Christopher Kline, technical director for 2K Boston, took time to talk about the challenges faced in making BioShock in a recent interview with Gamasutra. The interview covers developing for the hardcore audience, the future of PC gaming and developing with middleware, in this case the Unreal Engine 2, rather than building an engine from scratch and UI design. The Adaptive Training System used in BioShock is discussed as well.

Kline goes over mistakes made and obstacles overcome in producing BioShock for the Xbox 360, PC and now PS3. Much of the article deals with more of the technical aspects and philosophical choices made in developing the game. Gamers interested in videogame development will get a lot of good advice from the article and hopefully learn from 2K’s experience rather than make the same mistakes themselves.

I you ever wanted a true appreciation for just for how far videogames have come, check out the first Star Trek text adventure for the Sigma 7 micro computer. It’s important to keep in mind that in that day a micro computer could take up an office by itself, ran on vacuum tubes and was programed with punch cards.

On The Code Project, Michael Berkin talks about getting hooked on the game and his subsequent crusade to convert it to C+ and play it.

Two years after the original series was canceled in 1969, high school senior Mike Mayfield was busy keeping the Star Trek universe alive by feeding punched paper tape into a Sigma 7 in an effort to bring the crew of the Enterprise and the Klingon Empire to life on a 10 character-per-second teletype terminal. Soon after Mike ported his game to HP BASIC, it entered the public domain. From there, early computer enthusiasts enhanced and rewrote the game for every flavor of mini and microcomputer BASIC imaginable and beyond.

After a bit of web surfing, I came across Mike Mayfield’s original port to HP BASIC. With code in hand, I really wanted to play the game. I’m sure that there are HP BASIC interpreters out there for modern machines, but what fun would that be. Before I played it, I wanted do my own port. This game was born in the hobbyist era. It was made to be reinterpreted and enhanced as it traded handed. I wanted to bring back part of those long-lost magical days of type-in programs.

The Starfleet series was a knock off of the Star Trek text adventures with graphics. It’s almost as cheesy as the text adventure games it was based on but Trekkers won’t care. Here’s a video to give you an idea of what the text games were like.

This article, and the video for that matter, demonstrate how hard people used to have to work to play videogames. It makes you grateful for modern technology. It also leads me to wonder how today’s games will be viewed forty years down the road.

Pendulum’s AlterEgo facial performance division is trying to break through the uncanny valley effect with it’s CGI human and humanoid animation. The uncanny valley is a phenomena where the closer to life like a robotic or CGI representation of a human is the more it bothers us.

The company, which is handling animation for Silent Hill: Homecoming (you can read my iE3 impressions of Silent Hill 5 on Gaming Today), has added some new videos of their work to its site. The motion capture is stunning but some of the models are very plastic in appearance. Check out the new Retargeting videos to judge for yourself. In my opinion, they are still a little creepy, but their closer than anything I’ve seen before.

The American Library Association is conducting a study involving twelve libraries from across the country to see if videogames improve literacy and make kids smarter. A video excerpt from Tucson’s News-4 on the program shows kids playing Singstar Pop and Guitar Hero III at their local PimaCounty Library:

“Pima County’s library system is one of a dozen in the country participating in a study to find out if video games improve literacy…

…Luis Aguilar, 11, helped organize a video game club. In the process, he learned filmmaking skills to create a five minute movie about it. Luis believes the games are making him smarter, “Because it helps you with memory, memorizing stuff and hand eye coordination.”

If national research verifies these kids’ experiences, the American Library Association would like to create a video game curriculum for all libraries to use.”

Running across this article on GamePolitics inspired me to look up my local library in Westerville, Ohio. Although the Westerville Public Library isn’t involved in the study, according to the Director’s blog, videogames have had a profound effect on the library circulation. Since the introduction of gaming at the library, circulation has increased by over 22%. Director Don Barlow also claims that kids are coming to play videogames and staying to use the library’s other resources.

Yes, it is true, once teens come to library because of gaming, they also find time to study, to check out books. Most importantly, they also find time to learn. They learn about information technology, they develop research skills that will serve their life-long learning needs.

Gaming in libraries? You Bet! with an investment of about $900, (less than 1 tenth of 1% of budget) we have over 3,000 new young adult library users.

There’s a an article up on Gamasutra that should be a great find for those interested in game design. Whether you dream of breaking into the games industry professionally or want help making a mod look professional, “Random Scattering: Creating Realistic Landscapes” is a must read.

When dealing with a natural setting, is hard to actually place trees and other organic elements in such away that they actually look… well natural. The author outlines three different methods of developing algorithms to place objects for you, pointing out the positives and negatives to each approach. The article does get into detail but is very useful when you find yourself in a situation where you can’t see the forest for the trees.

There’s an in depth review available of a retail ready model of OCZ Technology’s Neural Impulse Actuator. The NIA is a brain-computer interface that can be used to control computers and play video games; in this case Unreal Tournament 3 and Counter-Strike: Source.

The article compares learning to use the NIA to touch typing. Actually learning how to use it takes only a week or so, but mastering the device can take months. However, once mastered controlling the NIA is as effortless as controlling your own body minus the physical feedback.

Exactly how the special headband picks up and interprets the body’s natural biosignals generated by your brain, facial muscles and eye muscles is fully explained. The article also covers setup and software and configuration.

Of course the fun part of the article is always the saved for the big finish. The reviewer talks about his experience using the NIA to play UT3 and CS:S. Whether you’re fascinated about all the details or just want to skip to the video game control part, checkout the full article on HotHardware

Within five years, computer industry experts believe the mouse will be extinct due to obsolescence. This common PC peripheral is doomed to be replaced with touch screens and facial recognition.

According to the BBC, vice president and Gartner Fellow Steven Prentice, credits new motion control innovations like those used in Nintendo’s MotionPlus for the Wii and Apple’s iPhone are driving the mouse out of business.

“With the Wii you point and shake and it vibrates back at you so you have a two-way relationship,” said the analyst.

“The new generation of smartphones like the iPhone all now have tilting mechanisms or you can shake the device to do one or more things.”

“For all its faults, the keyboard will remain the primary text input device. Nothing is easily going to replace it,” he said. “But the idea of a keyboard with a mouse as a control interface is breaking down.”

Gaming Today has covered a few innovative uses of the PS3 Eye and the Wiimote for head tracking in conjunction with PCs for desktop virtual reality displays. It’s not hard to believe the PC industry would implement it’s own version to compete with consoles.

via PC Authority

Mad Catz has renewed and expanded its multi-year contract with Microsoft. The company, which specializes in gaming peripherals and accessories, has renewed and expanded its Xbox 360- branded line which includes console-carrying backpacks and messenger bags, as well as sling bags for controllers and other game accessories.

“We are pleased to extend this agreement with Microsoft,” said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “Powerful brands, such as Xbox 360, are an important part of our growing licensed accessories business, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Microsoft to offer videogame fans stylish Xbox 360-branded carrying cases for their consoles and game accessories.”

Mad Catz has been very busy this year. It’s added new team branded peripherals to it line including items featuring Arsenal and Manchester Untied football clubs. Mad Catz also signed a deal with Harmonix and MTV to produce peripherals for Rock Band. It’s all the better for gamers.

via Business Wire

OCZ Technology has a working game controller that uses eye movements, facial muscle movements, and brain waves to control video games. The OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator plugs into your PC’s USB and should in theory be able to emulate controls for any game.

OCZ’s Development Director Michael Schuette claims the device is still pretty basic, even primitive, but it’s a start.

Even though this still works – with a certain amount of sluggishness, the concept is somewhat atrocious, since it takes an analog physical reaction that is then emulated into a manual keyboard input that is then translated into a command on the game level. A more elegant solution would encompass taking the biological response and streaming it directly into the game using the DirectX platform as vehicle.

If you can learn to use the NIA, you can supposedly shave time off your reactions, although I think at this point it would be more of a cool thing to show off rather than a really good game controller.

It’s actually exciting to see we’re taking steps towards realizing Gibson’s vision of Cyberpunk Netrunners. I could do without the Megacorps politics that go with it.

via The Tech Report

It’s Friday, and the 1UP Show is back. This week, the gang gets together to discuss Legendary: The Box, along with the game’s producer, John Garcia-Shelton. It’s essentially an FPS that has you fighting hordes of mythical creatures after they are unleashed from Pandora’s Box. Next up is Wheelman, based on the upcoming Vin Diesel movie, which is kind of similar to GTA, but with more emphasis on driving. They also take a look at the Metal Gear Solid 4 launch event and the Korg DS-10, which turns your Nintendo DS into a lean, mean, music-making machine. As always, you can download the show from Filefront by clicking the links below.

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