Not just a children's programme either. Those of us of a certain age get treated to musical references which fly straight over the kids' heads. I burst out laughing when I came across this, their particular take on 'miserable history'. A bloody triumph.
That's what I thought at school, which is why I dropped it - along with miserable geography - at the age of 14. But my kids think history's brilliant - and the Horrible Histories crew have an awful lot to do with that. Not just a children's programme either. Those of us of a certain age get treated to musical references which fly straight over the kids' heads. I burst out laughing when I came across this, their particular take on 'miserable history'. A bloody triumph. I'm not one to post randomly entertaining Youtube clips. But this made me smile so much, I'm making an exception. You can't help but LOVE people this happy! And I did wonder whether this was faked, it seemed so perfectly unlikely. Well...it wasn't faked.
(Warning: This post is about video-games. If you are past a certain age, lacking in basic hand-eye co-ordination or still associate the subject matter with reprehensible pursuits for children who would be better off with a good book... look away now) I'm lucky enough to be of a certain age. Specifically, an age that's about as young as it's possible to be and still have played the very earliest video-games as they emerged. (I'm not counting anything that required setup with a collection of cards with holes punched in them). No surprise then that I've been an avid follower of the games industry all my life, and still find a few minutes every now and then to find joy in the best of the industry's output. And, let's be clear - it's an industry characterised by a lot of samey, unoriginal dross. Which is why chancing on the occasional thing of beauty brings such excitement. Ten years ago, I came across one such example - a game called Rez for the PS2 and Dreamcast. A game that wrapped the music into the gameplay in such an involving, hypnotic way that you couldn't help but be be entranced by it. When I sold the PS2 with all its games a few years later, I kept Rez back - and eventually sold it for £20, rather more than I paid for it: It had a huge cult following, despite limited success. You can download it on the Xbox 360 for a few quid and I recommend you do, just to get a flavour of the history to a game I picked up this weekend... In an idle moment last week, after a frenetic round of Kinect Football with the girls, I googled around to see what were held to be the best Kinect games. And my Googling turned up a game I've never heard of before: Child of Eden. When I realised it came from the same stable - indeed, the same designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi - I had to give it a whirl. Cost all of £11. It's like Rez. But more beautiful, more hypnotic and more involving, primarily because of the perfect Kinect integration. Once you get the hang of it, you're totally lost in it: It feels like conducting a universe. An utterly absorbing and joyous experience, which is not a description I can imagine fitting many other video games. Abby and I fought for controller rights all evening, until I had to pull the 'I'm afraid it's bedtime - school tomorrow!' card on her. Here she is. First go, so not really worked it out. She and I got really good over the next three hours... For the sake of completeness, the original trailer: So, if you're wondering if there's more to Kinect than cutesie sports and 'keep fit in your living room' nonsense, I suggest you go and invest some small change: You could spend £11 on LSD for a much less satisfying mind-altering experience....
I'm rather fortunate in having been just old enough to engage with the very earliest videogames, back in the early '70s, so about as young as anyone who's watched their development from the start can be. And for most of my life, they've been something of a niche pursuit - until their integration with Facebook, which is what really turned them into a masses phenomenom. Don't game often any more - don't have the time - but I still dabble occasionally with the best of the genre, because I retain a fascination with its continuing development. But I never play games on Facebook - and I rather wish that so many people's views of what videogaming is about weren't informed by dipping their toes in the Facebook cesspit... |
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March 2020
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