic, and a cosplay event from Jerry Holkins aka Tycho from Penny Arcade. The next goal to be reached is titled 'Strip Search,' and will be a reality style show about up and coming webcomics.

It's amazing to see the list of ideas that the Penny Arcade team has formed, and it seems that the fans and community at large are anxious to help the goals come about.

Mysterious Penny Arcade Kickstarter goals.

However, the highest goal sits at a whopping $1.4 million. Other Kickstarters may have reached into the millions, but those all had a tangible reward, i.e. something to buy, have, or use once funding had been reached. In the instance of Penny Arcade, the money simply goes toward paying the Penny Arcade corporation. This isn't a bad thing though. As stated on their Kickstarter page, a lot of fans want to contribute financially but aren't interested in purchasing books or t-shirts. And truly, there's nothing all that strange about paying for a product that one enjoys. Penny Arcade is merely allowing fans to help fund them directly.

They're breaking new ground and very likely starting the wing flaps of a revolution. I'm very curious to know where it all goes and if they try it again next year. It doesn't seem likely that they'll make all of their goals, and it doesn't seem realistic to ask people to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars every single year. That's really the only part where I draw up short: what will happen next year? Where will Penny Arcade go from here? They've said themselves that they have no idea, but they really want to explore the "what if's" of the situation.

Lookouts: Daughters of Eyrewood preview drawing from the Penny Arcade Kickstarter.

As a huge fan of Penny Arcade and a believer in chasing your dreams in general, I hope that the Penny Arcade Kickstarter exceeds all of my wildest imaginings and Mike will get to draw to his heart's content. If we're lucky, the world will soon know more about the Daughters of Eyrewood, we'll get a free Twisp and Catsby children's book, and I'll finally get to cruise around the PA website via a custom made app! Man, who cares* what they do next year, this year is going to be awesome!

-MJ

*actually I do care, I'd love to see all of the incredible, amazing, inspiring things that Penny Arcade dreams up year after year after year All images taken from the Penny Arcade Kickstarter site

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All your wildest Landlord dreams come true in 'Tiny Tower'

I've never been much for mobile gaming. I mean, mobile phone gaming. The battery life is too valuable. I could be tweeting and instagraming instead! Now that I own an iPad though, I've been seeking ways to expand its usage outside of Netflix and tumblr. 

But then I found 'Tiny Tower,’ an adorable micro game by NimbleBit, creators of 'Pocket Frogs' (one of the only games I have on my Android phone). The premise is pretty simple: players build a skyscraper and fill it with residential floors and shopping centers. The "real" goal is to make each "bitizen" (in-game characters) as happy as possible by giving them their dream job.

A portion of my Tiny Tower. 

The player can see each bitizens dream job by checking their profiles, and the game also has a cute Facebook-esque feed, called a "bitbook," filled with the thoughts of each bitizen. This allows for a silly and unique way of knowing what kind of floor needs to be built next, and if your bitizens are satisfied or not with their jobs.

Apparently the developers of Tiny Tower are fans of Lewis Black!

'Tiny Tower' utilizes a subtle micro-payment system that I think is very effective. Players earn coins by having residents and by selling the stock in the tower stores. The coins are used to build new floors and to continue stocking all of the stores. Players also earn 'tower bux' through a variety of means: building a new floor, receiving a tip from a bitizen using the elevator, or locating a bitizen when they receive a pizza delivery. The tower bux can be spent on speeding up the process of building a new floor, or for eliminating the time needed to stock an item in a store. Tower bux can be exchanged for in-game coins, and real money can be exchanged for tower bux. If a player is patient they'll earn all of the tower bux that they could need. However, for those not willing to wait there is the option to purchase tower bux for real money. I wish more free-to-play games would adopt this less intrusive system.

There's an excellent balance of rewards in the game, and little opportunity for a real sense of loss. Games like Farmville punish the player for not returning to their crops quickly enough. Wilted, useless ‘product’ creates a sense of actual wasted time, which should be a huge no-no for supposedly fun and recreational gaming. If I'm away from my Tower for too long, then the stores will run out of stock. Nothing wilts. Nothing disappears. Of course, I'm also not making in-game money, but that's a minor consequence that I can deal with.

Tiny Tower cake studio shop stock.

The graphics are cute and refined while still being charmingly pixelated. The music is upbeat and kind of reminiscent of something one would hear in an elevator, which is appropriate considering the player is constantly moving bitizens up and down in the tower's elevator! 'Tiny Tower' has a great and simple interface that many people will quickly be familiar with: it is very similar to the modern smart phone user interface. Very clever of NimbleBit!

Tiny Tower's menu is kind of like an iPhone. Anyone?

Some aspects of the game that I have yet to explore are Missions and Friends. Missions require having specific stores in your tower and then fulfilling orders such as one thousand cakes and five hundred suits in order to throw a giant party. Players who complete these missions will be rewarded with tower bux! As for Friends, well, I don't yet know anyone who plays 'Tiny Tower.' Does anyone out there want to be friends? :D

I give 'Tiny Tower' a whopping ten out of ten apples! The interface, music, and graphics combine into one pleasant sensory package, while the reward/loss system is very even and stable. I like having a game that I can pop into from time to time just to keep things going, or if I choose I can stick around and keep ferrying people up and down the elevator. It's available on iOS as well as Android, and it's FREE! Give it a try!

-MJ

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'+5 Food of Eating' Cookbook Kickstarter

Some people that I follow on tumblr post really awesome geek related cooking recipes. The majority of them are actually alcoholic beverages, but some people also post real life food items that can be found in-game. The Gourmet Gaming tumblr most notably comes to mind.

And now, we have something else food and geek related in the works.

The "+5 Food of Eating" cookbook kickstarter promises an RPG centric cookbook filled with simple, diverse culinary alternatives that are safe to have around our delicate character sheets. I think the premise is really great: we could all use something healthier and more interesting than pizza at every board game, tabletop, movie or TV night. (Not that I don't love pizza. Do not get me wrong there.)

The $3500 goal will go toward publishing fees, contributing artists, and practice ingredients to level grind those recipes to perfection! For only $15 the donator even gets a copy of the book once it has been released. You can bet that I got in on that, I think that this is a really fun and interesting idea!

I really hope that she includes themed foods, like Mario Creme Pies, or Altair Chicken Casadillas. I don't know how they'll become those things, but the creative powers at the helm will figure something out I'm sure!

-MJ

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LEAP, so I can eat cheetos and not muck up my mouse.

I don't know about you, but I just love to snack all day long. Personal favorites are Munchies and Kettle brand salt and black pepper potato chips. I love to eat these at any juncture. You know, movies, TV shows, gaming, showers, really any time of the day.

This causes problems for my delicate technology though: I hate sticky, mucky, dirty keyboards and mice. Mouses. Computer mouse. This problem has become exponentially serious since receiving my iPad. I mean, I use a stylus pen but I don't want to get that all chip-y either. What is the solution?

Leap is a motion sensing device being developed by Leap Motion. It's available for pre-order with an estimated ship date of February 2013 and it costs $69.99. The device will be compatible with Mac and PC (Linux currently being worked on) and is a motion control replacement to the traditional keyboard and mouse.

The video demonstrates many applications from drawing, gaming (side scrolling as well as first person), and 3D modeling. It looks extremely practical and pretty awesome. It also jaunts the human race one step closer to Th Future, where one simply waves a hand and information is shown a-plenty.

What do you think? Neat? Bad? Questions or concerns? I think my arm would get tired from being perpetually held up as though I possessed a gun...

-MJ

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Warhammer cosplay hullabaloo

It is an aspiration of mine to have a full set of Sisters of Battle armor to wear to PAX and other Cons. This desire came about after PAX 2005 when I showed my in-progress Canoness to one of the pro painters in the tabletop room. However the logistics and reality of the project quickly surfaced and I became overwhelmed. It will take a miracle to have my dream armor/costume become tangible, but never say never!

With San Diego Comic Con coming up the internet is percolating with cosplay and larger than life armor costumes, and now I can't stop thinking about it!

Check out this amazing Warhammer costume! Source.

Fortunately for those who are so inclined (and financially equipped), the internet is full of useful resources. Wired has a particularly great article that includes an extremely comprehensive list of instructions on how to make your own Warhammer costume. The largest issue that I've encountered when I attempt to plan a costume is how to make the large items that aren't found in real life. This is where vacuum-forming comes into play, but generally that equipment isn't available to us lowly ones.

Vacuum-forming for a Warhammer costume. Source.

Costuming and cosplay is such an impressive hobby. One of my favorite aspects of conventions is admiring the walking artwork! I'm glad that it's becoming more popular at PAX seeing as it's the Con that I frequent most often. My trip to WonderCon this past March yielded an eye-popping number of costumes, and I wish I were attending SDCC so I could oogle more fully clothed people. Next year! If you're going could you snap some pictures for me?

We're going to wrap this up with a small selection of my favorite Warhammer outfits.

Some very impressive Tau on the left (source) and a proud Warrior Priest (source). 

Some serious business Space Marines right there. Source.

How do you feel about cosplay? Do you have any favorite costumes?

-MJ

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Animal Crossing 3DS speculation and excitement!

Lately I've been playing Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii again. I stopped playing about two years ago because I felt pretty bored. Initially, Animal Crossing has tons of things to do. The player must clean up the town, plant flowers and trees, get to know the neighbors, repay home loan debt, and fill up the local museum with fish, bugs, fossils and famous paintings. Because the game moves in real Earth time, this all takes about a year.

What to do once that is done, though? That has become my dilemma. I still have paintings and bugs to find, but overall the game has lost a lot of its appeal. I've been popping into Kakariko for about twenty minutes every day and doing this: hunt for weeds, water flowers, plant new flowers, talk to everyone, sell some fish. The game is overflowing with content and potential, but has very finite goals considering that it literally goes on forever.

Animal Crossing 3DS has so much potential. What is that shrub on the left!? Source.

With E3 come and gone, and no mention of Animal Crossing 3DS whatsoever, the community of AC lovers at large is in overdrive wondering what kinds of features will be in the newest game. My focus isn't necessarily what the new features will be (although of course I'm curious!), but it is more on what will be added that will keep the game interesting even after the museum is full. Let's take a look at what we already know!

-players will be able to swim in the ocean bordering their town
-lamp posts and benches can be purchased and placed around the town for further beautification and customization

Lamp posts in Animal Crossing 3DS! It looks so cozy. Source.

-items can be hung on the walls of player's houses
-character customization has been boosted in the form of altering both pants and shoes (in previous versions girls only wore dresses and guy's shorts were unalterable. In City Folk, shoes could be changed to match clothing, but only by visiting the shoe shine guy in the city.)
-players will have the option to become mayor of their town
-streetpass will be incorporated as a way to visit towns, as well as a venue for neighbor swapping
-it appears that players will start life in their new town by living in a tent
-hangouts can be arranged with your in-town neighbors

I have really high hopes for what a lot of these facts could mean for gameplay! First, if we start off living in tents, that could mean that it will take even longer to get a real house. This automatically extends gameplay by creating a longer loan repayment period. That could seem cheap at first glance, but previous versions haven't incorporated tents, so I'm all for it!

Swimming time in Animal Crossing 3DS! Source.

Swimming has been sorely lacking from every iteration, so it is a huge relief to finally see it in the 3DS version! It would be really great if Nintendo added a secret island or cove that could be swum to on certain days or at certain times. Also, what if the ocean had a tide? That'd be so cool!

The potential to become mayor of your town is by far the most exciting piece here. To me, it's the longevity piece that I'm looking for. In one segment of video from Nintendo Direct last month, we see the player sitting at an important looking desk with a computer, and a villager is talking them up. Will players be dealing with town issues and helping citizens? I certainly hope so!

Animal Crossing 3DS, mayor problems. Source.

Animal Crossing 3DS is set to release in Japan this fall, and for the U.S., we simply have "2012" as a release date. I have my fingers crossed for something around Christmas, and a little prayer that it doesn't get pushed to 2013! Are there any other AC fans out there? Would you like to exchange Friend Codes for City Folk? :D Also, what are you hoping for in the 3DS version?

-MJ

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A Bit of Geek Episode 7!

NOW with a NEW and IMPROVED formula! Enjoy!

-MJ

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Saria makeup and costume with Brittany Lauren

Hello A Bit of Geekers, it's time for another Look post with Brittany Lauren of Monsters & Mayhem! This week brings you the makeup, costume, and wig of Saria from Ocarina of Time. I assembled this costume for myself a few years ago for Halloween and it dovetailed nicely as a makeup look for the website.

Saria cosplay. Dat Kokiri.

Brittany did an amazing job of creating smooth, glowing makeup to complete the faerie-ish aesthetic of the Kokiri children. By far the most exciting aspect of the afternoon was having elf ears put onto my regular, boring, human ears. I have always wanted elf ears, so it was a literal dream come true! Brittany is very skilled with tone blending and colors, so the elf ears looked incredibly realistic. One more best part? She let me keep the ears! Now I can elf it up whenever I want.

Here's an in-progress video from Brittany, followed by more photos!

The elf ear in its before and after phase! So realistic! Photos from Monsters & Mayhem.

 Left/Before: not my best photo, but it's the pure nekked face awaiting makeup, so you'd

better enjoy it! Photo from Monsters & Mayhem. Right/After: glowing skin and elf ears 

anxious for the green wig!

 And now, it's frolicking time.

Where would you expect to find a Kokiri child? The forest, of course.

Be sure to check out Monsters & Mayhem for additional photos as well as more detailed information about the makeup and techniques used for the Saria look.

-MJ

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8-bit makeup with Brittany Lauren!

A few weeks ago on Twitter I shared a photographic sneak peek of an exciting adventure with a makeup artist named Brittany Lauren. She had an interesting and unique video game/8-bit look in mind and wanted to team up with A Bit of Geek to bring her mind's eye image to life!

I'm excited to finally be able to share the full look with you all, including in-progress photos that Brittany compiled into a video. I also tossed a few questions her way so that you can learn more about her process, as well as some insight into potential future geek makeup posts!

Be sure to check out her post over on tumblr for additional information!

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Q: Did you have the finalized look in mind when you started?

A: I didn't. I just had a concept in mind, but not a finished look. Just bits and pieces.

Before! Face primed and ready to be painted to life!

Were there any particularly challenging aspects?

Covering your brows were probably the most challenging part of the makeup, but mostly it was just time consuming.

What would you do differently if you were to recreate the look?

I think that I would design some lashes and do the lips a little more over drawn. Just take to take it up a notch.

After! Bright-eyed and 8-bit-ified!

Are there any other video game related looks that you are hoping to do?

Hummm....that is a good question. I am looking forward to creating a Link look, but right now I don't have anything in mind. Any game related makeup that I do next will probably be color-scheme inspired, not recreating any characters (besides Link).

How much prior experience did you have with this kind of makeup?

This is my first game inspired makeup, but for one of my jobs I created some Super Hero looks and those are always fun for me to do.

Brittany has a slammin' collection of NES titles. I had to show them off.

In your post you mentioned that Mario is one of your favorite NES games, but is it your *most* favorite?

Duck Hunt! But our current TV isn't reflective....so I haven't played in long time.

-------------

Big thanks once again to Brittany Lauren! We have more projects in the works and I can't wait to share them here. Check out her complete portfolio, too!

Rounding things off with a closer look at the blush work and my  attempt at a
nonchalant shrug after falling to my death far too many times.

What do you think? Are there any makeup enthusiasts out there? What would you have done for an 8-bit makeup challenge?

-MJ

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One mature game, hold the violence please.

Last week an interview with Warren Spector started making the rounds, and in it he insisted that the gaming community needs to stop being in love with ultra violent games. I agree that the obsession could be reigned in for a lot of reasons, but I have one that is personal and, as I can recall, I've never seen addressed anywhere before.

I want mature, immersive games. I'm interested in well-rounded characters, interesting back stories and gorgeous graphics. At what point in video game culture did maturity come to mean intense, graphic violence?

I mean, I certainly hope not. Original image source.

Developers probably don't realize that they are excluding a portion of their potential audience by creating games that are overshadowed by gratuitous death scenes. I don't understand why I have to be excluded because I don't want the violence, but I want the gameplay.

It took me three years to finally play Fallout 3 because I was completely turned off by the slow-motion replay kill cams, splattering heads, and blood-speckled screens. Fallout 2 was one of my favorite games as a teenager, so I was excited for the release of the third one. My anticipation came crashing down when I played the pre-release demo at PAX that year; the game was simply too graphic for my tastes, and as a result I was initially pushed away from an incredible gaming experience.

This is not what I want. - VGBlogger.

Do developers realize that a group of gamers such as myself exists? Epic Games took a start in the right direction with their 'mature content' filter for Gears of War; one could turn off the language as well as the gory animations that would occur when slashing down an enemy. I wish that Bethesda had included such an option for Fallout 3, because despite all of the violence in the game, there is a truly mature and immersive gaming experience.

I would love to see more developers include a 'gore - off' menu option, because I'm tired of being chased away from so many games! Is anyone out there with me? Who else enjoys their mature games without an emphasis on violence?

-MJ

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You want to go to Meltdown Comics.

On Monday night I had the great privilege of attending Harmontown in Hollywood at a comic shop called Meltdown Comics. I'm going to dub this my second real LA experience, you can read all about my first one if you'd like. Can it count as an LA experience if it's in Hollywood? I think it can. I never even know where I am when I'm in the city because of all the different neighborhoods and cross overs. I was on Sunset Boulevard. That probably doesn't help.

But. Yes. Right.

Bask in the glory of my cellphone picture.

Harmontown is when Dan Harmon goes to this comic shop and does a stand up comedy show for an hour and a half. It happens in this tiny room that gets to be about a billion degrees, and the audience might accidently get spit on if they're sitting in the front row, and as the night goes on Harmon and his buddy will get progressively more drunk off of straight up vodka (like a boss) and tell outrageously awesome stories. They will then hang around afterward and chat with fans.

All in all, it's an awesome event that only costs $10 if you can manage to get a ticket before they sell out.

If you get to attend Harmontown, and you're not sure when you should show up or what to do beforehand, worry not! Meltdown Comics is a huge, varied, entertaining place to spend some time.

An impressive and colorful storefront. Image from Digital LA.

For one thing, the place is huge, and it's not only comic books; customers will also find action figures, toys, clothing, collectibles, DVDs and role playing books. Meltdown is family owned with a knowledgeable and friendly staff. No one harps upon your entrance to the store, but as soon as you let them know that you have a question or that you want to chat, they are ready to engage.

Their comic book selection is impressive and expansive; Meltdown carries something for literally everyone, from seasoned reader to interested newcomer. Their shelves are lined with not only the classics, the greats, and the popular, but whole sections are dedicated to small publishers and indie titles.

A conversation with the owner's brother revealed that they buy comics directly from creators! You can walk in with your finished work and they'll buy it off you then and there if your work shows real love and dedication. That's pretty awesome.

Huge! And well lit. Nothing weird about this place. Image from Contra Alliance.

Located in the back corner of the shop is table area perfectly suited to cards, tabletop games, or just chatting. There's a customer restroom that needs a book to be unlocked, and the Nerdist podcast is broadcast from an upstairs room! Meltdown Comics also offers special gifts to their Foursquare mayor, so be sure to check in if you visit.

It's wonderful to see a family owned comic shop that is thriving, and it's even better knowing that it has been open since 1993; they obviously managed to flourish and grow in spite of an increase in digital distribution and webcomic popularity.

I hope to attend another Harmontown in the future, or any other cool event at Meltdown, and maybe next time I'll have some money to spend on that awesome Dalek plushie that I saw in the front window.

-MJ

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No flipping the bird (upside down) - Twitter's new design.

You know those days where you're trawling the internet, just cruising around and hoping to find a cool picture of Benedict Cumberbatch in otter form, or hilarious gifs of Alison Brie, and instead you come across an article about a company being incredibly uptight? You know, like how Twitter is being about their logo redesign.

Am I in trouble now?

Every so often people bring up the fact that 'Legos' isn't a word. In fact, 'Lego' should always be capitalized, and it should never have an 's' at the end. 'Lego' is the pluralized form of 'Lego', it just depends on how someone is using it. Now, the Lego company has released statements requesting that people stop using the world 'Legos', but that's not changing anything. I doubt that Twitter will experience much success.

Protecting a brand is important, and so is making sure someone else isn't making money off of your property, so that aspect of Twitter's "do and don't" page makes sense. What about parody though, or comedic use? Or any other non-financial gain representation? An example is the image up above: Twitter doesn't have an image that handles my needs here, so I need to make one for myself.

Of course, I could be missing the point completely and all of this "don't touch our logo" information is referring only to official placement on websites, and in that case.... I regret nothing.

-MJ


P.s. - these amazing twitter logos have cropped up!

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Awesome Nintendo announcements from E3!

E3 is always such a crowded, messy in-take of information. Among the main presentations, companies are also releasing little bits of information in other places online. It's difficult to keep up with everything! Nintendo had a great presentation though, so why don't we focus on that?

I thought it was pretty strong, they hit a lot of important marks! There was plenty of information on the Wii U, as well as exciting new titles for both the in-depth gamer and the casual ones. It's difficult to attempt to keep up with the expectations of the crowds, but they did it. The lack of information about the 3DS would have been more upsetting were they not doing a dedicated presentation tonight at six pm.

Let's look at the 3DS aspect of the presentation.

In the ten minutes given, audiences were shown New Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, and more. Nintendo is rolling out the punches to create a stellar line of games, and they are really catering to the needs of 3DS gamers. It's particularly exciting that, after all these years, the Mickey "Illusion" series is getting a re-boot. Even though Epic Mickey for the Wii didn't do particularly well, we can thank its presence for this coming 3DS title!

Two side notes: the 'Sticker Star' subtitle for Paper Mario feels very cheap to me. It provides no real insight as to the game's story (like 'The Thousand Year Door' subtitle did for the Gamecube version), and instead is a call-to-attention of the series's newest feature: collecting and using stickers for battle. It certainly looks interesting, and I'm glad that for the 3DS version the turn-based battle is making a comeback, but only time will tell if the stickers are a gimmick or a beneficial battle system.

A setup well suited to the 3DS. Source.

We were given a few demonstrations of the Wii U's capabilities, including a fairly comprehensive video of the newly redesigned controller. Unfortunately, Nintendo's presentation didn't eliminate all existing doubt; the controller simply seems too bulky. In every demonstration video it seemed that the players had to reach uncomfortably to access the touch screen with their thumbs. This doesn't seem all that different from the way people handle tablet devices, and the issue is that maneuvering tablets can be uncomfortable. How long will it be until hand fatigue sets in during attempted lengthy gaming sessions?

Considering the array of involving, mature rated titles that are slated for Wii U release I can see hand cramping or Wii U gamepad weight becoming an issue. Hopefully these concerns end up non-existent, because it would sure be frustrating to have to stop mid-Assassin's Creed or Batman adventure! Or, worse than that, what if a hand cramp sets in and spasms start in the middle of playing ZombiU? There would be many angry zombified gamers out there.

Wait, wait, do over! I wasn't ready! Source.

Some final thoughts on the presentation: NintendoLand looks like the perfect way to get new Wii U owners comfortable and acquainted with the Wii U's capabilities and controls. Whether or not it will be available on the system at launch remains to be seen. The system's ability to transfer the gaming action to the Wii U gamepad is a great feature, which must mean the screen is pretty stellar, and it's something that I wish had existed on previous consoles. I can't count how many times I've been kicked off a TV so that someone could watch football. Pah.

Oh, and baby Yoshis again? Yes, please! Source.

What's your favorite E3 announcement so far?

-MJ

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Aggression from gaming, or aggression from losing?

Recently I've been playing a lot of Kingdom Rush, and it plucks heavily at my stress/aggression mind strings. I generally don't play tower defense titles because they become exponentially difficult and the repeated attempts to win, causing repeated failures, makes me extremely flustered.

Whenever video games get me angry I can't help but think of the multitude of articles linking aggression to violent games. I get a little curious and confused though, because non-violent games can cause aggression, too.

It's the act of winning that humans crave, and video games involve winning. All games have goals to achieve, finishing lines to cross, and/or enemies to beat. People play games as a hobby, but also to win. We do most things to win; we're a goal oriented species.

So I believe it's the losing, or nearly losing, that causes the stress, anger, and aggression. Therefore, even the most innocuous of games can cause aggression. As an example, let's look at Animal Crossing!

Happy, rainbow, talking animals and flowers. Oh yes. Source.

Animal Crossing is an extremely low key game. There's not really a way to win in the traditional sense, but there are tons of goals. However, there are no time limits for these goals. The entire game goes at the player's chosen speed, and all is well and dandy and full of flowers.

There are tiny, potential wins embedded in the game: if one is trying to catch all of the fish or all of the bugs, and they repeatedly fail to catch a rare bug, then that can cause stress, frustration or even aggression. In trying to catch the rare bug, a goal has been set, and suddenly winning or losing becomes a reality in this otherwise goal-less game. (I love Animal Crossing, I'm not trying to bash it.)

Studies always focus on overtly aggressive games, such as first person shooters. I am positing that these games can cause aggression more often not because they're violent, but because they're heaped with goals and constant opportunities to win and lose.

You encounter a player of the opposing team? It's win or lose time. And you

are always up against the opposite team. Duh. Source.

The greater number of win/lose scenarios, the more opportunities for losing and subsequent stress, frustration or aggression. We are hard wired to set goals and to achieve them; we want to win!

I know the desire to win quite well because of the fact that I lose so often. And I've never been a good loser. This is the main reason that I avoid shooters, racing games and tower defenses. They are riddled with opportunities to lose, and I know that I become stressed, frustrated and want-to-throw-things aggressive when I lose, and lose repeatedly at that.

I prefer to be a happy gamer! I fill my gaming time with Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, Zelda, and Mario. While Zelda and Mario are goal oriented games, they present a gameplay that spaces out the win/lose goals, which makes them more palatable. Open-ended titles such as Skyrim and Fallout also provide enough options that the player can stray away from the goals and do something else in-game if they feel stress or aggression rising in them.

What do you all think? Do you feel that aggression in gaming only comes from violent titles, or do you believe that it is more involved with the frustration/disappointment associated with losing?

More importantly, how do you deal with losing repeatedly at a video game? I hope it's not throwing things! :D

-MJ

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'My Neighbor Totoro' paper sculpt!

Heyo! Here's my finalized 'My Neighbor Totoro' paper sculpt! It took me the better part of three days and I could not be happier with it! I talk about it a bit in my most recent video, and photographic reproductions of it are now available for sale in my Etsy shop!

Paper sculpting is a relatively new interest for me, but I already feel so much happiness and satisfaction from it. I have a new piece in the works that I can't wait to reveal to everyone! In the meantime, enjoy these in-progress and finished photos of my Totoro piece. 

All the love to Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli for creating such a magical film!

-MJ

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