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10 NOV 09
Physical Computing » Urban Defender SAVE
PEOPLE
"By throwing the ball against a wall, the containing quarter gets owned by the player - this is the main action of the game. While additional interfaces, for example a web-based map or other visualizations are possible, the ball is able to communicate all necessary information by itself. Visual, sonic and haptic feedback are used to create a unique experience. The ball becomes an artifact that embodies the power and strength of the player and encourages him to continue the game, to grow his territory and finally, to own the city."TAGS
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05 OCT 09
Virtual economies in video games used as case studies SAVE
PEOPLE
"After studying 314 million transactions within the fantasy world of Norrath in "EverQuest II," including trading in-game goods like armor, shields, leather, herbs and food, the researchers were able to calculate the GDP of one of the game servers (the back-end computer that hosts thousands of players in one world).
As more people opened accounts and flocked to Norrath, spending money on new items, researchers saw inflation spike more than 50 percent in five months." Castronova is out in the trenches again, which is good news. Smart MF, that one.TAGS
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10 SEP 09
A Turing Test for Computer Game Bots SAVE
PEOPLE
"Artificial intelligence has long been crucial to creating convincing and compelling computer games, whether a player is competing against drivers in Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii or alien invaders in Halo 3 for the Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console. And, as competition increases in the $21 billion game industry, developers are striving to make game AI even more convincing. But creating a good bot presents a formidable challenge, says Steve Polge, lead programmer of Epic Games, the company that created Unreal Tournament. "You don't always want your AI to perform just like a human," he says. "Humans can be pretty annoying and obnoxious opponents." Instead, Polge says, developers often strive for "AI that can make unexpected plans and present emergent and surprising challenges to the player, which will definitely lead to better games.""TAGS
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03 SEP 09
In-game ads, violence and the future of brand interaction... SAVE
PEOPLE
"The team based at the University of Luxembourg created a simple driving game named AdRacer in which players needed to drive over targets to gain points, while adverts were displayed unobtrusively on roadside billboards. In one version of the game, the targets were just symbols, in another, players had to run over pedestrians to increase their scores. Apparently, "Those who played a violent version of the game [...] demonstrated significantly better recall of advertised brands than those who played the regular version."
The problem is, although the violence seems to trigger something in the mechanism of human memory - it's not always good news for the advertiser; the connotations can be rather destructive, negatively impacting the gamer's opinion of the brand."TAGS
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27 AUG 09
Game theory: How Wii Fit and Ubisoft's Your Shape bring guilt into play SAVE
PEOPLE
"It feels like a strange ontological breach. Watch a gamer in action: it's a totally unselfconscious activity. Bodies go limp, faces are twisted in weird contortions or slackened in hangdog wonder. Some read this negatively, equating it with the mindless consumption of junk TV – and now it seems even games publishes are developing guilt. And guilt is the emotion that often arises when bodies are scrutinised, especially among the demographic that buys fitness games. Sure there are health benefits to the increasing physicalisation of entertainment software, but there is also the underlying taint of pop-culture body fascism."TAGS
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14 APR 09
Game developers find ways to make industry recession-proof SAVE
PEOPLE
"Seen through this lens, a "game" is just a bunch of applied psychology that makes kids work long hours to earn virtual gewgaws that adults are trained to desire. In this "Free to play, pay for stuff" world, kids are alienated from the product of their leisure by a marketplace where the game-company skims a piece off of every transaction. [...] One key element is that skilled players (eg, kids) must not feel like the rich players are able to buy their way into positions of power. Game devs are advised to sell defensive items – shields, armour, dodging spells, but not offensive ones. A skilled player will still be able to clobber a heavily armoured rich player, given enough time (and skilled players have nothing but time, by definition), but may quit in disgust at the thought that some rich wanker is able to equip himself with a mega-powerful sword or blaster that gives him ultimate killing power. No one wants to play in a game where one player has an "I win" button." Doctorow.TAGS
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06 MAR 09
Chinese 'gold farmers' making a living playing computer games SAVE
PEOPLE
"Last year, the Chinese government acknowledged the rising significance of gold farming by introducing a 20% tax on the industry. But regulations on working hours, salaries, holidays and medical fees have not been extended with it. Yuan may be proud of her job, but she admits the long, unregulated hours are taking their toll. "The government should lay down the law. I would consider staying if conditions improved, but the game world is not a real career for me," she says."TAGS
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20 NOV 08
Race in D&D SAVE
PEOPLE
"In the world of D&D, non-humans are restricted in order to ensure a continuing human supremacy. The arguments against lifting the racial class restrictions sounds nothing so much arguments against ending segregation or giving African American’s the vote."TAGS
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19 AUG 08
I exploit credit cards. So should you. SAVE
PEOPLE
"It's true that those people – and some people, like me, who deliberately "game the system" – benefit from the financial irresponsibility of others. But so what? Careful, responsible actions should be rewarded, and careless, irresponsible actions shouldn't be. If you don't want to fund the next flight I fly free of charge with bonus points, stop incurring late fees." Hmmm.TAGS
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24 JUN 08
The Griefer Future SAVE
PEOPLE
"... griefing has two characteristic elements, unique in combination: the use of system flaws or unintended consequences to abuse people with less-sophisticated system knowledge; and the griefer's belief that the griefing action is funny."TAGS