Sunday, December 9, 2007
Tom Brokaw Deems Blogs, Video Games “Cancerous”
5:00PM Michael McWhertor | A recent interview with Tom Brokaw conducted by Hugh Hewitt on Townhall.com reveals that the retired newscaster supported his former network’s decision to air Virginia Tech murderer Cho Seung Hui’s videotaped hate-filled monologue. He wasn’t concerned about a series of imitators who might also want their hundreds of hours of airtime. No, he was concerned about, of course, video games. Brokaw pointed to games and, curiously, blogs as “cancerous”. His full comment on two of the 21st century horsemen of the apocalypse is better in context. More »
Treyarch Taking Call of Duty Back To WWII?
4:00PM Michael McWhertor | The gang at UK pub Gamer picked up on a job listing from Call of Duty 3 developer Treyarch that might point to the series returning to its World War II roots. The posting at Activision’s career opportunities page is looking for a level builder to work on an “industry leading First-Person Shooter action war franchise” with serious experience. Later in the job description, Treyarch writes “if you’re a fan of World War 2 shooters, then even better!” Quite the leap, no? While we’re positive that Call of Duty 5 is coming, we aren’t sure whether Infinity Ward or Treyarch or another developer altogether will be holding the reins. Level Builder – Call of Duty [Treyarch via Gamer] More »
New Aibo PS3, PSP Compatible?
10:36AM Brian Crecente | It looks like Ash may have been right. Stuff magazine is running a rumour item on the possibility of an upcoming Aibo, the robotic dog, working with the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3. The rumour goes that the Sony Aibo PS, as they call it, is being resuscitated by Sony’s Playstation division in an attempt to “bolster the PS3’s arsenal”. More »
Spike Video Game Awards: Winners, Losers and Boozers
10:00AM Flynn De Marco | In a fitting (almost) ending to my six day cross county road trip to move myself from Atlanta to San Francisco, I landed in glamorous Las Vegas last night just in time for the Spike TV Video Game awards. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect having never attended a “major” awards show before, but I sat down fuelled by five days on the road and a few drinks with my pad and paper to bring you all the big announcements. One of the things I found amazingly odd was that the awards themselves really seemed to take a back seat to the musical performances, commercials, myriad non video game related guest stars, and occasional World Premier Trailers for games like Little Big Planet, Rainbow 6 Vegas 2, Borderlands, TNA Wrestling, Prototype and Gran Turismo 5. It was almost like the awards were an afterthought, tacked on to an evening of oohing and ahhing over the next big name to take the stage. More »
Team Fortress 2 Stats Party!
9:30AM Michael McWhertor | Sure, Half-Life 2 statistics are like a party on a web page, but Team Fortress 2 stats? The statistical equivalent of a post-Studio 54 after party, but instead of loose models, we have bar charts, instead of quaaludes, death maps. The data, collected via Steam, gives us plenty of insight into the playing habits of TF2 players—data that just might help some modify their personal strategies. It might also give some handy excuses to blurt out in the face of defeat. Perhaps you’ll find “Scout is cheap!” useful. What is interesting, though, is the advantage team Blu seems to have on maps that are mirror images of each other. Also, why so few Medics, people? It’s fun! Team Fortress 2 Stats [Steam] More »
News
Getting Game Graphics On A Shoestring Budget
9:00AM Maggie Greene | Danc over at Lost Garden is nothing if not helpful to all those little guys out there – and he’s apparently inundated with requests for graphics for someone’s really rockin’ indie release. He’s got a lengthy set of recommendations on how to get around the “graphics bottleneck” if you’re on of those people lacking skills in the art department, and trying to bribe starving artists isn’t cutting it for you. He spends the most time discussing what you can do with free graphics, which naturally have their problems: More »
News
Science Is Fun! – Physics In Games
8:00AM Maggie Greene | Gamasutra has an interesting piece up on the use of physics in games by Pascal Luban, on the current applications, limitations, and future possibilities. It’s worth a read through if you’re interested in game design, even though physics is one of those things that ought to be invisible. The potential uses are interesting to ponder, and with better technology and some creative designers: Physics is extremely demanding in terms of resources and some of the ideas that I have developed here are not currently achievable — but the advances in the tools and technologies are foreseeable, giving us the power in the future. From now on, gameplay can be improved with uses that are not just cosmetic. The development of dynamic game environments that the player can change on the fly is already a trend in today’s level design. Physics makes this evolution possible. Physics is more than skin deep? It’s a short article and not too heavy on the science speak. Physics in Games: A New Gameplay Frontier [Gamasutra] More »
News
GRAVITY Announces New US Branch
7:00AM Maggie Greene | It’s just press release Saturday here at Kotaku! GRAVITY Co., the studio behind Ragnorok, has opened up a new US studio under the name of L5 Games, and has hired former Blizzard North employees to make games targeting the North American market. What kind of games remains to be seen, as the press release is pretty scant on information. L5 will be based in San Mateo, CA and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GRAVITY: More »
Social Impact Game Contest 2007 Open For Submissions
6:00AM Maggie Greene | values@play is a newly launched website that’s going to conduct research “into values in games through funding from the National Science Foundation. The team runs workshops, conducts research, and publishes results (papers, tools, videos, game designs, and actual games) on how game designers both unconsciously and consciously imbue their products with specific worldviews and values.” I’m curious to see what grows out of this, but first up on their to-do list is running a game contest for playable games that address a variety of issues with a variety of methods: More »
