Hello Kitty is apparently the 'weapon of choice' when it comes do de-horrifying the horror genre. The comic-strip Hello Cthullu mixes the twisted universe of Hello Kitty with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthullu mythos.

Personally, I alwas wondered about who Velvet-Strike were reaching with their manifesto. I mean if you're joining a game with players who are 20-40-something then, yes, the demo may have a point - although you'll probably get kick-banned faster than you can say 'Make love not war'. However if you join a game occupied with 10-12 year old Danish kids, who're playing the game at their local afterschool club, and who by the way hardly speak (read or write) a word of English, you're severely hampered in your attempt to protest.

I wonder, though, which trope is being gamed. In the case of velvet strike, it was straightforward - in this case, the appearance of cutely banal tinges it with horror, perhaps more than it dilutes the gothic paranoia of the game.

There's a tradition in FPS' of "cute skins" used for ironic effect. "Dude, you just got railed by smurf." Having waded knee-deep in the blood of Homer Simpson when playing Quake II, I don't think that kitsch and brutal horror have ever been antagonistic.

But, the whole point of Hello Kitty is that she doesn't do anything. She can't frag. She doesn't have a mouth. She enacts no verbs whatsoever. Isn't that the beauty of Hello Kitty over Smurf or Homer Simpson? I think Hello Kitty's function inside of Doom 3 is completely uncompromised. Doom is her bitch, if you will. She brought that to iD's house.

annoying. i don't play doom, but i'd hate to turn the corner and find hello kitty there. no originality. this is a brand without a product? why is everyone walking around with hello kitty designs in our commodity world. she comfortably, blankly exists in both worlds. it's a brandname in a brandname game. it actually goes nowhere, a flat surface. and why not at least have a sense of humor? for instance buddah's a better choice for juxaposition. at least it'd feel like it don't belong while making a pun: video games + recreational drugs.

Although tore vesterby has a strong criticism, i like the intentions of velvet strike. they have a sense of humor + originality. i think the movies on their website probably help their cause more than seeing the quick agitprop while caught up in the game's diegetic.

this topic also reminds me of Shepard Fairey's Obey Giant, which exists in public space. His was a brand without a product at first- a fake advertisement/ graffiti. he's probably made plenty of money off it by now. the point is that at least stencil art and poster art is something you could get arrested doing. hello kitty in a video game points out there is no property damage. it's programming + bad logo. the most relentless rules. no risk.

Zombie, I'm not sure what you mean with Hello Kitty being a brand without a product. Like you say, there are hordes of commodities out there. And yes it's a flat, empty brand with no story. Which is why it's such an interesting brand. It's been around for quite a while too. It was big in Japan in the mid 80's when I lived there, for instance.

One thing about Hello Kitty is that it can be thought of as the prime example of a 'girly-girl' brand. It's fuzzy, cuddly and down right annoyingly cute, which is why I think the juxtaposition with Doom is quite stylish. It underlines an absurdness when it comes to brands and maybe even draws a parallel to the fact that both brands are in fact just that.

My critique of Velvet Strike is not that I don't appreciate the humor at all. I think Velvet Strike is both funny and thought provoking. And is a good example of the problems raised over at Idle Thumbs. I just wonder if they were conscious of their target audience when staging the 'protests' or if they picked random CS-games to protest in. Also if their actions are more effective 'out-game', why even use a game as the staging platform?

tore wrote: "Zombie, I'm not sure what you mean with Hello Kitty being a brand without a product"

i didn't make that phrase up (read the orignial Doom 3 gets cute post), but while we're at it- what's the big deal with a brand without a story? it's just design. mass produced style. it doesn't juxtapose, it's just a pose. an advertisement.

also i got your critique on velvet strike but wanted to add a few more thoughts on how they actually have more than mere style- politics + sense of humor (you got 1, 2). yes, their actions are more effective 'out game', but recording live gameplay creates documentary proof. taggers do the same thing. video is the index.

velvet strike's manifesto is kinda murky when they try to relate video games to reality, but they clearly want to end military violence in games. \actually velvet strike'd probably like a hello kitty game. then it's game over. nothing left to talk about. we're just playing in the corporate imaginary, and everywhere a "annoyingly cute product" to live and die around..

Velvet-Strike is a disruptive commentary. It seeks to disrupt the violence of the deathmatch game, to defamiliarize players with its

But the Hello Kitty Flashlight ... it just ADDS to the perverse experience of Doom 3. Hello Kitty may be cute, but she's not pacificst cute. I don't think cuteness keeps her on this side of the threshold of grotesqueness in Doom 3. Players aren't putting Hello Kitty in Doom to destroy or mutilate her, nor to destroy or mutilate Doom; they're doing it to use her figure as a utility in the game. Contrast this with Velvet-Strike, whose purpose is to disrput or upset the game.

That's what I mean by a "brand without a product": Hello Kitty is a figure who preconceived her life as a licensed product, and proffers a use value that takes surprising forms. Cuteness and deviousness encircle her: Hello Kitty vibrators, Hello Kitty Doom flashlights.

zombiegluesniffer wrote: "...but recording live gameplay creates documentary proof. taggers do the same thing. video is the index. "

That's a very good point, which taggers here in Copenhagen use too. However if they tag the local schoolyard with political statements, are they really reaching who they want to reach? Perhaps, in a sort of 'viral marketing' way: "Dad, I saw in the school yard that our government is torturing prisoners. What are we gonna do about it?"

Also you wrote: everywhere a "annoyingly cute product" to live and die around..

Ever been shopping in downtown Tokyo? ;) We're lucky the Japanese economy peaked when it did. Hello Kitty and Pokemon are just the tips of the icebergs of 'orribly annoying cute products.

Thanks though both for clearing up the brand without a product issue. I knew I was missing something.