Baby steps

 Today I had some spare time from other obligations so I could do some thinking and reading. Even with just an hour to spare I read and sorted som essays on Atmospheres edited by Tonino Griffero. There i found a few good notations on the historical development of atmospheres as a subject within phenomenology as well as notes on when the term gets useful in writing. I also found a few essays in the collection that I really don't need to read; after a few pages it was clear to me that I had no use for them. That too is work. I also read the introduction and a few short chapters in Monroe C. Beardsley's Aesthetics and while I will read more there I think it's way to much philosophy to be useful for anything but background knowledge. There's really not a lot of time in this process for deep background reading.

I also spent ca 15 minutes playing Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar, 2001), remembering what a joy that game is. Driving around in a small low-res city and listening to the many ironic radio stations that acts as a soundtrack. It has such nice controls, and the simplicity of it makes it a fast fun place to be. The game is well known for being violent, but the violence is cartoonish and do not appear as rough violence to me. What does catch me is the atmosphere in the game; easygoing playful driving.

I spent another 15 minutes playing Inside (Playdead, 2016). It was my first time in this game. It's a simple sidescroller with simple controls but very heavy on the atmosphere. You play as a small kid in a red sweater in a gray/black dark world where the police (?) tries to grab or shoot you for no apparent reason. No talk, no text, no explanations. Moody and horrible and very good.

Both made playable by a new controller, i got myself a 8bitDo Pro controller that hooks up nicely to my Mac, iPad and AppleTV. Soon I can play Doom II again with a proper controller. Happy days. I have no definitive list of games that have to come into my writing yet, but I do need to make a selection. Zelda BoTW, Super Mario in one form or another and Doom are probably selected by default. But then, what else?

Inside


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