The Hidden Enemy: Nostalgia

MSNBC had an interview with Blizzard vice-president of game design Rob Pardo. Here's what I found striking:

“StarCraft II”s biggest competitor probably is “StarCraft.” How will you top that game and convince players that this isn’t just “StarCraft” in 3-D?

That’s a really good question. It’s not so much beating “StarCraft” that’s the problem, it’s beating people’s perception and nostalgia of “StarCraft.” “StarCraft” was and is a great game, but it’s certainly an older game. Across the board, “StarCraft II” is a better game in a lot of ways.

Will it live up to that nostalgia? Time will tell."

I think in any franchise that has a successful predecessor, nostalgia will primarily be one of the factors that fans will be looking into.

Coincidentally, people lately have been looking into the Star Wars trilogy and a bulk of the enthusiasm came from nostalgia... without it, the trilogy seems a bit lacking. I think the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon is great but some old fans find it lacking, most likely in due part to nostalgia (they miss the campy series with characters such as Rocksteady and Bebop, or even Krang). And of course, a lot of Dungeons & Dragons fans reminisce about the "good old days".

Mob Mentality

One of the ideas I've been pondering on is how far we can take "mob mentality". Of course to some people, mob mentality automatically entails a negative connotation but for me personally, I'm using it as a neutral term (for good or for fill). Basically mob mentality is when a group of people act as one (usually getting carried away by a single emotion or idea). And while we have heard stories of the destructive side of mob mentality (riots, violence), the country's Edsa Revolution was probably the result of mob mentality (alas, Malacanang Palace was looted in the end, despite pleas not to).

Anyway, I don't think anyone is immune to mob mentality. It doesn't necessarily appeal to the logical side of humans but to their emotional side. There's a sense of belonging, of fitting in, of getting enraptured in the moment. Heck, isn't it why we have religion?

But moving on, how far can such a movement be taken? I mean if it's emotion-driven, one would think time and distance might alleviate the phenomenon. I mean when one member is isolated from "the mob", that individual tends to revert to thinking like an individual.

The Internet, however, has changed that assumption. Looking back at the recent Livejournal/Six Apart debacle, a lot of fandom circles formed this huge mob. Physically, they're scattered all over the world. Emotionally speaking however, thanks to the communication miracle of the Internet, they're connected. The importance of being connected isn't necessarily in the numbers game but the fact that they can reinforce the emotions that's flowing (in most cases, anger). One person flares up, another person flares up too. Or if the fires in one dies down, reading another person's anger post ignites his or her agitation once more.

Perhaps what's even more astounding is how long it can be sustained. When you're isolated from the rest of the world, it's easy to imagine sustaining a mob mentality indefinitely (cults work in a similar manner). However, the Internet isn't an isolated scenario. People go out to meet their friends, families, and work. And then they return to the Internet. Logic would dictate time spent away would cool their heads. But as I said, mob mentality isn't necessarily a function of logic but emotion.

DC's New Direction

Currently I'm subscribed to DC's new weekly series, Countdown. It's been dubbed as "the spine of the DC Universe".

While the series is interesting, what's notable isn't necessarily in the comic itself but in the other issues DC is releasing. Last week, I've been seeing more and more "See Countdown issue #X" or "See Wonder Woman #9" for a full explanation.

I guess another possible problem is that half of the characters might end up being there just to explain various things in the other comics. So far the solid character plots involve Jimmy Olsen and Ms Marvel. The rest (i.e. Red Hood, The Trickster, the Pied Piper) seem to be busy in other books. But like everything, it's a wait-and-see before there's a final verdict.

There Can Be Only One

Hmmm, here's a strange formula: Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll, Wicked City) + Kevin Eastman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) = Highlander: The Search for Vengeance animated film. It's anime and Highlander, what's there not to love? All that's missing is a soundtrack from Queen...

Bulette!

Thankfully, my collection of miniatures is being put into good use as our GM last Saturday sent a Bulette (a.k.a. "land shark") against the party and lo and behold--we had the right miniature.

Unfortunately, the advanced Bulette did not last the round--the concept of the GM was that of a "Rogue's Guild" and he made the characters, giving everyone at least a level of Rogue. The Bulette didn't survive the onslaught of Sneak Attacks, despite its advanced nature.

Evolution of Game/Sports Rules

One of my fond memories of college involves my English teacher and how she went on a tirade about how the first humans invented the wave (as in waving to your friend to say hello). How did we come up with that gesture?

Now I'll extend that sense of wonder to games and sports.

First, there's sports like running and boxing. Now I can imagine this would come up naturally. Two guys wonder which of them is the fastest and viola, the first race. Or perhaps they were pissed off at each other, started fighting, and the rest of the people in the vicinity started watching.

Then there are sports where it gets a bit more complicated. Say basketball or soccer. Now in both sports, the concept is the same: sink the ball into the goal. Of course it gets stranger when there's an arbitrary limitation, such as not touching the ball with your feet in basketball, or not touching the ball with your hands in soccer (and then there's the concept of the goalie in soccer).

I think it gets weirder in sports like American football or baseball. Now these are sports which are definitely human constructs. They both have highly specialized rules and roles. Same goes with something like chess. For me it's more likely to come up with the concept of the game Go than it is with the game chess (although the former is more difficult to master).

New Book Spending Habits

Lately, I've cut down on buying and reading books. There's a lot of factors contributing to this, although I'm not any richer for it. Lately, more and more of my budget is being sunk into comics and manga. Also, recent reading habits have been shifting from high fantasy to science fiction. Hmmm...

Anyway, here's my three criteria for purchasing new books:

1. I won't be able to acquire the book in the near future. Also known as books that are relatively rare (rare in the sense that it's difficult to acquire it here in the Philippines). My purchases of Fritz Leiber and Robert E. Howard books have been driven by this mentality, although to this day I have yet to pick up and read through these books that I bought.
2. Books in a series that I used to collect. Thankfully the list is growing short. Last year the only books I bought in this category was probably the 11th book in the Wheel of Time series and the new Dune novel. Although yes, I haven't read them yet. Maybe I'll find the time to read the 6th Harry Potter book before the last one comes out in a few week's time. (Speaking of Harry Potter, makes you wonder why bookstores always overstocks them.)
3. Books that I know I will read now! Updated my reading list and you'll see what I've managed to read, manga, graphic novels, RPG books, and digests notwithstanding.
   

Wish List

Right now there's two things I really really want from Paizo. Unfortunately, I do not have a credit card and ignorant in the ways of modern transactions.

The first is a subscription to Pathfinder. I emailed Paizo and shipping to the Philippines will only cost $5.00. Now the good news is that apparently, Comic Quest can get all things Paizo as long as it's in Previews magazine. Of course I won't be getting the freebie stuff, like the Player's Guide, and the PDFs of the files...

The second is the anthology board game Stonehenge. It's a one-shot deal but shipping will be costly, around half the price of the product. Of course the point is moot as I don't have a credit card, unless someone out there is willing to loan me theirs... =)

Kamen Rider Blade

Cartoon Network's new tokusatsu show in the Philippines is Kamen Rider Blade. Not that I don't appreciate it but it makes me wonder how they choose which shows make the cut and which don't. I mean before that (aside from the Saban Power Rangers series) it was Justirisers, which seemed natural considering it was Gransazers that preceded it. I expected they'd end the franchise with Sazer X, but hey, you can't predict everything.

Walking to Work

I've started walking to work (instead of just walking back home) and one of city campaigns in Pasig involves littering the overpass with a sticker shaped to that of a human foot. It reads "Did you know walking for 20 minutes burns xx calories?" Of course me being a 95-pound weakling (hey, maybe I could be the next Captain America...), I don't need to burn more calories as it is...

Vocabulary Power

Back in high school, I think one of the quickest ways I increased my vocabulary wasn't in reading books (because I wasn't reading a lot of books at the time) but rather through playing Magic: The Gathering. The dual lands I think were particularly interesting... I knew what a mountain and a forest was was but what was a taiga (and how did it produce both red and green mana)? A tundra? A savanna?

The Ice Age expansions were even more interesting. Diminishing Returns -- didn't I learn that in Economics class?

Penultimate Arcane Power!

Hmmm... Google Mail which now has a 20 MB capacity for attachments and a slowly-increasing storage capacity, or Yahoo Mail which has unlimited storage capacity?

Bonus brownie points if you can guess the allusion of my title. It's up there with Secrets That Will Drive You MAD!

Library Stories Part 2

Just as I was about to hit my early teen years, I began my love affair with books. It was honestly a decision based on a whim--me and my best friend found a series of fantasy novels available in the local bookstore.

During the summer of that year, I paid a second visit to the US. After getting bored doing the routine trips of visiting the various theme parks such as Great America, Disney Land, and Universal Studios, I settled into a more mundane lifestyle during the rest of my stay. There were two highlights for me during those two months. One was a visit to the bookstore--it was like no other. I never saw so many books stocked in one place--and so many genres! The other was a visit to one of the public libraries in San Francisco.

Now I had high expectations for libraries. After hearing so much about it from TV, I expected a Borgesian library with shelves dwarfing over me and containing all the books I wanted to read. The reality, however, was something more mundane. The public library I visited was pretty much like the library in my grade school and high school. It had a modest size and contained a couple of shelves filled with an assortment of books, magazines, and periodicals. To be honest, the bookstores I visited housed more books than the library (and in better condition too).

It was also interesting to note that back then (this was in the early 90's), the library was still using the Dewey Decimal System. It did have a nice assortment of books but nowhere as comprehensive as I'd have liked. What caught me by surprise however was that the library was stocking copies of GamePro magazine (although my personal collection was much more complete). Just goes to show how diverse a library can be.

When I returned to the Philippines, my perception of the school library changed. It didn't seemed so little, so tiny--my vision of what a library should be had been dispelled. Our local libraries didn't seem so bad...

Library Stories Part 1

WoAdWriMo

You can read about World Adventure Writing Month, the goal of which is to write a 32-page adventure for RPGs.

From: Jeff's Gameblog

Ooops

The problem when two Justice Society of America titles come out in the same week is that you might get one instead of the other. That happened yesterday when I dropped by the comic shop and it was probably foolish of me not to check. On the part of the salesladies, the stocks had just arrived and so were probably confused as well. On my part, I was partially drenched and tired. Oh well.