Denuology: The Observation and Observations of Denuo.

Travel Essentials: Matt Story

Matt Story — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:15:58 +0000

I’m less than 24 hours away from embarking on a journey to the famed desert of Nevada. I’ll be joining my fellow life teammates to celebrate the passing of one of our very owns bachelorhood. As the flurry of emails regarding last minute details fill my inbox, I have spent countless iterations mentally packing all needed items. While there were many additions specific to this particular adventure and active itinerary, I have some generic travel must haves that help with my piece of mind. Creature of habit much? Yes. For others that frequently find themselves referring to cities through only three letter airport codes, these may come in handy or best case you can tell me what I’ve left off.

My essentials:
+ Chuck Taylors – As one of Denuo’s sneaker fiends, it can prove difficult showing off your collection when space is limited to a carry-on bag. And we won’t even discuss the demoralizing feeling of finding a scuff in your new pair of kicks. Chucks are the solution as they can be dressed up/down and merely gain more character with each new scuff mark.
+ Starbucks App (loaded with ample funds) – No matter the destination, the one place that will always be on the itinerary is the ‘bucks. Caffeine knows no time zone.
+ Magazine Pile – Keeping up to date on the latest industry mags can be difficult during the normal day to day grind. The ability to catch up during flights featuring no interwebs access becomes ideal. Analog FTW!
+ Game Device – Not always the same gadget but something in the bag must offer a game experience. It doesn’t have to be 3D first person shooter depth but merely an answer that scratches the eventual gaming itch during those more mundane travel downtimes.

Now what are your essentials?

Y U NO LIKE MEMES?

shuynh — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:55:17 +0000

For some reason, I always get people asking me what a “meme” is, maybe it’s because I work in a digital agency or maybe it’s because I speak in lol half of the time (whatever, I can’t help it – it’s like a second language to me). When friends and family members do ask me about memes, I almost feel like an “ambassador” and get really nervous explaining what exactly what it is…I only want to give them the best definition without overwhelming them with my self-proclaimed loved for them. But what IS a meme? Stuff you find on the internet? Internet fads? A cat? (It’s probably a cat.) According to Wikipedia, a meme is “an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” I think this is the original definition in the old-timey sense, so I’d take it a step further and say that it’s not just an idea or behavior that spreads in general, but that memes spreads digitally. ON THE INTERNET.

Whether or not anyone really knows what a meme is, we’ve all been exposed to it. We all know Keyboard Cat, we all know Antoine Dodson, and we’ve seen countless YouTube videos of people falling down, singing terribly, and just having complete #Fails. Memes have kind of evolved from not just including YouTube clips but also now including captioned still images and gifs…and they’re everywhere. They can propel you from being just a good-looking marathon runner to having a pseudo alter-ego.

Memes are Mainstream.

From Tosh.0 to Good Morning America, memes are hitting the airwaves like never before. What used to be an ironic t-shirt some people might wear is now a captioned image that hundreds of thousands of people see and add on to. We’ve come accustomed to lolcats and loldogs: we know that cats want cheeseburgers, that dogs want hot dogs, and that a poor walrus can’t find his bukkit. I’ve even started speaking in lol in my everyday conversation. “Ohai” and “kthxbai” are great greetings (okay maybe not on client emails), me gusta expresses that I see something I like, and “soon” is the impending doom that will inevitably come my way. Memes and lolspeak have accentuated what would be my mundane everyday life; they bring funny and insightful captions to my watercooler talks. We all know that victory feeling when we come up out of a situation, “success kid” is clearly spot-on to express it digitally. If something is late, I simply reply with a “Y U NO GIVE ME THE RFP?” Memes have helped me from telling a somewhat boring story about my puppy to now sending friends a comic about dog logic.

I almost don’t have to tell stories anymore, memes do it for me!

Memes are Art.

For those who just wave their mighty arm dismissing memes and the internet as a blackhole of time and souls (they’re not completely wrong), the exhibit I recently went to in Gallery 1988 may change their minds. Artists nationwide interpreted, displayed, and sold their renditions of our most popular and beloved memes. Hipster Ariel made a couple of appearances, so did Condescending Willy Wonka, but by far the most popular meme to recreate were cats. Cats were breaded, they were Nyan’ed, they were pomelo’ed. It was so interesting to see how artists have taken what was just a picture on the internet and made into a legitimate piece of artwork sold.

PBS recently aired a segment asking if memes were works of art – they displayed work from the collaboration of thousands of people around the world, all user-generated. Think of the impact memes have that throughout the world, we all know who these faces, expressions, and cartoons no matter where we are to express similar victories and defeats.

Memes are Work.

Comics are a great way to express how events have gone down, both successfully and painfully. It all started when an old colleague and I wanted to get our SVP’s attention in his office. We weren’t sure if he wanted us to come into his office or what…was he talking to us? His mouth was moving, but we didn’t see a phone to his ear. Was he looking at us or through us? We were so excited, we just barged into his office, only to realize that he was on the phone the whole time with a headset. Yeah…that story wasn’t exciting either…until we drew a comic about it. And we started drawing comics about our work antics in general and started characterizing our teams. Before we knew it, we were being bribed with food, drinks, and the promise of a promotion in return of our hilarious comics (I kid about the last part). It goes to show how everyday comics and memes really do have a place in the workforce.

I once Tweeted: “When you work at a digital agency, you know what memes are, when you work @Denuology, you ARE the meme.” I recently became martyred as a meme thanks to our Google+ Hangout technology. What started off as wearing silly digital masks and hats turned into a rampant caption contest of my incredibly sad face. In case you weren’t sure, I’m a pretty upbeat person. I smize at my desk. I laugh at myself. So when one of our creative guys decided to take a screenshot of my solemn face, it caught on at Denuo like wildfire. Captions kept going throughout the week until it was posted on Denuology by John Durbin.

It was repinned on Pinterest under the file “People I admire.” I’ve done it. I’ve become a (low-rate) meme. My life is complete. I’ve become what I love so much.

Internet Memes, I Salute You

PLAYED – May 2012

Rafferty — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:12:18 +0000

This lovely month of May has us giddy with excitement for E3 as we prep ourselves for sensory and gaming overload. Check out what we’re anticipating based on the rumors that have been swirling around for the 2012 show. Also in this issue, we dive into how the carrot of freemium gameplay has effectively converted free players to paying players as well as how gaming has gone from acting as an afterthought for traditional entertainment (think videogames released after a theatrical release) to being fully incorporated and even influential to these releases.

Download PLAYED now!

We also take a look at how social games have gone from innocently micromanaging a farm to doubling down in casino games from the comfort of our computer without the trek to Las Vegas. Not only have giants like Zynga been able to adapt to this trend, but it’s also opened the doors to new developers previously unheard of and those with stakes in the physical casino business. What does this mean with the speculation of legalizing online gaming outside of Nevada?

Lastly, we get (a little) sentimental with you guys, revealing a softer side with what gaming means to us. We know how different games can be and would love to know what games mean to you. Join our conversation on Twitter with #WhatGamesMeanToMe.

As always, every PLAYED article contains links to videos, supplemental info, and other digital goodies – so be sure to click throughout to enhance your PLAYED experience. Except this time, we’re serious…just for our favorite readers, check out our cover page for a very cool surprise (hint: What’s our name?) Also, if you’ve missed out on past issues, our back catalog is available online.

Enjoy PLAYED, and feel free to reach out to anyone on the team with questions or comments.

How We Play: The Evolution of the Videogame Controller

reedkorn — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:14:00 +0000

Over the past few decades, yes decades, the controller has been our connection to the gameplay experience. With the boundless progression of technology, there has always been an analogous evolution in the way we play. This visual timeline takes us through the advancements in the way we manipulate our virtual worlds, from the very first console to the next generation of gaming platforms. Don’t get mad if you don’t see your favorite, just know that these were more important.

Download the full infographic here.

The Way College Football Playoffs Should Work

jdurbin — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:04:50 +0000

It’s hard to believe it’s been a scant three years since I wrote about how to fix college football by eliminating the championship game.

Go give that a read for a refresher and make these notes:

Stop reading before you get to the predictions. Other than Clemson and Georgia Tech playing in the ACC title game. Stop after that one.
How about a little pat on the back for the prescience in saying conferences should be 10-14 teams
BC was coming off back-to-back ACC championship games and so it was only mildly insane to pair them with Alabama in a game. Sidenote: Please fire Frank Spaziani.
Navy is joining a conference. Thanks fellas! However, BYU has left a conference. Sigh.

But here we are with another debate. The BCS is dead and a four team playoff will happen. But of course nothing is simple, so there is all kind of debate as to the best way to do this. With that, I present to you fresh in 2012, my NEW fix for college football in which I explain very simply how this should work.

The first question is who gets to participate. Because saying the teams ranked 1-4 would just be too easy. They should just call this the “Tiger Tide Rule.” Apparently no one wanted to see a rematch for the national championship games especially when Stanford and Oklahoma State had reasonable claims. This has made some folks push for a requirement that only Conference Conference Champions can make it. That makes other people barf in their mouths. The people who don’t believe in winning your conference simply point out that those are rarely the four best teams.

But if you’re not going to have this rule, then what is the point of having Conference Championship games? You could always eliminate the Conference Championship Games and determine who is in first place through a series of tiebreakers (same ones to decide division champs) and by eliminating the Championship game you make the regular season insanely important (a big complaint by traditionalists is playoffs devaluing the regular season). I know this sounds crazy but somehow the Big 12 and past versions of the B1G and Pac-12 managed to figure out a champion without using an extra game.

The other problem I have with Conference Championship games is that both teams don’t have something to gain. Basketball conference tournaments are awesome because no matter how awful you are, if you win the tourney, you’re in March Madness. Not so with college football. In the SEC title game last year the undefeated, unquestioned number one team in the country, LSU, was forced to play an extra game against two loss Georgia. Why? If Georgia won they weren’t going to be in the top 4 in the rankings and have no hope of making a hypothetical playoff. What’s the fun in that?

The other thing that would be super neat by eliminating Conference Championship games is that it would be one less game on the schedule. Which, all those people who were opposed to a playoff because of the demands of student athletes don’t really seem to discuss.

Now I’m sure college football fans and anyone working for Dr. Pepper freaks out at the possibility of there not being Conference Championship games. Fine, keep it. I accept that as much I think they are pointless, they aren’t going anywhere. But let’s make them actually count for something.

And this, my friends, leads me to my new college football fix.

Who gets in: The three highest ranked Conference Champions and one at-large team selected by a committee made up of former coaches, analysts, or AD’s. The regular season matters… a lot. For everyone, not just the SEC and whatever conference is doing well that year. The nice thing is that there is one spot for that random team (Alabama this year) that has a decent claim to be included. Or the selection committee could decide to take the fourth highest ranked conference champ. It’s their world. Independents would have to rely on that at-large bid spot if they want to get in or they can broker a deal where they qualify for consideration if they finish in the top 8 or something. Oh, and the top two conference champs are the one and two seed and the committee decides who is three and four. This matters because…

Where are the games: Top two seeds host the first round on campus. It’s a reward to those teams, schools, and communities that support them year round. The Championship game would be at a neutral location that was done on a bid basis. Which is fun because then it could be in other places like Indianapolis that wouldn’t normally get a chance to host. Also, $$$$ for those schools and the NCAA. Hooray! Also, I don’t buy the excuse that has been floating that campus communities won’t be able to handle the attention and influx of people. They do this multiple times a year. How about we let them fail before we decide they can’t pass the test.

When are the games: Conference Championship games (if they MUST carry on) happen on the same weekend they always have (early December). First round of playoffs happens the First Saturday of January or the last Saturday of December depending on how the calendar falls (play the game between Dec 27 and Jan 4). The title game happens the following Monday (so about nine days later).

What about the bowls?: … What about the bowls? Nobody cares about 75% of them anyway. They’ll go about business as usual. And if people think they won’t get high attendance because it isn’t hosting the championship, then why do they think anyone goes now? The bowls will be fine.

I think that covers what I will now call The Durbin Plan (so ostentatious). The nice thing is we’ve preserved the importance of the regular season, 90% of Dr. Pepper’s media spend, rankings, the other bowls, and we’ve only added one extra game for two teams that occurs after exams when most schools are still on break anyway. And if we ditch the Conference Championship Game, then we’ve eliminated games for a lot of teams and no one is playing any more than they would now.

What say you, reader? What do you think is the best way to do things?

Banner photo credit: Majdan