With thanks to BoingBoing, wanted to share a stabilized version of the infamous Bigfoot film.
Although I'd love to believe these sorts of creatures exist, I'm afraid this one looks far too much like a guy in a monkey suit for me to buy in. Ah well... there's always Nessie!
It's an interesting question... and a challenge the industry faces as user-generated content becomes more prevalent. Most people can agree on certain areas of content being "offensive"; racial, sexist, or exploitative content comes to mind. But I just saw an interesting post on Crispygamer.com which states that a user-generated boxer resembling Adolph Hitler is "the most downloaded user created character for EA's boxing game FaceBreaker".
The writer goes on to ask some interesting questions:
“Is it because people want to beat
the hell out of history’s most notorious demon, a man that epitomized evil and
wiped out millions? Or could this seemingly harmless user created character be
used as a way to promote antisemitism? Or perhaps we are reading way too much
into all this?”
I certainly don't pretend to know. However, what did catch my eye is that a piece of content that I would have personally assumed could easily be defined as "offensive" by the community might actually not be so in this context. Maybe people really do want to vote their opinion of this historical character by using it within a game? Who knows? But it highlights that the next few years are going to be really interesting as games continue to evolve their support for UGC. I'm looking forward to seeing LittleBigPlanet's support in action - they've obviously thinking about this for a while.
Found a link in my mail to Edge Online's "Oh. My. God!!!" article where they go through 50 of their favorite moments in gaming. This is obviously a subjective exercise, but I really enjoyed the article as it reminded me of some of my favorite moments. Those include:
- Final Fantasy VII - Aeris
- Ico - The relationship with Yorda
- Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - Going "insane"
- Knights of the Old Republic - Darth Revan revealed
- Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - Meeting Farah again at the end of the game
- Dead Rising - The lawnmower
- Bioshock - "Would you kindly"
- Call of Duty 4 - Shock and Awe
Fair warning - the article has what some might consider minor spoilers if you've never played the respective games. It's a tricky line to follow - at some point a storyline becomes well enough known that there really shouldn't be any hesitation about talking about spoiler points... everyone who watched Titanic pretty much knew the boat sunk at the end, right? Still, I tweaked my favorites above to not be as specific as the article.
I wish they'd caught a few of the really old school moments from games like Zork or King's Quest. "Count Leaves" or "Plugh" or learning to spell "Rumpelstiltskin" leap to mind... ah well.
[Update - Nicholas Puleo, Editor-in-Chief of Evil Avatar and founder of Co-Optimus.com has kindly agreed to step in and join the panel. Thanks Nick!]
Just wanted to let you all know that Rob and I will be participating on a panel at PAX next weekend. The topic is whether Casual Game influences are "killing" Core Games, and we've been able to get some great panelists together for the event. They include Mark Deloura (who previously managed Sony's developer relations for Playstation and PSP), Jane Pinkard (of GameGirlAdvance fame), and of course everyone's favorite actor-geek Wil Wheaton (aka Wesley from ST:TNG and the guy who did the PAX keynote last year.) N'Gai Croal of Newsweek/Level Up fame was also planning to join us, but unfortunately can't make it due to a conflict.
The panel will occur on Saturday, August 30th from 6:00 to 7:00 PM in the Raven Theater.
Panel description:
Is Casual Killing Core Games?
Are you annoyed because casual gamers and casual gaming mechanics are killing your favorite games? Are you too busy playing Puzzle Quest to care? Do you think casual gaming is finally culling the herd of outdated gaming sacred cows? Come and watch industry insiders, top press, and celebrities debate whether casual should be feared or embraced.
Moderator: Rob Gruhl, Senior Platform Strategist, Microsoft Game Platform Strategy Team
Panel Speakers:
N’Gai Croal, Newsweek Technology Writer and Blogger of Level Up (sadly no!) - Mark Deloura, CTO Greenleaf and ex Sony Devrel
- Jane Pinkard, GameGirlAdvance and Bizdev Foundation 9
- Wil Wheaton, Professional Geek, Actor, and Voice-over Artist… AKA the guy who did the keynote last year. ;)
- Andre Vrignaud, Senior Platform Strategist, Microsoft Game Platform Strategy Team
Should be a good time - hope to see any of you who might be at PAX!
Don't know about you, but my home theater rack and PC desk are a rat's nest of cabling that include joysticks, keyboards, mice, speakers, Ethernet, phone cords, USB, Firewire, and a variety of power strips, with a plethora of power cables (many of which have their own transformers and different plug sizes) all tangled with one another.
I've always dreamed of a wireless world where you simply put the device where you want it and it just works. There have been some good steps in that direction with the advent of wireless peripherals, and I'm looking forward to high-bandwidth wireless technologies that will allow the equivalent of wireless video/audio connections such as HDMI. But until recently, it didn't appear there was a viable solution for wireless electricity to power those devices.
The New York Times recently reported that Intel engineers have demonstrated a prototype wireless power solution that may eventually deliver on the dream. To quote:
On Thursday, the chip maker plans to demonstrate the use of a magnetic field to broadcast up to 60 watts of power two to three feet. It says it can do that losing only 25 percent of the power in transmission.
“Something like this technology could be embedded in tables and work surfaces,” said Justin Rattner, Intel’s chief technology officer, “so as soon as you put down an appropriately equipped device it would immediately begin drawing power.”
60 watts may not seem like a lot, especially to power-hungry desktop PC users, but it's plenty to recharge the battery in a laptop, mobile phone, game controller, keyboard, mouse, speaker, etc. Imagine a world where your device is always fully-charged simply by virtue of your having been sitting and working at a continual power tap! I suspect this could even work with more power-hungry devices (such as a desktop PC or home theater equipment such as an amp) with attached battery storage. Not as elegant, but who knows? Perhaps they'll be able to advance the technology so it can support these heavy-load devices?
Just to be clear, this was a tech demo at Intel's IDF (Intel Development Forum) event, and is certainly nowhere near a shipping product yet. However, Intel never shows off anything without reason, and I certainly wish them well in trying to deliver a cost-effective, safe solution for the home and office.
Saw that Quantic Dream just released a new trailer of Heavy Rain (PS3 exclusive) at Leipzig. You can check it out here. Afterward, it's worth reading a new IGN preview.
I'm definitely looking forward to this one - looks great! Will likely be the second game (after Uncharted) that I actually play for a significant amount of time on the system. That said, if you're not sure why all the excitement, check out Indigo Prophecy on the Xbox (available for download from Marketplace). First 2/3s of the game are excellent, and you'll get a sense of the cinematic atmosphere that Quantic Dream is known for.
Many of you have heard of the Uncanny Valley. (For those of you who haven't, here's a quick quote from Wikipedia: "as a robot is made more humanlike in its appearance and motion, the emotional response from a human being to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong repulsion. However, as the appearance and motion continue to become less distinguishable from a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.")
I just came across a video showing off a completely computer generated figure that appears to pass that valley. There are still a few tiny rough edges - note the occasional over-extended lips (the "I just got braces" look) - but overall the effect is astounding. Gives me high hopes for future games - I'd love to know if this was being used for Heavy Rain, for example.
Have gotten a few pings from folks - yes, I'm still alive... and flattered that folks are still swinging by the site even though there haven't been many updates lately. Thanks for that!
I apologize for lack of updates. I am still intending to write here, but between a crazy couple of months at work (as we worked on the New Xbox Experience) and a much needed vacation to Hawaii I just haven't had the time. Also, I'm still hoping to move the blog to Graffiti, so there's a bit of a wildcard there as well.
More soon!
Just wanted to give folks a heads-up that with the kind help of Kevin Harder of Telligent systems, I’ll be moving Ozymandias to the Graffiti content management system. Community Server is fantastic, but it’s a system that’s built to do so much more than just a blog. Useful if you need the functionality, but challenging to maintain easily. Hoping that Graffiti will make it easier to stay on top of the web tech parade. If you’re curious, Kevin’s site is on Graffiti, and you can also check out LetsKillDave.com as he recently made the same migration.
All legacy URLs should work after the upgrade – if you find any issues, please drop a note and let us know!
I know some folks have been frustrated by the need to be logged in to access some of your downloaded content on replacement Xboxes. This has been a known issue for quite a while – unfortunately, it’s a bit of a thorny beast and has taken a while. That said, a tool has been released to allow you to migrate your licenses once every 12 months. You can also check out a video of Major Nelson showing off the new functionality. Hope this helps a lot of you out!
Yep, it's one of those crazy double-post days!
Anyway, I just saw that an interview I did with 1Up around the Co-op Bill of Rights went up recently... thought some of you co-op fans might find it interesting.
Krotus and I swung by Digipen this morning to help judge Penny Arcade's PAX 10 entries. We spent the morning with around 50 industry folks checking out the latest indie games that had been submitted... and I have to say I'm continually astounded by the talent of folks out there. I'm not sure how public many of these titles are, but I'll say that I'll definitely be picking a few of them up when they ship (on whatever platform). One I'll highlight is Schizoid, from Torpex Games (and only because I know it's public). I'm a big fan of co-op gaming, and I have to say that these guys have really nailed an entirely new way of playing cooperatively together. The concept is simple - maneuver your ship into like-colored creatures to destroy them - but the interaction between you, another player, and those creatures really draws you in. (And if you really want a brain-bending time, try controlling the two ships yourself, one per thumbstick!)
Definitely swing by the PAX 10 booth if you make it out to PAX this year - I think you'll be impressed!
I have, and love it. This is the first Grand Theft Auto I've ever enjoyed. Earlier entries in the series just didn't do it for me. The controls were frustrating, and the humor was a bit too sophomoric in my opinion.
Then the reviews came out, and I figured I'd give it another shot. Several things have changed for the better. First, there's a real story that engages you - I'm actually interested in finding out what happens to Niko, and don't see getting bored of the game anytime soon. Controls have been fixed (though driving is still tricky), and multiplayer has been added - and I've had a blast online with friends. The open world has really taken a huge step forward as well. I loved Crackdown, but Liberty City is immense, and really does feel like a living place. Rockstar keeps hinting at an MMO version of GTA, and I can finally see the appeal.
Anyway, I suspect most people have already checked it out if sales are any indication, but if you haven't, because like me, you were turned off by earlier iterations of the series... give it a shot. I suspect you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Just saw that Computer Gaming World/Games for Windows Magazine has
finally ended their nearly 30-year long run. They'll be moving to the web, but it's startling for me to realize that this magazine (that I basically grew up with) is now a thing of the past. Changing times, indeed.
... to this and my life.
Though there may be a few segments here and there. Ahem.
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