loselose - Kotaku

posts about #loselose more →
The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Sustenance
11/10/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
With all due respect to Mr. Gage, who seems to truly strive to make something different, this project is more fascinating as a punch-line than any sort of "catalyst for discussion" about the nature of consequence.

Lose/Lose (based upon similar discussions elsewhere) has raised questions about the responsibility of program authors to idiot-proof their "statements" in a marketplace full of people who don't pay attention. It even works as a satirical jab at stupid games that hog your resources, or as a warning about computer viruses attached to seemingly innocent applications.

It probes these questions in a pretty creative way, but I'm not convinced it says anything deeper than that, unless the "real world" to you is little bits of ones and zeroes. #loselose
Reply

Sustenance was starred Sustenance was unstarred

Bondage_Zombie
11/10/09

@Sustenance: You know, this is like my teachers telling me to interpret someone's writing and telling me i'm wrong for my interpretation.

Here, we have the convenience of merely asking the author (especially since it's part of this thesis).

So, no matter how it may 'work' for you as you look at it. He was interviewed directly. Whether you read anything deeper into it is your interpretation, not his.

Who knows, maybe you can make your criticism part of _your_ thesis?
Reply

Sustenance promoted this comment Edited by Bondage_Zombie at 11/10/09 6:47 PM Bondage_Zombie was starred Bondage_Zombie was unstarred

Sustenance
11/11/09

@Bondage_Zombie: Of course it's my interpretation of his thesis. What else would it be? As a piece of digital art, I think it's worthwhile. I just happen to think the author's explicit commentary raises more interesting questions than the application itself.

One opinion versus another. Nothing to see here, move along. #loselose
Reply

Sustenance was starred Sustenance was unstarred

Odin
11/10/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
Alternatively you could just play this on a PC you've already backed up and plan on formatting. The statement it tries to make kind of falls flat in a lot of situations. #loselose
Reply

Odin was starred Odin was unstarred

Taggart6: I don't always drink beer, but when I do...
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
Holy Crap!

So the taggart6 gears are working and I have an idea to up the ante:

Implement file deletion in MMORPG servers and FPS deathmatch games.

Each kill results in a lost file.
Reply

Edited by Taggart6: I don't always drink beer, but when I do... at 11/09/09 5:35 PM

DaveKap
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
So some guy made a computer virus that you can interact with and somehow that's art.

Okaaaaaaaay. #loselose
Reply

DaveKap was starred DaveKap was unstarred

shimage
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
So ... if I boot off of, say, a CD, then presumably it will be deleting files out of the ramdisk. I wonder if it runs under wine ... #loselose
Reply

shimage was starred shimage was unstarred

Xtrit
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
I cant resist the temptation.. #loselose
Reply

SadAstronaut promoted this comment Xtrit was starred Xtrit was unstarred

kemicon
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
this article reminds me of my friends t shirt that says "art" and has a stick figure vomiting into a trash can. #loselose
Reply

High Speed Indeed promoted this comment kemicon was starred kemicon was unstarred

High Speed Indeed
11/09/09

@kemicon: any idea where i can find that shirt? #loselose
Reply

High Speed Indeed was starred

arniejolt
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
A strange game.
The only way to win is not to play. #loselose
Reply

Janglesatwest promoted this comment arniejolt was starred arniejolt was unstarred

Janglesatwest
11/09/09

@arniejolt: Nice. Tic-tak-toe anyone? #loselose
Reply

Janglesatwest was starred Janglesatwest was unstarred

tk.
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
This reminds of psDooM, where you run around and shoot demons in the first level of Doom and it kills off your running processes accordingly. I run it on OS X occasionally, it's a fun way to crash your system. #loselose
Reply

tk. was starred tk. was unstarred

Thut
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
I hope this guy realizes that at least 90% of those people who are "for some strange reason" still playing the game, despite warnings, are doing so on their "friend's" computer and the such.

By doing this they are in a sense curtailing the Lose/Lose factor and pretty much nullifying the point of the game and its intended artistic message.

I'm normally a big proponent of art in games, but this just seems like a gimmicky cry for attention -- and not a particularly well executed one at that.

Ideas like these are a dime a dozen, people just don't act upon them out of respect to others.

Here's another one for ya:

What about an FPS that creates a little grave icon on your desktop for every guy you kill. You can try to delete them, but they'll come back to haunt you every now and again, and the game will randomly launch your media player with short clips of you killing those guys.

Wow! This system would be fairly easy to implement, and it would point out that we don't take digital murder seriously. Sure, it's a malicious virus that will continuously clutter your desktop, but that's just symbolic of a guilty conscious! Art? OK, sure! Mail me a diploma plix! #loselose
Reply

Thut was starred Thut was unstarred

Janglesatwest
11/09/09

@Thut: I hear that. I do think games can be done in an artful manner but making a gimmick that is destructive is to me a little irresponsible. My concer is that someone will take his code and put it into a game of there own and not tell anyone about it. Then hundreds of comps could have their files deleted because someone who doesn't know otherwise played a game a game. Worse than a virus I say because there is no defense against it. #loselose
Reply

Janglesatwest was starred Janglesatwest was unstarred

Koztah
11/09/09

@Janglesatwest: The defense is to not download random shit. Besides, no one needs to take his code, they can write their own - and anything can be considered a virus depending on your antivirus' definition file. #loselose
Reply

Koztah was starred Koztah was unstarred

bean
11/09/09

@Koztah: So, basically, the best defence is common sense. #loselose
Reply

bean was starred bean was unstarred

Koztah
11/09/09

@bean: Who woulda thunk it? #loselose
Reply

Koztah was starred Koztah was unstarred

UltimatePancakeSensation
11/09/09

@Janglesatwest: You mean they'll take his code and learn how to delete files? Wow, you would have to be some kind of computer genius scientist to code that! #loselose
Reply

Kirocuto
11/09/09

@Thut: Or they could be playing on a computer thats destined for computer heaven.

What better way to give your old clunker one last hurrah before its totally obsolete? #loselose
Reply

Thut promoted this comment Kirocuto was starred Kirocuto was unstarred

bean
11/09/09

@Koztah: It sounds like crazy talk! #loselose
Reply

bean was starred bean was unstarred

Thut
11/10/09

@Kirocuto: That's quite true, but in that way, the "Lose/Lose" factor is still taken out of the equation. The point becomes to trash the computer along with the game, so it's practically a Win/Win. ;) #loselose
Reply

Thut was starred Thut was unstarred

Shiryu
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
Interesting concept... I wonder if I can play it safely on a virtual machine... *goes about his evil plans* #loselose
Reply

Shiryu was starred Shiryu was unstarred

xpnet
11/09/09

@Shiryu: I was thinking this too.. but is it only for the mac? #loselose
Reply

Shiryu promoted this comment xpnet was starred xpnet was unstarred

J-Rad
11/09/09

@Shiryu: I was thinking the same thing. Most of those high scores were probably obtained in a virtual OS. Nothing real, no worries. #loselose
Reply

Shiryu promoted this comment J-Rad was starred J-Rad was unstarred

SegamanXero
11/09/09

@Shiryu: I am thinking of booting this up in sandboxie... #loselose
Reply

Shiryu promoted this comment SegamanXero was starred SegamanXero was unstarred

akumaserge
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
Too bad there aren't any achievements for this game.

System Killer: Just killed an C:/Windows/Windows32 file. (30G) #loselose
Reply

Koztah promoted this comment akumaserge was starred akumaserge was unstarred

Koztah
11/09/09

@akumaserge: Quite a few files in system32 aren't critical. :P #loselose
Reply

Koztah was starred Koztah was unstarred

zaghy2zy
11/09/09

@akumaserge: there isn't any windows32 folder... maybe you meant system32? #loselose
Reply

emag promoted this comment zaghy2zy was starred zaghy2zy was unstarred

emag
11/09/09

@zaghy2zy: The game is an OS X exclusive (which fits with the "art" bit). So no dice on the Windows folders anyhow. #loselose
Reply

emag was starred emag was unstarred

drivebyinsult
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
Awesome! Zach's a buddy of mine! He's got some really awesome ideas, it's great to see him get some press! I haven't played this one, nor will I ever, but I love the concept...

If you wanna try his other games, check out his two iPhone/iPod games. SynthPond is a music toy (like electroplankton) and Unify is a block-drop game like Tetris.. I highly recommend them both.. and they don't do any damage to your devices..!
Check em out here:
[www.stfj.net] #loselose
Reply

raresquare promoted this comment drivebyinsult was starred drivebyinsult was unstarred

Win Laik Pya
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
Wouldn't this make more sense if it deleted a file, say, every time you got hit, or every time you died?

That way you are punished for doing poorly. In this case, you're punished for doing well, which is a bit counter-intuitive, no?

Then again, it's a neat idea. #loselose
Reply

UltimatePancakeSensation promoted this comment Win Laik Pya was starred Win Laik Pya was unstarred

Koztah
11/09/09

@Win Laik Pya: When you get a game over screen, it deletes the game. When you kill aliens, it deletes your files - thus why it's called Lose/Lose. #loselose
Reply

Koztah was starred Koztah was unstarred

UltimatePancakeSensation
11/09/09

@Win Laik Pya: You totally missed the point, eh? #loselose
Reply

Win Laik Pya
11/09/09

@UltimatePancakeSensation: Guess so! Didn't catch the part about it deleting itself. that's funny!

@Koztah: Figured the lose/lose was if you lose... you lose the game, if you win, you lose files. #loselose
Reply

Win Laik Pya was starred Win Laik Pya was unstarred

Railgun5
11/09/09

In reply to The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play
Three words: External Hard Drive. #loselose
Reply

Koztah promoted this comment Railgun5 was starred Railgun5 was unstarred

Koztah
11/09/09

@Railgun5: There's no guarantee it only deletes files on the drive it's installed on. #loselose
Reply

Koztah was starred Koztah was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

#loselose

Kotaku

SUBSCRIBE TO Kotaku

The Dangerous Video Game You Weren't Supposed To Play

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment