Benjamin Hourigan

Thanks to Joystiq, it’s just come to my attention that some of my favourite comedians from Melbourne, Tripod, are videogamers!

Tripod are, rather than stand-up comedians, a band that sings comic songs. In the past, I’ve been a fan of such gems as the “Xmas Song” and the “Ikea song”. I also had the great honor of serving Gatesy, one of the band members, at the supermarket I used to work at in Toorak. Tripod’s songs on videogames, which I’ve just discovered, are not only funny, but also capture a lot of the emotion of videogaming life.

This video of the group performing “Make You Happy Tonight” plays out the story of a man being cajoled by his significant other to come to bed for some “sweet, sweet love.” While he evidently has every intention of making it to the bedroom, he never quite gets there, staying on at the console in search of the next save point.

Having been in similar positions myself, in the numerous death throes of my previous relationship, I’m inclined to say that this fictional guy probably has some deeper relationship problems behind his apparent preferral of videogames to sex.

The next videogame-related song I discovered by Tripod is “King of the Video Arcade”, about a guy who drew in the ladies with his prowess at Pac-Man during the 1980s, but now finds himself left behind in a world that has no appreciation for his public displays of skill at 20-year-old arcade games. The song evokes a nostalgia for the era of arcade gaming, something which I remember from my childhood and early teens, but which has now almost completely disappeared in Australia. I strongly suspect that there are few women in this world who’ve ever been entranced by expert Pac-Man play, but it’s nice to think back and dream…

Australian Gamer also has this interview with Scod, the band’s geekiest member (in a good way), in which he reminisces about videogaming on the C64, one of the great gaming computers of the 1980s. The piece is fairly banal, but another nice Tripod/videogaming interesection nonetheless.

Don’t forget to check out the two songs!

“Make You Happy Tonight” (streaming video)
“King of the Video Arcade” (mp3, skip past the talk)

If you don’t get this post, don’t worry. It’s a geek thing.

Today I’ve been redrafting the chapter in my thesis about the history of RPGs, and had to find out what the Eight Virtues from the Ultima series were. Ultima IV was a real milestone in videogame history, in that its hero, the Avatar, appeared in a world that had just been saved from villains three times. The people of Britannia were looking for ways to transcend their bloody past, and were building a code of ethics to guide them into a glorious future. It was the first RPG I know of that really thought about what was needed to build a good society, and possibly the first videogame that incorporated an explicitly formulated moral code that the hero was expected to adhere to.

Those whose memory of the games is clearer than mine may remember that the Eight Virtues of the Avatar are:

• honesty
• compassion
• valour
• justice
• sacrifice
• honour
• spirituality
• humility

Ultimas IV—VI asked players a series of questions to discover what virtues they favoured, to determine what the PCs attributes and class would be. Some of those questions have resurfaced as online, Ultima-themed “personality” tests. There’s one that uses graphics from Ultima IV (lots of clicking through required to get to the test), which, like Ultima IV itself, asks so few questions that you’ll have an affinity with a different virtue every time. Alternatively, there’s one that asks loads of questions but doesn’t conclusively tell you which virtue you favour.

These tests are so far from being valid that it’s ridiculous, but the questions are all based on imaginary situations, and they’re fun for nostalgia’s sake. If you’re looking for humour, there’s also the oddly-named Test of Avatarishness Purity Test, which doesn’t really test your personality, or have anything to do with the Virtues, but is a lot more fun than the others. It asks, among other things, “Have you ever been threatened by big red evil faces on your computer screen?” I have, and was deemed 32% Avatarish.

Tests aside, which of the virtues do I favour? Well, I think it’s honesty.

			Honesty
	Of the eight virtues, thou art most aligned with honesty. Thou shalt not steal or lie, but more than this, seek the truth in all things. Strive to be honest in all thy actions. Look deep into thyself for, only by knowing thyself can thou know truth. Honesty is the virtue of Mages and the town of Moonglow. “Corruption wins not more than honesty!” - Shakespeare, the Mage

What’s your virtue? Take the test!—>