Star Wars

By: Dustin Dietz This past class period, we discussed the phenomena behind the George Lucas film Star Wars. As many of us know, Star Wars is all around us everywhere we go. There are films, toys, clothes, cartoons, and many other items one will see daily, involved with the famous film. Today, I was in the Halloween Store purchasing my son a costume for this Wednesday evening, and I noticed close to 15 different types of Star Wars costumes for adults and children. Star Wars even had their own section of costumes. I have never quite understood the fascination with Star Wars and why the film is so popular. I realize the movie transcended film, but I have seen the movie many times and quite frankly do not understand why so many people have an obsession with the movie. My father was a huge fan of the series of films, and has taken me to all six of the Star Wars movies. I can see in my old man's eyes how much he enjoys watching storm troopers shoot laser guns, but I am pretty indifferent towards the entire film because I have never been particularly intrigued by fantasy and science fiction. Millions and millions of people live and die by Star Wars. I try to empathize with them because I obsess with Rangers baseball in the same manner. However, Rangers baseball begins every spring and is reality, while Star Wars has had 6 films in 35 years and is fiction. Star Wars fans dress up like their favorite Star Wars characters such as Darth Vadar and Luke Skywalker, and most of us who do not fantasize about saving the galaxy ridicule them for being nerds. The same people who tease Star Wars fans wear the favorite jersey of their favorite player to the stadium on game day to watch the game. I guess one could argue both actions are one in the same. Maybe I should do a better job of empathizing with Star Wars fans since I enjoy to escape my reality with another type of reality. After all, Star Wars fans are pretty much doing the same thing, except they are escaping their reality with something fictitious. I guess the best thing to do is accept those who enjoy the film and realize there is enough room in the world for both of us. Accepting the film is much better than the Star Trek fans who clash with Star Wars fans over which space fantasy is better. Now, that is certainly more counterproductive.

Gaming, not for me.

By: Dustin Dietz I have not kept up with my personal blog very much recently because I have begun writing for a few different websites, and I really have not had much time to write very much other than for those particular sites. However, I will be writing in my blog for the next few weeks because my Media in the 21st Century class requires I write in a blog once a week about a topic we discussed in class. So, without further ado, here is my attempt to discuss something other than sports. I am sure I will fail miserably. This past Wednesday, a gentleman who works in the gaming industry came and spoke to our class about his company, and the gaming industry in general. He discussed a few games I had never heard of, and how his company had fairly recently acquired the rights to sell Duke Nukem. The discussion about the gaming industry led me to realize how complex gaming has become, and what the hell has happened in the past 15 years which has caused me to become so indifferent towards gaming. Growing up, I loved to play video games. I remember playing Super Mario on the NES and Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis. I once went undefeated in a 162 game season in Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run on Super Nintendo. The controllers had two or three buttons and the characters in the game were fairly simple to control. While the graphics were not incredibly realistic like they are today, the games were rather enjoyable because the games could be figured out without having to read a manual 4 times cover to cover. We all know how much men hate to read manuals. I cannot pinpoint the exact time when video games became so difficult to play, but if one does not have an engineering degree from an Ivy League school, one will find difficulty moving a player forwards or backwards on the screen. I feel a total disconnect in games today because I have no damn idea how to play them. The graphics have become too realistic and the controllers have 9,000 buttons on them. How is this more enjoyable to children? One would think with the advanced graphics, and complexity of the controllers, our children would be becoming more intelligent. Well, I do not have the exact numbers, but we seem to be warping at hyper speed to a reality closer to the one in Idiocracy than the ideal utopia excellent orators such as Cicero spoke of in ancient Rome. Gaming can be useful as the military uses video games for wartime simulations, and NASCAR drivers and poker players use gaming to hone their craft. However, when I see what gaming has done to my son, it appears gaming has had a pernicious effect on his social skills and his willingness to do activities outside in the sunlight. I hate to sound like an out of touch old dinosaur, but when it comes to gaming, I pretty much have. I miss the days of figuring out the code for Mike Tyson's Punchout, or discovering the whistle on Super Mario 3. Games today have become far too realistic and will eventually distort the reality of our youth. If you think I am overreacting, well, my son began to act like he was Ash from Pokemon after spending several hours playing Pokemon on his Nintendo DS. Also, he wanted me to buy him an exploding poke ball for his 10th birthday. The video game industry also has become extremely arrogant and has begun to rip off their consumers. Go to your local video game trade-in establishment and see what they charge for a new game, and what they will offer you for a game if you trade a game in to purchase a new one. I promise your butt will hurt shortly after you are done bartering with them. Am I waging war on the video game industry? No, I am not that much of a loser. But, I say we as parents force our children to go outside and do more physical activities. Limit their video game time, or sign them up in a soccer league or something. Or, more importantly, force them to read a damn book and learn something. If we are not careful, we all might become James Woods in Videodrome. (Obvious knee-jerk). PS - Please hurry back to baseball Rangers. We miss you. Follow me on Twitter @DustinDietz18 . If not, I do not blame you.