[-empyre-] Quake girls, male military training zones (forward from anne-marie schleiner)

[Michael Arnold Mages <marnoldm@du.edu>]

From: "opensorcery" <opensorcery@opensorcery.net>
Date: Wed, July 7, 2004 10:16 am
To: empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au


>I know a lot of girls who play Quake, one of the most populars shot ups
>some years ago. They developed their own skins and changed the code and
>made their own communities or clans.
>I met one of them briefly, I was lecturing here at the University and
>one of the students, a bright young female, was the Swedish champion at
>Quake and participated in international championships.

some texts and related projects:
"In the 1990's, within the shooter genre, characters evolved from
white guy American soldiers into oversize funny male monsters of all
shapes and stripes and pumped female fighting machines. It seemed to
be about a kind of monster fantasy workshop, humorous macho
role-play, taking things to their frag queen extremes. Within online
Quake and game hacker culture, gender restrictions and other
boundaries opened up.

Then beginning with Half-life and continuing with shooter games whose
alleged appeal is "realism", a kind of regression took place."

full text:
http://www.opensorcery.net/velvet-strike/about.html  (2002)

also mutation.fem  (2000) http://www.opensorcery.net/mutation/ click
on "read-me"


and a new project addressing convergence of military fetishism and
computer games and the reeification of male fighting zones  (but this
time with an emphasis on the urban and MOUT--a term used in new games
developed by the us military like Full Spectrum Warrior for Military
Operations in Urban Terrain.

The OUT project will take place during the Republican National
Convention in New York in late august/early sept 2004.  I have
collected a talent group of people together for the team including a
former texture maker from the original Counter-Strike,  a french
postman by day/game activist  by night, a mexican architect, german
and italian activists and the maker of the mod 911 Survivior...and
the creator of a wireless bicycle..should be fun.

http://www.opensorcery.net/OUT/

cheers,
anne-marie schleiner