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"Because it’s IR-based, the system is sensitive to natural light. But Amanda turned that accident into something creative, producing beautiful, organic ambient performances by leaving her controller outdoors." Easily my favourite part of this post were the "bells" and "breathing" outdoor videos; lovely, accidental, ambient patterns.
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"The UMC32+M is an OEM/DIY product that allows Electronic Musicians, Multimedia Artists and Experimenters the ability to create custom user interfaces to control any software application that supports the MIDI protocol." Cheaper than a Livid Brain, as well.
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"It’s easy to roll your eyes at the people who look at an Xbox 360 controller or Dual Shock and say it’s too complicated. “Left 4 Dead” proves there are hardcore experiences — not just Wii and DS games — that can draw them in…but the controller remains a challenge that won’t be easily overcome." I'd never roll my eyes; modern pads are very complicated, and twin-stick move/shoot is one of the hardest skills to acquire. Still, a nice piece of commentary on what learning to use a controller looks like, and a healthy reminder.
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"So when I play Fallout 3, and I think this is probably true for most people who are over forty, some part of me is always wondering if this is what it really would have been like. Not in terms of enemies, but in the way that humans banded together into small groups to create enough order to survive." Bill Harris on a perspective on Fallout 3 that I'll never have.
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Click "CM Gallery". Watch. In order to illustrate the xiao's ability to not only take but also print photographs, Takara Tomy really pushed their anthropomorphic metaphor to the limits.
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"Yes, it's true that at no time while playing Prince of Persia did I feel any of the frustration that I felt on a regular basis in Mirror's Edge. But neither did I ever feel the joy of doing something right, of stringing together a perfect series of vaults and wall-runs and feeling like it was based on my own skill. Can one exist without the other? Is it impossible to create joy without difficulty? I don't know. But Prince of Persia lost something significant." I'm a bit worried about the new Prince, especially having read this; the challenge/reward balance is hugely important to it as a series, especially since the marvellous Sands of Time. Also, more worryingly: are developers shying away from letting players fail any more?
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"The Facebook Republican Army, based on Brighton's tough Whitehawk estate, looks for parties on Facebook. The gang boasts it travels nationwide – and has even bought its own coach." Oh boy.
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"As the about page says, if you live exactly 6 minutes from Sunset Tunnel East Portal, 8 minutes from Duboce and Church, and 10 minutes from Church Station you may find it useful too." Bespoke tools for yourself that might happen to be useful to others. I like this a lot.
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"The Firefox add-on "Pirates of the Amazon" inserts a "download 4 free" button on Amazon, which links to corresponding Piratebay BitTorrents. The add-on lowers the technical barrier to enable anyone to choose between "add to shopping cart" or "download 4 free". Are you a pirate?" Almost certainly not the first example; perhaps one of the best realised.
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"That's how I got here. How long will it be before someone builds a raft and sets sail in space? Bill Gates has over fifty billion dollars. What if Richard Garriott had fifty billion dollars? If he wanted to, would that be enough money to build a rocket to get him into space, and a self-sustaining environment in which he could live? Would he want to sail away and never come back? … No matter what happened in our future, [whoever built that raft] would forever be the first. A thousand years from now, people would remember his name." Bill Harris is awesome.
In control @ GameCity
19 October 2006
Plug time! I’m going to be running a panel discussion at GameCity in Nottingham next Friday. Entitled “Tom Armitage Is In Control” (I swear, not entirely my idea), it should be an interesting chat with some folks developing for modern consoles and using – or making – innovative input devices. The blurb from the site runs thus:
The latest generation of consoles show just how far games technology has come since the 1970s. At the same time, the input devices we play games with have barely changed in three decades from those old sticks and paddles. Is that lack of change due to a lack of creativity? Or a fear of the new? Right now, controller design is a hot topic – games such as Guitar Hero are driving a resurgence in peripheral-oriented titles, and Nintendo has revolutionised the way we think about input devices for consoles with its DS and Wii. What does the future hold? What are the challenges ahead for gamers and developers alike? This panel discussion will discuss these questions, and more.
Should be fun, I hope. And I might be around in the evening doing more fun things with Guitar Hero (which might include, but are not limited to, playing Godzilla on Expert). If you’re coming along, drop us an email.