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The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazin

12B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - Thursday, November 15, 2001


GIRL GAMERS
Continued from Page 5B
unable to whoop physically.
According to Chong,
"Accessibility of the games is impor-
tant because you can play games by
yourself, but it'll be weird to go to
your friend's or someone else's house
and play by yourself." She also said,
"Older people play games to socialize
but younger people do it differently."
Supporting the idea that girls can
like videogames just as much as any
guy and get more enjoyment from it
was Waidron who said, "I think most
of us like it just as much as they do,
we just don't admit it."
Some women make game playing
apart of their schedule by visiting
neighborhood arcades. For instance,
Chong stated, "At Pinball Pete's, I
play "House of Dead," "Ghosts" and
other stuff."
In an explanation of why she
believes she started playing video
games, Chong said, "I grew up play-
ing videogames because I grew up
with all guys". LSA sophomore
Embei Vannoy said, "I played
because my brothers made me. I
liked getting to the next stage so kept
playing."




Courtesy o1New Line Cinema
Christopher Lambert ponders why his role as Rayden in "Mortal Kombat" failed to receive any Oscar buzz.

MOVIES
Continued from Page 4B
should have been," but there's no
other way to describe it. It's basically
a supernatural rip-off of "Enter the


Dragon," except this has crappy
sequels ("Mortal Kombat:
Annihilation (1997," "Mortal
Kombat 3: Domination" - due in
2003).
Double Dragon (1993) - What
the hell were they thinking? Scott
Wolf is about as tough as Van
Damme is subtle. If you're going to
have someone play Billy Lee, he
should be at least a little menacing.
C'mon, the guy can be as dreamy as
he wants on "Party of Five," but he

just can't cut it as someone who has
to, y'know, hit people.
Wing Commander (1999) -
Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew
Lillard? What a line-up. The only
reason that this steamer, based on the
video game series of the same name,
made any money whatsoever was
that George Lucas was kind enough
to give it the trailer for "Star Wars:
The Phantom Menace," and I guaran-
tee that most of those people who
paid for it didn't even see it since


they walked out after the two minute
preview. Incidentally, this teaming up
of Lillard and Prinze was apparently
so successful that some studio exec-
tutive whose brain was clogged with
espressos and cocaine residue decid-
ed to bring them together again for
the Scooby Doo movie. Fantastic.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
- It was inevitable. Too many twelve
year olds and comic book store own-
ers had been drooling over Lara's
polygons for too long, and they had a,
guaranteed audience. This one actu-
ally has a plot very similar to a video
game, with caricatures replacing
characters and an extensive plot
about the Illuminati. It wanted to be
an Indiana Jones movie with all its
might, and they -forgot that the main
character has to be cool, and that, oh,
right, you need good comic relief and
a script. Oops.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits
Within (2001) - Although the plot
and characters weren't anything to
write home about, we can give this
computer animation film a pardon on
the visual effects alone. With amaz-
ingly fluid graphics, breathtaking
scenery and amazingly real looking
special effects, it's easy to forget at
certain times that it's not real. The
characters were also vhhoiced by an
all-star cast, including Donald
Sutherland and Steve "I die in most
movies" Buscemi. But it's a shame
that they forgot to make the script
more complicated than the video
sequences on a game.
Soon to come: Resident Evil
(2002) Milla Jovovich is to star in
this adaptation of the popular zombie
sf1oot 'em up series. Rumor has it
that George Romero (creator of the
masterpiece "Night of the Living
Dead") was slated to direct, but the
powers that be decided that a better
choice would be, you guessed it, Paul
Anderson, director of the aforemen-
tioned "Mortal Kombat." Great. Call
me when they make the Legend of
Zelda movie with Jason Biggs and
Rachel Leigh Cook.
Honorable Mention: There are also
those few films that aren't based on
video games per se but are so
entrenched in the video game uni-
verse that they deserve discussion.
Although there are myriad examples,
there's one particular gem that stands
out. Everyone should remember the
infomercial for Super Mario
Brothers 3, "The Wizard," starring a
"Little Monsters" era Fred Savage
and featuring countless plugs for
Nintendo, culminating with the
almighty the Power Glove. Seeing
the opening scenes of Mario 3 on
that big screen was our generation's
moon landing.
ANT TO LEARN.
SECRETS FROM...
"GRAND THEFr
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COME wNTo DAILY
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TELL YOU HOW TO.
GET YOUR CA.I A
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YONI GOLDSTEIN/Daily
School of Art sophomore Jennifer Scroggins plays "Sonic the Hedgehog."

Girls kil" ffstress,, bad
guys with videogames
By Channasa Taylor ural high.
For the Daily An adventurous fight in dark castle

n 1946, when television was first
beginning to infiltrate American
homes, molesting the thoughts of
children and adults everywhere, 20th
Century Fox said, "Television won't
be able to hold on to any market
after the first six months. People
will get tired of staring at a plywood
box every night."
Now the average American kid
watches Pokemon just about as
much as he sleeps.
So it's no wonder that my seven-
year-old nephew can kick my ass at
"NFL Blitz" on his Nintendo 64.
According to the entertainment
powers-that-be, he spends the same
amount of time playing video games
as I do attending class. (This is on a
good week, of course, weather and
wake-up permitting.)
And I think, what's the draw?
Then I notice that some of my
friends do the same thing. (They just
don't go to class.)
Sega Dreamcast, Sony Play
Station and all of the other expensive
systems have dominated the free
market. And I wonder, as I am still
captivated by the old-school Snood,
how did I avoid this techni-craze.
I remember my first Nintendo.
(OK. Actually, it was my only
Nintendo.) My mom and dad bought
it for my 7th birthday. I had all of the
rad accessories: The power pad and
the gun to shoot the ducks. I remem-
ber cheating like crazy, stepping off
of the pad (we were doing that
Olympic game, and I was long-
jumping) and putting my plastic rifle
next to the screen to hit those freak-
ing ducks.

5S

VIDEO KILLED THE I

Reaction Women's

Steve Madden

I remember the first time tha
saved t
princess.
4could nee
nderstand vw
S varia a
Luigi were a
known
'Super Ma:
ros.," r
'Super Ma:
nd Lui
ros," or sip
Sarah ply "Sur
Bros." Why <
Rubin Luigi always
pe s - the shaft?
was definite
Flair - the cuter one.
I rememi
believing that "Duck Tales" was t
best game ever created.
By the way, "Duck Tales" is 1
best game ever created.
But somewhere in the midst
recess and learning thetcontinents
stopped caring about "Super Ma
3."
Instead, I started to really 1
drawing and music. I made frier
with kids who didn't live on 1
same street as I did, and we play
basketball and walked downtown
buy breadsticks from Gus's Pizza.
But there was always this cont
gent that continued to pl
videogames. They persevei
through the ages of Super Ninten
and Sega Genesis and Game B
The amount of pixels added to t
screen was directly proportional
the time they spent attached to t
controllers.

Diesel

Reaction Men's

I

Reaction Men's

f
Steve Madden

Video games are primarily targeted at
guys but many gals are gainers too!
Girls, too, can strategize, duke it out
and bring a vilified city to its knees.
Make no mistake, girls have got what
it takes and have fun doing it. LSA
freshman, Nancy Zou said, "They are
fun and stimulating ... especially when I
play with a bunch of people to make it
more fun, the more people the more fun
it is."
She is not alone in this belief. When
asked why she likes playing videogames
LSA senior Dani Gatewood said, "They
are a lot of fun and bring back good
memories."
"Sonic the Hedgehog and NFL and
hockey stuff are cool to play," comment-
ed Embei Vannoy an LSA sophomore.
For some gaming gals, they're simply
a good way to create competition
amongst friends as well as a cool chal-
lenge. "It gets my blood rushing and
adrenaline pumping," said Gina Chong
an LSA senior. "They make you stay
more awake and alert and have good
reflexes," said Zou.
For others it's a chance to live vicari-
ously through the adventures of the
characters and the themes of the game
and also to take on an entirely different
personality. LSA senior Valerie Waldron
said," I am quiet sometimes but not
when I play 'cause I get to kick butt."
Many girls expressed a growing
admiration for videogames after repeat-
ed play, even if they did not conquer and
defeat the entire game. "No matter how
much I play, in general, I suck at the
shooting games but I like them," said
Chong.
According to Gatewood, "It's fun to
try different short-cuts and stuff to get to
the last boss. I get to the last level then
quit." So the basic idea is not to win the
game but to play. Gatewood continued
to say, "I haven't beaten most of
Paperboy, 'cause I never finish."
Some girl gainers find videogames to
be an escape from reality and from the
mundane activities of school because
they're a good way to vent aggression.
They are a form of stress relief or a nat-


against interesting looking bad guys
with unique weapons and extraordinary
rewards helps satisfy some girls' hunger
for physical combat. Videogames pro-
vide action, violence, brief drama and
enough sexual imagery to quench any
such appetite for days. Thus, in a market
targeting the fulfillment of male fantasy,
females reap some suitable perks too.
And still for other female players,
videogames allow for the mental ass
whooping of someone they may be
See GIRL GAMERS, Page 12B

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