Steve

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=39706

Algoma University's Dwayne Hammond at Sault Ste. Marie, ON, is looking for funding to help complete a video game designed to help stroke victims relearn how to speak; the reasoning is that games are able to encourage folks to continue trying much more readily (just one more turn / just a few more XP 'till I hit 60 / etc) than traditional therapudic techniques.

-- Steve likes the kid's t-shirt in the accompanying photograph. It seems apropos.

If you haven't heard of Good Old Games before, now's a good time to hear of it. The nickel version is that it's a licensed distributor for titles verging on abandonware; they take popular game titles from yesteryear, port them to ensure they're XP/Vista compatible, and sell them by direct download for cheap. Even better, some of that money finds its way back to the original creators. Even betterer, no DRM. And even even betterer, some games have bonus stuff like concept art included with the download.

Now's a good time to check up on them, because they're offering the critically acclaimed Beyond Good and Evil for $10. I'm desperately fighting down the temptation to download it now, as I already have Fallout 3's "The Pitt" and a couple of XBLA titles waiting for me, but man it's tough.

Also, if you're a die-hard fan of the Master Chief, they have Septerra Core for sale and Steve Downes has a voice role in that one. So does Tim ("Guilty Spark") Dabado. I can't say much about the game, having never played it or seen demos, but it's somewhat popular on IMDB.

-- Steve really should stay away from that site for the next while, at least until he's cleared his plate including all his vegetables.

Apparently some retro-gamers rebuilt the arcade quarter-eater Contra on the PS3's LittleBigPlanet level builder.

-- Steve is truly impressed; that stuff is well done.

(PS: apparently the Konami Code works, too.)

found via the Escapist

Stealers? Cardinals? Packers? Niners? All nancy-boys, because the NFL is a lame-arsed game for doily-makers compared to the macho glory that is Blood Bowl! And now I can show you incontrovertable blood-drenched video proof that takes this out of grounds for debate and places it in the realm of hard fact.

For those who haven't yet enjoyed the twenty-two-year-old board game by Games Workshop, the best way I can explain what this computer version will be like is to ask you to imagine that ActiBlizzard mashed together World of Warcraft and NFL 200x while amping up the violence. It firmly puts the "fantasy" in "fantasy football", but goes well beyond passive stat-tracking (though that can have that element, if you wish) and lets you play as a coach/manager of a team of gridiron gladiators ripped from the pages of Tolkien. You get to make the draft picks, you get to train the players, you get to call the plays, and you get to collect the gate to pay for all those salaries (and healing potions) between matches.

Looks like the video game will be playable in either the classic turn-based mode (replicating the board game experience) or in real-time... supporting hot-seat and online multiplayer modes, as well as league play if you wish. You also get the usual team customisation options and the ever-popular "team paint" ability that lets you make your team's uniforms and padding.

Alas, it's been rolled back until June apparently, but the game looks to be worth the wait.

-- Steve'll probably pick it up for his Xbox around then, but won't be playing any leagues anytime soon. Practice, practice, practice...

(Spotted via Penny Arcade.)

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-serious-need-for-play&print=true

Scientific American covers a study started over 40 years ago into the importance of play in child development... and notes that a common factor among convicted murders is a combination of parental abuse and the lack (or prevention) of unstructured play in childhood. At a guess, the lack of such role playing hinders development of empathy or the ability to recognise alternate perspectives... confining the imagination's growth to a narrower, more selfish channel. It also probably limits exposure to social cues and cuts out practice of other social roles.

Stuff that in your pipes and smoke it, ya Jack Chick wannabes.

-- Steve's certainly glad he had the chance to explore his mental vistas.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.84784

An enterprising cosplayer tries for a stand-out costume, and asks her gadget-building significant other to create a replica of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Generator to help her go that extra distance. In return, she received a prop that does everything but actually tunnel through space-time... at least, we think it doesn't, but it's hard to tell.

-- Steve definitely thinks this is cake-worthy.

I'm working my way through a do-it-yourself champagne breakfast right now; bacon, scrambled eggs, pan-fried potatoes with green pepper and onion, and "sham-pagne" and orange juice cocktails. I've got to find a way to finish this booze, after all it'd be a shame to waste it.

Last night was largely uneventful as I stayed in. I watched the countdown event at Niagara Falls, which was fun, and played through the first level in Mirror's Edge, which was fun but frustrating at times. (I blame the booze. It's misapplied blame, as I can be pretty cack-handed at platformers even when stone sober, but y'gotta find your excuses where you can...) I also watched The Dark Knight during dinner.

( Warning, here be some possible bio-TMI )

Dinner was delicious but a lot more effort than I'd planned for thanks to how the bird had been butchered and packed. I'll give them one more try at some point, just in case this was an unusual mispack, but they're on probation. The cavity of the bird retained the liquid fat too well, so I was having to tip the bird to pour out excess grease during the roasting and even then the stuffing turned out to be more of a pudding texture than a traditional bread stuffing. Flavourful as all heck, of course, but far more rich than intended. Also, the inner cavity was packed full so that even though the outer flesh was thoroughly thawed, there was solid ice inside. It took over an hour in a cold-water bath to get that ice out of the bird... nerve-wracking, and I'm just glad I didn't have a bunch of hungry guests waiting.

The hour came and I saw the fireworks on TV; no fireworks downtown here in London, ON, but one intrepid family in the subdivision behind me fired off a nice little display. I stayed up watching some of the post-countdown festivities in Niagara Falls and Toronto (no US coverage for me; couldn't bring in any American channels, so I didn't see Times Square) and then retired at about 12:30 or a bit after.

-- Steve has a rent cheque to drop off, but beyond that no obligations today. Tomorrow, alas, it's back to Koobikal Hel.

Finally, I think I'm getting the upper hand on this stupid plague; I haven't been out-of-doors since Wednesday with the fever and muscle aches, and the walls are closing in somehwat. But last night I actually crashed into a restful sleep and, with only one brief awakening at about 8am (my usual time on this leg of my work rotation) managed a 13-hour coma. Food appeals again, after guzzling soup and coffee and slack porridge yesterday; I even managed a hamburger last night. So I think I'll break my fast with some cereal and maybe bacon and eggs (and yes it's after 1:30pm here so I know it's a tad late for breakfast), then steam-clean myself in the shower. Hopefully then I'll be energetic enough to do a badly-needed laundry batch (so that I can drag my carcass back to work tomorrow...) and then whip up an instant curry for supper and to freeze for next week's lunches.

I did manage to finish the main storyline in Fallout 3 last week; I won't spoil it, but I can see why some people would be disappointed by the ending. It's not a bad ending of its own, and indeed parts of the final fight were riotously joyful, but it definitely puts a crimp in your character attachment. I'm now puttering about the map in-game finding sidequests I missed before... and at maximum level and with a metahuman manservant most of the quests are a breeze even in my addled state. (Wiped out a whole slaver encampment at once, and without nuclear support too.) The game's definitely worth picking up; I'm going to exceed 100 hours of play without replaying anything yet. However, I'm starting to regret picking up the "tin lunchbox" edition; the bonus DVD is pretty slim pickings with only an hour of content, the lunchbox itself not terribly handy, and though the bobble-head is neat it's hardly worth the price-kick by itself. Only the chapbook with the art makes me feel the extra cost wasn't wasted.

I'll probably pick up Gears of War 2 next week; I've got a gift-card from work that should cover the bulk of it. I only hope my reflexes and timing are better by then... oh, and next Saturday I've got the office "holiday" party to attend so I should probably pick up a new shirt worthy of the occasion. (There's some leftover balance on a couple of "Mark's Work Wearhouse" gift cards, and a discount coupon if I spend over $50, so a new pair of trousers would probably not be amiss either.)

-- Steve must now force himself to do something productive for the first time in nigh-on three days. C'mon, muscles, let's go...

I'm about twelve hours into Fallout 3 right now; in the main storyline I've just left the Galaxy News Radio building (and then wandered off to raid an abandoned hospital) and I've just realised... where's Dogmeat? Did I miss getting a canine companion, and is that why I'm finding a lot of the fights really, really tough?

-- Steve's really enjoying the game, though. (Except for the hacking minigame... augh.)

http://redcrossthegame.nl/site_en/

Apparently I missed an ARG run by the Red Cross recently, according to Kotaku, but I didn't miss this one. It's a "serious" game, giving a look at how the Red Cross handles disaster relief based on a real-time strategy game engine. I tried the free-to-play in-browser demo and it looks serviceable; I've only played it on "Easy" mode to get the tutorials, so criticising the low difficulty and lack of engagement would probably be unfair. I will say that the music loop does eventually wear, and sometimes the autocentring of the map on the active unit is distracting, but the basic concept of the game is quite intriguing.

Mainly I want this up so that other folks can take a look, and so I'll remember to give it another shot later at a higher difficulty. For those who find it up their alley, the demo is only the first three of eleven scenarios; the full game is available as a direct download for $20USD, half of which goes to the Red Cross.

-- Steve likes to see gaming stretch its boundaries, and one way it can do that is to change what it's standing for.

PS: I think my favourite Kotaku comment on the game was "zOMG Nursling rush!"

I was debating whether to resume my assault on Too Human or go out and do some shopping, and just that moment two ravens flew past my balcony and did a couple of loops in a thermal.

Odin, see my valour!

-- Steve's enjoying the game; it's flawed, but still pretty good.

As a promotion for the upcoming Dawn of War II release, THQ is taking a surplus British Army FV432 armoured carrier and converting it into an Imperial Space Marine Rhino. The completed Rhino will make its debut at the Birmingham Games Day 2008 show, on the 14th of September, so there's not much time left.

THQ's conversion diary and related flickr gallery are up for inspection, should you desire.

-- Steve now has to fight down the temptation to get a new computer to play DoW2... the series is great, but the current beast'd melt trying to run the upcoming edition.

PS: The high-definition gameplay trailer for Dawn of War II went up a while ago. The CGI cinematic trailer went up yesterday too, if you wanna see.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/08/13/tech-cineplex.html

29 Cineplex theatres (note spelling) across Canada are experimenting with a new service; for $179, you and up to 11 friends can have two hours to play Xbox 360 games on the big screen. You can bring your own disc (dunno about hard drive) or borrow from the theatre's library. Looks to be just the one console per screen, though, so only 4 at a time can play... and no mention of access to Live, so I suspect it'll be split-screen only. I wonder if that includes popcorn and pop?

-- Steve isn't immediately tempted, as it's kinda pricey for the time allotment. Also, he finds it weird that the service isn't listed on cineplex.com.

The Escapist - We have issues t-shirt design @ © SplitReason.com


Zero Punctuation - Pants t-shirt design @ © SplitReason.com

I'm a big fan of the Escapist magazine, and have been for several years. I'm also a big fan of the animated game review series Zero Punctuation that runs on their site. Well now they're selling T-shirts, and I thought I should let you guys know.

-- Steve's putting in an order right now.

Because I haven't posted in a while, some fluff:

Fenix, Delta Squad cleared of war crimes charges.

-- Steve's wondering if Marcus is any relation to Phoenix Wright.

Xbox's spring releases... I may just reskin my old console to match the Xbox Vintage, myself, and the Wireless Helmet is kinda cool.

Blizzard was busy today, first revealing a new Terran infantry model in Starcraft 2 and then a new player class in World of Warcraft.

So far Bungie hasn't announced any new game content, but it has announced it's looking to hire for new positions within the company; a multidisciplinary choreographer, a 3D-UI engineer with experience in the field of dance, and an engineer experienced in emulation of Dreamcast hardware. (Alas, those positions must have filled since I spotted them. Who knew there was such a glut of candidates?)

-- Steve's enjoying the big news surge today.

Found via Kotaku, new playable race in Lord of the Rings Online to be announced tomorrow.

-- Steve'll try to keep current on all the game news traditionally released about now.

Spotted via Kotaku, "real life" Spy Hunter:



-- Steve spent more quarters on that game than any other... and it looks like he wasn't the only one.

"Rez HD." It's available now on the Xbox Live Arcade, in all it's 60fps wireframe glory. A rail-shooter game first published for the Sega Dreamcast in 2001, designed by the creator of "Space Channel 5" (and later, "Lumines"), it does have a somewhat retro look and feel to the play. However, its apparent simplicity belies the sophisticated experience provided by the game.

Not only does the game progress from very simple to madly difficult along a nearly glass-smooth curve, providing a ton of replay value in going for high-scores and Achievements that are incredibly fun and challenging, but the game is designed to induce synesthesia. The music (trance techno, so be warned if that musical genre isn't your cup of tea) envelops you in Dolby 5.1 now. The beat of the music is synchronised with the appearance and behaviour of the on-screen play. And, to cap it off, the game supports "trance vibration"; you can connect up to three extra controllers and use their force feedback to induce a tactile dimension to the game's output. (I use one controller under my feet; apparently the ideal is one underfoot and one at the small of the back, and if you're fairly motionless a third at the nape of the neck.)

The combination completely sucks you into the game, becoming vastly more than the sum of its parts.

More later, as I have to turn in now for an early-morning shift at work... but if you get the chance to try the free demo, go ahead.

-- Steve's cleared 3 of the 5 levels in story mode so far, and almost had that 4th boss... but there's no time for war stories.

Enders Game is about to be made into a game, announced by Chair. Chair's most notable game at the moment is "Undertow", which many of us have just downloaded for free from the XBLA as an apology for Live's hiccups. Part of me is intrigued, as the battle sim game in the story/novel would definitely be good fodder for a video game, but part of me is a bit wary.

For one, the biped animations in "Undertow" were a bit stiff... I don't know how this game will end up looking. That's not necessarily fatal, but with today's crowd it may be a notable obstacle.

For another, novel adaptations have just as chequered a history as movie adaptations... though again I don't think Chair will take the easy way out and dump a hasty/crappy game on the market.

For a third, well, Card's been attacked by the Brain Eater since writing the original novella and I've heard he's working on the script.

-- Steve's still interested, but is taking a "wait and see" interest more than a "gimme-gimme-gimme" interest.