Kill Screen Magazine's Blog, page 271

Tracing the digital and the real in East Vancouver

A pilgrimage to the East Van Cross, with videogames.

Celebrate the clunkiness of 90s electronics with these adorable gifs

The '90s was truly the last analog decade. When the new millennium rolled around we all made the switch over to digital as if it were commanded by time itself. It was a gradual process: the first 3G networks appeared in 1998 to pave the way for the ubiquity of all-purpose mobile phones; Apple introduced its iPod in 2001; peer-to-peer technology really took off as people discovered services like Napster from '99; and social networking was embedded in our lives with the launch of MySpace in 2003 and Facebook in 2004.

As we melted into our comfier digital lives, what we lost was the mechanical satisfaction of analog devices: buttons, levers, clips, and sliders. How quickly our familiarity with older technology fades away is best evidenced in the "Kids React To" series on YouTube. When presented with a Sony Walkman they prod its hard black plastic as if it would suddenly pop into action, ready to serve their mind's desire. It doesn't, of course, and within seconds they're either seeking an adult's assistance or are shooting perplexed expressions at the alien artifact in their hands.

the physicality of '90s electronics 

Growing up in the past decade, these kids are used to technology reacting to their touch; they interact with screens, and can ignore the back-end mechanisms that make it all work. "You have to actually do stuff," one of them comments after learning how the Walkman works. It's an observation that sums up how effortless technology has become since the '90s. That's a good thing, as progress tends to be, but a series of "electronic items" gifs by French designer Guillaume Kurkdjian momentarily lets us forget that in order to celebrate the physicality of '90s electronics.

Each gif faithfully recreates a machine of the pre-millennium. Not just in look, but by motion, almost as if it were a tutorial for those unfamiliar with how each of these high-tech gadgets (for the time) are operated. The triangular button of the CD-player is pushed in and the lid pops up like an alligator's jaw in waiting. The handycam loops in a series of smooth sliding motions, latches releasing, the lens unveiled behind a sleek dust cover. Even the ecru tone of the vintage computers has been flattered in its realization, complete with monochrome monitors, hidden compartments, and flashing LEDs. 

For many of us there is nostalgia to be found in these 3D animations. Seeing an old portable CD player only reminds me of the time I caught a pinch of finger skin between the lid and the hardware as I closed it, leaving a tiny but painful bruise. I also remember the albums that I span on those machines, being careful not to tip it so that the CD tilted and the laser scratched the disc—a problem easily solved by mp3 players. But for others, younger generations, these machines from the past hold a different, unknowable kind of wonder. One that makes them shout out "what?!" in utter bewilderment.

You can see the full range of Kurkdjian's "electronic items" series on his website and the project's Tumblr page.

h/t Abduzeedo Design Inspirations

Crowdsourced mapping is being used to locate earthquake victims in Nepal

Crowdsourced map studies are being used to locate earthquake victims in Nepal

The crowds that tried to find MH370 are now trying to help with the earthquake in Nepal

A rediscovered mainframe game from 1974 might be the first text adventure

The wonder of the past.

Grow from child to woman as you face Toren's towering challenge on May 12th

The Amazonian warrior princess myths comes to videogames in this preview for Toren

Brazilian studio to release Toren, an archetypal hero's journey power fantasy

The preview for Toren promises badass female tribal warrior power, coming May 12th

Verve and virtuosity in Crypt of the NecroDancer

Rhythm is a (deadly) dancer.

Announcing the Intel Two5six Scholar program

“Why wouldn’t anyone want to learn more about the intersection between media, gaming and technology?”

Cyclothymia shows us how to deal with a mental health issue through astrology

This is not the first time Kara Stone has talked about mental health through a videogame. Previously, she had us participate in the rituals that her doctor prescribed—taking medicine, breathing exercises, practising absolute somatic control—in MedicationMeditation. Now, with her latest game, Cyclothymia, Stone reveals how she has learned to cope with her swaying moods through astrology.

Stone says that cyclothymia, the mood disorder not the game, is something that she feels and goes through. It's generally considered a milder version of bipolar disorder, meaning that a person with it tends to have periods of euphoria that shift into episodes of anxiety or emotional lows, and then back again. As the name indicates, cyclothymia operates in cycles, and it's in this that Stone found a resemblance in the phases that astrology recognizes and is informed by. 

control is wrangled over the formless whole. 

"Astrology has a way for me to practice radical acceptance," writes Stone. She explains that during one week she may feel melancholic and wonder why. With astrology, she can rationalize this mood as reflecting the moon being in Pisces, which provides some comfort. "I also struggle, like many people with specific mood phases, with thinking that I will be stuck feeling the same way forever, I'll be this depressed forever, this crushed forever," Stone continues. "But astrology again has been a great reminder that the world keeps on spinning, and all phases end and new ones begin, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly."

Cyclothymia (referring to the game this time) is an interactive illustration of how Stone's astrology-based logic works. It starts you off with a mess of stars; black dots punched into a brown paper canopy with a sketching pen. It's impossible to see anything but noise and chaos in these stars. But then you click on one of the clusters and, suddenly, some control is wrangled over the formless whole. When you click, the shape of a star sign is annotated in a colored pen, joining the stars like dots. You do this a few more times until you have mastered the entire picture.

This first exercise starts a process in which you find sense where there was once none. This continues throughout the rest of the game's stages: you trigger orbits, reveal lunar phases, and affect tidal movements by dragging the moon across the screen. Eventually, as you zoom in closer to the surface of the Earth, you find what could be Stone herself in a bedroom, commanded by the day / night cycle as she sleeps and wakes.

Each time I found the purpose hidden away in each of the pictures I came closer to experiencing some of the comfort that Stone described. Everything made sense, could be justified; there was room to breathe now the uncertainty was gone. It feels like you're gaining an insight into Stone's worldview. But once it's all over, as cyclothymia demands, you have to undo everything you've done and return disorder back to the universe. This forms the loop, as the game's end is its start, the title screen ready for you to once again command both ebb and flow. 

You can download Cyclothymia for free on itch.io.

#Notifications reveals how Twitter dehumanizes us all

There's no winning the Twitter battle in #Notification

Twitter toxicity finally gets its own hellish, never ending runner

#Notifications reminds us to see the human behind the troll

Get caught in the catch-22 of a Twitter mob in #Notifications

Blade Runner 9732 brings Deckard's futuristic apartment to virtual reality

Kicking it back in electronic dreams of the future.