Author: Jacob

This week, we discussed a lot about critical play and “reskinning.” We thought a lot about how games and other forms of entertainment can be reimagined in ways that critique systems of oppression, injustice, and inequity. I really enjoyed this week because of the first hand examples that we participated in. Through playing Werewolf and Passage, we were able to interact as a class together to better understand how “simple” games can offer deeper meaning and depth. With that in mind, our next Hack has been assigned as a modification or “reskin” on an existing game to offer a critical stance on a social or systematic structure. I am really inclined to modify and hack a video game, as my brother and I used to hack and mod games all the time when we grew up, but my qualm is whether or not this would actually be feasible. As kids, we jailbroke a lot of our devices to access game files, but nowadays Apple has cracked down on their operating system to make it extremely difficult to jailbreak devices. Most likely, I won’t be able to hack any games like I have in the past, but I think I am going to attempt to create a ROM hack. I really want work with something in the digital field, but if I find that it becomes to difficult and inaccessible (especially in regards to my Mac machine), then I will probably find a way to work with a physical, analog game.

This week, I worked on my Makey Makey project. I had a difficult time going through with ideas as certain things that I wanted to do didn’t work out quite right. For instance, one of my ideas was to map a piano keyboard to play drum sounds. I had to forgo this idea as my keyboard was entirely made of plastic and would not conduct any electricity. Additionally, the bulkiness of the keyboard made it extremely difficult (and nearly impossible) to attach an alligator clip on. Thus, I decided it was more manageable to use stringed instruments, as conducting electricity and clipping the alligator clips was much easier and feasible. Because most of my stringed instruments are electric, however, the multiple strings of both the guitar and bass acted as “one.” This was due to the metal bridge that held each string, it connected the flow of each string, making one big current. As a result, if I connected an alligator clip to each string, no matter what string was plucked, each alligator clip activated. In the context of my project, this resulted in the simultaneous playing of different sounds (which I did not want). I tried to work around this issue, but I couldn’t make them activate individually without completely taking apart the instruments (which of course I did not want to do). At this point, I decided to use this feature to be able to play chords. Since I could map multiple sounds to be played at once, I figured playing chords was the best workaround to making this roadblock an ally. Thus, by strumming the bass guitar, the user was able to play a piano chord, creating playful juxtapositions. I then proceeded to map a kick sound to my electric guitar. Finally, I mapped a metal ring to transpose the sounds of piano and kick, allowing the user to play different chords and tones. While the product of Hack #1 wasn’t quite how I envisioned it, I was satisfied with how the user was able to compose and play music using entirely different instruments as their inputs.

if only it worked in class

This week, we looked at two readings by Huizinga and Caillois on the definitions and cultural significance of play. I particularly enjoyed these readings as talking about play and fun on an academic level proved to be more provocative than in casual, every-day life settings. We don’t often think about fun and playing unless it actually happens, so thinking about the larger implications of these humanistic impulses was quite interesting for me. I do feel like, however, that the readings were outdated in their categorizations of fun / play and what some examples of fun / play looked like. Granted, the readings were from the 50s, which continues to prove how fun and play are subjective for everyone.

This week, we also spoke about our first hack. Using the Makey Makey, we are tasked with pushing the boundaries of the typical functions of technology. Currently, I am brainstorming some possibilities that can connect music and technology in an ironic, juxtaposed way. I am leaning towards using different musical instruments as the inputs devices to play a drum kit. For instance, I want to map out a piano keyboard or a guitar to play a kick or snare sound, so that you can play the drums by playing everything that’s not a drum. I am still working some ideas out to ensure that this is innovative, exciting, and goes beyond the surface level of what the Makey Makey can offer.