Yes games count?

For the fifth blog post, we were asked to decipher the question, "Do games count or hold the same legitimacy as other works that fall within the scope of Digital Humanities such as e-poetry, e-lit, hypertext fiction, etc?".


As a group, we collectively came to the decision of yes, they count, and are no less significant than any other form mentioned above and sometimes even more meaningful. We chose this because certain games can be used to immerse the user in a completely interactive experience that from there can be leveraged to do a multitude of different things. For example, it could be a game like "Assassin's Creed" which takes the user through an interactive story of game play that depicts the rivalry between two medieval groups known as the Assassins and the Templars both struggling for peace and power. These types of games can be powerful story telling methods, just as hyper text fiction and other types of E-Lit, as it can suck users in for hours on hour due to the technology that is being used in the gaming industry making games seem more and more like reality for users.

Furthermore, games can also be used for unconventional causes that are super powerful in their own right. In our opinion, the best example of this is the game that took the nation by storm in early July of 2016. Pokemon Go was a fully interactive game that completely shook up the way DHer's and game designers can use games to influence their users. Pokemon Go is unique because it used the user's smartphone, a tool that has become a necessity for almost all of society, into an avenue to get the users outside an active. Pokemon Go's platform users GPS and a map in the app to have users hunt, search for, and capture virtually generated Pokemon at real geographic places near the user's locations. This is just another prime example of how games can be used as a super-powerful form of Digital Humanities.

Uncreative Writing

Don’t say that if you don't mean it

Beyonce

You don’t say that if you don’t mean it

You're the thing that makes me so happy

Beyoncé

Bond to happen

This is bound to happen one day

This is magic right here

Do you feel it too?

Do you feel it too

Do you feel it

I feel it

You look very handsome

It was so much fun

Punched her in the face

The kick

The grunt

There was a grunt I heard

I do

I do

I do

I just wanna laugh

You make me happy

Ya, afterwards

I felt this was as close to going to prom with you

Man woman connection

You look gorgeous

Might as well dress up

Oh my gosh it was so much fun

Kind of my favorite

Kick in the head there was a grunt

You’ve done it again

Big action thing

She gave me my first driving lesson

Gave me my first driving lessons

Liam Neeson

It’s another great one

She said drive me home

I don’t

I don’t

Drive me home

Drove me home

One day you’ll be the biggest action star

One day you will be the biggest action star

Ok

Have you ever been in any accidents

In the year 2000 i was in a bad crash and i hit a deer

Motor bike crash hit a deer

It was scary

26 miles per hour

26 miles per hour

Harley Davidson 26mph

Did you bruise the deer

Did you bruise the deer

I did everything wrong

I hit the deer

I hit a deer

It was scary

It was

The deer’s front paws were on the handlebars

Part of ET

So it’s like the thing from E.T.?

The scene from ET

Did you bruise the deer at all

Did you swerve or anything

I grew up across the street from the opera

They sing in the shower

They sing in the shower

Sing in the shower

Grew up across from the opera and ballet

So I grew up across the street from the opera and ballet and I dreamed of being a star

Family Musical

She knew i was going to sneak out

Your mom took you to clubs

She knew i would sneak out

Smart parenting

There was no stopping me

No stopping me

Your mom took you to clubs

She knew that I was going to sneak out so she decided that she would chaperone

She knew i would sneak out

Smart parenting

Smart move

Lady Gaga

Smart move

A very bad one

She’s been very supportive

My mom was supportive

I feel very grateful that I get to be here

I was doing this a long time and had a lot of rejection

When i got fired at nbc my mom brought me to cbs

When i got fired my mom brought me to CBS

You did other things

What kind of a waitress where you

I use to flirt with everybody so I could get tips

I flirted with everyone

It didn't work if they were on a date

Didn’t work when they were on a date

I used to flirt with everybody

Why are you looking at my man like that

That’s when the soup goes in the lap

I knew you'd make it i knew you'd make it

Answer me one simple question

It’s a simple formula it’s a simple formula

Simple formula

The formula is first of all

You know

You know it’s it’s easy

It's easy

Yeah that what i thought

Shut up

I better shut up

I don’t know it

I don't know

Watch it buddy

Weird Al

That’s what I thought

sh*t last year

You have no idea what you’re talking about

Hmm, well, I’ve been asking all the questions here

Any questions for me

When was the last time you were deloused

Was your macrame class that knight

How many times can you rhyme

Missing a heart

Lighting a fart

Postmodern Art

Blue light special each day at K-mart

Jealous much

Yeah

Why weren’t you at the Academy Awards to pick up your Oscar?

Were you afraid that a sock puppet was gonna kick you butt?

Were you afraid of a sock puppet

You did show up at the mtv awards

Sock puppet kick your butt

Is your rap war still going on

Still going on

He thinks he is a really excellent wrapper for him to poop on

You’re a really excellent rapper for him to poop on

Your a really excellent rapper for him to poop on

Is the creation of text from four YouTube videos literature? Does it even make sense? Most would say that our tribe's piece of uncreative writing is just nonsense with no meaning to it. However, to make this "poem," we each just typed what we heard from our professors computer. He played four different interviews of celebrities the class got to pick. We started with Beyoncé, then it went to Liam Neeson, to Lady Gaga and Weird Al interviewing Eminem for the big finish. Each member typed what they heard.. We all do not type at the speed of light, so it would be impossible to type every word we heard. This shows what sentences or words from those interviews stuck with us. This is possibly an example of how much information our brain can pick up, process, and relay that information out. As humans, we pick up so many stimuli we do not even realize or acknowledge. That was shown in our piece of uncreative literature.

Sean McCarney
Jack Shirk
Devan Orr

Self-Generating Text: Metallica, Taroko, Sonny, or the Computer?

"Camel Tail", a work of self-generating text, stands as a terrific example of what exactly may be accomplished when human creativity & creation cross with the power of modern computing.   In this case, we are presented a piece made up of lyrics by Metallica over nine of their ten albums. Interesting, though, is the way in which these lyrics are exactly presented.

Originally created and written by Metallica, Sonny Rae Tempest uses the code formerly created by Taroko Gorge to input these lyrics which are then self-generated and arranged by the code, or, computer.  In this, SRT inadvertently produces a separate discussion around the following question: who exactly is the legitimate creator and intellectual property (I.P.) owner of this work?

In looking for an answer to this question, one must first consider this following text, originally found on the right side of SRT's piece, "Camel Tail":

As shown above, SRT clearly states that Metallica is the owner of the original content.  In fact, he does so by asking the band to not sue him over the use of their lyrics.  Perhaps, then, SRT is simply the "middle man" to the computer, though without him, this work would not have been created.  Furthermore, without the use of Taroko Gorge's original code, SRT would not have been able to input these lyrics of which were borrowed from Metallica.  As far as a clear cut owner of this piece is concerned, the answer is very much open to debate and discussion.  The most basic setup for ownership and creation in this case, we feel, is as follows...

Seen Below: Sonny Rae Tempest

Credit: @SonnyRaeTempest

Taroko Gorge, though the creator of the code, is not the owner much like the original building planner for Ryan Homes is not the owner of all current Ryan Homes being built. The computer, or code, is responsible for piecing together the lyrics in a systematic, yet somehow entirely random, way.  This code, though, is made up of the works of Metallica over the near-entirety of their career.  Ownership of the words themselves, as stated by SRT in the previously shown image, belong solely and directly to Metallica.  The band, though, did not create this piece.  Again, much like the wood, steel, cement, and furniture companies utilized in the building of a home, their products add together to create the whole, though they themselves are not the owners of the final, complete product.  This leads to who we believe is the rightful owner of this specific piece: Sonny Rae Tempest.  Responsible for the overall idea and work, not its individual parts, SRT is the reason that this specific piece exists.  Built upon a code created by someone else, written by a band, and pieced together by a computer, SRT, in the eyes of the Bikini Bottom Bloggers, is the rightful owner of this piece of self-generating text.  Again though, this is very much a conversation up for debate, and rightfully so, as this field is relatively new and up for legal precedent in the (probably near) future.

Sean McCarney
Jack Shirk

Devan Orr

Devan Orr Before and After

Before

After

Mastodon: Emperor of Sand JPG File Corruption

Original .JPG

Corruption #1 .JPG

Corruption #2 .JPG

Sean McCarney

Sam Kolder JPG File Corruption