"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."
--Jimi Hendrix
Friday, April 20, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Forgive the incomplete look
Sorry about the above "mess", folks - I'm just trying to add an image to my Blog, but I'm half-way successful at the moment. I can't seem to get rid of that "background template", nor expand my picture to fit that area. If anyone knows how (Tim, Justin, I'm looking at you), well, please contact me. Thanks!
Friday, April 6, 2007
Good GRIEF, the games coming out are insane!
Let me assure you, foks - we are on the verge of an absolutely stunning and amazing epoch for pc (and yes, console) gaming experience. This is truly a watershed moment for the history of video entertainment. Forget the past "buzzwords" of dynamic lighting, or mega-textured pixels. What is about to be unleashed upon us will begin to utterly blow our minds, and these experiences will be manifested in the likes of "emergent gameplay", and "real-word physics".
First, a nowhere-near-complete list of some of the heavy-hitter games about to rock our world: "Universe at War", "Bioshock", "Project Offset", "Alan Wake", "Hellgate: London", "Crysis", "Half-Life 2: Episode 2", Medal of Honor: Airborne", and others. Every single game on this list will present a vehicle for jaw-dropping graphics, many utilizing the new DirectX 10 platform from Microsoft. But that is only the first course, fellow gamers - and oh, the main meal will be a high-caloric, gut-busting feast that will attempt to satiate our rapacity for what PC Gamer describes as "Gaming Goodness". Will they succeed? Let's check out the two main ingredients.
"Real-world physics" - physics within the gaming world are relatively new, but more and more prevalent these past few years. The "Havok Engine" is synonymous with "gaming physics", and has been employed in games like "Max Payne", "Company of Heroes", "Half-Life 2", "F.E.A.R.", and "Company of Heroes". Essentially, it allows for units or material in the game to fly about, fall, bounce, and blow-up like we'd expect their real-world counterpart to do. In the past, you'd be playing a "deathmatch" game, unload a shotgun into a crate (because you're too slow and missed your intended target, dumb*ss), and nada - the crate would just take the punishment, because it wasn't interactive. With current in-game physics, if it's been coded correctly, the crate may move, splinter and break, or even explode; and thus it is for other similar items, such as doors, windows, paint cans, etc.
But we're still in the infancy, folks. With present-day companies like Physix Ageia offering stand-alone physics cards to render thousands of particles on-screen with physics (compared to the current standard of hundreds), or with the upcoming plans to make use of multi-core CPU's to handle phycial explosions in game, expect the world of phyics to balloon to epic proprortions in current and planned games. Think about it - as PC Gamer recently pondered in their physics article, why worry if an armored truck is speeding its way towards you in the game? Shoot out its tires, and watch it careen and roll of the road - problem solved. What if your enemy is hiding behind a wall, within a locked room? Blow up the wall, and topple him. This type of new thinking and execution that physics will allow us to do in games will utterly change the entire way levels are designed, and games are played.
And speaking of the way games are played, the second technology that I'm the most stoked about: "Emergent gameplay" (EM). Essentially summed up, EM is a specific design employed within a game, where a whole bunch of open-ended options, items, situations, and combinations will be presented and available, thereby allowing an unprecedented and near-infinite array of unscripted outcomes. In short, EM really means that game-play will be incredibly dynamic, open-ended and evolving, allowing for all manner of permutations within the game, and be completely surprising to both gamer and developer alike. By allowing things within a game to become combined to produce a newly minted item, outcome, etc. instead of being scripted, the replay value alone in a game will be highly laudible, but the REAL treasure, at least in my mind, will be what truly develops within the game, thrusting you the gamer into a world far more realistic than ever before. What happens if you combine this item with this item in this manner, and then utilize it in this way? Outcomes that will often be completely surprising to even the developers of the game is what will occur, and what a compelling idea that is. Where a monster or enemy was in this level, the next time, they might not be; where this weapon will perhaps cause this damage or this event to occur, perhaps by employing something entirely different, and not "meant originally", one may discover how to avoid an enemy altogether, thus altering the story, and evoking unintended consequences, good, bad, or indifferent. EM will be a new way to play, every time, and I couldn't be more excited.
Just like in "real life" - each day is a new manifest, unfolding before us unscripted, where anything can, and often does, happen. How will you react to the next "uncripted event"? What each of us does have a cause-and-effect directive - just like in our upcoming, gloriously beautiful games.
Sign me up!
First, a nowhere-near-complete list of some of the heavy-hitter games about to rock our world: "Universe at War", "Bioshock", "Project Offset", "Alan Wake", "Hellgate: London", "Crysis", "Half-Life 2: Episode 2", Medal of Honor: Airborne", and others. Every single game on this list will present a vehicle for jaw-dropping graphics, many utilizing the new DirectX 10 platform from Microsoft. But that is only the first course, fellow gamers - and oh, the main meal will be a high-caloric, gut-busting feast that will attempt to satiate our rapacity for what PC Gamer describes as "Gaming Goodness". Will they succeed? Let's check out the two main ingredients.
"Real-world physics" - physics within the gaming world are relatively new, but more and more prevalent these past few years. The "Havok Engine" is synonymous with "gaming physics", and has been employed in games like "Max Payne", "Company of Heroes", "Half-Life 2", "F.E.A.R.", and "Company of Heroes". Essentially, it allows for units or material in the game to fly about, fall, bounce, and blow-up like we'd expect their real-world counterpart to do. In the past, you'd be playing a "deathmatch" game, unload a shotgun into a crate (because you're too slow and missed your intended target, dumb*ss), and nada - the crate would just take the punishment, because it wasn't interactive. With current in-game physics, if it's been coded correctly, the crate may move, splinter and break, or even explode; and thus it is for other similar items, such as doors, windows, paint cans, etc.
But we're still in the infancy, folks. With present-day companies like Physix Ageia offering stand-alone physics cards to render thousands of particles on-screen with physics (compared to the current standard of hundreds), or with the upcoming plans to make use of multi-core CPU's to handle phycial explosions in game, expect the world of phyics to balloon to epic proprortions in current and planned games. Think about it - as PC Gamer recently pondered in their physics article, why worry if an armored truck is speeding its way towards you in the game? Shoot out its tires, and watch it careen and roll of the road - problem solved. What if your enemy is hiding behind a wall, within a locked room? Blow up the wall, and topple him. This type of new thinking and execution that physics will allow us to do in games will utterly change the entire way levels are designed, and games are played.
And speaking of the way games are played, the second technology that I'm the most stoked about: "Emergent gameplay" (EM). Essentially summed up, EM is a specific design employed within a game, where a whole bunch of open-ended options, items, situations, and combinations will be presented and available, thereby allowing an unprecedented and near-infinite array of unscripted outcomes. In short, EM really means that game-play will be incredibly dynamic, open-ended and evolving, allowing for all manner of permutations within the game, and be completely surprising to both gamer and developer alike. By allowing things within a game to become combined to produce a newly minted item, outcome, etc. instead of being scripted, the replay value alone in a game will be highly laudible, but the REAL treasure, at least in my mind, will be what truly develops within the game, thrusting you the gamer into a world far more realistic than ever before. What happens if you combine this item with this item in this manner, and then utilize it in this way? Outcomes that will often be completely surprising to even the developers of the game is what will occur, and what a compelling idea that is. Where a monster or enemy was in this level, the next time, they might not be; where this weapon will perhaps cause this damage or this event to occur, perhaps by employing something entirely different, and not "meant originally", one may discover how to avoid an enemy altogether, thus altering the story, and evoking unintended consequences, good, bad, or indifferent. EM will be a new way to play, every time, and I couldn't be more excited.
Just like in "real life" - each day is a new manifest, unfolding before us unscripted, where anything can, and often does, happen. How will you react to the next "uncripted event"? What each of us does have a cause-and-effect directive - just like in our upcoming, gloriously beautiful games.
Sign me up!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Question - can life and its infinite questions be figured out over beer?
It's a simple question, really. Can life, and all implied mysteries therein, be questioned, reasoned, debated, pondered, and successfully solved over a tantalizing mixture of water, barley, hops, and grains? This was the question of the evening last night, as my buddy Justin and I gathered at a local "watering hole" and accepted this quest of knowledge.
Our firsthand, empirical experience of "suds with buds" achieved answers that could only be summed up in this way: most definitely, answers can be found to all of life's pressing and challenging conundrums - they flowed like the golden nectar before us - and we were able to satisfactorly put to rest any and all remaining existentialist issues plaguing humankind today.
Oh, there's a catch, however - the answers are only discernable to the members currently privy to the conversation (read: anyone drinking beer at the table, and actively pondering the propositions), and the moment you leap-frog from one answer or subject to the next, the prior discussion, question, and answer are immediately forgotten, thus again renewing all former, current, and future mysteries to their status of "unknowable."
But whatcha gonna do? Order that second round, and try for them again. See you next happy hour.
Our firsthand, empirical experience of "suds with buds" achieved answers that could only be summed up in this way: most definitely, answers can be found to all of life's pressing and challenging conundrums - they flowed like the golden nectar before us - and we were able to satisfactorly put to rest any and all remaining existentialist issues plaguing humankind today.
Oh, there's a catch, however - the answers are only discernable to the members currently privy to the conversation (read: anyone drinking beer at the table, and actively pondering the propositions), and the moment you leap-frog from one answer or subject to the next, the prior discussion, question, and answer are immediately forgotten, thus again renewing all former, current, and future mysteries to their status of "unknowable."
But whatcha gonna do? Order that second round, and try for them again. See you next happy hour.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
The Great Gaming Experiment:
Gamers and non-Gamers, unite! (for we all know that you're soon to become Gamers anyway, correct?) Check out the new forum for all things "gaming", The Great Gaming Experiment! You may access the site here, or click on the link to it on the right, in my "PC Gaming" section.
What is the GGE, you ask? Let me reference their slogan to clear away any confusion: "Where gamers and game-makers connect." Simply put, it's sort of like a YouTube site has mated with a Blogger site, and produced an offspring of (hopefully) epic proportions, and near-infinite capabilities? :-) Ok, perhaps that's a bit too much hyperbole - but it IS set to become a forum for both fan and publishers alike, allowing anyone (gamers, non-gamers, and potential-gamers) to post their favorite games, rate them discuss them, chastise them, etc., while at the same time allowing publishers and distributers an arena to solict fan feedback, gain beta-testers, take polls for various artistic and business decisions, and even present downloadable demos, maps, mods, files, etc. for their various games. Perhaps most important, however, is it will become a venue for the "indie" projects out there, whom are alive and well, but often overshadowed by the larger corporations. It will allow these small but vital companies, an integral part of the entire gaming machine, to be right upside the big guy, and present their games to the public, which are often as compelling and original as the "triple A" titles, but with a fraction of the price (and consequently, the advertising dollars).
Whatever this venue ultimately becomes, I love its arrival, which to me heralds yet another step towards bridging the gap between the continuously evolving and growing world of consumer and game publisher relations. The growing technology will only allow this open forum and discussion to become easier for ideas to grow, and feedback to be exchanged; this, in turn, will lead to better made games, which will lead better received games, both publically and critically; this, in turn, will produce more games sold, which leads to larger profits, happier shareholders, and a (hopefully) continued succession of good, well produced (and published) games. Sure, there'll be pitfalls along the way, but hopefully with a successful effort, these will be few and far between. What's more, negative fan and gamer feedback on this forum will hopefully lead to the abandonment of projects that would've normally been headed for the abyssmal "bargain bin" or worse, and avoid searing our brains with half-assed gaming, and wasting time, money, and effort. Positive thinking, perhaps, but a potential nonetheless. And let's not forget the benefits of this venue being able to discuss all the glorious games of Yore - the beloved fixtures of pixelations of the past. Could it possibly lead to reincarnation of certain titles, or maybe even resurrection of defunct classics? Time will tell, fellow gamers.
I for one am very excited about this new manifestation of emergent technology, which involves video, blogging, posting, discussion, etc. But instead of discussing something trivial such as the shaving of an ex-pop star's hair, we might be able to actually get into something deep, important, and relevent to our time - the expansive, growing, and extremely versatile world of digital gaming.
In the immortal words of every kid who's ever played a day in his or her life: GAME ON!
What is the GGE, you ask? Let me reference their slogan to clear away any confusion: "Where gamers and game-makers connect." Simply put, it's sort of like a YouTube site has mated with a Blogger site, and produced an offspring of (hopefully) epic proportions, and near-infinite capabilities? :-) Ok, perhaps that's a bit too much hyperbole - but it IS set to become a forum for both fan and publishers alike, allowing anyone (gamers, non-gamers, and potential-gamers) to post their favorite games, rate them discuss them, chastise them, etc., while at the same time allowing publishers and distributers an arena to solict fan feedback, gain beta-testers, take polls for various artistic and business decisions, and even present downloadable demos, maps, mods, files, etc. for their various games. Perhaps most important, however, is it will become a venue for the "indie" projects out there, whom are alive and well, but often overshadowed by the larger corporations. It will allow these small but vital companies, an integral part of the entire gaming machine, to be right upside the big guy, and present their games to the public, which are often as compelling and original as the "triple A" titles, but with a fraction of the price (and consequently, the advertising dollars).
Whatever this venue ultimately becomes, I love its arrival, which to me heralds yet another step towards bridging the gap between the continuously evolving and growing world of consumer and game publisher relations. The growing technology will only allow this open forum and discussion to become easier for ideas to grow, and feedback to be exchanged; this, in turn, will lead to better made games, which will lead better received games, both publically and critically; this, in turn, will produce more games sold, which leads to larger profits, happier shareholders, and a (hopefully) continued succession of good, well produced (and published) games. Sure, there'll be pitfalls along the way, but hopefully with a successful effort, these will be few and far between. What's more, negative fan and gamer feedback on this forum will hopefully lead to the abandonment of projects that would've normally been headed for the abyssmal "bargain bin" or worse, and avoid searing our brains with half-assed gaming, and wasting time, money, and effort. Positive thinking, perhaps, but a potential nonetheless. And let's not forget the benefits of this venue being able to discuss all the glorious games of Yore - the beloved fixtures of pixelations of the past. Could it possibly lead to reincarnation of certain titles, or maybe even resurrection of defunct classics? Time will tell, fellow gamers.
I for one am very excited about this new manifestation of emergent technology, which involves video, blogging, posting, discussion, etc. But instead of discussing something trivial such as the shaving of an ex-pop star's hair, we might be able to actually get into something deep, important, and relevent to our time - the expansive, growing, and extremely versatile world of digital gaming.
In the immortal words of every kid who's ever played a day in his or her life: GAME ON!
Sunday, April 1, 2007
The freaks come out on Sundays:
Good grief, Charlie Brown - the freaks come out to play on Sundays. And pester, and haggle over miniscule percentage differences, and subject you to moronic questions, and act beligerent, and express paranoia, and anything else they can muster - any and all "freak" qualities are on display, in the sunny-side up world of Border's retail. I worked my second shift of the weekend (just what I want on my weekend, correct?) today, from 8am until 3pm, and was flabbergasted at the sheer enormity of freaks that frequented our store. They poked, prodded, and passed the time away in our store, whiling away their minutes by dragging ours down, incessantly lobbying for requests or imploring questions each more ludicrous than the next. "May I have a 2% discount on the difference?" "Will customers run behind your cash registers and grab my book?" "Can I give you two different last names?" (answer: no).
Siiiiiiiiiiigh. I suppose it is the price to pay, the weight to bear, the curse to suffer, when one's employed within the circus that is retail. It takes all kinds, this dizzying contraption, and let me tell you, those kinds are "freaks", who arrive in hordes, on Sunday afternoons. The best thing that can be said about my shift today is that it ended.
At least I was able to watch "Borat" last night - now THERE'S a slideshow of freaks that I can get excited about.
Siiiiiiiiiiigh. I suppose it is the price to pay, the weight to bear, the curse to suffer, when one's employed within the circus that is retail. It takes all kinds, this dizzying contraption, and let me tell you, those kinds are "freaks", who arrive in hordes, on Sunday afternoons. The best thing that can be said about my shift today is that it ended.
At least I was able to watch "Borat" last night - now THERE'S a slideshow of freaks that I can get excited about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
