Cupidz Bow, by Russ Rogers – Musings on a Song #2
January 13, 2011 Russ Rogers 1 Comment
I’ve been thinking about life force. Mana. How we pour our life energies into things and how we become them or they become us. I guess that’s sort of like Voodoo, except I know nothing about Voodoo. I only know enough to sound like a complete idiot to somebody who actually knows anything about it. I’m like that with a lot of stuff. Maybe it’s like magic … or maybe it’s like video games.
Yeah, I know something about video games. I’ve played video games for more than 30 years now. The good ones pull you in, past the point where it doesn’t matter that you stopped having fun, you just have to get past THIS next level. I’ve poured myself into Tetris and and Super Mario Bros. and Chess. Lots of video games. OK, Chess is not a video game, but I played it against the computer until I got good. i mean, freaky good. Not Grand-Master good. But where I would make strange illogical moves, not because I knew where they were going, but just because they “felt” right. I cluttered up the board with odd, illogical moves, because it was a good way of confusing the program I was playing. Hours and hours and hours of computer chess. Until it wasn’t something I played or did even, it was just something I was. Chess was something I became, or it became me. I now see my chess phase now as a way of Depressively retreating from the world, but I hadn’t been diagnosed yet then.
I remember getting good at Tetris on the original GameBoy, until the tiny blocks were falling at blurring speeds, and still my fingers knew where to put them before my brain could register even what shape the blocks were. I remember getting up to a level where the game started blinking and playing a fanfare. I had reached “The End!” I could claim that I had MASTERED TETRIS I was MASTER OF THE GAME! There was no more!
There was no more? … Nothing? And I felt disappointed. “What? I didn’t get beat this time? That’s it?” Suddenly the game lost interest for me. I started to wonder if the pleasure in the game came from Mastering it or just getting reassuringly crushed by it time and time again. If I had reached the end, then I couldn’t get incrementally better. So what was the point in playing it any more!
And I couldn’t help but wonder, if I had spent that much time trying to master the guitar or something, anything real or productive, what might I have achieved instead. But I had poured hours and hours into Tetris or Ultima II or Castlevania. Sure, I earned extra lives in the game. But it all made me feel a little hollow inside.
Every computer game I’ve ever played seriously, I’ve poured my life force into it. On some metaphoric and personal level I “become” that little glob of color and light, jumping on mushrooms, hurling turtle shells, riding that happy “whatever-thing” Yoshi is. But when I finally put the game away, it’s rarely with a sense of triumph, accomplishment or fond nostalgia. There’s an emptiness, ike I’ve tossed part of myself into the game and I won’t ever get that back.
Cupidz Bow is written and performed by Godz Poodlz. Godz Poodlz is me and my friend Rhod Durre. Godz Poodlz is an Icon/Rock/Dad Band with a Heavy Metal name and a strong sense of irony. You can download “Cupidz Bow” for the special price of anything you want or nothing at all this week! “Cupidz Bow” is Creative Commons, attribuition, non-comercial, share alike. Share it with friends, remix it, rerecord it, just don’t sell it. Godz Poodlz also has a facebook page, that I hope you’ll LIKE!
“Cupidz Bow” is a love song. It’s a song about the video game Halo, about getting pulled so far emotionally into the game, it gets taken to a bizzare and comic extreme, love. It’s really nerdy love song, with excessively violent imagery. Godz Poodlz came up with what we thought was a funny, imaginary storyline. We started researching the game. And as it turns out, it’s not only a true story, it’s true several times over. Many couples have found each other and love through Halo! There’s even a website dedicated to “the Halo Wedding,” A Match Made in Halo. A couple met in Halo, fell in love in Halo, and are so committed to each other and Halo, they designed their wedding around Halo! Getting married inside the game, that’s an intense commitment. Isn’t it?
The Flying Godz Poodlz logo was designed by Len Peralta, through Monster by Mail. The Halo Poodlz are by Amy Vos McLeod, from the Cupidz Bow video, directed by Joe ‘Covenant’ Lamb, containing video from the game, “Halo,” created by Bungie and owned and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Whew!
Russ Rogers is a songwriter, comedian and children’s entertainer. He has a solo Childrens Show called Rusty’s Rocking Jamboree and has recently recorded an albums worth of more grown up songs in the duo Godz Poodlz. “Musing on a Song” features a different Creative Commons Copyright song each week. Hopefully this will introduce you to some songs and artists with which you’ve been completely unfamiliar. So, if you know of some Creative Commons Artist that deserves more attention, let me know in the comments. One more thing, I’m not in love with the title, “Musing on a Song.” If you’ve got suggestions for a better title, please leave them in the comments too.
R. Maheras
January 13, 2011 - 3:15 pm
While I’ve played pinball and video games for more than 40 years, I only started playing games in earnest on my Xbox for about the past two years.
I’ve noticed some good and some bad as a result.
The good? My memory, which had starting to slip noticeably, seems much sharper, as do my decision-making skills. Job-wise, knowing the current video game market fairly well has been a big plus. I also watch less traditional television. And when all is said and done, video games are, on a dollar-per-hour of enjoyment basis, a much cheaper entertainment outlet than going to the movies, dining out, reading comic books, and reading most new books.
For example, about a year ago I bought the video game “Dead Space,” originally released in 2008, for $20. I’ve probably put about 80 hours into that game since, which comes out to a dollar-per-hour enjoyment rate of about 25 cents. Compare that to a per person, first-run film rate of about $11 per hour of enjoyment ($22 admission/refreshments divided by 2 hours); or a comic book rate of $16 per hour of enjoyment ($4 cover price, times 15 minutes of reading time).
The bad? Every hour I spend playing video games is an hour I spend not doing something else — all while my life clock is ticking away.
I also noticed that as my video-playing interest increased, there was a corresponding decrease in my interest in drawing comics. I guess this is understandable. From a brain-stimulation standpoint, drawing apparently just can’t compete with interactive immersion a video game provides.
graham.
January 14, 2011 - 1:35 am
Ah, Tetris. I know only too well what its like to get obsessed with it.
Adam
January 14, 2011 - 5:34 am
I am an intense gamer and know about the feeling of getting owned by a game. I’ve never gotten to a point where I can say I’ve been obsessed. But I sure have had my share of games that stick with me well into my work day or as I’m out and about in town. Games I just can’t shake from my head.
Some people are heavy readers, some people are film buffs, I’m a gamer. It’s just my entertainment pastime of choice.
But just the same with many other brain stimulants, I can see how it could transform into addiction.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to Donkey Kong Country…
Marc Alan Fishman
January 14, 2011 - 8:12 am
Very few video games have grabbed me “hard” and not let go. I was an avid player of them through til college.. and shortly thereafter I realized what a time suck they really were. Time spent playing them, as said above, became time I wasn’t writing or drawing comics, or making money via freelance. While I still play them, (and recently upgraded to an Xbox 360) it’s just to relax and escape reality for an hour or two.
A great debate started (or perfected one might argue) with Roger Ebert who has pontificated that video games are inherently NOT art. Or even close. It’s a debate I could see both sides on pretty well. I’d be curious what you think about that Russ. Sure, we could all agree a game like Halo, in it’s story and presentation is far superior in artistic quality than say… Scary Movie 17… would either of them even come close to a symphony, ‘American Beauty’, or an original Jack Kirby board?
R. Maheras
January 14, 2011 - 10:58 am
I’m not sure what Russ R. thinks about “video games as art,” but Russ M. thinks the best examples of the medium are, in fact, art.
The entire atmosphere of the aforementioned game “Dead Space,” which includes sight, sound and touch (through strategicly-timed vibrations in the hand-held controller), coupled with the whole interactive process of the game, is pretty darn impressive.
If one can get past the blood and gore inherent to the game (after all, throughout it a player is battling all manner of bloodthirsty necromorphs), the overall design and artistic beauty of the game is, at times, breathtaking. And judging by the teaser clips currently available for “Dead Space II,” which is scheduled to be released at the end of this month, the sequel is even more impressive, from an artistic standpoint.
As a side note: In the not-too-distant future we may actually have “fully-immersive” games that are similar, experience-wise, to activities depicted on the Star Trek holodeck
Russ Rogers
January 14, 2011 - 11:22 am
People who argue that certain media are devoid of “Art” or are incapable of being a vector for “Art” are just being snobbish or close minded. Of course video games can be Art.
It gets to the deeper, philosophical question of what the difference is between Art and Craft? I think Art is an attempt to express more than what appears on the surface. To get at ideas and emotions that may be too difficult to express except by the implications or reverberations of a Art Piece.
Craft just gets a job done, maybe in a beautiful or clever way. But it doesn’t attempt to go far beyond that.
I remember playing “MYST,” I never became obsessed with it or finished it. My computer at the time was too slow to load the graphics smoothly. But I remember the game giving me a feeling of paranoia, and bringing up thoughts about the persistence of memory, and trying to make sense of a world that has some unseen logic. The game gave me the feeling that there was more going on with the game than I was seeing. There was a backstory that I could explore, that had some depth beyond the logic puzzles that moved your from level to level. It’s been 15 years since I’ve played MYST, but obviously it made an impression. Maybe that’s Art.
So yes, Video games can be Art. That said, I don’t think that enough games try to go deeper than a surface, visceral, adrenalin rush. I wish there was more depth and meaning that could be gleaned from all the hours that I invest on a game.
Video Games are an Art Form still in it’s infancy. Who knows where really good avant-garde game designers can take us.
What Video Games have come closest to a full “Artistic” experience for you?
Marc Alan Fishman
January 14, 2011 - 12:37 pm
Hmm. Good question. Suffice to say, so far? None. I’ve sure enjoyed a ton of games Russ… But none that I would say ever aimed higher than the “rush” persay. Perhaps Grand Theft Auto 4.. but i never finished it.
MOTU
January 15, 2011 - 9:52 pm
Adam said,
‘I am an intense gamer and know about the feeling of getting owned by a game. I’ve never gotten to a point where I can say I’ve been obsessed.’
The longest session I’ve ever done on a video game is 8 hours. That included food breaks, bathroom brakes, phone calls , etc. It was a slow day and I just loved the game. The game was the original Metal Gear Solid. I LOVE video games and I’m currently switching between 6 games over 4 systems. PS3, PS2, X-Box 360 and WII. If I get in 2 hours a week on all games combined I’m in Heaven.
All this said, except for that one day many moons ago on Metal Gear 1 I’ve been clean, no game obsession for me!
Porn on the other hand…
MOTU
January 15, 2011 - 10:04 pm
I think ANYTHING can be art. It DOES depend on the beholder.
Yes,I have to say that to justify some of the crap I’ve done over the years and yes I’m writing this down here so later I can say, “I’m on record as saying anything can be art.”
Yes, I’m a cunning bastard but we all know bastards are art.
Mike Gold
January 16, 2011 - 12:59 pm
The second most useless conversation one could have with intelligent people is “What is art?” The first most useless conversation one could have with intelligent people is “What is punk rock?”
I’m not much of a gamer. Adriane has a Wii but I only play it once in a while, and then only to see how many rooftops I can bounce off of in order to get Mario back to the speedway. I’d play more if they’d animate blood and screaming and suffering… but that would upset my pal Joe Lieberman.
Having said all that, I personally wouldn’t define a game per se as art. However, creating and designing a game certainly takes serious artistic chops, from the concept to the graphics to the music and the voice acting. And playing a game could be artistic: here I reference Michael Jordan and Stan Mikita. I’d add Sidney Crosby, but he loses points for being such an asshole.
Is ballet art? It must be, as it gets four stars for snob appeal. Is opera art? Well, it has almost as much snob appeal but the ruffians who sit in the stands in their formal attire seem to have lost their way back from a soccer match.
Russ Rogers
January 16, 2011 - 3:35 pm
MOTU and Mike, yes, anything can be Art. Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And there will never be a definitive definition of what is or isn’t “Art.” That said, I think it’s a worthy topic to explore.
And I think that there should always be people who are striving to say more, to aim higher, to alter people’s expectations for what a medium can achieve.
There are some comics that don’t try to be anything more that just pure escapism, and pulp. I think some of those are so good that they become “Art,” despite the creators having no lofty aspirations for their work. But there are other books where you can see where the creators are really trying to push boundaries, to explore Gordian Knots of emotion. And it’s when they hit the mark that a book can be doubly satisfying.
Video games are sort of masturbatory. For the most part, it’s a solitary experience. And it feels good while you’re in the moment. But after the game is done, you get to thinking, “What did I really achieve? Was that the best use of my time? Where’s a tissue?”