It's been a long time... a very long time

Indeed, it's been a long time since I last posted here at the very first blog I created way back in 2003 (early days of the blogging phenom, btw). Since first creating a Blogger blog, I created a blog using bloki blogging platform (since gone kaput) and, of course, several blogs using the WordPress platform (some by using the free hosting and templates at www.worpress.com and others by downloading the WordPress program from www.wordpress.org and then developing various blogs my own hosted site(s)).



I also have gotten into console gaming after formerly being quite the snob about the superiority of computer gaming. Since purchasing a PlayStation 3 gaming console I've found myself becoming increasingly enthusiastic about the simplicity of console gaming (i.e. not needing to endlessly upgrade components in order to play the latest computer games, nor having to endlessly install updates to said games and their engines in order for them to run properly). There's a real pleasure and absence of anxiety in knowing one can pop the latest gaming dvd into one's console and knowing it will work perfectly from the get go.

As well, I've found many PS3 exclusive games which are excellent, the least of which being the Uncharted series (very much looking forward to the upcoming Uncharted 3 on 11/11/11).

One draw back (spoiler alert: no longer a draw back) with the PS3 initially was that my favourite gaming company, Valve, was not a fan of the PS3 system and for years had no interest in producing content for it. I'm very glad to find this has finally changed.

Although cynics may say this change in attitude toward the PS3 is simply a money-grab by Valve because it can sell its Steam game delivery system through the PlayStation Network, Valve itself is saying that it now believes it can create great games using the PS3 architecture after finally recruiting team members who are skillful with the PS3 platform.

Valve's change of heart (wise decision) has me heading the store soon to purchase a copy of Portal 2 for the PS3 (btw, when you buy the PS3 version you also get the PC version "free").

Anyhow, I've also been watching the new tv series The Killing - "Who Killed Rosie Larsen?" - on AMC. And thus, I get to the impulse to make this posting...



One of the stars of The Killing is Michelle Forbes (wiki pictures don't look like her), who plays Mitch Larsen, Rosie's mom. Michelle is the voice for Dr. Judith Mossman in Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

Woopie... my avatar.

Source Engine vs. CryEngine 2 vs. Unreal Engine 3 graphics comparison

N4G.com has a bunch of pictures that compare these top game engines.

Water in Source Engine is frigging incredible! But of course, you gotta have a real good video card to really get the full impact.

Actually the comparison pictures are at PC Games Germany (but so much for technicalities).

It's right here in my back pocket...

Pulling out the ol' "here's your proof, right here in this intelligence report" justification, Bush plays the al_Qaeda boggyman again. Al Jazeera English - News - Bush: Iraq War Is War On Al-Qaeda Funny how we haven't heard much about al_Qaeda for ages. Do ya think it has anything to do with his war funding request? Really?

Bush wants nearly $100 bn to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on Thursday, before sending the bill to the senate for final passage of the measure that will bring total war spending to more than $500 bn since late 2001.

I just had to laugh at former President Carter's fighting words about Bush and his administration last week:

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," said Carter in an interview with The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette released Saturday. The Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2002 came down hard on the Iraq war, saying Bush had taken a "radical departure from all previous administration policies."

"We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered," he said.

Greatest Game of All-Time

Yesterday Game Spot adding Half-Life to its list of the greatest games of all-time. That ranking hardly comes as a surprise. It is just another of the huge number of accolades bestowed upon this ever-popular first person shooter (at least 100 Game of the Year or Greatest Shooter of All-Time from the most respected gaming sites on the planet).





One of the amazing things about Half-Life is all the modification games it is has spawned (Mod Datatbase lists some 292 complete mod games - both single and multiplayer- created from Half-Life). Counter-Strike, the most popular online shooter, and Day of Defeat (see Sidebar), together comprise around 80% of all FPS players online! Both were essentially created by teenagers using software development tools that Valve, the company that developed Half-Life, originally released with the game. Subsequently, Valve actually hired the young developers and released the popular mod games as Valve products.

Planet-Halflife's list of HL mods

I still find it fun to give Half-Life a run through, once a year or so. But its online in its multiplayer games where the real action is. Day of Defeat being my favourite. And, btw, DOD has one a few accolades itself. Even way back in the day when it was independent, before its team got employed at Valve. Those were exciting times to be a DOD player. There was a deep symbiotic relationship between "the team" and "the community" with many community members creating further mod material for DOD itself - such as custom maps and custom models. And everyone shared in the celebrations of DOD's successes. The online parties over mIRC were amazing when a new release was about to be launched.











btw, it appears the Half-Life 2's Black Box release has bite the dust. There's just going to be an Orange Box release. Here's an early review of Half-Life 2 - Episode 2 which is the main game that will be in the box, along with the an updated version of the massively popular, innovative, grand-daddy of online multiplayer games, Team Fortress 2

Passively Online Multiplayer - life as a game!

Yesterday as I surfed around for info on Bill Burroughs and I came upon a blog page about Justin Hall's visit to Lawrence, Kansas in 1996. If you're not familiar with Justin Hall he is one of bloggings most prominent personalities. Justin began blogging back in the earliest days of the World Wide Web, and his blot, links.net, was a hugely popular, highly intimate record of Justin's living adventures. I read his blog frequently, and had actually read his piece about Burrough's many years ago.

I had stopped reading links.net a few years back, round about when he moved to Japan, even though Justin continued blogging from there (of course!). After reading over his Burroughs' piece again, I decided to catch up, and clicked on the homepage link. Surprisingly, it didn't look like links.net whatsoever. It turned out Justin stopped regular blogging a couple years ago.

Justin is the dude on the left

So, what's he up to these days? Well, he'd always had a big interest in gaming. In fact, he'd worked for a year or two at Gamers.com and later he contributed to Game Girl Advance. Now, it seems, he has been developing a game himself (well, him and some of his cool, geeky pals). And not surprisingly, given Justin's hyper-interest in the web, the game he's invented has everything to do with the web. And again, given his populist soul, everyone can be a player.

The web and video games are merging. All of information space is a shared multiplayer adventure. I am working to make that merging happen faster by developing "Passively Multiplayer Online Games" where your history of web browsing defines your online character.

The game is called Passively Multiplayer Online Game (PMOG) and it's basic gameplay consists of its players web browsing. It's really just as simple as that, with a few tricks and treats thrown in for good measure. All that is required to play is a sense of adventure, and a simple little Firefox add-on. I signed up right away. After all, I've got a fairly heavy web surfing habit so this game is right down my alley.

You can read a whole lot more about Passively Multiplayer here at the game site. Read some of the larger theory documents about the game to really get a sense of where its creators are coming from. Of course, PMOG has its own Wiki.

V-Tech Rampage Creator Demands Payment to Remove Game

GamePolitics.com » Blog Archive

In the history of video games, perhaps in the history of the Internet, this is something never seen before: an audience held hostage.

The jerk who created this game used the lamest excuse in the book - "it's my right to free speech".

His site seems to be suspended due to billing reasons. Possibly his monthly bandwidth was exceeded by curious people wanting to check out the game. If so, that's kind of a shame.

Crap like this should simply be boycotted.

Google To Track In-Game Behavior?

Google and ???? watch every other aspect of online behaviour so it comes as no surprise that they finally as going to survey online gaming behaviour in a big way.

See article

Google believes that it will be able to track in-game behavior in order to determine crucial information about an individual's purchasing tendencies. The information gathered in this manner could then be sold to advertisers for a pretty penny, we imagine. The details of the patent state that Google will be able to monitor people playing on any game console that hooks up to the Internet, including the PS3, the Xbox 360, and the Wii.

I assume they just forgot to add "PC". Or maybe they're already listening in as your team goes to plan the bomb in Counter-Strike?

User Group video presentation of purpose...

I like what this woman says, and I like how she says it...