Games And Books 6/5/2009

A screenshot from the computer puzzle-adventure title realMyst (Cyan, Inc.; 2002-Mac version). A puzzle is shown. This is a copyleft image.

Games And Books 6/5/2009

I am thinking about something which I find rather interesting. A number of computer games are fusing with books. One of these is http://www.projectaon.org/ . It is cross between a choose your own adventure fantasy novel and a roleplaying game. I enjoyed the first five books of the Lone Wolf series. They are free.

In Japan 80% of computer games are what are called "visual novels", a mix of anime art, text, and simple games. I tried out a visual novel earlier called "Fatal Hearts" which is from Hanako Games an independent games publisher. Parts of it were quite interesting. The game is really designed for teenage girls. http://www.hanakogames.com/fatal.shtml

This is an article from Galleycat, it talks about how the online computer game, World of Warcraft spun off a series of paperbacks from Simon and Schuster. The article includes a link to another article by Eric Nylund on how to get video gamers to read books. Eric Nylund writes books based on the Halo computer game. http://paizo.com/planetStories/v5748btpy7x8a&source=search

In a way, I am not surprised there is a built in market for fantasy and science fiction novels for many computer gamers. Many games I have played have built icons for books with short stories inside them. It is also not that uncommon to see people write fan fiction for computer games as well. I enjoyed reading Halo: The Cole Protocol by Tobias Buckell. There are numerous ties in between games and books now.

Paizo Press which has a pulp fiction line with its Planet Stories imprint prints the a series of novels by Gary Gygax the man who created the original Dungeons and Dragons fantasy game. This is a link to his fantasy novel, The Anubis Murders http://paizo.com/planetStories/v5748btpy7x8a&source=search

Games are a form of storytelling. Some games have as much or more text than a novel in them. For example, I am guessing that a large novel will have about 1 megabyte of text in it. If you compare this to a 500 megabyte file for the independent computer game, Geneforge 5, Overthrow there are 500 times as many characters in the file as in an average book. There is probably more text in this game than several fantasy novels. This was produced in a year by a single company, Spiderweb Software.

This is also true of many adventure games. People have a tendency to dismiss this kind of reading as not "real" reading because it is not in the same format as a book. With the newer games they can be multi-gigabyte files which can easily include ebooks, video, anime, comics, audio, and other material inside a completed game.

We have computer games in our library. I think if you understand computer games, it is possible to use them as a lead in to reading books, especially books which tie-in to the games as well as cover similar themes to the stories being told. Books, audiobooks, games, are all a form of storytelling. Games are being sold as a package now. For example with Halo, the computer game, I can buy graphic novels, trade paperback books, and the computer game. Even the older franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars have been turned into a complete package with games, computer games, books, music, ebooks, and other merchandise.

As an afterthought, some of the larger online games include libraries built into them. World of Warcraft has a librarians guild and features several in game sections which are called libraries. Star Wars features the Jedi Archives in some of its games. Also if you consider virtual worlds as games, Second Life has a place in it called Info Island with a virtual library of many of the classic novels as ebooks inside the virtual world.

Daily Thoughts

Illustration to American popular song "Beautiful dreamer"by Currier and Ives (between 1856 and 1907).

Daily Thoughts

On the way home, I read How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization by Michael A. Sand. I am kind of neutral about this book. It serves a specific purpose which makes it hard to review. It is a series of checklists of what you need to do to effectively run a nonprofit. The lists seem accurate and to the point, but they are not that interesting. Still, the book is very practical in a sort of this is what needs to be done kind of way. It would be a good book to check to see if you are missing any specific activity in managing an effective nonprofot organization.

This morning, I started reading Halo, The Cole Protocol by Tobias Buckell. It is on the Locus bestseller list for paperbacks. The book starts out with lots of action. On the way home, I finished about half of the novel. It is a solidly entertaining serial science fiction novel. Not spectacular.

This is clearly written for those people who play the video game. Most of the references are to things which happen in the video game. The author clearly tries to follow the video games storyline. Tobias Buckell has clearly played the game. It is a good first series novel set in a serial setting like Star Trek. I think he still has to work out what makes people excited about the formula in the video game.

I am sure that he will write more books in the Halo universe. This book is clearly selling well. I think a second one will be better. I expect him to write another one. I will read it. This is light quick escapism. It is fluff which takes your mind off everyday worries.

I also went on Wikimedia to look for images of Abraham Lincoln which I could print out for my display. Wikimedia is one of my favorite sources for public domain images. I found a picture of Abraham Lincoln reading with his son Tad and a painting of Abraham Lincoln in the Emancipation Proclamation so far. The lady who is donating the book, The Cosgrove Report a mystery about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln is coming at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. I also have selected several books on Abrahm Lincoln to display. It is the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12. It is also the bicentennial of Darwin's birthday as well.

I spoke to the lady about the display and summarized J.G.A. O'Toole's biography on a single sheet of paper and put it in the display. She wants to do another display about animals in the library. I have to think about how this might be done.

I also spent a bit of time weeding the reference books. I have to weed and shift the 100s, 200s, and 300 dewey number sections in reference right now. It was a surprise project.

Six Hours Past Thursday by Jack Payne came in for me to read through interlibrary loan. I am looking forward to reading the book.

Daily Thoughts

Felix Henry Giacomotti Inappropriate Reading Time Oil on canvas, 1886

Daily Thoughts

I interviewed for a Librarian III Collection Development position this morning at my job. I was not expecting it. I got the call for my resume last night. I spent about three hours going over the pieces of my resume last night. I was not completely prepared for the interview. I think I flubbed a few things, but you don't know until later what really happened. The interview lasted a little over an hour. It was very interesting.

Something I realize coming out from the interview is that I should not ignore the questions posed to me in the interview. I am going to start weeding the law collection tomorrow. I have been putting it off for a while. I dread the idea in a way. But, unless I do it, I will probably not get where I want to go. I am also going to arrange a day to go to the county supreme court law library this month as well. I need to act on some of the things which I discussed.

Two more books came in for me to read today, Mirrored Heavens by David J. Williams. This is the authors first book. The second book is Halo, The Cole Protocol by Tobias Buckell. Tobias Buckell is a very enjoyable author to read. He is a caribbean writer which adds some nice flavor and tone to the book. I liked his other books Ragamuffin, Crystal Rain, and Sly Mongoose.

I am still reading Building Hope by John Bateson. I like some of his ideas, the acronym SMART (Specific, Memorable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timebound) for setting goals appleals to me. It is the kind of thing that makes you think hard about what you are doing.

There is a new feed site for library feeds and podcasts , http://www.lisfeeds.com/

One the subway home, I read a bit more of Building Hope. This is a nice quote which I found while reading the book. It is a Chinese proverb. "If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else." I rather like the idea. Maybe, I feel it is because I have devoted my life to helping other people through literature.