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Sept. 25, 2014 - Davis Aurini
24:16
Lets Play "Label Maker" by Silverstring Media!

Play this great game here: http://silverstringmedia.com/experiments/ Note: I used free software to record it, and the audio/cursor position is slightly off. Please don't be a hate speech on it. :'( Support Jordan and me on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/thesarkeesianeffect My blog: http://www.staresattheworld.com/ My Twitter: http://twitter.com/Aurini Download in MP3 Format: http://www.clipconverter.cc/

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Time Text
Hey folks, it's Arena here and I've uh I've got something special for you today.
I've uh well I've been looking into the the YouTube uh analytics and uh all of that stuff and uh well let me tell you, do you know where the Big Benjamins is?
It's in uh Let's Plays.
So I I've decided I'm gonna start doing Let's Play videos and uh but but you know I always try and bring something with me to the table.
Um you know and here's the thing I I'm a big believer in indie games.
Because you know the Triple A titles they're they're polished.
But the the indie games that's where we see innovations.
That's where we see people playing around with with new mechanics.
And eventually those mechanics they appear in the the mainstream games where they're a bit more polished, a little bit fancier.
But yet you really see the the raw ideas and creativity.
It shows up in the indie market.
So you know that's that's what I want to show you today.
It's this indie game I heard about.
It's supposed to be really good.
It's by a little company called Silverstring Media.
Just a small startup.
And as you can see right here, Silverstring Media, they're committed to experimentation, dedicated to pushing ourselves to learn, try new things, take risks, and stay relevant.
And you know, that's so awesome.
There's far too many of these indie developers are always trying to play it safe.
They're not experimenting with new ideas as much as they could.
And this is a company really dedicated to getting different voices out there, to really challenging the standard narrative.
And this game, this game right here, Label Maker, you know, this sounds like a really interesting game.
Let's see what the description says.
Label Maker is a short twine game.
Well, I don't really know what a twine game is.
I guess it has something to do with cheap hemp rope or something.
But anyway, it's a game made for the MIT Game Lab Quilt Bag, Game Jam, about the labels we put on people and how they affect our perceptions and reality.
And you know, that's something really important to point out, you know, because when I meet somebody, you know, and like a convenience store owner downstairs from my apartment, he's Korean, and when I saw him, I labeled him as Korean.
And I never bothered thinking about, you know, his family life, how he's proud of his kids, going through university, you know, how him and his wife, you know, they immigrated here.
And yeah, no, he was just Korean.
You know, like, I just labeled him that way.
And that didn't just affect my perception of him, you know, because I applied all these stereotypes, and I wasn't really treating him like a person until I stopped thinking about him as Korean.
And I said, hey, hey, man, you know, you gotta be exactly like me.
Or you gotta be diversity, but you're not Korean.
Because because that's a bad perception for me to have of you.
And you know what?
That that affects your reality.
So let's not forget that.
The way you perceive things affects what reality is.
So we have to make sure to be really sensitive, really open-minded about all of this stuff.
And we're going to be open-minded about this game.
Now, right over here, we've got the image.
And let's see.
Oh, that's it's like a gene label.
That's pretty funny.
It says 100% queer.
Okay, I don't know if I can use the word queer.
I might need to censor that when I put this video together.
Use intersectionally.
Now, I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I think it means you need to be sensitive.
You know, it can be you can use this person in a lot of ways.
So use them intersectionally.
Mix freely with other colors.
Well, of course, because color's just skin deep.
And it doesn't matter if somebody's purple or even orange.
I'm okay with orange people.
Some people don't like orange people, but I'm okay with them.
And tumble dry playfully.
Now I'm a little bit concerned about that line, because I'm worried that the tumble might be a derogatory reference to Tumblr.
I'm sure it's not meant that way, you know, because listen, the Tumblarettes, they can be playful.
They can definitely be playful, and some of them have dry humor.
But you should really be cautious when you talk about them, because they are sensitive souls.
You know, these are people that don't fit our standard label.
So maybe that's the point they're trying to get at, but you should be sensitive when you use that word.
Anyway, let's launch into this.
So play for free.
Let's see.
So this game was made in 12 hours.
So we got to be a little bit sensitive to the fact that the graphics aren't really going to be all there.
It's the idea, the game mechanics are what we're really looking for here.
So yeah, it's not a polished AAA.
This is an indie game made in 12 hours.
So thank you, Silverstring Media, for ensuring that we have these diverse voices, and let's start.
Oh, please enter your name.
Well, you know what?
Alright.
I don't want to play myself.
Like, I'm a cis shit white male.
My experience is pretty boring, pretty pointless.
You know, it's like, what have cis shit white males done?
That's really of note.
Yeah, mostly we just beat our kids.
So yell at our wives, that's it.
So I'm not going to use my name.
I think we are going to go for Dinglepuss.
Yeah, Dinglepuss.
That's a good name.
That's a very diversity name.
Yeah, I like that.
Okay, there we go.
So here we go.
You can hear a muffled din of people talking on the other side of the door.
Alex must have forgiving neighbors.
You haven't been to this apartment before.
You won't know anyone else here.
Hopefully, there will be good company.
You knock.
After a moment, the door opens.
You don't know the person who stands there.
They have a glass of wine in hand, tousled short hair, and a lip ring.
They smile at you.
Hi, do you know Alex?
You nod.
Come on in.
Well, you know, I'm getting the sense that Dinglepuss, you know, pretty soft-spoken person, probably really sensitive, really artistic.
Doesn't really respond, just nods.
Now, what's going on here?
So the forgiving neighbors.
If I click on that, annoyed neighbor.
Oh, oh, well, that changes the whole narrative.
And if I click on it again, deaf neighbor.
Okay, good.
Alex has deaf neighbors.
I feel a lot safer there.
We can get up to some brew ha ha if the neighbors are deaf.
And hopefully there will be good company.
Hopefully there will be alcohol.
Well, just confirm there's alcohol in the next paragraph.
So apparently Dinglepuss is a little bit of a lush.
Pot.
Well, you know, you know, I just can't approve of anything that's a controlled substance like that, but games need to be creative.
It's sometimes art, you know, they need to break the rules.
You know, they've got that reactionary counter counter-societal revolutionary movies that where they smoke pot because they're free thinkers.
They're independent spirits.
Now, oh, hopefully there'll be food.
Well, food's always good.
And you know what?
I think Dinglepuss has a bit of an oral fixation.
So, you know, deaf neighbors and food.
Okay, good.
I like this.
I like this.
And it's interesting how you can change what Dinglepuss is thinking by clicking these terms.
So, alright, go inside.
You enter, and before you can even ask the greeter, says, Just leave your shoes on.
I'm Stacy.
She seems friendly.
Dinglepuss, you say.
A man joins Stacy and puts his arm around her.
Oh, geez, that's see mate guarding?
It seems a little bit aggressive.
Hey, I'm Max, he says.
If you don't mind me asking, what pronouns do you prefer?
Oh, excellent.
Okay, so we get to choose pronouns here.
Now this is understand, this is saying what the gender of Dinglepus is, not what their actual sex is, because as we all know, sex and gender are two entirely separate things.
So let's see.
Well, we've got he, and well, like I said, I don't want to be a cis shit white male.
So she, well, you know, a bit more interesting.
Women are certainly more diverse than men, but I think we can do better.
Z.
Now, Z is a really interesting term.
That first showed up in science fiction.
Like, if you're talking about an artificial intelligence, it's not really going to have a sex.
So, you know, Z, Zem.
You know, interesting little science fiction thing, but, you know, they, yeah.
I think it's going to be Dinglepuss, Dinglepuss, and our headmates.
Let's join the party with our headmates.
So, so I prefer the pronoun they.
Wait, wait, what happens?
Friendly?
Oh, she seems upset.
That's probably because he the Max is forcing his arms around her, the rapist.
Anyway, they Awesome.
Come on in.
Hi, everyone.
This is Dinglepuss.
They're a friend of Alex.
No one pays much attention.
What do you mean nobody pays much attention?
You know, I've got the nose ring.
I've got half my head shaved off.
You know, me and my headmates are all competing to get out there.
They don't even pay much attention.
Anyway, immediately before you is an open living room space.
A large group of people, Alex's co-workers probably, sit around on couches and chairs talking loudly about their work.
Yeah, a little nitpick that should be speaking loudly about their work.
But this was put together in twelve hours, so they're talking about their work.
Against one wall is a table of drinks and snacks.
To your left is the kitchen.
There's a smaller group there away from the noise.
You recognize a couple of them from descriptions you've heard from Alex.
Friends, a close-knit group of queens.
Of queers.
Alright, queers, queens.
Yeah, we got all sorts of Alex's party.
It's a very diversity sort of thing that we've got going on right here.
So a door leads out to a small porch in the dying sunlight, a lone figure standing on it.
From where you are, it's hard to see where Alex is.
And Alex is the only person you know here.
Time to start looking.
Okay, well, Alex, where are you?
You know, well, most of the people seem to be in the living room.
They've got the kitchen, the porch.
Well, let's go to the living room.
This is certainly where the bulk of the noise is coming from.
Alex's co-workers lounge drunkenly, probably glad for the chance, let their hair down around each other.
You know, as long as there's no date rape happening, this could be a lot of fun.
These are clearly peers.
No bosses to be careful around.
And could I just say this?
This phrasing is so elegant, it's like poetry.
I just can't believe he would say that, one says.
I mean, in the middle of a meeting?
What's the big deal?
Another responds.
He didn't mean anything by it.
Yeah, but it's a little offensive.
You can't just talk about women like that.
Ooh.
Ooh.
Wait, we've got women.
Gay people.
Yep, you shouldn't talk about gay people like that either.
And or transgenders.
You should not talk about them like that.
You know, like this.
People can take a lot of offense at this point, you know?
You don't want to label them.
Anyway, so let's see.
So you approach the group to better hear what they're talking about.
I think they prefer trans people, a tall woman seated on the couch says.
It has something to do with not specifically referencing what kind of transition they're in.
Folks, do you see how this game's already educating you?
I guess that makes sense, someone seated next to her says.
Really?
I don't think any of this makes sense, says a white cis shit, racist, homophobic man across from them.
I mean, if people want to swap genders or genitals, it's their right, but But what, Barry?
The second one responds.
Barry, probably a white nationalist racial racist KKK member.
I just don't get it, Barry says, shaking his head.
Well, do you get like calling a trans person a he is not okay?
The tall woman fires back.
Fucking hell, Kimberly.
Oh, that's dude, you don't don't swear at women.
That's transphobic.
It was clearly a joke.
It was offensive, Darrell.
It wasn't necessary, and it certainly wasn't funny.
Jesus, it's not that big of a deal, Darryl says.
Daryl, like Darryl, please, you know, you're obviously not diversity.
You need to be stopping such a hate speech.
Anyway, surprising everyone, including yourself, you speak up.
It's a big deal, Joker Nat.
Besides, Alex was pretty key in the invitation.
This is supposed to be a safe space.
Alex is an ally and wouldn't be okay with this kind of talk.
Show some respect.
So alright, oh, he doesn't what maybe he's an enemy?
Oh, Alex is a trans.
Okay, okay, what else?
Alex is a lesbian.
See, now, all of you patriarchal hate speeches out there, you thought, well, Alex is a boy's name.
You know what?
Alex can be the name of a lesbian as well.
So stop hating.
Several people look shocked as the group turns to look at where the remark came from.
Oh, Barry says quietly.
We had no idea.
You decide it's best to keep looking for Alex.
Yeah, I think this doesn't feel like a safe space.
Let's walk away.
So we're back in the living room, and oh, look at look at this.
So the first time around we had three options, right?
Now we only have two.
This is one of the really interesting gameplay mechanics that you see is when is when your actions, without you even realizing it, affect the gameplay.
For instance, the video game Five Nights at Freddy's, which is a very simple jump scare game about, you know, you're checking the security cameras and these robot Chucky Cheese mannequins are going to come eat you, and you have to keep the clut the doors anytime they come close.
But what really makes this game wonderful is that your actions when you're checking the security screen, that affects what the robots are going to do.
But it never tells you how exactly your actions are going to affect the robots.
And so you're already pretty paranoid because of these robots coming to get you, and so your brain now is trying to figure out the patterns, trying to figure out how to predict this.
And because you don't know the exact interaction between your actions and how that affects the robots, your brain is going to start seeing patterns that aren't there, which just makes you more paranoid and more jumpy.
A brilliant gameplay process.
And obviously, label makers doing the same thing here.
It's to help you understand what diversity really is.
So we've already been living room.
It takes away that option because that's what happens to diversity people is they're always having their options taken away by cis shit white males.
So alright, let's go.
Well let's go to the kitchen.
Then the person on the porch probably wants some time alone.
Let's go to the kitchen.
The handful of people in here run the gamut of appearance gender expressions and orientations.
Well I how do we I guess I guess we're we have third person omniscient because like how do we really know you know like we don't want to label people Just because like a man's dressed like a lady, it doesn't mean that he's gay.
You know, so I I have to assume this is a third person omniscient narrator, because it would be irresponsible for a first person narrator to assume that they know somebody's sexual orientation.
If their coupling is any indication.
Yeah, well, you know what?
Maybe they're just cuddling.
You know, maybe you shouldn't judge people based upon who they're making out with.
Okay, like just because two dudes are making out that does not mean they're gay.
They might be other kin.
You know, they might actually be lesbians trapped in men's bodies.
So yeah, don't hate.
Definitely a queer group of friends.
I think we can all agree that this is a very queer group of friends.
You feel at home, comma, suddenly.
Here's a Dara Belashley, says one, his dark hair covering one eye.
Oh, oh, her dark hair covers.
See, because it doesn't matter whether it's a he or a she or a bunch of headmates.
It doesn't matter.
People are just people, you know, as long as they're not hateful.
He's the cutest trans gay boy, uh bi boy trans boy I've ever met.
A boy blushes.
A girl blushes.
An alpaca blushes.
Because see, just because you're born a human does not mean that you're a human on the inside.
Who else brought a throat?
I hope it works out.
Oh hey, a petite girl says.
You're Dinglepuss, right?
I saw you come in.
Alex has talked about you.
You two are old friends, right?
You two are dating.
See, like when you transcend the patriarchal norms of committed relationships, you know, you can be old friends and you can be dating and you can date other people.
Yeah, the world's your oyster.
So Dinglepuss, you know, you're not.
Nico was just talking about Ashley's new boyfriend.
Ooh, that's pretty patriarchal.
His parents didn't know he's gay yet, though.
Ashley says.
Oh, okay, okay, so that's alright.
Ashley is clearly a boy.
So alright, she has a boyfriend.
That's very that's very transgressive.
That's very rebellious.
You know, this isn't a patriarchal girl being oppressed by a boyfriend.
That would be bad.
But this is a this is this is a boy with a girl's name because he's diversity.
He or she, obviously.
I don't know how they express their gender identity.
Labels are for clothes man, Nico says.
Maybe it's not safe for him to come out, the peak teeth girl says.
It isn't always the best thing to do.
No, I know, just makes things potentially more complicated, but I'm here to support him.
Ah, you're so adorable.
Yeah, it's all men, all men want to be adorable.
Or but maybe Nico's the alpaca, I'm not sure.
Sorry, the peak teeth girl says to you.
Don't mean exclude you.
Oh, you know what?
It's so nice because we don't this is supposed to be inclusive.
And so now Dinglepuss is ready to speak.
It's okay, just looking for Alex And we're back okay, so that was a nice little junt.
Now who's this lonely person on the porch?
It's getting cool outside, but there's still some light in the sky.
A smoker stands on the porch.
Oh, oh, a non-smoker, you know, because not all everybody that goes out for a smoke is necessarily a smoker.
You know, and this non-smoker has a gently smoking cigarette in one hand, but that's okay.
That's good.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
The cigar um the cigar is a little bit like a big penis.
I find that offensive.
Um there we go.
So a non-smoker stands on the porch gently smoking a cigarette in one hand.
A gently smoking cigarette.
The cigarette is smoking itself, you know?
Yeah, because again, diversity.
You can't tell a cigarette that it's an object that gets smoked.
Some cigarettes smoke themselves.
Hey, you know, like that dingle puss we're coming out of our shell.
So hey he looks at you and coughs violently.
Hey, sorry, I don't usually do this.
Have you ever seen Alex?
You ask?
He shakes his head.
No, sorry, man.
I feel guilty about the smoking thing.
I keep thinking he must really be judging me right now.
Alright, you know what?
It's yeah, judging that's no good.
If you if you're a guy, if you're a non-smoker that likes to have cigarettes that smoke themselves, nobody should judge you.
So you know, should we stay silent?
But you know what?
So many people stay silent.
It's like just, you know, look at feminism.
How many feminist charities are there supported by multi-million dollar Hollywood celebrities?
You know, like two, maybe three.
You know, it's up to us little people to speak up because there isn't a giant industrial complex of quote unquote charity supporting the diversity movement.
So let's be good.
It's they.
You know, don't you don't you judge my headmates?
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm terrible at this.
Now I'm even more embarrassed.
It's okay, you say.
Anyway, he seems quick to change the subject.
Oh, seems uncomfortable.
Alex has been in and out.
I don't know her very well.
I'm here with a friend.
Alex is Alex is a lesbian.
Yeah, get a straight hater.
Oh, I didn't realize.
I'm sorry.
I'm Brendan.
All right, Brendan.
Well, listen, you'd better stop being so hateful.
You know, this is a safe space.
Anyway, he pauses awkwardly, then says, I think I need a drink now.
Brendan rubs out the cigarette.
Oh, okay, rubs rubs out the cigarette.
Yeah, that's an interesting phrasing.
I've never you know, that when you can introduce new terms, like you really are a Shakespeare of the written word when you add new terms to the English language.
Rubbing out a cigarette.
That's what I'm not going to call it butting out because butting is offensive because if some people maybe they like butts or maybe they don't have a butt, so rubs out a cigarette, far more sensitive.
So you know, he nods at you and heads back inside.
Alex must be somewhere else.
You follow Brendan back into the warmth and noise of the apartment.
Oh, that's a little bit Freudian, but let's keep going.
As you look around the party, somewhat helplessly, you finally see a familiar face.
Alex is coming down the hall towards you.
Hi, you say, relieved.
I don't know anyone here.
Well, yeah, didn't Alex tell you that you don't know anyone here?
You know what?
This is probably one of Dinglepuss' headmates coming out.
So but Alex doesn't look happy.
Did you out me to my co-workers?
At these, you say.
And I'm sorry.
Sorry.
Dinglepus, that is not cool.
My life is going to be hell now.
What were you thinking?
I was trying to stand up for you.
Alex shakes their head.
I need a drink.
And Wow Wow.
Guys, you know, like it's this type of innovative storytelling.
Like the old choose your adventure, choose your own adventure novels.
They would always force you to take one of three choices and that you get a different story each time.
You know, but this just fits into the white cis shit hate male perspective.
You know, like the false, you know, I'm the captain of my soul, master of my fate.
No, no, in a society based upon hate and patriarchy, things always end up in the same place.
And you don't really have any choices if you're a diversity.
If you're a diversity, you always get crushed.
And you always out your your non-cis, transnormative friends, their co-workers.
You know, you you should not be outing people at safe spaces, because uh safe space means that everybody everybody gets to be super, super sensitive and nobody gets hurt.
So, you know, I I hope you you've learned a little something.
I think we all have.
This is obviously an educational game.
And uh any of you game developers out there who watch this, well, try and pick up a thing or two from this game, because I think uh you know it's it's innovations like this which really drive the game industry forward.
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