The Banana Peel Project

I started The Banana Peel Project for a variety of reasons. I wanted a forum whose format and public visibility would motivate me to develop my writing, to articulate nebulous new ideas, and to share with my friends and colleagues some of the things that I think are so cool. Clearly, I think lots of things are cool. Thankfully, the very act of using category labels for my posts has made apparent that there are a few themes that appear more or less regularly in my posts: cybernetics, simulation, and video games.

Now, if you can correctly pronounce the title of this post, then you are probably no stranger to video game subculture. The verb “to pwn” is pronounced the same as “to own” and its definition and etymology can be found here.

I am most certainly what those in the world of high-tech marketing would call a “late adopter.” I am almost always one of the last people I know to jump on the x bandwagon, x being equal to cell phones, social networking, video games, blogs, or movies. The only thing that prevents me from being a “non-adopter” is that I tend to know what’s hot and usually do end up buying/doing/signing up for everything.

That said, I recently discovered Pure Pwnage, despite the fact that it’s been around since 2004 and has released fourteen episodes, the first twelve of which are actually available as a DVD boxed set. I swear, one day I’ll get excited about something legitimately new.

In the mean time, let it be said that Pure Pwnage is a self-conscious window into a subculture of gamers and geeks. The show and its characters have been nuclei around which a large community has condensed. In watching the series and browsing its forums, I’ve started to think about how the language, lifestyles, characterizations, realities and falsehoods of the series offer ways of understanding the dynamics of video gaming subculture.

Video gaming is an activity and a lifestyle that is deeply cybernetic in that people who identify themselves as gamers define themselves and the world in terms defined by the simulated world of video games.

Take a look at the site, watch a couple episodes, and I’ll be back with a few more thoughts on what I think video game subculture has to contribute to broader theories of technoculture.

Don’t be a n00b.