Human Behavior

I understand it now, new forms of media are the scapegoats to all of our problems. The kids are no longer as interested in Math and Science? Let's blame it on videogames. People are starting to speed more?Let's blame it on videogames. Crops are bad? Let's blame it on videogames. (I made that last one up but if it comes true, you heard it here first.)

Let's be honest. Or, I will at least. When I hear a song on the radio that is fast and has a badass feel to it, I like to drive a little faster. Who doesn't? Try and listen to Queens of the Stone Age - Go With The Flow and happily obey the speed limit. Yeah, you can't. "Then not only are videogames corrupting me, but also music!" Yeah, I'm not sure about that...let's look deeper...shall we?

It is commonly known (well I guess "commonly" might be an overstatement) that certain colors and color combinations have varying effects on our psyche. Certain combinations make you hungry, more inclined to shop, sad, happy, whatever. Couple this with varying tactics of delivery and you have a potentially dangerous combination. Thankfully, most of us monkeys have the natural inclination to not go on our first instinct, and instead check a nigh-infinite number of variables before coming to our ultimate conclusion. Let's rewind a bit back to the Queens of the Stone Age. When I hear that song on the radio, I want to push the pedal down to the floor. I want to relive the video and fly down a desert highway going speeds that far surpass anything my blazer can smoothly execute, but most of the time I don't. I have learned that driving a vehicle at high speeds on slippery surfaces is much harder to manage than one would think. I also have a natural tendency to care for my fellow man and would have a hard time dealing with an "accident," and my wallet says that damaging my vehicle and/or getting a ticket wouldn't be the best outcome.

See where I'm getting at here?

We may have certain factors or "influences," if you will, around us that could possibly bring about a change in behavior, but ultimately it is our own decision to allow those changes to be made. If someone speeds because they saw it in the game and wanted to relive that experience, then maybe during that given situation their actions were somewhat justified (no one around on a desert highway instantly comes to mind), or maybe they are just batshit insane.Oh and on a sidenote.

Tom Waits is a god.

Urge and the 360

The audio director for Microsoft Games, Caesar Filori, came to IPR today to speak about videogames and after his presentation, I had a chance to speak to the knowledgable fellow on a few topics he didn't cover. I only had a few minutes so we weren't able to go into very much detail but I think it turned out quite well. I'll post the video online in a few days after I finish the editing and audio implementation. Until then, here's something to think about: Why hasn't Microsoft implemented their URGE music store on the 360?Doesn't it seem like a no-brainer to have their fledgling music service be directly linked to their video game console and their online network? To me it seems like Microsoft is really dropping the ball on this one.Imagine, being able to skip having to stream it from your pc and instead just stream or download it from your console. Sounds like a good deal to me. Oh and if they eventually implement this idea, it better not be half-assed in such a way that if I want to play it on both my 360 and my pc that I would have to buy multiple accounts. It's bad enough that if I want to buy Zuma on my 360 I still have to pay full price for all of the other versions out there. No. Screw that. Solution? A blanket license covering all versions of that game. If you want to play it on another platform, pay a couple of bucks. Why a couple of bucks? To handle the conversion and all that jazz. It sure beats paying $20 for something you already own. Eh, anyway, I'm tired.Goodnight.