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Videogames

Player character identification in video games is one of those topics which academia seemingly loves. There are reams and reams of papers dedicated to the subject. I’m never scared to dumb things down here at Dirty Feed, however, so let’s ludicrously simplify things. How I identify with a player character comes in two forms: they’re either not me… or they are me.

In Final Fantasy IX, I am Zidane, a cheeky chappy with a ludicrous tail who discovers he is an Angel of Death. In I-0, I am Tracy Valencia, with all the added anatomy and latent lesbian tendencies that part requires. On the other hand, in a game like Angband, I’m creating a character from scratch, not taking the role of a pre-existing character with their own story – and I tend to think of that character as an extension of myself.

With a life simulation game like Animal Crossing, it’s even more clear-cut. Sure, the world is absolute fantasy, full of talking animals: but I’m still called John. I can wear the kind of clothes I wear in real life, furnish my house like I would if I had endless money and wasn’t a lazy bastard. I’m not playing a part: that character running around on the screen is me.

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Four Channels

Music / Videogames

Here’s something rather silly I’ve put together. Anyone up for a bunch of 8-bit versions of popular TV and film themes, taken from a load of BBC Micro games? I CAN TELL YOU ARE, HELLO YOU.

Some of the pieces are really well done – I especially love the opening version of the Match of the Day theme – and some… aren’t. What the bloody hell is that interpretation of Play Your Cards Right?

[mejsaudio src=”https://www.dirtyfeed.org/audio/fourchannels.mp3″ volume=”false”]

Download “Four Channels” (13MB MP3, 11:06)

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Projections

Videogames

Ah, nothing I like better than picking tiny holes in articles I otherwise agree with:

Zelda: Skyward Sword – The Great Graphics Debate

“If a piece of art was once brilliant and stirring – if it truly was such – no technical advancement or passing of time can take that from it.”

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

“The old, classic, black and white movies (like Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane or Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2) are no less captivating and memorable now that HD cameras are the standard.”

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

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Gratuitous

Videogames

From the June 1987 edition of A&B Computing:

Scan of Dunjunz advert

And here was me thinking it was just ports which used such tactics, and homegrown BBC Micro games were a paragon of virtue…

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