"There is no real life; you're either online, or AFK"- Ramzi Yakob
Posts tagged Gaming
Nintendo’s 3D handheld might make big waves
Mar 23rd
As soon as I booted up my computer today I saw a lot of noise around Nintendo’s announcement that they’ll be releasing a glasses free 3D handheld console which will be able to play the DS’s back catalogue of games. Within an hour of the story being posted on Engadget, the topic was trending on Twitter (as the image above highlights) and the response to news articles around the web are showing that there’s massive anticipation and excitement for this type of technology.
This announcement from Nintendo has thrown a curve ball in my thinking of how 3D technology adoption would play out – but if for anything then perhaps to speed up adoption and cultural shift to acceptance of 3D. Glasses-less 3D technology has a lot of limitations – but something it is very good at doing is catering for an audience of 1 as you don’t have to take into account a range of viewing angles – by creating a mass audience for home 3D experiences, its possible that Nintendo will help spark an expectation of 3D in-home entertainment which could result in this happening.
Nintendo has a recent history of selling its wares like hot cakes – and if this trend is continued with the 3DS (or whatever it might be called) then how long will it be before Apple sees the value of it and jumps on the wagon by creating a glasses-less 3D iPad experience which will only add to the above theory that it’ll speed up cultural change and expectation.
I’ll throw it out there – expect to see a 3D version on the ipod touch/ipad – even if the tech only kicks in for games in the near future.
Konami showcases 3D arcade game
Feb 19th
Akihabar News has posted videos and pictures taken at this year’s ‘All Nippon Amusement Machine Operators’ Union Exhibition’ (AUO Expo for short) – detailing great excitement at Konami‘s stand in particular. They’re currently showcasing a 3D arcade version of the massively popular Metal Gear Solid series. As you can see from the image above – the standard 3D glasses are accompanied by a head-mounted sensor that will interpret your head movements, giving you the ability to widen your peripheral vision within the game.
As with any content – not all games will be suitable for 3D rendering (really… would anyone WANT to play Bejeweled in 3D?) but for immersive games which generally capture the biggest market share such as Modern Warfare 2 – 3D will be a perfect accompaniment.
Increasingly, gamers are using headsets for voice communication in games like this anyway – so having to wear headgear won’t be a problem, and integration of earphones + microphone into 3D headsets should be simple enough.
Battle of the Big Thinkers
Oct 12th
I recently entered into an APG competition of the same name as this blog post. You can find out more about it here – www.battleofbigthinking.com. Sadly my entry wasn’t selected to take me through to the live event where 3 lucky people get to talk about their idea for 3 minutes before the audience will vote for a winner. Its a bit of fun, and would have been great to get through to the live event, but sadly it wasn’t to be.
This was my entry:
“When we’re playing games, we’re not suffering.” – Jane McGonigal.
Jane argues that games such as World of Warcraft promote addictive behaviour through providing a level of fulfilment which is exceptionally hard to achieve in the ‘real world’.
I challenge the media driven brands of today to consider this statement closely if they want to be the brands of tomorrow. In an economy where attention is scarce, most brands will be fighting for attention scraps left over by the corporations who provide the most fulfilment. Without doubt, a gaming company will have the attention monopoly in the years to come.
Its our fault that Video Games usually suck
Jul 24th
Anthony Burch passionately explains why the gaming industry is churning out high-budget shitty games which aren’t actually fun or creative. Its all our fault. He’s got a point. Maybe I should cancel my World of Crackcraft subscription.
Watch it. Tell me if you disagree. Or agree.
-tobeconfirmed-
