Digital Culture –| 2008

Game Technology has always been evolving and evolving, but what i find that is very interesting is the way they have been evoloving… Gaming was pretty big in the 80′s as seen in dans post for the movie “The wizard” and technology was pretty hi-tech back in the days… but what caught my eye was the power glove for the nintendo console.. This was a robotic control that you put on like a glove and it has sensors on the screens which is also linked up to the nintendo.. what this allowed the user to do was to move his arm in any direction left and right to move an object.. Now what i find interesting is how the Wii controller is also similar but users bluetooth.. this is more efficient and effective, basically the concept is the same but only technology has been advanced.. Much like for the use of the new “Wii Power Glove” similar in design to the 80′s “Power Glove” but the only difference is it’s bluetooth..

Check out an example http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BS_87WoJ0j8

The mind-controlled game I mentioned yesterday is called as Judecca, a zombine thriller game…

More info, click here…

I’ve done a little bit of personal research on the internet regarding gaming. There are few gaming hardware which I really like and games that impressed me…

My Findings…

It’s really crazy… Square Enix, Co. Ltd. will demo its new game concept developed in conjuction with NeuroSky, Inc. As some of us may know already that Square Enix is the creator of Final Fantasy series. NeuroSky, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of wearable bio-sensor. They teamed toghether not to develop a new Final Fantasy episode, but they might create a Final Fantasy game that can be played without using any game controller device. It will use your brainwaves signal to control the game…

Kinda very sciencefictionous, but the technological approach is at least logical… it simply uses a headphone-like device with a sensor attached to your forehead for the brainwaves reading called MindSet (yes, sounds right). Then, this device is simply connected to the computer (or console) and it replaces the game pad/keyboard/mouse/joystick/wadever…

NeuroSky's latest sensor-equipped brainwave headset, MindSet(TM).

This is the screenshot and you can find the infromation here…

Square Enix and NeuroSky technical demonstration - screen capture.

Jeff Minter is one of the most successful independent game developers ever – he’s been developing games since 1981, on a Sinclair (you might not have heard of the company Sinclair, but the Spectrum [released in 1982] was an incredible piece of UK popular culture, and really is responsible in some ways for how the UK is these days).

Anyway! He’s got a shooter on the xbox360 live marketplace called Space Giraffe. It’s probably the weirdest game ever:

This movie is either Nintendo advertising, or really hoping for some fat Nintendo dollars – check out all the awesome product placement.

This one won’t let me embed it, but check out the majesty of the final scene of the movie!

Hey all,

Showing my age again! Was thinking last night about what I could offer to tonight’s class regarding gaming culture and thought of another obscure film – Tron. At the time all that was available to kid’s back then was those way basic computer games that you played through a remote-less TV like a raw version of tennis I think was called pong. No wonder my age group spent more time outdoors, gaming culture was a non event.

Interestingly through Wikpedia have discovered that Tron was one of the first films from a major studio to use computer graphics extensively.

Poster Artwork

All my assignments were hand written, or typed on my Mum’s type writer. Letraset was the only option to give a graphic design edge!

This film had come up in the last five year’s amongst friends of mine regarding wacky fans discovered on the Internet, check out the home made costumes for a giggle…

The film deals with:

• a software mega-corporation
• Master Control Program(MCP)
• a self-evolving artificial intelligence
• video game arcade
• computer programs
• Pentagon‘s computer

Am planning to check out further on DVD… maybe we can check out clips on youtube in class tonight, my suggestion:

When I have to come up with a game post, I was delighted. I could talk about something great about the game industry as well as my favourite games. But I decided that this post needed to be dedicated to something noble. What I am about to show you must be seen by many people so we do not make the same mistake again.

I’m talking about this creepy horrible game called Princess Maker.

Princess Maker is a series of Japanese life simulation bishōjo games by the computer game and anime production company Gainax. If you’ve tried the Sim, try Raising Sim! The game put you as a father who tries to raise your “adopted” daughter into adulthood. The premised is claimed that in no way this game promoted child molestation (By Japanese standard (no standard)). Princess Maker series has 5 game, the latest – Princess Maker 5 – was released last year on the PC and PS2. Only Princess Maker 2 has

Gainax is well known in the scene of anime, giving us critical-acclaim show such as Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and the 500 pounds gorilla Neon Genesis Evangelion. I am going to speculated that because Gainax made Princess Maker in 1991 which broke the chart in creepiest, they had to atone for it with consecutive excellent TV shows.

Princess Maker 1

Princess Maker 2

Princess Maker 3

Princess Maker 4

Princess Maker 5

(somethingawful.com)
Princess Maker is basically a perverse sports management simulation where your entire team consists of a single ten year old girl that you have to raise to adulthood. Much like any decent sports manager game you have to keep track of a nearly overwhelming number of statistics that fluctuate based on training. In Princess Maker 2 these run the gamut from the mundane like “strength” and “charisma”, to the droll like “cooking” and “conversation”, to the bizarre like “sin” and “temper”. Initially the game only forces you to grapple with about ten of these attributes, but as things progress and your lovely daughter grows into a young woman you face an ever growing list of wacky new attributes that need raisin’ quicker than an Amish barn… the game becomes a tedious balancing act of cycling through various activities to make sure your little girl advances across the board. All of this is weighed against a hideous attribute called “stress” that will be your enemy.

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Status Page from Princess Maker 1

Sleazy bar!? Cabaret!?!? Her in-game age is, like, SIXTEEN!

Why did I pick this game? Inspired from the scene shown in class of the movie “A.I.”, Princess Maker might be the first step to create A.I. that its raison d’être is to love. Granted, even Princess Maker 5 is still a glorified tamagotchi but because the daughters are in human form (a jail-bait one at that) the bond can potentially goes deeper – echo the “reason” to make humanoid robots. One thing that interested me is how a good AI can build unique interaction with real human base on their past conditioning.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This game is bad. Very bad. Another quote from Somethingawful.com

“In addition to the disturbing cheesecake factor (such as breast-enlargement pills or the limited number of bondage costumes you can put your daughter in) there’s also the heartwarming fact that as she ages you can also get her involved in increasingly suspect job opportunities. The two main shady jobs for her are as a “fun times girl” at a sleazy bar and as a waitress at a cabaret club. Even more disturbing are the rare special events that allow you to rent your daughter out to a rich man as a prostitute, repeatedly whore her to supernatural creatures, or arrange a marriage to a dragon or demon. None of the sex is graphic at all and the only nudity in the game is a tiny bit of bare breasts that you really have to dig to find. HOWEVER! This is appalling because you can see said breasts when she is identified onscreen, simultaneously no less, as being well under 18. Let’s all just pretend I’m really fucking drunk and that this game somehow qualifies as “art” so that I can live out my life having never stared at child pornography.”

“Daughters” from Princess Maker 1, 2 and 3

Princess Maker 2′s infamous dominatrix rag

Utter horror

You know what I said about Gainax being good anime studio? I take it back. They produce Princess Maker the Anime (Petite Princess Yucie)

Thanks, Japan.

Nervous about the upcoming presidential elections? Not to worry: Game developer Stardock has released Political Machine Express, letting you live out your political fantasies and take Obama, Biden, Palin or McCain all the way to the White House.
The free game is a stripped-down version of The Political Machine, which combined the cutthroat strategies of Risk with adorably articulated bobbleheads. The original game allows players to re-create past political races or dream up entirely new ones. For example, players can pit Al Gore, inventor of the internet, against George Washington, founder of the nation, as the two politicians plan, scheme and pander their way to the highest office in the land.
In Express, which is being offered as a free download, you have a scant 21 weeks to scramble for endorsements, launch attack ads and drum up support while outmaneuvering your political foes and crisscrossing the United States.
Much of the actual political process has made the transition into the game intact: You’ll give speeches, take a stand on a candidates’ real issues and juggle the costs of running a campaign while securing enough attention and support to win.

Since the early 80s there have been several movies that have either referenced video games (e.g., War Games) or (more recently) have been based on video games. In both cases, there are examples of movies that really shouldn’t have been made: The Wizard wasn’t Nintendo’s finest hour and does anyone think Kylie still has fond memories of the Street Fighter movie? There are, however, a few movies that are definitely worth checking out, including the grand-daddy of them all, Tron (1982):

For what appears to be a very complete list of movies related to video games, I refer you to the all knowing Wikipedia: List of films based on video games. There have also been an increasing amount of documentaries on video games, including last year’s “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters”, which followed the clash over world’s highest score for Donkey Kong.