- A Dictionary of Video Game Theory
Does exactly what it says on the tin: link
It contains a reference to triangularity as featured in the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors... that would have been handy for the Bionic Roshambo project...
// pixels, pushbuttons & pulsewaves
- Urban Dead – Zombie MMORPG
"Urban Dead is a low-tech massively-multiplayer zombie apocalypse game where the living and the undead compete for the control of a quarantined city."
Awesome stuff... The user starts by selecting their player type (civilian, military, scientist or zombie) each with different strengths and weaknesses. Then they start the game, stranded in Malton City... looking for a safe house, food, weapons whatever it takes to survive the undead apocalypse. So far I'm alive... having avoided some zombies, found a baseball bat and made it to the sanctury of a Necrotech building (my character type is a Necrotech Lab Assistant), I have to wait a while there while my action points replenish... then it's back to streets :) - this looks addictive, it's even inspired some to create a quasi-religion!
- Game Theorists win Nobel Prize
Simulating and predicting the outcome of life threatening conflict through gaming:
"Game theory was first developed by Hungarian mathematician John von Neumann in the 1940s and 1950s as a way to understand decision-making in the real world where several parties were bargaining, perhaps with unequal resources and information.
It developed into a mathematical theory of strategy, which helped explain which decision, to cooperate or not with rivals, had the best pay-off.. " link
- Nintendo Revolution Controller
Nintendo's new controller for their forthcoming Revolution controller has been unveiled at the Tokyo Games Show. A lot are unimpressed by its tv zapper style look, but looks are deceptive. The gyroscopic control aspect of it should hopefully bring new gameplay possibilities to tv screens just as the touchscreen and stylus combo has for handheld gaming through the DS. With the Xbox 360, PS3 and Revolution looking very similar specwise this is what's needed by Nintendo to stand out and innovate. Whether or not innovation translates into sales though is another thing, while the DS has many admirers the straightforward power and thrills of the PSP have it the winning handheld of the moment. Also, a lot of the games for the Revolution will be arcade ports or simultaneously designed for the rival consoles/pc, so how the controller can stand up to 'normal' gameplay will have to be seen. Anyhows I was getting pretty bored of the latest next gen race but this development has recharged my optimism about the next level of gaming innovation. It's great to see a developer realising that video gaming's development needs more that just raw processing power. Hopefully the Revolution will live up to its name!
links:
Gamespot / bbc online / Engadget
- Ultimate Arcade Games
The first commercial video game title that I've had a contribution towards gets released this October. Ultimate Arcade Games by Melbourne based Nocturnal Entertainment is published by Telegames and is a compilation of 13 retro styled arcade games for the Gameboy Advance.
I produced some sprite art and animations for the horizontally scrolling shoot em up 'Omega Force' (specifically the copter, some missiles, basic foreground tiles, the house, the blue silo, red missile, the tank, the big tank and some other bits n pieces!)...
It's a great buzz to see this get published! IGN have posted a preview (including screenshots and video footage) of the game here.