Social Platypus

Opinion Can modern games ever become classics? The struggle with servers and consistent support. By Josiah Sapp     The library of classic video games seems to be smaller than the myriad of classic movies or music pieces and for good reason. The world of video games hasn’t been around for that long and to define something as “ classic ” means that it has stood the test of time and is of the highest quality. A few game titles that should be considered when talking about classics are Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Tetris, and Pac Man. All of which were released 30 years ago but what makes these games classics? They are definitely still fun to play today and for the time they were made, considered to be of the highest quality. Some of them even ended up in a museum! However, what about games released today? Can any of them be considered a classic? The trouble lies with the way games are made and need support.     The common trend wit...

Culture Reflection The meaning and origin of 7 idioms that are used every day By Josiah Sapp Idioms are a part of our everyday lives. We say them without giving them a second thought and they roll off the tongue (there’s an example of one!). Sayings play a big part in our day to day speech enhancing the way we communicate to others. If you’re trying to get a point across, an idiom can be the most effective way of letting somebody know what it is you’re describing. I have two reasons for these monthly culture reflections; first, I think it’s important to look into the mirror of our culture to try and understand where we come from in order to better where we’re going. Second, I want to create better conversations with those that you interact with. Idioms come and go without hesitation but hopefully this list will give you something interesting to talk about next time you throw an idiom out there. If you’re wanting any more information about a particular idiom, make sure you c...

Opinion Youtubers and Twitch streamers make the best video game advertisers. By Josiah Sapp     The best advertisements are the ones where you believe the people trying to sell you something. You can always tell something is off when someone doesn’t believe in the product that they’re selling. This is why I think old infomercials and door to door salesmen are so easy to dismiss. They lack passion and belief in a product or service. Video game commercials have typically been very vivid and over the top. Created by older generations trying to appeal to what they think kids like. You can see this in the early ads for systems like the Playstation and Nintendo 64 . Today’s advertisers are more subvert and more entertaining to watch. You’re probably already subscribed to them.     Gaming on YouTube and Twitch has taken off in the past few years. People have made a full time living off of making videos about games and playi...

Opinion Video game exclusives: A relic of the past that’s losing its value. By Josiah Sapp     In the early nineties, there was a famous dispute between Nintendo and Sega. Nintendo had an iron grip on the gaming industry and Sega wanted to be the ones to rival them first and take them down. This is known as the console wars and it’s effects can still be felt today. During the “wars”, both companies had a champion for their cause. A mascot that would represent them to the masses. Nintendo had the loveable Italian plumber Mario and Sega had the fast paced, edgy Sonic the hedgehog. Both companies screamed from the mountaintops “You can only play this character on our console!” Thus pitting customers against one another forcing them to choose one gaming console or other. This is where exclusivity began and gaming companies are still trying persuade use with the same argument today.  Sony vs. Nintendo vs. Microsoft     The...

Opinion Releasing unfinished games: The perfect storm of hubris and ambitious deadlines By Josiah Sapp     My very first gaming console that I remember playing was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Playing games like Donkey Kong Country and Mega Man X to my heart’s content. As a young lad, it would be incredibly disappointing to get half way through the game to only find out that I could never finish it unless I paid for another cartridge. Unfortunately, games today do have that problem and it’s infecting the industry as a whole. With the invention of beta demos and live updates, unfinished games are going up for sale and people still buy them. Why do gamers buy into a practice that is blatantly hurting the gaming community and why do game developers/producers feel like they can get away with it? It’s a combination of excessive pride and ambitious deadlines.     In today’s fast paced world of gaming, not being able to p...

Culture Reflection Idioms; Their meanings and where they come from. By Josiah Sapp     If you were to tell a goldfish that they were in a bowl surrounded by water, it would be difficult for them to wrap their mind around it. What is a bowl? What is water? Why am I here? Isn’t everywhere like this? It’s all they know so it would be confusing to point it out or ever give it a name. There are weird things we do as a culture and I think it’s healthy (and fun) to put a mirror up to ourselves and ask why we do the things we do. Being such a diverse country made up of people from all over the world, there is bound to be traditions and sayings that bleed into our day to day. We say phrases every day that we understand but don’t know where they come from. Folklore and myths often surround these phrases but that doesn’t stop us from saying them anyway. I’ll be creating a non-exhaustive list of popular phrases with their meaning and a brief origin explanation. If y...

Opinion Video game graphics; Going backward is moving forward. By Josiah Sapp     When I was growing up, the main thing that told me if a game was good or not was what the game looked like. The more realistic the graphics the better. That proved to me that a game was going to be entertaining because it was a cool thing to look at. I remember bringing home a Sega Dreamcast and playing it for the first time. The realism was unbelieveable. It was so good that my grandpa sat down to a watch a football game and didn’t even realize that we were actually playing that year’s iteration of Madden. Recently, graphics have been taking a back seat to gameplay and storytelling. It seems like a step back but the industry is moving forward as a whole. Minecraft     The independent (indie) game scene has really exploded over the past ten years. You can’t look at a top ten games list without including an indie game or two. Whether it be for originality...