Ludi Novi ex Antiquis
This week's Escapist has a pair of articles which tie videogames to Roman culture, both implicitly and explicitly. My knee-jerk reaction is to get all defensive and try and pretend that they are insipid, but that's likely me just being jealous because I didn't think of them first.
Bungie's Epic Achievement: Halo and the Aeneid draws a pretty tenuous connection between the both epics, but Roger Travis makes a good point about how the interaction between audience and protagonist is pretty much the same between the two works. Ok, fine. I have a feeling he has more to say about this than he did, but kept it brief so as not to offend the sensibilities of gaming's Parade Magazine set.
The Lexicon of Latin (what a shudder inducing title) is actually pretty good if you can get past the fact that it's basically a fluff piece for Gods & Heros. Hedlund has some interesting things to say about myth in games, but Drake's article takes an unfortunate tone, that of OMG U GUYS! DU U KNOW WHAT IS ETRUSCAN? SI IT A LANGUAGE?
While I enjoyed the relentless name-checking of the second article, the first one brings up a good point about interacting and relating to a text. Give 'em both a quick skim.
Note to self: tired blogging = pretentious, cranky blogging.