To say that it’s been a hot, sweaty week is an understatement – PAGASA has already announced that Manila has experienced two of its hottest days in the year last week, on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. Make sure to drink your fluids folks.
Speaking of heat, the blogosphere has caught wind of a recent article film critic Roger Ebert has leveled against video games. The short version is that he does not see video games as ever becoming an art form.
As much as I like his well-written reviews, I must respectfully disagree with Ebert on this note. As a video gamer, I have met my share of truly engrossing titles that not only perked my imagination, but have also left me walking away with profound thoughts and perspectives on how I see the world.
Among other titles, Bioshock was an interesting take on one developer’s reinterpretation of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, while my romp through Fallout 3’s nuclear wasteland took me through an amusing tour of caricatures sentiments of Cold War America. In short, games for me are a just as much social commentary or a reflection of society at large as any portrait, picture, or novel.
Besides, haven’t we already seen this argument being raised against comic books and cartoons before (I’m against those arguments too given I’m a moderate otaku)?
Of course I think that it’s simply a matter of Ebert not having discovered the more profound titles in the industry, such as Heavy Rain and the like, and hence he might be speaking out of a genuine lack of understanding for video games, and not out of malice.
Moving on, make sure to visit the News thread if you find any other interesting news bits you’d like to share with the community. On a parting note, kudos to Shepard for that article on heaven – ‘twas a good read!
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Belgium’s Catholic bishop of Bruges quits over abuse (via BBC) Link
Adam Savage’s speech to the Harvard humanists (via Boing-Boing) Link
Pure pwnage: Hontiveros debates Tatad debate on RH Bill at Harapan 2010 (via ABS-CBN News) Link
Iranian Cleric: Hot, sexy women rock my world…well’s that’s one way of putting it (Stuff.co.nz) Link
Calling the cleric’s bluff: Behold the Boobquake, this Monday! (via Blag Hag) Link
Ebert: Video Games can never be art. Somebody get the man a PS3 and Heavy Rain, stat! (via Roger Ebert’s Journal) Link
Yes, they do women too: A news report on nuns victimized by priests (via Salon) Link
Heaven: A fool’s paradise (via The Independent) Link
The new hotness: Metro Manila temperature hits 36.8 degrees Celcius (via Philippine Daily Inquirer) Link
Media bloodbath vs. Church (via Philippine Star) Link
