Bullet Points @ timlongo.com

One of the things I personally love most about video games is that fantasy of exploring an area and finding and collecting some kind of treasure. Whether it is ammo for a gun or coins for a plumber or gold from the dead body of a goblin, they are all the same thing. Loot, as we have come to call it. Well, I finally found an equivalent for real life (at least something I can do myself without risking my life). Treasure hunting that is designed for and operated by regular people like you and me. You don’t have to mount an Antarctic expedition. You don’t have to apply for grants to plumb the depths of the ocean to raise ancient sunken ships. This is in your backyard and it has all the same draw as loot in a video game, but you get some exercise and fresh air at the same time. It is called “Geocaching”. Here is how it works:

• Get some kind of GPS device. (I use my iPhone which has a special app so it is even easier.)
• Go to Geocaching.com and look up your zip code. (Again, with an iPhone you just do a “look at my current location” and find the ones that are nearest to you.
• Find one on the map that is near enough to your current location or home.
• Set out on your first treasure hunt using your GPS device and by following the directions on the site or entry.

It is that simple. There are 935,939 (as I write this) Geocaches in the world right now. Grows every day. Anyone can hide one and anyone can find one. This is a voluntary activity on both sides. All you have to do is chose a container that will last, put some trinkets inside with, ideally, a log book and pen so people can sign it when they find it, and go out and hide your cache and log it on the site with its GPS coordinates. Most people give some clues on where it is specifically hidden to give people a better shot of finding it seeing that GPSs have a margin of error of 10 to 50 feet. But once you get close enough it really becomes that treasure hunt feel. And once you actually find one it is even better than finding loot in a video game (if you ask me). I even find myself looking up on my iPhone app wherever I am (airport, restaurant, market) to see if there are any caches nearby. It is like a meta/mini game going on ALL the time, everywhere you go, that is sort of a secret.

The other interesting side of it which has parallels to many open-world games is that you are doing something in public in plain sight that most of the other people in the world around you have no idea about. Often, in fact, they look at you like you are either stealing something from someone or like you have lost your keys down a drainage ditch. When I step back to think about how silly my wife and daughter and I must look when we are looking for these things it really does crack me up. There’s even an organic name for the people who don’t know about Geocaches which was stolen from Harry Potter…muggles. They just don’t know about the magic I guess (I don’t know, I’m not a fan of the books).

Of course, the whole thing works on the honor system. Each cache has multiple small objects inside and when you take one you have to leave one of equal or greater value. Usually they are just small toys, but sometimes people leave things that say something about themselves so there are little stories attached. Then the logs themselves have even more to say. The log inside the first cache we ever found (about 3 weeks ago) near our own home had entries from Alaska and Spain in it. People do this on their lunch break or spend an entire vacation going from cache to cache. People planting the caches often tell a story about why they hid it or some history about where it was hidden seeing that when you find it you are standing right there and can explore further if you are in a significant location (like a State Park).

We’ve been doing it for only a short time now and each time we go out we have found, on average, 1 out of 3 despite the clues. Sometimes you are just standing right on top of it and never quite find it. But when you do it is pretty gratifying. Each time we have done it we just grab a bag of trinkets to trade, all get in the car and start driving in any direction. Then we check the iPhone and start heading toward one in the car. Then when we are close we jump out and Lia takes the iPhone and guides us to the actual spot on foot. Then the search begins.

You can also log your experiences on the web site and read about others who have found the cache you found or found the one you didn’t find. This info is accessible via the app as well, which is nice. They can be anywhere too. In a parking lot, out in the sand dunes, up in a tree, on top of a building, under some pine needles. Each one has a difficulty rating and a size rating for more clarity. Some are near parking and some require a hike.

I have been wanting to try it for years. I found out about it maybe as much as ten years ago before there were so many and just never committed to doing it. I’ll admit the iPhone ended up being the clincher for me because it is so easy and well designed and it links directly to the web site so you don’t ever have to go there via a computer.

So if you are into hiking and exploring and want a clear and fun goal to helps drive that achiever side of you, I highly recommend Geocaching. It gets you out the door and yet still feels like you are going through the world looting gold from goblins. Just make sure you leave something for them as well. Goblins hate it when you steal from them.

When someone talks about the influence of “The East” on game development they typically mean Japan. For many Western developers Japan is basically seen as the only “other” way of doing things. We often compare ourselves to many of the things that they are doing. They, of course, are the platform holders of the Nintendo and Sony systems and are home to some of the largest publishers in the world like Sega, Capcom, Konami, Square/Enix, etc. For me it often seems to come down to cultural differences as that is the aspect of the comparison that is most interesting to me. Why they do the things they do, why they like certain things over others, why their TV shows are so insane. It is just so amazingly intriguing, I guess. However, there is another East that game developers often overlook. Eastern Europe. I’ve been playing a lot of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (a game that I finally got back to after missing it at launch, thanks Steam!) and have enjoyed it tremendously. Though I’m not done with it yet, I think I have played enough to understand its sensibilities and particular brand of craftsmanship. There is a fine art to the game that is not US or European and it obviously isn’t Japanese. It is uniquely Eastern European and cannot be directly compared to anything else. Though people try to describe it as just another shooter, there are more elements at play there than just a feature set. Their feel and themes drive much more deeply than that and I find that I must always put them in the context of their creators and audience. Things are quite different over there in Eastern Europe. Politically, Economically, Historically. Obviously games or any other art form is going to be affected by its surrounding culture, no matter how hard people try to copy it. It just may be too complicated to boil down in such a way as to be able to replicate the same feeling. In fact, we really shouldn’t want to. We should enjoy those works of art for what they are and within the culture they were created and intended for to more closely understand their perspective.

STALKER takes place in the area surrounding Chernobyl. This is the setting for a post-apocalyptic story about loners wandering the wastes and one in particular who is searching for a forgotten enemy (you know typical stuff). The setting is the hard par though. Apparently, as I’ve seen from research on the web, they created a world that is very close to parts of the real Chernobyl exclusionary zones. Walking around there in this setting and context has a foreshadowed and ominous feeling that a game like Fallout (one of my favorites of all time) could never achieve. This really happened in Chernobyl’s case (to some degree) and at times it makes it hard to play on some level. Even Call of Duty 4 (Infinity Ward, CA) goes to that area in a legendary sniper mission and it just isn’t the same. They use it as more of a backdrop for an interesting mission rather than a world setting for a broken people. That is how Western developers think. I feel like I should know, I’m one of them. “What cool locale can we find this time?” Well for some people Chernobyl isn’t just a cool locale. In fact, the devs of STALKER (GSC Game Worlds) live near the exclusionary zone, or at least near enough. Yes there are sci-fi elements, but this is the content that resonates for them. Rarely do games remind me (or anyone) of tragic past events which embody our shortcomings as humans with self-made disasters like Chernobyl. This one, as I carry a modified sci-fi rifle and equip strange radioactive power-ups to survive, reminds me of just that. In CoD 4 it is just another setting for destruction and West meets East and wins.

The final thought comes from my typical cross-over medium of theatre. As my wife would tell you, my favorite genre of theatre is Post Modern Eastern European. Yeah, that is pretty specific and ridiculous, I know. For some reason though it resonates the most with me. Studying a lot about Polish theatre specifically, they used theatre as an outlet (like all other art at the time) for feelings and attitudes toward their situations. Poland was pretty much fucked for decades upon decades just because of their geographic location. They went through hell over and over again. Their theatre reflects this very strongly. Eastern Europe has had such an interesting history it is no wonder that its output of art has been so complex and yet so specific. When I play STALKER (and to some degree other Eastern European games like Crysis) I sense a similar feeling to what I love about Polish or Russian theatre. There is a longing for change within a world of desperation. Yes, usually it is metaphor but it is much more powerful in its honesty than some glorified US armed forces commercial where the Westerner saves the day once again.

This is admittedly a SPOILER post for anyone who has not yet played Portal. Lord save you if you have not. If you make games there is really no excuse at this point. It is only about 4 hours long and it is one of the most brilliant 4 hours you will play all year (if not in the past 5 years). There is a song that they created for the ending credits of the game that has sort of become our industry’s new “anthem” (as if we ever had an old one) and I think it is very well deserved. I listen to the thing from time-to-time just to cheer myself up (and some days even make myself cry). VG Cats comics did a flash movie version of the song that I’m sharing with you here. Have fun with it and try not to cry. )

• To relive the original credits version go here.
• Free MP3 of the song here.
• Enjoy and Happy Winter everyone!

We are off to raid some tombs in Ireland for two weeks. Wish us luck!

So my wife says to me the other day…

Jen – “Hey, have you seen that game ad in my new issue of Real Simple Magazine?”

• Note: Real Simple is basically Martha Stuart Living for people who try to hide the fact that they are fans of Martha Stuart by buying a slightly different version. For all I know she owns both of them.

Tim – “Uh, what did you just say to me? Are you making fun of me somehow and I don’t get the joke?”

Jen – “No, I’m being totally serious, there is a Wii ad in this issue. It almost looks like an insurance ad for All State or some shit. I almost missed it then I saw they were playing Wii sports at some family reunion with like old people.”

Tim – “Give me that.”

Tim – “What the f@ck?! They have done it. They have finally done it and they have crossed over. It is like the Dixie Chicks or something. They have hit both sides of the fence. A NINTENDO ad in a freakin’ Real Simple magazine!”

Jen – “Which reminds me, when am I going to kick your ass at Wii bowling? I need to make you my biatch.”

• Note: Jen has not played a video game since the 2600 and she is now a “Pro” status bowler. I can’t beat her.

Tim – “I’m not playing you anymore bastard.”

Tim – “Can I take this ad out and hang it on my cube at work? It is like history or something.”

Jen – “Whatever geek.”

• And yes, the ad is up in my cube at work.