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A Lil' Diddy

If you told someone 10 to 15 years ago that the music industry would be huge in video games they probably would have laughed at you. Music has come along way from the simple polyphonic tunes of Mario Bros. Although classic, the music from that time was simple and repetitive.

These days to have a blockbuster game you need to have a blockbuster soundtrack to go with it. It is that important to have a great theme that is recognizable. It is no longer a simple polyphonic sound but has grown to even be a symphonic sound. With games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, music is hitting it big in the video game market. Such video game music that made it big using the sound of a symphony are games like Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Civilization and Advent Rising. Songs like these have been traveling around the states on a tour called Video Games Live with sell-outs and encore shows.

Recently the Hollywood Music Awards (HMA's) included a new category for the first time in their ceremonies. This new category is for video games with awards given to "Best Original Score," "Best Original Song," and "Outstanding Music Supervision." This is the first time video game music has been recognized equally with movies and television. This years winners are as follows:

Best Original Score

Wataru Hokoyama - Afrika (Afrika)

Best Original Song

Azam Ali - Logan's Shadow (Siphon Filter: Dark Mirror)

Outstanding Music Supervision

Steve Schnur - Madden NFL 2008 (Electronic Arts)

Long Live PS2!

It appears that the PS2 will be no longer. After this holiday season developers will be withdrawing their support from the PS2.
What does that mean? It means no new games for the PS2. Sony was hoping for 10 years but will only get 8 of their historic system. That is quite a feat. New systems come out about every 5 years, give or take a year. Even after the release of the PS3 Sony continued to support their lesser system.
That is more than Microsoft can say about their Xbox. Microsoft stopped with the new release of games for their Xbox only a few months after the Xbox 360 was available in stores.
PS2 had and still has one of the biggest user bases for a console system. Microsoft could learn something from Sony.

(Source: MCV)

"Hi my name is Rick and I'm a Gaming Addict."

"Hi Rick."

Some news out ouf Canada is suggesting that the addiction to gaming can be fatal. This probably isn't the first time this has been said or heard of. Once again parents of these so called addicts are looking for more education about this phenomina. Should it be included in the schools like sex and drug eductaion? It seems parents are getting lazier and lazier about the education that should take place in their homes. A friend commented to me the other day that "..times have changed since he was young. Nobody goes outside anymore because they have thier video games." It is true. More and more people choose the confines of their house or room to hang out with friends over the internet. This addiction is even being compared to acloholism. Well anything done outside of moderation can be considered an addiction in which people plan their lives around. Would planning a specific route to work just so you can pick up your fovorite coffee each morning be an addiction, what about listening to music on a portable device so you can take it where ever you go, and what about making sure you are home and available for your favorite TV program? If we want to talk about addictions lets make sure we don't leave anyone out.

(Source: Canadian Press)

For help with your game addiction follow this link.

Open or Closed Circuits

Apparently Circuit City hasn't been doing well lately. When I say lately I actually mean for awhile. Circuit City might be shutting down stores to remain afloat and avoid bankruptcy. They are considering filing for bankruptcy protection. If they do then they would be joining some other retailers that have filed for bankruptcy protection like Linens 'n Things, Mervyn's and Sharper Image. To make matters worse Sony doesn't trust Circuit City anymore. Sony had their shipment turn around while in route to Circuit City. They don't think Circuit City's word is good anymore. Will it ever be good again? I went there once and haven't been back. So if you wan't Sony products don't go to Circuit City.

(Sources: Gizmodo, Marketwatch, Pic)

Project Two

Dems and Reps

Oh the Humanity!

 Video games have been under fire for their often violent natures for a long time.  It appears that this is the subject of  the federal appeals court in California.  A law that would ban the sales of mature and adult rated games to minors is under debate.  Most retailers already follow this suggestion from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) even though it isn't required.  Laws like this have been defeated time and again in our courts across the country but haven't had much success.  Most gamers agree that whether or not there is a law for such content it won't affect the the gaming industry much.  

So... parents pay attention to what your kids are playing instead of relying on someone else to do it for you. 

(Source) (Pic  "Mad World" - Wii)

Más Halo?

This week at the Tokyo Game Show millions of fans peed their pants in excitement for Bungie's Halo announcement.  They announced a new chapter in the Halo trilogy called Halo 3: Recon.  This game is a prologue to Halo 3 and takes place at the end of Halo 2.  In this Halo game there is a twist; you play as an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper).  These are the guys that are first on the scene in New Mombasa.  Sadly it appears that Master Chief will not be seen as he is in space fighting during this chapter.  It looks cool though and will be gladly accepted by Halo fans everywhere.  Here are some links for more answers and a look at the trailer.

Wii Copycat

Late this fall Microsoft will be releasing an update for their Xbox 360.  This will change the whole interface of the box's menu system.  Along with this new look comes avatars.  These avatars are customizable to look like you (or not).  They are even releasing games where you can use your avatars as players in these games.  Wait... this sounds familiar... oh yeah Nintendo already did that.  Supposedly this will be an improved version of the Nintendo Wii avatars.  Some of the screens Microsoft has released shows that it takes the avatar system one step further and that much cooler.

Chromed out Internet

Yes your Internet can get chromed out. Google has developed a new web browser called Google Chrome. How is this different than the normal web browser you use? That is a good question. One difference is that there is no longer two separate bars for addresses and searches. They have combined the two. You want to go somewhere - type it. You want to find something - type it in the same box. The browser will also warn you of dangerous sites with malware. Most virus software already does this but Google Chrome has no subscription fee. There are a lot of differences that stand out and a lot that are subtle differences. To find out if it is any better than your current browser - download it. It doesn't cost anything, so give it a try.

Fable Fibs?

Fable II has promised an online co-op play feature for its game. This week it was made known that this feature will not be included when it ships next month. For any fan of the Fable series this may come as a disappointment but probably not very surprising. To anyone that played the first Fable game this isn't new news. The first Fable promised a lot but didn't deliver on those promises. The online co-op will be available later on as a download but not when the game ships. Hopefully this is the only hiccup in this game because Fable fans don't want another empty promise.

Project One

Here is the link to my website for Project One.

Midway sells IOU's

This past week Midway sold 40 million dollars worth in account receivables to cover manufacturing costs of some of their upcoming titles. Midway is best known for their Mortal Kombat series. Other classic hits include NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. Midway reported a $34.8 million net loss in its second fiscal quarter -hence the 40 million it needed. Hopefully they won't go anywhere because they have developed some great games; as of recent... not so much. Although things are looking up with their new game entitled Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It looks awesome!

Japan loves Microsft?

This past week, for the first time ever, the Xbox 360 outsold the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Playstation 3 in Japan. It may only be for a week's time period but it is a great accomplishment none the less. In the past the Xbox was usually second to last or just plain last. Losing to the Nintendo DS was even an obstacle the Xbox faced. The release of two new role playing games(Infinite Undiscovery and Tales of Vesperia )are credited to the Xbox's increase in sales.

Mind Control... Literally.

Oh sweet, here comes a new acronym. This is the worlds first BCI for video games. To answer your question BCI stands for Computer Brain Interface. This BCI detects brain activity in real time. In brain science this means it can sense the small voltage changes in the brain caused by the firing of neurons. Its creator Emotiv says that the EPOC can sense about 30 emotions, actions, and expressions. Simulated force powers. . . that would be the next best thing. Now all we need is a chair to lie down in and an outlet in the back of our head to plug it in to.

(source CNN)

Age of the Retired

Since 1995 the game studio Ensemble has been making memorable games, but this week it was announced that it is being shut down. Ensemble is best known for games such as Age of Empires, Age of Mythology, and their current project Halo Wars. This week Microsoft Game Studios announced that Ensemble will be disassembled after it finishes it's current project Halo Wars. Ensemble has a huge fan base and will surely be missed. Microsoft has stated that it will find jobs either with in the company or on other MGS projects. Their latest game Age of Empires III has sold over 1.5 million copies since it's release. With such success it makes one wonder, why Ensemble? Microsoft has stated that it makes sense fiscally. Well at least those great minds won't go to waste. Hopefully we will see some of their fine work later on, just not under the Ensemble name.

Sorry Colb.

More enemies for the Big M

This year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo Microsoft unveiled a new experience for their gamers on the Xbox 360. They have teamed up with Netflix to deliver streaming movies to their consoles. This allows people with a Netflix subscription to watch over 10,000 movie titles on their consoles. Not only do they compete with other console companies like Sony and Nintendo, they now compete with movie rental companies like Blockbuster and Hollywood video. This is a wonderful addition to their gaming system but seems to be creating some big enemies at the same time.

It knows how you move...

Euphoria is a feeling of happiness, confidence, or well-being sometimes exaggerated in pathological states as mania. Well NaturalMotion has created that feeling for all to see with their new game engine entitled just that, Euphoria.

With euphoria they have managed to create an artificial computer generated body. This body has a skeleton system, nervous system, muscular system, and a sense of self preservation. All of the computer animations using this engine are generated on the fly. This means none of the bodies reactions and movements were planned out before hand or made using a motion capture system. This is a monumental step forward in computer animation. This engine has already been implemented in two games(Grand Theft Auto IV and The Force Unleashed). NaturalMotion is using their own technology to make their own game, Backbreaker, using the football realm as it's setting. Check out the video below that uses in-game footage only.

3D without all the Gadgetry.

Since I was a little kid games have saught after a realistic feel to them. They have come out with visors that you can wear, some fancy electronic motion sensing suits, or just some plain two colored lenses in some glasses.

The gaming industry has tried to capture this realistic feel at an affordable price for a long time. There was the Nintendo Power glove, Virtual Boy and now the Wii. All of these products from Nintendo shared the same goal; make the experience more realistic.

Johnny Chung Lee has come up with a system that gives a player a more submersive feel in a game than we have ever had before at a descent price. This price is about the same price as a Nintendo Wii. It is the same price because he uses the Wii's technology to implement his design. His design is called head tracking. Head tracking tracks the angle of your view(the position of your head) and then adjust the picture to that angle creating a realistic view and feel to the game.
Check out his video that he has made to show this in action.

truism - a self-evident, obvious truth.

"...truth is relative and each viewer must become an active participant in determining what is legitimate and what is not." - Jan Avgikos


If you go to Google and do a search on truisms you might find some familiar phrases like the early bird gets the worm or the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. These are some examples of truisms. We have probably heard these sayings all our lives

It could be argued concerning the author of such phrases but one person that we could call the creator of the truism is Jenny Holzer. She has written several hundred of these one liners.

Some examples of her work are:
everything that's interesting is new
private property created crime
self-contempt can do more harm than good

She not only writes these truisms but uses them in her unique art. She does so by publishing them in public places so passer-bys can see them.