Holiday Gifts
A few people have asked me what gifts I think gamers might want. That's pretty hard to answer, but I'll try. First, gamers want Sirlin.net merchandise (also here) like T-shirts, mouse pads, or a Yomi tie.
Games
Once that's out of the way, pretty much everyone likes Xbox Live Arcade so a gift card with Microsoft points is a good bet (assuming they have an Xbox 360 to begin with). A gift card will let them buy amazing games like Street Fighter HD Remix, the masterpiece Rez HD, or that new Civilization game. I haven't tried it but I bet it's good.
If anyone is playing Street Fighter HD Remix with a pad, they'd do well to stop doing that and get a joystick. I used these Hori sticks throughout all of Street Fighter's development, and I used one to reach #1 on the ranked leaderboards. I hear some people complain that this stick isn't good enough, but apparently it is! I've also heard people complain that the buttons break, but I've never had a problem with any of my hori ex2 sticks, so maybe I'm just extremely luckly. You could always hold out for this higher quality real arcade pro hori stick, but it won't be a holiday gift anymore.
Everyone seems to like these shooting games, and this RPG. But don't forget about Wii games. For actual gamers, Mario Galaxy and Resident Evil 4 are still as awesome as ever. I haven't played the new Lego Indiana Jones, but I loved the first Lego Star Wars and people tell me this one is even better. It can really bridge the gap between gamers and non-gamers (hint, play with your girlfriend). And things like Wii Music and Endless Ocean will also get non-gamers involved. [Edit: Wii Music is probably best for kids, while something like Guitar Hero is probably better to rope in adults.] There's also Wii Fit of course, but it's really hard to get right now.
Or some cocaine would be another way to go. You can even give the addicts a 2-month dose.
Computer
As some general life advice, I recommend not using Microsoft Windows anymore. The most amazing material good that I have ever owned in my life is a Macbook Pro. It's a magical wonderland. No viruses exist for Mac, so there's no need to muck around with anti-virus software. The OS isn't DRM crazy like Vista, so it doesn't check all my hardware components 30 times per second to see if I have connected a device that might try copy DRM video. Above all else, it really does "just work" and have so many nuances of software design that are wonderful. It's also amusing that I can't even figure out how to network my two old PCs, yet my Mac can automatically see both of them and transfer files between them. So yeah, try out those new Macbook Pros that are even better than mine (get 4 GB of RAM so you can have 50 things open at once like me). They make them out of a single piece of carved aluminum these days, so even construction-wise they're pretty amazing. And you can run Windows on them too, in case you're developing a game with some bad person who keeps making a Windows-only version.
The 13" Macbook is even cheaper, and also worth every penny.
Books
Books can change the way people think. Last year, I gave Flow and Blink as gifts to several people. Blink is a little more entertaining, but Flow is a little more important. Flow describes an important psychological state that we feel when we are challenged and it's tied to the process of achieving mastery AND plays in to people's overal, general happiness, if you can believe that. Blink shows the tip of the iceberg of the idea that we make decisions by only consciously knowing about tips of icebergs, yet those decisions are often very good. These books are important enough that it scares me that these subjects aren't regularly taught in school.
Gladwell (author of Blink) also has a new book called Outliers that I haven't read yet. Gladwell takes in a lot of info from boring research journals and puts them together into an interesting package that anyone can understand. I like doing that to, and I'm annoyed that Gladwell has even done this on a subject that I was about to do that for. He even used the same boring research papers and me for his sources. I hate being beaten, but I bet Ouliers is good.
I have that whole long list of recommended books, but I'll tell you here that the Geography of Bliss is a real gem. On writing quality and wit alone, I have to recommend it, not to mention the very interesting subject matter. The author is perfect for his subject: he's a grumpy guy (perfect to write about other people's happiness) who's a journalist (a real writer). He took a break from covering the most unhappy places on Earth to visit the most happy places on Earth. They aren't what you'd expect, and they aren't happy for the reasons you'd expect them to be. The Geography of Bliss is a safe gift for pretty much anyone.
I don't know the first thing about this Arcade Mania book. It's about Japanese arcades and has a picture of Ryu on the cover. What I do know is that surprisingly many people who visit my site have bought this book.
Movies and TV About Not Following The Rules
It's interestng that games are, at their core, systems of rules and yet games produce communities of people who are highly skeptical of rules. That is why I suggest these stories that are about breaking rules.
House. (Season 1,2,3,4, or entire collection.) House's personality type is INTP, the same as mine. He and I are very similar, it's just that he's an exaggeration--a caricature--and an overly mean-spirited one at that. But consider what he does: look for the truth and do what's necessary to save his patient. The human body is complicated and figuring out what's wrong with something complicated is complicated. The same is true of diagnosing software. I even use the same phrase he uses he uses all the time: "This explains everything!" when looking for theories that might explain what's going on.
Why is it that during Street Fighter's development a certain combo worked when the frame stats said it couldn't? Why did the beta test rewind gameplay further back in time than should have been possible? Why did Sagat's sound effect for "tiger" not work on the 2p side, when every other sound effect in the game worked fine? How is it possible that when I made a change in Vega's file to make his Wall Dive not knock down--but did not check that file into version control--that a programmer who got the latest files HAD my change? Also, how is possible that on neither of our machines did the Wall Dive actually knock down? Were these two baffling problems related, or coincidence? (Note that all these problems were solved, so don't freak out over SF HD Remix.)
I think you get the idea. It's about finding the truth and fixing the patient, even if you have to break some eggs along the way. House is practically about game development.
V for Vendetta. V demonstrates that in a world where the goverment is so corrupt as to take people's rights away, that a terrorist is actually the good guy. Or least he's close enough to being a good guy that it makes you think about the nature of laws, and when is it ok to go outside them and when is it not. I thought it was the most overlooked film of the year it came out, and your anarchist gaming friends will probably still like it. (I bet Dr. House would, too.)
And if you don't mind spoilers, here is probably 2006's best scene (only for people's who's heart's aren't black and dead.) It's about when "different became dangerous."
Pan's Labyrinth. Fairy tales often try to scare kids into respecting (aka blindly following?) authority. Not Pan's Labyrinth. If I could sum it up in a sentence, I would say "It is wrong to do nothing while injustice is being done, especially if that injustice is cloaked in authority." The heroes of the story are those who fight against wrong, even when wrong has become the status quo and even when they have little chance of success. They do this regardless of (dire) consequences. Those who fall in line and let wrong continue die forgettable deaths. So there's a lesson for you, kids. Also, the film is visually amazing, creative, and beautiful.
Hellboy 2. What, Hellboy 2, really? Yes, really. I think it was the most visually stunning film of the year, for starters. Many of the monsters are similar in style to what we saw in Pan's Labyrinth, but the production values are even higher this time. That's not the point at all though. Hellboy 2 has similar themes to Pan's Labyrinth. In each, there's a shadowy other world of demons, just on the periphery of our world. In Hellboy 2, one of those demons believes that humanity has squandered its civilization. Closed-minded thinking, fear of beings who are different, reckless destruction of the environment, and petty wars. He's got us pegged on that, and his alien perspective helps us see how truly terrible we are.
That said, the opposite theme of mercy is also there. The Golden Army (Hellboy 2's subtitle) is a military force so powerful and unstoppable that even its creator felt it should not be used. Perhaps no one should have that kind of military force, if you know what I mean. And even though the demon who would judge humanity unworthy and who would unleash the Golden Army has some solid points, those who feel that is wrong cannot stand by and let what they perceive as injustice be done. Action is required, no matter the consequence.
The Dark Knight. How about at least one gift idea that appears on everyone else's list too? The Dark Knight has a lot going for it. The always-excellent Christian Bale remains always excellent. But we all know that it's Heath Ledger who, against all odds, knocked it way, way out of the park. If someone said to an actor, "Play a part that Jack Nicholson played, but somehow do a much better job than him," I'd think that would be a near-impossible challenge. But The Dark Knight's Joker is a memorable anarchist indeed. He's not like House or V or the heroes of Del Toro's films. He doesn't break the rules because doing so is necessary for some higher good. Instead, he breaks the rules because he thinks it's damn fun and we can't help but have fun along with him.
Happy Holidays to everyone.
--Sirlin
Reader Comments (49)
I like this list - there are plenty of "Generic Gamer Gifts" holiday lists already out there, so traveling off the beaten path means more useful content per word.
I will say that I felt Hellboy 2 dropped the ball in terms of critiquing society by cluttering up the film with random monster fights and melodrama. The franchise in general is interesting for its perspective into the villain's mind, and the humanity of the characters - but del Toro would rather design another cool visual effect.
I'm a computer science student at a top-tier university. So far, all but two of my professors have used Apple laptops. I think that speaks to the quality of the Mac laptop. For reference, the exceptions were an economics professor using a generic Dell and a computer science professor who built his own.
Two years ago, I would have said the best laptops were IBM Thinkpads, with the Macbook in second place. But since Lenovo bought the IBM Thinkpad brand, they've been nowhere near as good, The T60 (designed by IBM and manufactured by Lenovo) is the last good Thinkpad: after that, your best bet is a Macbook.
But more importantly, don't buy a laptop right now. In a month or two solid-state hard drives are going to explode in efficiency. Wait for that: solid-state hard drives in laptops makes too much sense to ignore. Couple that with recent technology to make fans without moving parts, and Apple's next generation of laptops might not have a single moving part besides the hinges. This will make for some very quiet, very reliable computers.
Try typing "mac viruses" into google. What kind of "research" did you actually do? And in what way is posting anonymously on the internet bad form? Is it because you can't personally confront your accuser? First of all, they are just posting facts, not attacking you personally. Secondly, they are posting FACTS (not attacks), which you omitted. There are viruses for Macs and Macs are overpriced. I have read your blog for years and I have a great respect for your work David, but the way in which you have decided to defend yourself against these "attacks" is... telling.
Edited by Sirlin: First of all, anonymous posts are still in poor form, despite your whining. Second: http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Comp/comp.sys.mac.advocacy/2008-09/msg01460.html
and third, you are adding no value to my site, so why even post.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/11/27/apple-advises-use-of-mac-anti-virus/1
Edited by Sirlin: seriously, look into things a little: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10111958-37.html
This is a different anonymous from the last poster, I just wanted to point out one thing and then I'll be gone. You say that posting anonymously is bad form, but every single person who has posted comments in here has posted anonymously, because none of them are registered users. Anyone could easily pretend to be one of them or they could change their name in a flash, so they are no less anonymous than me, they just type-in a name when they post, which is not tied to an account, an email address or anything. If I made up a completely fake name and typed in Mortimer, that would somehow make me less anonymous, even though in either case you'd really know nothing about who I was?
Edited by Sirlin: that's right, it's bad form for you too.
Honestly I'm surprised that so many people are giving Sirlin carp about recommending a mac and no one is giving him carp about recommending Wii Music. I don't know if he actually played it but I find it hard to believe he'd recommend it if he did. The game is to rockband, guitar hero or even DDR (with or with out pad) as Wii sports boxing is to guilty gear XX:AC; it's an OK game for like $10 but it's $50 and there are WAY better options at comparable value. I know it's supposed to be for a non-gamer but what's the point if you're going to be bored of it in 3 hours max?
"Everyone seems to like these shooting games, and this RPG."
I assume that's rhetorical, but I think we'd all like to know if there are any you recommend.
As for the Macbook, almost every gamer I know (since everyone has the one token mac friend) shuns both Macs and Laptops as a general rule. My direct experience with macs is limited but when I'm forced to deal with one get the same general impression that apple software and products leave on me. Yes they "just work" but that's ALL they do. Don't like they way they work? Don't like the way they look? Want to edit some options? Tough shit, that's all they do, JUST work and nothing more. This wouldn't be a problem for me if the number of alternative program options wasn't somewhere around zero. True this isn't something that Apple is directly at fault for but if I wanted to stop using Windows, there are at least three great free Lunix options and if I wanted to spend 1.7k on a computer I'd build one at fry's or newegg for 1.3k; all gamers I know would do the same... even the token mac guy.
Well all that aside I loved Outliers, House, V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight, SF:HDR, Rez (I played the DC version when it was released but HD Rez would almost be worth buying again) and RE4 (PS2 version). Blink and Flow sound like good reads so I'll probably grab those. I'd say it's a great list if you remove the parts that imply it's a list for gamers.
With common "web sense" you won't get viruses even if you don't have an anti-virus software. And should you accidentally get them anyway, removing them (unless you REALLY screwed up) won't take more than a day... generally...
Heya Sirlin,
Just wanted to mention that the best reason for anti-virus on a Mac isn't for protecting the Mac itself, but rather other people you deal with using that Mac. It's possible to get a file with a virus attached to it that has no effect on your Mac, then later forward that file to someone on a Windows computer, never having realized that virus was there. Having a virus scanner is a nice little insurance policy against something like accidentally emailing your boss an excel file with a virus embedded in it.
In short, no you don't really need a virus scanner to protect your computer, but it can be nice for stopping viruses you might otherwise accidentally send to other peoples' computers.
bbobjs: I specifically said that games like Wii Music can get non-gamers involved. My girlfriend's non-gamer friends and their young daughter played it and enjoyed it. They also really liked Wii Tennis. So I don't think it's so crazy for me to say that it gets non-gamers involved. I didn't say anything about what hardcore people like you would say about it.
On an unrelated note, it's sad that commenters have skipped over the wealth of information in this post (especially the videos) and have instead wasted everyone's time with claims of (non-existent) Mac viruses, strawman arguments about Macs for gamers (I said it was general advice...also I'm a gamer: on xbox 360, wii and DS), and movie criticism of perfectly fine movies. Seems like we'd be better off with all this distracting stuff in the forums, wouldn't we?
I personally had no real objections to the list -- I think, if anything, my biggest issue is that you omitted some of the great inexpensive games that came out this year, if only because I believe you probably have not played them or simply haven't quite had the time -- or the interest, maybe?
Bionic Commando: Rearmed is definitely worth the money, and so is Braid. These both are covered with XBOX Live Arcade points, however.
I'd also recommend that those people that are definitely into RPGs give Persona 4 a shot. If you're more the online kind of RPG person, Atlantica Online, despite being free, is way better than pretty much any other MMO I've played in recent times. There's a cash shop with nice items that are helpful without being broken, so that might be a good gift.
Also, on a silly note, I am still disappointed in you for not offering a MANGO SIRLIN t-shirt. Humor is good, even at one's own expense, and that's a t-shirt I definitely would have bought. The other stuff... maybe not quite so much. Dr. Gregory House would not approve.
"Why is it that during Street Fighter's development a certain combo worked when the frame stats said it couldn't? Why did the beta test rewind gameplay further back in time than should have been possible? Why did Sagat's sound effect for "tiger" not work on the 2p side, when every other sound effect in the game worked fine? How is it possible that when I made a change in Vega's file to make his Wall Dive not knock down--but did not check that file into version control--that a programmer who got the latest files HAD my change? Also, how is possible that on neither of our machines did the Wall Dive actually knock down? Were these two baffling problems related, or coincidence? (Note that all these problems were solved, so don't freak out over SF HD Remix.)"
Well, where are the answers to these questions!? Coming in another blog soon, I hope (software engineer here)!
Sirlin: Since other rhythm have proven appeal to "hardcore" and non-gamers, I don't see a reason to involve someone in a game you're unlikely to be interested in.
Also I think that there would probably be fewer comments on Macs on more on books if the list went Plug>Books>Movies>Games>Computer.
Sirlin,
I can only smile when I see your site these days. The greatness that I always knew was there is starting to show, in glorious fashion, for all to see.
Happy Holidays to you, Sirlin!
-- Bruce
PS. I'm kind of tempted to get one of those Yomi ties, heh.
PPS. Oh, your new comment options are almost as good as God of War 2(!).
1. This Mac vs. Windows war is totally BS.
2. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the EX2. It was great when it first came out, but now I think it would be smarter to wait for the Mad Catz stick. Give an I.O.U. for the stick, and when it's released later, give it as a gift. I've had too many buttons die on my EX2. I can't even T.A.P. with Balrog anymore because my jab, short, and forward are all dead or dying. Add the difficulty of a full Sanwa mod on these things and you open up a new wealth of troubles. Convenient, yes. Functional, not so much.
3. The game recommendations were pretty good. I can personally validate the necessity to own SF:HDR. What an amazing work. Wii Music... not so much. I feel Rock Band or Guitar hero appeals to casual gamers just as much as Wii music. Wii Fit is a great game if you really want to appeal to the casuals.
4. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and all the seasonal goodwill stuff.
5. Play Street Fighter.
Is it safe to read between the lines as to why you didn't mention this stick?
Have you tried the SF4 licensed sticks or do you not have faith in Mad Catz to deliver?
The only "new Civilization game" that comes to mind is either Revolutions (aka Civ Arcade, though very good) or Colonization (PC Mac only AFAIK), and neither is a LIVE title (Civ Rev is a DVD game like Halo 3 or whatever).
Also, "and this RPG" isn't a link.
That said, I'm 100% with you on the Macintosh (though I still don't get laptops). Everyone else please don't assume that because a computer is being recommended to gamers it's being recommended as a gaming platform. It'd be like complaining a Chun Li action figure is not comfortable to hold in hand while playing the actual game. If you want to play PC games, get a PC as a gaming station and put it next to your Mac, just like you can have both a computer and an Xbox. The Mac is not a game console, it's a computer -- and an all-around happiness-creating, life-improvement tool.
Sav: Yup, you've indeed been had. Seriously, Pesch is right: viruses won't affect you (none of the links offered actually point out real-life Mac OS X viruses, because they still don't exist) but it's still nice of you to destroy viruses in PC files that go through your hands.
Just picked up Outliers today. Its been interesting thus far. As a Sociology major at Duke, its nothing I didn't already know, but its presented in a way that is easily accessible and identifiable by those not in academia. Not as strong in the psychology aspect as Blink, but then, its not really addressing a similar issue as Blink.
I especially like Gladwell's interview here... I'd like to point you to another set of data that sort of bridges the gap between Outliers and Flow:
http://fora.tv/2008/11/12/Philip_Zimbardo_Explains_the_Pyschology_of_Time
Philip Zambardo is a rather famous psychologist and professor at Stanford; he talks about how a person's outlook on time - that is, there relationship and attitude towards their past experiences, their present happenings, and their future goals - more strongly correlates to other personal metrics such as how happy a person is or how likely that person is to achieve success in life, than almost any other personality metric.
His website is TheTimeParadox.com; worth taking a look at when you get the chance!
Yeah I watched all of Zimbardo's tv series Understanding Psychology in high school (on my own, not actually in school). It make intro to psychology at MIT pretty damn easy! Anyway, I like him and I'm aware of his book, but I haven't read it yet. Thanks!
I think Macs are a bit overrated. They are slightly better when it comes to word processing and web browsing, but if you're limiting yourself to the confines ofbasic activities, why spend one grand or two when you can just buy a cheap computer and install a free antivirus program? Installing Windows XP on a mac isn't a "just working" scenario if you don't already have an installation disk with service pack 2 on it. In the year I owned a macbook I never had it freeze up on me, but I had Ableton Live 7 freeze up three times. I bought one for DJing. I ended up wanting to produce music with it, but there weren't any mouse drivers for my Lechesis and installing XP was going to be a pain. So I sold it and built a new computer. Unless there is a specific program that is mac only, don't even bother with it.
It's pretty obvious that Sirlin comes off a bit of a Macboy. "As some general life advice, I recommend not using Microsoft Windows anymore. " ...so when you enter into the workplace, you'll have no idea how Windows works.
Edited by Sirlin: "Macboy" is ad hominem attack. Also, your premise is completely backwards. The high end companies I deal with tend to use all Macs. Kongregate is no exception. Though if you only have the most basic needs, I guess you could get away with Windows. I wouldn't recommend it though.