Technology
Surrealism case studies: video game glitches
I’m fascinated with video game glitches, especially in POV games, given their inherent ‘narrative’ orientation. What makes video games so evocative is the pristine artifice and utilitarian rendering; and when transgressed by a coding glitch, is very unsettling. I find the inadvertent surrealism in the clips below uncanny, humorous, and ‘anti-brilliant.’ It begs the question: if accidents are where the really good ideas are — full of, strangely, more ‘natural’ logic — then what the hell is a writer supposed to do?
Case No. 1:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK9lS0rE0uY&feature=related
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Case No. 2:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQF7WS7ZmiI&feature=related
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Case No. 3:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFMRhaArh7s
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Case No. 4:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq8HXuCfaF8
I used to play Grand Theft Auto on my roommate’s Playstation. The ‘pistol whipping’ and ‘ho slapping’ got boring quick; so did the joy rides through town. What really interested me, what I looked forward to come to after 8 hrs of work, was swimming in the ocean as far as the conceptual programming would allow. I was determined to hit some wall, or ‘break’ the game — for the game’s enterprise was on land. The ocean, that far out, was merely a topographical necessary adornment. Perhaps I was existentially driven, curious about the limits of my own experience, but game ocean is infinite. I swam and swam, fingers sore, for up to 20 minutes, which translated to about 36 hours in ‘game time.’ The sun set. The sun rose. Now and then, to my delight, a dolphin would skip along the surface. The designers were as sensitive to the subtle changes of the sky’s hue as the best impressionist. There were times I actually got lonely out there, the police sirens so far gone. I never got tired, or drowned, or eaten by a shark. For once, I was the perfect human being. But this, after all, was not real…
…In real life, my taquitos start burning in the toaster oven and I turn the game off. I real life, penguins don’t moonwalk; but man if they only did. I guess that’s what fiction is for. Good luck people.
Tags: game glitches, surrealism
“if accidents are where the really good ideas are, then what the hell is a writer to do?”
that’s a good question, and it solicited from me a sickeningly earnest answer from personal experience, one so bad i wouldn’t dare publish it, even in the comment section of a blog as an anonymous give-a-shit lurker. suffice to say, the answer is too simple to be credible: a writer should write, b/c the epiphany follows the pain.
more seriously though, mafia was a bugged-out game. i couldn’t even play it.
“if accidents are where the really good ideas are, then what the hell is a writer to do?”
that’s a good question, and it solicited from me a sickeningly earnest answer from personal experience, one so bad i wouldn’t dare publish it, even in the comment section of a blog as an anonymous give-a-shit lurker. suffice to say, the answer is too simple to be credible: a writer should write, b/c the epiphany follows the pain.
more seriously though, mafia was a bugged-out game. i couldn’t even play it.
‘spinning manta bug’ is hysterical. b-boy like at the end.
‘spinning manta bug’ is hysterical. b-boy like at the end.
I need to play more games. I don’t have a TV so this makes it a bit difficult.
I need to play more games. I don’t have a TV so this makes it a bit difficult.
The face glitch one was inspiring. I think I was emotionally “moved” by it.
I can’t play video games because it would interfere with the hard work of watching eight hours of tennis today.
The face glitch one was inspiring. I think I was emotionally “moved” by it.
I can’t play video games because it would interfere with the hard work of watching eight hours of tennis today.
i wish they were big penis cars in case # 1 instead of old timey gangster cars.
i wish they were big penis cars in case # 1 instead of old timey gangster cars.
This was a great post. When I was a kid I used to play Doom with the clipping code on just so I could get stuck in the walls. It was pretty fun, because you could hover in the ceiling above a crowd of demons in “rest mode”, which you never saw otherwise.
This was a great post. When I was a kid I used to play Doom with the clipping code on just so I could get stuck in the walls. It was pretty fun, because you could hover in the ceiling above a crowd of demons in “rest mode”, which you never saw otherwise.
Glitches in videogames have always excited me as well. I feel completely bored talking about them though.
I just read Breakfast of Champions -though most people probably read it in grade 9- and the narrator describes the characters in a detached and simple way, kind of like how a programmer would see and describe the above video.
This could’ve been an interesting comment.
Glitches in videogames have always excited me as well. I feel completely bored talking about them though.
I just read Breakfast of Champions -though most people probably read it in grade 9- and the narrator describes the characters in a detached and simple way, kind of like how a programmer would see and describe the above video.
This could’ve been an interesting comment.
Chorles, where did you get that name, man?
Chorles, where did you get that name, man?
Andre, it’s just a phonetic variation of my actual name, (which will remain secret).
Why do you ask?
Andre, it’s just a phonetic variation of my actual name, (which will remain secret).
Why do you ask?
i liked diving lara croft off higher and higher cliffs
my girlfriend at the time would say ‘that’s not what a body sounds like hitting the floor from that high’
i liked diving lara croft off higher and higher cliffs
my girlfriend at the time would say ‘that’s not what a body sounds like hitting the floor from that high’
Just curious. I’ve never seen a “chorles” before and I wondered if it was for real. And I felt like typing a sentence with “man” at the end, I don’t know why. It made me feel like this was a community.
Just curious. I’ve never seen a “chorles” before and I wondered if it was for real. And I felt like typing a sentence with “man” at the end, I don’t know why. It made me feel like this was a community.
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Indeed, the virtuality make surrealism existent. I also use to research the program limits. I switch the monsters/enemies off, but “fly”-mode on, and explore the virtual worlds from the perspective nobody could see in usual gameplay state.
I also adore the virtual skies, especially when animated.
The freedom in the cage of numbers – that is my locus amoenus!
Indeed, the virtuality make surrealism existent. I also use to research the program limits. I switch the monsters/enemies off, but “fly”-mode on, and explore the virtual worlds from the perspective nobody could see in usual gameplay state.
I also adore the virtual skies, especially when animated.
The freedom in the cage of numbers – that is my locus amoenus!