Australian Larrikinism in Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow

June 11th, 2009

Turns out my latest column is out a few days early. It’s titled ‘Australian Larrikinism in Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow‘. This entry is similar to the last in that I discuss the way developers craft performances of their characters to push an implicit message. In this case how Sony Bend use Aussie Dane Bishop in Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow to introduce the player to larrikinism – an important part of Australian culture.

I’ve been thinking about this Australian larrikinism issue for about a week now as it was mentioned in one of my classes. It’s one of those ideas that’s always been at the back of my mind but never articulated that clearly. Being that us Aussies are a bunch of larrikins – simple eh? The effects of this can come out in intercultural contexts where our perception of a good time can result in a dire consequences in another’s culture. Well, that’s what the lecture was saying, I was too busy casting my mind into the pool of regret when thinking over some of my exploits in China. Ouch!

I’ve wanted to explore the Dane Bishop character for a while, and with larrikinism in hand, I could finally write something interesting about the guy. So please take a read, this entry is much shorter than my Portal analysis.

Lastly, I’m looking to write for external publications more than I have in the past. In fact, I hope that I’ll be able to migrate most of my content elsewhere. I find that writing for other publications ensures that I work harder on polishing my work and elevating my writing style; two areas that I wish to improve at. So look forward to more of that in the future. I wrote some thoughts on this here, if you’re interested.

The Cultural Implications of Dialects in Video Games

May 20th, 2009

The next entry in my GameSetWatch column was posted a few days ago, you can find the link here;

Column: ‘Lingua Franca’ – Implications Of Dialect In Dragon Quest IV

This time around I look at the use of dialects in video games and discuss the cultural implications that dialects can have on play, as well as suggesting ways to weave this to an advantage. Initially I wasted many words finding my voice for the article, but eventually what I wanted to say came out. I’m weary of a few of the comments I made in the article, one or two which may in fact be generalizations, still the weight of the article is strong. It’s been interesting to observe the feedback from people who have a different interpretation of English dialects to my Australian flavoured opinion.

I’m really starting to find some weight behind this column, as I’m practically plundering the depths of unexplored terrain. It’s similar to a project I’m currently working on now regarding Chinese-Chinese and Chinese-foreigner communication – both fields represent a lack of proper study.

Lastly, I’ve completed the extended introduction of my next column which is a critique of Portal in regards to Erving Goffman’s work on social interaction and institutions. This is a topic that I’ve had on the tip of my pen for almost a year now, I suspect that this will probably be one of my best pieces of writing, it’s shaping up that way already.

You may hear more opinions on Dragon Quest IV in another guest article shortly.

Posted in Culture | Comments (2)
Tags: dialect, dragon quest

Would You Believe?

April 30th, 2009

I’m sorely disappointed. I wanted to begin this post with a clip from Get Smart, with Max running through the “Would you believe?” gag. Oh well, this clip below is still pretty funny. Get Smart is an interesting case study into the way early TV portrays ethnic stereotypes. Sometimes it’s truly atrocious. >_<

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftgAG3Vnif8

As you know, I’m really interested in this games and culture topic, and although I’ve discussed the issue to good length a couple of times here already, I’ve been rather apprehensive towards tackling it head on. That’s fine though as I feel better equipped for the task now than I have in the past. So I wanted to fix this issue and began writing a series of posts on games and culture. By the time I finished my introductory piece I was pretty chuffed with the results; an extended essay that covered more or less the basic framework of my idea. Writing out my ideas in full made me realize the great injustice that is the lack of discussion on games + the culture, linguistics and anthropological realms. With a primer written up in solid english, I figured that I owed it to the disciplines to allow this topic to receive the attention it deserves and went to the only place that I figured would accept it; GameSetWatch. Turns out the Mr. Carless really liked my piece and offered me a biweekly column on the site.

I guess I have ample opportunity to discuss this issue now, right? You can read my article here:

Column: ‘Lingua Franca’ – The Place Of Games In Culture

The name lingua franca means the prime language adopted in a multilingual community. I hope to discuss not just culture, but the linguistics side of things too, in the column. Because after all language = culture. I’ll post links to any new external pieces here, as I always do. For now, I have to clear up some homework and then figure out how to overcome stage fright for the next column entry.

Posted in Culture | Comments (0)
Tags: Culture

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