The Death of Myspace
Back in April, I wrote a piece on Myspace Apologism– the phenomenon (especially amongst teens) of apologizing for having a Myspace account even though they check it like fifty-seven times a day. This last semester my English 106 class officially informed me that Myspace is sooooo dead. So they’re twenty teens in Indiana, hardly a representative sample, but I don’t doubt this. Almost everyone in the class had a Facebook page and a lot of them were quick to "friend" their kind English professor. I’m not sad to see Myspace trendiness start to fall. If for no other reason, it’s teaching a generation of teens some horrible practices in regards to visual rhetoric and web design. Yuck.
The X-13D Revealed
In May I blogged about Dorito’s new X-13D chips. The "mystery" flavor was packaged in a slick and chic black bag with only the most minimal of clues as to what said flavor might be. In a brilliant (and evil) marketing ploy, Doritos encouraged consumers to buy a bag of chips that they had no idea about and gave them a chance to suggest a title on their website (a website that represented the worst Flash-abuse possible). I think the winner also got a year’s supply of the nasty concoction (it tasted horrible). Well, the chips have disappeared from shelves and I couldn’t recall ever hearing or reading about the results. After a quick web search, I discovered that the X-13D has officially been branded the Cheeseburger Dorito. Just thought you’d like to know. My guess was Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese; which frankly, sounds a lot more innovative and interesting.
Still Waiting for Lost
In late May I geekgasmed over the Lost finale, and here we are in late December and the new season of Lost is still over a month away. The scheduling move was originally part of a plan to air the whole mini-season uninterrupted. Now it’s looking like even the late start will be problematic due to the Hollywood writer’s strike. Although the wait and possible interruption are frustrating, it’s hard to mind when the product is so excellent. When the series ends, I firmly believe Lost as a whole will be a brilliant series that goes down in history (at a time when scripted drama is on life support and "reality" rules). Take your time ladies and gentleman.
Hermoine Lives Contrary to Reports
In July, a contestant in a live televised hot dog eating contest ran across the stage with a sign reading "On July 21st Hermione Dies." The stunt was believed to be a huge spoiler for the final Harry Potter novel– a practice that happens all the time on the net but rarely crosses over to network television. Hermione, of course, did not kick the bucket and the idea that she would was never all that believable. At the time I asked if hot dog dude’s ploy was just mean jackassery or some brilliant culture jamming? Now we can add: is it still culture jamming if your jam is based on misinformation? I reckon it depends on intent (and I’ve always felt I was probably giving the guy too much credit). If the intent was to illuminate the cracks in the old media system then I guess it doesn’t matter that Hermione didn’t die. The point could have been to simply get a message out in a medium that doesn’t really openly allow the public to do so. Or, as I previously concluded, the guy was just being a jackass.
Come Together, Right Now, Over the Wii
In September I speculated about the cross-over of video game simulations to "real" life skills, using Guitar Hero as my example. In that time, a lil game named Rock Band has appeared, in which players get to simulate an entire (surprise) rock band. The game comes with a miniature drum set, which as far as I can tell, requires pretty much "real" drumming to pull off successfully. Even more interesting, my friend Jaci reports that a group of her male friends have the game and have started acting in some interesting ways. Apparently, the boys talk about "their band," ask when the next "practice" session is, and constantly talk about their gaming experience the way people in "real" bands do. In hindsight, I don’t think the point is that video games can potentially simulate the skills of real life. Maybe it’s more interesting that games can bring people together into new social formations that are potentially even rarer and harder to experience than solo-based skills. I’ve been in a few bands throughout my life, and band comradery is probably something rarer to come by than learning how to play an instrument. If a game like Rock Band can accomplish that feeling of connection amongst a group of friends, it proves that we are still only beginning to discover what video games can accomplish.
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