Dap is one of those interesting words with numerous meanings. We have yet to find a real reason to use the first meaning in the online environment, but we’ll eventually find the reason. Dap is basically a fist-on-fist greeting used to show respect. Back in the 1990s, we’d say “give me some dap” all the time, but the word eventually faded from common use. The online meaning for dap or d.a.p. happens to be “dumb ass person”, which is probably the form of the word we could still use on a daily basis. For example, “Jack Thompson is a d.a.p.”. The above image shows the future President of the United States giving his wife some dap. Sorry McCain, but we already know you lost. We’re really not sorry, but it sounded like the right thing to say.

The definition of “dap” according to The Free DIctionary obviously has nothing to do with the urban slang form of the word we use. It’s just simply a cool word and we’d like to bring it back.

dap (dp)

intr.v. dapped, dap·ping, daps

1. To fish by letting a baited hook fall gently onto the water.

2. To dip lightly or quickly into water, as a bird does.

3. To skip or bounce, especially over the surface of water.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: basis, Dap, day, environment, form, greeting, Jack Thompson, meaning, Obama, Online, person, reason, respect, time, Use, water, word

Those of you waiting for the upcoming SOCOM: Confrontation should be glad to know that you can take part in the beta starting September 1, according to the game’s official website. A pre-order at GameStop (only a five-er is needed) will get you in and “Qore” subscribers can head into the trenches on September 8 through the 30th.

The series was once helmed by developer Zipper, but they have sinced moved on to create the epic-scale 256-person shooter, Massive Action Game (MAG for short), revealed at Sony’s E3 2008 press conference. From what we’ve seen, though, Confrontation seems to be in able hands. And if it turns out to be a dud, just cancel the pre-order. Keep your receipt! Those Gamestop employees can be quite sensitive when dealing with cancellations…

Via SOCOM website

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: action, beta, Confrontation, developer, game, Gamestop, MAG, person, Qore, September, series, shooter, SOCOM, Website, Zipper

[Editor's Note: In the first part of our two part interview with Ragnhild Mogren, teacher at Stockholm University, we specifically discuss the Resident Evil 5 trailer, why historical baggage can never be divorced from certain imagery and ask what it means to live in the "global village".]

What do we see when we play videogames? What implications do games have on our society, and do games get a free pass because they’re “just games”?

Riding on the wave that is the Resident Evil 5 debacle about racism and culture understandings about mediums that we consume every day, we spoke to Ragnhild Mogren, teacher at the educational programme Multimedia Education - Technology at Stockholm university, about these issues to figure out why not just gamers, but our entire society, should care about what games are portraying and contributing to our culture.

What does a person with no understanding of the Resident Evil franchise, as a game series, think about this piece of film? When asked about what feelings and emotions that comes up just from the trailer alone, Mogren’s response is quite clear.

- If I should interpret this trailer from a hermeneutic perspective, that my previous understanding and knowledge plays a huge part in what I actually see here, then this piece of film is very racist.

Her arguments echo the words of N’Gai Croal and his MTV Multiplayer blog interview, that there are images in this trailer that are perfectly sound to be concerned about.

- This trailer says to me that the black people here are portrayed as Neanderthals, quite frankly. This white figure, on the other hand, is very good looking in terms of the norms and rules of what a good looking man is supposed to look like in our society, even if it’s completely unrealistic. The trailer shows political power in that it presents a sense of historical colonial suppression.

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written by Jesper Sellerberg \\ tags: Africa, Chris Redfield, Evil, fact, Features, game, Gender, Interview, part, person, perspective, Racism, Ragnhild Mogren, Resident, society, South Africa, Stockholm, teacher, Today, Trailer, university

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With the new maps coming out, we’ll probably be getting in some heavy Halo 3 hours this week. We’ve been a little burnt out on the game lately, so there’s nothing better than new maps to freshen things up a bit. Unfortunately, Halo has always been a love-hate relationship for some of us going back to the original game. We simply love the game, and hate many of the types of gamers it attracts. These types of gamers apply to most other games as well.

Here’s a rundown of the types of gamers we despise running into:

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written by Will Snizek \\ tags: Annoying, bit, CTF, game, guy, Halo, match, nothing, opposition, person, rank, something, Team, time, voice