Gamertell

Believe it or not,  I’m glad when I don’t have to call out Wired for being a gamer hater. I know the mag truly likes gamers but they just cannot seem to get it 100% right, at least when it comes to the print version.

In the latest issue of Wired (November 2008),  there are several pages that give some favorable nods to stuff gamers dig. Although more game-friendly coverage than normal, there’s still one page that’s a bit questionable.

There’s a page on the Webkinz phenomena (p. 038), a page highlighting a few casual creations by Jason Kapalka (p. 094), an opinion piece by Steven Levy regarding the Wii, Guitar Hero and the iPhone (p. 114), a questionable comparison of game systems (p. 164) and a trio of decent manual cover scans.

For more on each, click through and check out the scans in the photo gallery…

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Check out the gallery: Wired Magazine , November 2008 page scans

In the October 15, 2008, issue of Wine Spectator magazine (p. 44), contributor Matt Kramer wrote an opinion piece tiled “Why Wine isn’t art - and why that matters.“

Inspired by a party argument where someone suggests that wine is art, Kramer argues that “fine wine is, at best, a high craft” and that, to call it art is “self-aggrandizing.“ He suggests that by getting people to accept that wine is art, winemakers’ “salaries will rise, and producers, for their part, will start pricing wine as ‘art.‘“ Instead, wine is simply an “amplification” and “refinement” of the existing attributes of the grape that happens to include the grape’s upbringing (“all the forces that create ta particularity of the site”). Lafite Rothschild, for example, is not created, but the result of craftily refining grapes grown in a specific area in a specific way.

Using wine-lover Kamer’s argument, videogames are then a creation from a blank slate, which makes any game art. Even if you have a…

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FROM APPLETELL - It appears that Atari’s legal department has insisted that Apple remove at least three Breakout and Pong clone games from the App Store, according to Touch Arcade.
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The marching band for the University of California at Berkley had a special presentation planned for the November 3, 2007, football game. During the halftime show of the California Golden Bears vs Washington State Cougars game, the marching band put on a tribute to video games. Thanks to diligent fans, the entire six and a half minute performance is available for the whole world to see. The show pays tributes to some of the more famous video games.

The performance begins with a brief Pong match. Players march while the classic beeps sound off. It then transitions into Tetris. While the band plays the theme, the members take the shapes of various blocks falling to the bottom of the field. Mortal Kombat comes next, first with the MK logo and shouts of “Mortal Kombat,” and then with dragon insignia representative of the series.

Pokemon is honored next, as the Pokemon theme then kicks in and two pokeballs appear on field. At this point the camera zooms in to show two marchers representing pokemon duking it out. After one emerges victorious, music from the Legend of Zelda games pipes in, and a triforce and sword take shape. The last minute of the presentation is devoted to Super Mario Brothers, with the band members taking the shape of various levels. A lone individual then goes through the pipes and levels. The stunning finish features the lone figure representing Mario begins dashing to the flagpole from the original Super Mario game, while a castle appears in the background.

This whole presentation is amazing. It is something any video game fan should see. It is even better than the YouTube video of the prisoners dancing to Thriller. It is amazing.

Read [Girl_Gamers] Watch [YouTube]

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