Blue Wizard : Second Impressions

http://sethflynnbarkan.com

Blue Wizard is about to Die is a book of poems about Video Games by Seth 'Fingers Flynn Barkan.  One thing i didn't say in my first impressions of this book is that these poems are pretty much EXACTLY what I'm going for with this blog.  Or, at least, with a lot of what I've written.  Particularly the memory posts.  The visceral, the nostalgia, the sense of memory, of childhood daydreams.  Teen Angst and vulgarity.   It's all in this book.  Really quite remarkable.

Video games are a refuge, but they were also a calling.  When I was young, many days there wasn't anything I'd rather be doing than playing an awesome video game.  And then other times, they were a way to escape when the rest of the world seemed shitty.

It should be noted that, while much of the spirit of this book is right on the marker, by now, I've really noticed a divergence from my own experience. First off, Flynn Barkan has a much deeper connection to arcade games than I do.  While I played plenty of arcades at the bowling alley, pizza places or TILT, our former Mall Hangout, I never got particularly good at any arcade games.  I just didn't have the time, the funds, or the skill.  

I've never considered myself to be a particularly skilled video game player.  I enjoy competing at games like Goldeneye, Mario Kart or even Street Fighter II, but I regularly have my ass handed to me by friends like Cortez, and later ZorTheRed or Ghost.   I'm not the worst, but I'm certainly not the best.  This, I learned early on.  The author of Blue Wizard, on the other hand, spends some time illustrating his expertise at various arcade games.  Additionally, he gets pretty lifestyle-gritty.  Smoking, doing drugs, that kind of thing.  Things that I don't associate with nostalgiac video game good times.

Finally, in this entire book (complete with citations and a list of the best games ever - nice to read)  He mentions an RPG all of once.  Well there you go.  That's the difference.  While I enjoy action games as much as the next guy, I also have spent equal amounts of time just playing RPG games.  RPGs made up a significant piece of the game-times pie that I baked for myself.  This is a portion of gaming not at all represented in Blue Wizard is about to Die. 

So, after the novelty wears off, I see that this author and myself are really quite different.  However, I don't think this is a bad thing.  Actually, it's a good thing!  A testimate to the variety of gamer identities out there.  And I don't have to like everything he does to appreciate his work. Which I do!  And I think you will too.   

-D

First Impressions: The Blue Wizard is about the Die (Book Review)

Blue Wizard is About to Die is a book of poems about video games, by Seth 'Fingers' Flynn Barkan.  I picked this up nearly a year ago in the Humble Story Bundle - Video games collection #2.  

I hadn't cracked said bundle of ebooks in all this time, and I wasn't sure when I would get around to it.  However, I just finished 'A Dance of Dragons,' reading about half of it on my cell phone.  I had such a good experience, I knew I wanted more books available on my little portable display and telecommunications device.  

Then I remember the Story Bundle I had purchased on an impulse, and after a skirmish with my cell phone over the subject of storage space (there's space, my phone just doesn't know how to use it) - I was able to download one of the books:  The Blue Wizard is about to Die.  So far, so good.  

I'm writing my first impressions, because after a delightful series of poems, I've discovered I'm about a third of the way through this book.  And, honestly, I'm scared to read the rest, because the enjoyment curve has been so delightful up to this point.  Can he keep it up?

Seriously though, this guy gets it.  I mean, he gets it!  He is approximately my age, and he has played a number of games, been moved by the experience and committed it to poetry.  After reading several of his poems, I can't believe this is the first instance of video game poetry I've seen.  Certainly the first collection of said theme.  And they're great!

I have my favorites so far.  Half Life (2?) is definitely a big plus, but his musings on Lag and his silly Mario scenarious are a great time as well.  All in all, I'm really glad I started reading this, and I recommend it to people who were playing video games in the 80s, 90s and 2000s.  Like me!  

-D

Gamer Identity 104a

#Gamergate.  Fighting amongst Gamers and Game Critics.  I guess this is a thing that is happening now.  It's leading people to question the idea of what a 'gamer' is, and leading to multiple declarations that the 'gamer' is dead.  I'm cool with that.  Gamer was a term coined when I wasn't paying attention.  I looked up, and that's what people were calling you if you played video games, valued video games and wanted to talk about them.  Fine.   I'm happy to let it go.  I never really had it.

Props to Wil Wheaton and Joss Whedon, whose last names are similar in a way I never noticed until just now.  They're making statements against Misogyny in gamer culture, and I'm all for it.  When I was a kid, there weren't a lot of girls playing video games.  Not just in my neighborhood, but all around, say the statistics.  Now almost half of gamers are girls.  It sounds like a freakin' rennaisance!  I'm envious of the 'kids these days' !   Except... wait -  why are you treating these girls like shit?  Don't turn them away!  What are you DOING?!  WHY?!!

Gamers aren't real.  We're just people.  If the loudest voice in the room is yelling at a little girl, browbeating and threatening her, then we should kick his ass and leave the room.  Done.

"These obtuse shitslingers, these wailing hyper-consumers, these childish internet-arguers -- they are not my audience.  They don't have to be yours.  There is no 'side' to be on, there is no 'debate' to be had. "

Great quote.  I don't even care who said it.  Put more simply: you guys are ruining the fun!


-D

P.S. If you are interested in this subject at all, you really should follow John Bruneau's Tumblr, as he updates frequently will all sorts of tasty stuff.