Gameplay Journal Entry #4
I would like to start off this journal by saying that I did not quite understand what exactly I was supposed to review for this journal but I am going to try my best to do what I think I need to do. My confusion comes from the fact that I cant find anything that resembles a mod on the site that was provided, only stories or projects on multiple video games at a time in a more narrative structure. Although confused, I'm going to follow through with this journal.
On https://www.gamescenes.org/ , I went through various articles? projects? interviews? I don't know exactly what to call them but I read and listened to a few and settled with one called Dear Eidolon. The narrator goes through various games while narrating an adaptation of a book called Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity in the light of games. The whole video gave me a bit of a laugh while watching it because it has such a serious tone and he talks about his close relationship with video games while using video game slang such as “Invincibility frames.” He goes in depth with how video games make him feel, his cravings for it and how it helps him, and how they allow him to escape reality.
Although not a true mod, Dear Eidolon does critique the tradition ways that video games are viewed. The narrator talks about his view on “Eidolon” in a more personal way that most other gamers wouldn’t ever do. The way he talks about the way he plays games and the effect it has on him inside and outside of the game changes the perception I previously had on the games he presented (i.e Dark Souls, Destiny, No Man’s Sky, etc.). With that said, I can only compare this to article to what Alexander Galloway said about counter gaming, “I said in the beginning that artist-made video game mods under-cut themselves to such a degree that they almost cease being games.” (Gaming Essays On Algorithmic Culture, 126) I see this quote fitting for this article because he talks about goes to such a degree that they cease to be games and more like life experiences and emotions.
Below is the link to the article/video. I did my best to do this journal and I apologize for not reaching out for support sooner if I did this journal incorrect.
