 | annaleons on Free Rice and Free Flour. |
 | ThomasJLKastner on Free Rice and Free Flour. |
 | Daniel Silverstein on Free Rice and Free Flour. |
| Daniel Silverstein on PATAPON KICKS ASS |
 | pewbeng on A legend is gone. |
Technology has recreated the sound of an ancient instrument called the Epigonion. Stringed instruments are easily my favorite kind of instrument. I have a great appreciate of all styles of instruments but strings just make me feel the best for whatever reason.
Here is the article I originally found from one of my favorite websites. (http://www.lewrockwell.com)
I found myself browsing the United Nation’s website at around 1:30am and made my way to the educational section. I decided to check out the United Nations website because I downloaded a free pdf of Willam P. Sheridan’s ‘How To Think Like A Knowledge Worker’ from one of the United Nation’s websites. Not sure why I decided to read this or how I found it. I just remember thinking to myself ‘What the hell is a knowledge worker?’ So I became curious as to what it was and so far it is interesting enough for me to bookmark and continue reading later (It is 140 pages). Anyway this lead me to the United Nation’s website and on the United Nation’s website for children and educators (CyberSchoolBus) there are some interesting games you might want to check out. After clicking on Quizzes and Games I came across a couple games called Free Rice and Free Flour. Basically they are quiz games in which others are rewarded with either rice or flour (depending on the game) for each correct answer you provide. I’ll be honest and say it isn’t extremely entertaining beyond the fact you are helping others. It would be something that I could most likely create completely by myself(I might get caught up on the transfer of information from the user to the database recording the number of correct ansers). I imagine if I was younger I could play these games and learn a bit from them as well. Its really the purpose of the game that makes it interesting to me. Cool idea. Anyway, if you want to donate some spoonfuls of flower or grains of rice by testing your knowledge of vocabulary and geography check out the websites below.
I’ve been using Autodesk Maya to build a steam powered blood pump. It makes more sense when I describe it as a water pump because it is going to be massive. So far I have the engine done and all I need is to add the water pump attachment and texture everything. So far I think it is turning out as one of my better models I’ve made.
Patapon rules(so far). I’m surprised this one slipped by me. I picked up a Sams Club card today and saw Patapon in the game section. The art style looked extremely attractive (I have a thing for eyeballs… I have no idea why) and the “war drum” aspect sold the game because I had a somewhat similar game concept a few years ago(thought my concept was significantly different and mostly inspired by the metal band Nile and the composer Gustav Holst). Anyway, It is a game I’d recommend you try. The art style reminds me a bit of Samurai Jack for some reason…
If you don’t have a PSP and you are a handheld gamer then you are missing out on some good games. I own a DS and a PSP and I can’t say one could ever replace the other. In terms of the handheld gaming genre I think you have two platforms that went in completely different directions and the consumer benefits from this. I mean DS has two screens, one of which is a touch screen. This really forces designers to be innovative in terms of deciding how the player interacts with the game. PSP has a huge screen backed up with more powerful hardware and a more open system in terms of other media(movies, music, etc). Both seem to have a different opinion on what handheld gaming should be and I think both are excellent products and ultimately are correct. The consumer wins in this situation. Well… at least I win in this situation because I’m all about my PSP and DS.
Anyway, Patapon is interesting to me because you are using an instrument to communicate with your army. You tell them to move, attack, etc and ultimately are responsible for their survival. I’m a huge music fan and I appreciate the historical value of war drums. You basically have to judge which patterns you use with your drum to guide your army through missions. Fucking awesome. I haven’t finished the game yet so I’m going to hold off on what I’d do differently in terms of design but I have a few ideas. If they show up later in the game I’ll be impressed.
Combining music with games will catch my interest right way. Guitar Hero/Rock Band is well and good but in terms of musical games, Patapon is where it is at for me right now. Sure it is only based around a drum but that is far more interesting to me than colorful patterns in which you have to match to hear songs you are already used to hearing. Not trying to put down Guitar Hero or Rock Band because most people know its plenty innovative… but I honestly don’t plan on purchasing another guitar hero title even if the game was based on Slayer, Pantera, Nile, Anthrax and Oldschool Metallica. I’ll play the new ones but I most likely won’t actually purchase another one. I am plenty happy with Guitar Hero I and II. I’m done with it from there because I have my own real guitar to play with(I’d recommend you play with a real guitar otherwise you don’t know the fun you are missing.). That being said I hope a new release of Guitar Hero/Rock Band will make me look like an idiot and place both of my feet directly into my mouth.
My favorite DS/PSP titles so far.
DS Favorites: Civilization Revolution(I’m a civ fanboy, get used to it), Sim City DS, Super Mario DS.
PSP Favorites: God of War: Chains of Olympus, Patapon, Twisted Metal: Head On
I’ve been having loads of fun with ZBrush recently. I’m looking forward to improving in the next few months. Here are a couple of examples of my first models/textures.
For those of you that don’t know what the ECA is, it is a non-profit membership organization established to serve the needs of those who play computer and video games. Basically it stands up for the video game consumer whenever any kind of situation troubles them. They are strong advocates of keeping the game industry a non-government regulated industry. I completely agree with that idea. When I learned of the ECA (from Game Politics) I immediately seen it as an opportunity to get involved. Attaining membership is a start but they have other ways to get involved as well.
Savannah, Georgia has a strong student game developer community due to SCAD. We have a local IGDA chapter which is awesome and larger than the ECA chapter but they represent the developer where the ECA chapter is about the consumer and issues that surround them. Closely related but not quite the same. All game developers should be gamers, but not all gamers should be game developers.
It took a couple months but the ECA Savannah Chapter was started in January and has been building its members and planning to do some exciting things. Summer time cripples the progress because we are mostly students but hopefully that will soon change and we’ll have more non-student members shortly. Those involved right now are dedicated, intelligent and set on impacting the gaming community. Hopefully we can use the talents of the current and future members for the benefit of the gaming community.
There are a few things we to accomplish this year.
1. Organize tournaments both for ECA members and possibly for game-related charity. It is important to have fun and game but attaching positive meaning behind a tournament will likely reflect in a positive manner on all gamers. I think the stereotype of the average gamer needs to change and the only way to do that is by setting an example and promoting the truth behind what a gamer actually is and represents.
2. Build a solid foundation for the chapter. We want this to live for a long time and to outlast our stay in Savannah. Ultimately getting involved now won’t mean much at all if the chapter dies as we graduate and leave Savannah. This needs to be a long lasting entity. Because of this diversity is key.
3. Help strengthen the gaming culture here in Savannah. The only way to do this is to get people involved in gaming and raise local awareness of political situations. The LAN center here is a fun place to game, and the members of the chapter have a wide variety of talents and interests.
4. Play more video games. Gaming is important to gamers.
Things are looking good and will likely progress nicely as fall arrives. I’m really looking forward to watching things develop into new opportunities and experiences. So far it has been a great experience. I’ve spotted several flaws in terms of my leadership skills and have begun to remedy them. These flaws are something that I didn’t know about and I don’t think would have been spotted unless I took on something such as the ECA Savannah Georgia Chapter. Beyond all of that I think it is fun.
On August 2nd, I will be hosting a ECA Game Night from 10pm-11pm. The game will be Team Fortress 2. I’ll post more details as they develop. My Xfire name is : tjlk
So the lab I work at closes early in the summer so I have to adjust my sleep schedule. This means I wake up insanely early to get things done so I can try to be there during the opening hours. That paired with illness makes means my day gets started at 3:30am-4:30am which is when it used to be winding down. The good thing is that I’m finally getting used to changing my sleep schedule rapidly so I can be more productive. Cool stuff.
Anyway, I’ve been waiting for Civilization Revolution to be released and on July 8th I’m going to buy it for the DS. I hope SCAD gets it as well so I can play it on one of their X-box 360’s. I’m more excited about the DS version because now I can play Civ whenever the fuck I want to. HA. Yea I’m sure it doesn’t have quite as much to offer as the console versions but, dude… Civilization in your pocket. Graphics aren’t incredibly important to me though as I’m sure you could make Civ into a board game and Id still play it.
“Graphics aren’t incredibly important to me…” I suppose that sounds bad coming from a person that might have to find his way into the industry as an artist… I’d personally rather designing games in terms of rules, various systems and narrative if need be. I’ve also been getting more and more interested in AI. But really I just want to work with people to create a fun game. Providing players with meaningful choices, patterns to understand and manipulate. Leaving gamers with an enjoyable experience. I play strategy games to have fun, not to get horny over polygons, normal maps and texture maps.
That all being said I do think that the screen shots from Civilization Revolution DS look very attractive. The screen shots from Civilizations Revolution for consoles also look marvelous. But I’m more curious as to how well it is going to translate in terms of gameplay on a console or a hand held. I think it would be easier to put on the DS since the touch screen is basically like a mouse click. I guess my main concern is navigation between menus and the map with a controller. Also the mutliplayer feature has me wondering. Is it going to be mutliplayer? Online/offline? I tend NOT to read much about games I’m really excited about before it’s release because I like to be surprised. I suppose I like to discover things myself rather than read magazines and online articles. I’m completely confident in the Civilization franchise so I’m certain the combat/economy/government/technology/trade/diplomatic/etc. systems will work well as they always have.
Other than that I’ve been wanting to get a DS game called Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu. It is a DBZ Card RPG. I’ll put it this way, I’m tired of DBZ fighting games. I realize that DBZ is an anime that revolves almost completely around fighting but dude… I just think it translates into an RPG extremely well. Especially during the Freiza Saga (It was basically like a leveling up race). Even after that it was almost like a leveling up race not to mention they have various forms of characters. Saiyans, Namekians, Humans, Androids, various aliens, etc. They also discover new attacks, defenses and other abilities as the series progresses. Sounds a lot like an RPG to me. I once downloaded a Japanese SNES ROM of a DBZ RPG and it still is the best DBZ video game I’ve ever played. I couldn’t read ANYTHING so it took me a bit longer to figure out what the menus were. I couldn’t read any of the narrative(but I really didn’t need to anyway). It used a card battle system which is what Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu looks like it uses as well. Navigation doesn’t look like the SNES version but it seems like the combat system seems to be similar if not exactly the same. I’m unsure if it is going to work well but I think it looks interesting enough for me to purchase. Even if it doesn’t I’m completely convinced that turning Dragon Ball Z into an RPG would not only be fun but successful especially considering how many DBZ fighting games have been released.
Random thought: I believe patterns are responsible for my love of games and music. Also for my hatred of politics. In games I get to manipulate them and use them to create various strategies. In music I get to enjoy them and absorb them as they are composed(Also, to attempt creation myself). In politics I get frustrated because of frequent repetition.
