onsdag 20 oktober 2010

Lightpeak technology is the future!

http://techresearch.intel.com/ProjectDetails.aspx?Id=143

I don't know why I can't include a clickable link here on blogspot, it just doesn't seem to work at all. I've tried multiple times before.

Anyways. If you follow the link from above you will be able to read about something called "Lightpeak". Lightpeak is a technology that has a lot of promise due to the fact that it can, in the future, replace different types of cables such as HDMI and USB with a universal one instead. So if that happens, which I sincerely hope it does, you will no longer have to worry about having spare cables for a zillion different devices laying around. One cable for everything sounds pretty awesome to me!

fredag 17 september 2010

Kinect releasing early?

Is this just a mistake while setting the date of release? Click on the picture to se a larger version.



Is this a mistake? Have anyone heard anything about this?

torsdag 16 september 2010

Kinect and Playstation Move, Amazon ranks #3

Kinect related ranks:

Kinect (4Gb Xbox Bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - #1551. Last Week #1929.
Amazon.com - #278. Last week #310.

Kinect (250Gb bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - #302.
Amazon.com - #128. Last week #60.

Kinect (Sensor bar with Kinect Adventures):
Amazon.co.uk - #66. Last Week #76.
Amazon.com - #19. Last week #52.

Playstation 3 related ranks:

Playstation 3 (The 320 Gb Move bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - #384. Last Week #122.
Amazon.com - #29. Last Week #42.

Move (The starter bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - #9. Last Week #22.
Amazon.com - #4. Last Week #14.

Move (Navigation controller only):
Amazon.co.uk - #11. Last Week #26.
Amazon.com - #9. Last Week at #21.

Move (Wand-controller):
Amazon.co.uk - #12. Last Week at #25.
Amazon.com - #6. Last Week #15.

fredag 10 september 2010

Wheelchair Racer



Don't watch the video above in full-screen. It looks horrible. Here is a link to it with better quality. I tried to include it as a true link, but it just wouldn't work, so I apologize for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5MgKg4dZHk&feature=related


This is a game that me and my group (We called us "Tiger Catapult" during the project. See picture below) developed, or rather started to develop during a project in school. This is a racing game where you, in the finished game, would be able to choose from four characters, The Ogre, the Valkyrie, the Pirate and the Gangstah. The lightning bolts you see in this video gives you a resource that you can use to activate different power-ups such as the classic "Speed Boost" but our plans were to include 3 more. Other than this its a racing game with a very unsual theme. It is supposed to make you laugh and the stories behind the characters and why they are in wheelchairs might be revealed later ;)

We don't know if we are ever gonna do anything more with this. We used UDK (Unreal Development Kit) for this and that was... umm.. somewhat problematic in some areas. And the computers at the university only had Ati 3800-series graphics and 4 Gb of ram and UDK recommends 8Gb. This is mostly a problem when it comes to rendering and therefor you can see the "Lightning needs to be rebuilt" in this video. The computer at school weren't powerful enough to render it completely :P

What do you think about games like this? Are they needed? Can you make a game about anything? :)

Cheers!

torsdag 9 september 2010

Kinect and Playstation Move, Amazon ranks #2

Here are the current ranks of the Move and Kinect. Some games are also included, as well as the move navigation controller and move controller. This was taken around 12 midday, UK time.

Kinect related ranks:

Kinect (4Gb Xbox Bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - #1,929. Last Week #1,476.
Amazon.com - #310. Last week #255.

Kinect (250Gb bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - No rank available at the time.
Amazon.com - #60.

Kinect (Sensor bar with Kinect Adventures):
Amazon.co.uk - #76. Last Week #74.
Amazon.com - #52. Last week #69.

Kincetimals:
Amazon.co.uk - #1,362.
Amazon.com - #807.

Joyride:
Amazon.co.uk - #3,840.
Amazon.com - #12,371.

Playstation 3 related ranks:

Playstation 3 (The 320 Gb Move bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - #122. Last Week #264.
Amazon.com - #42. Last Week #97.

Move (The starter bundle):
Amazon.co.uk - #22. Last Week #36.
Amazon.com - #14. Last Week #23.

Move (Navigation controller only):
Amazon.co.uk - #26. Last Week #26.
Amazon.com - #21. Last Week at #37.

Move (Wand-controller):
Amazon.co.uk - #25. Last Week at #28.
Amazon.com - #15. Last Week #21.

Sports Champions:
Amazon.co.uk - #94.
Amazon.com - #290.

Keep in mind that Amazon ranks updates hourly and that the Move is very close to release :) Move looks like its off to a good start, and Kinect seems to do well too so far :)

söndag 5 september 2010

A letter from the future

"Hello my fellow didleydoo (Didleydoos is the common term for gamers these days. Don't ask me why cause the explanation makes "The hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy" sound like pure logic).

The future is here, for you it is not, but for me it is but your time is my past and my time is your future and we can only meet in the present.

I want to thank all of you for pushing Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony to work on their respective consoles. Today the consoles roam the lands and has evolved into something that is similar to something I believe you call "Pokémons" back in your days. They are now intelligent machines that self-upgrade if they are nurtured right and put to test in different challenges.

The "Nintendo" is the easiest one to catch. Its more like a cuddly white bunny that doesn't scare no one. Although you have to be gentle, it easily breaks under pressure. Think of it as a "Magic Karp". Nurtured right its something completely different.

The "Xbox" however, is a bit trickier to catch. An Xbox is often seen with a giant shroom on its head that spits out read laserbeams that can fry your eyeballs in an instant, if directed straight at your eyes. If nurtured right, the Xbox will evolve into a creature that can do your dishes, or kill your grandma. Only these two things are possible careers for your Xbox. There have been numerous instances of flying Xboxes landing on old people burning them to death with their laserbeam. Naa I'm just kiddin, it can do more things. Its really good at fishing too. And reading books for young kids. Xbox is softer than the Playstation due to something i believe you called Konict or sumthin back in your days.

The Playstation is a devious device. The playstation species has a huge variety in skills, but is harder to nurture. It takes longer time for it to evolve than any other consolemon. The playstation is a bit agressive, but even more so if close to an Xbox. If close to a Nintendo, it gets really calm and protective however. And when protecting something, then it is deadly. The Playstation can emitt and intense burst of sound that blows up any specific body part, and only that part. This is thanks to some device that has evolved over the years, I believe it was called PS YEY back in your days.

I take a lot of pride in catching consolemons and nurture them into reaching their full capacity. Please support all of them so I can continue catching them. They do a lot of good stuff when they are trained, all of them.

Tnx, and take care!"

torsdag 2 september 2010

Kinect and Playstation Move, Amazon ranks

Just wanted to show you the numbers and the rank of those two products at amazon.com and amazon.co.uk:)

Kinect (no console):

Amazon.com - #69 in Video Games
Amazon.co.uk - #74 in PC & Video Games

Kinect (The 4GB Xbox Bundle):

Amazon.com - #255 in Video Games
Amazon.co.uk - #1,476 in PC & Video Games

Playstation Move (the starter pack, no console):

Amazon.com - #23 in Video Games
Amazon.co.uk - #36 in PC & Video Games

Playstation Move (the 320GB bundle):

Amazon.com - #97 in Video Games
Amazon.co.uk - #264 in PC & Video Games

Playstation Move (Move controller):

Amazon.com - #21 in Video Games
Amazon.co.uk - #28 in PC & Video Games

Playstation Move (The navigation-controller):

Amazon.com - #37 in Video Games
Amazon.co.uk - #26 in PC & Video Games

But do remember that its about 2 months til Kinect realeases. So if this is indicating anything it is that the Playstation Move seems to do very well so far :)

This was taken 2010-09-02 at 08:40 in the morning, UK time.

lördag 21 augusti 2010

The greatest upcoming games right now

The order in this list IS not by rating, its just a list where the placement means nothing.

1. Dragon Age 2


Dragon Age has become one of the greatest RPG:s of all time. Excellent storytelling, Excellent graphics, Excellent voice-acting, do I need to go on?

2. Gran Turismo 5


No words (Except a few). Thousands of previews has said the same thing. This is going to be one of the greatest racing games of all time.

3. Diablo 3


As a sequel to one of the most beloved franchises of all time, Diablo 3 is highly anticipated.

4. Halo Reach


Perhaps the Xbox-franchise greatest IP.

5. Fable 3


A very interesting title. Looks really nice so far.

6. Sorcery


Very exciting title and so far one of the games that is especially made for the upcoming Playstation Move.

7. Kinectimals (Gonna get raped for putting this on the list)


The reason to why I put this here is because it has a lot of potential to be one of the greatest titles for younger children in a long time. It is not a hardcore game but a lot of kids are really gonna like this.

8. Star Wars: The Old Republic


I am very excited to see how an MMO in the world of Star Wars turns out.

9. Disney Epic Mickey


I used to love the old Disney games with Donald Duck and Mickey the mouse. Nostalgia big time.

10. Kirby's epic yarn


How I loved the Kirby games as a kid. Can't wait to get my hands on this :)

Litte Big Planet 2, The beginning of a new era

I am amazed by the potential in this game. Not because its a ps3 exclusive or any other reason like that, simply because it speaks to me like a game hasn't in a long time.

User created content is the future. User created content can be amazing and might be a way for the developers to discover new talent. I sincerely hope that they are gonna be watching everything thats gonna be created to reward the best in some way. I'm gonna strive to create some of the most fantastic levels you have ever seen. I am currently planing for a level called "The Devil's gateway". Sounds exciting? Well keep your eyes open for it ;)

Anyhow, back to the field of user created content. What does this really mean for gaming in general? It means a lot. It means that we can start playing with the world of a game that we love. It means that the replay value of a game (Which ALL developers should aim for) increase to a level that is unprecedented in most games today. We all know that gamers has a lot of creativity in them and this is a way for us to help improve the IP's we love and inspire developers to invent new ones.

One of the things that really speaks to me is the fact that you will be able to add your own voice!! How cool isn't that? (I restrained my self so I wouldn't add an infinite number of "OMG"-s here with an even greater number of exclamation-marks, higher than infinite, wooooooaaahhh *amazement*)

I am so gonna love that feature. I am going to record my voice so much and practice like I have never practiced on anything before, except singing. My best friend once told me that I should be a voice actor, cause I could do a lot of voices and to honor his memory (R.I.P my dear friend), I will with the help of LBP2 pursue this career and watch out, cause greatness might be incoming! (Or complete and utter failure, but if I make people laugh, what does it matter? :) )

Are you as excited as I am?
Love and kisses!
If gaming was a person, I would so do that person. Every day. For Hours. :)

fredag 20 augusti 2010

Why gaming as a lifestyle MIGHT hinder you in real life

The debate over whether gaming (Electronic gaming that is) is bad for your health or not will rage forever. Gaming in itself isn't bad for your health, but there are certain habits much more common among people that play a lot of games on their computers or their consoles. These are my own experiences and thoughts about this.

1. Sleeping disorders and sleeping rhythms

One of the most common problem for gamers in general, as far as my own experience goes and among my friends at the computer game development program at the university is the sleeping hours. I do not think its an overstatement to say that many gamers often go to bed at lets say around 4 in the morning.

The problem with having a rhythm like this is that you disturb the biological sleeping pattern that we all have. Or should have. Man is not meant to stay up this long for many nights in a row. If you go to bed after midnight you won't get as much high quality sleep as you would if you went to bed before midnight. Some of you might say, "I can sleep for as long as I want to so why does it matter"? And for some people this works but having a bad sleeping pattern (late nights, irregular sleeping pattern etc.) might have consequences that you do not realize.

From personal experience I can tell you these symptoms: (Although this can also be sign of a lot of other things)

* Feeling like you have no energy left even though you have slept for 10 hours or more. This is one of the most common consequences of sleeping at weird hours. You feel tired the next day and just want to stay in bed all day cause you feel so tired.

* An inability to go to sleep when you want to. This is also quite common, especially if your sleeping pattern is irregular with a lot of late nights.

* The inability to finish and start projects and having motivation.

* Losing interest in stuff that you ordinarily find interesting. Impatience with certain task leading to you failing them.

* Feeling restless.

* Sleeping more than whats common. Above around 9 hours that is.

2. Absurd intake of energy-drinks such as Red Bull, Jolt Coke , Coffee etc.

The more you consume of above the more you will need to get the same effect. This might reach a point where you feel like no matter how many Red Bulls you drink, you just don't get alert, rather even sleepier. Not everyone knows this but when you get used to a certain intake of these drinks the body will get a negative effect from drinking to "little" in relation to what you are used to. This will make you even more tired.

3. Bad food

We all love bad food, but the body doesn't. There are two very common stereotypes of "nerds". The very skinny one and the fat one. Bad food will make you feel tired, give you skin-problems such as acne. Your skin will feel much dryer and fatter at the same time. Bad food will also give you problems with your blood-sugar levels. The list could go on forever. I'll give some examples of bad food:

The Classics:

* A bag of Chips (300 grams): Did you know that one bag of chips (of this size) will give you almost 75 % of all the energy you need in one day? (The average guy, even higher for the average girl)

* One chocolate bar (200 grams): Did you know that 1 of these contains more than half of the energy you need in 1 day?

* Coffee (To much of it that is)

* Candy: Doh, surprise. What you may not realize is that sugar will raise your insulin levels and increase the percentage of fat that the body will store when eating something fat. Like Chips. Thats why it a very bad combination to eat a lot of chips and candy together :P

These are the most common ones :P Surprise huh? (Hamburgers, fries and fast food in general goes into this category too :P)

4. Not enough exercise

To feel as good as we possibly can, the human body needs daily exercise. Maybe not daily but regular exercise at least a few days every week. If you do not get enough exercise you may get a lot of problems. Including the the sleeping problems mentioned above. You might also get depressions, lowered self-esteem, hurting limbs such as elbows, knees etc.

Overall advice:

Get some exercise. Regular physical exercise will take care of a lot of the most common problems including sleeping problems. Make sure that you start slow though because being to ambitious will only make you fail. The body needs to get used to training otherwise you will "hit the wall" and start feeling like you really don't want to work out. The exercise itself will also feel heavier than usual.

Since I started working out 4 times a week at the gym I have much less problems falling asleep at night, I feel like I have more energy, I eat much better, I feel happier, and my sex-drive has multiplied haha :) You will also feel more focused and enjoy your gaming even more! And who doesn't want that :)

If you really don't want to exercise start eating at regular hours and high quality food. DO NOT skip breakfast. Eat often but smaller portions as this will give good blood-sugar levels throughout out the day.

Get the most out of your life! You only live once!
But for the love of god, don't stop gaming. ;)

torsdag 19 augusti 2010

What to think about when purchasing electronics

My intention with this is to point out a few things that you can use when deciding what TV you should buy and similar products. I will divide it into steps so its easy to follow:

1. What are you going to use the product for?

For example a TV. Are you going to use it for gaming, watching movies, only watching TV, hook it up to your computer etc. Its important to know what you are gonna use it for so that you can find the best TV possible that does all that you need for the least amount of money.

1b. If your buying for example a TV and a gaming console, make sure the TV is up to what the console requires. For example check the HDMI standard that the console has and the standard that the TV supports. If you are buying a Wii, you don't need to buy a Full HD TV or even an HD TV for that matter due to the face that the Wii only supports up to a resolution of 480p. And HD is 720p and above. (Although the next Wii might be released within 2 years so it might be worth to buy an HD TV anyway for that matter and more and more channels are transmitting in HD so an HD TV is an investment in the future.)

2. How much are you willing to spend on the product in question?

Its very important to be realistic about this. Especially if you use some sort of credit-card to buy the product. GOLDEN RULE: Make sure you make a payment plan that ensures that the product is fully paid when the warranty ends. No one wants to sit there with a credit-card debt and no product.

3. For how long will it fulfill your needs? Do research on upcoming products in the same field. Will it still do in 5 years? Do you really need to buy this or is it the perfect time to upgrade/buy something new?

4.When you find the perfect product, make sure it has the lowest price you can possibly find. Why pay more than you have to? If you don't want to buy it on the internet, check the stores in your area and see if any of them has offers like: "We will match any price if you find any of our goods for a lower price in the area" This is kinda common.

5. If you plan on buying it and pay it off, be sure to check the interest and calculate how much it will cost you. Even if something is cheaper in one store and you want to buy it with a credit card, the cost might be higher in the end then buying it in another store where it costs a little more, but have a much lower interest that makes it cheaper in the end if you need pay it off.

Good luck with your purchase :)

The potential of Microsoft

This post is mostly about the technology that is known as "Kinect". There is no point in raging about the "lag" that "Kinect" do have and the problem that it represents, but it has to be mentioned due do the fact that this lag is something that will hold the technology back.

I see a lot of potential in Kinect. It is a very interesting piece of technology. The debate that goes on now is whether Microsoft has chosen to ignore its so called "core gamers" or if there actually is any potential to satisfy them too.

The answer is Yes. And No. The problem that many of the "core gamers" have is the fact that its still a bit "laggy" and seems to lack core games. But here we have a very important issue. Something that isn't "core gaming" for one person might be so for another. Each player sets up his or her own goals when it comes to gaming. Me personally wouldn't consider "Kinect" as something for core gamers as it is now, but I won't go as far as saying that it IS NOT something for core gamers. From what I've learned and seen, "Kinect" does not give me the chance to fulfill goals that I usually set for myself when gaming, but I realize that it will be enough for a lot of players.

Kinect has a lot of potential, I have no doubt about that. Although I see Kinect as something that belongs together with a PC more than console-gaming, I am really happy that the technology has been invented and that the search for new ways to play games continues. I am very curios about how the technology behind Kinect will turn out and I am looking forward to discover new ways to play games solo, co-op with friends, or with people on-line. We should all encourage Microsoft to keep working on this so that we have different ways of playing games to choose from. Keep an open mind people, even if its not right for you, it might be good for you in other ways.

Cheers, and keep on gaming ;)

onsdag 18 augusti 2010

The potential of Sony

After seeing more of the Playstation move at Gamescom it got me thinking. But before I start, let me point out that this is NOT meant to be seen as a fanboy piece. This is simply a piece about the potential in Sonys ps3 with the move and the Playstation 4. When I hear nice stuff from MS I will post something similar about the Xbox and its future.

A few months ago I read about Sony filing a patent for stereoscopic splitscreen. Clarification: Stereoscopic 3D requires glasses. You may argue that the 3D technology that require glasses is not here to stay but that is not what I see. Stereoscopic splitscreen makes it possible to play multiplayer for 2 people on the same TV without dividing the screen in two and get a window with half the size of your TV. Just that alone is impressive. I don’t see this coming to ps3 but I thinks its very possible that this will be a part of the ps4 at launch. You may think that’s all this technology can do, but if u think about it that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

This technology will also make it possible to watch two DIFFERENT movies at the same time on the same TV. It will also be possible to play two different games at once, for example if you feel like playing an RPG and your friend/lover/husband/wife/whatever wants to play a racing game, this will be possible without the need of another TV+console.
And this is truly awesome. The technology is amazing and Sony will make it work very well.
But it doesn’t end there. I’m very sure that the Playstation Move will be perfected even more over the years and be released together in some sort of bundle with the ps4. What will all this do for gaming?

It will take the co-op two a whole new level. You will no longer need to be in the same area as the other player, but it doesn’t end there.

Imagine a game much like Age of Empires or whatever. One of the players plays in an age that is, let’s say, a 1000 years before the age that the other player is playing in. What the first player does will affect the second player in real time. For example, imagine the first player digging out a cave in his age. The cave will then appear in the second player’s age perhaps filled with computer-generated items and monsters or whatever. Imagine how it will be working together in a game like that. It would be truly awesome. Or imagine the competition it could bring. The two players will not see each other’s screen, but may still compete and affect each other. For example, the second player builds a castle on a hill. The first player destroys that hill in his age making the castle in the second player’s age collapse. The first player will not see that the second player has built a castle there of course. This is pretty much like a very, very advanced version of “Sink the battleship” or whatever it’s called.

Thinking about the potential in this makes me very excited. Go technology!

fredag 23 juli 2010

Kinect VS Playstation Move (or is it?)

There are a lot of articles, comments and blogs about the fight between Microsoft and Sony and their motion controllers Kinect and Playstation Move. But is it really a fight?

The controls themselves are so different from each other that I don't think you can compare them. The Kinect is controller free, and you play games without the need of grasping around some form of device. The Playstation Move is much like the Wii-controls, but as far as I understood a bit more precise.

I see great potential in both of them. They will, since they are so different, speak to different type of gamers (Hardcore, casual, onlinegamers etc). We cannot say that either one of them is the winner, due to the fact that they will (probably, judging by the lineup of games) appeal to different audiences.

The Kinect feels like a future way of controlling not only your Xbox, but also your computer and since Microsoft from the beginning is a computersoftware company, I wouldn't be suprised if their next Windows edition would fully support kinect. Although Kinect would have to evolve in to the next generation of itself for that I think. And in that next generation I believe that the kinect will be able to project keyboards etc onto desks or tables.

The Playstation Move is a bit more locked to consoles and tv. Although, as the Playstation tend to be more and more as a media center (aswell as the Xbox) where you can do all sorts of things, I wouldn't be surprised if the next playstation will have some drawing programs ready which you can use the move to paint. A digital platform for artist (Although there have devices for this for a long time such as Wacoms etc, I merely suggesting that this could be a move from Sonys side to increase what the Playstation franchise could be used for) As Sony is currently developing some interesting technology for 3D without glasses (http://iwaggle.blogspot.com/2010/07/sony-raymodeler-360-autostereoscopic-3d.html) I expect the Move to be integrated even deeper in games than the first generation will be.

These are just a few thoughts of what I see in the two controllers. Please leave comments if you like!

Cheers!

måndag 19 juli 2010

What will the PS4 feature?

There are a lot of discussions on the internet about what the specifications will be for the PS4. And this is yet another one, hopefully :)

The Playstation 4:

Mediaformat - This will likely be an upgraded version of the Blu-ray format capable of handling discs with at least a 100 Gb and upwards from there.


Graphics
- This will most likely be the more drastic improvement of the next generation. As it is now the PS3 features "only" a total of 512 MB of video-memory and I expect the next generation to feature at least 2Gb, most likely in the area of 4Gb. And the reason to why I believe this is among other things the following:
Sony recently filed a patent for a stereoscopic splitscreen technology, which basicly means that you will be able to play 2 or more players on the same tv without getting the ordinary screen cut in half for each player that joins in. For the next playstation to be able to do this (Which would be almost the same thing as running several copies of one game at once) the capacity of the graphicsunit needs to be drasticly improved. I do not believe that the PS3 is capable of doing this.


The Processing Capabilities
- This is most likely to end up with a tenfold increase in capability. Can't see how it wouldn't be improved any less than 3 times considering the above mentioning of stereoscopic splitscreen.

Resolution - This will most likely also increase to at least the double. Which would be 2160p. Although this is an extreme resolution, I can see why its necessary for supporting stereoscopic splitscreen.

Overall I do believe that everything in the PS4 will be more unified and therefor we will get much closer to "real-life" graphics rendered in real-time. I don't think we will get there with the next generation though, but we will come very close.

Please post your comments about the above! Fan-raging will not be allowed and these comments will be removed. Sony and Microsoft are both great companies and we should be happy that there is a "competition" so that we have hardware to choose between!
Cheers!

:)
/A