Simulation & Game Development

Experimental Game: Shadow Physics

2009-04-29T12:26:00.001-04:00

How World of Warcraft Promotes Innovation

2009-01-17T16:05:00.001-05:00

Business Week has an interesting article for business people on how a MMORPG can help with the fundamentals for training employees.
Click Here for Link

Immersion

2009-01-10T13:09:00.002-05:00

You could say that an immersed player is a happy player. Here's an article that goes into detail about why players become immersed, and explains how to get players immersed in your game. Designers take heed!
A fresh look at the concept of immersion

Fixing Programmer Art

2009-01-05T02:30:00.002-05:00

For many of us programmers, creating decent art to use in our projects can be a daunting task, but let's face it, we aren't artists. However! That doesn't mean we can't create something that looks decent for use as placeholders. Here's some tips that are actually pretty good! From Gamedev.net

Better Programmer Art

Almost Too Late

2008-09-11T13:09:00.002-04:00

Game Republic's Yoshiki Okamoto today offered a pessimistic assessment of whether or not Japanese developers will ever catch back up with Western developers. He echoes the sentiments of Silent Hill: Homecoming producer Akira Yamaoka, who said late last year, 'Japan is in trouble' and Hideo Kojima who commented that Japan's leadership in the gaming sphere was 'becoming a thing of the past.'

"It's almost too late," said Okamoto according to a Kotaku translation. "During the Famicom (NES) era, Japanese video games comprised 70 percent of all video games. And currently, it's like 15 or 20 percent, isn't it? Now, Western games are more advanced. For games like GTA IV, those guys are spending something like 5 or 10 years to make them. Even if we thought about catching up with them now, they'd still be making progress. But, not necessarily giving up, it's just not possible to catch up in a single lifetime."

Force Unleashed on Xbox Live Sets Download Record

2008-09-11T13:00:00.000-04:00

The Force is indeed strong with this one. The Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo has been downloaded 2.3 million times on both Xbox Live and PSN.
Read more...

Game Developer

2008-09-11T01:06:00.000-04:00

Game Developer magazine is now on-line:
http://gamedeveloper.texterity.com/gamedeveloper/200809/?sub_id=Dazf2Nfzxyy2E

Insomniac to Open Studio in North Carolina

2008-06-05T00:15:00.001-04:00

RALEIGH, NC--North Carolina is becoming a hotbed of video game development. Insomniac Games is the latest game company to target the Raleigh-Durham area (known as the Research Triangle with its collection of technology, video game and biotech companies) as the perfect location to make games. For the first time in its 14-year history, the independent developer is expanding beyond its Burbank, California studio.
Read more...

New Robotic Arms

2008-06-02T10:31:00.000-04:00

Miyamoto

2008-05-31T11:54:00.002-04:00

Although Miyamoto's name has become one of the few in the video game industry to actually reach the mainstream (he came in first on the Time 100), the creator of Mario and Donkey Kong isn't one to seek out the spotlight. All he cares about is that Nintendo thrives. "What's important is that the people that I work with are also recognized and that it's the Nintendo brand that goes forward and continues to become strong and popular," he said when asked about comparisons to Walt Disney. He added, "And if people are going to consider the Nintendo brand as being on the same level as the Disney brand, that's very flattering and makes me happy to hear."

Miyamoto also reflected on how he's changed as a designer in recent years. "I would say that over the last five years or so, the types of games I create has changed somewhat," he said. "Whereas before I could kind of use my own imagination to create these worlds or create these games, I would say that over the last five years I've had more of a tendency to take interests or topics in my life and try to draw the entertainment out of that."

Certainly with games like Pikmin (inspired by his love of gardening), Nintendogs (inspired by his family getting a dog) or Wii Fit (inspired by his own recent weight obsession), his change in game design philosophy is quite evident.

EA Extends Offer a Third Time, Take-Two Rebuffs It Again

2008-05-19T12:04:00.001-04:00

Same old, same old. EA won't up its offer, and instead simply extended the deadline, while Take-Two politely told them to take their offer and stick it where the sun don't shine.

-- Posted by James Brightman on Monday, May 19, 2008

Read more ...

New Games

2008-02-05T16:35:00.000-05:00

Some news on some new games:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/02/01/intv.west.game.on.cnn

Activision Blizzard!

2007-12-03T19:31:00.000-05:00

ARS Technica: Activision has announced some earth-shattering news: the gaming giant would be merging with Vivendi Games to form one monolithic gaming company called Activision Blizzard. The deal, worth almost $20 billion, will see Activision CEO Bobby Kotick keep his place as CEO, while Vivendi's Bruce Hack will become the Chief Corporate Officer of the combined company. After all the stock shuffling, Vivendi will own approximately 68 percent of the new company. [more]

Human Joysticks

2007-10-11T09:22:00.001-04:00

300 - the halo version

2007-10-10T09:14:00.000-04:00

Jing

2007-10-09T21:06:00.000-04:00

A program which is the always-ready program that instantly captures and shares images and video…from your computer to anywhere:

http://www.jingproject.com

Nintendo

2007-10-09T08:45:00.000-04:00

Halo 3

2007-10-01T09:16:00.000-04:00

So, who could possibly know that Halo would change the world so much? We had no idea:

http://www.loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/228/Halo:+The+Future+of+Gaming

And, a funny one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvanJYOGlus

Halo 3 - You are invited

2007-09-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

The biggest video game launch ever is coming in a few weeks. This is your invite to join in the fun and have a sneak peek before everyone else.

This is an exclusive, invite-only event for our special guests to discover Halo 3 first-hand. We will have several Xboxes setup with Halo 3 for multiplayer play, including the opportunity to play the Halo 3 campaign for the first time.

We’ll also have other Xbox 360 games to enjoy, as well as food, drinks, and prizes to give away, including some exclusive Halo 3 branded items. And for those up to the challenge, we will be hosting a tournament pitting the top teams from cities across the US against each other. This is a one-time only event… don’t miss it!

Microsoft Office from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
8055 Microsoft Way
Charlotte, NC 28273
Food, Drink, Great Prizes and Attendee Gifts for All!
To register, go to
http://iammasterchief.com/
and register to attend with your RSVP code:
H3X924BNC2

Cool Sprites

2007-09-17T09:44:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for cool sprites you can find some on the following websites:

http://www.emugifs.emuita.it/sprites.htm
http://www.freewebs.com/bonzo_industries/sprites.htm

3ds Max

2007-09-13T08:58:00.000-04:00

Download this file and save it under your "My documents".3D%20animation.zip

14 Reasons Why Artists Keep Visual Journals

2007-09-11T00:41:00.000-04:00

Keeping a visual journal helps the artist develop a sense of self–discipline.
The chronological nature of the journal means that you are automatically recording your personal improvement.
A journal can become for you a ‘place’ where you can work out themes as they develop on the journey.
It is always good when you are presenting your work to be able to fit it into a theme.
Style is a process of evolution.
As you develop the 'habit of creativity' you will also develop an intuitive awareness.
Regard your journal as your personal safe place.
It is also a means of communication, a holding place for ideas to share with other artists and students who wish to learn.
Your journal is your note-takers paradise … a place where ideas can be kept in the written form as well as visually…
Keep technical notes - make sure you are learning about mixing colours and learning theory.
Set your self - 'paced learning tasks' of a specified nature.
Have a particular learning outcome in mind.
Your journal is a safe place where you can experiment with abstractions. It will facilitate an unveiling of ways to express emotions and feelings.
Above all this safe haven of personal expression can become for you (if you let it) a source of relaxation.
As an artistic venture your journal will naturally evolve into your precious planning tool.

Computer Simulation Software

2007-05-16T11:14:00.000-04:00

Working Connections

2007-05-14T11:29:00.000-04:00

We have a wonderful time at the Working Connections Conference.

MS Silverlight

2007-04-18T09:53:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard or seen Silverlight, checkout this article for some background info:

http://e.ccialerts.com/a/hBG5q4sAHJQfmAexGg3BDmXy2Is/clck35