Wil Wheaton (and his GTA obsession) profiled in GEEK.
Bonnie Burton interviews actor, author, gamer, and geek-er Wil Wheaton in this month's edition of GEEK. Snip:
Geek: (...) I need to know how far you’ve gotten in Grand Theft Auto IV.Wil Wheaton [ Geek Blog / Geek Magazine. Disclaimer: I have been profiled there previously. ]Wil Wheaton: I haven’t been playing GTA IV that long since the game came out—maybe five hours so far. My progress meter is at like eight percent or something like that. I’ve gotten to a point where the story took a rather shocking and unexpected twist. The character that you control in the game is a very conflicted guy with a pretty complicated and dark history. The guy is more real and has more depth to him than any of the other characters I’ve controlled in GTA. Until last night, I may have played one or two story missions to advance the game, but I really just spend the rest of my time driving around and crashing into cars. I drive cars until they catch on fire. I like to go driving through the parks and hit the pedestrians. I’ve noticed a couple of things like if you’re going really fast and you hit a wall or a tree something like that you’ll fly through the front windshield of the car. So I drove really fast down the wrong side of the street on the expressway and hit a car head-on, and the driver shot through the windshield and landed on the hood of my car. That level of detail is just remarkable. But it suddenly felt weird just driving around the city mowing down pedestrians.
Has it started to warp your sense of reality when you’re stuck in traffic yet?
I hate driving. I absolutely despise it. I particularly hate driving in Los Angeles. I’ll be out somewhere with my wife and point out things, and tell her if this was Grand Theft Auto we wouldn’t have to sit here like this. We could just drive over that median.
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Well, it fits...Wil is Just a Geek. Said so himself, he did.
And a marvelous geek he is, too.
I'm sorry, I've suddenly gone all "Bert the chimney sweep" and I've no idea why.
Back when Doom was big I spent an unhealthy amount of time in that world. One evening driving through downtown Atlanta I caught myself scanning -- completely automatically -- the high-rise condos and watching out of the corner of my eyes for incoming fireballs.
#3 - My first similar experience is when I realized I had been 'tetris-eyesed'.
You know just what I mean, you can even hear the music if you just listen......
Wil Wheaton became one of my heroes with his keynote at PAX in 2007 (link) and watching it even then it's clear he's a GTA fan. Totally worth a watch.
I forgave Wil Wheaton for Wesley Crusher a long time ago - he's too cool to stay mad at :-)
(Just imagine it in the voice of Patrick Stewart):
Warp nine, Mr. Crusher.
@TEKNA2007, I know what you mean - I was mainlining one of the Spyro: A Hero's Tail (I have a thing for G-rated platform games, sue me :-)) and was walking to work one day and noticed a tree stump with a crack in it. I actually caught myself thinking that if I headbutted it, it would break and gems would come out. Similarly, I'm playing Ratchet and Clank right now and have to suppress the urge to smash streetlights on the offchance that valuable bolts will come out.
I think it's time to put down the controller...
I just want a binary scarf too.
Interesting tidbit not in the article:
One of the co-creators of the Video Toaster is Brad Carvey, Dana Carvey's brother and the inspiration for Garth Algar in Wayne's World.
I just realized... the photo at the top of the post. What's up with it? The cutoff of the top of his hair, and those sideburns? Is will slowly becoming Elvis?
Sorry, I meant to say "Wil" not "will". Me not type so good this time of night.
Ah, Wil Wheaton. I loves him. That's really all I have to say.
The reality-warping comment reminds me of an article about people who had started playing Myst saying that they were thinking about whether they could click on a manhole cover and had to realize that they had nothing to click with and in fact, were not currently playing the game.
s/Disclaimer/Disclosure/
I admit to writing Wil a fan letter when I first saw him on Star Trek -- wowee, a kid my age talking back to the Captain! I basically told him he was awesome. A month or so later, I got a note in the mail with membership details for his fanclub, WILPOWER! For a *cough* small fee, I'd get a signed photo, some wallet-size photos, and the WILPOWER! newsletter. Aww, man.
I was surprised and amazed that he turned out to be a really cool, geeky guy. Maybe seeing his own picture on a WILPOWER! shirt was a look into the dark side.
I agree re: GTA4, as well. Amazing game, but the level of realism makes rampant murder a little painful at times.
He seems like a pretty cool guy.
Cory should interview him.
Captain Picard:
Acting Captain Wesley Crusher?!
Funny the Star Trek thing, I saw an adult woman who was the head security officer just saying "Yes sir", playing a bit part, while a fourteen year old boy saved the universe. The scenario was repeated over and over and I lost interest in the show. It wasn't for me. It was for boys and former boys and white ones at that. Not the edgiest of demographics. Not that I'm blaming Wheaton for that.
Yeah, video games creeping into reality.
I remember being playing SimCity through a bad case of the flu, and when I finally got out and about again, everywhere I drove, all I could think about was the traffic model, Well sure, it is congested here. Widening the road and putting in more lanes never helps! Couldn't the damn planners have seen that coming?
With all due respect, Pipenta, I am neither a boy nor a former boy (though I am white) and I loved Star Trek and Star Trek TNG.
And while my heart really belonged to Worf (I heart bad boys), I will always be a little bit in love with Wesley Crusher.
That Wil Wheaton has grown up to be so damned geeklicious is the icing on the cake.
I kinda liked Star Trek for about a year, but after that it just came across like soap operas in space. Q, the Borg, and the whole military feel of it just got tedious after a while. I'd have to agree with PIPENTA, seems like the Starfleet Academy is only accepting white guys (and a few aliens). And whenever civilians were encountered they behaved like helpless peasants. Not that I'm some pc freak that was offended by this. It just seems like given the current demographics of the US military having 90% white guys on the cast is a gaping plot hole.
That said Wil is pretty cool.
I don't want anyone to think I have an issue with Mr. Wheaton. He seems like a stand up guy. I just couldn't watch that show because I had hoped for more.
Ms. McGee,
I'm glad you got enjoyment from the show. For me it was more like this:
See Dick run.
See Jane sit.
See Jane watch Dick.
See Jane get a crush on Dick.
In every book. On every channel. Because that is all that is allowed, all that is promoted, all that is produced, all that is marketed.
See Fluff hWorf up a hairball on the rug.
I'm not saying I'm holier than thou. I watched the first version of Star Trek when I was about thirteen. But in those days the women on the show were secretaries, nurses or switchboard operators/receptionists. It was the sixties. Ah well.
But twenty years goes by and one hoped that a sexist horndog like Roddenberry would have grown up a little bit. So when we had a new show with a woman security officer, I was rather excited about it. But she might as well have been a receptionist. She was allowed to do nothing. G.R.'s ego issues would not permit that. Sure there women on the show with more major roles. They were allowed to counsel, to bartend (which amounted to much the same thing.) they were emotional caregivers, looking after the egos of the men. That's worse than the Marvel Comic universe of my youth, where men were men and had active skills while women had passive skills (vanishing, protective force fields) but at least weren't all about playing emotional Florence Nightengale to the menfolk.
See Dick stroke himself.
You enjoyed watching it because you were content to watch the boys do. When you projected yourself into the scenario, it was in romantic context. That was what was encouraged, endorsed, allowed.
With all due respect, and I'm not throwing a lot of heavy emotionality into this, just observing, just speculating, with all due respect, based on your choice of screenname, you are content with the assigned traditional roles. Some of us were not content with the limited roles women were offered. We'd like the options of women taking active roles, plz, even in our entertainment.
See Ripley turn on the flame thrower.
See Ripley kick ass.
See Jane smile.
That's some pretty wild speculation, there, Pipenta.
Your assumptions about my enjoyment of Star Trek and my screen name are flat wrong, and though I have no interest in digging in on this, I feel called out and thus compelled to respond.
I was raised by a hardcore second generation feminist, and am and always have been a feminist, myself. I was a Riot Grrrl in the early nineties (while watching TNG, mind you), am a card-carrying NOW member, blog frequently about feminist issues, and find it a little offensive that you assume that because I call myself Tits McGee, I am content with traditional gender roles.
I enjoyed watching Star Trek because space exploration makes me giddy. Yeah, I love me some Ripley, too. Am I to reject all sci fi where the protagonist isn't female or the cast isn't diverse? Name the space-related television show or movie, I've seen it. One can watch something critically and still enjoy it. Hell, I watched The Music Man with my daughter on July 4th and spent most of it having to explain shit like why everyone was white, why all the women were wearing dresses, and what an "old maid" was. That didn't keep us from enjoying all the fun singing and dancing.
I could go on, but given the original topic of this post, it feels off base. It makes me sad that you were so quick to judge me, Pipenta, given your obvious dislike of stereotyping, and I'd like to invite you over to my blog for further discussion. Second and third generation feminists butt heads too often over things that, in my humble opinion, distract from the real conversation. You and I may have much more in common than you think.
Also, for the record, as I write this, my daughter is sitting next to me playing with a spaceship she just made out of Play-Doh. "3-2-1 BLASTOFF!!!"
While a lot of geeks perhaps don't really want a spokesperson, and Wil is probably not wanting to be that particular 'spokesperson' being a geek himself and thus not really wanting one, we could do a lot worse. This interview shows this more than probably any other I have seen with him.
Well said Tits.
(that felt funny, coming out of my keyboard)
#4 MHLAXP
Thanks for the PAX link, I really enjoyed Wil's talk. I hadn't heard of him since TNG, and am amazed I didn't realize he was in Stand By Me (et al) until now, doh!
He is a funny, upfront and intelligent guy, and I'm really glad I've had the chance to rediscover him after all these years.
Wil,
Burt and Dick Rutan called.
They want their sideburns back.
Re: Pipenta
ST:TNG may not have been as progressive as you would have liked, but ST:Voyager had an ass kicking female captain, and ST:DS9 had plenty of strong women. Roddenberry and his ego were involved with those in some way I imagine.
Granted, Voyager also had Jeri Ryan in spandex... so there's one step forward and one step back. But at least she kicked ass too, by usually being the strongest and smartest 'person' aboard.
Enough of this Trekish Asshattery! Let's get back to the sideburns and Glamour Magazine's take on Wil's fashion sense!. (thank you Fark)
See Also: http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3716606
Wil Wheaton wearing the Clown Sweater gets into Glamour Magazine Fashion Do's and Don'ts, hijinx++ ensue
MDHATTER,
I was too burned out, too heartbroken by the time ST:DS9 came around. The N.G. bummed me out, as did the movies with the treatment of female Vulcan character. I saw the ads for the show, saw the female Captain. I even figured there was a chance they finally got it right, but by then I was just too toasty on the whole business. And also we were starved for any science fiction on the screen (big or small) back in the day, by the time ST:DS9 came out, we were awash in it. And by golly, some of it was good! So I gave it a pass. Did I make a mistake? Hmmm, I'll have to give it a try next time I get the chance.
And I have no problem with spandex on thems who can make it look good, not at all. Though to quote a line from Hackers, "Spandex is a privilege, not a right." ;)
McGee,
Do I jump to conclusions and stereotype people who call themselves "Tits"? Yep. You betcha. Guilty as charged. It's a dance, taking terms like that and attempting to empower yourself by using them in a new context. Sometimes it works (I'm thinking of "Bitch" magazine), sometimes it is problematic, say in the case of blacks using the term nigger. In any event, the assumption is not out of line that the name is chosen to be provocative, be it in the come-hither or political way or some funky way that has not occurred to me.
But to pick the name and then call foul when someone makes assumptions on shows some fuzzy thinking.
I just hope you didn't name that little girl of yours "Tits".
This is Reality
You are here(?)
This is TV
As in, will you all knock it off? I'm sure there's some Star Trek discussion group you can carry this to.
@ Pipenta - Would you prefer Knockers McDonald? Boobs McClanahan? Look, what I objected to was your assumption that my choice of handle implied that I give a big thumbs-up to traditional gender roles. That's just silly. Like I said, if you want to discuss this further, join me at my place. You are welcome anytime.
@ Holtt - Indeed. Consider the subject gladly changed. And OHMYGOD thank you sooooooo much for the link to the Glamour thread. That shit is so full of win, I just don't even know where to start. (Is it wrong if I admit that I think the sideburns are bitchin', though?)
Pipenta, I think you are wa-ay out, assuming to know Tit's motivations for her nickname, or trying to presume an allowance to prejudge her life based on her nick.
My assumption: If a man presumed anything about you on the strength of your name (or outward appearance) you would also call foul.
Nobody likes it, don't do it.
Hey, Tits. You an Anchorman fan?
The reality-warping comment reminds me of an article about people who had started playing Myst saying that they were thinking about whether they could click on a manhole cover and had to realize that they had nothing to click with and in fact, were not currently playing the game.
What about when you literally begin to hear tones of music as though you are approaching something important- when you ARE approaching something important, say something lost?
I've experienced that and the click-desire. It's disturbing. I Myst in my dreams.
@ Tenn - I do believe that is the one thing a person can safely assume from my screen name, yes. :)
Now I'm off to knit myself a binary scarf!
Pipenta - "Spandex is a privilege, not a right."
I wanted to add something like that, but didn't want to sound like I was taunting you. Voyager was pretty OK, but I recommend taking a pass on DS9. ;)
@34. The Click Impulse is a good name for a band*. The right people would understand. When reading conventional non-hyper text I frequently feel the impulse to select/search on some unfamiliar item or click on a proper noun for more info on the entity. This happens a lot with magazines, especially if the writer's doing a substandard job with background.
The impulse happens in other ways. I often have the urge to look at some irrelevant phenomenon, like a heart arrhythmia to take a recent example, on an oscilloscope. I spend so much time in my shop looking at signals visually that my first urge when something mysterious happens is to get it on the 'scope and have a peek. Except my chest doesn't have electrical contacts. Ditto cicadas, whose spectra I would like to know but they're 60 feet up in the spruce tree and they're bugs.
*But not as good as Blazing Fire Truck.
That's a good photo of Wil, at the top of the post here. Couldn't you see him in a 1970's suit, puffing a cigarette and talking about the details of the crime scene?
Eh, maybe not. I'm just sayin'. Rock on, Wil.
MDHatter #26 -- Gene Roddenberry died in 1991. Deep Space 9 premiered in '93, and Voyager in '95, so Roddenberry probably wasn't much involved in either show, unless the producers used a ouija board.
Avram, was that a sneaky reference to The Council of Nine, or just an innocent remark?
If you don't know, read this book: The Stargate Conspiracy. In fact, any Star Trek fans out there should read it, as it talks about Roddenberry and his life and influences, and some MAD shit to do with aliens and ESP/remote sensing.
Your remark above is so, so close to the truth, it's funny :)
I used to get anxious every time I saw an uppercase L on my screen, and would run away from squirrels unless I had my sword with me.
More seriously, I have noticed over the last 10 years or so that driving on the freeway has come more & more to resemble driving games - people weaving in & out of traffic at high speed, accelerating suddenly to dart between cars, merging in to spaces barely large enough to fit there vehicle in to & forcing other drivers to slam on brakes, etc. I see a lot of this behavior from guys that look to be in their 20s. I think it may actually be the influence of driving video games. Thing is, if you hit my bumper at 65 MPH in real life, we're both likely to end up in a heap in the middle of the road, not just bounce off & keep going.
Thanks for posting my interview with Wil!
He's a blast to talk to! If any of you see him at conventions, strike up a conversation!
By the way, here's a photo of Wil I took for the print magazine interview as well that I think someone of you will appreciate:
http://flickr.com/photos/bonniegrrl/2506766128/
I picked up a copy of GEEK magazine about a year or two ago when it was new. Terrible, terrible magazine full of lame attempts at humor (worse than most geeks' jokes) and annoying writing.
I was disappointed.
Has it gotten any better?
My experience has been that the problem of humor lies in the reception, not the transmission.