Discourse Chronicle

Whatever the revenue gap between RB and GH is now, expect it fluctuate as both titles release big-name versions this year: Guitar Hero: Metallica hits shelves March 29th (James Hetfield talks that game here) and The Beatles: Rock Band, perhaps the most-anticipated game in either franchise’s history, will be released on September 9th, 2009. To counter, Guitar Hero reportedly has a Van Halen-dedicated version on the way.

[I’m not a big fan of Metallica and playing “Enter Sandman” on Rock Band 2 is as tough (if not tougher) as playing “Green Grass and High Tides” on Rock Band. I am more impressed with Rock Band’s catalog compared with Guitar Hero and its securing The Beatles’ music (which is an important digital first for the band and its catalog) makes me feel better about being a Rock Band player. BK]

category: Gaming, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Technology    

If, when the device launches, the servers can still retain the lag-free instant-stream gameplay, then OnLive will have successfully redefined the video game industry. PC gamers will no longer have to spend thousands of dollars in order to play a game at maximum settings–they can simply stream it onto their screen. And there’s great potential for OnLive to be a serious contender in the console arena as well. –Michael Lee

[An interesting idea at least another year away, but if successful, might help programs like Second Life with its ridiculous system requirements. BK]

category: Gaming, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Technology    

Almost 40 years after the final Three Stooges movie, “Kook’s Tour,” was released, it appears the Farrelly brothers are finally on their way to bringing the slapstick trio back to the big screen.

As Variety reported earlier this week, Sean Penn has signed on to play Larry, negotiations are under way with Jim Carrey for the role of Curly, and Benicio del Toro is the top choice to become Moe. –Eric Ditzian

[Interesting casting choices toward a significant, but quiet, upcoming film slated for a 2010 release. BK]

category: Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics    

The new National Center for the History of Electronic Games houses a 15,000-item collection — one of the largest in the United States, it claims — including some 10,000 games as well as every major system released since the Magnavox Odyssey, recognized as the first video game console. –Chris Remo

category: Gaming, Pedagogy, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Technology    

The contest awards security researchers with hardware and cash prizes for finding efficient ways to trick browsers into executing arbitrary code. During the first day of the competition, the contestants are required to do this in default browser installations without plugins such as Flash or Java, which are commonly used as vectors for attacks. Researchers typically prepare for the event far in advance by finding zero-day exploits ahead of time. –Ryan Paul

[I find interesting that all three major browsers (Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer) fell first while Google’s Chrome withstood initial hacking attempts. BK]

category: Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Technology    

Microsoft has put up $1.5 million to start The Games for Learning Institute, a joint venture with New York University and other colleges. The goal of the research is to see whether video games — and not just software specifically designed to be educational — can draw students into math, science and technology-based programs. The institute has begun lining up middle school students to study. –Dave Kolpack

[Sources such as Linda Burch, chief program and strategy officer for Common Sense Media, claims that “There isn’t a lot of good research out there,” referring to shooter games. However, James Paul Gee’s What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and LIteracy is a book-length examination of the first-person-shooter video game genre, recently revised and updated in a new edition. BK]

category: Gaming, Literacy, Pedagogy, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Technology    

Fox has renewed The Simpsons for two additional seasons, which means that we will be treated to at least 493 episodes of Homer’s odysseys. […] Currently in its 20th season and averaging 8.7 million viewers, the animated series is already the longest-running prime-time comedy ever. And while The Simpsons no longer carries the must-see clout it did in the ’90s, it can still pack a punchline. –Dan Snierson

category: Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Television    

[I realized again that much time passed since my last regular updates, so I thought I might share a few games keeping me busy. I am writing on Rock Band, Final Fantasy VII, and hopefully Street Fighter IV this semester. BK]

Rock Band

Final Fantasy VII

Street Fighter IV

category: Gaming, Life, Literacy, Pedagogy, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Technology    

Yesterday morning Nintendo of America announced that the latest evolution of its DS portable, the DSi, was due to hit stateside on April 5 of this year, priced at $169.99 MSRP. The device is the next system upgrade in the line of DS handhelds, and not a successor to the DS itself (much like the GBA SP or Micro releases for Game Boy Advance), though it promises to bring even more technology to the Big N’s innovative pocket platform. Adding in two cameras, internal memory for music, pictures, and downloadable software, a SD port for additional memory, a new front end inspired by the Wii’s channel system, and a pair of slightly larger screens, the DSi hopes to bring new lift into the already impressive DS hardware. –IGN Nintendo Team

[Today my students asked me about how I felt toward Nintendo’s next handheld gaming device called DSi. I remember reading about this product when its Japanese release happened and I believe its new features help the DS become more multimodal like a computer (such as a basic photo editing software), but I fear it might be trying too hard to be like Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP), which fared poorly in comparison with the DS. For me, I’ll be staying with my DS Lite because I need the GameBoy Advance slot to play my Castlevania: Double Pack. BK]

category: Gaming, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics, Technology    

The Post said the cartoon published in the paper Wednesday linking President Obama to a dead chimpanzee was not intended to be racist and charged that some critics of the cartoon were opportunists looking for payback.

[…]

The cartoon showed two police officers with a smoking gun standing over a dead chimp with a caption that reads, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

The image is a reference to a chimp was shot dead by police after it attacked a woman in Connecticut on Monday and Obama’s signing of the economic stimulus bill on Tuesday. –Xana O’Neill

category: Comics, Politics, Popular Culture, Rhetoric and Poetics