Activision showed off the state of the art of real-time graphics on Wednesday, releasing this mind-boggling character demo. The character’s skin, facial expressions and eyes look so real, it’s uncanny.
Cliff Bleszinski, Chris Roberts, Paul Bettner, and Palmer Luckey share their vision for the future of gaming The SXSW Gaming Expo is preposterously loud. At one side of the room, aStarcraft tournament is reaching its climax, but on the other side, one group of guys is yelling louder. They sound like a basement full of adolescents
As game-based learning gains momentum in education circles, teachers increasingly want substantive proof that games are helpful for learning. The game-makers at the non-profit GlassLab are hoping to do this with the popular video game SimCity. GlassLab is working with commercial game companies, assessment experts, and those versed in digital classrooms to build SimCityEDU, a downloadable
Some day not all that far in the future, a new kind of entertainment is going to be perfected that will either be the coolest video game ever, or the media equivalent of a lethal man-made super-virus. You can predict what that entertainment might be like just by extrapolating from technology that already exists.
Hungarian startup Leonar3Do (pronounced “Leonardo”) today demoed its mind-boggling virtual reality software for PC and Mac that lets you manipulate 3D objects as if they were right in front of you. Using a combination of triangulation (using sensors latched on to your computer) and 3D goggles, Leonar3Do creates an environment for interacting with 3D objects
Read the manual before using the interface. (Kinect Adventures) (Yes, it’s a *cute* manual, but these are still instructions to memorize.) Summary: Inconsistent gestures, invisible commands, overlooked warnings, awkward dialog confirmations. But fun to play. Kinect is a new video game system that is fully controlled by bodily movements. It’s vaguely similar to the Wii,
Konami recently sent us a copy of their new title, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. After testing the game, it was clear that the game could be a case study to highlight the difference between usability and user-experience (UX).
The latest release in the Civilization series has many improvements, from beautiful new graphics to redesigned gameplay. Many features in Civilization IV have been streamlined or eliminated, in favor of a simplified playing experience that will attract new players to the game. Having studied Civilization IV extensively (most of our publications are based upon research
As a fan of football games, going back to the days of classics like Tecmo Bowl (NES), we were excited to play this year’s redesign of the successful Madden NFL series. We can report that Madden NFL ’11 is the most realistic, graphically stunning, and holistic football simulation to date. However, the new “GameFlow” play
Students at Quest to Learn in New York City huddle around a computer to work on a podcast. At the school, students can design and create podcasts and video games as part of the curriculum. A novel public school in New York City has taken the video game as its model for how to teach.
