Learning Physics in a Videogame?

Learning physics in a videogame? Nonsense! But the 2007, such a puzzle game which emphasized a sense of knowledge of understanding of momentum, relative mass, matter, and the "human" force. Above is an example of a puzzle, where the protagonist creates an "entrance" portal and an "exit" portal. He creates an entrance portal at a lowered height to create momentum, so that he is still "falling" out of the exit portal, with his momentum still carrying him just enough to reach the higher ground.

Puzzles such as these are very prevelant in the game. While this isn't the same as attending your college Physics lecture, it's just another game that emphasizes something a little different (in this case the subtle sciences of Physics), rather than shooting zombies or holding a driver gunpoint to confiscate their vehicles while running away from SWAT.

Flower Videogame

Imagine a game where there is no dialogue or text, no plot lore, or even directions and instructions. Sounds pretty lame right? Such a game is called "Flower". The game takes a totally different approach, by not focusing on game play, storyline, or multiplicity found in nearly all videogames created today, but instead emphasizes the simple, yet artistic hand-drawn graphics, the soothing music, and overall emotional and visual representation.

The game play is simple enough. You are the wind guiding a single pedal to gather the desired amount of other flying pedals. One of the few games ever to be made to create a soothing feeling, and emphasize the appreciation of the hand-drawn, often portrait-like visuals of the game. The game itself has won many awards, ranging from "2009's Best Indie Video Game" to "2009 Casual Game of the Year".

Future of gaming??? Company wise?

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo... they are the top video game companies. They have been in competition with each other for the last 20 years or so and they still battle it out. Each company is working on their new next gen system and they all claim it will be something that will blow your mind out. Each company seems to be going towards the same idea... 3D gaming, interactivity etc. It will be interesting to see if a company can blow the other out of the water such as with other companies like Sega. I believe they will continue to fight in the next 20 years and in the end, one will remain.

Nintendo in the future...

http://www.geekologie.com/2010/09/nintendo-our-next-console-is-g.php

Nintendo is in the making of their next gen console and it scheduled for next year release. Not many details are released yet, but the president is promising that it will leave your mouth open in aw. Rumors and leaks of the system tell of it being fully interactive with senors connected to your head to be able to read and sense movements. Details are still unknown but prototype pictures are all over the internet already. The device is supposed to be on par with other devices as far as graphics go also, meaning it will be 3D.

Psp2 (future)

The future of gaming is heading towards handheld and portable friendly devices. And powerful. The PSP 2 is supposed to release at the end of this year and it is just as powerful if not more, than a PS3 system. The screen on the psp2 has the same visual graphics as a ps3 in pure HD.

FaceBook/Smart Phone Mini-Games (Future)

Lets keep it simple and easy now. No more huge clunky controllers or crazy high end graphics. The future and craze right now are simple and easy, yet addictive mini-games with two of the biggest social networking equipments/programs, FaceBook and Smartphones. How many times have you been on FaceBook, and got bored and began to play invite two or three friends for a random game on FaceBook, or was a passenger on a long car ride, and began tinkering with a cool new game on your smartphone. Imagine a wildly popular IpPhone app/game that cost a dollar to download, with over a million of unique purchasers buy that one game, each time a company creates and releases a new fun addictive game. The future of handheld/FaceBook mini games are endless

Star Wars (Future)

Star Wars. All ages old to young, know about the series. Whether it was the 1st or 6th movie, the Star Wars is a huge billion-dollar corporation, with products from the movies, books, clothing, and even Star Wars themed- attractions. While a Star Wars video game is not exactly something new, this is quite different for it is an MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing game). The creators wish to earn the help from its massive fanbase from the movie series to drive this game to the top of the MMORPG competition, hopping to surpass the top dog, World of Warcraft, which has a registered 12 million players paying 12 dollars a month to continue playing. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the MMORPG field is wide open, and with an establish franchise such as Star Wars attempts to step up in the near future, it will get very interesting to see how it is received.

Violence and the Future (Future)

Take a look at the two images above. Several years ago people were outraged at the "original" gun controller, the NES Duck Hunter, which could only be played with a handgun-esque controller, which many believed would promote real life fire arms usage. The assault rifle pic is a part of the PS Move addon, which even further allows more "interaction" with the current shooters, such as Battlefield or Call of Duty game series.

The other (more graphic) pic is of the new Mortal Kombat 9 video game. Back when the original Mortal Kombat was released, many were outraged by a head being punched off, with 3 pixels worth of blood falling off. Back then violence was being prevented from being displayed by the graphic limitations of that time. Now is 2011, where graphics and images such as the one above are possible.

Is our video game's nowadays too violent? Do video game companies do this to have a "shock" factor in terms of violence, to draw in the curious. Its the same as the saying "it's like a massive trainwreck, its ugly and your don't want to look, but you can't look away".

Future of Online Security (Future)

As many current owners of current generation consoles may know, but 77 million Playstation Network accounts were hacked last week, resulting in the server being shut down still (over a week now). Passwords, email-addresses, phone numbers, and apparently even credit cards are compromised, resulting in one of the worst data loss situations in history. Many have swayed their eyes to Sony, and their apparent lack of defense and encryption for keeping the database of account in a elementary level text file.

This bring out the question of account protection on videogaming (and of course the internet as well). Hopefully many other gaming servers take note of what has been going on with PSN, and strive to improve their protection, and overall online quality.

Duke Nukem Forever (Future)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVuuyRGB_BA (if link is not working search "Duke Nukem Forever" on youtube) This is a game that was thought to be a prank since it has been in development for 12 years as is pointed out at the very end of the trailer. I chose this game to talk about because it is a game that SHOULD get an Adult Only rating, but is instead given a Ma 17+. Also the game is very unique compared to many games today. How often do you see a game character on a quest to save more then one woman? This game also seems like it will have a mix of the old and the new. By old and new I mean gameplay mechanics might be a mix of older and newer styles.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Future)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LScfNP6pWrs&feature=fvwrel Inside Gaming (Video G...: IGP: Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (To the left is the exact name of the link if the link is not working on youtube). The Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning I found interesting. One: R.A. Salvatore, a best-selling author, created the fantasy world. Can any other game say that? I don't think a single game currently out has been worked on at all by any author especially a best-seller. Another reason I found this game interesting is that in this open world RPG the fighting will be similar to fighting games, meaning you can knock enemies in the air, combos, hit reacts, etc... (I found this information in the April edition of Game informer) Also like the Elder Scrolls series players will not be bound to a class and instead have 3 primary trees to put points in: might, sorcery, and finesse.

Dark Souls (Future)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGsGAJcKdok (If link is not working search "Dark Souls Interview: Overview" on youtube) Dark Souls is a game that will come out in the fall that uses a lot of the gameplay mechanics of Demon's Souls, but is NOT a sequel to Demon's Souls. For anyone (whether you like video games or not) the 5 minute video shown here should be able to hold your attention. I have noticed for one that the creatures in the video look pretty unique compared to plenty of other games I've seen/played. Also in this game, unlike other hack and slash games, there will be a good sense of strategy and difficulty (as was in Demon's Souls). In a lot of other games the victory is handed to you, this will not be the case as you will constantly face needs to change strategy and adjust to be able to survive. Or you could just destroy your xbox 360 or PS3 controller.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Future)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjqsYzBrP-M (if link is not working type "Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Official Gameplay Trailer" into youtube) The fifth Elder Scrolls in the series is coming out in November of this year. The reason why it is important is that it is getting rid of classes. Madness! some of you might be saying, but it is true. The developers thought that classes limited imagination and decided that YOU the player choose whatever you want to be. You could be a swordsman who poisons your sword before striking down your adversary while wearing light armor if you choose or a heavily armored mage without feeling pigeon holed into stereotypical rpg roles. Also Elder Scrolls V Skyrim molds itself to fit the player. This means if you have not been to that dungeon north of town you might get a quest from a villager to get a lost heirloom or clear it of bandits or any other of a large number of tasks.

Diablo 3 (Future)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEvThjiE038 ("Diablo III: Gameplay Trailer" in youtube if link is not working) This link shows the gameplay trailer of Diablo III, which is supposed to be coming out sometime next year. The 19 minute video is well worth watching for anyone who loves hack and slash gameplay with a bit of strategy thrown in. Diablo III is an action game where you get to kill demons. The main premise of the story is still unknown since in Diablo 2 the player supposibly destroyed the 3 Prime evils, Diablo, Mephisto and Baal (all synonyms for devil) in the previous game and destroyed their soul stones, which bound them to the world of Santuary (the game world). The thing that makes this game different from those today (besides being a Diablo game) is that this game will have unlimited replay value. I'm not just saying that for the sake of saying it, by unlimited I mean there will be random "adventures", (I forget the actual term and where I got this information, but I have been looking up Diablo 3 information for a LONG time) where you are randomly assigned a quest from a very large database of quests, which I think is based off either the level of the character or where the character currently is. If you want more information go to http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/ or just go to Blizzard's website and select Diablo 3.

Virtual Sports Games (Present)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3WPjyIbt4Q

With the now wildly popular PSMove, 360 Kinect, and WII, virtual gaming is extremely prominent in today's gaming industry. While many believe that if you are willing to run and jump and swing your arms around for a virtual simulation of a sport, why not just go outside and play the real thing? Would any of you guys be willing to play a video game simulation of their personal favorite sport over the actual sport at least once?

Gaming Addiction (Present)

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/06/08/craft_addicts/

Check this article from boston.com in the subsection of the Boston Globe newspaper articles. In this article is an interview with a psychiatrist who commonly treats those with addictions, and in this case a video game addiction. The article generally focuses on the current and wildly popular MMO (multi-million online) game World of Warcraft. As of October 2010, over 12 million users worldwide partake in this monthly pay to play fantasy game.

Homefront (Present)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6NiAGu4_8s&feature=player_embedded

Watch the "trailer" to this new video game just released. Is this game going too far? Using the still-recent N. Korean military shelling on the S. Korean border as a piggyback to pique the interest of those interested? The game itself has met several controversies, including the outright sales ban in S. Korea, as well as the simulation of a possible future war. These plots and story developing techniques are quite common nowadays in modern-warfare simulated games, including Homefront and the very popular Call of Duty Modern Warfare series. Do these games overstep their boundaries and go a little "too far" in terms of simulating a future war amongst countries already face to face with violent tensions?

Pokemon B&W (Present)

Take a quick examination of the two pictures on the left. One will probably bring about nostalgic childhood memories of a hand-held game, painfully deciding which would be your choice amongst the three beginning pokemon. The first generation of pokemon games were released on the Gameboy in 1996. Flashforward to the present, where the newly released Pokemon Black and White has just been released for the Nintendo DS. The pictures as shown from side to side just shows how much gaming as evolved, however mainstream series will always be able to bring in new players/fans to buy their products, as well as add a new look to the good old classics.

3d gaming (current)

TV and movies are in this lead... and video games are coming up with 3D gaming now as well! It is the next jump from HD tvs, 3D tvs are becoming more popular now and playstation 3 has taken the lead in the gaming world because they have already released their 3d gaming. It's remarkable how close to reality games can actually get....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ishJ1EdGw

Nintendo 3ds (current)

Nintendo is a gaming pro... and has been for years. They are still putting out great systems and keeping up with technology with the new nintendo 3ds... check out this video to see it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGqQV-yz4qg

Mortal Kombat series... still alive! (current)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdEhPV5KDug

The mortal kombat series has been in gaming for over 15 years, and it is still here with a new game coming out next month. The series has been completely reamped and matched with today's new gaming technology so the visuals look impressive in this brutal arcade style fighter!

The playstation sharp shooter (current)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7oGjGWiSrg

This is an attachment for the playstation move, and it really brings the realism to gaming. Not only are the graphics there, but this makes playing a first person shooter game, like your actually holding the rifle. In the past, there was duck hunt, but this completely changes the gaming experience and really ups the game in today's market.

Playstation Move (current)

The playstation move expands gaming technology greatly! Many systems are going more "mobile" these days with their interactive gaming, and playstation really keeps up with the race with there Move device.

Starcraft 2 (Current)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0pB7h6zg00 (if link doesn't work type in "Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC, Mac) Walkthrough - Part 1 [HD]") This video shows Starcraft 2, the sequel to Starcraft, which was mentioned earlier in the blog. Most of the video is the beginning cutscene of Tychus Findley (a main character) being released from his cryogenic prison and into a marine suit. After that you see Jim Raynor, another main character, in a bar watching Arcturus Mengsk slander his name on the news, while glancing at a photo of Sarah Kerrigan, an ally of his who fell to the Zerg at New Gettysburg to be transformed into the Queen of Blades, aka the leader of the Zerg. The video then shows the start of the first mission, Liberation Day. Changes from Starcraft 1 to 2: 3D is enabled, a lot of the technology used in the cinematics and such is more up to date, among other things. One of the fundamental changes is that players now have access to a system called real I.D. This means if you personally know someone you can invite them (invite their email address) to see both their actual name and their regular I.D. By this I mean there is still a system where you have a username that is displayed to the general public, so only the people you wish will know your actual name.

Borderlands (PS3 / Xbox 360)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sSMD9GtSjg (If link is not working type in "Borderlands Walkthrough - Part 1 : Time to get School'd") This video shows the PS3 / Xbox 360 game Borderlands. In this game you choose from a siren, a soldier, a berzerker, and a hunter as playable classes. Each class has unique profiencies and special abilities (aka the soldier can summon a turret to aid him in battle). The game is also played in a sort of dark, yet cartoonish environment with lots of humor added, espeically in the form of Claptrap (the breakdancing robot). Also did I mention there are LOTS of guns in this game? Well.... there are about 2 million guns in this game meaning lots of customization for your characters.

Demon's Souls (Ps3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMIFCEPDU94 (if link is not working type in "Demon's Soul's Walkthrough - Boletarian Palace 1-1 - Part 1") This video shows the PS3 only Demon's Soul's. It is a 3D action/ quick thinking game that to many people (not me however since I was able to get 100% of the PS3 trophies for it) is EXTREMELY difficult. Although there is only 16 levels (The same number as the original Diablo) in this game, there is never a true end to the game since after beating it, your character starts over again with everything from the previous playthrough and the game becomes harder and harder for each playthrough. What is the max level for this game you ask? 772, meaning a level 772 character has all stats maxed at 99. Also lvling is done through collecting souls from slain enemies, BUT are lost if you manage to be killed. When you are killed you are sent back to the beginning of the level and at the spot where you died, there is a bloodstain. If you get to your bloodstain you will get back all of your souls, but if you die before reaching your bloodstain, the original bloodstain goes away as does all the souls that are in it and is replaced by a new bloodstain. Also if you are connected to the internet while your playing you can see the spirits of other players in the same area (they are in a different instance of the zone). You can also see other player's bloodstains and activate them to see how they die. This could warn you of a nearby trap or an ambush. Also messages can be read and written by the player for all the world to see, to help or mwuahaha hinder the other players.

Super Street Fighter IV (Present)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKIJIJdjhT8 (if link is not working type in " Super Street Fighter IV 'Adon vs Sagat Gameplay' TRUE-HD QUALITY ") This video shows the present Street Fighter game. As anyone can see the graphics are much better then the original and the gameplay is much more balenced (aka one hit doesn't knock out 50% of a character's life bar). In the video Adon fights Sagat is a truely great match of skill. Personally I don't think I would last 30 seconds against these competitors.

Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov6rRDZrkho (if link is not working type in "Donkey Kong Country Returns 100% walkthrough Part -1 ( Intro and Jungle 1-1 )) This video shows Donkey Kong Country Returns, which is the present version (some consider it to be a remake, but that is not entirely true since tikis are the enemy instead of kremlins) of the Donkey Kong Country series (in which the first was covered on this blog). Donkey Kong Country Returns is a platform game like it's predecessor, but unlike the original it is presented in a different way. By this I mean in the original Donkey Kong Country, everything was purely 2d. That is not the case anymore with more then one area being on the screen sometimes as was the case once during this video. The second area appears above the first and much smaller, but still decently visible. Another difference from this new Donkey Kong Country Returns and the SNES Donkey Kong Country is that true co-op is possible. By this I mean in the SNES Donkey Kong only one player could play at one time in co-op mode and could switch to the other player whenever. In the new Donkey Kong Country, two players can simultaneously play together with the option of having Diddy Kong ride Donkey Kong's back.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG2FqsybwaA (if link is not working type in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Walkthrough Part 1) This video shows the N64 version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the 5th and final game from the past that will be discussed here. Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure game that takes place in two different times since the player can go from Young to Adult Link or vice versa by something as simple as picking up or putting back the Master Sword. The story of Ocarina of Time is amazing and even when that is done there is still a lot of things to do. Many still think of it as one of the greatest games of all time despite it being slightly over a decade old. This game to me means that no matter how "old" a game is it can still be up there with the best of them.

Starcraft (original)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIXgxnVpRBU&playnext=1&list=PLF9226B77F797043B (if the link is not working type in The Entire Starcraft 1 Story - Episode I P1/4) Starcraft is a PC RTS (real time strategy) game. In the game you control one of three races, the zerg, terran(humans), and the protoss. Your goal can be any number of things from bringing a character somewhere, protecting a certain unit or simply taking out all your opponents. Starcraft features decent graphics and includes mission briefings in the single player campaign. I honestly credit Starcraft's briefings with the reason why I can read decently today since you could actually see the words on the screen while they were talking. The avatars of the characters in the briefings even show emotion when it fits the conversation so they aren't just pixels on a screen doing actions.

Donkey Kong Country (Super Nintendo version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwN_Dpsdnuw (If link is not working type in SNES Donkey Kong Country - Jungle Hijinks) This video shows the SNES version of Donkey Kong Country, an early console game. Donkey Kong Country is a platform game, meaning you go from one side of the level to the other while avoiding obstacles, pitfalls and enemies. The characters in Donkey Kong Country are more detailed then Street Fighter. Donkey Kong Country characters also show emotions based upon what the characters do in certain events (Diddy stomps on his hat if you lose a minigame for example) which adds some comedy to failure and praise to success. The backgrounds also show in certain levels changes in scenery such as in the video when the time of the day changes from day to night as you end the first level.

First Street Fighter Arcade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M16WIxxo0WA (if link is not working, type Street Fighter Arcade (one credit keyboard play)). This is a video showing the first Street Fighter game. This game is much more advanced then Pong. There are complicated controls such as punching, kicking, movement and special moves that go beyond the simple game of catch of Pong. There is also much more complex shapes used in Street Fighter. Street Fighter characters look decently humanoid except there is no real high detail on the character models. The backgrounds are also lacking in elaborate details, but seem slightly more detailed then Street Fighter's character models.

Video of Pong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPkUvfL8T1I (or if the link is not working type Arcade Original Pong in youtube). This short video shows one of the oldest video games of all time, Pong. This game is much simpler than games of today as it has no complex shapes. Though like modern games, Pong is simply the same thing over and over again, just in a simpler form.

The Culture of Video Games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aw-42JO3qk

Video games have been around since the 70's. It is no surprise that it would have a huge emphasis in our culture and even our everyday lives. The images and video above may be games you have all seen or played before. The impact of video games is very prominent and deeply ingrained if our culture. When the first original Mortal Kombat hit the arcades (and eventually console) it was immediately met with controversy over its graphic and bloody gameplay. So much in fact that current the Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman initiated hearings in 1992, which would eventually lead to the creation of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) which contineus to this day rating days for children, parents, and adults.

Video games also seek to continue to milk the cash cow of other forms of entertainment, specifically movies and music. The very popular rythemn/instrument-based games bank millions and millions off not only the game itself, but also for the instruments used to play teh game. Some games are even entirely based on a certain artist, to capture the fans and demographic of that artists music style ( Rock Band The Beatles). In Hollywood, James Cameron's Avatar in 2009 was an enormously huge blockbuster, becomign teh first film to crack 2 billion in grossings. The above image is just a picture of the now many video games that are based on highly successful Hollywood movies.

One of the arguments against videogames is the reasoning that they are unhealthy and causes children to participate less and less in physical activities. However, there are many video games out nwo that require physical activity. Many children-based programs commonly combine or use games with physical exercises. These include (pictured above) Dance Dance Revolution machines, WII sports, and Playstation MOVE sports to name a few.

All in all, videogames are many things to everybody. In the video posted above, the computer game Starcraft is so immensely popular in South Korea, that players are paid thousands to play like professional athletes and are even revered on the same level same as music stars. Whether we play videogames to move crazily on a dance mat, beat and trash-talk with friends, relive a movie, or just to kick back and relax, videogames are here to stay.

The timeline of videogames

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yn4JRsmyy4

Very interesting video that takes you from the history of videogames from the founders that started everything back in the 1950's. You can actually see the progression over the years and the advancement of technology.

Evolution of Videogames

Feeling nostalgic? Many of these images are probably bring out the good old childhood memories from some of you who enjoyed playing video games as a child. As with all otherforms of technology, video games have deeply evolved at an incredible rate. Back in the 1980's dumping quarters to play Pac-Man at a nearby laundromat was probably a common occurrence. Cue ten years later where the children who befriend other children at thriving arcades are now bringing their friends from school back home to play the newly created consoles. Videogames evolved to now be able to have an entire lightweight machine playable at the comforts of your home, with companies such as Nintendo and their SNES and N64 consoles or the Sony and their Playstation 1 consoles that so culturally impacted the 1990's. Flash forward to the 2000's where console gaming is still very much prominent, however in even far more advanced forms. Not only are our current generation consoles such as a PS3 or Nintendo WII able to play DVD's and CD's, but are able to link internationally to play games with other people across the Internet. No more did children have to go other each others houses. All they needed was internet connection and a microphone and they connected. Along with the connection to the internet, but the now prominent physically active games that are so popular now. Games such as Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, and the current motion sensory panels such as the PSMove and WII are a new breed of video games that are taking households by storm. Needless to say, videogames have deeply evolved from the old days of playing Pong.

Evolution of video games

This is our first post.. a little behind, but that shouldn't mean anything. In this blog we will be discussing the evolution of videogames in the past, present, and future. Video games aren't that "ancient" and have been around since the 70's, so it should be interesting to see how technology has sprouted at an incredible speed.