we interrupt our regular programming for this important message...

a few words (by request) from susan's worser half:

i began playing computer games in the early 80's, & switched over to consoles/handhelds (thanks primarily to ico , the single-greatest video game evah!) in the early 00's (sony/nintendo - no xbox/360, thank you). as well as having a helluva good time, i've learned a lot from gaming over the years. one thing i've learned is: never, ever pay any attention to what the msm has to say about it. with the rare exception (see n'gai croal), they don't know their sunni from their shi'ite about actually playing games, & basically exist only to stimulate sales &/or stir up controversy. & another thing i've learned is, there's more to video games than the gameplay: good games, like good movies, are a dense collaboration involving a number of talented people, many of whose other, unrelated work is well worth checking out...

which brings us to grand theft auto 4 (aka, gta4), & the above video. i'm a gta noob, btw - i'm not all that fond of driving irl, &, therefore, the idea of doing it in a game has never really appealed to me. but, hey, metal gear solid 4 (aka mgs4) isn't due til the middle of june, there's little to come between now & then, everyone on the game board i frequent's raving about gta4, the story actually sounds kinda interesting for once, & so, for right now (until the driving missions become too much for my lamer skills, anyway), i'm playing gta4...

now, one of the cool features about the gta series is the radio stations you can listen to while driving - lots of all kinds of music (i was pretty floored when, at one point, i switched to the ambient/electronica station & out came some of phillip glass' koyaanisqatsi soundtrack(?!)), along with lots of bogus ads, talk, etc. anyway, my favorite station has turned out to be 'radio vladivostok' (which is included, i'm guessing, owing to the east-european origins of the game's hero & early cast of characters). & my (& a number of other players) favorite song on 'radio vladivostok' is the song in the video, 'schweine', by 'glukoza' (aka, 'glykoza' & 'glyukoza'), who turns out to be an extremely young russian pop star, surrounded by an apparent army of very clever songwriters/musicians/artists (check out some of her other videos - they're equally awesome, & even include a live-action, 'some like it hot' parody!)...

so what's my point? (help me out here, susan...)...

i guess it's that... there's more to gta4 than running over pedestrians?... there's more to manufacturing a pop star than short skirts?... i can be happy to see you and have a ds in my pocket at the same time?...

actually, most likely, i suppose it's that there's more to gaming than meets the eye...

but don't just take my word for it. if you haven't played a video game in a while (or ever), i strongly urge you - get yourself a ps2 (they're pretty cheap right now), a copy of okami, & be delighted, entertained, frustrated, amused, & amazed by the power of a medium that's waaay too much fun to be just for kids :) ...


we now return to our regular programming...