The Future of Gaming?

There has been some potentially big news for the gaming industry. A service called OnLive was recently revealed and its premise is mind-numbingly cool. The service claims to be able to stream any videogame to your TV or computer, regardless of its GPU or any other internal hardware, with no lag. 

When I say any game, I mean any game in existence. (EDIT) Apparently it might be limited to any PC game. But with all the ports of games going on these days, the list is still pretty extensive. (END EDIT) First the CPU info. Issues like the processing power required to play the game, the software compatibility and other various issues will no longer be a problem. Whether it's a mac or windows, a desktop or a laptop these are factors of the past. For streaming games to your TV all your require is a small box, a bit like a tiny console, and a controller as shown below. 

The technology is all very complicated and quite cool. The basic manner in which OnLive delivers this service is by running your games on local hardware and sending you the information over the internet into your visual output. This means that no data analysis is being done by any of your local hardware thus the lack of any required specifications for computers. 

The concept is fantastic and I had no idea that we were anywhere close to this kind of technology which brings me to the final point. You need a pretty fast internet for this service to be operable. The developers are saying that a bandwidth of around 5 megabytes will be sufficient. Critics say that even with the 5 megabyte guideline it will be impossible to accomplish what OnLive sets out to do, and it is likely that they may very well be right. But if they are not the implications for the gaming industry are pretty insane.

Even if isn't done tomorrow it looks like this may be the future of the industry. Personally I'm pretty glad to cut out the middle-man and hand my money to the people responsible for the game I'm playing. Also, the concept is just so science fiction that I can't help but like it.

Awesome Marketing Monkeys!!!

Awesome!! Awesome!!

Those were my words when I made the discovery. That little viral marketing website that is showcasing Bioshock 2 is receiving updates. 

The plot thickens as more information is released. Girls are disappearing like gumdrops. Light seems to be moving south along the coast. 

Check back every once in a while to see what those crazy marketing people do next.

www.somethinginthesea.com

Awesome!!

An Enigmatic Approach

It's been a while since I've posted about my interactive digital form of entertainment.......Video Games!! That so deserved capitals. 

Anyways, I'm just writing to inform my fellow gaming brethren that a few new tidbits about anticipated games have been floated out by their respective companies and have made their way onto the internet.

I'm sure that all have seen the teaser trailer for Mass Effect 2 but if you haven't go give it a look.

Another tantalising tease regarding another highly anticipated game has become available. All I'm gonna say is check this site out. It may take a while to load so be patient.

http://somethinginthesea.com/

Enjoy 

Whoa!! Whoa!! Whoa!!!!!

U.S. police brutality is once again in the spotlight. It occured in Seattle, which is just a bit too far north for my my North vs. South prejudice.

Apparently the detainee 'assaulted' the officer and he, in turn, responded with an act of force in order to prevent further damage to his person. Now I just want to say that I tend to be quite impartial when observing events and I am definitely not somebody who leaps at the chance to criticise authority. In this case however, let's just say that I would not want to be the police officer's defense attorney.

Also don't blame the random dude who kinda goes along with it. He is just a trainee and is, I hope, too stunned and unsure to actually stop the insane man.

Check the events out here to see what happened. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7917288.stm

p.s. I'm sure the reader who is boycotting the BBC can get the video source at other news sites or youtube :p

An Anonymous Whisper

One has to wonder where exactly many news stories get their information. Generally a story begins as a collection of facts presented in a professional manner. The journalist identifies an issue, collects the necessary information, and presents it to the reader.

However, after reading an extensive collection of articles throughout these past years, it's clear that many articles are entirely based upon a quote, or two, and common perception/knowledge. Past articles are frequently used as sources and stories are continuously updated without the necessary investigation. This method of reporting can be extremely dangerous.

I am aware that presenting an article with an in-depth historical description, as well as all relevant facts, is unfeasible and would necessitate every article to be of excessive length. However I would advocate greater care and attention to detail in reporting as many times "facts" seem to evolve over time.

The danger of writing an article, without continuously examining the foundations of the story, is that some stories become so twisted through repeated telling that they enter the realm of fiction. 

I would like to bring to attention the Y2K debacle. I find it hilarious and pathetic that the whole scare stemmed, apparently, from two computer analysts stating that some computers may be adversely affected at the turn of the millennium, due to the technical limitations of the internal clocks.

It has been estimated that hundreds of billions of dollars, by the US, and hundreds of millions, by the UK, were spent on prevention measures. Ironic that when 1/1/2000 unfolded the countries that spent an enormous amount of money on prevention fared as well as those that spent none, with only few and minor problems reported across the globe.

Now, I am not saying that there was no need to investigate the problem however the media played a key role in inflating the problem. The media has a lot of power, and anybody that says it does not influence the governments stance is beyond naive. All that money wasted when it could have been put to so much better use.

As a wise dead man once said "With great power comes great responsibility" (Uncle Ben 19#$)

The news media must act with great care, as its influence plays a part in shaping the world. 

Bath of Emperors

This event happened some time ago however I feel no guilt about posting it at such a late date.

Many of the story's details are speculation and facts that have come from some source or another. The problem is that the event itself is so ludicrous that I don't believe any respectable (boring) news companies even bothered to do a follow-up in order to disclose all the facts. So this is what I know.

A somewhat paunchy tourist took an hour long swim in the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace. The facts of why he was swimming in the Imperial Palace moat are slightly muddled, however the important thing is that he was:

a) totally naked

b) aggressive.

Hiyaaa!!! Gaijin Smash

The tourist is British. His motive for jumping into the moat and subsequently attacking the police for trying to get him out was due to the fact that he had dropped his bag, which included his passport, into the water. This is also adequate explanation of why he attempted to retrieve it naked.

The Japanese response to his actions? Typical, they laughed and took pictures of him with their mobile phones. They also released him without charges stating that he was mentally unstable. 

Check online for some hilarious videos, like this one http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0WHTtMwodcM, of his battle against the man.

The Disrespectful Economist

The Friday issue of the Economist has been withheld in Thailand due to the slanderous nature of one of its articles. The naughty article in question recounts the somewhat embarrassing situation of a writer who slandered the monarchy.

This writer in his book had a brief passage where he was critical of an unnamed royal figure. This most heinous of crimes has landed him a three year jail sentence after he visited Thailand for tourism. The funny part of this story is that his book sold a total of 7 copies and he was not even aware that the material he was writing constituted a criminal offence......... what a fool, right?

Let us hope that the monarch is magnanimous and pardons him like he pardoned the last offender, a swiss man that was sentenced to jail for 10 years because he had been defacing the monarchs image. 

Long Live King Bhumibol Adulyadj the Merciful

Update (21/02/09) - The guilty man has been pardoned. Good news.