The game is over

Game over. How many times haven’t we heard this phrase? Some of the most famous old school video games deaths compiled together.

via Kottke

See also:

• A history of videogames
• Arcade characters invade urban landscapes
• The bad guys (in video games)

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Playing with reality

What would happen if what people share in their social networks turns real? And best of all, if you could play with that? Well, if you like the idea of the twittersphere becoming a virtual universe, this is for you. Welcome to Tweet Land, the first set of videogames that plays with reality.

This is the teaser of Tweet Land, a video game in development, which will blend reality and fiction, by incorporating users’ real time activity in Twitter into the game’s narrative. This means that every time someone tweets something, these tweets will affect the gameplay of Tweet Land by triggering certain action-keywords.

via Kickstarter

See also:

• The bad guys (in video games)
• Multitask: the game
• A history of videogames

Read it elsewhere

Pure randomness today:

• What do Liberia, Myanmar and the United States of America have in common? They are the only 3 countries in the world not to use the metric system – Gizmodo
• Our sense of smell might be explained by quantum physics – BBC
• The end of the telephone? – The New York Times
• An argument against earth hour – good.is
• 8-bit deaths (video) – Vulture
• Google.uk’s Think Quarterly: the data issue – Think Quarterly
• Types of typsos – Rosscott, Inc.

The bad guys (in video games)

Do video games create a world of fiction? A world where imaginary characters fight each other in fictional battles? Or do they reflect, to some degree, the existing relationships between countries and continents?

The following world map highlights the origin of the really bad guys that threatens us in video games over the past decade. Terrorists, guerillas, mercenaries, or just insane leaders come, most of the times, from the so-called ‘axis of evil’ nations, from corrupted governments or countries with a history of Islamic terrorism.

You can see the full map in order to understand how politics and international affairs affects the gaming industry after the jump.

Read it elsewhere

Stories that came up during the week:

• Are we the only ones on this earth to have heard of Arcade Fire? See twitter reactions from people who were REALLY surprised of their win in the Grammys – who is Arcade Fire
• After Google’s Art Project, here is street art view: graffiti from all over the world put on Google Maps – street art view
• 10 artists who work with video games – boingboing
• WTF: the little girl on the cover of Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream is their new bass player – kottke
• Science breakthrough: software that prints photos for the blind – msnbc
• The trailer for Harumi Murakami’s Norwegian Wood movie adaptation is finally here:

Just another bad hair day

Do you think one bad-hair day is living hell? Well, think about nearly 30 years of bad-hair. As video games evolve for the best, characters’ hair cuts don’t. And although technically hair is difficult to render properly, there is never a good excuse to sport these particular haircuts:

via Flavorwire

Arcade characters invade urban landscapes

Merging the digital with the real always captures our attention – as on this quirky video.

Illustrator Jamie Sneddon and photographer Kevin Rozario-Johnson do exactly that, in their series 8-bitscapes. They put iconic arcade characters in urban and other familiar landscapes. The end result is not simply a nerd’s delight. Their images have a sense of emergency and a haunting beauty.

Pixelated nostalgia

In 1986 I was in elementary school. I owned a Commodore. I was addicted to Trailblazer. Today it feels like 1986 again. Thanks to www.c64.com I am playing Trailblazer again, online

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