Very Funny: TBS, King of the Nerds, and Nerdsploitation

Hard to believe, but none of them are warriors

Reality television is not my cup of tea. I remember being hooked on successive seasons of Big Brother in my younger years, marveling at how the show's producers had found such unusual personalities among the throng of attention-starved applicants. As my life has progressed and I have found less and less time for television, good and bad, it is safe to say that reality shows have fallen off my radar. What I have caught of recent output in the genre has seemed relatively innocuous fare amounting to nothing much more dangerous than a favorite comfort food: fine in small doses, but possibly not the best foundation for a life perspective.

When I first saw the trailer for TBS' new reality show King of the Nerds, it sounded immediate alarm bells in my head. Despite this reaction, I felt compelled to check it out, especially given that TBS has garnered its fair share of bad press among nerd communities of late, with a wonderful article that compared how The Big Bang Theory uses nerds as its punchlines, while NBC's Community is a more inclusive and generally embracing affair. With King of the Nerds, I considered that perhaps TBS was looking to to make amends. To boldly go where no TBS series had gone before.

Porpentine's Big Chaos Game Jam: Streamy

I don't know where this originates, but it's so evocative and I don't know why.

Last weekend, Porpentine announced that she was launching a game jam specifically focusing on games created in Twine. One of my goals for 2013 was to take part in a game jam. As soon as I saw the news, I knew I had to start planning for Big Chaos Game Jam.

As a crusader for freedom of expression, her focus for the jam was straightforward and simple: DO WHATEVER YOU WANT AND HAVE FUN. I must confess that I can find this sort of freedom to be at times paralyzing. Without anywhere to start, where do I begin?

Game Jam Game

I had this vague impression that I might want to take part in a game jam in 2013.


I wound up figuring out how to crudely use Twine a few weeks ago, and then a Twine game jam was announced yesterday and the deadline was tonight. So I sat down for a few hours, and I threw an experience together.

I call it Streamy.

This is a bookending sentence that makes that above link seem somehow more enticing.

Nordschleife

I will drive it for real. One day. 

In Reality Is Broken, Jane McGonigal describes games as 'unnecessary obstacles'. Challenges to be overcome that serve little to no practical purpose. I disagree on the subject of them being unnecessary, but I cannot ignore that they have frequently served as obstacles in my life. Obstacles blocking the path to picking up my guitar. Obstacles to taking care of household chores. Obstacles to playing other games.

How I Made My First Game

I have heard it mentioned before that there are writers whose primary goal in covering a subject matter is to learn enough about it before they inevitably try it themselves. Akin to distance learning, through talking to the right people and discussing the right subjects, eventually one can garner enough knowledge with which to tackle a task first-hand. While I am willing to believe that these types exist, I do not consider myself to be one of them.

I made a few games

Isn't it cool how this image has so much promise, but you can't tell what it's about? I know, I know.

That title is no lie, no sirree. Inspired by having heard a whole load of press about it, I decided to finally investigate the text-adventure creator Twine, and I created a swathe of increasingly-complicated click-through text adventure games.

Jeff Gerstmann on the radio

Jeff Gerstmann on the phone to WCCO this Monday morning talking about Call of Duty Black Ops 2.

I think he does a great job of explaining what a first-person shooter is to those who might not be familiar with the term. It's interesting to hear Jeff discuss the game in these terms, facing out from the games industry.

Sunday Sidebar: Meet Alex Peake of Primer Labs

Greetings all, and the indie game train makes another stop for this week's Sunday Sidebar. This week I spoke to Alex Peake, who is the leader of Primer Labs, a company working on frankly fascinating piece of software that is part-game, part-teacher, and full of potential. Alex is a vibrant member of the ethical hacking community, and even works on the game at a well-known hackerspace in San Francisco. If you've ever wanted to be inspired by hacktivism, and the hacker community at large, this might be the place to begin. If you're particularly fortunate, you'll decide to try out Code Hero, and be the next person to hack the planet!

Sega Master System: Before Rosetta Stone...

In 1991, I received my first home console, the Sega Master System. It was a piece of technology that stupefied and enthralled me for a whole variety of different and banal reasons. However, it wasn’t the console proper that left an indelible mark upon me: it was the instruction manuals that came with its games.

Sunday Sidebar: Meet Dan Tabár of Data Realms

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on your particular location in time and space. Regardless, we do not discriminate here at the Sunday Sidebar. So: welcome! This week I bring to you a choice interview with none other than Dan Tabár of Data Realms, who finally released Cortex Command last month after over a decade of development. Despite that, the game is still not considered ‘finished’! Read on to find out more.

Sunday Sidebar: Meet Tim Keenan of Misfits Attic

Good afternoon, world, and welcome to another stellar edition of the Sunday Sidebar. This week I spoke to Tim Keenan, of Misfits Attic. Tim has a particularly interesting background, having worked for DreamWorks before his foray into the world of independent games development. Read on to learn more about his team’s action-puzzler, A Virus Named TOM!

Sunday Sidebar: Meet Andy Moore of Radial Games

Good news, everyone! This week’s Sunday Sidebar is alive and amazing as ever. I spoke to Andy Moore of Radial Games, a great company all the way out in the wind-swept climes of Vancouver Island. They’re currently working on a really interesting game called Monster Loves You. Read on to find out more!

On fear and death

Most experiences in life occur not with a bang, but a whimper. However, from time to time there are those which leave something of themselves before they pass on. In my particular case it is a darkness that I once saw which persists forever within me. The thin figure of horror is always at my window. Let me tell you about it.

Sunday Sidebar: Meet Ryan Baker of Pixelscopic

With a sudden flash and a few sparks of electricity, I was gone from Europe and found myself in the even less familiar environs of Purdy, MO, where I got to talking with Ryan Baker of Pixelscopic. They’re currently developing their first original project, an action-RPG named Delver’s Drop. There’s a whole heap of interesting things going on with the game and the team themselves. Read on to find out more!

Sunday Sidebar: Meet Rami Ismail of Vlambeer

Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that Fall has well and truly fallen, and Summer has been relegated to but a flickering memory from a dream of eons past. Seasons change, people change, but the Sunday Sidebar still stands strong. This week I continued my whistle-stop tour of Europe by teleporting to Utrecht in The Netherlands, where I caught up with Rami Ismail and Jan Willem Nijman of Vlambeer. These guys work tirelessly on a impossible number of projects at any one time. Read on to find out which of their current games appeals to you most!