If the purpose of your upcoming trip, is to travel through one of the most chaotic country at the most disordered time, you are in fact, crazy. Throw that in with a good cause, you are on a thrilling mission, still crazy though. If that mission is for something bigger than yourself, like if you are trying to preserve the existence of traditional cultural games, then you are on a noble mission. Personally I would say worth the risk, only it is because I am not trying to destroy the one and only golden ring that could rule us all, and I won’t be risking myself turning into something beyond redemption.
My precious.
With what UNESCO and Tencent had in mind, a team of 16 members, smacked and packed, on their way to charge through the riotous storm in Brazil with their eyes on the prize; to preserve traditional culture games of Brazil by paying the local a warm visit.
The purpose
There will be a lot going on throughout the trip; from enjoying some lay-back Fresco ball (a.k.a Matkot) on the beach, to go on an all-in-Liam-Neeson-style rescues mission on saving traditional games, that are on the verge of vanish on the face of the Earth. So, before we start jumping our guns, let me walk you though the plan instead of finding your way in the dark.
(Insert flow chart from Seven)
With all that going on within 10 days, I’m already sweating like a pig inside out, even I’m writing this inside a room with a full-on air-conditioner, with the thermostat being set at 19 Celsius. It’s going to be frighting as well as awesome.
Open digital library for traditional games
Traditional games go Cloud
basically sums up the entire scope of the project, as well as the purpose of the trip. Although our mission isn’t to convert those information and upload to the digital library, we will still be gathering first-hand information, knowledge, and raw experiences from those who are still protecting their heritages.
To me, the concept of this project isn’t complicate at all, try and think of it as a open, and free version of Steam. Instead of loading the platform with massive productions like “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” or “No man’s sky” (which I still haven’t had the time to play, Gabriel, God of Steam please help me), it is loaded with information of traditional games around the globe. Instead of promoting sales from time to time, draining every single dime away from your wallet, this traditional game library is totally free of charge. The best part of this is that you no longer have to own a PC for you to enjoy the pleasure of playing the games.
All you need to do is to get outside and actually socialize with actual human beings.
Mission quote
In spite of the jokes that I made, the importance of this project should never be undermined. I admire every single ounce of effort that are being put into this project, it’s something valuable that we are all taking it for granted, and now UNESCO and Tencent are paying our debt.
Here is a quote of the mission statement on the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting in Paris back in 2003.
Recognizing that the processes of globalization and social transformation, alongside the conditions they create for renewed dialogue among communities, also give rise, as does the phenomenon of intolerance, to grave threats of deterioration, disappearance and destruction of the intangible cultural heritage, in particular owing to a lack of resources for safeguarding such heritage.
Instead of putting 500+ hours rushing B, or 1000+ hours of “how do you turn this on”, helping out with this project might be a better idea to get myself off that chair, and start contributing to the world that I am actually in.
What next
Right at this moment, we are still talking about things that are about to happen soon, we are only on the first few page of the story.
This is only the beginning.
