[lbo-talk] state of virtual emergency

Dennis Redmond dredmond at efn.org
Wed Jun 15 13:11:12 PDT 2005



> This seems right up DRR's alley . . . i'm wondering if he's played the
> game?

"State of Emergency" was released awhile ago, but alas, it's a so-so game. It just didn't live up to the juicy press releases.


> Except for military simulation games, rarely do games
> so explicitly make politics part of their gameplay.

Videogame politics is very tongue-in-cheek, salted with several varieties of Geek Humor (TM, Pat. Pending). In Counterstrike, for example, players team up as police or terrorists.


> The more video games appear on the surface to emancipate
> the player, raising his or her status as an active participant in the
> aesthetic moment, the more they enfold the player into codified
> and routinized models of behavior.

But -- every neo-Frankfurt School/Foucauldian critique should have that Brechtian/Benjaminic "but" -- great videogames balance simplicity with complexity, by giving players the freedom to explore a game-world and design their own unique solutions. No set-piece conflict in Half Life or Neil Manke monster mash is ever quite the same.


> Only eight buttons (mirrored in eight bits) are available
> for the entire
> spectrum of expressive articulation using the controller on the Nintendo
> Entertainment System.

Ah, the good old NES -- came out in 1985. Had some great games, too, thanks to Miyamoto-san.

-- DRR



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