A week of emotions and far too much work…
The Good
Every Day The Same Dream
The real world not getting you down enough? Want to be reminded of just how monotonous and soul destroying your daily routine is? Every Day The Same Dream is the perfect antidote to the mindless escapism offered by the majority of games out there. Created over six days as part of the Experimental Gameplay Project, a monthly competition that also spawned the intensely addictive Canabalt, Every Day the Same Dream is a veritable Flash-based companion to Émile Durkheim’s famous examination of alienation, anomie, and suicide; making your way through the game is like playing an interactive version of a Radiohead videoclip. It’s depressing, open for interpretation, thought provoking and utterly brilliant.
The Bad
(Allegedly) Overworked Rockstar Employees
If you’ve ever spoken to me and wondered why I’m constantly asking you how things make you feel, it’s most likely because in my real life I’m a social worker. Every time I meet someone new, there’s a carbon copied conversation that ensues regarding my vocation. Immediately after they reveal their misconceptions about how rewarding the work must be, their next statement centres around their misunderstanding that it must be difficult to switch off from work. For the record, it’s not – there’s always going to be people with problems, whether I’m worrying about them or not. But for many in the videogame industry, switching off is not option, an issue illustrated by some anonymous (and, it must be said, alleged) wives of Rockstar San Diego employees who published their grievances on a blog via Gamasutra. Consistent 12-hour days, six day weeks, and false deadlines designed to keep staff constantly in crunch time are all intensely reminiscent of the EA Spouse scandal that cost EA US$14.9 million dollars four years ago. If the claims turn out to be real, let’s just hope for Rockstar’s sake that Red Dead Redemption ends up being a great game. Hopefully that will make all those overworked individuals and broken down families feel a little better.
The So-Called Newest Thing In Immersion
Three Dimensions
Running out of “p’s” to put into your next television, manufacturers have figured out that the only way for them to keep charging the same amount for their sets is to increase the number of letters describing their 16:9 moving picture boxes. At this year’s CES, 3D was one of the main features being spruiked and, according to the hype, in a few years we won’t be able to get televisions that aren’t capable of this inter-dimensional transport via a pair of dorky spectacles. Well colour me disinterested for the moment. But who knows, maybe a little while down the track my mind will have changed and glasses which make it it hard to focus, give you headaches and give you the ‘Buddy Holly’s slightly NQR brother’ look will be the keys we use to open up new worlds at home, rather than being a signal that it’s time for a trip to OPSM.
Related posts:
- This is Week – Overpriced Latin Edition
- This is Week – Back to Reality and Away Again Edition
- This is Week – Compassionate Gamers Edition
Tags: 3D, CES, Every Day The Same Dream, Experimental Gameplay Project, Rockstar Spouse, This is Week
Every Day The Same Dream is very moving, but I was put off by the ending.
Like Canabalt, the strength of Every Day is simplicity. Its story is made up of such simple, quiet moments that small things take on greater significance. The final screen is so melodramatic by comparison that it strikes an off note. (I only mean the very last screen; the final day up until then is brilliant.)
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What does it mean that my work continues to prevent me from finishing Every Day The Same Dream? The recursiveness of it does my head in …