I still have to come up with a good title..

Well today I was taking a break between the usual zombie slaughter and Combine massacre, so I decided to try something new: Go.

I had no idea about what Go was, until about 20 minutes ago, when I read this bit:
“Go is infamously difficult for computer programs to play well. While chess software has won against grandmasters, the best Go programs are routinely beaten by intermediate human players.“

The article linked to a separate site, built as an interactive manner to teach the game.
Step by step, the site provides flashy mini-applications that guide you through the basics (and I guess more advanced strategies) of the game, in a very light and straightforward manner.
Having decided that there was no way that I would have sit through the whole lesson cycle, I decided it was time to start my crusade of Go domination. Read the rest of this entry »

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Just preordered Halo Reach..! Good times a’ coming!

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“Set in the year 2020, the story follows the efforts of a mysterious network of Africa’s best problem solvers. Each week, as players unravel the mystery of the Evoke network, they will form their own innovation networks: Brainstorming creative solutions to real-world development challenges, learning more about what it takes to be a successful social innovator, and finding ways to make a difference in the world.”

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..Just came across an interesting article about Harpooned, a game that embedded an anti-whaling message, and that i “studied” when facing my advergaming exam.

It’s an interesting article in game development perspective, lots of inspiring thoughts.

In particular, you can read about the public reaction to the game.

The public response to the game fell into 4 basic categories:

1. People who played the game, got the message and approved. This made up around 90% of the responses.
2. People who were appalled by the blood and didn’t play the game. These were often the most vocal responses, and invariably they were opposed to whaling, but didn’t realise that the game was satirical. These were a very small, but vocal minority.
3. Young males who were attracted to the game because it was violent. Often they didn’t notice or care about the message within the game at first. However this group are internet-savvy. They like to post their impressions online and read other people’s comments. I was delighted to see many in this group who started to engage in serious discussion about whaling, after at first only being attracted to the game because of the blood and gore.
4. Pro-whaling responses from English speaking Japanese people. Usually these were along the lines of “Australians kill kangaroos, so you can’t tell us what we can or can’t kill”, “Whaling is our traditional right” or “If we don’t kill the whales they will eat all our fish”. I have had some very interesting discussions with these people and I’m grateful for those who have taken the time to present their side of the story.

Read more: Link to the article.

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I just came across this really interesting game, developed in Unity.

It’s a 2.5D sidescroller.

Yes, not 2 eller 3.

2.5.. play it and you will get what i mean..

The graphic style of the game is lovely, and the sound really adds that little extra that makes this game different from what i would have expected..

Give it a try, it’s worth your time..!

Further reading:

• Infinite Ammo (developers): http://infiniteammo.ca/about-2/

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..a brand new AdverGame by Adidas.

A graphic novel that reveals the true value of the German National Team jersey”.

The game, via an impressive usage of storytelling, brings you back in time through three of the most historically important football matches, with the task of winning the games, reminding the world the true identity of the team wearing the shirt..

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I just found an interesting set of resources: It consists on a set of graphs representing the results of surveys conducted by TNS, Gamesindustry.com, and SPIL GAMES, investigating demographics, time and money spent, gaming trends and age distribution per game platform across Europe and the United States.

The graphs consist of:

• 5 comparitive graphs between US and European countries
• 3 general graphs on gaming population, media consumption and platform preference
• 5 graphs on age distribution per game platform
• 5 graphs on media consumption per age group

Find the graphs following this link.

Read an analysis of the results of the survey at the following link.

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..Translated from the original dutch site, blame Google translate if it doesn’t make sense..

VOLVO OCEAN RACE GAME | UNITEDGAMES

Registered for: Best Online Game, Best Advergame

Game description:
The Volvo Ocean Race Game free2play is a browser-based massive multiplayer online game where players control a virtual sailboat. The sails are parallel with the real gamers Volvo Ocean Race and go around the world in 10 stages.
Players can choose their own name and colors for their boat and sails. They should consider the wind while sailing and sail the best choice for every type of situation, so as first to arrive at the finish. The wind is updated every 12 hours and based on that the players can determine what their rate is forecast. By using the ranking everyone can see exactly what his/her position is. Through the Friends groups and ingame you can rate your friends and follow up with them between competitions.
The game is displayed in a clear browser window and can thus also be played worldwide by anyone with Internet access.
[..google messed up..]
On each stage there are several prizes and the ultimate winner gets a Volvo C30.

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Surfing the Net for case studies of successful advergames I came across something catchy..

Resistance2018 is an advergame launched by Sony in april 2009, with the purpose of promoting the videogame about the last Terminator movie.

What makes this advergame particular is the “platform” it has been launched on: Twitter.

By the 25th of May (the movie appeared on the screen first on the 27th of may) the game was followed by about 3000 people.

The principle of the game lies in accomplishing missions by resolving enigmas and answering coded questions based on the characters and the plot of the movie. A few tweets liven up the film and bring new information about this war between men and machines.

The objective is to get as many points as possible and answer in the least amount of time possible. The more points you get, the more you get promoted and have the possibility of joining other squads, including John Connor’s. More points also increase the difficulty of the game.

from http://www.culture-buzz.com/blog/Resistance-2018-Play-On-Twitter-2162.html

The game makes for an interesting weaving of gaming, social media, and marketing that strikes a delicate balance between being engaging and fun without being tiresomely involving.

With participants pinged with messages from @resistance2018 on the hour, and puzzles being delivered every other hour, messages are kept at a manageable rate.

from http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/twittering-the-human-resistance-for-terminator-salvation-twitter-based-advergame.html

Read more at:

• http://www.resistance2018.com/
• http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/04/20/sony-launches-terminator-salvation-twitter-viral-game/
• http://www.culture-buzz.com/blog/Resistance-2018-Play-On-Twitter-2162.html
• http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/twittering-the-human-resistance-for-terminator-salvation-twitter-based-advergame.html

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