Dead Island Impression

 It seems that all it took was the trailer for the zombie game, Dead Island, to stir everyone up with excitement.

When a friend sent me a link of a "freaking awesome" brutal, zombie-killing video game, my initial reaction was, let's just say, not positive. I think if you've seen one zombie game, you've seen them all. Kill zombies. Go somewhere else to kill more zombies. Repeat. What fun.

But then I saw the trailer. Wow, was I amazed. There was actually EMOTION in there. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC game’s introduction featured a beautifully compiled, reverse-chronological look at a family on vacation being attacked by zombies. You actually feel compassion for the little girl in there, and the rest of the family, a huge quality that almost all other games seem to lack. 'The music is somber, the visuals utterly harrowing, making the oversaturated zombie genre seem appealing again,' says a previous post of Game Life.

Word instantly spread through every kind of social media. Everyone was talking about the gorgeous, well-edited, emotionally engaging game, but no one knew what the game itself looked like.

At Game Developers Conference, Game Life got a 45 minute demo. Here's the outline of what they saw.


The game features four characters to choose from, each with different attributes and playing styles, and you can play through the game multiple times as each one for a slightly different experience. There will also be drop-in and drop-out multiplayer, so the co-op experience will be a big draw for the game. The player we saw in our demo was a one-hit wonder rapper who said things like “damn,” often, and would remark on kills using plenty of four-letter words. Oh, stereotypical African-American characters … will gaming ever grow tired of you?

Dead Island takes place on a tropical island, but the environments will include a jungle, a city, interiors, exteriors and everything in between. The developers promise a wide variety of environments to fight through, and you’ll be killing zombies with a variety of hand-to-hand weapons and even some firearms. The game is played in the first person, and the battles against the undead will be close, intimate affairs.

The actual combat looks strong. They saw the character break the left arm of one zombie only to be clobbered by the right. The interactions between the characters are a little stilted, and the voice acting isn’t as strong as they would like. Still, the game has it where it counts: It’s a tense, often brutal game, although they saw precious little of the emotion and tone of the trailer that caused everyone to fall in love with it.

There will be vehicle missions, a black market and the ability to mix and match objects to create new weapons. You’ll just need to find items to combine, blueprints, workbenches and … where have we heard this before? That prompted me to ask if the developers are worried about being compared to Capcom’s recent zombie game Dead Rising 2.

“No, because we’re never going for the funny stuff. We’re doing weapons that make sense, and upgrading what you have,” they told me. “You can sharpen a machete as you saw, or you can attach a battery and make it a stun gun of sorts.” They’re not taping a paddle to a chainsaw, they pointed out. But is making a stun gun with a knife and a battery that much different?

There are slow zombies, there are fast zombies and there are zombies that look like they were infected by the Flood and explode when shot. Fun stuff. Killing the zombies in innovative ways will get you experience points, and you’ll use those points to level up and create a zombie-killing machine no matter what character you play as. Your friends can jump in and out of your game at will to help you survive.


The setting is goofy, the voice acting is subpar and many of the concepts seem to have been borrowed from past games, but it all looks good. Certainly goofier than we were hoping for based on the trailer, but I went into the appointment excited about Dead Island, and left wanting to get my hands on it and play some more. That’s a win, no matter how you cut it. It comprises less of emotion but offers more of an overall fun, ultra-violent look at the possibility of zombies taking over paradise. I think the axe-throwing of the developers will be enough to grab everyone's attention.


Dead Island is coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, and will feature between 20 and 30 hours of open-world, zombie-killing fun. The voice acting may be a little rough, but as long as the core action is this good, it’s easy to overlook.


http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/03/dead-island-preview/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gamelife+%28Blog+-+Game|Life%29&utm_content=Pageflakes

Holograms Becoming Reality?

Playing and interacting with a 3D image projected from your phone or other objects may not be totally out of reach after all.

A hologram created in Japan

MasterImage 3D is best-known in Hollywood for its 3D projectors, but it is now developing a technology that seemed pretty impossible when Chewbacca played holographic chess with R2-D2, or when the projection of Leia pleaded to Obi Wan Kenobi. The new and as yet unnamed technology will allow a phone or a tablet like the iPad to project an image that you can interact with by merely touching it, like Star Trek's holodecks. Games using this tech are a no-brainer, but web-browsing and other daily tasks will also be possible. MasterImage 3D will debut the technology at Mobile World Congress from Feb. 14-17 in Barcelona.

Playing holographic chess

"If you take the screen and lay it flat, it projects the holographic object around your device, and you can interact with it," said Roy Taylor from MasterImage.

He's made the tech available to software companies and they're already spinning their wheels on coming up with applications using 3D images. "Software companies are already working on productivity enhancements with touch," Taylor said. "This will be the evolution of how we interface with consumer-electronics devices."

At first glance, the tech seems to be little more than a trick. After all, you aren't really touching the holograms as they are composed of light and all, at least not as much as you are manipulating them by placing your hand in a certain place. In the case of a recent Japanese invention, the ball projection doesn't bounce off your palm, for example — the system registers that that's where your hand is and the virtual ball reacts accordingly.

Darth Maul hologram

The only stumbling block for Roy Taylor's plan might be the lack of 3D capability for most phones, but he's working on a graphics chip that can provide the extra oomph without costing your first born's college education. "I think we can get a 3D phone down to around $150," he said.
$150 would mean an okay phone nowadays. A lot of high-tech phones stretch hundreds more. But a hologram projecting phone that I can interact with? For that price? I'm sold.

Plus, if you think about it, touching a 3D image to manipulate a game is even more advanced than Star Wars. Even R2 had to use his information plunger thing to play the game and when Luke touched the hologram of Leia she just disappeared. Next thing you know we'll come up with an engine that lets us make the Kessel run in less than 9 parsecs.


http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107713-3D-Holograms-Coming-to-Your-Phone-from-a-Galaxy-Far-Far-Away

Popular Physicist Talks Science in Mass Effect 2

 The science in Mass Effect 2 isn't entirely impossible, according to theoretical physicist and futurist Dr. Michio Kaku, but don't expect humanity to be criss-crossing the stars anytime soon.

Saren Arterius

'Mass Effect 2 is a rollicking adventure across the stars, but just how solid is the sci in the fi? Dr. Michio Kaku, a "famed futurist, physicist, bestselling author and radio & television personality" (so says his website) recently sat down with GameTrailers to talk about some of the theories behind the science in BioWare's futuristic galaxy and while most of it goes way over my head, he does a pretty good job of making it sound not entirely implausible.

Topics of discussion range from the practicality of personal cloaking devices, which Kaku says may be only a few decades off, to the composition of the universe itself, which is a bit more complicated. Fortunately, the good doctor is quite adept at tailoring his explanations to the non-string theorists in the crowd, although dumbing down concepts that are already highly theoretical does have the result of leaving things just a wee bit on the vague side.' -Escapist
 

Gameplay

 "It may be possible to harness something called negative matter. Negative matter is perhaps the dilithium crystals of Star Trek, perhaps the spice of the Dune series. It allows us to open gateways through the fabric of space and time," Kaku explains. "Einstein's equations have a loophole. When you put negative matter into Einstein's equations, then space and time curl up into knots. Time wraps up into a pretzel. So it may be possible to build gateways. We're not sure how stable these gateways would be, but perhaps negative matter is the 'mass effect.'"

Massive array of weapons

Even though you may be skeptical of this seemingly out of reach concept, I think we can accomplish it as our technology further develops. I mean, we thought sustained flight was impossible before the Wright Brother's famous invention.





 
  
'Hey, it makes sense when he says it. But don't expect any of these advances to arrive in time to do you any good: According to Kaku, the ability to actually roam the stars is still centuries away.' -Escapist

Gameplay

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.182774-Popular-Physicist-Talks-Science-in-Mass-Effect-2

Game Programming: Level One: Industry

A Brief History of Time:


Pong: an early game

Video games started out with humble beginnings. Before the invention of home consoles or microcomputers, games were created on a variety of machines, ranging from oscilloscopes to the massive computers used in the 1960's, which required several tons of air conditioning equipment. The earliest games were very primitive and uncreative at first, and the video game industry found its first real start with the creation of Pong. As the arcade industry collapsed and the home consoles moved ahead, video gaming sprung up all around America and other countries, becoming less of a luxury and more of an appliance with steadily dropping prices. Games have since then increased in complexity and popularity, as game platforms compete, and elaborate graphics, intricate physics, and detailed stories appear better and better to make up exhilarating virtual worlds.

Art of the online game Prototype

The video games industry is steadily ascending with no decline in sight, generating billions of dollars in America alone. This is a risky business though, as no one factor guarantees success, and development cycles are expensive and span for years, so developers must target future audiences, not those today.Understanding the market demographic is vital to the game industry; the average age of a player is 33, with only 30% of gamers under the age of 18, and just 38% of gamers are female. Half of the games created are rated "E" for everyone, as the publishers must consider the possibility of large retailers not retailing a game due to its content, since that could be devastating to them.

Killzone graphics

Today's games are more than just cool; they are being considered to be a separate art form. They are incredibly complex simulations of virtual worlds, comprised of many varied elements, such as detailed animation, special effects, environments and characters, intricate and engaging story lines providing both linear and non-linear play, realistic physics, lengthy musical scores, networking for multiplayer game play, and advanced artificial intelligence to govern in-game characters.

Kingdom Hearts wallpaper

Creating a game is an incredibly in-depth and difficult process, however much of the game development isn't knowing how to put the pieces together, but rather what pieces to put together. On the contrary, despite all the components that make up a game, its success is determined by how good of a game it is; how fun it is to play. While a game may have a great core concept, if it was not developed properly, the game will not be enjoyable and therefore will not sell. The trick of game development is putting these concepts together in a well-developed fashion, free of unresponsive play control, unconvincing in-game animations, confusing user interface, or the wrong level of difficulty.



The Twilight Princess scene



Three separate groups have emerged within the game development industry, due to the highly divided nature of the different roles in generating a game and getting it onto the shelves. The developer is responsible for the creation of the game, and handles the art and code that make a game run and look good. The publisher typically funds the product and handles all the business aspects, such as marketing and manufacturing. The retailer handles physically placing the packaged game into the hands of the consumer.This trio of groups form what is known in the game industry as the "circle of life", as it represents the three phases in the "life" of a game. The family includes, producers/directors, game designers, game programmers, 2D/3D artists, sound engineers, game testers, each specializing in certain jobs.

 

The famous battling game of Brawl

 

With so many diverse roles in mind, there are quite a few jobs to be filled, also bringing many benefits such as a good salary and lots of new opportunities arising. However, this field isn't all fun and games, as the constant demand for new and innovative ideas is overwhelming, and the hours will probably be long and arduous. Ultimately, though, having the passion for the job is the key to a long and satisfying career. Is this the type of job that you would still be doing without pay?

Man Makes Real-Life Buster Sword

The Buster Sword

Massive weapon from Final Fantasy VII put to pallet-chopping use.

Cloud's Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII is among the most iconic digital weapons in video game history. Now, thanks to one skilled craftsman, it's real and ridiculously huge.

Cloud of Final Fantasy VII

YouTube user MichaelCthulhu posted a video of his built-to-scale Buster Sword in action, as spotted by the people at GeekOSystem. Unfortunately, a demonstration of the sword being unleashed on a wooden pallet proves the Buster Sword should only be handled by heroes, as it weighs fifty-four pounds, distributed along a steel blade roughly six feet long. This goes to show how terribly imbalanced anime weapons are; all the weight is on one end, so it's like holding a sledgehammer by the end of the handle with one hand.


Ironically, Final Fantasy VII hero Cloud comments in the game that despite the Buster Sword's massive size, "it's not that heavy."
Apparently the creator hurt his back messing around with the weapon too much. His dwarven acquaintance revealed that he slipped a disc in his back.

The Buster Sword is one of the most iconic digital weapons in video game history

The moral here: RPG weaponry might be awesome in video games, but in real life it'll only make you slip a disk.

Wind Waker Review

Cut scene of Link sailing in King of Red Lions

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, rated ages 7+, was released on March 25, 2003 in the US. This was the first new Legend of Zelda game released for the Nintendo GameCube. Wind Waker is set in a time where Hyrule has long been submerged underwater and the current Link must travel the seas to find the missing Triforce before Ganondorf does, the villain of the story.The game takes place on a sea represented by a seven by seven grid, and Link must sail to different islands on the ocean. You receive a magic baton called the Wind Waker from your talking boat (how awesome is that?) called King of Red Lions. You use the wand to manipulate the wind (highly beneficial) and to travel across the sea rapidly. The objective is to rescue the pirate girl, Tetra, and then find King of Red Lions, which will get you the Wind Waker, and subsequently find the three Goddess pearls, take them to the Triangle Islands, and travel to Hyrule Castle before pursuing the eight Triforce pieces. In each of the eight Triforce quests, you must locate a Triforce Chart to find the shard.You have third person shooter, and you have a variety of constructive items that you collect throughout the game. In Dragon's Roost, an island, you receive a grappling hook, which you can use on enemies or to swing to high ledges.



Is he adorable or is he adorable? This is a cut scene from the Forsaken Fortress



The main controls are: U=Up, D=Down, R=Right, L=Left, Y, X, Z controls are used for getting a selected weapon in hand (you store them in your pack as you receive them), B and A for sword fighting, L for targeting object of interest, R for various actions, including taking out your shield, or if you have no weapons out, to go into crawl mode. If you're next to a wall pressing A will get you t sidle, which is helpful when you only have a for inch wide ledge to cross. Playing is rather intuitive, sword fighting techniques pretty simple to remember (L+Joystick+L/R+A=Side jump for dodging enemies) but you need to know how to think critically and be resourceful, otherwise you'll be constantly lost at what need to be done next. I personally like using my brain. In all seriousness though, I love this game since instructions aren't constantly shoved in your face, and the hints are subtle enough to miss if you hurry through, but glaring if you concentrate. A lot of the clues are in characters' speech, so listen to them! Most people have some sort of reason to exist.

Opening a door in Dragon's Roost

The background music is soft and flute-like, which is appropriate since the Wind Waker is a woodwind instrument, and it adds to the fun of the game. The music is at a subtle level, not loud to the point that it disturbs/ seriously irritates you, but not quiet to the point that you strain to hear it. The cartoon like but cool graphics enhance the game play. Some people consider them childish and not as professional as in, say, The Twilight Princess, but it's unique and therefore interesting to immerse yourself in that type of universe. It changes dramatically with the tone of the story; it will be more melodious while sailing on the sea than fighting a boss. Link's different expressions are very distinct and hilarious, which adds another touch of lightness to it. The Wind Waker offers diverse ways to beat the game, so it's always entertaining to replay the game following different paths, seeing if you can beat your previous time for temple completion, and discovering other things you missed. And how could you just leave Link? If you like exploration and side quests, and thinking through what you need to do, then this is the video game for you.

Try your local Gamestop or Amazon.com

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/?s=the+wind+waker
http://www.zelda.com/gcn/

Teenager Builds "Death-Ray"

Eric Jacqmain, a teenager of Indiana, US, accomplished a huge feat. He created an actual 'Death-Ray'. How? He covered an ordinary fiberglass satellite dish with 5,800 tiny mirror tiles, of course. When aligned correctly it can create a heat spot a couple or centimeters across, packing an intensity of 5,000 shining suns, the nineteen year old claims.
The ray generates enough power to melt steel, vaporize aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate any organic material in an instant. It stands at five feet nine inches, and measures just forty two inches across. 'Light shines through a hole and hits the translucent plastic on the end of the pipe. All I had to do was aim the dish once and mark the spot,' Jacqmain explained.
'Unfortunately for Jacqmain, his 'Death Ray' dish met it's own grisly end when it was destroyed in a shed fire,' commented the author of the original article. I believe this occurrence is for the best. After all, someone could have easily swiped the dish from Jacqmain, and just imagine that invention of death landing in malevolent hands. Not a pleasant outcome, I'm sure.
Except now Jacqmain plans to create a yet more powerful alternative, using approximately 32,000 mirrors this time. Ingenious evil scientist, much?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1351935/Eric-Jacqmain-invented-Death-ray-dish-intensity-5-000-suns.html