Mathew Anderson, Mr. Anderson, Berek...

A podcast for community managers

2011-10-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

The game industry is relatively small, and the community manager field is even smaller still. A great deal of community managers know each other, usually by attending the same yearly events like E3, GDC, and PAX. We also have a forum and website where we discuss new ideas on how to best manage our respective communities.

A few weeks ago I realized there was one thing that we could do that would bring community managers together, and allow another avenue of discussion with the community, which was a podcast that talked about community managing. The first steps in kicking off a community manager podcast began earlier today.

Community managers are social people that love to share all they can about the game's their communities love. I particularly love running around the office during seasonal events like Halloween to take photos of decorated rooms and developers to show the community the crazy mindsets behind their games :).

Now we can get community managers from all over and outside the game industry to share what it's like to work in their fields. To share how they go about bringing features and events to their communities. I'm particularly excited in starting this podcast because it's a chance to meet other community managers.

We've setup the equipment, established a website landing page, and have a tentative schedule for the first set of shows. Now we just need a few guests and we're ready to roll!

Shuttle Endeavour gone forever from space station

2011-06-02T09:06:00.001-07:00

I read a very interesting article earlier this week about the space shuttle Endeavor and its last flight to the space station, or anywhere else for that matter. With the space station near 100% completion and other more efficient vehicles being designed, the space shuttle is an outdated icon of humanities first attempts to reach for the stars.

It was a moving read to learn more about how about space endeavors, pun intended if I may, have really taken off in the past few decades. The last time I wrote about exploring space exploration, I pointed out the world's reservation of reaching for the stars. We're finally moving beyond some of that skepticism and really beginning to understand the importance of space exploration.

Resource Acquisition

It starts with economics. If there's any reason the average person would want to spend money to get into space, it is to invest in their, or their company's, future. Some may not realize it, but even just an average 1km asteroid has enough metals such as iron, gold, platinum, etc., to last decades at current rates of consumption. How many asteroids of this size or larger are just in the asteroid belt? Millions.

Scientific Discoveries

We've already gained benefits from exploring space. Everything from the comfort of our bed mattress, Kevlar, to our ability to know exactly where we are on the planet while in the middle of nowhere, are just a handful of technologies that began development in space. Telescopes inform us of impending solar storm activity that may effect sensitive electronic equipment on Earth, saving us from electrical grid week-long blackouts.

Breathing Room

This last reason to spread our wings into space is two-fold. On the one hand it is quite clear that we are overpopulating the planet. There are two main choices we can consider to resolve this dilemma. Either we limit reproductive capabilities, which is a morale, economic, and simply practice issue that will likely never be realized, or we live where we haven't before... in space.

On the other hand, we have all of our eggs in one basket right now. As anyone who carries around eggs knows, they can all easily break together if not compartmentalized and secured. Another analogy to this is the breeding of specific genetic crops for food consumption. By doing so we increase harvesting potential, but limit biodiversity that protects crops from disease.

For this very reason, it seems prudent to me to get into space as fast as we can before the next asteroid, plague, or civil war tears apart the planet below...

"Since, in the long run, every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds."
- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994

Windows 7 and PC gaming

2009-10-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

Microsoft pushed the PC as a major gaming platform particularly hard when Vista was released. It has since largely failed in achieving this objective. Microsoft’s head of their Games for Windows Live division was laid off earlier this year, and just before that the ACES and Ensemble studios were shut down. These are just a few key indications of how Microsoft is taking its Games for Windows Live initiative.

How many games have you bought for Vista, specifically because of DX10? Windows 7 isn’t much different than Vista in terms of PC gaming support. DX11 may have a larger impact than DX10 in the long-run, but it will start off just as slow. PC gaming has been in a free-fall in terms of both marketing and support for the past several years. I don’t see Windows 7 solving any of the issues that plague it either, starting with piracy being the dominate concern.

While I feel that the way forward and future growth for PC gaming is clearly through Windows 7 and DX11, I don’t think it will have the impact that some believe it will. Compare Windows XP to Vista and then to Windows 7 in terms of specific gaming support. I’m not feeling the urge to go out and buy a DX11 video card tomorrow. In all likelihood, we’ll see the next generation of consoles succeed in bringing DX11 and Microsoft gaming support, just as Windows 7 passes to its successor.

An uncertain future for space exploration

2009-08-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

We have become content in only exploring existence in our immediate bubble of reality, rightfully worried about the future of our families and careers. Has space travel become lost? I truly hope not, but the delays in returning to the moon, setting goals to reach mars, and establishing a general presence in space are all becoming ever distant realities. Why?

NASA has always had challenges getting the funding it needed. Part of the reason is simply the vast cost of exploring space, versus the immediate benefits realized. Another reason is the world's general apathy toward space exploration. The population is not educated enough in the potential of exploring space because the ideas are often quite complex to understand. I don't fully understand them myself.

Humans have always had a hard time seeing beyond their immediate surroundings, let alone in places like space that are well out of reach for most. We can only truly believe in things that actually happen to us, or that we understand from direct experience. This is because chance and other factors often create uncertainty in any outcome. Would exploring space truly help our civilization, and ourselves?

"The American people have no idea what's going on," said congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords, chairwoman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on space and aeronautics. "The average American does not know the shuttle will go away at the end of 2010."

Space travel has been reduced to a back-burner idea, a dream that lights the eyes of those that can afford to take part. To the rest of us, it simply remains a dream with many seeing it nothing more than an expensive experiment.

This is partly due to our societies saturation with fictional media that partly satisfy our interest in exploring the unknown. Telescopes and other tools to observe the universe have provided us a wealth of information about the universe, that we apparently need not visit it ourselves. After all, why should we go to the depths of the ocean, where we'd only find a few interesting species and more water?

Just one example of the benefits of space exploration is revealed through our moon's abundance of helium-3 on its surface. This element is a non-radioactive isotope of helium. It is rare on the Earth, but on the moon it is implanted in the upper meter of the lunar regolith by the solar wind. Mining would provide non-radioactive thermonuclear fusion power to an energy-starved Earth for thousands of years.

Wernher von Braun said once, shortly before his death:

"Here on Earth we live on a planet that is in orbit around the Sun. The Sun itself is a star that is on fire and will someday burn up, leaving our solar system uninhabitable. Therefore we must build a bridge to the stars, because as far as we know, we are the only sentient creatures in the entire universe.

When do we start building that bridge to the stars? We begin as soon as we are able, and this is that time. We must not fail in this obligation we have to keep alive the only meaningful life we know of."

People often rely on corporate news sources to tell us what we need to know, what dangers are around the corner, and what Britney Spears was wearing on her honeymoon... all important things to survive in this chaotic world. The problem with this source is the way the information is portrayed. There are so many inconsistencies and political spins, that all anyone sees in the end is distortion.

Let's start building that bridge Wernher spoke about, because right now all of us stand on this single fragile rock floating in space. The vast majority of the universe is dangerous and our earth is more an exception than the rule. I'd prefer having a bridge to somewhere else in case this side goes the way of Venus, Mars, or more likely, via our own ends.

The end of the desktop PC

2009-08-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

While sugar-laden milkshakes at McDonald's are convenient, I prefer mine sugar-free. I purchase the milk and shake-mix separately at Trader Joe's. If I run out of milk, I just go and buy more milk. I not only prefer it this way for my milkshakes, but also for my primary gaming system. Last month McDonald's introduced a sugar-free version. I no longer need to go to Trader Joe's.

We're seeing unprecedented technological growth in all areas, but none so much in the processing power of electronic devices we often take for granted. I used to buy a new CPU for my desktop PC on a yearly basis, until recently that is. We've already hit a plateau in processor frequency, as we have been hovering in the 3GHz range for the last few years now.

When was the last time you upgraded your co-processor (CPU), main memory, monitor, or other components of your desktop PC? When was the last time you even bought a desktop PC? Keep that period of time in mind, and then think back to the last time before that, and I almost guarantee the latter period was longer.

GPUs have had a similar effect, as we're seeing more units that combine power between many GPUs than faster single ones, though the GPU is still behind the overall curve. Input device needs were met over a decade ago, and sound over five years ago. GPUs are fast coming up on this curve with the "HD" revolution being one of the few things delaying it.

Game consoles have similar functions as a desktop PC, so they ultimately bend to the same curve. We can use them as a measure of what happens when upgrading a single component isn't feasible. I see a day in the near future where everyone buys their primary system much like they do a game console. And I may not complain about the lack of flexibility, because I simply may not need it.

This ability to upgrade one's desktop PC isn't disappearing overnight. What is changing today is the need for such a system in the first place. Why go through a costly upgrade when games run just as well on a $150 card from two years ago, as they do on a brand new multi-GPU $500 card from last month, which will be in notebooks the following year?

I like the feeling of mixing my own shake with the exact ingredients I want from a store I trust. However, I don't mind going elsewhere if the product is available pre-assembled and likely to satisfy my needs for years to come.

I used to spend well over a grand on computer hardware every year, just to keep pace with the need to run my games. I also upgraded for the fun of it because of new features introduced each generation. I'm either becoming old and not as interested as I used to be about upgrading at every product cycle, or there simply isn't the need.

I look at it another way. In 1994 I struggled to fit Windows 95, just the operating system, on my entire 512MB hard drive. I didn't have any room for anything else except one or two games. Mp3s didn't exist back then, so forget about a music archive, let alone movies. Space was at a premium for everything.

A few years later high speed internet arrives, hard drive storage space explodes, and suddenly there is more storage space available for all the music I could ever hope to listen to. Now we're seeing the same thing happen today for games and videos. I haven't bought another hard drive in over a year solely based on the need for more music space.

All software and media have a base level of hardware requirements to run that media at optimal performance. The most demanding ones being graphics based. Eventually we will develop GPUs capable of rendering photo-realistic images. Where will it evolve after that? Maybe we can finally concentrate on making quality games that take advantage of a consistent and reliable platform.

While we may not be hitting a plateau on graphics needs just yet, as we have a long way to go for photo-realistic graphics that run perfectly on a 1080p display, I am happy with what we have now. In fact, there may come a time when our thirst for better graphics simply stops, just short of that point where photo-realism takes place.

Would we notice?

Notebooks, netbooks, and even your iPhone will all become the dominant computing platform in the next decade. The curve for our need to keep pace is slowing. We may eventually run out of steam in our march toward progress. Like I mentioned above, would performance be the dominant feature that keeps us upgrading, or will it be convenience, quality, and style?

Because desktop PCs provide that ability to easily swap out individual components, we won't see these systems die anytime soon. We will see them as being placed on the back-burner of the computing market. They will remain there as more of a curiosity than a primary PC that you turn on after you've packed away your notebook after returning home from work.

Would you care to spend $2,000 every three years on a new notebook that is entirely mobile, or $1,500 on a new desktop PC that is bulky, laden with wires, and encourages you to upgrade components that cost you over that $500 you saved otherwise? And all assuming the games you want to play tomorrow would run just about as well as today's?

The brief era of computers being a novelty that need special attention is coming to an end.

Laptop GPU busted? A possible fix...

2009-06-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Laptop problems got you down? Not fast enough, battery constantly running low, and now it's overheating or causing weird display errors? Is the GPU causing reboots and BSODs when attempting to enter Windows? Does it feel like it will spontaneously combust in your face?

Fear not, for I have the answer, courtesy of a friend's diligent investigating after my own laptop went bust. Bake it! Solder points on laptops are sensitive. If you especially have a Dell e1705 Nvidia dedicated GPU (must be dedicated and NOT integrated (IGP)), here is a simple solution for when it goes bust:

Preheat your oven to 400f. Once it is nice and toasty warm inside, insert your laptop into it. Wait wait... if you know how, take out the GPU first from the laptop and insert THAT into the oven. If you don't know how, find a friend that does. Bake for 15-25 minutes. Take it out, let cool for 15 minutes.

Voila! You "may" have a working GPU now if the solder points reconnected (and that was the problem to being with). Insert back into laptop after a good inspection and cooling to test. It worked for mine! Really. I couldn't believe it, but I now have a working laptop again.

Disclaimer: I am not to be held responsible if you accidentally forget its baking in the oven, turn the temp to broil, or confuse an oven with a microwave...

Here ends the solution.

Promoting original IP

2009-06-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Alganon is an original fantasy MMO IP with only vague similarities to mythological and medieval references that many games share. The uniqueness is in its individual features, such as: the Library, Studies, consignment for the auction house, amongst others. The developers built the game on a foundation of familiarity, then added from there.

There are so many games that share common features, how can you successfully promote your game when the first thing the community usually judges are screenshots that tend to glaringly show off these commonalities? Is it enough to focus on the individual unique components? If we were to hammer into the community that the Library was what made Alganon great, would the game really sell?

I feel one of the keys to successfully promoting an original IP game is to ensure that all content areas are highlighted together when talking about its uniqueness. Show how your character will grow in all areas because of a feature that lets them craft sandwiches while offline. Ignoring content areas or focusing exclusively on a specific feature, won't sell the game.

Regardless of which features are a focus, the game itself needs to have a pull, and that requires active participation to experience. Let the community explore the world as soon as it's ready. This will ultimately tell you if the game will be successful. While it may not be completely unique, does the game have those individual features that make it interesting? Do those features make the game, dare I say, "fun"?

Quest Online is promoting Alganon by listening to the community on what interests them. It amazes me how so many developers brush off the ideas and thoughts of their community. While caution should be taken, as the community is going to have high expectations for your game, listening to them does more than give you ideas, it gives you perspective.

My first 100 days as a Community Manager

2009-04-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I wrote about my first month as a developer Community Manager. When first acquiring the position, the expectations I had were wide. While those initial expectations were mostly positive, I looked forward to meeting any challenges that may lay ahead. I also wrote about how I came to choosing this career path, and that if I had not done so I would have regretted it.

An interesting observation since my first month, is that no one in community management is a true expert. There is a chance for each of us to find a niche. I want to help the field in better understanding itself and the direction it will take with the next generation of gamers. Almost any job in the game industry still has this potential, but more so it is found in the community field. Being a part of Quest Online has given me an opportunity to begin exploring that potential.

Everyday our MMO, Alganon, is growing in the public spotlight. We recently entered Private Beta with a target release date of this summer. Fans are pouring in from many diverse backgrounds, hoping we are the answer to gameplay frustrations and waning interest in their current games. While I don't believe any one game can, nor should, be an "answer", I am proud and excited to have the opportunity to show the community a game that at least gives them another unique choice.

A large part of being a Community Manager is to positively bring together individuals and existing groups in a setting where everyone shares a common interest. Where we can work together on a project to produce something all can be a part of and enjoy long after it is "complete". That is what I enjoy most about this career. That it happens to involve game development is simply a bonus.

Easter Holiday Quotes & Poems

2009-04-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

Easter Holiday Quotes

"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there."
- Clarence W. Hall

"My mom used to say that Greek Easter was later because then you get stuff cheaper."
- Amy Sedaris

"On Easter Day the veil between time and eternity thins to gossamer."
- Douglas Horton

"Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals."
- Charles M. Crowe

"A strangely reflective, even melancholy day. Is that because, unlike our cousins in the northern hemisphere, Easter is not associated with the energy and vitality of spring but with the more subdued spirit of autumn?"
- Hugh Mackay

Easter Holiday Poems

"Easter is not a time for groping through dusty, musty tomes or tombs to disprove spontaneous generation or even to prove life eternal. It is a day to fan the ashes of dead hope, a day to banish doubts and seek the slopes where the sun is rising, to revel in the faith which transports us out of ourselves and the dead past into the vast and inviting unknown."
- As quoted in the Lewiston Tribune

"The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amid the war of elements,
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds."
- Joseph Addison

"For I remember it is Easter morn,
And life and love and peace are all new born."
- Alice Freeman Palmer

"See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows.
Earth with heaven above rejoices..."
- Charles Kingsley

"I think of the garden after the rain;
And hope to my heart comes singing,
At morn the cherry-blooms will be white,
And the Easter bells be ringing!"
- Edna Dean Proctor, "Easter Bells"

Finally, I get my wheels for the first time...

2009-04-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

...this year anyway. Since coming back from China, I haven't had much of an urge to go out and spend thousands of dollars on a vehicle I really wouldn't need most of the time. I got used to getting around without that convenience. Cars cost a lot to acquire them, a lot to feed them, maintenance can be unexpectedly high or unpredictable, and insurance is also a significant cost.

Upon acquiring a new apartment, I set about finding a location in my hometown that was convenient for shopping and getting to most of the major places I would ever need to get to. I now have easy access to the bus system, and can walk to the mall in a half hour. Since we have snowy winters here in Wisconsin, there was only one thing I was waiting on purchasing before my transportation needs were complete.

Finally, the last snowfall occurred a few days ago and the weather has been warming up consistently into the 50s F. This weekend I went to the mall and set about purchasing my wheels - a brand new bike, a pedal bike that is. Complete with lock, pump, and taxes - all for $121. I passed on the offer for insurance (don't you hate those guys at Best Buy that nag about how wonderful their extended warranties are?).

How many of you own a pedal bike? Obviously there are the major drawbacks, namely having no carrying space. I can go to the store and bring home a few light bags of groceries, but that is about it. I certainly can't buy a new furniture set. All I needed was a faster way to get to those places that were really too far to walk, or took several dollars by bus.

I miss my China biking adventures. While it isn't the same here, as the exploration is all sapped up from years of living in this area, as well as the lackluster terrain and sporadic weather, I still enjoy biking when I can.

A Week of GDC 2009

2009-03-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

The week has ended and my flight home is but a few hours away. I am returning from San Francisco from a week at the annual Game Developers Conference. This is one of the most important conferences to attend for anyone involved in the game industry. I was fortunate enough to spend my first one as an official representative of Quest Online, LLC. for our MMO project, Alganon.

Besides the meetings with dozens of developers and media representatives, the conference also gave me the opportunity to explore potential for my own site, Events For Gamers. E4G is a media based website dedicated to the collection and tracking of game industry event news and announcements, so you don't have to do it manually via Google. It also tracks upcoming event dates, and archives events no longer in existence.

I was also able to explore all the games on display at the various booths scattered around the conference halls. As I reported at E4G in the days of posts about GDC news from around the web, games like Guitar Hero World Tour were covered by just about every media outlet. I took the opportunity to check them out myself, but came away with mixed feelings about many of the games I saw.

Has anything really changed in the industry? If there has been any sort of shifts over the past year in terms of growth and innovation, I didn't see a whole lot of it. Sure, there were the niche games that had potential for changing the industry... there always are. The question is will any of them make a significant impact on the future of the industry? One of my concerns is the flood of copies, expansions, and sequels that seem to drown out these potentials.

'Braid' is an Indie RPG introduced last year that smashed records on the Xbox Live platform for innovation, simplicity, and style. The best part about the game is it successfully pulls all this off while still offering the familiar. The designer obvious took a couple of pages from the gameplay book of Mario World. While this would immediately be frowned upon as copyright infringement, Braid uses it so well that I didn't even notice this familiarity until several minutes into the game.

Familiarity + Uniqueness = Success, Uniqueness + Uniqueness = Success, Familiarity + Familiarity = Laziness. Follow the first two formulas and perhaps we will see during GDC 2010, or even this upcoming E3 2009, more games worthy of my periodic $50 purchase decisions.

Competing MMO Features

2009-03-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

In establishing the Alganon community, there is a growing array of differences and opinions in our forums that have given our developers pause in carefully considering how different features are to be implemented. You can't establish multiple features without eventual conflicts between those features. How do you then please differing opinions and interests?

Alganon is eventually going to be including PVP. While not implemented at launch, we have been carefully considering how the hardcore portion of our community is going to accept this. It is a feature that many want to be completely open and free in engagement. The more casual community members that want to have nothing to do with PVP in a PVE focused game would be in an uproar if we ignored them.

Crafting is another feature that is often split between those that want to gather resources and enjoy combat, while others want to buy and sell crafted items in safer and more social areas. Forcing players to adventure to acquire resources is often something a large portion of the community sees as a constricting independence of their character development. Sure, it is efficient to go out and gather the resources and then create something without the middle-man. Many players though don't want to have to deal with the entire process.

Competing or forced MMO features are more of a lack of good design than anything else. For Alganon, we are implementing localized and instanced areas that allow some interaction between PVP and PVE player scenarios on a volunteer basis. Also, our Consignment system tied to Auction Houses gives the opportunity for gathers to sell raw materials to crafters with them being able to request specific materials they are looking for - no adventuring required.

The questions to ask in game design are; Should we really be catering to both sides of the player base? Are the pressures from publishers and marketing really so strong that we feel we need to please everyone possible, sacrificing good design for a larger and less focused community? Why are games bloated with too many competing features? Is there room for more focused and specialized games amidst the sea of these giants? And, what can we do to cater to both sides of the player base in a way that doesn't force players to compromise their core interests?

Events For Gamers "E4G"

2009-03-14T12:34:00.001-07:00

It's always exciting to me when I start planning for a major trip, partly because I don't get to do it very often. Fortunately, I will be attending the upcoming GDC conference in San Francisco. I like helping at these events or getting to know my fellow industry members more, or sharing with them the latest game I am working on. All of which is why I created Events For Gamers, or "E4G" for short.

Events For Gamers was created with the idea that you shouldn't have to search for the date of your favorite event, how much it is going to cost to attend, and simply what the event is all about. Nor should you have to fish through Google to find news from media sites about it.

E4G brings all the core information for all game related events to one place, allowing discussions and community sharing of event news and information. E4G also supports active groups, with a search ability to find others that may be attending a similar event.

E4G caters not only to the casual player, but media, developers, and event coordinators with private forum access for these groups to discuss events in private.

Now that I have E4G in a testing stage, I thought to open it up to my friends here at my blog site to help test the service. I need to identify what needs to be filled in yet that I may have missed, as well as reporting bugs and problems. Also, I would simply like to know if E4G is something useful for media, developers, event organizers, and the general public. This has been a long-running project that I personally think would be useful, but perhaps someone can point out otherwise.

You can find the site at: http://www.eventsforgamers.com

I ask that you create an account, fill in some profile information (whether its accurate or anonymous), and just play around with the site to see what it all has to offer. Your feedback is appreciated. Developers that wish to participate are certainly appreciated as well.

I will be needing news reporters, a forum moderator, a web developer, and someone who can just help keep the site updated. Anyone wishing to volunteer and help out please contact me!

MMO, G, RPG, Single Player, Multiplayer...

2009-03-07T15:31:00.001-08:00

Acronyms... they have the power shorten our sentences and get a point across much quicker than using complete phrases. The troubles is, acronyms have this nasty habit of being misinterpreted, placed out of context, or simply used at the wrong time.

Game acronyms are fairly consistent, except for those darn online game acronyms. Which ones should be used? Here are my views as to the limits of these acronyms. First, The individual letters and what they stand for:

M = Massive or Massively
M = Multiplayer
O = Online
R = Role
P = Play or Playing
G = Game

Most often we see "Roleplaying" as one word, which is appropriate enough in most situations. So the "O" and "R" are really to be considered one word. Should we be using "MMORPG" all the time though? Not always. Here are those games that qualify as "MMORPGs":

* Ultima Online
* EverQuest
* Star Wars Galaxies
* World of Warcraft
* Lord of the Rings Online
* ... (and many others)

MMORPG is the term used for the tightest focus in online games. Take away the RP and you have games like The West or Hello Kitty Online. Take away Massive and you have games like Guild Wars or Neverwinter Nights. Take away the Multiplayer and you have a single player game. Take away 'online' and you have a LAN game at best.

Roleplaying is associated with online games that have the opportunity to act out a character beyond simply showing off an avatar. There has to be some interactive feedback with other live persons and their characters. Otherwise you're simply playing a game... not roleplaying.

What are some games that are NOT MMORPGs? How about I list a few that are sometimes thought of as MMORPGs, but are not:

* Guild Wars - (Even though a lot are playing it, they are not playing it at the same time in one location, ever... it's all instanced, no persistent world truly exists, thus NOT an MMO of any kind, but simply an online game).

* Diablo - Same exact overall concept as Guild Wars. The only thing Guild Wars expands upon is the ability to stand idle around town with more people.

* Neverwinter Nights - A multiplayer game only. This one is farthest from any MMO concept you'll ever see. Some consider it an MMO, and even an online game, which is a complete joke and are neither. Is an Internet game of Quake an online game? No.

A massive multiplayer online game isn't a game where you connect with your buddies across the Internet, but no one else can pop in or out of the game world at will.

A massive multiplayer online game is a world that always exists and has elements that are NOT instanced, more than just the town centers like you see in Guild Wars.

A massive multiplayer online game consists more than just your immediate friends. While numbers can be debated, a game which allows only 24 individuals on a a time is NOT massive.

Guild Wars is most interesting, as I would consider it a Hybrid Online Game, or a "HOG" for short. The key within all of these acronyms is the 'Massive' term more than any others. 'Massive' only counts if you can connect with a lot of players at one time, or it's not massive in any way.

I hope I helped clarify anyone's doubts about what 'MMORPG' and other terms really mean. While these are purely my opinions, as no one has the law on terminologies, I think I have a reasonable enough set of guidelines to help anyone not sure when to use them. Feel free to convince me otherwise though!

Should I write about China in my China book?

2009-03-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Now that my MMO book is completed (woot!) and due to be published in the next few weeks, I am beginning my thoughts on what to write for my China book. I had such a fantastic experience last year teaching students in China and exploring much of Asia, as my previous blogs have shown, that I want... no, I NEED to write about it in a book that others can enjoy.

So, what should I write about? I will write about my observations on how the Chinese gaming community differs from its Western counterpart, how economics and politics of the East and West differ (and in many ways meet), and many other topics of interest. Should I actually write about China itself though? I'm wondering, because even though I had so many experiences there, I only saw a fraction of China overall.

One thing that annoys me about the media in general, is that they are generally biased. They often can't help it, and often have to be that way to make a point. Sometimes they simply don't have enough information to make a fair and balanced review. Do I want to do the same in a book that will be pressed permanently in the minds of its readers? Should I write about my limited impressions of what China was like?

While it was, to me, a thousand times better than my initial assumptions, what if those impressions are largely skewed? What if my book takes an entirely different direction if I had spent a few months in Sichuan or some other deeply embedded province, away from any of the cities like Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong that I explored. In the end I think it doesn't matter, as I cannot write about everything, nor certainly experience everything.

I think I will write this book about what I experienced and only what I experienced, and let you the reader decide what percentage of reality there is in my story. I can say one thing for certain, and that what I experienced was a once-in-a-lifetime event. I encourage anyone that is thinking about taking a similar experience, to do so without hesitation (but do take considerations).

Where does the time go?

2009-02-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to slip in keeping this blog series updated. We've been so busy at Quest Online, LLC. that I haven't had much time in thinking about my drifting thoughts. I usually jot them down here in a blog whenever one of them passes across my vision that is of any remote interest. Alright, they are ALL interesting to me since they are my thoughts ;).

I've actually been thinking more about China than this blog, so I really should marry the two once again. I believe the "China" category here is almost as large as the gaming one. I had a fantastic year teaching in China and exploring much of Eastern Asia while doing so. I met so many friends, learned so much, and took away from it a lifetime's worth of experiences and value for yet future experiences.

What was I thinking? Why leave something that I thought was so fantastic and such a valuable experience? Quite simply, for another experience. My firm belief is that in order to grow as a person you must go. You must go to new places and go through new experiences in order to understand the world and be best able to prepare for things that come later in life, especially those that are unexpected and of the moment.

I've spent the last two months as the community manager for Quest Online, LLC. I hope my career continues to move forward, while at the same time being able to travel across the world and gain additional experiences and insight into how the world turns. It's interesting that I strive to build a career around the fictional and fantastical, yet insist on learning about the real world just as much.

My first month as a community manager

2009-01-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

I've been a community manager for over seven years now, though everything up to the last month has been with media websites such as Stratics, Vault and Allakhazam. Right now I feel I am at the point where I've near completed that long reach to the top of the roller coaster ride, only to soon entering into the incredible twists and turns that I will undoubtedly experience on the ride.

Stepping back a little bit on my journey, I want to explain the reason I am currently a community manager in the game industry and what decisions I made that ultimately brought me here, or at least the decisions that fate selected for me, if you prefer to think of things that way.

Years ago I had a job as a security guard at a paper mill. Every day I would walk the mill and then process truck applications at the security guard shack and associated office locations. There wasn't much to the job other than walking around and ensuring things were in their proper order. I can only count three or four instances that were out of the ordinary in any significant way.

After awhile I seriously began to think about my future. Don't we all do this from time-to-time? I took a good hard look at where I was going, and quite frankly that was nowhere. I had a concern that I would look back on my life and not have done anything extraordinary. I kept wanting to grow as a person and I couldn't do that in any capacity at the security job (except perhaps for weight from the lack of exercise). I had to get a degree and start something that had a future.

I started bringing my laptop so I could explore the Internet between my security security duties. I started to help out in various game forums and do general customer service related things. Most of this was on the Stratics Network in the beginning. A few months went by, where I then decided to apply for a news reporter position at the EverQuest 2 portal. I was accepted. After that, I worked to finish my college degree and look for further interests in community projects.

While working online I moved on to other jobs, some very prominent ones at places like the postal service. The few I took ended up bringing me back to the question of where I wanted to be in the future. Each time I thought about it my mind gravitated back to the game industry and my interests in community management. I started to get what my mind was trying to tell me. I was a community manager and I loved working with the community. It was as simple as that.

Still, it wasn't enough. At this time I hadn't journeyed out of the United States. I needed to explore the world and really understand where my place was in it. I figured I could only do that in the true extreme, by literally going to the other side of the world. A few days or even a month wasn't enough though, so I decided to take a year and go to China to teach English. It was an experience I will never forget. An experience that has changed me forever and set me on a course that ended up bringing me to the career I ultimately wanted; being a community manager.

Now, for what it is like to really be a community manager. I knew the job title was very broad and could mean a lot of different responsibilities between companies. I also already knew that my current position would be a lot different than the media responsibilities I had earlier. There are more challenges, but also more excitement and opportunities. I am now the lead of a community, instead of simply being a supportive part of one.

What will I say six or more months down the road? Those seasoned in the position will probably know exactly what I will be writing about in this blog at that time. But until then I am loving every minute as I learn new things. It is exciting being able to bring together a community that is looking forward to there next game experience. It is a humble experience being in a role that not too long ago I admired and hoped I would someday achieve.

Less Is More

2009-01-18T18:17:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of weeks I have been plotting the layout I would place all the furniture I planned to buy for my new apartment. With the old stuff being thrown out, I had a lot of room in the much larger apartment to accommodate some nicer things. It has taken quite a bit of time to whittle down to just a few hundred choices. Yes, I know, that's still a lot. It is almost certainly too much for my apartment, so I must do something to yet further reduce what I want.

Game developers call the occurrence of packing more features into a container which wasn't designed or intended for them as 'Feature Creep'. There are countless games out there that have had this design burden strike their developers. In fact, I seriously doubt if a single game has remained unscathed on some level of feature creep. Designing games is a significant task that takes a lot of time, which goes above and beyond and one person's complete abilities to control.

Two days ago my friends showed me a new game, based solely on the web browser, called 'The West'. It is a game about the American West (surprise) at a time of cowboys and cattle ranchers. The uniqueness about this game, besides its sole place on the web browser, is its simplicity. There are hundreds of ways to play the game, yet only a handful of truly unique options that you start with. The developers crafted unique qualities into the game to give it life and longevity.

What we are seeing in many games released on the market today is sterility, quite frankly. Sterility in innovation and uniqueness on such a scale as to become a catastrophic plague upon the industry. How many shooter games are there? Unique qualities exist, but in most cases they are just another shooter. Instead of guns they may employ lasers, instead of magic wands they may employ mind powers, but they are still "aim, pull trigger, kill, run, rinse and repeat" type games.

While many worry that the game industry is moving too quickly towards casual type games, of which 'The West' is one of them, I feel this trend may allow Indie developers and the industry as a whole induce innovation and creativity on a level that has been slipping away at larger companies. Everyone is too caught up in making money and not making innovative and fun games. It isn't about how many quests a game may have, but how fun the quests are that the game does have.

My New Years Resolution

2009-01-12T19:34:00.000-08:00

One tends to start out the new year with all sorts of promises, commitments, and explanations for things they plan to do in the year ahead. Everyone plans, but how many commit, and how many more are able to explain their plans and commitments, especially when forced upon by others?

My new years resolutions were numerous, from obtaining level 50 in Warhammer Online to reorganizing my house in Ultima Online. Hey, I said they were numerous, I didn't say they were diverse.

I had eventually whittled away this count each day, down to just one yesterday morning. You are probably thinking right now, "We haven't even entered February yet and this guy has only one left?" Yep, just one. This didn't result out of procrastination, another online game that caught my attention, or any other lame excuse.

I realized that I really only need one. It may sound lame, but my new years resolution is to be happy throughout the year. That's all there is to it. No complications, no formulas, no notes, just a plan for happiness. One might think that this was an obvious "default" shared by all, but sadly this goal seems to be elusive for many in today's society.

I am an avid news reader, from online games to war stories in the Middle East. It is some of these stories, that if one listens to closely enough, tell a lesson to those that are fortunate enough to hear it. We have a special place in this world and must cherish each and every moment as if it were the last. Do not take anything for granted lest ye fall victim to it, by "default".

A lame new years resolution, but the only one you can be certain I will not procrastinate on.

We are but a grain of sand

2008-12-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

Be humble, for we are but a grain of sand floating in the ocean of space: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=I34FNr_peUk

A yearly holiday cheer

2008-12-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

With my blog posts thinning out this month due to the holidays, I wanted to be sure to still slip one in here regardless of this busy time of year. The holidays are usually celebrated with family, friends and other loved ones. This is my favorite time of year, as I get to buy gifts and bake cookies for those that appreciate the offerings.

It is also a time of year where things change. The year is almost over with a new one starting as quickly and fresh as the snow falling outside my window. A chill occasionally passes through my house this time of year, reminding me that winter is but a doorstep away. All the happy memories I hold in this house have a barrier against the cold as hard as plaster and wood, yet as fragile as a door left open.

We must cherish each moment that we have with those we love and take care those moments do not wane with a new year. Another year means another round of thanks and holiday cheer. I look forward and back in my life, trying to understand where I am in the current moment. I continually find that any day is a day for celebration, regardless of its meaning.

Calories vs. Game Content

2008-12-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

Thursdays are my buffet days. This is the day of the week I splurge on calories and let loose on the diet plan. Before I get into an interesting comparison of what I eat during this festival of foods, I want to mention an experience I had while in China last year that jump-started this diet plan I am still using today. A plan I should probably get off of.

When I left for China I weighed 195lbs. When I came back a year later I weighed 125lbs. I was also 125lbs. just six months into my journey there, effectively slashing my weight by more than a third in a half a year. I did this through exercise, a massive change in diet, and some positive thinking. While it wasn't easy, I did end up dropping calories a bit more than I should have.

Upon returning home I was yelled at by my doctor for being underweight. Part of the problem was in counting calories so stringently. I'm very analytical and methodical. Perhaps a bit obsessive now in the food department as well. 50 calories here, 35 there, 1/2 hour until I can eat 225 calories for lunch, maybe 450-500 calories for dinner, etc.

At the buffet today I finished off my splurge in calories with a large spoonful of banana pudding. The very best pudding one can possibly have, taste wise anyway. In returning home I looked up how many calories that spoonful contained. I was dismayed in learning it contained over 200 calories, in just one spoonful! The carrot I am eating right now has 4. I would need to eat 50 carrots to equal that spoonful of banana pudding.

Good games don't need to have a huge amount of content to be enjoyable, much like how we expect tasty foods to have a large amount of calories. I love my carrots almost as much as I love banana pudding. It is about the balance and focus of my health and percentage of positive gain that makes carrots appealing. Just as it is with a small game that gives you great content to explore, instead of a game that ultimately has more content and fun experiences, but leaves you wondering if it was worth playing.

The carrot is extremely low in calories and has a great crunch when eating it. A lot of games would be more successful with less content that is of a higher quality. We would enjoy playing through the game over and over far more often, just like me eating carrots every day for a snack without getting sick of them. It may take some time to get used to, but we'd love the new experience soon enough.

Did I mention carrots were cheaper than banana pudding?

The gift is in the giving

2008-12-04T21:01:00.001-08:00

Each year our family gets together for Thanksgiving and exchanges names in a hat in preparation for Christmas day gift giving. Whomever name you select is the person you purchase gifts for. We often try to mix them up afterward to ensure someone gets a name they haven't had before, or themselves. It is done without anyone knowing who has each other in order to make it a little more interesting.

While shopping with my family in preparation for this time of gift giving, we stopped at the shoe isle of Wal-Mart and browsed their selection of slippers. I've wanted to purchase a nice comfortable pair of slippers for years now, but for some reason I never really got around to it. My mother said she would purchase them now and then give them to me later as a wrapped gift.

I thought it was a great idea, as it was something she could give me as a gift that I truly wanted. I thought about it a little bit more and realized it was also kind of silly. There is a sort of futility in knowing what you will be getting, especially when you are there to pick it out and then watch the person purchase it at the checkout. I would be real surprised upon open that gift!

After our family exchanges names we later will fill out gift wish lists. We give the lists to a family member that knows who has each name and doesn't participate in the selection process themselves. Throughout this whole ordeal we usually end up figuring out who had whose name. By the time presents are opened on Christmas day it really isn't much of a surprise.

Pointless, futile, inefficient? Of course not. Especially if you really want that item, it is a worthwhile experience.

This highlights a very important idea that we all understand, but sometimes have a hard time grasping. It is not the end result or the known elements of a process that are important, but the process itself and the unknown elements. I have a family that gets together to celebrate a very joyful time of year. The point of exchanging gifts is the experience in give something, whether it is a known item or a true surprise.

This is what I'd like to think I do every day for my career in the game industry as well. It is the very process of working with the community that inspires and empowers me with a sense of passion to move forward. I may know the community will have predictable questions when a game update is announced. The community may know exactly what they will be doing in the game after that update is released. They may likely know what my response to their questions will be, yet we all participate.

How we go about fulfilling those expectations is the exciting part. We all may know what is coming down the road, but we are excited anyway in experiencing that known expectation. We all share a passion and love for the game's we play and are more excited about the process, as redundant and known as it may be most of the time, than the end results or the final declaration of what we had waited for.

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it." - Greg Anderson

Black Friday shoppers beware!

2008-11-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

Check prices everyone! Don't think a deal is a true deal without understanding what the prices of the products were before they were set for Black Friday, and what they may likely be afterward. Retailers will often mark up prices before marking them "down".

As an excellent example of how retailers will often sell you "deals" on this special day, I just received the Newegg newsletter for their Black Friday specials. Here are the prices of a few products from the System Performance Guide I update every week on Allakhazam that reflect Newegg average weekly prices:

http://www.allakhazam.com/wiki/System_Performance_Guide

I watch like a hawk these deals every week in order to give those looking to build or upgrade their computers the best possible deals they can get at the time. I've counted over a dozen deals actually marked up since this past Sunday! And I mean marked up for their Black Friday special specifically. You pay more on Black Friday in essence.

This will likely also occur at your local Brick & Mortar stores as well, such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and Fry's Electronics. When I purchased my very awesome 50" Plasma television two years ago at Best Buy, I scoped out the price a week ahead of time. It was $2,499 a week previous, but on Black Friday the "Early Bird" deal read "$1,699, marked down from $2,999!". Marked down? Hardly. Still a deal? You bet!

So just take care in not getting too excited this holiday season when seeing those "Marked down!", "On Special!", "50% off" tags. And as a Black Friday guru I haven't seen any crazy deals so far from store magazines. As excited as I get about this day, I'm spending this year instead with my family at home. The truth of the matter is, you often will find great deals if you just stay diligent throughout the year.

If you do go out shopping, check these sites first before braving the crowds and elements:

* http://slickdeals.net/
* http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/
* http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=cs_top_nav_gb27

* http://www.black-friday.net/
* http://bfads.net/Adscans
* http://www.theblackfriday.com/

Following the MMO content release strategy

2008-11-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

This is the kind of content strategies I like to see in non-mmo games, like Fallout 3:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6201670.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1

What we're beginning to see in all genres is increasing support for regularly updated and newly introduced content. I'm not talking about the periodic, once a year expansion you go to the store to purchase, if a game provides any new content at all. I'm talking about the kind of regular updates you see in MMOs on a monthly or even weekly basis.

With services like STEAM and console connectivity to the Internet, it is becoming more "fluid" in how we obtain and update our games. This works the other way as well in how the developers are able to provide us with fresh content at minimal cost. I can't count the times I've spoken with developers about their previous games and how they wished they could go back and provide new content for those that still play them.

I'm sure Indie developers are praising these services for their ever expanding reach into markets that were previously off limits because of exorbitant marketing costs.

The only thing I am concerned with in this model is the continual burying of fantastic games that simply don't get the market visibility they deserve. While providing product lists and easier methods of retrieval direct from the Internet surely helps everyone out, it is still up to marketing to ensure that the game is visible on these lists in some strategic, yet sensible form.

"Never judge a book by its cover". Who thought of that phrase anyway? While I do not exclusively judge a book by its cover, I have a high chance of passing it up if the title is confusing or seriously conflicts with the vague and blurry graphics on the front. And you can guarantee I won't pick it up without an obvious title, no matter how mysterious it is supposed to stand out.

It's really too bad developers often don't get a chance to revisit classic games that still have an audience. Yet another win for Indie developers I think.

U.S. power, influence will decline in future

2008-11-20T19:53:00.000-08:00

I love America and what it stands for, which is why the following report is very scary, very real, and going to change each and every one of us in the not-so-distant future in how we carry out our daily lives. I've been to China and I've seen what they are doing over there (I won't mention the huge online game addiction epidemic). The next superpower? If they don't pollute their waters and sky beyond recognition, or become complacent like we are, just maybe...

U.S. power, influence will decline in future, report says
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/20/global.trends.report/

What can we do about future power struggles as worldwide resources diminish? Who will benefit most, or be squashed by those on the way up the power ladder? I don't have an answer to that. Fortunately, the United States actually sits on most of the alternative energy resources the world could ever hope to have in one place. We have the best solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, coal, and nuclear capacities. A new economic opportunity awaits, one in which could be our salvation. I see no better time than to take advantage of that opportunity.

While the U.S. will likely remain a global super power, we won't have quite as much say in foreign affairs in decades to come as we used to, no matter how many resources we sit on top of. That particularly scares me because we really have a great country here, one like no other. The United States has stood at the forefront of so much technological and sociological progress. But progress that threatens to slip away due to a massive economic mess and the rest of the world simply "growing up".

While I will not say who I voted for, nor will I applaud or decry either Democrats or Republicans, I will say that some of Obama's intentions are focused in the right direction. He is willing to drive a new industry in alternative energies, which may just replace the auto industry that is now in ruins. While some of his policies are suspect, I firmly believe he is one of very few hopes we have in turning this country around, and this world. He already brought cheers to millions around the world, so some progress has already been made.

The future is uncertain, by its very definition. While some of my blogs may suggest otherwise, I am an optimist. I simply point out the reality of things to those that may not fully appreciate their current situations. It also helps me understand my own. Perhaps everything will work itself out and we'll all be able to continue to buy gas at $2.00 or less a gallon.

If you'll excuse me now, I must practice up on my Chinese speaking & writing...

My favorite game quotes of all time

2008-11-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite game quotes of all time (note these are not literally "game" exclusive, but could probably apply in many cases):

"Play every game as if it is your last one."
- Guy Lafleur

"Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game."
- Voltaire

"For when the One Great Scorer comes To write against your name, He marks - not that you won or lost - But how you played the game."
- Grantland Rice

"My work is a game, a very serious game."
- M. C. Escher

"A game is not won until it is lost."
- David Pleat

"Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game."
- Winston Churchill

"Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown."
- Ross Perot

"It's the game of life. Do I win or do I lose? One day they're gonna shut the game down. I gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as I can before it's my turn to leave."
- Tupac Shakur

"If you're willing to put two thoughts into a picture then you're already ahead of the game."
- Sean Penn

"We're just going to come out and play. We know that we're supposed to win all the games, but if we don't, we just have to take the next game and focus on what we did wrong in the game before and just try to do better at the next game."
- Shaquille O'Neal

"If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians."
- Warren Buffett

"At this stage of the game, I am not sure what the hell is going to happen."
- Bobby Rahal

"We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time."
- Vince Lombardi

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."
- Albert Einstein

"People have always doubted whether I was good enough to play this game at this level. I thought I was, and I thought I could be. What other people thought was really always irrelevant to me."
- Steve Nash

"The goals made such a difference to the way this game went."
- John Motson

"No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts."
- Paul Bryant

"It's more than a game. It's an institution."
- Thomas Hughes

"If life doesn't offer a game worth playing, then invent a new one."
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

"If you have the opportunity to play this game of life you need to appreciate every moment. a lot of people don't appreciate the moment until it's passed."
- Kanye West

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
- Michael Jordan

"I think it's wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly."
- Steven Wright

"So if you want to have a great video game-based movie you have to keep the mood of the game, use the normal character setup - but you have to flesh out the story and provide more background for the characters."
- Uwe Boll

"If you make every game a life and death proposition, you're going to have problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot."
- Dean Smith

"Winning that first game was so important; my mother always said that the first game of the second set was the chance to keep it going if you were ahead or change things if you were behind."
- Tracy Austin

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will."
- Jawaharlal Nehru

"We play fair and we play hard. If we win the game we win, if we lose the game, we lose."
- Jason Williams

"The person that turns over the most rocks wins the game. And that's always been my philosophy."
- Peter Lynch

"Never change a winning game; always change a losing one."
- Bill Tilden

Buy this loan, bailout that home, repay with... what?

2008-11-12T20:03:00.000-08:00

In watching the news lately I've collected an alarmingly growing list of economic rescue plans by the government. These plans are designed to either bailout the auto industry, buy bad assets from mortgage companies, or simply dish out money any which direction that seems the best to keep the economy afloat. In the government's case, more money is always the answer. Ironic how it should have none.

How come there seems to be so many debates and discussions over what we should be doing, and less over actually doing it? Yes, there are plenty of rescue plans that will definitely be implemented, but they sure took awhile to enact. Not to mention the pork added to them. Just today the US is backing away from buying bad assets and instead will focus the $700 billion allotment on bailing out financial institutions.

While I am all for rescuing the economy, I sometimes wonder who is really running it. Years of research go into studying the economic engine, with millions of students learning from experienced professors in prestigious colleges on how to manage money. Our civilization is a miracle in engineering and complexity, yet it is a complexity that doesn't seem to be fully understood by the very people who designed it.

Even under dire circumstances, why cater to businesses that got us into this economic mess in the first place? Unfortunately, in order to keep the economy afloat we have to do whatever we can to keep alive those businesses that drive it. I say "we" as not the catering government, but the people and the businesses involved. Would the government offer the same assistance to anyone "less important" that created their own downfall?

In the news the past several days I have seen an alarming focus on discussing how these companies are spending their rescue money, money the government is giving them practically without oversight. Money that is probably coming through secondary loans from other countries. Reportedly, much of it is not put to bailing out the business itself, but instead fattening high ranking employee wallets with millions in bonuses and other incentives.

How much more can a system fail when it directly rewards those that made it fail in the first place? What are we doing here, giving lollipops to kids because they stole a dollar out of their mom's purse for a chocolate bar they intended to eat directly off the store shelf anyway? Who is held responsible when the parent is encouraging the kid, or at the very least is turning an eye away from the problem?

I don't even want to talk about the 10 trillion (and counting) in debt the government (not to mention "other" debt) will one day be required to pay to the countries we've been loaning it from over the past several decades. Everyone wants to borrow, the trouble is in how they intend to repay that money back. The sad truth is, they probably don't intend to pay it back. No one seems to be able to tell us what will happen after that eventuality either.

The magic of the economic engine truly fascinates me, yet its complexity and seeming unpredictability confuse me. I was in plenty of economic classes during college and not one professor ever touched upon the scenario we're currently in. Perhaps he was borrowing too.

I have a dream...

2008-11-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday I had a dream that our nation would vote for change, and today that dream has been fulfilled.

A dream where racial divides and simple color differences of the skin have become less important to the choosing of the most important person on this planet. A dream where change was hoped for around the entire world, and has been answered by a president reflecting that change. A dream where democracy has once again shown its greatness and inspired others around the world that they can too can fulfill their dreams.

It is an historic day, one in which I think John McCain was secretly hoping for. In his concession speech he clearly had a hope for President Elect, Senator Obama. A hope that Obama would be a symbol to the world that America is truly a great country, a symbol for the rest of the world again, a country that can change for the better, and a country that shows Democracy at its finest.

Only these quotes really speak to this reality:

"As a black British woman, I can't believe that America has voted in a black president," said Jackie Humphries, 49, a librarian who partied with 1,500 people at the U.S. Embassy in London Tuesday night.

"Americans overcame their racial divisions and elected Obama because they wanted the real thing: a candidate who spoke from the bottom of his heart," said Terumi Hino, a photographer and painter in Tokyo. "I think this means the United States can go back to being admired as the country of dreams."

In South Africa, Nelson Mandela, the civil rights icon who helped bring down his country's apartheid regime, released a letter to Obama that said, "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."

"For the first time I feel the phrase, 'I hereby declare that all men are crated equal,' from the U.S. Declaration of Independence, really came to life for me today," said architect Mamdouh al-Sobaihi, a guest at a post-election reception Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "U.S. history has returned to its roots. The forefathers would be very pleased with today's election," he said.

Saudi journalist Samir Saadi said that Obama's election means "the U.S. has won the war on terror."

"Given Obama's name, his background, the doubts about his religion, Americans still voted for him and this proved that America is a democracy," he said. "People here are starting to believe in the U.S. again."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a combative foe of Bush, congratulated Obama on his "historic election of a descendant of Africans" and called for "new relations" between the two nations.

"The choice of an African American president in the United States overturns the whole idea of the stiff and conservative America," Yerofeyev said. "This means that America did wake up. This means that America is again open for free and democratic values. America has once again become a good model to emulate. It has again become a great country."

"Senator Obama's message of hope is not just for America's future, it is also a message of hope for the world as well," said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Change on the scale everyone is undoubtedly hoping for, will not occur overnight. It may not even occur in the term Obama occupies. But it will occur, for the world has ensured this change, with or without Obama. The greatness of a person is not always in their actions, but in the effect their person projects to others that do take action.

I am proud to be a citizen of the United States. While I've never been otherwise, today is a great day for all of Americans, and for the entire world. Let us ensure we seize this chance to bring together all nations, race, and other divides, as we have shown today that those divides are less significant than we previously believed.

A cool, creepy, crawly Halloween evening

2008-10-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the night
When dead leaves fly
Like witches on switches
Across the sky,
When elf and sprite
Flit through the night
On a moony sheen.

Tonight is the night
When leaves make a sound
Like a gnome in his home
Under the ground,
When spooks and trolls
Creep out of holes
Mossy and green.

Tonight is the night
When pumpkins stare
Through sheaves and leaves
Everywhere,
When ghouls and ghost
And goblin host
Dance round their queen.
It's Halloween.

- Harry Behn

Fallout 3 = FPS/RPG = FAIL

2008-10-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

Fallout 3 is a fantastic game overall. It has a lot of detailed RPG elements that transition relatively smoothly in a FPS system. The problem is that some of them are so blatantly bad you can't relax and enjoy the rest of the game. The saying goes, "It only takes one to ruin it for everyone else." 10/10? Hardly, 9/10? Maybe, 8/10? Yeah, I could go for that ratio in how good the game is overall.

I am getting sick and tired of reviews that are so biased they can't see beyond their own paychecks. Take a look at magazine reviews from ten years or more ago and see the quality and depth they provide (as well as the porn advertisements on the back). What happened?! What business do these reviewers have in giving a game a 10/10 when you have inconsistencies like this happening?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIEqcRtVVpk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iHjfVYbgIU

If you'll notice carefully, the enemy took over twenty bullets to the HEAD even after the shooter buffed up everything he had! One could argue that "It's just a game!", but that doesn't cut it, quite frankly. If the designers couldn't figure out a better system for such an unrealistic situation, I'm definitely not giving this game a 10/10, even if there were good reasons behind the decision.

Sure, a lot of games' characters take a beating unrealistically, but this is blatantly BAD. Check this out to wrap up my point:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/282542.html

Yeah... some designer missed the mark big time in that one. Things like this make me think about what goes through designers minds at this stage of gameplay. Do they even PLAY their game after designing it, ever going "Hmm, that seems odd..." in the slightest? This tells me not, and this is just one of a few blatant examples in the game of missing the realism mark.

Again, I love the game overall, except for these little "bumps" in the realism road. I see too much of this in movies and other situations that really make you wonder how much they notice these things in-house, or if they do notice them, what the reasons are for not resolving them. There is always a reason I'm sure... no more development money, timetables, marketing, not enough sleep...

A tour of my game world

2008-10-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

While certainly not a complete list, this list gives you an idea of the games I've played and those I've particularly enjoyed. It does not display many of the expansions and sequels even though I have likely played them.

These are also the games that I have played with any great length of time. Those that have a * next to their names indicate ones I have especially enjoyed and will cherish forever.

Ones worth noting that I have enjoyed on other platforms includes: GTA 3, KotOR, and various Playstation, Super Nintendo, and Nintendo games.

MMOGs
# Age of Conan *
# Anarchy Online
# Asheron's Call
# Auto Assault
# Dark Age of Camelot *
# Dungeons & Dragons
# Earth & Beyond *
# Eve Online
# EverQuest *
# EverQuest II *
# Guild Wars *
# Horizons
# Lord of the Rings Online *
# Matrix Online
# Pirates of the Burning Sea *
# Saga of Ryzom
# Star Wars Galaxies
# Ultima Online *
# Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
# Warhammer Online *
# World of Warcraft *

Action
# Descent 3
# Marvel: Ultimate Alliance *
# Tomb Raider
# X-Men

Adventure
# 11th Hour
# Alice
# Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
# Full Throttle
# Phantasmagoria *

FPS (First Person Shooter)
# BloodRayne
# Castle Wolfenstein
# Crysis
# Doom *
# Duke Nukem 3D
# Far Cry *
# Gears of War
# Half-Life *
# Halo
# Hellgate: London *
# Heretic *
# Hexen
# Operation Flashpoint
# Painkiller *
# Postal
# Prey
# Quake *
# Return To Castle Wolfenstein
# Serious Sam *
# Unreal Tournament *

Racing
# Big Red Racing
# Carmageddon *
# Crazy Taxi
# Flatout *
# Grand Theft Auto *
# Need For Speed
# Rebel Trucker
# Ultimate Race Pro *

RPG (Role-Playing)
# Baldur's Gate *
# Betrayal at Krondor
# Diablo *
# Dungeon Siege *
# Fable
# Final Fantasy VII
# Gothic III
# Elders Scrolls *
# Knights of the Old Republic *
# Mass Effect *
# Neverwinter Nights *
# Overlord
# Titan Quest *
# Ultima Series *

RTS (Real Time Strategy)
# Age of Empires *
# Age of Mythology
# Battlezone II
# Civilization *
# Command & Conquer *
# Dungeon Keeper 2 *
# Empire Earth *
# Populous
# Rise of Nations *
# Settlers
# Sid Meier's Pirates! *
# Sins of a Solar Empire
# Starcraft
# Supreme Commander *
# Total Annihilation *
# Warcraft *
# Worms *

Simulation
# City Life *
# Jones *
# Medieval Lords *
# Railroad Tycoon
# Rollercoaster Tycoon
# Second Life *
# Simcity *
# Simearth
# Spore *
# Zoo Tycoon

TBS (Turn Based Strategy)
# Deadlock *
# Disciples II *
# Galactic Civilizations *
# Heroes of Might & Magic *
# Jones in the Fast Lane *
# Majesty
# Master of Magic *
# Master of Orion *
# X-Com
# Warlords *

Console (GC, PSP, Xbox/Xbox360, etc...)
# Older Consoles: Nes, Snes, PS/PS2... (Simply too many to list) *
# Batten Kattos (GC) *
# Condemned (Xbox360)
# Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox360)
# DiRT (Xbox360) *
# F-Zero GX (GC) *
# Field Commander (PSP)
# Forza: Motorsport 2
# Frantix (PSP)
# Gears of War (Xbox360)
# GRiD (Xbox360) *
# Grip Shift (PSP)
# Guitar Hero 2 (Xbox360) *
# Halo (Xbox360) *
# Jade Empire (Xbox)
# Kameo (Xbox360)
# Lumines (PSP) *
# Mass Effect (Xbox360) *
# Midnight Club 3 (Xbox360)
# Peter Jackson's King Kong (Xbox360)
# Rock Band (PS3)
# Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
# Untold Legends (PSP)
# X-Men Legends (GC)
# Zelda (GC) *

'Chinese Democracy' - Chinese what?

2008-10-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

"'Chinese Democracy': A history" - is apparently an album title by Guns N' Roses:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-chinese-democracy-pg,0,5017977.photogallery

While I'm at a loss for most of the lyrics and titles that are created for music, this one isn't completely out of the question, as baseless as it probably is to this specific music piece. When we think of China we think of a Communist country, and we would be right. China has an official Communist party, which actually numbers in the millions (just about everyone is part of the party, or they're against it, which is why no one is against it...).

Here are some interesting facts from the cia.gov website regarding China's political structure:

- Conventional long form: People's Republic of China, abbreviation: PRC
- Government Type: Communist state

- Legal system: Based on civil law system; derived from Soviet and continental civil code legal principles; legislature retains power to interpret statutes; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Boiling all those complex words down, it essentially means that China has a very "you do bad or we don't like you, you will disappear" type of policy, with some mix of "we'll hear some of you out in a sort-of court room process because it looks good internationally" for good measure. While this is surely biased in telling the whole story, scary enough as it is China does indeed have some harsh enforcement methods:

China Moves from Bullets to Mobile Execution Vans to Improve International Image
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05110309.html

At least it isn't quite as scary as some Middle East policies:
http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/7AF3B581-E955-4518-B548-A676C35E9574/

In trying to improve their image China "shifts" some of the bad things around to make it appear less of a human rights issue.

Not all is bleak in terms of a growing power that lacks growing passion for its own people. Before I went to China I pictured it as some developing country (which it is technically) that had few major cities and those few cities were huge dusty barren farm towns more than anything else. I couldn't have been further from the truth in my assumptions (though the smog really gets you on certain days, like Sunday through Saturday).

After returning from China I understood there would be a new super power in the world in the 21st century, though it wasn't going to be through China's existing government, but through its people. If you spend a week in any major city in China you quickly understand the people have consumerist values just like we do in the United States. They go shopping at malls, hang out at Starbucks (and there are a LOT in China), and have all sorts of social problems like we do (and then some, unfortunately).

As China grows and its people expand their horizons I see the country moving beyond those that are stuck forever in ruts of anger and hate, like many extremists in the Middle East. If the people stand up for themselves, I see China in the future not as a Communist state, but as a 'Chinese Democracy'.

What if the world was flat and infinite?

2008-10-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Let us assume for a moment that the world is flat, regardless of the obvious implications and shear violations of just about every law of physics that keeps the world as it currently is, round. This blog may start out as a rant, for good reason, but it ends in what is really a serious topic. What if the world was flat and what could we do with such a world, and more importantly what we couldn't do?

Flat Worlders

There are actually societies and organizations out there that believe that the world is flat. 'The Flat Earth Society' is but one of them I have discovered while writing this blog post, although literally dozens exist around the world. There are a lot of crazy things people do and believe in. Isn't it especially a scary notion to know there are people out there that believe in something that is so obviously untrue as the world being flat?

I don't think it is all that hard to believe. As I've written about before we humans are driven mostly by our emotions and needs rather than common sense or altruism. Another factor is that as humans we need to believe, in anything. It doesn't matter if it's a type of religion, alien invasions, our grandmother's apple pie on Christmas, or a flat Earth hypothesis. Think about when you're hungry how fast you react to that hunger by satiating it with food. Now think about how you usuallydon't think about that process...

The reason we are driven to focus on such ideas and so obvious untruths, as I like to call them, is because it helps us to feel a part of something and to feel special about being in the world. As truthful as this may be and how many may deny it, we are adrift in the sea of the heavens, essentially alone without any company but ourselves. I do believe in other intelligent species out there, but unless there are some fantastical inventions within our reach, such as wormholes and other transportation discoveries, we might as well be alone.

Ships passing on a turbulent sea at night, icebergs adrift in the great oceanic expanse, shoppers in a supermarket trying to find each other when they are but one isle apart yet both turn away at the wrong moment. Whatever the case, you can bet someone will believe we have discovered aliens or preaches to the end of the Earth that the Earth is flat. Not because it may be true, but because it feels good and gives them drive to do so. The best part of it all, those who believe these things will deny understanding otherwise, yet ultimately deep down they know what is true. It simply doesn't matter.

A True Flat World

Implications abound in such great quantity that a book could be written about this one subject. Heck, how many books are on store shelves right now that are written about grooming your dog? I still have a challenge finishing the book I am currently writing about the online game industry, and that topic far exceeds the content about how to cut a dog's claws! Although someone please let me know if I'm wrong about that assumption...

For starters, a flat world would eventually end, so what is at that end? As many in the past have imagined, that end was usually depicted in the form of the great oceans simply spilling off and disappearing below. But below to where and how come the water in the world wasn't already drained, and can land spill off too?

Other problems stem from mere hanging on to our atmosphere to the rotation around the sun, to the reasons the sun simply shifts in a repeated pattern in the sky. Gravity has always been a mystery to us and still is, so we'll let that one go as a "maybe", somehow. The point is, there are clearly very logical and sensible reasons for understanding why our world is in fact round and why it is in fact not flat.

The incorrect assumptions began years ago before we had a grasp on the true size of our world and were able to explore it. So there is no excuse for "Other Worlders", except for the reasons I mentioned above. While it certainly is a laughable notion today, it really was a serious discussion years ago. But it still can be a serious discussion today not for real world research, but for online virtual world research. What if a world were flat, and also infinite in all directions?

An Infinite World

We could probably put this right on the scale of the universe, heck even the galaxy. The sheer volume of space out there, the trillions of stars, billions of galaxies, and all of it in all directions makes me quickly lose grasp of the sheer scale. The human mind simply cannot comprehend how large an existence we really live in. Which should give real pause to those that understand even a bit about this scale and then still proclaim we have to be the only ones out there...

What if just our own world were infinite and Christopher Columbus never did return, where he kept on exploring until the end of his crews days? Ignoring once again the physics involved, it certainly would be interesting to experience new things on an almost daily basis! Everyone could stake a piece, perhaps any size piece of land they wanted to themselves as everyone would simply keep spreading out, right? Maybe.

The problem with this is whether population growth could continue, and if we as a species would continue when we were so exploration happy other more practical consideration were forgotten. Though if you look at the sheer size of our own world and what we were able to accomplish hundreds of years ago at even a snails pace, scale might not be an issue, except for one problem. If we were indeed able to explore an infinite world, it stands to reason there is an infinite amount of possibilities on that world.

It also stands to reason with infinite possibilities that somewhere another intelligent species, or simply a very dangerous species such as dinosaurs, roams not far beyond the current areas explored. "Here there be dragons"... Depending upon our current civilizations level on such a world, would we survive these encounters? Possibly, if our civilization were spread out enough, with sheer scale negating any possible true extinction events. Those are just a couple of examples of pre-industrial challenges in an infinite world.

What about problems we'd have in a technological civilization such as our own? Eventually communication over vast distances would become delayed, although long before that become a problem the idea that we could hold such a vast civilization together comes into question. Parallel that thought with us exploring the vastness of space, could we truly hold our civilization together on such scales? Most of everything else in our society would function in its immediate vacinity, but what about space exploration itself?

If the world were flat and infinite, satellites would naturally be impossible without falling right out of the sky from not being able to sustain a centrifugal orbit. And what happens when we send rockets up to explore beyond the atmosphere, what really lies beyond? Will we discover empty "space", or will it be some sort of weird painted canvas that our rocket ship crashes into? And even if that happens, there must be something beyond that boundary, right?

Imagination Knows No Bounds

Exploration and our human imaginations simply know no bounds. We are forever curious about the "what if" of existence, regardless of whether it's shoved in our face as an impossibility. Be damned those ridiculous thoughts, for we'll work around them! Computers, the Internet, virtual worlds, are all tools to push aside conventional thinking, logic, and rationality for the boundaries that know no boundaries--human thought.

"I think, therefore I am" - Descartes

Game Review 005: Braid

2008-10-13T10:47:00.001-07:00

PROLEGOMENAN

Every year it seems like there are fewer games out on the market that truly stimulate, excite, and even shock those who play them for the first time. It often takes several years to develop a game with a rich atmosphere like that found in the Diablo series of RPGs. The risks are high and the rewards uncertain, especially for Indie developers, even with a good team and solid scope. Several types of genres will on occasion bring about these fresh perspectives gamers desire, from first person shooters, turn based strategies, racing, and of course RPGs.

I have discovered a unique game on Xbox Live that truly excited me from the moment I saw it, to the very end-game gameplay. I can safely say that no game has done this in over a year now, and quite possibly never quite to the level that Braid has done. While there are components to the game that resemble those of Mario World, you quickly move past common themes to those that fill yourself with imagination as you race to solve each puzzle, quite literally. In the end I still don't give it a 10/10, where you'll see why shortly.

GRAPHICS, SOUND, INTERFACE

You will immediately note the beautiful splendor that is the Braid world. It is a world not made of realistic colors, nor of candy textures as World of Warcraft is made of as I like to call them. Braid is a world of vibrant yet pleasing colors and textures that look exactly like they were painted with a handbrush, from the flowers on the grassy ground to the multi-colored sun in the sky. Braid sets you about in a world of pleasant scenery that wraps itself around music you could fall asleep too.

There have been some really annoying games I've played when it comes to music and sound effects. It doesn't take much to overdue this very critical component of gameplay, yet more often than not you see games that should have a light piano sound and instead come with a rock band singing something straight out of a rapper groups album. All game elements must be in harmony or one begins to notice flaws about each individual component, and eventually ignores the point of playing the game altogether!

Braid has a theme you wouldn't quite expect, but does it right. As with the happy world feeling, you are greeted with pleasant piano, violin and other orchestra sounds that are just enough to complete the world without sounding harsh or disrupting. This is especially important in a game that requires a sharp focus in completing puzzles and advancing through difficult objectives. What's more annoying when concentrating than harsh sounds, kids yelling in the background, dishes crashing on the floor... you get the idea.

As for the interface, nothing too special here as the game is using Xbox 360's proprietary control. Forward, backward, jump, menu, etc., all have their places on the game pad. You are even given a brief in-game tutorial that helps guide you through some of the basic commands, including one very special command that no other game has yet implemented -- time reverse and forward action buttons. The tutorial is a subtle but to the point, reflecting a bit of the puzzle-like attitude that the game is based upon.

GAMEPLAY

That's right, you are given control over the flow of time, an essential component to the game that is at the very heart of the gameplay and how you will manage to solve some of the most challenging, yet fun puzzles I've personally seen in a console game for some time now. Time is also not only part of the gameplay but part of the story. If you can conceive of moving backwards in time to reverse actions you've previously made that produce a net forward effect, you have a start at understanding the Braid world.

Moving backwards in time has two essential functions when completing puzzles and advancing through the game world. The first is that of error correction. Let's say you made a mistake, died when hitting a creature, or some other event that you wish to reverse. If only in the real world we could reverse time and start fresh. In most games you can simply hit the reset button, but in Braid you simply hit the reverse time button (or hit the reset button anyway if you really want to)!

The second is of puzzle solving. Moving backwards in time is often essential in adjusting the scene to ensure it is at a point where you can complete a puzzle properly. For example, often times you will be forced to jump off a cliff to retrieve a key. The only way to get back up is to reverse time, keeping the key with you as you reverse. There's a hint in there for those that play Braid and wonder what the special green sparkly items are for versus those that don't have that effect...

WRAPPING UP

I love puzzles, so any puzzle game is a bonus for me when I can get my hands on it. Combine that type of gameplay with beautiful graphics, pleasing music and sound effects that don't disrupt your concentration, and a storyline that interweaves nicely with the gameplay and you have at least one happy customer.

The only caveat I have with the game is that as you advance through the puzzle worlds you are forced to use the reverse time feature so much it almost becomes a distraction in itself. Imagine trying to solve a puzzle by constantly reversing time and moving forward over hundreds of attempts to get a sequence of objectives completed just right. Everything reverses, including the music, and as a result your ability to focus on the task at hand quickly is lost in frustration.

My respect for the developers grew ten-fold when I realized the game was developed not from some huge studio with millions of dollars in funding, but from a small independent group that simply wanted to make a different kind of game than was ever seen before. They certainly accomplished their goals and I think exceeded their expectations for such a successful Indie product as.

PROS:

- Unique time reversal gameplay with challenging puzzles
- A storyline that interweaves directly with the gameplay
- Graphics and music that are pleasing to the eyes and ears
- Cheap and quick to access over Xbox Live

CONS:

- Advanced puzzles require too many frequent time reversal adjustments
- A relatively short game after you understand its mechanics
- Only available on Xbox Live

FINAL OVERALL RATING

8/10

My 2008 Christmas game wish list

2008-10-10T07:49:00.001-07:00

1. Fable II

While I'll be forced to play this on the Xbox360, the game is set to be a fantastic sequel to Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters. It is an action role-playing game that has similarities in a much more complex setting from games like The Sim. I just hope the vast exploration opportunities don't lend themselves to a lack of item acquisition along the way.

2. Far Cry 2

A sequel to the fantastic first-person shooter Fry Cry, Fry Cry 2 "almost" goes the way of those millions of World War II games that just don't stop coming out. While the original game had a scientific theme to it, I'm worried that Far Cry 2's more "realistic" theme will set it up as just another war shooter. At least it's in Africa this time, which should make this a bit more interesting.

3. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

As expansive as any series has ever been, Command & Conquer has inspired my real-time strategy urges since I can remember. I believe the first time I touched a C&C was around 1998. As with previous premises of the series, time machines and altering of World War historical events is the theme with C&C: Red Alert 3. I love the series, but each game that comes out feels relatively the same as previous. We'll see how this one changes the series, if any. Still, I'm hopeful.

4. Prince of Persia

Another awesome series, the Prince of Persia games take you on a journey through the Persian landscape in the middle-east, with you playing the Prince throughout his alcoholic, girl seeking adventures in the hot desert. What I love about this game is the crazy stunts and acrobatic tricks the Prince can do as you guide him through some pretty fantastic challenges. Add a sprinkling of magic and humor to the game and it's a great bit of adventurous fun. At least I hope this new sequel will be like the previous games in the series in this way.

5. Fallout 3

I'll get my hands on any role-playing game these days, especially when it's in a post apocalyptic scenario. The last game in the series was made almost a decade ago, so the hype to complete this awesome isometric gameplay of Fallout 1 and 2 is at its peak for me right now. However, Fallout 3 is going to be more of a 3D perspective, much like the roaming RPG that Elder Scrolls series is set in. I love the series as well, so if Fallout 3 has this expansiveness too, this will be a great buy.

6. Damnation

I love playing games that display alternate versions of the United States and what may have come about if things were just a bit different than they had turned out in our universe. What is particularly intriguing about Damnation is the way they turn a first-person shooter into some fun and complex gameplay. The terrain is varied and complicated, leading to having to incorporate strategy into advancing through areas, not just mowing down enemies.

Another interesting aspect of Damnation is its gun slinging cowboy style combined with some fantastic 3D graphics. I've been viewing screenshots of some of the areas you'll be able to adventure in and may find this more simply an adventure than a first-person shooter.

An addendum to my space interests

2008-10-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

It's funny how I write an article about something passionate and then a day or two later see other articles on the Internet that reflect my ideologies. No, they didn't copy from me (in all likelihood), but just tuned into an AM or FM brain channel of mine and read my thoughts instead...

Seriously, I just finished reading a fantastic article regarding space exploration and why we must explore space and expand beyond our little planet called Earth in order to survive as a technologically advanced civilization. Read on for an overview of why space isn't just "empty":

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/04/MN4L134D5S.DTL

Because I'm just so darn fascinated with space exploration, I thought to give you a little more into why we would go and what is out there:

Extraterrestrial Resources:
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_resources_031114.html

Asteroid Mining:
http://www.space.com/adastra/060209_adastra_mining.html

Is space exploration worth it:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Space-Exploration-2540/2008/4/Advantages-Space-Exploration.htm

Many earths:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/0406_050406_exoplanets_2.html

The Drake Equation:
http://www.planetarysystems.org/drake_equation.html

An eventual end:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risks_to_civilization%2C_humans_and_planet_Earth

Space Frontier Foundation:
http://www.space-frontier.org/

The Local Chimney:
http://www.solstation.com/x-objects/chimney.htm

2008 Vice Presidential Debates

2008-10-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

Much like the presidential debates through the year so far, I watched the 2008 vice presidential debates over the computer, again, and came away with less than I had hoped for in such an important debate. Both candidates went back and forth in dodging questions and refusing to acknowledge each others points. Unfortunately it was a typical debate, so I wasn't surprised more than simply disappointed.

To be fair, both of the candidates did rather well in speaking and giving their thoughts about what they stood for and what they intended to do during their vice presidential terms should they be elected, but I have a couple of comments for each of the candidates regarding their performances as a whole.

Biden had a bit of trouble in the beginning putting his thoughts together and wasn't quite fast enough to respond to Palin's comments. On the other hand, Palin was so fast with her comments she often didn't answer the moderators questions, but instead just spit out numerous talking points that often ran into each other. Palin spoke confidently through most of the debate, with Biden building up his confidence as time went on.

I'm not going to spit out who I love, who I hate, whether I'm democratic or whether I'm republican. What I want to share is what I believe in, what makes sense, and simply is right. Here are the top five things I think should be focused on that will help our economy, help our country regain its status as a respected global influence, and help the world in respecting each other.

1) ENERGY

We need to diversify - Take a look at the United State's energy capabilities. We have the largest coal reserves in the world (25%), and now have technologies for producing "clean coal energy". We also have the largest solar capability in the southwest, the largest geothermal energy capabilities, wind capabilities, and many others that are near or top of the world in capacity. Sharing eventual surplus in energy would only net us economic security.

Why are we not developing renewable energy sources fast enough? Because the oil companies are in control, bad politics get in the way through standard human greed, and until recently many of these renewable energy sources simple weren't economically viable to produce, despite the fact that an obvious energy crisis was looming.

We need to develop these technologies in a serious and full-force manner. Only then will we be free from limited and unstable resources as petroleum. And only then will we have a chance to survive at all when oil and "finite" resources do run out, and run out they will. Energy is the ultimate need for everything we know. Without energy we would have no food, clean water, and most importantly no ability to play our favorite computer games or movies...

2) SCIENCE

New technology research and existing technology refinement - Research and investment in technologies helps grow the economy and provide a better future for us due to new technologies that make it capable for humans to live better. From new energy technologies, medicines that cure cancer, to space exploration that will give us more places to live, our only survival past the 21st century is to continue and explore new ways of surviving.

Investing in our future can only be a good thing, especially when it comes to helping us understand what that future is going to be like. Science isn't some "evil corporation" as some fanatical groups protest it is out of sheer ignorance and lack of anything better to talk about. Science is based on facts, clear thinking, and predictable and logical assumptions. Any sane being would understand that to be something worth investing heavily in.

3) SPACE EXPLORATION

Investing in private space companies - On the point of no. 2), we have to invest 10x fold in space exploration if we are ever to survive on this planet in a high-technological society. Why? Here is the best term I can give to sum up why - "Currently we have all of our eggs in one basket". Whether its another regional war that destabilizes energy supplies or an all-out apocalypse, as dramatic as both are but just as likely, we cannot afford to "restart" our civilization.

We've used most of the "easy energies", so we have to continue to expand and diversify in order to continue to expand and diversify. Much like the diversification in energy we must diversify our living locations, and the only place left is the vastness of space. One way or another, space will be our ultimate salvation if we are to continue on our current path of high technology and population growth. Where else can we possibly go that would make such a difference?

4) COMMUNICATION

Connect the world - What better way to stop wars and ensure a global community than to get everyone to understand each other. It makes so much sense, yet is often ignored because of the difficulties in achieving such a goal, that is until recently. Some of the biggest reasons that conflicts begin are due to misunderstandings. Someone accidentally causes a problem and the other side sees it as a preemptive strike. They strike back and the cycle begins with no hope in ever seeing an end.

Wireless Internet technologies must be developed in order to spread open access to free information to those that may be repressed from it, so they understand what the world and countries they previously mistakenly hated are really all about. The same goes for military and governmental policies and strategies.

I'm not saying we should give up all of our secrets, as that would be a mistake, but to open up simple dialog and conversations with other countries just to help in creating a mutual atmosphere of trust and cooperation. This kind of atmosphere helps to loosen tensions and relieve preconceptions that ignite emotional responses instead of factual "cool-headed" responses. Ignorance may be bliss, but it may also cause the next nuclear war.

5) NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

It must be stopped - I could probably put health care or education in here, as both are clearly obvious developmental needs that have little to true debate on the whole. But I must instead put nuclear proliferation in here for one reason only. If things get ugly and the world goes into a nuclear war, I can assure you there will be no winners. And not one soul on earth left standing will think of anything but how we could have rid ourselves of the weapons that caused destruction of everything that took centuries to build.

"We live in interesting times" was an actual curse from the Chinese, and it may yet be more accurate than they ever thought possible.

Nuclear weapons can indeed be thought of as a deterrent against an outcome of mutually assured destruction, but they can also be thought of as the end of all things. They exist, and by that in itself is scary and unstable in the hands of such emotionally run beings as we humans. Our race is currently in a state of technological and emotional adolescence, evolution having built us through natural selection as emotionally defensive beings and not civilization capable thinkers.

Some may point out that without nuclear weapons we would have horrible wars between countries that would last for decades and never end due to the incapable weapons to truly end wars on a global scale. While it may be horrible and wars really should never happen in the first place, at least we would still be around to continue our technological march in the hope that one day we'll ban together and grow beyond our need to settle differences by poking each others eyes out. Or in the case of nuclear weapons, incinerate each other and all life around us.

THE REST

I'm not going to get into tax breaks or increasing taxes, marriage rights, abortion rights, the death penalty or any of the other more sensitive and emotional topics that have a less clear solution than the ones I spoke about above. I have a feeling though that if we can get all five points above nailed down, the rest will naturally fall into place. But as opinions, debates and other emotional arguments go, I could be wrong.

My favorite quotes of all time

2008-09-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite quotes of all time from philosophers, politicians, scientists and other great persons throughout history:

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." - Thomas Jefferson

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Alva Edison

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." - Sir Isaac Newton

"Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome." - Isaac Asimov

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." - Sherlock Holmes (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King Jr

"Knowledge is power" - Francis Bacon

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." - Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." - H. G. Wells

"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." - Robert J. Oppenheimer (citing from the Bhagavad Gita, after witnessing the world's first nuclear explosion)

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Sir Winston Churchill

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true." - James Branch Cabell

"I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them." - Ian L. Fleming

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right." - Henry Ford

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours." - Richard Bach

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." - Sun Tzu

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy

"Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down." - Jimmy Durante

"Facts are the enemy of truth." - Don Quixote - "Man of La Mancha"

"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid." - Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." - Alan Kay

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." - George Washington Carver

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'." - Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back')

"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves." - Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

"If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance." - George Bernard Shaw

"The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it." - George Bernard Shaw

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work." - Emile Zola

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." - Albert Einstein

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." - Oscar Wilde

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it" - Henry David Thoreau

"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names." - John F. Kennedy

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." - Robert F. Kennedy

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." - Martin Luther King Jr.

"Sleep is an excellent way of listening to an opera." - James Stephens

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

"There are no facts, only interpretations." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and we miss it, but we aim too low and reach it." - Michelangelo

"All glory comes from daring to begin." - William Shakespeare

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius

The definition of "Community Manager"

2008-09-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

When someone says to me, "I am a community manager", the first thing that goes through my mind is that they manage some sort of community. Makes sense after all, right? The problem with the definition of community manager begins with the separate meanings of each of the two words, and then the resulting definition after you combine them.

What community are you referring to and how exactly are you managing them? The words and combined meaning are so broad, there have actually been abuses to their use. "Yeah, I am a community manager. I just so happen to manage for my neighbors in our community when they need someone to take care of their kids." Sorry, but that isn't a community manager. That is what families typically call a "baby-sitter" or a "house-sitter".

There have been many other loose interpretations, but the source issue is the fact that there are simply a lot of legitimate community mangers that have a variety of job functions and tasks that often merge with other positions in their companies. Call center support, marketing and production are just a few of those areas that will have a community manager involved.

The definition of "Community"

Dictionary.com definition - "a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage."

A community is essentially a group of living elements that share common traits and goals with each other. You could say that a forest is a community of trees. They all go through the same overall life cycle as other creatures around them, and are close enough together to provide a habitat for those creatures. All of which in turn provides further life and support for the entire ecosystem, which is the community of the forest.

When we often think of a community however, humans are usually involved in that vision. Humans are drawn to communities for support, protection, and mental well-being. Many of the same traits the trees in a forest share, except of course for the mental well-being part. These groups can range from a handful of members to well into the millions (and for humans into the billions).

As with the title of "Community Manager", there are no solid boundaries in numbers. From this point forward I will be shortening the phrase to the common acronym of "CM".

The definition of "Manager"

Dictionary.com definition - "a person who has control or direction of an institution, business, etc., or of a part, division, or phase of it."

To make things even more interesting, the definition and use of the word "manager" is even broader than that of "community". Managers may range from a garden tender managing his produce, to a CEO that manages a garden of a few thousand workers. Whatever the scale though in what they manage, managers are there to ensure a smooth operation. You certainly wouldn't want anything going wrong with that sewer pump, would you? The manager will take care to ensure knowledgeable staff are on hand to deal with the crisis, we hope...

I have to admit that I have even had one of those "yeah, I've managed, sure..." positions that I've been accused of mentioning more than once. Often my friends would gather at my home to play computer games. It was typically my responsibility to ensure access to enough computer space, a selection of available games, and of course a fully stocked fridge. I was the "CM" for my local LAN party. Not exactly a true definition to the title, but you can see how it sometimes doesn't have a clear boarder. What job title really does? A 3D facial artist perhaps.

A game developer CM

What is a CM when you're talking about the game industry? There are two key groups that are both distinct, yet work closely with one another that share the same goals and values. They are the official game CMs and the media network CMs. They both work online with the community, as well as the developers and their own immediate team.

There is only one outstanding difference in what a game developer CM does vs. a media one. Game developer CMs often have the added task of working with marketing in an official capacity. The key theme to recognize is that a CM's duties are to provide a link between all parties. Depending upon the organization and how closely they are with the game developers will determine their exact duties.

The way CMs link these groups are through the following important methods:

1) Keep the community excited about the game they play through developer Q&A
2) Keep the developers informed of player related feedback regarding their games
3) Represent the studio in a liaison capacity to publishers and all other parties involved
3) Post daily news and update their site to keep everyone "on the same page"
4) Interact in their site forums to stir discussions and for the above items
5) Attend events and marketing promotions to encourage excitement and growth for the game

Communication, or lack thereof

The CM ought to really be called the CCM, or "Community Communications Manager", as almost all of their duties and focus rely upon being able to effectively communicate from one group to another. The community relies on the CM to tell them what the developers are doing, while the development team relies on the CM to tell them how the community is reacting to the experience of playing their game.

Here are just a few of the things that can go wrong, or at least not function efficiently when there is a poor CM on your team, or worse, a lack of one altogether:

1) Players yelling at no one in particular because the game is broken and no one is telling them why
2) Developers yelling at players because they don't have a proper channel to go through (the CM)
3) Marketing yelling at the developers because their are no players playing their game!

4) No one yelling at anyone because nothing is being communicated about anything, so everyone just gives up and goes home because there is no money left to finish building a game the community knows nothing about.

The importance of CMs is becoming more apparent every year. Companies in all industries are finally realizing how important it is to have an online human presence that can properly and proudly represent the company, while continuing to be a communications bridge between all parties involved.

I am proud to be a community manager. I love learning about people and discussing their needs, and how I can help fulfill those needs. The trick in the trade is to get everyone else to come together with you and share those same goals.

WAR = WAR = FUN

2008-09-22T10:41:00.001-07:00

Why do we focus so much on combat in games? What excites us so much that killing monsters, avatars of each other, and exploring ways to generally rule an opposing side deserves so much attention. Is it not evil, counter-intuitive to civilization, non-progressive, or any thoughtful sounding word you'd like to fill in there, that should tell us that WAR is to be stuffed in our back pockets instead of brought out like its candy on a stick?

It IS evil, counter-intuitive to civilization, non-progressive, and certain carries little rational thought, but who cares! We're emotionally grown beings, so the point of these games focusing on WAR is not I think the cause and effect, end results of our actions, morality considerations and all of that, but in the emotional results. Studies have shown that directing aggressive energies into virtual worlds has a stabilizing effect on the brain when it is brought back into reality.

WAR has it's original meaning = "a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air." - according to dictionary.com

WAR also means = "Warhammer Online"

It is interesting the developers and community have chosen the acronym, WAR, as the primary shortcut when labeling the game in blogs, interviews, editorials and other articles. The game is indeed primarily about war, conflict, opposing sides and the exciting battles that ensue in various parts of its virtual world. You are even able to choose a server that focuses more on WAR than other servers, and even chose servers that focus more on combat between players than on world monsters.

Upon entering the game you are given a plethora of choices in how you wish to build your status in the game world. Sometimes it involves killing a solo monster, or ganging up with others in your guild to defeat opposing players. Whatever server you end up choosing you still get all of these options, and more. To be fair, WAR isn't everything, as players need supportive elements and social building mechanics in order to not get drawn into a mental combat warp that begins to distort the game and its intended focus, i.e. having fun.

There are crafting skills to choose from, supportive classes that "technically" don't kill anyone using their skills but help others to do so, as well as plenty of chat windows and other exploration features that will give you hours of enjoyment when the battlefield gets tiring. In the end though, this game is about WAR. If you enjoy crafting sandwiches in your custom designed home with vendors on the patio selling various knitted clothing items you made the previous evening, stick with games like Ultima Online. The bad boys and girls are going to WAR!

Waaagh!

A good review is unbiased

2008-09-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

As I sat in the plane on the way to Austin... well, it was headed to LA, where I connected with a flight to Denver, where I once again connected to a flight that this time actually flew me to Austin. Austin Game Developers Conference was soon to start and I was ready to greet the conference with my fortitude in one hand and a business card in the other.

I was writing the last few pages in my book on the plane, which is also about computer games, when I realized the book was actually almost complete. As I had written in a previous blog, it sometimes it is difficult to actually finish a project. What overshadowed that concern now was the excitement that I would be completing another item off my checklist of items to do in my life.

Taking a brief break, as I wasn't used to the physical writing, I took out the only good magazine available on the plane, the first edition of (insert game magazine name here) that I had brought with me. The magazine is for massive multiplayer online game readers. Flipping through the pages, I came to the Warhammer Online section after quickly passing by Age of Conan. I knew enough about AoC and I was currently a community manager for WAR, so was particularly interested in what the writer had to say about the game I have been watching for the past three years.

The magazine was put together fantastically, yet I can't help but feel I missed something in the review of the Warhammer Online article. Something that I most definitely caught while reading about Age of Conan. It wasn't until I had my Quiznos sub in the Denver airport that it dawned on me. Nothing is perfect, and yet this article essentially made out WAR as if it was the second coming. Too bad the game isn't quite getting the level of publicity that AoC received, a game that has so many problems it's a miracle there aren't more fans leaving it than there already are.

WAR isn't perfect, but when I read reviews that don't cover a game in a balanced perspective, I begin to worry. Take a look at magazine reviews from ten years ago, and while they were sometimes biased as well, it was often with at least some good criticism that made you realize the game had limitations. Articles, whether you find them online, in a book, or in a magazine, just aren't the same quality and depth as they used to be.

As far as WAR is concerned, I don't care how much I love the game I still want to know all the negative elements about it. Without understanding the negatives that need to be included in reviews, the game will do its own job of turning me off once I play it. (insert game magazine name here) is a great magazine, but it shows trends in the industry that we should really be looking at changing.

Hardware Review 002: The GPU

2008-09-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

GPU Designers - ATI, NVIDIA, Matrox, and Intel

The existence of the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) began in the 60s, well before modern personal computers came onto the scene. I'll skip a little bit ahead to the current era, which had its roots in the late 80s. During this time dozens of designers developed rival solutions, especially once the personal computer became a standard in the early 90s. Note that there are dozens of manufacturers of video cards, but they simply use existing GPU designs to market slightly different physical products.

To get additional terminology out of the way, a GPU is the main processor components of a video card, which is the physical form that can be removed from a computer. There is no such thing as "internal graphics cards", as these are simply referred to as GPUs themselves, since the "card" is part of the main components of the computer itself and not removable as a separate piece. I will use video card for this piece of hardware when appropriate, and GPU as the overall component. To note, in the early years (pre-1998), 2D and 3D graphics were on separate video cards, not integrated like today's cards are

Matrox, Nvidia, and ATI are the three main designers of the past decade. However, Matrox has recently fallen by the way-side in 3D graphics development, currently marketing their cards to video editing professionals. Founded in 1976, Matrox had one huge advantage for a long time and that was in the quality of 2D graphics, which is what you are using now to view this article. 2D graphics is the basis for displaying your computer's boot screen, interface layout, and just about everything else that isn't in a game or other 3D environment. Matrox was able to develop sharpness and quality in text and graphics that neither Nvidia nor ATI could match, up until the past few years at least.

ATI, founded in 1985 and bought out by the CPU manufacturer AMD in 2006, had a head start from Nvidia, often achieving great successes. Their Rage series were extremely popular, even though they fell behind Matrox in 2D quality and in 3D quality with Nvidia. ATI has almost always been on the leading edge in terms of innovation. This is not to say that Nvidia hasn't innovated, as they have produced amazing advances in graphics technology over the years. However, you will often see ATI ahead in technology and feature support. This is sometimes attributed to their balancing of features vs. performance. Until recently, Nvidia was the dominant performance leader, so they had to find a niche market to survive.

Nvidia, found in 1993, saw where the computer revolution was headed, and that was in advanced 3D graphics horsepower. They began with the product "NV1", a very simple video card that didn't do a whole lot compared to today's cards. In 2000, Nvidia bought out the manufacturer 3dfx, which was then developing their Voodoo line of video cards. 3dfx had a lot going for them, as the Voodoo series was quite popular. They required their own slots in a computer. After the 3dfx buyout, Nvidia quickly scaled to RIVA based cards which included the 2D component onboard, to the Nvidia branded "GeForce" series you have come to recognize over the past several years.

What is a GPU?

Just like everything else in your computer, electronic components are built on substrates called printed circuit boards (PCBs). This is where your transistors, capacitors, wires and all the processors are laid out. Without the PCB, it would be like a city without buildings. It has no infrastructure to work and maintain order with. GPUs have their own PCBs in two primary configurations: onboard and dedicated. As mentioned earlier, the dedicated solutions are referred to as video cards, and more often today as graphics cards.

Onboard GPUs are found right on the main circuit board itself (motherboard), right next to the chipset, memory, and other components. Dedicated GPUs are individual cards you insert into slots found on the motherboard, and can be removed for faster components as they are introduced. Since onboard GPUs are simplified (and thus often less powerful) versions of their dedicated brethren, I'll just be talking about the dedicated versions. These video cards will have several key components, found in two categories: Internal and External Connectivity.

Internal Connectivity Features:

There have been many ways over the years to connect video card to your system's motherboard. Video cards are perhaps the most diverse of components when it comes to this capability. While there are less-used slots, such as: MCA, VLB, and PCI-X, I will only focus on the more popular and significant ones to remember.

ISA - ISA slots (Industry Standard Architecture) were the very first type of slot found on motherboards for sound cards, video cards, network cards, modems (and now Ethernet cards), and many other components. They are no longer in use for mainstream systems and barely even supported video cards, as video cards grew in importance during the PCI era. ISA slots are black in color.

PCI - This is the slot many first and second generation video cards are connected to the motherboard with. They are similar to an ISA slot, except for one important feature-the cards are inserted upside-down! PCI offered a lot more power over ISA, but it wasn't until the AGP slot that video cards really started to increase in horsepower. PCI slots are white in color.

AGP - AGP slots (Accelerated Graphics Port) were the first slots developed exclusively for video cards. Now that they had so much power potential, games on the scale of what we see today became possible. Even with its potential as a dedicated graphics port, AGP's advances through speed increments of 2x, 4x, and finally 8x, were ultimately limited. There needed to be something even better, and thus we finally arrive at the new universal slot standard, PCI express. An AGP slot is gray or tan in color.

PCI-E - PCI-E (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) offered what ISA and PCI slots used to offer, the ability to connect anything to them, including video cards. There are different versions and sizes of these slots, however. PCI-E is a huge advancement over AGP, and is powerful enough to run the latest and greatest games for several years to come. PCI-E, with support for multiple video card connectivity, can have multiple slots on the motherboard, much like ISA and PCI have.

External Connectivity Features:

Now that we know how video cards are connected from within a computer, let's take a look and what options there are to connect the video card to a monitor or external display device. As with the internal components, we've cut out a few of the more miscellaneous and less-used references for the sake of simplicity and usefulness for you.

VGA - VGA (Video Graphics Array) connections began to appear in the late 80s and were the primary connection to the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) based monitor. This is the same technology you find in many of your current, non-HD televisions. It offered versatility in resolution and color support. Its underlining caveats were its limited range and signal-to-noise ratio problems. VGA is an analog connection, while the superseding and superior connector is DVI.

DVI - DVI (Digital Video Interface) is the same basic idea of VGA, but in a digital format. Introduced in 1999 and still used as the primary display connection device today, it allows significant increases in quality, resolution, and distance to devices than VGA isn't capable of. The key with DVI is that it is digital and thus less susceptible to signal degradation.

Composite/S-Video/Component - All of these connectors are what I would call "Secondary Connections", in that they are not typically used for the primary output connection for your monitor or display device. A few years ago there were used to connect a computer to a CRT television or for input into the video card for incoming television and camcorder signals. They are a great way to record your home videos onto your computer!

HDMI/DisplayPort - HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a new standard developed in 2003 and just now beginning to supersede DVI in connecting your computer to your display, especially new HD television displays that allow connectivity to consoles as well. HDMI's key feature is its combination of video and audio connectivity. All previous technologies were video only. DisplayPort is similar to HDMI, with support for higher resolutions, encryption standards, and other miscellaneous features.

What are GPUs for, besides games?

GPUs have been used for just about everything from researching DNA to designing cars through a CAD program. I'll list here the four key areas of use, why they are used in those areas and by whom. Most users will reside in more than one of these areas. Video cards are extremely versatile in order to satiate the needs of as many users as possible. Today you will see companies like Intel and their "Larrabee" project only further driving this ‘universal support' goal.

The Gamer - The thirst for 3D graphics power is unquenchable here. The gamer must ensure liquid smooth gameplay, while maintaining beautiful graphics and sharp details in order to effectively defeat their opponent. The gamer has to upgrade their GPU every few years to keep up with this need. Owning a dedicated video card solution is usually the way to go here, in opposition to relying on integrated GPUs. Price vs. performance is especially important in this category.

The Graphics Designer - Has no use for games or plays them only on occasion. The graphics designer is all about the job and getting work done. Fortunately, there are video cards available to help in this role. Almost identical to the gamer's GPU, the video card of the graphics designer has one key difference-specialized software drivers. Tailored to enhance CAD-like functions and overall processing of design components, these drives will be inefficient when attempting to run a game with them. These types of GPUs are usually not found as an integrated solution.

The Number Cruncher - While the CPU until recently has remained the dominate processor for SETI, Folding@Home and other ‘floating point' heavy calculations, it has been found that a GPU can be designed for this task in an incredibly more efficient way than a CPU could ever do. Those doing research will find GPUs to be the dominant form of their processing in future.

The General User - This type of user might not even need a video card, well, a dedicated 3D one anyway. The general user will use the computer for office notes, writing documents, and listening to music or watching a video update from their favorite news website. The power of the video card is almost entirely wasted on these tasks, so upgrading is infrequent and not specific to any task they need an upgrade for, especially in the past few years as overall system horsepower has quickly risen above general usage requirements.

Performance of GPUs

Let's talk games... as that is what most of you reading this are likely interested in. I know I am! Speed in GPUs has naturally increased year-over-year. This has been a consistent phenomenon since the very beginning, much like how CPUs have advanced according to Moore's Law. So, we know that speed increases with each generation, but how? What do they do to these GPUs to make them faster? I won't get into nitty gritty details that will put you to sleep, so let's just go over the very basics, and that starts first with the size of the processors.

Like any processor, the GPU consists of nano-scale metallic wires running around each other, similar to the interstate highway system of the United States. Processors increase the number of total paths every generation, just like when adding new highways to connect growing cities. What is different is in the size of these highways. In processors, for each generation the highway is "down-sized", the wires are made smaller and smaller so you can pack in more and more that are for specific tasks. This is the key in creating faster, smaller, and more power efficient processors, and the chief reason today why you can run World of Warcraft instead of just Pong.

There are many other ways to increase the speed and efficiency of a processor. Adding buffers, much like car-pool lanes, as well as adding additional memory, like adding wayside rest-stops, are just a few possibilities. These are crude and slightly inaccurate depictions of what a processor's features consist of, but it's a start that should give you a beginning understanding of how the industry always seems to be able to make things faster and faster every year, without significantly increasing costs.

Value of GPUs

As the industry has matured, you see an increase in diversity of products offered from the increasingly few manufacturers. This is in an attempt to appeal to everyone's desires and needs, which are continually growing in diversity as well. Sometimes Nvidia will come out with a new generation of GPUs that beats performance and price of AMD's offerings. At other times it is AMD beating out Nvidia. Until recently, AMD was targeting the low to mid performance user with lower price points. With their current generation of GPUs, they have pushed farther into the high-end market, while keeping with lower price points. We'll like see this shift again as new generations of GPUs are introduced.

The Future of the GPU

The entire electronics industry, from Intel and their CPUs, to AMD and Nvidia with their GPUs, are realizing that the integration of the two is inevitable. While CPUs are good at the tasks they were designed for, the same going for the GPU, it has been recognized that games and other tasks are requiring the power of both of these types of processors in a way that simply requires the two to come together in one package.

Intel, a CPU manufacturer, has made a first-strike effort with their Larrabee project. Larrabee is a CPU/GPU hybrid processor. While in the short-term we likely won't see games use Larrabee based processors due to integration limitations, the future of the hybrid processor will eventually supersede any current performance shortcomings. You can bet laptops will see Larrabee processors early on, as laptops and other portable devices will have use for these "one-chip" solutions. On the opposite end of the battlefield, Nvidia is developing a technology called "CUDA", which is designed to bring the CPU closer to the GPU. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but both should be a win-win for the gamer.

As expected, there will be the continual advances in features within the GPU technology itself. One of the most exciting advances we're seeing at this time is a lighting technology called "Ray Tracing". In a simple explanation of the technology, it allows a more accurate calculation for how light reflects off surfaces, and thus how realistic you see shadows and overall lighting environments. The downside to this technology is a heavier processing load on the system, at least in its current state of development. Expect ray traced games to start appearing when DirectX 11 is released, sometime late 2009/early 2010.

The most exciting feature that gamers will be looking forward to in future GPU advances is not so much through the connectivity and merger of the GPU with the CPU, but GPUs with other GPUs. You've likely heard about Nvidia's SLI (Scan-Line Interface) technology, or AMD's Crossfire. SLI and Crossfire are ways to connect separate video cards with each other, so that a game or other graphics intensive program can take advantage of both. I mentioned the PCI-E internal connector. Thank this technology for making SLI and Crossfire so successful.

Another way to combined two GPUs is to simply slap two onto one video card itself! You only use one slot in the computer and get nearly the performance of two (and in the near future, more than two) GPUs. There are performance bottlenecks, driver disadvantages, and other issues with either of these technology choices, but they are slowly being resolved with each successive generation. Nvidia and ATI both see the future of the GPU as a "Many Core" platform.

In short, expect every year to bring about faster GPUs, which will spur games to develop more complex and beautiful environments and interactivity, which will of course spur the need for faster GPUs... and thus the cycle continues as it has since the race began. Enjoy your games in all their 2D or 3D glory!

Success for me is in the process

2008-09-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Some of us have a hard time getting started on a project, whether the project is a simple as mowing the lawn, to as complex and risky as starting a business. Planning can take up a significant portion of a projects life-cycle, especially when you're talking about game design. Even plotting a mowing route around a house requires a little planning (if not to simply avoid mowing over something fragile, like the tennis ball that I mowed over last month). Each project takes that first "oomph" as I like to call it. After that it is all downhill, easy riding... right?

What works for me when looking for the energy in getting started on a project (besides a good cup of tea) is the motivation. You have to have the motivation in order to begin, let alone finish a project. The motivation for most people is typically in how the end results will look if the project is successfully completed. However, it is a bit different for me. I also love to see the end results blossom in all their glory, but the process itself is just as interesting.

For example, I'm currently finishing a book about the game industry. You'd think that at 300+ pages and only 5% left to go, I would be working my hide off getting it finished. I have definitely been working hard on it, but it's been a slower process the last few steps than I expected it would be. It's becoming more of a workout up a mountain than a downhill sled ride. Either way, the end results are worth it. I've been so excited by the process, that getting closer and closer to the end has changed my perception of the project itself.

What is the issue then in completing a project? Believe it or not, success. I'm not talking about Hollywood get-rich kind of success. I'm talking about general "it's done" success, the personal kind that is all found inside one-self, not from the compliments of others. It can actually be scary to finish a project because you suddenly realize you're, well, done... what is their to do next? The next project of course, but what is it to be?!

And that brings me to the point of this blog. The true enjoyment for me isn't in starting a project or finishing it, as it is in simply doing it. The success for me is the process and seeing how the project grows and evolves as time goes on. Don't get me wrong, I ultimately love seeing a project finished, but even if something I am working on fails and is never seen by anyone but myself, it doesn't matter because I know what I did and am simply proud to have done it.

Warhammer Online at PAX 2008

2008-09-01T18:20:00.001-07:00

Every show has surprises. A surprise for me at PAX 2008 were two MMOs that I didn't even knew existed before arriving at the show and seeing their booths and games on display. Yes, even an MMO buff such as myself cannot know of each and every MMO in today's marketplace. Sad, but true. Alright, I'll give everyone a hint... one of the MMOs has the letter 'a' and 'n' in it. And no, I am most certainly not referencing W a rh a mmer O n li n e.

My appointment was for 3:30pm, but I arrived about a half hour earlier to see if I could grab a spot on one of the demo computers while waiting. I stood in a strategic spot watching two of the demo stations at the same time. One had a smaller kid attempting to play the game, but failing miserably because he seemed like he was more interested in how the controller was designed than the actual gameplay. The other station had two older teenagers yelling at each other over where to go in the game. After a while, I was about to politely ask the smaller kid to check out another booth, when the two teenagers suddenly stopped yelling and walked away. I heard the trailing one say, and I quote, "It's just World of Warcraft, what is your problem?"

"It's just World of Warcraft"... what?! For starters, World of Warcraft borrowed elements from the Warhammer universe. So to set things straight once and for all, and to be nice to each game's sources, they simply compliment each other. By the time the drama at the two stations had dissipated, it was 3:40pm. I was introduced to Carrie and a few other team members. They took me through lush forests, rolling plains, and creepy underground chambers, many of which I had not yet seen in the public beta version of the game. This is not to say they weren't in there, but from what I can tell the graphics of WAR, on the whole, are leaps and bounds beyond WOW (in realism), and I would also say beyond their previous efforts in Dark Age of Camelot.

Carrie was extremely helpful in showing me the more mechanical components of the game. If anyone is coming from World of Warcraft, you will be glad to know that WAR will support a lot of user generated content, specifically centered around the user interface. This is all based on a Lua/XML API, much like WOW. Another thing I love about WAR, and that was shown in the demo on several occasions, are the public quests. Sharing each others' accomplishments and working together on a common goal is what excites me about MMOs. Public quests allow you to do this on a level that gives you some control over whether you want to meet those you're helping, or remain in your own area away from everyone else.

One of the things I still wasn't clear about is what the developers did with the other four capital cities during their recent content cut announcement. Carrie showed me that instead of removing the cities entirely from the game, they have been shifted as an object of commerce to an object of realm vs. realm, scenario based combat. The developers were actually more excited about the results of the change than the way it was previously established. There is still complete RvR combat for each of the army pairs. The capital cities are a focus of capture, with the fighting being taken right into the cities themselves.

Warhammer Online has been through four E3's, starting in 2005, has had booths setup at the past few Gen Cons, GDCs, and of course at PAX. Being able to collectively view all of this, I can see how everything has matured with the game since the very beginning, including the confidence in the developers who presented it to me. Everything is in place, the pieces of the puzzle are glued together, and now we have a picture that speaks not a thousand words, but just one. Waaagh!

The Beijing Olympics have ended

2008-08-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

Now that the 2008 Olympic games are over as of today, closing ceremonies, parties, and celebrations are playing out not only in China but throughout much of the world. There have been millions of viewers and thousands of blogs commenting on the games at an amazing pace. This is probably the first time in decades that the Olympics has garnered this much attention.

With all of the excitement that comes with events like these, one can sometimes forget the world's more unpleasant events. Perhaps we should forget about them when such greatness is being made. Why let everyday inevitable tragedies spoil the show, right? Well, I'm not talking about the everyday tragedies during the Olympics, but those that will affect us from here through the rest of our lives. Tragedies that are slow to develop but immense in their implications. A better, more subtle word might be "disappointments".

When Beijing first committed to hosting the Olympics in 2001, they set out a very long list of priorities at home. There were rules to be followed by the IOC (International Olympic Committee), international "growing up" expectations that any country hosting the Olympics would instill. Sure, we all have our problems and faults, but China is a developing nation, one in which has a lot of problems and faults that sometimes cloud over (quite literally when speaking of the smog problem they have) their standing on the world stage.

Here are a few things China has done well over the past seven years:

1) Managed their economy in a way that has allowed a 10% growth rate year-over-year for more than a decade. Whatever way they are doing it, and if it will ultimately fail horribly in some future scenario, for now they are winners here. Just be warned that if the U.S. economy continues to sour, they may cash in on the trillion dollars worth of securities they've bought from us.

2) Hosted an extremely impressive Olympics, regardless of what is hidden behind all the walls they put up in Beijing beforehand. The opening ceremonies were spectacular, the games themselves went well and with little to no protesting (anyone protesting was immediately sent to re-education camps), and the closing ceremonies were just as spectacular (although this time some of it wasn't faked... supposedly). While they lack a lot of overall organizational and planning skills, as well as public etiquette rules that most of us take for granted (like waiting in lines), the games are a clear indication they are working on that deficiency.

3) Will soon become the next super-power of the world. How can that be a good thing you ask? While I firmly believe the U.S. to be the most important country in the world in terms of how we as a civilization have developed, there must be a balance. Right now there is little balance, with the U.S. pushing around governments (most of the time with good reason) and little to stop them if the situation gets out of hand (like Iraq). Let's just hope that balance doesn't tip too far towards China.

And here are a few things China has failed miserably at over the past seven years:

1) Human rights: "Humans have rights? When did they get those, and can we buy them back?" This is probably what most government members in China think. If one could just wave a magic wand at these kind of people and have them switch shoes with someone not so fortunate, how the world would probably be different... maybe.

2) Free speech: How to say "I hate you and your kind" without risk of being shot. Free speech, while a little more debatable than basic human rights, such as being able to live without fear of persecution, is a right that everyone in the world should have. Yet China has barred almost every protest, as well as heavily censored the internet, to ensure the Olympics are a tool the Chinese government can use to shape its citizens to their will.

3) Forged documents on a government level in order to allow clearly underage participants to win Gold medals at the Olympics. Even their parents lied (probably by threat of some sort if they didn't). I've been a teacher of 12, 13, and 14 year old students, and I can tell you some of those participants were not 16. China might be on the up when it comes to economics and a public that is now largely consumerist, but a government that has a long ways to go in order to be considered worthy of hosting any sort of International events, not to mention the Olympics.

4) Polluted their land so badly that it is only one step away from what a nuclear holocaust might have provided, but in a much slower and more costly process. Forget about drinking the tap water (a common problem in most developing nations). I also wouldn't expect the overall health of the population to be good, considering 1.3 billion industrialized people in an area the same size as the U.S. On the subject of population, China is in decline with their 'one-child-per-family' law. A necessary law overall, but may make life very difficult in a generation or two.

We have learned over the past couple of weeks that China is a force that is going to stay, and will only continue to grow on the world stage. It is a fascinating spectacle to watch really, especially with the opportunity I've had to live in China for a year and see it first-hand. I really hope that China develops an attitude that the U.S. was born from way back in 1776.

We must keep hope that one day humans will outgrow our more barbaric and selfish tendencies, at least to the point of not having to fear self-annihilation when things get interesting. Not that any sane species would ever build anything that would knowingly and willfully end up destroying itself with...

My day job versus my passion

2008-08-20T18:04:00.000-07:00

When I was younger I had a mother that encouraged me to participate in every single sport one can imagine. I experienced a year of soccer, a year of basketball, swimming, volleyball, biking, violin playing, chess, and finally baseball. I tried them all, and while I can’t say I hated them all, I didn’t find any fire, soul, energy, will, or passion in them. I actually put my foot down and insisted baseball was the last one after getting slugged in the stomach. No, I’m not a quitter, but the air being knocked out of me for what seemed like an eternity got me thinking about what I liked and didn’t like, and who I didn’t want to be in the future.

After awhile her energies focused on the academic drive. I was sent to bible school to learn about religion and how it intertwined with my education at the public school, forced to attend certain classes at the school in order to get an even more rounded education than the school was already putting on me. As the years passed, I saw kids passing by me with goals, and that fire, soul, energy, will, and passion. You could pick out those that were going somewhere, and most definitely pick out those that were taking the fast track backwards.

I was somewhere in the middle. I certainly wasn’t a troublemaker (although my friends tell me that during Kindergarten I choked a chicken to death, and I mean literally…), but I also didn’t have any fire, soul, energy, will, or passion inside of me, or so I thought at the time. What I didn’t realize is that passion was standing me right in the face, everywhere I went. I couldn’t get away from it. Its power over me was so daunting and so close, that I didn’t realize what it truly was. That distant, yet close relationship with my passion began to change when I entered college.

College was a time of exploration beyond what my parents confined me to do. After getting a chance to work several jobs near my home, dabble in creative elements that I chose for myself, nothing really manifested as an obvious passion. However, what did manifest itself was the fact that my true passion was already there, and simply waiting for me to push aside all of the debris that was in the way of identifying it. And after twenty eight years of existence, I have finally been working towards that passion, which is found to be in game development.

Yawn, stretch, snooze… Who cares about those unimportant toys, right? “You should get a good job, a steady job, work for the rest of your life in a place that ensures you can retire happily knowing someone is wiping your ass for you instead of having to do it for yourself.” My dad said to me once, more or less in that way. It took my mother five years to understand that I wasn’t simply hiding in the basement wasting my time playing computer games, but was actually working online through a company that reported about computer games. “Sorry mom, I’m working right now”, as I watched a blank stare cross her face.

My day job is my passion. How many people in the world have that kind of luxury? Yet here I am, typing in my weekly blog, getting ready for the Penny Arcade Expo 2008 (PAX), and thinking about flying off to Europe in a month or two to see what the European side of the game industry is all about. I’ve already touched upon the Asian industry after spending a year teaching English in China.

I want to see the whole world and understand the passion that hides in the minds of developers and how it manifests itself as 1’s and 0’s on a computer. And most importantly, how I can fit in and work together in a team to show my mother that fire, soul, energy, will, and passion, when present, are to be respected and cared for over simple security. Without these things, what is the point of having any security at all?

The game industry is my security. And I have my mother and family to thank for supporting me on a path that has led to it, despite their initial expectations. I couldn't have done it without them.

Game Review 004: Rise of Nations

2008-08-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

PROLEGOMENAN

With many ground-breaking games we see expansions and clones from other companies that attempt to duplicate what was original and unique about that first iteration of success. This applies to any genre, especially first person shooters, but also just as much to real time strategy games. While Age of Empires was an original in its own right, it came from a successful series that eventually spawned an evolutionary product, Rise of Nations. I love when expansions help to create a better game, but it’s truly exciting to see new games successfully build upon their predecessors. Rise of Nations has done just that.

GAMEPLAY

Rise of Nations reinvigorates the entire genre, including its own predecessors, because it brings together the RTS and turn-based strategy genres into one gameplay experience. While Age of Empires was exclusively RTS, Rise of Nations adds just a bit of TBS, which creates a healthy complexity to the game. TBS strategy comes into play when you choose where you are positioned on the world map in comparison to your enemies, much like more action-oriented combat games are setup. This gives you breathing room when plotting initial strategies, instead of only knowing where you are located on the map when the game first starts.

The largest difference in Rise of Nations compared to previous games in the genre, is the way you manage your civilization’s infrastructure under a new constrained type of system. Previously, Age of Empires let you happily build any building where you sought fit, within reason. You couldn’t build a barracks on the water, but you could place it right in the middle of your enemy’s territory, if you could manage to get through their defenses. Rise of Nations changes this with management limits on just about everything you produce, especially when it comes to building placement rules.

Town centers are still the heart of any area of production, but you can only build so many of each type of building around each town center. Also, in order to expand and build more towns and produce better items within these buildings, you have to research “Tiers” of advancement. In contrast to Age of Empires, there are not just one but five separate technological categories. For example, if you wish to advance your military to beef up defenses against an oncoming onslaught, you have to research the next military tier. Of course this takes time and resources, so you have to ensure which upgrades you want are best for that moment of development.

Someone might look at these limits as too restrictive, but I find it rather fun and an overall enjoyable experience that really adds to the gameplay. Sometimes having too many choices can be a bad thing. In Age of Empires I’d often find I had built way too many farms, had way too many citizens cutting down trees, or too many military units that were doing nothing but polishing their swords. With Rise of Nations, I knew I couldn’t go over a certain limit for each category, and when I was overproducing something it was easier to identify what could be cut back, without cutting back too much.

GRAPHICS, SOUND, INTERFACE

Graphics are much better than much older games like Age of Empires. The trouble with assessing graphics in an RTS is the viewing perspective. Unless there are serious issues that should have been resolved before release, graphics aren’t as high of a priority in this genre versus first person shooters, or any full 3D game for that matter. Rise of Nations doesn’t impress me, nor disappoint me. Its graphics simply fit within the advances you typically see in RTS games produced today. The same goes for sound. Everything is as you should expect it, no surprises or disappointments, although the voice commands are a rather hilarious improvement over Age of Empires. Type 100 for the voice commands and you will see what I mean :).

The interface is one of the best features in terms of visual quality for the game. You’ll have no trouble identifying important elements on the world map, as well as navigating through the menu system placed along the edges of the screen. It is much like Age of Empires and other RTS games, but with its modern graphics enhancements, it has an easier to understand interface that helps you along the way when learning where you can and cannot expand your empire. Many players will argue that the interface is what makes an RTS game successful over similar games. You only need to look at Age of Empires III's horrendous first build of their UI to understand how it can completely disrupt gameplay if not designed well.

WRAPPING UP

With the new innovated restrictions in building management in place, Rise of Nations is a much more interesting gameplay experience than past games like Age of Empires. You now have more time to focus on expansion strategies and how to best dominate your opponent, instead of worrying about having too many woodcutters on a particular stretch of forest, or too many farms around a town center. You’ll need this extra time when playing the AI on hard, as I’ve found the AI to be exceptional in its strategy when compared to many other RTS games where their AIs, while perhaps difficult at first, are much more predictable towards the end-game.

The AI, graphics, and other gameplay elements have all been tweaked and streamlined in order to ensure a proper gameplay balance. Playing any of the civilizations is a rewarding experience. In Age of Empires balance was a bit more of an issue in some cases, as civilizations like the “Huns” were found with little advances in the later part of the game, which led to many multiplayer games being played without them. There are advantages and disadvantages for each civilization in Rise of Nations, but as long as you know how to play them the balance issues aren’t as severe.

PROS:

- Adds a lot of strategic gameplay through the new restrictions
- City border limits add diplomatic strategy not possible with Age of Empires
- The sound, graphics, and user interface combine into a comfortable gameplay experience that doesn’t distract.

CONS:

- Lacks a story campaign that so many other RTS games emphasize
- As interesting as the gameplay is, I am beginning to tire of RTS games that don’t provide completely new and fresh content, not just rule differences.

FINAL OVERALL RATING

9/10

The show must go on

2008-08-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Penny Arcade Expo, GenCon Indie, E3, Game Developers Conference, ION Game Conference, Blizzcon… the list goes on. These are all events that I have attended or will soon be attending in the next several months. You can generally group these events into three important categories: Conferences, Conventions, and Community Events. Sometimes events have a mixed theme, while others have a fairly narrow focus. Whatever they are about, you will often find something rewarding when attending them.

What I enjoy most about these events is when they host a mixed theme. As an editor for the Allakhazam Network, I am responsible in covering the shows on a professional level, and that means taking lots and lots of photos, writing articles describing the important activities that occur, and interviewing developers of key games that we represent on our network. It is a chance to develop industry relations, with the goal that both our companies and teams will help to build each others' presence in the industry.

The other features of these events are just as exciting and rewarding of an experience. Take GenCon Indie for example, an event just around the corner (and one that I have yet to purchase my hotel for… I’m slow at these things sometimes). The typical GenCon Indie scene when walking onto the main show floor is small booths packed from one corner of the hall to the other, all stuffed with their own merchandise to sell or display for upcoming marketing releases. Many of these booths will also have tables setup with their games available for the public to play.

This is the real exciting part about walking around and just “taking it all in”. You get a chance to watch really dedicated players play some of the most classic and challenging board games on the market. Since this is largely a D&D board/card game show, the PC portion is small, but its presence in certain areas is still prominent if you know where to look. I plan on hunting down and stalking the Warhammer Online and Eve Online developers, traditional exhibitors for the past two GenCon Indie shows. These are not only PC games, but MMORPGs that have been watched by the Allakhazam Network for years now.

Once in awhile you will find celebrities and prominent industry figures roaming around that are not part of the show. Two years ago I attended GenCon Indie and turned to ask my friend about what he thought of a booth that had a bunch of knives on display, when out of the corner of my eye I saw someone that looked awfully familiar, yet I couldn’t quite place them. Me being the investigative and curious type when something grabs my attention, I walked closer and let my jaw drop as I realized who it was.

“Sid Meier?” I said to the man as I approached him. He turned to me and smiled, as I threw out my hand that he shook with the smile still on his face, even though he had no idea who I was. He must get that sort of thing a lot, being one of the most famous game designers in history. I didn’t waste time tossing the camera to my friend as I chatted with Sid Meier while my friend took strategic photos of us. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I wasn’t going to pass up. After a few moments I let them go on their way, reluctantly, and continued on with my friend, a smile on my face this time. I then frowned later when I realized I didn’t have any business cards to give him.

The most important thing for me when I attend these shows is not the player excitement, meeting developers for Allakhazam or my own interests, or running into the occasional celebrity (which so far has only happened once). It is the overall event that gives me inspiration to continue on in my game career, and that there really are others out there that share my passions, strengths, and goals, even if in Wisconsin I sometimes think the contrary (we have cows, fields, farms, cheese and milk…).

I will expand my horizons soon, one way or another, but first, I have to get those bus tickets to GenCon Indie. If no one comes to me, I am certainly going to go to them! Maybe I’ll run into Sid Meier this time, and if I do, I will be ready with my business card in hand.

The Beijing Olympics have begun

2008-08-08T15:30:00.001-07:00

With the onset of the Olympic games occurring today, there are controversies and unities happening all over the world, especially in the capital of China, Beijing. Having visited the city I can say that much of what reporters have spoken about are true, but what is surprising to me still is the lack of significant change the government was able to implement in the time they had. Billions was spent, yet clouds of smog still cling to the city skyline.

Still, the Olympics are officially on, and all the major athletes are ready to begin several days of heated competitions the likes of which we haven't seen since perhaps the start of the very first Olympics itself in 1936, Berlin. Interesting isn't it, that the very first Olympics and today's games would both reside in countries that are Communist. Germany outgrew its past, now let us see if the Olympics can help China grow beyond its past.

Great Wall celebrations:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00787/beijing-620c_787560c.jpg

Olympic swimming pool:
http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/2008-beijing-olympics-2.jpg

Olympic stadium at night with city skyline in the background:
http://2008summergames.info/nationalstadium01.jpg

Olympic stadium at night with fireworks:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T1vzYiWcy7U/SJxTGMS_1EI/AAAAAAAAQIA/1hSK7952xaU/s1600-h/2.jpg

A series of photos that help to show how series China is at not only the Olympics, but proving itself as an entity that "can do":
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony.html

On a more personal note, I find the aspect of China growing as a world power to be exciting in one way most of us never come to realize... electronic games. Asia has always been a huge influence on the game industry, especially Japan. With China holding more persons than any other country, an Internet population that just passed the United States, as well as a population developing in a consumerist society faster than one can say "Beijing Olympic Games", electronic games will inevitably be a growing and increasingly powerful industry internationally.

While my previous blog post about China revealed that it may not be as easy as some think for the upcoming superpower, it still is an unstoppable entity that now holds force on the world stage. I can guarantee that the electronic game industry will see that growth potential being realized over the next decade. The Olympics, another type of games, are exciting the Chinese people in a fury that will last decades beyond what we see here in the next few days, through good or bad, wins or losses, Americans or Chinese.

An industry of change

2008-08-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

Just like any other industry, the game industry is a fluid and moving target that changes from year to year, even month to month in many cases. Over the years we’ve seen several shifts happening. The demographics of gamers have grown younger, games have been blessed with 3D graphics and 30” LCD monitors, the Internet has allowed us to share our experiences together, and porn has largely been removed from the game industry's advertisement toolbox (seriously).

THE HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY (CGW Magazine 1984 Issue 14)

Thirty-one percent of gamers who used to play other types of games now play computer games almost exclusively. This net loss (27.5%) confirms what non-computer game companies have suspected: computer games have “stolen” their customers-or at least a good number of them.

What game type do you prefer playing? (Bit-tech survey 2007)

First/Third Person Shooter: 48.53%
Real Time Strategy: 13.68%
RPG: 13.03%
Platform: 1.30%

It's interesting to note in the demographics above that gamers in the 80's were migrating to the PC from arcade and console systems, and that the shift from RPG and RTS games to FPS began not long after. Anyone in the industry today knows where everything is headed now. That is just one of the many changes the industry has since experienced.

In the early days of Computer Game World magazine (CGW) you could find porn advertisements on the back few pages. That should give you a good idea on how things have changed from then and now. It was a different world in the game industry five years ago, not to mention twenty-five years ago. Not only was porn advertising banished from the industry, but along with it went a primarily adult game player demographic (which makes sense then if porn was part of the industry), genres such as Adventure and Simulation, and fun games that were cheap and quick to make. What also left the industry was a general sense of what a good game was really all about.

The industry has changed, but has it changed for better or for worse? Losses of genres I loved, particularly the Adventure genre, were certainly a turn for the worst. And yes, some may say it hasn’t technically “died”, but it might as well have with the less-than-stellar and few-and-far-in-between releases we’ve seen this past decade. What has changed for the better though is technology, which gives us pretty and fast graphics, but also allows Indie developers to publish unique games that might never have otherwise made it into popular view. STEAM and other services are growing, which will allow even more distribution without the heavy-weight publishers helping hands. All of this will come together in the form of Virtual Worlds, giving everyone a chance to share their opinions on how things should progress.

GOING CASUAL - It’s a casual game market now

We’ve seen hundreds of “clones” in all genres the past several years, particularly in the First Person Shooter genre. Games that essentially play and feel like other games. How unique can FPS games possibly get, right? Well, I suspect they can be more unique than we simple players have seen lately, and more unique than the publishers realize as well. The developers have the ideas, but are they able and willing to release them into their games?

Whatever the reason for the clone market and the serious lack of unique games today (save for the once-in-awhile “Spore” type of game), it is throwing the industry into a spin that looks eerily familiar to how we view the movie industry today. There are more clones there too, and if you look closely, do you see what these clones are gravitating towards within their own genre? Simplicity--action packed mindless simplicity. And of course let’s not forget the pure eye-candy of it all. Those beautiful single colored textures that look like they were pulled straight out of a comic-book, or a cartoon.

That simplicity, while maybe not mindless in games, has a form in the industry, and that is in “Casual Games”. Some are good, such as the many online virtual worlds being developed, some are not so good, but they are increasing in numbers that rival any other genre. Fortunately, this is good for the industry as a whole. While we will likely never see Adventure or Simulation games in the spotlight again, they are still there, and part of that reason is through casual games. They bring in the masses, and when you are able to bring in a large group of players it is inevitable that some of those players will find other genres, even those that hardly exist.

THE FUTURE – And the Asians are going to dominate it (as they always have…)

The Chinese game market of nearly USD 900 million is expected to be worth more than USD 6 billion by 2010. The growing China game industry has more than 27 million gamers and there will be 60 million by 2010 consuming $1.8 billion of online games. Internet cafes are gathering places for teens and casual gaming is prevalent, especially with females. It is projected the Asian market will dominant other markets internationally sometime in the next decade, especially online games.

The modern game industry really started in Asia with Japan, and now it’s coming full circle around the globe right back, but this time stopping short and landing in countries like Korea and China. America and the EU might be popular now internationally, but as the years go by we will begin to see more and more Asian specific games going international. Everything changes at one time or another, as we’ll surely see the game industry change in the next few years in ways we have yet to predict.

My history playing video games from: Codemasters

2008-07-31T20:33:00.001-07:00

This is the first article in a series reflecting upon my history in playing video games. The way I wanted develop these articles is not through individual games or their series, but through the companies that are behind those games. Many games that we play are often the result of a dedicated team that has produced dozens of games throughout the years. What better way for me to write about my game experiences than to summarize them into as logical of a category as their respective companies. The first company I am starting with happens to be one of the oldest, named Codemasters.

Back in the early 90s while sitting in my living room playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES console system, I remember my friend Eric knocking on the door and come rushing in with a large bag that he promptly threw down next to me. He seemed hardly concerned with my efforts at playing the game as I attempted to listen to him about some sort of new console gadget that he wanted me to try. The first thing that came into my mind was a joystick for Duck Hunt, but I was wrong.

He pulled out of the bag what looked to be about the size of another game cartridge. I reluctantly paused Super Mario Bros. as I stared at the new box in his hand that looked rather unremarkable and didn’t excite me one bit. He turned to the NES console lying on the floor, resetting it, which of course reset my game progress from the past hour. However, intrigue quickly spread across my face as he connected the Super Mario Bros. cartridge to the new device, which then plugged into the NES console itself. He had my attention now!

What he brought with him wasn’t another game, but a game assistant of sorts. It was called the Game Genie (previously known as the “Power Pak”). It allowed you to enter in codes that modified the core programming of the game, which gave you the ability to cheat your way through or to enhance the game in various other ways. We quickly discovered that the Game Genie codes we entered usually made the game unplayable, rather than enhancing it. But that was our fault for entering in random codes when the Game Genie codebook that he brought with (that we didn’t read initially) had proper codes included.

This was the beginning of my game experiences with Codemasters (at the time known as “Code Masters”). It all started with games that I twisted to my will using the Game Genie system and then quickly grew to such classic games as the Dizzy series, later on the Colin McRae Rally series, Operation Flashpoint, and many others that are still continuing to see sequels. Codemasters has had a long and rewarding development path that has lead to the extremely fun MMORPG, Lord of the Rings Online, to which I am currently a community manager at the Allakhazam Network.

I used to actually work for Codemasters in a support role through Alchemic Dream, LLC. Until the Alchemic Dream position I hadn’t realized the complete development history behind Codemasters and that I had played so many games created by them. I have since been exploring additional games created by the company and have come to both love and hate a large collection of them. Some of my favorites are DiRT, GRiD, Operation Flashpoint, and Overlord.

As seems to always be the case, there were a few that didn’t excite me so much, such as ArchLord and TP: Fall of Liberty (TP stands for “Turning Point”, btw). TP: Fall of Liberty was a rather typical shooter that sported rather long load times and a storyline that I found a bit hard to follow at times. ArchLord is much of the same in the repetitive department, but goes above and beyond this in duplicating a lot of MMORPG aspects, without the “O”, which stands for “online”. It a single or multiplayer “offline” game, and when things become repetitive in games you can only share with your immediate friends or small groups, it becomes boring fast.

Alongside those that I found less than stellar, they all remain classics, where many are still in my game library today.

China rising as an Olympic star? Maybe not...

2008-07-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

With the Olympics approaching we can see China in just about every newscast when turning on the television. News reports recently have ranged from Tibetan uprisings, Taiwan elections, Sichuan (that's pronounced Sit-che-wahn) province earthquakes, to the more positive, such as the upcoming Olympics, a population that loves Americans (more or less), and... well, I don't know what else to be sure.

While China is rising fast, it still has a lot of problems and things to learn, some of which may never be resolved or as good as we have them in the United States. Yes, China will likely surpass the U.S. in a lot of areas, such as overall economic power (as well as Internet users, which they just did a few days ago). But they should eventually, as they have 1.3 billion persons to our 300 million. It's a numbers game in this respect.

A numbers game... that is what China is also playing at the Olympics. When I was in Shenzhen on one of my normal bike rides to Lianhuaxian park, I watched the torch go by the central government building (the big wavy colored building in my photos). Several young men and women that were part of the official escort looked incredibly young. In fact, many of them were younger than would be allowed in the Olympics if they were to compete.

Even though there were very few foreigners around at the time, I could see the image China was trying to project to the world... young, determined, and powerful. What I saw personally, however, was young, determined, and ignorant of the world stage and their puppet place within it. The government wants to see their population become powerful, but sometimes for different reasons than the population themselves understands.

Read here for a news post on the suspicions that the Chinese government are protecting underage Olympians to help bolster their wins during the Olympics:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/sports/olympics/27gymnasts.html?th&emc=th

China's positives and long-term negatives:

Positives

1) A young workforce that is very focused on helping its country succeed in all areas of development, backed by a government that has done a lot to build this workforce (whether the methods were right or wrong at times).

2) Thousands of miles of rivers to navigate and dam, although they are becoming polluted fast (drinking out of the tap is not a good idea...).

3) Overseas investments help spur their domestic economy that is increasingly turning Chinese towards a consumerist lifestyle (which will in turn lead to more domestic economic stimulus vs. the current outside stimulus).

4) The Chinese have a short-term focus of growing big and fast and doing proud for their country. Sometimes they aren't sure how and what the consequences of that "how" are going to be to their country, or the world.

5) They now have more Internet users than the U.S. This can be looked upon as a good thing, as more and more Chinese are seeing the world and hopefully making positive judgments about their place in it. Views which hopefully will overtake their current government someday.

6) They are learning English, woot! (and so is everyone else in the world... English is this centuries universal language, even if, by numbers, more speak Mandarin Chinese or Hindi Indian).

7) While the U.S. sees China as a growing threat in many ways, I don't believe they are an enemy on the level as Germany was in WWII or Russia during the Cold War. We have a chance to really be a team on the world stage. The potential is there, so let's hope our leaders both take advantage of it.

Negatives

1) An overall population this is aging faster than the U.S. They will have 300 million elderly by 2050. How are they going to pay for their care when the One-Child Per Family policy act is restricting the age-old practice of birthing large families to help support the aging population (they don't have medicare or Social Security like we do, even if ours isn't the greatest).

2) While they have a large area of land, resources are dwindling or already critically low. The Chinese are very inefficient about their use of energy (a problem for sure when it comes to global climate change). The U.S. is lucky here, as we have 25% of the world's coal reserves, 25% of fresh water reserves, the largest potential for solar energy, wind energy, and hydrothermal energy, plenty of forests and other natural resources, and many raw resources overall.

3) While the Chinese economy is booming, their intake of money is actually going to a lot of foreign firms, not necessarily the Chinese government or its people.

4) The separation between the rich and poor is huge, and growing. This may eventually cause severe unrest, destabilizing their economy at points.

5) They lack a long-term "where are we in the world" focus, but at least they aren't like some in the sole reason that they believe god will save them and, well, because they haven't anything else to do over there apparently. The Chinese love us Americans (more or less)!

6) A political regime that still today restrains its people in far too many ways, even though they now outnumber the U.S. in Internet users (I've had personal experience with the Chinese Internet, and while you can get to where you want if you're savvy enough, there is a lot of problems with it yet).

7) With such pressure the younger population has, both internally through a competitive viewpoint and externally through their government's eyes, we may see the country implode before it has a chance to rest from its efforts.

Supportive articles on the subject:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/25/AR2008072502255.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/arts/design/27ouro.html?th&emc=th

http://api.aggregateknowledge.com/click?t=www.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2008%2F07%2F24%2FAR2008072402162.html&f=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2008%2F07%2F25%2FAR2008072502255.html&rg=36&sid=4&rid=6&a=4160&p=0&s=DE&rt=RECOMMENDATION&i=36

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24041149-5001942,00.html

Boom or Bust

Will China truly be the next global super power, in all rights and respects beyond the obvious numbers? I am not so sure... but that's good for us I think. The U.S. has it lucky, that's for sure. I've seen what its like on the other side of the ocean, and while it was only a year and only a single journey, it was enough... for now anyway :).

My first time behind the wheel

2008-07-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Since coming home from China in June I haven't driven a vehicle of any sort for almost a year. One can imagine my urge in getting back behind the wheel again to cruise down the highway in fresh air and in the countryside where there isn't a soul in sight for miles. There was only one problem upon returning home in fulfilling my urge... I have no car. Something told me riding around on my old bike wasn't going to satisfy it either. I needed to buy a car, borrow a car, or steel one... just kidding on that last idea (I suppose I could "test drive" a car for an hour, but that's a lame idea).

Fortunately, I found a temporary solution that was very conveniently waiting at my local GameStop store... an Xbox 360 wheel! While it wasn't exactly the same thing as a real car in any way other than I had a wheel at my finger tips and pedals at my feet, it was the next best thing. I love racing games, so any way to further enhance that feeling of driving through city streets like a madman, especially when there are no consequences of crashing into pedestrians or buildings as there would be in the real world, was good enough for an afternoon of unwinding.

Unpacking the used Xbox360 wheel and pedals, I had no trouble in setting it up and having the system recognize my new toy. There are apparently more expensive wheel kits out there, but the Xbox360 one scored quite a bit better than any 3rd party alternative, fortunately for me in this case. It was solid and steady in my hands when I began to navigate the control menu using the wheel and pedals. This is one of those rare cases where purchasing the cheapest turns out to the best, or so I thought...

After trying the wheel in DiRT and later picking up GTA IV and DiRT's sequel, GRiD, I quickly came to realize there was either one of two things not functioning properly; the wheel wasn't reacting fast enough (as I had already calibrated it), or I was drunk. Alright, I admit there is a third option and that is I am simply a bad driver, but we'll leave that one up for judgment later. The problem was in the "drift" the wheel appeared to have when taking any sort of corners. With any other control setup it was responsive and quick, even if you were all over the road it wasn't a problem in keeping from crashing constantly into the guard rails. With the wheel it kept delaying my turns, which resulted in overcompensation and constant crashes. I simply couldn't keep the car on the tracks.

This led me to the interest in other control systems for consoles, as well as the PC. So, I set out on buying about $450 worth of equipment for the PC, Xbox360, Wii, PS2 and PS3 that I had. I tried everything, from a joystick and gamepad on the PC to more exotic devices such as the Xbox360's wireless guitar for Guitar Hero III (one of my favorite music oriented games). Everything worked as it should have, more or less, except for that Xbox360 wheel. You'd think that I would have found reviews or some community commentary on the problems I was having, but I found surprisingly little concerning anything to do with wheel problems.

I guess I'll be going back to the gamepad, at least until I can afford a new car...

Game Review 003: Diablo Series

2008-07-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

PROLEGOMENAN

Fewer and fewer newer games out on the market continue to stimulate, excite, and even shock those who play them for the first time. It often takes several years to develop a game with a rich atmosphere like that found in the Diablo series of RPGs. Several types of genres will on occasion bring about these fresh perspective gamers desire, from first person shooters, turn based strategies, racing, and of course RPGs. Blizzard is one such company with the dedication and talent to create a truly unique game that sets it apart from the rest.

GRAPHICS, SOUND, INTERFACE

Set in a classic magical medieval environment, Diablo uses an isometric top down view which lets you walk around a 3D like world without using up vast amounts of computer power for the graphics as you would find in games like EverQuest or many FPS or MMORPGs (with the exception of World of Warcraft). Most Diablo enthusiasts will confirm this simply by the resolution settings. The games are beautiful in all their visual aspects, and the sound effects create a complete setting wherever you are in the game.

However, with Diablo 2 for instance, you are only able to run the video resolution up to 800x600. Until recently, the lack of graphics detail has often been one of the pitfalls of games (for those that cared more about the graphics than the gameplay anyway). Even though players often will explore games based on the story and depth, you still have a vast majority that look for the visual effects before anything else. If Diablo didn't have such a simple and unique gameplay style, the detail of those graphics and other interface settings would have damaged its potential that it has secured over the years.

Take Neverwinter Nights for example. A game similar in concept and perspective as Diablo, but with vastly updated graphics. The reason it hasn't gained quite as much status as Diablo is because some games which are simplistic and first to be at the idea, often turn into classics. This is what happened with Diablo, and will continue to do so with the third installment in the series due to be released sometime in the next year or two.

The interface is simple enough to use that you just click your way around the game world. A shortcut keyboard layout is provided for those wishing to speed things up even more. Players have no trouble locating objects lying on the ground or identifying buildings up ahead. In fact, as you journey around the world an overlay map shows you areas you've recently discovered. One gripe that I have about this radar map concept is that it does not provide enough detail for the areas that you've already explored. Terrain detail, monster detail, and areas-of-interest information would be a welcome addition to the radar map. Clutter can become a concern here, however, simply adding "turn off" options would help to solve this problem.

GAMEPLAY

Blizzard always sets you in an amazing storyline that encourages you to play their games from start to finish. Diablo is one of those games that creates a story that is simple enough to understand, but complex enough to really make you feel a part of the world and its characters. As you progress through the levels, end monsters unfold a plot that propels you to the next level of exploration. When you reach key points you will often know what to do next and what to expect. This is important in a game. You don't want your players to wander around forever looking for items simply because you want to make it "difficult". The worst mindset for a player to be in is when he is confused about what level or mission he is on! Make the mission itself difficult if you have to, not how to get to that mission. Progression through the world should be fun and challenging, not tedious and repetitive.

While Diablo aims at a clear direction and simple choices overall, it does provide some welcome twists to this paradigm. A unique map generation system effectively changes each area every time you log on to play. While it doesn't change it to the point where you become completely disoriented, it still brings about enough of a change to be stimulating, for a short while. This should continue with the third installment, adding even more detail than ever before due to (I hope) graphics details higher than the 800x600 previously set in Diablo 2. The game series is aging as it is now over eight years old. Fans of the franchise would love to see a sequel, and after this much time Blizzard is finally set to deliver.

Some recommendations that I would like to see in Diablo 3 that are different from previous Diablo games are:

*Updated system capabilities with resolution choices you see in game like Neverwinter Nights.

*Maps that allow you to change your view from isometric to third person or even first person views.

*A world that is longer lasting than the current Diablo 2.

WRAPPING UP

The one reason Diablo 2 is still popular is because of its easy-to-play mentality, much like you see in World of Warcraft and later Blizzard games. Players will often play through areas over and over simply to gain levels with their buddies. While this is fun for awhile, it becomes tedious because you end up seeing the same areas over and over again. A better map generation system would provide an expansion to the world without adding on tons of manpower as you see it in continuous games such as many MMORPGs are using.

While Diablo 3 is still far off on the horizon, I don't mind going back to the original series' games and playing through them once in awhile. Sometimes newer games aren't better than older ones, and I am reserving judgment on whether or not Diablo 3 will be able to deliver enough to satisfy those dedicated fans of the franchise, without turning them off while appeasing to the new generation of gamers that want more hack-and-slash and less in depth gameplay.

PROS:

- As yet unchallenged unique gameplay experience
- Expansive maps that change slightly each time you play through them
- A simple yet diverse enough set of characters to choose from
- An interface that allows you to fight through tons of creatures without becoming overwhelmed with too many shortcut keys to deal with.
- The sound, graphics, and overall atmosphere combine into a very pleasing gameplay experience.

CONS:

- Graphics resolution are extremely low and don't offer the best detail
- Make sure you have a good connection for battle.net. It's free, but not the fastest online gameplay service around.
- Saving gameplay is limited, as you have only "waypoints" instead of a "save wherever" feature.

FINAL OVERALL RATING

9/10

Cheating in an online game, offline

2008-07-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

We all play games for a variety of reasons. Some of us may be inclined to play to explore virtual world environments, discover lost treasures from some ancient civilization, socialize with friends from around the world, compete in a tournament, or blow off some steam after a hard days work at the office. Whatever the reason, games allow us to fulfill many of our fantasies that the real world prohibits us from realizing. In rare cases they may also challenge us intellectually, if the developers are savvy enough to add these elements into the gameplay.

A few days ago I was watching one of my friends play World of Warcraft. I also play WoW, but I'm a more casual player due to my interests tied to other MMORPGs at the moment (namely Warhammer Online). While watching him run around the world, I began to notice a difference in the surroundings than from what I remembered while playing. First, he was walking much faster than he should have been. There were also no other players around besides him and his buddy, what-so-ever. MMOPRGs, even during off-peak hours, will produce a crowd in the most congested areas, such as banks and auction houses.

I asked my friend what he was doing, and why there were no others around. He was playing on a private server, of course! I should have seen the signs earlier, but I never thought my long-time friend would play on such a server. You see, these private servers are entire MMORPG game worlds wrapped up into one package you and your friends can play on, completely isolated from the public masses that generally inhabit the servers you normally would play on. My friends seem to enjoy it, so I set out in joining one of these private servers to see what the rage was all about.

After playing for several days, I have come to the careful and fully thought out conclusion, that private servers are an 70 percent waste of time. I do not go all the way to 100 percent because there is a nostalgic quality about them, and I can see for WoW specifically the wish to get away from the underage crowd that needs some serious lessons in online gameplay etiquette. If the real servers were to be shut down, it is great to have these private server capabilities to help one remember the "good old times". They are also free.

The entire point of playing online games is the very fact that they are online, which naturally means that others will also be playing these games. They aren't single player, nor are they 8-player multiplayer games either. I've seen my friend with a bunch of buddies on one of these servers. While you can get in some good, unhindered practice sessions on private servers, it just doesn't offer the "I'm showing my character off to the world and making a difference on some level" kind of feeling that public servers offer.

When it comes down to private servers, I personally will never likely join one unless I am dead set on killing a mob and wish to practice first in peace and quiet, or for the nostalgic value after the public servers are shutdown (which is inevitable at some future date). And unlike my friends, I most certainly will not join private servers just to cheat my way through an online game, enabling faster run speeds and instant gold options. I'll save those for my single player games, thank you.

Hardware Review 001: Acer AL2216Wbd 22" Monitor

2008-07-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Introduction

The first thing to understand about purchasing a monitor is what type of panel is behind the display. Besides the panel manufacturer, there are three panel technologies in widespread use: TN (Twisted Nematic), PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment), and IPS (In-Plane Switching). All of these technologies can also have an "S-" prefix, which stands for "Super" -- indicating the use of an upgraded version of the original technology. There are new “H-IPS” panels coming out as well, which are superior to the S-IPS version.

Knowing the manufacturer of the panel as well as the type of panel will give you a good start when understanding how good, and expensive, the display is going to be. TN has been around the longest, and while it is inexpensive to manufacture there are certain performance characteristics that I dislike, specifically the limited viewing angles. PVA and IPS are both better technologies in terms of quality and viewing angles, but they cost more to produce and they usually have some sort of visual lag, a potential downside if you’re a serious gamer.

Today I bring you a brief to-the-point review of the Acer AL2216Wbd 22” LCD monitor. A combination of price vs. performance that should appeal well to those budget minded users.

Specifications

Video Inputs	1x Analog (VGA) 1x DVI with HDCP support
Panel Type	TN (Twisted Nematic)
Pixel Pitch	0.282mm
Colors	16.2 million (6-bit)
Brightness	300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio	700:1
Response Time	5ms gray-to-gray
Viewable Size	22" diagonal
Resolution	1680x1050
Viewing Angle	170 degrees H/V
Screen Surface	Matte (non-glossy)
Height, Pivot, Swivel, Tilt	No, No, No, Yes
Wall Mount Option	Yes
Dimensions w/ Base (WxHxD)	20.2"x16"x7.8"
Weight w/ Stand	10.6 lbs.
Additional Features	None
Audio	None
Manufacturer Warranty	3 year parts and labor limited
Price	MSRP $259 Online starting at ~$209

The Setup

Setting up the monitor was a breeze. One of the nice things about 22” and smaller monitors is the packaging they come in. I recently returned a pair of Doublesight 26” monitors and had a heck of a time getting them back in their boxes and in the car (not to mention the cost of return shipping). The base comes off with this monitor for easier storage, and the overall construction is solid enough to support moving the monitor around frequently.

Since this is a $200 monitor you shouldn’t expect any frills when using it. There are a minimal amount USB ports and only one DVI connector. The monitor does tilt but that is about it. No swivel or height adjustments, so if you need it any higher on your desk put a few books under it and you are good to go. I found the display to be perfectly adequate for my desk space and quite pleasing to the eye overall. I’m not one for being too picky about how fancy it looks, as it is all about how well it performs.

Visual Quality and Performance

Setup any LCD monitor and view it off to the side when its on, especially when its displaying a black screen. You should notice a lot of color or contrast distortion. On a black background when seeing this hazy light it is called “backlight bleeding”, a condition of the light not quite being blocked by the crystals. When the monitor is displaying an image and you view it at an angle, cheap monitors will not only show severe color distortion but overall contrast distortions. If you are sensitive to distortions of any kind when moving around, do not purchase a TN monitor such as this Acer! IPS panels are best for viewing angle stability. Viewing angles are a problem of visual quality. Some may notice these problems more so than others.

Another problem that users are sometimes sensitive too, especially gamers, is the more perceptive “lag” that occurs when moving around the mouse or viewing fast moving images. There are two actual kinds of this lag. Sensing lag when moving around the mouse may be attributed to the delay in the monitor processing the mouse signal, called Input Lag. Another type of lag is Response Time lag, which occurs when the image from the video card is not being updated on the monitor fast enough, causing blurring in fast moving images. Fortunately this is where TN panels excel. If you are a hardcore gamer and demand image clarity in fast moving images, this Acer monitor will work just fine for you.

Conclusion

You really can’t go wrong with this monitor at the near $200 price point level. You sacrifice a few features, but make up for it in a convenient size that sits directly between the outdated 20” monitors and the more expensive 24” cousins. While it does have its drawbacks in performance, mainly in the viewing angle department and somewhat in the contrast levels, if you aren’t picky or in need of photo quality images, I would highly recommend the Acer AL2216Wbd.

PPU Ageia/Nvidia Inquirer comments

2008-07-07T06:21:00.001-07:00

As if my blog inspired the Inquirer in writing this (yeah right) post I just discovered regarding Aegia and Nvidia's integration of their technology within their GeForce lineup of video cards. This article comments on a slightly older article discussing the technology through Unreal Tournament III:

"NVIDIA HAS BEEN embroiled in controversy over the last few weeks, thanks to the massive score boost it's enjoyed in 3DMark after enabling processing of Ageia Physx routines on the GPU.

Some folks have complained that running physics on the GPU in that benchmark constitutes cheating - Nvidia says it's simply using the technology it paid for - but regardless, what seems to have been slightly overshadowed is the fact that physics on the GPU has real-world gameplay implications right now.

The folks over at TechGage busted out their copy of Unreal Tournament 3 and given it the GPU-physics once over. The results are pretty interesting. When running at a decent-but-not-killer resolution (1680x1050 in this case), the GPU is easily able to handle the load of running both graphics and physics calculations, returning a 50FPS average framerate versus a 31FPS rate for CPU physics calculations (interestingly enough, a dedicated Physx PPU hits 60)."

The full news clip by the Inquirer: http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/07/gpu-physics-works-kinda

The older reference clip is here: http://techgage.com/article/nvidias_physx_performance_and_status_report/3

The PPU and what it means for games

2008-07-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Every few years we see a major trend or shift in technology in the gaming industry that intends to redefine the way games are created thereafter. The late 70's we saw console games appear for the home entertainment center, with the introduction of personal computer games in the 80's. In the 90's we were introduced to the glory of 3D cards with the release of the Voodoo 1, which literally added a whole new perspective to games. The past few years everyone's been raving about 3D surround sound systems and thousand dollar home theater setups, just for games! Let us also not forget the internet that has brought about online games.

Now that we've entered a new century, with continued increases in raw computing power that allow advances that give us easier access to ever expanding game worlds, it is only fitting that another new leap in technology for the gaming industry should occur. I eagerly announce that this new technology has finally come to see the light of day amongst the masses. I welcome the introduction of the Physics Processing Unit, otherwise known by Ageia as the PPU. This technology was first intended as a standalone product, but now has come to be known simply as the physics processing capabilities of wherever the technology resides.

The PPU is believed by many to be the next big step in computer gaming. Now that graphics are becoming more and more realistic and games are filling up with unique and rich content, what is left but to spice it all up with a little bit of physics? The company that first drove this new technology to a new level is Ageia. They have been showcasing their add-on boards at the past few trade shows. The first board that they demonstrated is called PhysX, and companies from the gaming industry to the graphics industry are lining up in droves to take advantage of this new technology... but not in the way Ageia first intended.

Let's take a step back for a moment and look at the physics we've seen in the current generation of games. You might be asking yourself, "Many games have physics built in. What do we need this PPU for, which will probably cost us consumers just as much as a $400 video card?" Keep in mind with the PPU we're talking realistic physics effects. Don't be fooled by what may seem like a realistic tree swaying in the breeze but is simply the top rotating in a predefined pattern. Many older games have some sort of physics built into their environments. In fact, nearly every 3D game since the late 90's has at least basic physics support.

The problem is the realism and scope of the physics that's been attempted before. If you take the game Unreal Tournament 2003, it was able to process about 20 different physics interactions at any one time. Interactions for example would be boulders falling from a hillside, or a tree swaying in the breeze. Unreal Tournament 2004 increased that total to 40. Is that really enough though, just 40 different components in an entire landscape? And how well did the game designers really make the physics realistic? Just like how badly the CPU processes GPU specific workloads, the PPU has its advantage in processing physics specific tasks. We need this dedication to bring forth not just 40 physics components, but 4000!

Think about how a burning building has hundreds of interactions, from falling boards to burning furniture, and you quickly come to the conclusion that the number 40 isn't nearly high enough to simulate a real-world scenario to its fullest. This is where the PPU really shines. This means for the gaming fans you'll see truly realistic water effects, realistic movement of grass and flora as you walk your character through a landscape, as well as individual cloud interactions, player animation effects, and all sorts of other physics interactions. You might never even thought about all the various interactions that are possible until your draw drops when you see how real it is with a PPU. Image casting that tornado spell and not only seeing a swirling vortex, but also your character's hair whipping in the wind, the leaves and debris on the forest floor lifting up and getting sucked into the tornado as it moves across the landscape towards your opponents, all with little or no increase in your current computing power.

That is what the PPU will be able to do for us, and it's only the beginning. This new technology may be particularly interesting for those who play fast paced action online games where destruction and mayhem occur all around a character. With a PPU enabled those interactions would look very realistic and not be constrained by only a few interactions. Essentially the PPU may ultimately give game designers a near unlimited constraint towards building new game worlds on a physics level, that truly redefine the way we view our online worlds.

"How will this PPU be installed into future gaming systems and when can I go buy one?"

Earlier this year Nvidia purchased Ageia, specifically to integrate their technology into the GeForce lineup of graphics cards. You won't be seeing separate cards like Ageia was planning, but instead a seamless transition from hardware based physics on a separate card to a more software based solution through the adaptation of drivers, with a little hardware support built right into the existing graphics cards. Who is going to take advantage of this new way of incorporating physics into graphics cards? The game companies of course!

Epic Games was the first to announce Ageia's technology in their latest engine, the Unreal 3 engine. Right now for the online gaming fans we won't be seeing a PPU enabled game probably for another year or so, but once we do those waterfalls, tree movements, boulders falling down a hill, destruction physics, and much more will be so real the term "internet gaming addiction" might take on a whole new meaning. Let us just hope the gaming companies don't forget about all the quality content when they realize how cool it is having realistic physics.

Game Review 002: GTA IV

2008-07-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

PROLEGOMENAN

When playing on the console platform, racing games have always been a favorite of mine. I don't know if it is the extensive library of racing games available, the wheel and pedals that make driving that much more realistic (but unfortunately in some cases a bit too realistic), or simply the fact that I can play on a 50" plasma screen TV instead of a measly 22" LCD monitor. I really should hook up a media PC...

Racing games have also been a great multiplayer experience for me as well. Just about every weekend I would gather all my friends to my home, where I would have a nice LAN setup that allowed PC, console, and card/board games to be played simultaneously around the house. If you got bored with playing GTA IV on the console it was no problem to join in on the latest Supreme Commander game on the PC, or try your hand at a game of poker at the card table.

Unfortunately, even though racing games were a theme at LAN parties in the past, they have often lacked great multiplayer experiences. Don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic games out there, including GTA games previous to GTA IV, such as Wipeout, Ultimate Race Pro, Carmageddon, and others. Many previous games lacked either large multiplayer support, realistic and enjoyable physics when driving vehicles (Carmageddon for example), or simply very bad gameplay that was filled with bugs (again, Carmageddon...).

Fortunately, GTA IV seems to have to at least partially lifted the negative veil surrounding muliplayer racing games. Behold, as I give you my brief review of what everyone else seems to want to rate as a 10/10 game. Do I hold it in such high regard? Take a look...

WHAT IS UNIQUE

I'm going to go right ahead and throw out on the table the worst negative about this game... its unique qualities, or lack-their-of. While it has excellent gameplay as I will describe below, I found it to be lacking anything that hasn't already been introduced into previous GTA games. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No. Read my previous blog post about how I absolutely hate games in a series that are altered so severely they shouldn't even be related to said series.

What is unique and rather exciting to play are the stunts. While stunts are a trademark of GTA, GTA IV has introduced some exciting new ones that bring a breath of fresh air to those that want to go off the beaten path from the game's storyline and just mess around town with their car. How much punishment can some of these cars take when twisting through the air? Quite a lot. The "Broker/Bohan", "Alogonquin", "Alderney" island area stunts that are my favorites. Each stunt is fairly typical in design, with ramps and straight-a-ways that require you to jump over obstacles. It gets really interesting when attempting to make the correct landing, as many of the landing points can really throw your car around when you land improperly.

GAMEPLAY

The ability to shoot in any direction from within a vehicle is a quality I love about GTA. Chasing down other cars is now far easier than previous games, since you can shoot out their tires with greater accuracy than before. It can be a little awkward to pull off, but then you'd expect firing any sort of gun while retaining control of your car to be difficult. Some of the scenarios in the game even require you to practice this art of control.

On foot, shooting is even better. It used to be a real inaccurate mess even more so than when driving, but GTA IV is a vast improvement and brings it on par with some of the best FPS games. Your character can lock onto targets, with shooting guidance provided for better accuracy. The best part about this is that assault rifles and other heavy guns are as useful as a simple pistol. Elaborate shootouts are now far more feasible, with some excellent scenarios built within the game that are great fun with these larger weapons.

What I hate to waste is time. I cannot count the times in MMOGs and other games where I'd be searching for a particular item or location for hours on end. What is the point of wasting so much time when you could be enjoying the game's next scenario or storyline element? There comes a time when the headache of wasting time is not worth the time. Fortunately, in GTA IV the reduction in the time you waste driving around is minimized through the use of features that allow you pass an area when the game knows you're just not cutting the mustard on your own.

If you drive around endlessly and ultimately fail in a mission due to exceeding the time limit or some other repetitive waste of time, you'll get a text message giving you the option to immediately return to the point just after the initial cut scene. The game also autosaves after you complete each phase of the scenario. Simply getting to the next scenario marker is another area where time can be cut down; your character can now take a cab directly to a location, which can save you from taking a wrong turn when driving down the streets at maximum speed.

GRAPHICS, SOUND, INTERFACE

I was really annoyed with previous GTA games that provided less than stellar graphics. There always seemed to be something about GTA graphics that broke up the realism of driving through the city streets. The best way to describe the problem is to describe how each element in the game flowed with the others. Buildings would end too abruptly with the next, with colors and textures conflicting with each other. Lighting was poor, so shadows and reflections highlighted these problems. It's as if the designers didn't know what the words "transition" or "refinement" meant.

The series has never had and probably never will feature groundbreaking visuals, but fortunately this time around they obviously exceeded previous games with better graphics and a more fluid style. I think the designers this time found the word "refinement", but still got "transition" confused with "step". There are still glitches that are annoying, but when driving down the streets in GTA IV you get a sense of warmth and comfort in watching scenery pass by, instead of asking yourself why the tree branches looked like they came from a 4 year old's crayon drawing.

As far as what is brought to you via the interface, nothing too much has changed here thankfully. It's a racing game, how much do you really need to change? We have the radar, overview map, some indicators, and that's about all you need. The game's mini-map does combine some valuable health and statistical information about your character, as well as indicating how close you are to losing the police. When you're on the run, a blue circle appears on your radar and once out of it, your wanted level will lower after a certain length of time. Previously it was next to impossible to tell when you might be clear of the police.

Audio in games across all platforms has been advancing at a near snails pace over the past decade. Some attribute this to audio technology simply not needing any more advancement, but others argue that audio isn't an important factor in games beyond simply stereo output. I couldn't disagree more with the latter comment. When you have a racing game like GTA IV, not to mention FPS games in general, it is essential you have great surround sound support to know when and where someone is shooting at you. Or in GTA IV's case specifically, when a car might be coming up behind you to run you over.

Lastly but surely not least, there are the countless hours of licensed songs that are available over a dozen radio stations that give you music enjoyment as you bash up your vehicle or take down some poor soul on the sidewalk. Some of the radio channels are a bit "drab", in that they don't provide the greatest musical tracks. For example, there are too many soul, pop, and classical channels instead of rock or trance. This is taste preference though I suppose. Of course you have numerous talk radio shows, with the same sort of comedy that you'd except from the previous games.

WRAPPING UP

GTA IV provides expansive racing at its best, without the endless circles and mindless speed contests that are often associated with other more mundane racing games. While these other games are fun at times, how can you possibly beat a game like GTA that involves great music while driving, interactive gameplay, and in-depth storyline and objectives that bring you into the world better than any drag-racer game could ever do?

PROS:

- As yet unchallenged unique gameplay experience
- Expansive maps that are extremely detailed
- Plenty of cars to buy, or steal
- Controls and accuracy are refined from previous games
- A great way to unwind after a hard day at the office

CONS:

- Almost too many mundane radio channels to choose from
- Some minor visual quirks
- Loading times can be extensive on the PS3 version

FINAL OVERALL RATING

9/10

Diablo III announced

2008-06-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today at the World Wide Invitation for Activision/Blizzard, Diablo III was announced to the public, a game speculated to be in production for quite some time. For awhile we had rumors running wild of another MMO (like we need another WoW), and even entirely new games (*gasp*, new games, is that possible anymore?). But alas, one of the most popular series ever to be produced on the PC (originally anyway) is debuting a third installment.

The question now is, will this truly be a Diablo game at its core?. I've been disappointed three too many times when it comes to hype about sequels and the way they implement fresh content. Take for example the Heroes of Might & Magic series. I love it, even the latest installment, Heroes V. However, its greatness was its interface and style of interacting with the world. Take that away from a game series' roots and you might as well title a "sequel" something completely different.

Tip for all game designers out there from a still-player based community member -- don't change what isn't broken! Or more to the point, don't change what works well and players enjoy. Add onto that, tweak, gain player feedback before implementation, but nothing more. If you want more, title the game something else or you risk losing your core fanbase and spoiling an entire series.

Movies have countless examples of this. When the third 'Neverending Story' movie came out I was extremely excited. Of course I ended up extremely disappointed in that they dumbified the series so much to focus on young kids, I hardly recognized it for what it was supposed to be based on.

Even so, we shouldn't shy away from attempting to create great sequels. Sequels keep us in the game world that would have eventually been forgotten, reminds us in just a slightly different way how great the gameplay experiences we've had in the past were, and gives us a glimpse into the future as to what potential a growing industry can bring to already successful, and perhaps bring up not-so-successful, game titles.

I for one am looking forward to Diablo III, and if anyone can produce a successful sequel it is Blizzard (crossing fingers on this one, as I have to admit Starcraft III was just "ok").

Randomizing items and events in MMORPGs

2008-06-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

After slaying a lowly monster in your favorite MMORPG you expect it to drop a small amount of coin, a basic food item, or some other fairly predictable object that likely has little worth to you directly. Once in awhile you'll find something more valuable, but it may take time. As you walk around and fight monsters this can become extremely repetitive and boring. What if you were able to obtain items in a "casino" style fashion, similar to the Diablo series but built for MMORPGs?

Ultima Online, one of my favorite MMORPGs, was all about item generation, economics through trading of those items, and the community that helped guide which items were popular or useful. EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot and Star Wars Galaxies have employed similar item systems. They do not target items as the main theme of the game like Ultima Online does, however, they still use items as there core economic engines. Especially Ultima Online, these games require the user to obtain items and property in such a way that it ultimately becomes redundant and down right boring.

Is predictable item statistic generation necessarily a bad system? Not at all. For example, when you are participating in a quest or are after a particular weapon, you would like to be certain that the creature you are spending time fighting will eventually drop the item. You might ask yourself, "Is this not random item generation?" If it isn't, then wouldn't the item in question come up every single time, or not at all? Item generation in all games is "random" to a certain extent.

What games need that employ any sort of serious item based system is a more Diablo style random item generation technique. It is this "lottery" system that users will become excited in using, at least longer than traditional systems. The second benefit in such a system is the acceptance of a smaller pool of overall items. With a random item generation system players may be willing to ignore this limitation for slight tweaks and unique qualities of current items.

Let's take this one step further and add in the idea of random location spawns, and forget for a moment about the typical "kill a monster and a chest or bag appears". Replace this with simply a chest or a bag! For example, your character is strolling through the woods and happens upon a randomly generated chest. To open this chest you may have to go through a series of monster spawn battles or some other challenge, but once open any number of things may occur or spawn. A scroll to some great quest, an item that will help you on your journey, or a bit of coin.

As we can see there are many options for perking the player's interests without having to spend a huge amount of resources on developing overly complex systems that may not ever be used, or worse, rejected outright by the community as useless and boring to overall gameplay.

There is no place like home

2008-06-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

"There is no place like home", Dorothy Gale said in the Wizard of Oz. She also said something along the lines of, "Where am I? I must be dreaming".

I've said both of those phrases to myself over the past year as I've traveled throughout Asia and taught English in Shenzhen, China. Several times I would be walking down the street and I would see something weird, stupid, funny, strange, or I would simply be walking and suddenly realize really where I am and say quietly to myself, "Where am I again?". It was a nice reminder, a "pinch" on the skin if you will, that I wasn't just dreaming this adventure I seemed to be experiencing.

For the years before I came to China I had a fairly elementary life that was consistent, positive, and most important it was enjoyable. China helped me to grow beyond what I had already accomplished in life beyond my wildest expectations. I've learned a lot and helped others to grow as well, all in the span of one year.

The next question for myself must be, "Where am I going?". Living in the here-and-now is important, as we can't change the past nor can we for sure predict and conquer the future. Still, one must properly prepare and assess as best as they can what the next step should be. That is the stage I am currently at. I am home from China, ready for the next challenge and experience that awaits for my decision to act upon it.

If you are interested in reviewing my adventures you need only read the rest of this blog, view video clips on my YouTube site, photos on my Facebook site, or contact me and ask questions. I have a lot of stories to share so don't be shy!

The birth of worlds not by gas, dust, nor gravity, but by imagination

2008-06-08T02:39:00.000-07:00

When I was in High School I had arranged my schedule as much as possible to include as many study halls as I could. This wasn't because I was lazy and found ways to skip afternoon school hours (although that did happen on occasion), or that I needed more time than most for studying purposes. I spent that time very wisely in my view, by reading as much as I could about anything and everything that I could get my hands on that wasn't necessarily school related itself. While Scientific American magazines and USA Today newspapers fulfilled my appetite for non-fictional news updates, there was another form that I always needed to read that wasn't considered as real or tangible.

It was the stories and lives of fictional characters from a good book. I would read a book every day for hours on end, wanting to find out where the characters adventured to next in their world and what they would encounter there. Fantasy and Science Fiction were my favorite genres. It wasn't the real world I wanted to read about the most, as that is somewhat predictable and more easily defined, but instead it was the fantasy world. My imagination led me on adventures right alongside the heroes and villains I read about. They sometimes were written in such detail that they might as well have been from a real world. Perhaps not our own, but a world out there somewhere in the universe. When I am entrenched in a fictional book you cannot pull me away, for I am living that world, a world that had no beginning nor end but continued on for as long as I wanted it to.

Later on I discovered the magic of computer games and eventually games that allowed me to play with others from around the world. Even with such an interactive tool at my finger tips, computer games will never completely replace the books I read. Still, the computer brought the visual element into play, which was something books can never do. For the first time I could optically create a creature portrayed in one of the books I read and lead him directly along a path to a great city deep in some magical forest, or guide him through a searing desert on a quest to slay a terrible beast that resides deep underground. I could see my imagination unfolding before me. That experience added just enough of an additional piece of realism to a world that never could be fully realized, but had enough in it to be satisfying.

Bringing the real world and the fantasy worlds together under one community truly began with MMORPGs. While single player games were enough to satisfy a more linear and direct, not to mention lonely experience, it was the MMORPGs that gave me the unpredictable yet controllable experience that you can have when adventuring in a world that is artificial and contains thousands of players just like yourself. It is a world where characters are not controlled by the computer, which just give you static responses that don't have any true meaning. It is a world controlled by humans, and as well all know humans are as unpredictable and chaotic as any creatures we've ever created in our imaginations.

My career, my goals and what is really the heart of all I want to be and have become so far all point to creating the worlds founded from my imagination in the form of interactive media. To be able to imagine something and then to further develop that something into a tangible and positive experience not just for yourself but for hundreds of thousands of others I feel is at the heart of what it is to be human. It doesn't matter if you are creating a new treatment to cure cancer, designing a safer and more fuel efficient automobile, discovering new ways to increase world food output... or creating fictional worlds that raise the inspiration and imagination of others who play them.

China's All-Seeing Eye

2008-06-03T00:28:00.000-07:00

My city is famous! Well, if you want to praise it like that, then it is indeed famous, but for something many of us shun... being watched without knowing it. China, in conjunction with western investments, has dumped billions of dollars into Shenzhen over the last thirty years. I have the privilege of seeing the results of that investment. While it is indeed an impressive city visually, it is even more impressive in what hides beneath the street lights and in corner shadows, as this article details:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20797485/chinas_allseeing_eye/print

Am I frightened of being watched? Of course not, for I have nothing to hide. Only those that have something to hide, or for some reason may be embarrassed at an act they commit publicly (in which case they probably deserve being embarrassed) should have anything to worry about. What is worrisome is the likely proliferation of this technology across the globe and its potential abuse. What's next, the extinction of net neutrality and enforced monitoring? Oh, wait...:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/11/AR2006061100707.html

and

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/09/internet.china

A trillion voices in the silence of space-time

2008-05-31T03:11:00.001-07:00

ARE WE ALONE?

Dr. Frank Drake wrote a famous equation in the 1960s to help determine how many civilizations are in our galaxy, the Milky Way, in the here and now. This equation contained a very simple set of seven elements to determine this magical number. Some of these elements we know, most of them we do not. The only absolute certainty that we do know of at this time on the probability of life in the universe is the very fact that we, humans, are here. We are the only known proof that life, advanced life, and civilization-capable life exists. Rene Descartes once wrote: "I think therefore I am."

To check it out the Drake Equation simply search on the Internet or at your local library about Dr. Frank Drake. What I will do here is pull two important concepts from the equation and delve into those briefly. This should give you an excellent idea on where current theories are in determining life in the universe. First, let's assume for simplicity sake that life will evolve remotely similar to ours, requiring similar resources with the same restrictions our own life has, such as the need for water.

THE STAR OF A SYSTEM IS THE KEY

The first thing to determine is if there are any other solar systems capable of supporting life bearing planets in the universe. This is one major step shy from determining whether life and intelligent life is possible elsewhere. Our sun is the center of our solar system. It breathes life upon the planets through its cosmic energy. The earth itself was formed out of the same material that our sun is made of. In fact, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for other stars exploding and dieing millions of years ago to spread their valuable material upon our corner of the universe. Analyzing stars is the first step in determining whether life in a system is possible.

Stars come in all sizes, temperatures, colors, and life spans. Each of these factors is highly deterministic upon on the others. That is, with one factor being a certain figure, for instance the size of the star, the temperature, brightness and lifespan are also determined. There is also a certain limit on the size of the star to keep all these other things in balance. Stars cannot form too small or too large. Every system in existence has some sort of upper and lower limit, so just think of it that way.

On the smallest end of the scale are stars labeled M-Type. If you've heard of M-Type planets like those found in Star Trek, that reference is different :). M-Type stars are cool, red, small stars. These stars are smaller because they do not need a large mass to keep their temperature and nuclear reactions in check. Also, just like the periodic table of elements where hydrogen is the most abundant, as well as the smallest and simplest atom, small stars are much more numerous in the universe. It is simply easier to make smaller, less complicated things than larger ones. The other end of the spectrum is very hot, larger, white to blue spectrum stars. Our sun is a nice average G-Type star.

We can discount the very hot stars right away because they do not live long as they burn their fuel in one glorious burst. Think of rowing a boat. You wouldn't get very far by putting all your energy into massive paddles. The net effect wears you out much too quickly. Rowing much slower and with smaller paddles will get you somewhere but it will take a very long time. It takes time for life to evolve, so the longer a star lasts the better. Since our sun is a G-Type star, it obviously has enough time to evolve life. The only problem with those very cool red M-Type is that the orbit of a planet has to be very close to get energy from the star and keep liquid water on the planet's surface. This is called the “Habitable Zone”.

THE HABITABLE ZONE

We've already proven planets exist around other stars, with over two hundred extra solar planets discovered so far. While binary star systems are problematic, there is still the chance for planets to form in them. What is important is where those planets are within a star system. How close or far away are they from the star, and in what kind of orbit are they in? Too close and water boils off the planet. It is simply is too hot like Mercury and Venus are. Too far away and you have a deep freeze, water is not sustainable in liquid form (except for rare occasions like some moons around large gas giant planets like Jupiter). Our planet is obviously in the right distance to our own sun, and Venus is almost within that distance. Mars is within that distance as well but is unfortunately too small to hold an appropriate atmosphere.

Study our moon's position one night. You will notice that the same side faces us perpetually. This is due to "Tidal Locking". When an orbiting body that is smaller exists close to a larger parent body, physics locks its rotation into place over time. Because of the closeness of planets in an M-Type star system they would tidally lock to their sun in a very short time. One face would forever face the sun, burning, while the other side of the planet would freeze. Whether or not this type of system could sustain life is not yet known.

It would be nice, however, since roughly eighty percent of the stars in the galaxy are these types of cool stars. It might be possible with enough carbon dioxide to smooth over plant-wide temperatures. Obviously there is more to the habitable zone that simply the planet’s distance in direct proportion to the star itself. I’d like to think of this habitable zone as having “soft boundaries”, depending on the planet’s makeup. Venus might just have been habitable if it wasn’t for its mysterious runaway greenhouse effect.

You might be surprised to learn that there is also a galactic habitability zone. We revolve around our galaxy every few million years. This also determines certain conditions of life sustainability, chiefly the amount of radiation our system receives and how "metallic" our system is (which determines if rocky bodies like our earth can form at all). Just think what we need, what we can't have, and where in the universe, in the galaxy, in the solar system, we would best be to have these elements. If all these conditions are met you have a chance, perhaps, of a life bearing planet that will spawn a civilization.

THE FERMI PARADOX - TOO MANY NECESSARY STEPS

There a few other factors to consider. Actually, there are many, so many in fact that the Fermi Paradox was created in order to describe the immense "luck" we have in our current situation in the universe, as well as the mystery of not finding anyone else out there. I will only briefly summarize some of these other factors, so please feel free to look them up to learn more about them.

First, even if a planet is the right size, distance from the parent star, it must also be in a circular orbit to maintain temperatures evenly. Planets must also rotate fast enough to produce a rotating molten core, which produces a magnetic field to protect against a stars radiation. Enough water must also initially exist on the planet to produce temperature moderating effects. Believe it or not, periodic meteor impacts are also possibly essential to life, as they "reset" the planet’s progress for another chance at developing different, perhaps better, life. Wiping out the dinosaurs gave us mammals a chance to evolve for instance, and eventually humans. I thank the dinosaurs for their sacrifice. Even the moon helps to stabilize our orbit and temperature, as well as produce life-bearing oceanic tides.

LIFE TAKES ROOT, NOW WHAT

Let's say that life actually evolves on a planet. This takes time. Single cellular life on our planet existed for a couple of billion years before multi-cellular, complex life evolved. There are arguments that this sudden emergence of complex life spawned rather quickly, fueling speculation about what actually caused it. The chief theory is that single cellular life had to change the atmosphere into an oxygen rich mix for multi-cellular to take hold.

Fortunately, it seems that itself is self-sustaining, a "ghost within the machine" so to speak. The greatest part about this phase of development in a planetary system is that once complex life grabs a hold of a planet current probabilities suggest that it will stay there for a long time, with the occasional resets caused by asteroids and other random astronomical phenomena. Once life grabs a hold of a planet, given the abundance factor of life on a planet, intelligent life will result. After that, in short order it is almost a given that a civilization will form, if the intelligent life form has at least a moderate physical capability of making tools.

WE MIGHT AS WELL BE ALONE

It is up to us, and other intelligent species and their civilizations, to take it from there. At no known point in the history of our planet has a species had the ability to control its destiny. Space may be our salvation for longevity. It will likely start with the mining of precious metals on mars and the asteroid belt. Then trade may extend to the outer solar system amongst the many gas giant moons. After that, who knows? Star Wars might become a reality, except for one last issue, distances beyond the solar system.

As is quite obvious, it takes light one year to travel one light-year. The galaxy itself is roughly 100,000 light years across. So, if a civilization was on one side and another civilization was on the other, it would take 100,000 years for one of the civilizations to detect the other's signal, and another 100,000 to respond, if they were looking to begin with. Will any civilization last that long to detect such a signal, and if they do will that sending civilization still exist, especially for another 100,000 years to hear the “hello”? Even if we reduce this to a miniscule 100 years, the space-time reality is challenging.

The one thing that should trouble our species is the apparent fact that no alien species have visited us yet. There are those that would say things like “they just don’t want to be detected”, or “the government knows…”, but that really is hog-wash in most likely scenarios. Any aliens that would go to the trouble of coming here wouldn’t be playing cloak-and-dagger games with potentially the only civilization they will ever meet. Perhaps they have visited us, it was just a long time ago, or they are on their way but will arrive a few thousand years too late...

OUR SPACE-TIME IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT

Can this conundrum be rather complex to figure out? Yes, mainly because most of the pieces of the puzzle we have to theorize. That is why we have a long way to go in understanding the basics of how life evolved, what is required to get it started, and the low probability that intelligent life forms will meet each other in the vastness of space. I wanted to explain all this to help you understand what our current thinking is about life in the universe, or at least in our own neighborhood.

Is there going to be a part of the universe that has dozens of advanced aliens running around at the same moment in history? At this point it is just as possible that we will discover alternate universes and meet aliens that way, or find a way around the light speed barrier. One thing to keep in mind with the "low" probabilities and so many events required to get where we are today, is that many of them may actually be very common. Large moons around inner planets, stable orbits and Jupiter's roaming in the distance may all be more of "just how it evolves" than the exception we see today.

I will let you be the judge of what is possible. Star Wars here we come! I just wish I could get that Fermi Paradox out of my mind...

May flowers bring June...

2008-05-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Almost a week has gone by since my last blog... some might think I've given up! I assure you that wasn't the case. I had a simple lapse of a few days where I somehow forgot my login information. The way I figure it, my memory is about 4ns worse than a cats. A cats memory span is about 10 minutes...

I still haven't come up with a rhyme for the title of this blog yet, but it is supposed to relate to my coming home in two weeks. May has been an interesting, although mostly quiet month during a time when I am thinking about a lot of things, such as what to buy for myself when I get home! Hey, I haven't "shopped" in a year... can you blame me? June is when my time is up in China for this year and I go home to visit family and friends for the summer, and possibly beyond (I haven't absolutely thought this far yet).

I've written in previous blogs about my time here in China, the goods and bads, normal and not-so-normal happenings, etc. Could I have picked a better year than 2007/2008 school season? I have Tibet uprisings and earthquakes on the left, the Olympics in the North, Taiwan elections to the east, and SARS reappearance to the South in Hong Kong. I'm trapped, unable to escape, help!

Fortunately, it's been a great learning experience, and there has been so many positives I've written about that I fear I will be spending a lot of time with the family boring them to death with my adventurous stories of mayhem, curiosities, and school days. I can only imagine what way they will react when they see me for the first time in a year. The last time I was with them I was 190lbs, but today I am 125lbs. "Rolly Polly" was a name my grandmother used once as a joke. I wasn't really fat, but she just spit it out anyway. Now I get the last laugh, haha!

One thing that I want to pass along to whomever reads this. Have fun with life, go out exploring and find new things, because you may only get one chance at it. I took a chance, wasn't sure what to expect with China and Asia, and I certainly underestimated that expectation. I've discovered a new world within my sphere of knowledge, a world that is blossoming and growing on a daily basis. I need only watch the dozen construction sites around my school and the students learning in their classrooms within as evidence of this.

When games and China do not mix

2008-05-23T01:29:00.000-07:00

Since my Internet at the school has been almost unusable the last few days, thanks primarily to 'The Great Firewall of China', I decided to try my luck at one of the nearby Internet cafes. Actually, the only nearby Internet cafe from what I've found so far. These establishments have to be so many meters from schools and are to be completely hidden from public view. I found this one by accident (through a little bit of poking my nose into open doorways here and there).

When I found this place the first time it was a small miracle. I almost cried at the site of finding a bunch of fellow gamers in one area playing (some anyway) games that I also enjoyed. Finding a seat in the back after paying for an hour of time, I logged in and first checked my e-mail and all the usual items I normally do on a regular morning. Then I noticed on the desktop one of my favorite games of all-time, Heroes of Might and Magic III! Could this be?! I decided to run it and it indeed was Heroes III, so I played for a few minutes before deciding to check the daily news. The Chinese characters were getting to me, even though it was a game I knew so well I could have play it blindfolded.

I loaded up my personal bookmarks and started from the game related ones and worked my way to world news. It was then that I discovered a very disturbing article. In summary (and linked below), just yesterday a Chinese gamer sitting in an Internet cafe much like the one I was currently in, was angry that she couldn't play her favorite game (I hope it wasn't Heroes III) due to Internet entertainment site restrictions for the three days of morning for the earthquake victims. To make a long story short, she essentially praised her game time while attacking the authorities over a "minor thing" as Internet disruptions to honor the victims of the earthquake. She was carted off to jail a short while after being identified.

It was then that I hastily and quietly made an exit from the cafe. If they can cart of Chinese protesters like that, I didn't want to be mistaken for aggressively playing a game when I was supposed to be morning the countries fallen citizens, or reading questionable news about some lady protesting Chinese policies. In relation to this news article, my teaching group was told specifically to avoid any and all potential places that might bring unintentional trouble. I didn't want to take any chances during these few days, so I probably shouldn't have been there to begin with.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/23/chinese-woman-fumes-quake

China is sometimes said to be the new the land of opportunities, if you're willing to spend some quality jail time after the fact. Seriously though, in this instance she rightfully deserved what she got (although I am stopping short of the 17,000 comments calling for her lynching).

Making a choice

2008-05-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

Imagine, if you will, there are five oranges on a table in front of you. They are all identical on the outside, yet each one on the inside has a completely different taste, texture, and even nutritional value. You ultimately will not know which one is better for you and which one you will like more until after you choose one and bite into one. By the way, one of them is poisonous. Could you ever make such a choice, or is it a trivial process for you and would easily chose randomly?

I find that my personality and critical thinking are often waging war with each other. This particularly applies when I must make a decision that will, or could, vastly alter my life and the course it takes through the world. It is my mentality that I must choose the correct path when possible, otherwise I may dwell for some time on how to either fix what I did wrong, or better decide in the future the next path that I have to take. Sometimes there is no correct path, but I have yet to completely understand this.

For example, a few years ago I decided to leave a solid and stable career that my entire family was extremely proud of me for having. I lost the ability to purchase a home of my own and to save a considerable amount of money in the process for my retirement. Yet I left it for the game industry and a more "fluid" career, which so far has brought me to exotic places as China, where I'm currently writing this blog post. Yes, there were several benefits like being here in China, but there were also drawbacks. Sometimes I wish I could have stayed with my family and friends forever, but that would have required the job I once had that I will never be able to get again. Was it the right choice? I still do not know.

Right now I am debating a similar situation. I could stay in China for several more years, save a lot of money in the process, and somewhat further my game industry career. Or I could leave after another year for home in America and work with the game industry on a level I can't quite currently achieve here, and as a bonus I'd be close enough to my family to see them on a regular basis. Being with my family, friends and those I've known for most of my life is important to me, as it is for almost anyone. Finding the right balance between a career and family is often difficult. I have it easier than most as I do not have a wife and children, or any other major obligations at this time.

One thing I have learned on my adventures here in China, regardless of whatever path I ultimately take in the future, is that I am fortunate enough to have a choice. Be grateful when that opportunity presents itself to you, as you have the power at that time to decide your fate, instead of allowing fate to decide for you as it would like to do. Do not worry about whether it was the right decision or not, or whether or not you came out ahead monetarily or increased your personal security for the future. Think about whether that decision makes you happy with the immediate results it gives you, and if so, that is what matters... the here and now. It is good to think about the future of course, but relax a bit and plan only when necessary and in reasonable doses.

I am still understanding my own words of wisdom, so I hope you will have better luck with them than I.

Game Review 001: Heroes of Might & Magic Series

2008-05-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

PROLEGOMENAN

This is the first official game review I will have posted on my blog, so please be kind of I haven’t worked out the review “kinks” yet. An oddity you might also want to ask is why I am reviewing a game series that is rather outdated by many standards. Two simple reasons; the series is one of my favorites, and it is remarkably unique in numerous areas. A truly innovative product that I feel is still yet to be challenged in turn-based games to this day. And thus begins the review…

It is a fitting name for such a series. “Heroes” of Might & Magic is exactly about commanding your heroes in a mighty battle against other heroes, all of which are wielding powerful weapons and armor and commanding spells that not only of combative types, but also spells that allow you to quicken your pace around the game world. Impatient for a battle with the green colored enemy that has a castle type you want? Cast “Fly” if you have it and you can soar over mountains to reach new areas that would otherwise have taken you an extra three or more turns to reach. This all sounds extremely dramatic, but remember, it’s a turn-based strategy series and uses limited viewing perspectives.

WHAT IS UNIQUE

I like to start this with a description of what is unique about the game, as this will set the stage for everything else to follow. When reading a game review I find myself always looking for those unique elements, sometimes skimming past the mass of “filler” material that accompanies most reviews. Especially when you are reviewing a sequel I find only around twenty percent of the gameplay content and mechanics are unique. I like to compare this to the book industry, especially when considering textbooks. How much is really changed from the fourth to the fifth editions? Not much.

The Heroes of Might & Magic series, or known as HoMM for short, was designed with an isometric perspective. While this isn’t unique in itself, what contents lay on this perspective is unique. Most isometric maps consist of a very basic set of elements, such as a building, city icon, forest cluster, paths connecting each area, and so on. HoMM sets itself apart by sprinkling a little bit of all the things you will interact with and use right on the map in an “in-your-face” method. Many of these elements are extremely detailed in a 2D way and are more numerous than you’d expect for a game’s map layout.

For example, as you see your hero journeys around the map you will see treasure chests with experience or gold in them, artifacts that render new powers to you, creature buildings to purchase additional armies with, and much more. This makes it extremely easy to figure out where you are and what your immediate goals should be. There isn’t much second guessing in the first few turns of the game, thus the learning curve is relatively low. Complexity and critical think, however, will mushroom after about your tenth or eleventh turn, so be ready to start thinking like a chess player.

The developers really went wild with packing in this content. Since this game is turn-based your heroes each have a set limit of spaces they can move on the map. Let’s pick an arbitrary number and say they can move in the best of circumstances twenty paces. In this amount you may have half a dozen treasure chests clustered together, two or three artifacts sprinkled in-between, static neutral creatures to fight, and a few resources to build up your cities. Each map is different, however, so some maps will be more conservative in this packing of content than others. If you get bored with the predefined maps there is the map generator that does a fairly decent job at creating fresh content. However, don’t expect it to be too complicated or detailed.

GAMEPLAY

New games start with choosing the map type, your hero and castle, and an extra resource to help you get started. There are additional settings for minor difficulty changes and a few interface options you can also change in the game. Once in the game you will see your starting castle and the hero you originally chose. These two items are at the very heart of what HoMM is all about. Castles provide creatures and support for your heroes, and in times of trouble they can also provide additional protection from advancing enemy heroes. The heroes under your command themselves are your mobile armies, moving around the map and from castle to castle acquiring artifacts, spells, additional creatures, and experience that further enhances their powers.

The entire game series is about acquiring better spells, more castles that house your armies, resources, and hero experience. Due to the nature of the game, depending on the map style and size you chose, you will find that you tend to “eat up” the areas you explore. Once you’ve acquired treasure chests, resources, and killed off static creatures, there are a limited number of these that continually exist. After the map is explored you can easily take these over if they are in enemy hands. This is interesting for awhile, but the real fun is exploring new areas. Difficulties can especially begin to occur when you need an additional hero to help command a large map, but you’ve already eaten up all the resources in your area. Thus it may be difficult to get them to a high level without journeying far away from the protection of your castles.

Because the series is turn-based, the developers initiated a “fog of war” to the map that forced you to more cautiously navigate new areas. This is common in most games of this type, even real-time strategy games. A few castles, and even some heroes, will be able to re-establish this fog of war the following turn, even after you’ve been through it already. This is where thinking ahead and strategy come into play. Take one too many steps in one direction and just beyond that fog of war could be an enemy waiting for you. If your turn is up and you have no movement points left, be lucky to be able to retreat after the battle begins if you become overpowered.

There is a multiplayer option, but be warned on playing on too large of a map. As with many turn-based strategy games, a complete game on a large map with the goal of destroying all your enemies completely can take literally days to accomplish. Thankfully, if you’re in for such a long and drawn-out battle, the game has a multiplayer save option that you can continually go back to for future gameplay sessions. Take caution though that anyone you play with can easily load his or her own save of the game later on, without a multiplayer connection established, and take a “peak” at what you’re doing.

GRAPHICS, SOUND, INTERFACE

Until Heroes V came along and completely changed just about every element of the game from the graphics, sound, and viewing perspective itself, the previous games sported simple interfaces that gave you statistics on just about anything you need in one or two mouse clicks. It is simple to adjust any settings you need and to view what armies and land are under your control. Don’t expect much customization though, even with unique mod-packs such as Wake of Gods for Heroes III. Heroes V will give you more control over settings, but even in such a modern game it still keeps it conservative.

Graphic details are really good in most of the series games, although it is clear that improvements were significant after Heroes IV and particularly Heroes V were introduced. Before then you were stuck with a 2D interface that was relatively static. Was this a problem for immersion? Absolutely not! Considering the overall content detail that the maps sported in these earlier games, you were sucked into the gameplay in such a way that you didn’t mind the abysmal frame rate of the tree motion or the simple hero motion as you moved them across the map. For the era that each game in the series was introduced in, the developers did quite well in introducing unique graphic styles.

WRAPPING UP

I keep coming back to the HoMM not for its uniqueness, but because it provides a level of replayability that I have found lacking in many other games. Even so, I wish the game had better multiplayer options that provided fun gameplay on a scale of an hour or two instead of a day or two.

PROS:

- As yet unchallenged unique gameplay experience
- Expansive maps that are extremely detailed
- Plenty of heroes and castle types to keep your interest
- Replayability through random map generator
- Simple and effective interface

CONS:

- Series is “aged”, so don’t expect any updates if you encounter problems
- The latest game, Heroes V, deviates too much from the classic design
- Interface settings and adjustments are limited
- As with many turn-based games, the multiplayer fun factor is limited
- Game copy protection on discs may prove a problem on completely valid discs, especially with Heroes V.
- Limited to the PC for many of the sequels, sorry MAC users

FINAL OVERALL RATING

9/10

Asian vs. Western online game industries

2008-05-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

TWO COMMUNITIES, ONE GAME

I had a recent discussion with an Asian game developer about the differences between game industries in various parts of the world, specifically related to Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs). With such an important topic put on the table I thought I’d expand upon our initial discussion and lay out my views on what I’ve seen in the industry between the Asian and Western markets. While I have only been in Asia for a year (so far), I have managed to see some interesting differences as well as similarities.

At first glance many of you might conclude that since World of Warcraft is a world-wide phenomenon game industries are more similar than different. In some cases this is true, especially when it comes to the technical components of a game. Where the industries differ most is in their communities, how group members form relationships with each other, as well as how they view the games they play. Gameplay itself often has many unique qualities between the two markets.

Both industries are strong and growing at ever astonishing paces, especially the Asian market through their vast array of MMOGs. With Western games like World of Warcraft, we begin to see these two communities merge together as one. To better understand these differences let’s explore where they began as one, the key differences that make them unique, and touch upon what makes them ultimately a community of “one”.

GAME DESIGN

Game studios in most parts of Asia, even the Korean market, are relatively new compared to Western and Japanese markets. One of the interesting trends I’ve noticed in not only games but in other entertainment products is the world-wide imitation of what the west already has to offer, mainly due to its maturity and past successes. Even the Western industry itself continually recycles its own works between development studios. I think this is a good thing overall, as long as there is fresh innovation to back up what was originally used.

However, often enough you will find Asian games that are extremely unique in their gameplay, such as Lineage from NCSoft or Conquer Online from TQ Digital. Western games often involve a rich storyline, a variety of objectives, with often hours involved in completing objectives in order to obtain an item that will directly impact your character’s progress. In the Asian market the pace is a lot quicker. Most games will reward you soon or immediately after accomplishing a simple task. Items are often reused and upgraded in various ways throughout your character’s progression. Unfortunately, this sometimes results in a more static game between the various levels, with little differences from beginners to elite characters.

This is not to say that Asian games are without their worth in advancing your character's abilities. High level rewards are certainly available, and to help compensate for the weaker story-lines and more detailed objectives, you will find many interesting features in Asian MMOGs, such as more sociable elements as marriage and bounty systems. Be cautious though when picking up a copy of an Asian game, as you may find more "feminine" attributes than most Western MMOGs contain. This is partly due to the increase in Asian females playing MMOGs, as well as their basic cultural qualities.

Where both worlds meet is at the intersection of graphics, the visual component of gameplay. For any game market you will find dull and boring games that have amazing graphics that run perfectly well on two year old game systems, while at the same time you will find content rich games that keep you entertained for hours on end, but provide a limited graphic experience that still seems to slow down your system no matter what components you upgrade.

This seemingly chaotic and unpredictable environment is not the fault of the games or the components in your system, but instead of the programmers, artists, and other team members that build the games. Programmers must provide the tools and abilities the designers use to place objects the artists help to create. Sometimes the art will look more realistic but the lighting, shadow effects, and shaders that programmers add into the game engine are three years out-of-date. Often times the programmers are pure geniuses in adding all sorts of features into the game engine; unfortunately the artists and designers are inexperienced and ruin any potential to exploit those features. You have these strong and weak designers in both the Asian and Western studios.

COMMUNITY

Perhaps one of the more surprising assets the Asian game industry has is its community. Westerners reading this might object to my statement because they value their seemingly rich guild societies and intensive forum posting contributions. Asians on the outside are much more introverted than westerners are, but when it comes to communicating in a virtual environment you will find that they open themselves up to each other in ways I have never seen in any western community. They stick much closer to the friends and community members they know, ultimately building stronger bonds in the process than westerners can because westerners tend to migrate from one guild to another and from one game to another.

I mentioned the difference in game design earlier and how western MMOGs tend to offer a more detailed and diverse gameplay experience. This isn’t to say that all Asian games are simple grind fests, but many tend to focus on this repetitive aspect of gameplay more than I would personally care to see in an MMOG. However, one of the reasons I think that there is more of a sense of community around these Asian games is because of this simpler gameplay style. The game forces the user to establish bonds with other users in order to make it a more fulfilling experience. While this may seem counter-intuitive to Western MMOG design theories, Asian players enjoy this simple experience and the stronger bonds they develop with their fellow players.

What are the demographics of these Asian players anyway? In walking through some of the developer’s studios in Shanghai a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see a significant portion of the team consisting of females, whereas in the western industry you will sometimes find it difficult to find even a single female amongst a team of twenty or more developers. This also holds true to the communities that play the games, where Asian females are in a much higher percentage, and even in some cases more than fifty percent of a game’s population, than those in western markets. There is also a larger percentage of younger players in the Asian market, partly due to the markets infancy.

MARKETING

Game companies in Asian will tend to market the contents of a game rather than the actual gameplay itself. For example, Lineage II is often displayed with features that highlight the weapons, armor, crafting, and housing components. These are material based systems, not ones that westerners tend to focus on, such as describing the combat system, how transportation works, level and skill potential, and how magic and other effects are exciting to use. These two differences are beginning to merge together with international games like World of Warcraft.

Susan Choe and Nick Foster of “Outspark” secured $11 million in USD funding to develop MMOGs currently based in Asian find a successful place in the Western market. One of their main focuses is looking for games that everyone can play, not just the hard-core groups. They also recognize that the developers themselves must also be open to the Asian/Western relationship and the market potential. MMOGs are not static like many games, so there must remain a continual relationship between all parties for the development and localization of the games, if they are to be successful.

The most difficult challenges in creating a world market of games and establishing a firm localization foundation is understanding not just the player attitudes in various regions, but also in understanding the technological, economical, and sociological limits that those regions are constrained by. For example, China is still a developing country and most of its citizens cannot afford a pay-per-month subscription fee, or the latest computers to run games like Age of Conan, a DirectX 10 capable game.

One of the unique ways that the Asian game industry has adjusted to the limitations of system requirements is not to develop graphic intensive 3D environments, but to keep them in a 2D based environment. This keeps system requirements in check, as well as providing unique and interesting styles of gameplay that would otherwise be impractical in a 3D world. You only need to play games like Conquer Online to understand the differences, and is just one component among many that need to be adjusted if localization efforts are to be successful.

A FUTURE OUTLOOK

Both of these game industries have a lot to learn from each other, as they both have numerous benefits and drawbacks. Western industries could learn to better integrate their community tools and services more directly into their games, as well as exploring ways to make grinding less of a burden on the single individual by incorporating more group style solutions. Asian companies will learn that storyline and more in-depth gameplay contents for all character levels can make an intriguing and long-term gameplay experience that will keep the player interested even after they reach the maximum level for their characters.

One thing is for certain, and that is the game market is going global at an ever faster pace. We will continue to see Asian games marketed in Western countries, and Western games marketed in Asian countries (and elsewhere). This means for the foreseeable future we will need more knowledgeable industry members to understand and work with the publishers, developers, and communities to make the games as successful as games like World of Warcraft have managed to become.

Monkey see, monkey do

2008-05-07T01:10:00.000-07:00

If you and three of your college buddies saw people jumping off a steep cliff (without any protective elements) and you walked up and an apparent leader to the suicidal group said to you, "Jump off that cliff over there and I will pay you $5 million USD", and your friends encouraged you to do so without providing any evidence of a safe landing, would you do it? Of course not... I hope.

Some people, however, will do some strange things in the face of obvious facts contradicting what should be done, or outright do something regardless of their actual consciousness telling them to do otherwise. Why do we do things we shouldn't? Below is a link to a fascinating article on five psychological experiments to test out this conundrum among humans.

In studying these experiments we might be able to understand a little bit better about how to program AI in games and to make NPCs and other intelligence-based interactive features feel more "real", instead of predictable responses they often turn out to be.

http://www.cracked.com/article_16239_5-psychological-experiments-that-prove-humanity-doomed.html

After reading the article it became more clear why there are "Hitlers" as well as "Napoleons" in the world. As a species humans want to feel accepted amongst each other, avoid feeling vulnerable, embarrassed or weak, and thus will sometimes do anything to satisfy these natural feelings. Even if that means avoiding or outright refusing to accept facts that are right in front of you that contradict your instincts.

Are we really doomed as a species as the article's title suggests? I only see our "doom" when the world falls apart for one reason or another. Unfortunately, it will. All good things must come to an end sooner or later, and thus all the dark elements of our species will come out of what's left of civilization. Those sane enough to control themselves will see the ugly side of humanity, as well as the good (let us not forget that bad things can also bring about the best in some of us as well).

Even though I joke about "Apocalyptic" scenarios amongst friends often, I personally hope to never see that dark day. Things may seem "bad" now, but if one takes a brief look into history, we live in a golden age. So get out there and play those games and forget about this article I told you to read as it simply is too depressing on its implications. Fifty bucks says you read it anyway...

GTA IV: Violence in video games

2008-05-03T01:54:00.000-07:00

"Can't we all just get along?" Rodney Glen King said during the 1992 Los Angeles racial riots that sparked a lot of controversy over violent crimes and how best to deal with problems of the time that clearly involved more than just simple "cause and effect" sources.

What is it that makes us lash out, panic, or simply go "nuts"? Survival instincts are usually one the suggested causes. Encoded in our DNA are automatic functions built up from millions of years of evolution, where "survival of the fittest" is a requirement of existence. When we are faced with an imminent threat we will do what is required to mitigate that threat, regardless of the morale implications of that mitigation. In this case I'm talking about "self-defense" actions, not pre-determinant actions like rape or murder.

Sometimes these emotionally based decisions do boil down to simply going "nuts", or more properly termed as having a serious chemical imbalance episode in the brain. In this case it may still be about self-defense, but it may be much more than that.

Excluding possible self-defense situations, does committing a crime due to some element in a game making it "appear" OK or "right", with the defense stating "Grand Theft Auto made me do it!", make it so? Of course not, yet here we are with news articles such as the one below that proclaim someone in the game made them commit a crime, or some mysterious voice inside their heads shouted out "do it", an apparent reflection from some element within the game they played just the night before the crime was committed.

http://gamepolitics.com/2008/02/28/video-games-made-me-do-it-defense-in-alabama-murder-trial/

Nonsense, hogwash, balderdash, hooey, poppycock, tommyrot, humbuggery, bullshit... (who comes up with these words anyway?). Everyone with an EI (Emotional Intelligence) factor of higher than 60, regardless of all but the most extreme brain problems, has a mind capable of overcoming his or hers emotional instincts, with the potential exceptions that may force us into a self-defense decision faster than our rational minds have time to properly analyze (i.e. "instinctive reactions").

I do not ever see a reason for someone going out and killing another person, robbing someone at gun-point, or running over someone on a bike with a car at high speed (which will almost certainly happen to me here in China before I get a chance to leave) like you can in GTA. Unfortunately, it does happen in this sometimes cruel world. Even so, everyone should understand that this world is separate from worlds like GTA, even if our unconscious minds sometimes want to blur that line.

What we should be asking ourselves is why are we creating games with such violent potential built within them? Every single game is violent in one respect or another, as competition is by nature a violent element (whether its physical or psychological). Games like GTA, however, seem to go above and beyond the call of appeasing to our violent tendencies. It is apparently true that games ebb our real-world violent tendencies, as a recent study suggests below, but is there a valid point in promoting such an extreme level as you find in GTA?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/techdigest/20080404/ttc-need-to-relax-try-playing-a-violent-e870a33.html

Games as a whole are positive entertainment sources, and acting on violent impulses within games can also be positive. But so blatantly promoting murder, theft, and all sorts of other crimes in an almost purely crime focused game, whether this ultimately ebbs or inflates our violent real-world tendencies, is a concern that I am still trying to weight.

LCD Display Performance: Input Lag, Response Time, Latency

2008-04-30T00:18:00.000-07:00

Want to know a little more about what you might be purchasing when in the market for a new computer monitor? I've written up a quick blurb here of some of the performance problems that have plagued monitors in the past, and what to watch out for when you are purchasing a monitor either for graphics work, gameplay, or general use purposes.

I will mention quite often "panel" references, because quite frankly of the dozens of monitors available today there are in fact only about four major manufacturers of the actual screen itself. It is like the dozens of video card manufacturers that buy the core processing chips and reference board designs from two key companies; ATI and Nvidia.

Here are some initial keynote differences between "Input Lag", "Response Time", and "Latency" for the performance of monitors and other LCD displays:

INPUT LAG

"Input lag is a phenomenon associated with some types of LCD displays, and nearly all types of HDTVs, that refers to latency, or lag measured by the difference between the time a signal is input into a display and the time it is shown by the display.

This lag time has been measured as high as 68ms, or the equivalent of 3-4 frames on a 60 Hz display. Currently, the only TFT panels known to have this phenomenon are so-called overdrive panels. These include S-PVA, S-MVA, and Overdrive-TN panels. S-PVA have been observed to suffer from greater input lag than P-MVA panels, while IPS, S-IPS and AS-IPS panels are not or only minimally affected."

RESPONSE TIME

"Response time is the amount of time a pixel in an LCD monitor takes to go from black to white and back to black again. It is measured in milliseconds (ms). Lower numbers mean faster transitions and therefore fewer visible image artifacts."

LATENCY

"LCD screens with a high response time value often do not give satisfactory experience when viewing fast moving images (They often leave streaks or blur; called Ghosting).

But an LCD screen with high response time AND significant input lag is unsuitable for playing fast paced computer games or performing fast high accuracy operations on the screen (e.g. CAD design) due to the mouse lagging behind. Manufacturers only state the response time of their displays and do not inform customers of the input lag value."

Both of these factors together are often referred to as "Latency".

Until recently these problems were extremely apparent, especially in your typical desktop LCD. They would suffer from either a larger Response Time or a higher Input Lag (but often not both as discussed below).

TODAY'S PANELS

The negative about many of today's panels is the trend towards more complex inputs that requires increased complexity in a panel's circuitry. This is where higher input lag is still apparent in several PVA/MVA panels (which are considered a mid-range performance product) when monitors introduce technologies like DisplayPort.

In positive contrast, most of these panels today have response times well within the acceptable levels of human vision (4ms and below is indiscernible due to the limits of the human eye's nerve impulse speed to the visual cortex).

This is especially true of "TN (Twisted Nematic) panels that offer lower quality overall, more basic "features" such as stand height/swivel adjustments, but at a lower price range as well. Their major advantage beyond price is 5, 4, or even 2ms response times (gray-to-gray).

What I've noticed in the industry recently is a shift towards these "cheaper quality" panels to help continue bringing down the price for the average panel in a series. Unfortunately, manufacturers are thus reducing or even eliminating PVA/MVA, and in some cases the higher-end S-IPS displays from lines that once were prominent mainstream products.

I've also heard about some real quality control issues in the industry recently, some panels that have potential but the monitor manufacturers alter them too much and ruin the overall display. Color banding, back-light non-uniformity, color "stains", poor OCD controls, and even monitors are there physically tilted when placed on a flat desk are just some of the reported problems.

Sometimes I think people like to whine, while sometimes these are truly common problems that are to be of a concern when purchasing a monitor in question. On the flip-side I've also seen some great monitors (if you're willing to pay the price, especially for S-IPS panels).

Those desktop LCDs to watch for extremely high Input Lag are currently the Dell 2408WFP (Rev. A01 just came out which may help) and Samsung 245T (same panel).

Those to watch for TN technology but may not necessarily state TN are monitors that have a lower viewing angle of either 160 or 170 degrees. Those that are 176 "full" viewing angle displays are either PVA/MVA/S-IPS. Reported response times of 2, 4, or 5 can also be indicators of TN technology use.

OUR PERCEPTIONS

I think a lot of this is "subjective" though, as the main monitor I am currently using is a SyncMaster 205BW, and while it is a TN display it really doesn't bother me. Yes, I can notice the common TN issues if I look for them, and a potential lack in color depth compared to my Dell laptop's display, but otherwise it isn't that big of a deal. Your experiences may also differ depending on its use (PC vs. Console, TV vs. Desktop, etc.).

On another personal note I do recall experiencing poor "Input Lag" on my old wireless mice. That was extremely annoying even when I was running typical desktop applications. While I couldn't see the actual lag, I could "feel it", so I know the effect is there in certain cases with these monitors.

What monitors, both for PC and console system uses, do you have and what are you happy or not happy about them? This summer I need at least one good 24" monitor (in the $400-700 price range preferably) and I don't want a high input lag lemon or a risky proposition off of eBay.

My favorite unique games of all time: Part 2 (Console)

2008-04-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

I wrote a few weeks ago about all of my favorite PC game series and which game I thought stood above them all in uniqueness and originality. Today I'm going to list those series and unique console games that I think truly stood out amongst the console scene, and had a special place in my collection.

While there were barely enough "unique" PC games to select, I found it almost as difficult to select ten from the entire console platform's library of games. This is perhaps only an admission that my console experience is "limited", so feel free to add in your own favorites here:

1) Dragon Warrior Series (NES)

2) Final Fantasy Series (Multiple)

3) Mario Series (NES/SNES)

4) Zelda Series (NES/SNES)

5) Metroid Series (Multiple)

6) Starfox Series (Multiple)

7) Shadowrun (SNES)

8) Pitfall (Atari 2600)

9) Donkey Kong Series (Multiple)

10) Star Wars Series (Multiple)

Interesting that ALL of these are from console systems over five years old. What does that say about my perception of current console games? Don't assume I think they are all "crap", but I have a hard time finding any recent games or genres that deserve a "Top 10" spot on this list. Being chosen for my top ten list is a true privilege :).

Petroleum, the blood of modern civilization

2008-04-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

Since the mid-nineteenth century mankind has traveled the world in search of "black gold", as Texans used to call oil. There is no other source in existence that currently satiates our thirst for energy than the black crude sludge that is extracted from the ground in millions of barrels a day. Petroleum products are used primarily for energy production, but are found in everything from plastic baby bottles to computer hardware.

One could consider petroleum the first energy rung on the advanced technological ladder, right above the basic rungs such as wind, fire, water, and in combination, steam energy (Advanced windmills and hydroelectric damns are exactly that, advanced, so they do not count). Some analysts suggest petroleum is the key precursor to modern technological civilization, as we would never have evolved beyond the 19th century without this miracle fuel source. An economic system naturally demands cheaper and simpler solutions first. Petroleum is cheap to extract (until recently) and its energy density and safe storage potential is vastly more efficient than other technologies that require a lot more sophistication to produce and manage.

Unfortunately, petroleum is the byproduct of millions of years of cellular decomposition, and is thus defined as a finite, non-renewable energy source. While it has taken millions of years to build up this most important reserve, it has taken modern civilization just two hundred years to tear it down. It can be analogous to taking years to build a building, while only seconds to destroy it. So we must beg the question, "how much petroleum is left in the ground to extract?".

This is where estimates vary wildly. One must remember that what is left is not completely what is going to be used. Does it make sense to pay 1.2 barrels worth of petroleum to extract just one? Of course not. There will always be "leftover" reserves in the deepest bowels of the earth that are considered "unrecoverable reserves". Current estimates project we are approaching or have already approached a "peak" of production. You need only look at the current state of affairs with world petroleum prices to understand a problem is occurring in the energy industry.

Most estimates place the world petroleum depletion mark sometime in the early to middle of this century. That is not a lot of time when considering the daunting challenges of switching over a two hundred year old infrastructure to more diverse, renewable options. If we don't switch over in time, it's quite literally back to the stone age, and with this rung of the technological ladder depleted, we may not be able to climb back up again.

Fortunately, there is a bright side to our current bleak energy future, and it's a darn good one when you consider the location on the planet (for Americans anyway). Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming have what could be considered the largest petroleum reserve on the planet in the forum of oil shale. Canada has the second largest reserve in the forum of tar sands, and the US also has what could be considered the fourth - all that bituminous coal in the Appalachians and Midwest.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/30/magazines/fortune/Oil_from_stone.fortune/

All of these key petroleum reserves hold billions more barrels of petroleum than Saudi Arabia's total reserves (the current largest conventional reserves in the world). The previous problems with these unconventional reserves have been in the extraction and refining (as well as environmental) cost factors that have previously driven away its exploitation. With a barrel of petroleum well over the $100 USD mark today, companies are turning their eyes back to these more complicated solutions.

Let us hope they take advantage of them fast enough. If not, it's back to paper and pen D&D instead of World of Warcraft.

Storm of the century

2008-04-21T01:01:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I decided to attend a Jewish dinner put on by one of my Jewish teaching buddies. There was a catch, however (isn't there always?). The dinner was on a night when a storm was supposed to be coming in. Not just any old storm either, but the first major Typhoon of the season. That night the center of the storm was supposed to land right on top of the city. Wind and rain throughout the day was already quite scary at the time, but me being new to coastal storms, I had no idea what I was about to get into.

Nonetheless, I simply couldn't pass up a Jewish dinner (and I didn't have anything else to do anyway), so I found my umbrella and braved the storm with the best of them (and all their umbrellas). Fortune was on my side, at least in the beginning. The bus came immediately upon my walking up to the bus stop, ran through mostly green lights on the way to the subway, where once again the subway train pulled up just as I was walking to the deck. I got on and was whisked away to the far side of town (Nanshan district). After that it was another quick bus ride to the outskirts of Bao'an District.

This is where things started to get "questionable". Perhaps my "fortune" was destiny skipping all the boring parts and ensuring I couldn't turn back before the "fun" began.

At first I was a bit confused as to whether I should turn left or right after getting off the bus. The directions weren't very specific, as either way had a walkway and similar markers as indicated on the map I drew out. I decided to go left (which was of course the wrong way). After the rain started to come down in heavier and heavier sheets, I called my friend to identify my location. Fortunately, it turned out that I somehow managed to make a semi-circle, so I wasn't that lost after all! Unfortunately, several mean and nasty puddles (more like lakes) of water had formed just about everywhere throughout the area at this point.

This is where things went from "questionable" to "ugly".

The shoes I was wearing where cheap $10 shoes that I had bought at a place called "Dongmen". This is seriously the last time I ever buy anything from there. You bargain for the cheapest price because everyone is selling the same stuff, and it's all crap that deserves the lowest price one is able to sell it for (serves me right, I suppose). As soon as I stepped through one puddle my shoes were completely saturated. It would explain why my feet were near the frost bite stage when I had traveled to Japan... the shoe's insulation simply sucks.

I arrived at my destination a short while later, soaked, and settled down to wait for the others in our group to arrive. Due to the whether there ended up only being about eight of us (which was good because any more would have been too crowded anyway).

Fast forwarding a bit, I have to say the meal was quite enjoyable. Not only did we have Jewish style foods, but we went through a complete ritual before and after the meal. I actually learned a few things about the Jews, the bible, and our civilization's history in general. Who can usually say that when they sit down at the dinner table? I walked away with a smile on my face, and a soar on my right foot.

This is where things went from "ugly" to "disastrous", fast.

Upon leaving the restaurant we were greeted with rain that came at us sideways, extremely heavy winds that turned our umbrellas inside-out, and deeper puddles of water that converged to form one massive lake down every street we attempted to cross. Finding a bus was next to impossible as the highways were also flooded. We observed one such apocalyptic scenario as we took an overpass over the main highway. Cars were stalled haphazardly along the guard rails with water up to their windshields.

Eventually we discovered a secret little alcove where nearby stores weren't flooded, and waited impatiently for a taxi (or anyone or anything that could get us home). After about an hour a taxi showed up and bargained (at double the price) to take five of us (I had to jam down by everyone's feet due to the security checkpoints and the four-person taxi limit) to our homes. After another hour I arrived at my home, soaked to the bone, with destroyed shoes, and an umbrella that now made an excellent tester for how deep the pools of water were along the roadside.

I still need to pay my share for that taxi ride too...

Berek's PC Hardware Guide: Part 1 (Desktop Purchasing Essentials)

2008-04-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

The past few months I have studied extensively the computer hardware industry and all the upcoming products through 2008 and into 2009. Ok, I admit it, I always study the computer hardware industry, but particularly now so that I am considering a large purchase of components for my desktop systems this summer.

One of the things you should to consider when upgrading your computer, or building a new one, is what you really need the computer for. Will it be there as as simple web interface with occasional word and PowerPoint usage? Will it be running 24/7 as a server or some graphics processing workstation? Or will it travel to frequent LAN parties where intensive Unreal Tournament 3 style gaming will be played?

The decision really whittles down to "do I need an economy family car, a semi to haul products across the country, or a NASCAR Indy speedster to get from point A to point B before one can say "p0wn3d""?. If you play games or do design work you will want more in the way of graphics horsepower, while servers could care less what graphics you put into your system. The same considerations go for those looking to simply browse the web and check their e-mail on occasion.

The following are the key components you will need when building or purchasing a system on these three basic levels. These are my recommendations based upon price vs. performance. I did not focus exclusively on power saving capabilities, weight and space considerations, and did not keep the budget to an ultimate low, nor too high. Those options I will go into detail in a later article. These components are literally the best bang for your buck, if you are willing to shell out just a little more cash than the bottom-bin "stuff". There are plenty of other options, but you will certainly be satisfied with focusing on the following:

Computer Games (UT3 style, not games like "Checkers")

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn E8400
Memory: 4GB of DDR2 800Mhz CAS 5
Video: Nvidia 8800 GTX 768MB

Server-intensive/Graphics Applications

CPU: Intel Quad-Core Q6600, or Q9450 (for power-usage conscious buyers)
Memory: 8GB of DDR2 800Mhz CAS 5
Video: Nvidia 8800 GT 512MB

Browsing The Web

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn E8200
Memory: 4GB of DDR2 800Mhz CAS 5 (I would almost state 2GB, but memory is CHEAP, so just get the 4GB and be done with it.)
Video: Nvidia 8600 GT 256MB

Do you notice anything interesting about the combined list? There are two things to note. First, I only listed three different components, because quite frankly the rest do not matter nearly as much as these three. Second, YOU DO NOT NEED THE LATEST AND GREATEST! That's right. Take a look at the following table by Tom's Hardware for an interesting review of whether or not DDR3 memory is worth upgrading to:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/04/09/toms_ultimate_ram_speed_tests/

With games the graphics processor (GPU) is the key component above and beyond anything else. Once your CPU tops 3GHZ (and is a duo core configuration) it doesn't need to be the latest "Extreme" processor. You also do not need DDR3 at all right now, or even the fastest DDR2. Hard drives are all slow in general, so pick the best bang for the buck that you can. And finally, graphics cards today, as long as they aren't bottom of the bin bargain deals, will run most games sufficiently as long as you aren't an ultra hard-core gamer that seeks a minimum of 30 FPS in Crysis.

Last, but surely not least, a few things to keep in mind:

1) Ensure the hard drive is at least a 7200RPM speed, NOT a 5400RPM.
2) The motherboard should have a good rating, as bad motherboards can cause all sorts of problems.
3) Having a good power supply will ensure system stability. Get at least a 400watt, but don't waste your money on 800+!
4) A good sized Mid-Tower or Full-Tower case with large (120mm) fans will ensure a nice cool and quiet running system.
5) Get that 24" monitor! While monitor sizes and quality are pure preference, I have found the Dell 2408WFP is the sweet spot for gamers and designers alike. If you're seriously budget constrained, go with the Dell E248WFP, as it is the lower quality version (has significantly less color accuracy, so do NOT buy it for graphics work!).

Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Berek's PC Hardware Guide", Laptop Purchasing Essentials!

My past, present, and future

2008-04-11T01:12:00.000-07:00

How many can say that almost their entire life has been filled with happiness, treasured moments, and experiences that forever change the way they view the world? I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I suspect very few. One of the things that I think makes us happy is actually doing what we most want to do, accomplish, or experience. Having determination and commitment along with that simple want is an important start. It can also end up being simple luck or our bodies being in harmony with the world.

THE PAST

For most of my life I was happy, or at the very least content. I had a great group of friends at home that joined together at least every weekend. We'd play computer games, go out to movies, or just have simple dinners. Then there were the summer vacations, such as camping with the family, dipping my feet in my uncle's swimming pool, or relaxing in the backyard all afternoon. Winter too provided interesting experiences with the friends or family, my favorite being a good skiing session on the slopes of Nordic Mountain.

I have had a great family and friends that I would never trade for anything. There are always bumps on the road, but only once have I experienced a situation so severe that I questioned my own life and what I was meant to live for. That was when I realized that life, living, and experiencing happiness are all in the power of yourself. Not some magic force or mark of destiny you hope will come along one day and whisk you away to that magic place.

I had to understand what I wanted and do my best in achieving it. I took it upon myself at the turn of the century (sounds profound, yet it was just sheer coincidence in timing) to complete another college degree, this time a full Bachelor's. Then I set about focusing more on the industry I wanted to be a part of (game development), and one year ago embarked on an adventure that I would soon never forget.

As all of this was happening I still wasn't entirely sure I knew what I wanted. At the time I felt I had no other options, so I set about doing what was most evident to my future, even if I wasn't sure if that would be positive or detrimental to my life. Sometimes you just have to take the chance, as there is no way to be entirely certain. It took a lot of guts, a lot of hard work, and a lot of risk. But in the end it paid off for myself, and here is why.

THE PRESENT

One year ago, to this day, I began discovering alternatives to the rather mundane jobs I was working in Wisconsin. I checked out the local game industry (quite promising), game industry alternatives farther away, and then took another look even farther and discovered Asia. "Hmm, Asia... what's over there?" I said to myself. We all have perceptions of other places, but not until we go to those places can we truly understand their position in the world. I also wasn't sure what to do once I got there, if I could even get there in the first place!

Fortunately, I discovered a teaching program that apparently set everything up for you. All you had to do was pay a program fee, meet at a location with other program members on a certain date, and you were ready to go. My first thought was, "This is either too good to be true or I'm in for an experience I may not soon forget", and the latter part wasn't too positive at the time. I couldn't have been more wrong about my assumptions of the program, nor of China and Asia.

The program has been everything and more that it has advertised. I came directly to China with new-found friends, trained with them in exotic places such as Weifang and Beijing, and explored half of eastern Asia with them as well. Even though we somewhat split up in Shenzhen, China into our respective schools after our training was complete, we still see each other on a regular basis. In fact, tonight is pizza night for our group!

I have seen so much in Asia that it has forever changed my perceptions of the far east, as well as given me more world/life experiences than I ever thought it would. What were those perceptions and learning experiences before and after? Alas, another bullet-point list for you for easy comparison! Keep in mind I come from the United States, so my opinions and perceptions are exclusive to the U.S. and those countries I have visited:

1) Asia's technological infrastructure in developing countries (especially China)

Before: Backwards, primitive, sparsely connected, early stages of technological development, basic needs only, very few "luxury" elements.

After: Forward-thinking, carefully designed cities, extremely interconnected cities, moderate technological development, resources and "luxury" items are almost as available as in the states. Schools are pushing students strongly in scientific knowledge as well, which will almost certainly lead to a very strong future in the ability to continue building their society. They have a long ways to go in this however, as many things are "cheap" and underdeveloped.

2) Asia's culture and population in developing countries (especially China)

Before: Tons of culture, cities with more "traditional" architecture, an extremely dense population in all areas, a simple and more primitive people that are just beginning to understand the technological world and themselves.

After: Not as much culture in the major city areas, but as you get out a little more can be found (this is one of those things that is moving "backwards"... a natural determinant to any technologically developing society), the density of the population was just as I had imagined, but the way people act is quite a bit different.

While I suspected people were more simple, and in some ways they are, they copy and do many things that are considered "foreign-like", while still keeping with primitive traditions such as spitting on the street or walking in random directions across the road when cars are coming straight towards them (they do this prominently in China at least). The traditional way of life and the technological way of life are clearly clashing here.

3) Developed countries technology, culture, and population

Before: As advanced, or in Japan's case even more advanced than the United States technologically, while the population in terms of social elements was still developing in all countries, except again for perhaps Japan.

After: While I have found only Japan to be significantly advanced compared to the United States, in ALL Asian countries I've visited I have found that the culture and the integration of that culture with advanced technology and high-standards of living has a long ways to go yet, even in developed countries.

There are no houses in most of Asia, and many conveniences that you would find in the United States simply do not exist here. Yes, there are McDonalds, Disneylands, and some Wal-marts, but the banking systems, insurance systems, as well as some of the "freedom" based elements we enjoy in the United States are still developing in most of these countries.

4) What I have learned

The world is a place that needs to be experienced if you are to truly understand it. I had so many misconceptions and interpretations about Asia before coming here that are completely untrue. It really worries me what others' perceptions are about the world. I am someone to read the news on a daily basis and to try and understand the world, yet so many perceptions were still wrong.

Teaching is also much more demanding than I thought it would be. To understand a classroom of kids when you speak their language is one thing, but to try and teach and control them when your only tools are a piece of chalk and physical descriptions, is an entirely new ball game. However, I have successfully done it and came away with a new-found confidence in not only teaching a group of students, being able to coordinate projects and develop creative lesson plans for the school, and be able to speak with confidence in front of large audiences.

International travel has also been something I've come to understand. Before coming to Asia I had little to no experience with a passport, visa, and how airports and connecting flights worked. Again, it's one thing to travel within ones country and obtain help via your own language, but quite another when you are visiting a foreign airport in a country that requires a visa and their kind of money upon your arrival. Both of which I did not have on my adventures in Cambodia. I was so close to being deported, but fortunately ill-prepared foreigners such as myself are commonplace, so they had a solution for me.

THE FUTURE

What will I do after this year is complete and I am ready to return home for the summer? I do not know, just yet. My true goals and dreams are in the heart of the game industry, so that is the ultimate destination for myself. However, I am still young at (almost) 28, so I have time to continue teaching if I wish, stay at home to focus on various game industry projects, move to Europe and better understand the game industry there, or a combination of these in some form.

There are options, and that is what I hope to project to those that are interested in doing what I have done, or are simply looking for another adventure in their life. Options, there are always options, so find a life-long focus, figure out what goals will take you there, then take the risk and go for those goals, and in the end I think that you will reach that ultimate focus. While I am not there yet myself, and may never be, coming to Asia has made me realize that it is possible, and that I am fortunate enough I think to be able to make it happen.

The major cities of Asia: Part 1 (Eastern Asia)

2008-04-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

I labeled this blog as "Part 1" because I have not obviously been to all of the major cities within Asia, but I can say at this point I have been to most of those you may have heard about. India, South Korea, and most of the mid-east countries are yet unexplored... some for good reason. Thus my inclusion of the word "Eastern" for clarity.

In exploring half the countries in Asia I've discovered quite a few similarities and differences between them, the people that inhabit them, and likely future outlooks for each as well. Cities, towns, villages, are all part of a massive network within a system. They act as the central hubs of communication, technology, culture, and just about everything else aside from perhaps food production. Seeing the rest of the "system" is just as important as to how a country stands in the world, but for now I'll be focusing on these major hubs that I've explored.

I am going to highlight the differences and similarities between each city. This list is built in a bullet-point format for your easy perusal, with cities in order of those I have traveled too. Yes, these are my own words, even though they may sound like they came right out of some travel magazine:

1) Weifang (China): Near Beijing, Weifang has plenty of beautiful parks, expansive new streets (that are largely unused), and convenient biking paths through most of the city are what make Weifang unique (and the very obvious nuclear power plant behind the school I taught at).

2) Beijing (China): A vast array of cultural artifacts populate this old-architecture style city, while at the same time being uprooted by new high-rise buildings. If you want the old and the new, come to Beijing.

3) Shenzhen (China): A vibrant, relatively clean, expansive new city on the shores bordering Hong Kong. Due in part to its tremendous growth from a simple fishing village in the mid-70's, this city has yet to develop any of its own culture.

Everything else you expect to find in a big city though is here. The government has done a decent job of trying to add some "theme parks", such as 'Splendid China' and 'Window of the World'. This city has been my main home in Asia since coming here.

4) Hong Kong (China): A beautiful city both during the day and especially at night, this is the city to go to when one seeks the night-life. While during the day it is typically the same as the other cities, the night time contains tons of bars and other happening spots to travel to. Hong Kong also has theme-parks like "Disney Land", but I hear it wasn't that good so I haven't gone to it, yet...

5) Macau: Once a Portuguese settlement, this small island can be completely explored within two days. There are beautiful small streets with plenty of shops to check out, as well as a lot of historical sites to see. If you live near here, its a perfect place to go for a weekend tour.

Don't forget the abundance of casinos as well! While Macau isn't a Las Vegas, they do have quite a few casinos, with some of the big names such as: Wynn, Venetian, Rio, Sands, and at least a dozen others. Bring with Hong Kong dollar for many of these, as the local money is not as popular.

6) Guangzhou (China): Just north of Shenzhen, this city is a pretty typical city... not much I can really say about it other than its just as big as all the others in China.

7) Taipei (Taiwan): If there were any other two polar opposites within Asia (except for say Japan itself), Taipei and the rest of the cities in China would be it.

While China has a lot of social elements that need to be built up yet, Taipei has largely established this already. Lines on escalators, lines to get on a bus, and lines to get on the metro are all very refreshing after spending chaotic moments in Shenzhen everyday.

The technology park and Taipei 101 are the major attractions in Taipei. If you wish to explore more of what Taiwan has to offer, you'll have to head outside of the city limits.

8) Bangkok (Thailand): While the city itself is fairly typical, the temples within the city are some of the most amazing structures I have ever seen. If you are into "designs" and "art", these temples are a must-see. The bar scene and general nightlife can be pretty crazy, to put it mildly.

9) Phuket (Thailand): Beaches are a major theme in Phuket. The tours are also nice, especially the one-day "James Bond" tour around the nearby islands. NO night scene here... it's a resort after all.

10) Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia): Another typical city. Every time I begin to explore a new city I start to realize that they all are really the same, at least those in developed countries. See the "Batu Caves" and the multi-theme park within the city for an adventure. Also, don't forget the Petronas Towers!

Be careful though as I've found Kuala Lumpur to be one of the more dangerous cities in Asia, at least at night in uncertain locations. Most of Asia however this is generally not a problem.

11) Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam): Motorbikes EVERYWHERE! The traffic in this city is absolutely insane. The museums are rather nice to visit, if you aren't killed while trying to get to them. Speaking of which, while I was there on Friday almost no one wore a helmet. That next day on Saturday there apparently was some law passed as almost everyone had a helmet. It was fun to watch that transition play itself out.

12) Phnom Penh & Seam Reap (Cambodia): I put these two cities together because they are really identical in almost all ways. Cambodia is even more of a developing country that Vietnam is, so be careful if you ever visit here. There are a lot of tourist opportunities, such as the beautiful temples in Seam Reap, including Angkor Wat. Be sure to take an airplane when possible! Bus or train rides across the country are NOT fun, although you do get to see some interesting scenery along the way.

13) Tokyo (Japan): A beautiful sprawling city like no other. While it has a lot of characteristics to Shanghai, it is almost more packed then Shanghai. Tons of people going every which way on dozens of subway lines. Speaking of subway lines, be sure to study them before coming here, as they are an absolute maze of confusion. So are all the transportation options throughout Japan.

14) Osaka, Kyoto & Others (Japan): The rest of the cities are much the same, just smaller.

The negative about Japan: a) Everything is super expensive, b) the transporation network is overly complicated, c) trash bins are nowhere to be found, and d) Foreigners can only use Post Office ATMs!

The positive about Japan are: a) The beautiful "countryside", b) Culture everywhere, and c) a high-technology market.

15) Shanghai (China): Much like New York in the USA or Tokyo in Japan, Shanghai is a modern city full of life (25 million people worth). Not quite as busy as the two aforementioned cities, but it still has plenty of just about everything, including an amazing nightlife, museum and cultural locations, and a main hub of the Asian game industry!

One other interesting thing I would like to point out as a major difference between China and Japan specifically is the trash bins and ATMs. In China there are trash bins everywhere, yet no one uses them (instead throwing trash on the ground quite often), while in Japan they are nowhere to be found, yet no trash is ever found on the streets. In China ATMs are everywhere and easily accessible by foreigners, yet things are cheap in China so they are rarely used, while in Japan they are nowhere to be found and everything is so expensive you need to use them constantly.

Which reminds me, I forgot to exchange much of my money from these countries back into Yuan (Chinese currency) or USD... doh. I bet I can't exchange the coinage either, which in total is worth probably fifty or more USD.

That is about it for most of the major cities that I have toured in Asia. I would one day love to visit Seoul (South Korea), some places more in inner China, Mongolia, India, and a few other miscellaneous countries. Those will be reserved for Part 2 :).

My favorite unique games of all time: Part 1 (PC)

2008-03-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

There is only one (PC) game in this universe that I still play without exhaustion, and that is Heroes of Might and Magic III. A game that was developed years ago, has only 2D graphics, a top-down perspective, and is in the Turn-Based Strategy genre. There have been predecessors, and successors, but none compare to the third installment.

Why? Because it is unique, even within its own series. How many games can you truly say are unique from all the others out there on a given platform? Would you be able to even count to 10? Probably... but not much farther. I am stressing the word "unique" in all areas of a game's presentation of content and mechanics.

The Heroes series map layout is like no other game in terms of items being displayed, paths you can take to get from point A to point B, and the display of castles and other buildings. Combat encounters forced you to think about each and every turn in a way that Civilization and other TBS games don't quite match, and it provided a unique experience each and every time. It truly is a unique game, even to this day (or should I say, especially to this day).

Here are those PC games that I find are my top picks for all-time games that are still today, in some significant form, unique:

1) Heroes of Might & Magic Series

2) Worms Series

3) Dungeon Keeper Series

4) Conquest Series

5) Disciples Series

6) Deadlock Series

7) Ultima Online (NOT the single player games)

8) Diablo Series

9) Populous Series

10) Monkey Island Series

I had a hard time coming up with ten, but there they are. Stay tuned for Part 2; console games!

Yet another game delayed or cancelled

2008-03-27T03:53:00.000-07:00

I have seen at least two games get delayed this week; Warhammer Online and Farcry 2. The first is not as much of a surprise, as MMORPGs are often difficult to accurately pin down a release date on a first time basis. Success on these projects are of absolute paramount importance, so delays are common and usually accepted with minimal community fuss. The second was a bit of a disappointment to me, however.

There are three main things in the game industry one must consider when developing a product. Each of these are a part of why projects are often delayed, or canceled altogether:

1) Scope: How large is the game going to be in content and mechanics?

2) Time: How long will the game take to develop based on the scope?

3) Cost: How much money must be invested based on the scope and time?

A project starts easy, "OK guys, we have three years, so this is what we're putting into the game...". Then "feature creep" problems get in the way when designers are allowed to run rampant on "new" ideas, bugs and other issues come up, or a team member suddenly decides to leave. The scope of the project grows out of control, more time is needed to complete it, and then of course more money is required for completion.

Developing a successful product is not just about having a good team, but having a good team leader (a.k.a. the Producer). When it comes down to it though, everyone is at fault on one level or another when a project is delayed or canceled. Completing a project is a difficult endeavor that every team tackles together on a daily basis. Why then are well respected companies still delaying products when they almost certainly know what they are doing?

I don't have the answer to that... I haven't had much experience (yet) with development houses to really understand this question and give a reliable answer (if there is one). Thus, I am leaving the end of my blog open to those that might. Please enlighten me if you are reading this...

Out with the old, in with the new

2008-03-21T01:35:00.000-07:00

A few blog posts ago I talked about my overheating laptop issue. To review, the GPU on my otherwise awesome Dell e1705 (don't forget to add the upgraded 4GB of memory to its awesomeness) is sadly overheating to the point of a complete burnout. If I do not get this fixed in the new couple of months, my hands will go up in flames as the laptop decides right then and there to spontaneously combust.

So, I've decided to balance the price of fixing this laptop with the price of a new system here in China. I've decided... neither. Instead, I went out shopping a few days ago and bought a nice medium sized floor fan that is currently blow a gust of air at its maximum rate alongside the laptop's surface. This has effectively cooled the laptop from an idle temperature of 85c down to an idle temperature of 78-80c. Enough for now... (although intensive games are still a no-go).

The long-term prospects are much more interesting. As long as I can keep this laptop on its last legs, I am quite looking forward to a new system back at home when I return at the end of June. First, I want to briefly mention the problems in China with getting components for a new computer system. Add to that statement a footnote that it is sometimes difficult to get any sort of electronic device to the exact specifications you want.

You see, there is no NewEgg, no Best Buy, no major retail computer stores of any kind that come even close to the aforementioned. You either have a) small outlets that sell misc. items, or b) major electronic "flee markets". The outlets hardly have enough to satisfy building a new system, let alone getting the exact components you want. The flee markets are almost worse. While they have more components, some are outdated and even "used" when sold new. Bargaining is a necessity here to get a decent price as well. Even when you find new components that you want, don't count on a satisfactory customer service support center when something goes wrong.

Back at home I plan to order straight from NewEgg.com. What a wonderful system NewEgg is to the PC enthusiast. If you are a PC enthusiast and can't imagine not being able to effectively shop for specific computer components, just come to China (or most of Asia for that matter). Keep your fingers crossed, hold your breath, and wish that in three months I will have a new system built specifically for my needs.

"What are your needs?" you might ask...

I am glad you asked, because I love talking about them. This summer/fall we will be seeing a new Intel CPU coming out based on the Penryn architecture (if I start to lose you here in a technical way, then just stop while you can...) codenamed "Nehalem". This new architecture, combined with DDR3 memory support, will significantly increase computer program speeds beyond what my current laptop is capable of. A leap in CPU architecture this significant hasn't come out since the Pentium named was branded.

Of course, I am a gamer at heart so I need a good GPU to backup that raw CPU horsepower. This is where the new upcoming Radeon HD 4870x2's come in. I will NEVER pay $600 for a video card, a.k.a. the Nvidia 9800GX2. If the Radeon HD 4870x2's are also too pricey, or disappointing in the performance category, I will settle for a 'Crossfire' configuration of two Nvidia 9600GT's. Throw in a Blu-ray DVD writer, 8GB of DDR3 memory (or DDR2 if DDR3 is still pricey in the summer), couple all that with a few 24" Dell monitors, and I'm set for a fresh fragging experience!

"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - ME

A new market awaits the game industry

2008-03-17T18:11:00.001-07:00

Ever have a moment where you're playing the newest game and realize it just isn't as fun as some of those you used to play half a decade or more ago? I have a lot of those moments. I will be sitting in my room playing Gears of War and realize that it gets boring within the first couple of hours, whereas I used to play Civilization I or Full Throttle for hours on my P75 computer with a basic 15" screen and a small speaker set.

I still go back to those games from time-to-time. The question is, why? Why do we always look back on things in life and say to ourselves, "Those were the good times". Another good example is my current situation in China. This experience has forever changed who I am, and I know a lot has changed. However, I still look back at the "good times" (and they truly were good times) in America when I would spend countless weekends with my LAN friends playing Unreal Tournament, Quake, Total Annihilation, or MMOs like EverQuest. Yet I also know that when I get back home from China it will not be long before I realize China was the "good times", and want to go back. How come we cannot stay in one place for long?

Because humans simply become bored with what is the same. That is why I became bored so quickly with Gears of War, because frankly it is just about the same as every other FPS on the market! Yes, there are some unique points, some good strategy developed into the game, but in the end its really the same. Many older games had more style and thought built into them. Adventure games were all the rage in the 90s, but are practically non-existent today. Even those that do show up from time-to-time are shallow structures of what was once a great genre. Let's bring those old games back in a new and fresh light, without ruining the genre please!

I remember when the movie "Neverending Story III" came out years ago. I was so excited to see the series continue, I happily bought it as soon as it went on store shelves. Upon watching the sequel I never quite looked at the series the same way again. I had developed a bad taste in my mouth from the incredibly horrible remake, that it simply ruined the rest of the series. It took me literally years to watch the originals again with any sort of respect.

That is the problem with many remakes in the game industry today. There are so few that are as good as the originals... so few period. Starcraft 2 is coming out and looks to be promising, but that is being made by Blizzard, one of the few companies that knows a thing or two about game development and success in the market. Hundreds of old games that are long forgotten by past generations, and completely non-existent in the minds of current generations of gamers, are waiting to be remade in a better and bigger way, and sold for a price all over again to those curious.

Allow me to briefly clarify what I mean by a "remake". Some games simply deserve a graphics makeover, while others deserve some tweaks beyond the visuals. My adage is always "don't fix what isn't broken", so as long as developers keep that in mind as well, remakes could be very successful.

The redevelopment of old games could easily progress into an entire new genre of computer games and console games developed over the coming decade. I would call this genre "The Transformers", old games that have been forgotten and are now transformed into new games that are given a new life again on store shelves. A cliche in terms maybe, but a good one I think.

Get to it developers! Find those old games, remake them in a new way, and sell them again to customers looking for fresh and "new" games that set themselves apart from the bland clones we see today.

Staying too long in China

2008-03-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

You Know You've Lived in China Too Long When...

The footprints on the toilet seat are your own.

You stop at the top or bottom of an escalator to plan your day.

You rank the decision making abilities of your staff by how long it takes them to reply “Up To You”.

You get your first case of bronchitis and you have never smoked a cigarette in your life.

You can swear in 3 different dialects.

You are not surprised to wake up in the morning and find that the woman who stayed over last night has completely cleaned your apartment, even though you’ll probably never ever meet her again.

When you think it’s alright to stick your head into a stranger’s apartment to see if anybody’s home.

You see three people on a motorcycle and figure there’s room for two more.

Smoking is one of the dinner courses.

You speak Chinese to your foreign friends.

Chinese stop you on the street to ask for directions.

Metal scaffolding at construction sites seems much more dangerous than bamboo scaffolding.

Pizza just doesn’t taste right unless there’s sweet corn on it.

Eating at “Western” restaurants, you wait until after dessert to drink your soup.

You can make elevators go faster by boarding first and taking over the controls.

You (men) roll your shirt up to your nipples.

You have a purse and you are male.

You would never think of entering your house without first removing your shoes.

You get offended when people admire your chopsticks skills.

You cannot say “Call me.” without making a pretend phone with your fingers and sticking to your ear.

You forgot the real purpose of the mirrors in the car.

You think the head light for the car is only to see the street so it’s more safe to switch on the high beam always.

You start to enjoy warm beer.

You instinctively shake out your clothes before wearing to remove any dust from drying on your balcony.

You don’t blink an eye when a complete stranger wants to take a photo of you with his family.

You know the words to all the KTV songs (English and Chinese).

When you go back to your own country it feels odd wearing a seat belt and you think its strange that you cant smoke in a taxi.

You start correcting Southerners on their Putonghua.

When you can’t imagine a meal without yi wan mi fan! (a bowl of rice).

When you go back to your home country and you find it odd that when going out to a restaurant, you don’t have 5 wait staff welcoming you at the same time.

You find it strange when everyone’s food at a restaurant is brought out at the same time.

You start making lists like this.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

2008-03-11T04:32:00.001-07:00

I was discussing my overheating laptop concerns with a friend back in the states when the subject of classic games came up. We were testing the transfer speeds between the U.S. and China with older games while we simultaneously tested our laptops for heat ceiling limits (we have identical laptops, but because mine is overheating I have a nice 85c GPU instead of a normal 62c GPU...).

While transferring a few select programs and games, we both simultaneously (I must be in some weird synced/multi-tasking twilight zone day today...) messaged each other about flashbacks from the mid-90's when we were with another friend at his home trying to transfer Doom II over a 14.4 modem Internet connection. I recall something about a couple of dozen floppy disks, two nights without sleep, and a lot of complaining in between.

The Internet connection in China is usually slower to International connections (they really should call it ChinaNet or something), thanks mainly to the "Great Firewall of China". The connection speeds we were reaching hit a ceiling at about 8 or 9 KB/sec. We were testing a 540MB file too. Knowing something bad was going to happen at some point while I was sleeping, I had my friend split up the file into chunks. 100MB chunks each at this rate will only take three hours or so. Now we're getting somewhere!... Oh yes, and before you ask, I have no FTP site to upload or download from, nor does my friend. And any bitorrent-like transfers do not work with our connections either. It's the 90's all over again...

Flashing forward a bit, earlier today while riding my bike to the park I decided to stop at a nearby Starbucks for coffee. This is the first time that I took a serious look at a Starbucks here in China. I figured they were all the same, but perhaps the prices were less since I was, well, in China... I thought wrong, on both accounts.

I walked in and was warmly welcomed by the staff, who immediately found me a table and asked what I wanted to order. I did some quick math on my cellphone when I caught site of my favorite latte, coming to a simple equation between U.S. Starbucks and Chinese Starbucks prices... 1:1. Give or take 5% of course. I was shocked that a coffee at a Chinese Starbucks still costs me the same as in the states, while not three or four shops down I can get a local blend for cheaper than it costs me to buy a bunch of bananas at a street vendor (six bananas cost about .75 cents).

After having my $5 latte I proceed around the corner to get my haircut. Entering the barber shop I was greeted by a dozen men in pink skirts waiting to help me at every turn. You see, China here is absolutely and completely opposite of any barber shop system I have ever seen in the states. Before you raise your eyebrows, burst out laughing hysterically, or quietly whispering "WTF...", please allow me to explain. I will bullet point for simplicity and effect:

1) All barber shop workers are male
2) All barber shop workers either wear a pink shirt, black skirt, or dress up their own hair in various wild ways. Not the boring same 'o I see in the states.
3) Shampoo (3x) and massage are all included, not exclusive...
4) There are at least two or three workers assisting the main hair stylist at all times.
5) You walk away with a haircut and a nice massage for less than the price of, oh say, a $5 latte at Starbucks.

Oh yes, the explanation, almost forgot... Chinese in some ways are much more open culturally than Americans are. Pink is OK for guys, as clearly are some occupations, and hairstyles. When expressing feelings of affection, concern, or pity for another, Chinese tend to be extremely shy. The styles of their clothes, where they work, is all a part of how they express their emotions and attitudes. Do we not do the same in the states and all around the world? Just maybe not with pink shirts, or skirts...

Last, but certainly not least, when I'm in a Chinese pub (its all British English here baby...) it is completely up to me which women I want to pick up. They are all apparently interested in me, as I frequently hear from my accompanying cohorts. They are just shy in making themselves known to you. Once they know you, however, they quickly warm up and are quite friendly (unless underneath they really don't like you, in which case they will not say of course, but instead just stop calling you suddenly with no explanation whatsoever...). In the states it can be more neutral in this respect, although generally the male still has the dominant role. Either way, it's a real pain to find someone you not only are interested in physically, but emotionally, and sexually. Is that not also the same in the states, and elsewhere?

The more things change, the more they clearly stay the same. At least in my case here in Chinaland.