Virtual Blood on my Hands

Finding some time to play video games has been therapeutic lately, though I do feel that there is a bit too much virtual blood on my hands.

The last three games that I have submerged myself into have certainly been on the violent side. Assassins Creed II in particular has highlighted the prevalence of such violence. The name gives it away, but for people unaware of the volume of violence a quick summary will suffice. You play an assassin that is free to kill countless people using various types of sharp or bludgeoning weapons. Particularly vicious scenes are slowed down and emphasised by the game mechanics, glorifying in the violence. Of course, I play these games for fun.

But at times it seems like this fun could be negatively affecting me in other ways. The desensitization argument has been frequently trod in recent history and video game legislation. The fact of the matter is that video games frequently encourage us to escape into a fantasy world by encouraging us to take the part of a character. In many cases, these characters commit heinous acts.By proxy we are encouraged to imagine us committing these acts. How can this not have some sort of effect on us?

This violent side is attractive because it is taboo in ordinary life and yet acceptable in games and indeed films. So while we do imagine acts of depravity in these games perhaps it is best that some sort of outlet is used for these human desires. The danger only really comes when a person is unable to distinguish between the rules of a game and the rules of reality. This is exactly the reason that games have certified age ratings. An adult should have a better concept of reality (or at least a better concept of the rules of society) than a child and as such, should be more capable of using this outlet.

While there may be virtual blood on my hands, that realisation allows me to keep my real hands clean.

-The English Student

Earth Hour?

The cynic that I am was quite reluctant to embrace the so-called 'Earth Hour'.

For those of you not currently sitting in darkness, allow me to explain the concept. For one hour in the evening, all lights across the globe are supposed to be switched off in some kind of bid to save energy. Apparently many major landmarks across the globe are taking part, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and The National Aquatic Centre in Beijing.

But honestly, what use is this? How much energy will really be saved with this minor gesture towards positive environmental attitudes. It is probably a safe bet that the energy used to spread information about this 'Earth Hour' outweighs the actual energy saved. Perhaps I am setting up a straw man to defeat here and actually avoiding the main point of this gesture. The main issue here must be to create awareness and a sense of solidarity across the world. We can surely address climate change together with such positive actions.

I do not, however, buy into this. Surely a more efficient 'Earth Hour' would include turning off all electricity for one hour, rather than just lights. Surely if we truly understood the massive ramifications of our grotesque use of energy we would dedicate more than an hour to this cause. Surely such an 'Earth Hour' would be less of a novelty and more of a foreboding anticipation of the future. 'Earth Hour' seems to be highly appropriate in that it shows the half measures that we take to solve problems that are not overtly threatening us. While these gestures may assuage some of our collective guilt, they do almost nothing to actually address the problem.

Until climate change becomes a more obvious problem or until we grow as a species to gain some real foresight we will remain the generation that failed the planet.

-The English Student

Frugality

I have never been able to spend money with the reckless abandon of some of my peers.

There always seems to be some reason to save money rather than spend it. Over the many jobs that I have had, I have compulsively saved. In my current job (lucky that I am to have one) I am saving approximately 90% of what I am earning. This has gotten to the point that it feels like I am working for no actual reward. A bank balance becomes a meaningless number that rises and has no real consequence.

Why do I constantly avoid spending money? While the cliché of saving for a rainy day may ring true for me, I think it is a more complex process. Abstract rainy days are easily ignorable. What is not so easy to shrug off is predictable events in ones life that will require money. There is always something on the horizon that may need funds. This is even beyond recessionary scaremongering. We always find a reason to save.

Sometimes this frugality seems like an excellent idea. It is a practical application of forward planning and thinking. Yet at the same time, working and using up precious time for no real reward, or an imaginary one in the future is more than problematic. Money controls us in this way and we cannot escape its grasp while we allow it to dictate our lives. Money is simply a medium. When we earn it we should spend it and make those imaginary numbers mean something.

I am not saying that we should all drive ourselves into poverty with excess, simply that we should enjoy ourselves more while retaining our forward thinking.

-The English Student

Changing Game Genres

With the release of Bioshock 2 recently, I have begun to play the original game that I had missed upon release.

In some respects the game is a formulaic, on the rails first person shooter. For the purpose of this discussion I should really clarify what I mean by these terms. An 'on the rails' game is one that funnels the player through scripted events and challenges. This is the original type of game going back to the advent of gaming. The development company will set up certain atmospheres, knowing that the player has to access them to progress in the game. This is the contrary to the increasingly popular 'sandbox' game that allow people to roam around an open world making decisions about how the game will progress.

These games have been frequently identified as stale in this gaming generation. The question can certainly be asked, what can a on the rails game actually do to become fresh? On a basic level, Bioshock is brilliant at setting up tension and excitement through these scripted events. This however, is nothing knew. However, about half-way through the story the entire foundation of this dynamic changes. Without spoiling some of the story, the game becomes a question of why your character has, without any hesitation, done exactly what he has been told by the various authorities in the game.

This brings the whole question of scripting into account. Why indeed has your character done what he has been told and why do we as gamers follow the same pattern? For a second the game seems to collapse on itself, revealing its nature as a simple "start at point A, go to point B via route C" pattern. Yet for all that, it is highly enjoyable. These questions show the strength of scripted games. The developer is still creating a highly enjoyable experience without having to give the player a (obviously false) sense of freedom. We know this is a crafted form of entertainment and yet we still enjoy it.

So maybe we should just drop these pretences of freedom and let these artists manipulate us and entertain us.

-The English Student

A Thaw

Finally, we have some relatively good weather.

It seems like the winter would never end and with the horrendous weather we were enduring I had actually forgotten what it felt like to be warm. It seems that as a nation we had collectively forgotten the hope of spring and the warm embrace of summer. It seems that this week it has suddenly pounced upon us.

The 'recession' and economic hardship over the past few months has been compounded by depressing weather. While people may diminish the effect that weather has on national feeling I really do believe that it is quite important. In practical terms, the cold snap forced us to stay inside and avoid spending money. We were also less inclined to invest emotionally or place trust in each other as the cold moved in.

With the thaw in the weather I do hope that these patterns will reverse and they do seem to be. People seem happier and economies are to an extent, picking up with the better weather. However, thaws and freezes are cyclical. While we may not have saw an end to this last freeze it was certainly coming and while we may think this thaw will last forever that is not the truth either.

We should make hay in this weather, as the cold will come again.

-The English Student

Naive Politics

Many politicians inside and outside of the government have retired in the past month and they left office due to an unexpected failing.

It really does seem that politicians suffer from two major instances of naivety. On the one hand, these people seem to completely misunderstand why a career in politics is a good idea. Coming through college these people become empowered by the open environment and energised by an apparent will to create change. The assumption is that these patterns extend to a wider social level and that a politician can enter government and reform the entire system.

The other example of naivety comes from politicians that are already well acclimatised to the system. These people have been in the politics game for a long time and realise that new blood coming in is foolish to think that they can affect great change. However, the show naivety in other ways. These politicians believe that they are above the laws that they have sought to uphold. The system has obstructed all attempts to change so the rules are circumvented. While this may be done with good intentions it circumvents the entire basis of our democratic system,

Perhaps there is an even great example of naive politics in these areas. The belief going in to every election that we the people can actually affect life and policy is time and again proven to be false. It really does seem that it does not matter who is driving us forward, as the route has already been defined. It really is a case where the blind are leading the blind and we have given a mandate to be lead in this way.

While politicians may be naive, perhaps we are far more naive for actually believing in them.

-The English Student

Dubai Controvesy

An international crisis is looming as a murder plot in Dubai is unravelled.

Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service has been identified as the perpetrator of a murder in Dubai earlier this year. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander was assassinated in his hotel by a group of professional killers. These people held false European documents that they used to gain access to the country and perpetrate the murder. These revelations have lead to widespread condemnation of Mossad's tactics and its strategy of making citizens of others countries suspects.

What does not seem to be condemned is the actual assassination itself. On the contrary, this act has been identified as highly professional. Various news sites have interviewed ordinary Israelis that believe the assassination to be a point of pride for the country, while Arabs have been quoted as have grudging respect for high level of skill and organisation displayed by Mossad. By all accounts, the main international point of contention is Mossad's use of foreign passports.

My point of contention has to be the heinous lack of justice that is displayed on all levels of this act. al-Mabhouh was a criminal and wanted internationally for weapons smuggling. He should have been imprisoned for his crimes and at the very least faced a trial. Mossad acted with legally and yet with just as much disregard for life as any weapons smuggler. They committed a disgusting act, regardless of legality. The international community seems quite inept at taking action against Israel or Hamas for their mutually horrendous acts and so the cycle will continue.

Expect vengeful killings and attacks in response to this assassination and expect real justice to remain perpetually distant.

-The English Student