Commodore128's blog

It might be new, but it's inifinitly Bioshock

August 14th, 2010 |

I don't normally simply re-post things here from other sites. Nor do I throw my weight behind the hype machine of the game industry with any regularity. But there are special occasions where I feel amply moved by something to post about it here. Today is one of those days. This week, a very dramatic (although maybe not all that surprising) announcement came from irrational Games through their head man, and one of my heroes in videogames Ken Levine. This is the studio that created Bioshock, one of my favorite games of the last few years and, perhaps more interestingly, had absolutely nothing to do with the Bioshock sequel. Well it turns out that Ken and the crew weren't just sitting around the studio twiddling their thumbs or playing Peggle. They also weren't fleshing out the film that is reportedly being made with the Bioshock license (joy!) They've been hard at work at a new game in the Bioshock universe that has a few surprises in it: Bioshock Infinite.

Rather than go through and flesh all of it out, I'll just post some videos for your perusal. The first is the trailer which is quite captivating, providing a provocative game experience combined with a few evocative feelings from us that are fans of the series.

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Reflection on the best of games

August 6th, 2010 |

Commodore128

Me too...

I have a question for all of you gamers out there. Have you ever played a game that you really connected with? And I'm not talking connected like holding a vibrating controller or crouching into a Virtual Boy. I'm talking about a game or series of games that touched you or just engaged you deeply on an emotional level. Sure, we've all had the conversation with our friends about our “favorite” games but I'm not sure that quite gets to it since many games that we love for one reason or another has nothing to do with emotional connection with it. For example I love Puzzle Quest but I doubt I'm surprising anybody in saying that it never really engaged me emotionally or touched me in any deep way. It's just a good game, it's not the greatest thing to happen to videogames.

But my question for all of you today is do you have games that really have gone to that extra level and touched you? Maybe you don't. Maybe the games you play are pure entertainment oriented, and the thrill of playing and eventually beating a game is the most important part for you. Maybe you like videogames but you're looking more for a way to occupy your mind, preferring not to think, let alone feel anything. Maybe you're a cold and heartless individual with an impossible threshold for emotional connection. But I'm betting here that most of you already have an answer to my question.

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Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

July 30th, 2010 |

Commodore128

Turn and face the strain. It was so easy for David Bowie to sing it, but the fact is folks that change can be tough. Well today I’m gonna open up a bit and get off the videogame/geek track as well if you don’t mind. I’ve got some major changes coming in my life and without setting off any alarm bells, I’d like to let everybody here know. :)

I’m making major career changes beginning next week which marks a very exciting time in my life, but it also might bring a few more hinderences to the work I do for the CotGW. I’m not absolutely sure yet what my schedule will look like in the coming months, but I will say that at any moment, my free time may go from little (which it is already) to none. If this happens, I wanted to give everybody a heads up to how I'm going to proceed.

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Robots playing soccer are... frigging adorable!

July 23rd, 2010 |

Commodore128

Sweet and to the point for you this week folks. For those of you that haven't heard of it, the Robo Cup is a competition which attracts all the best university robotics programs from all over the world, hoping to produce the team of robots with one singular goal (no pun intended)... Playing soccer!!!

Ok maybe not the most noble of aims for the best minds in robotics to be pursuing. But good Lord these things are cute! Let me tell you folks, it's no secret that the Commodore has no taste for the real thing here. Watching human beings play soccer is one of my least favorite things to do, and even when i do watch it (World Cup. an occasional Premier League game) I'm just kind of bored with the whole thing. But these robots just make it so much more enjoyable. I vote for replacing the real players with these guys within the next five years. Watch the video and we'll discuss after the break.

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G4 thinks you're stupid

July 9th, 2010 |

Commodore128

Incredibly insightful comment Alison. Say, what exactly do you correspond about? Is it all just capes and asses to you?

For those of you just tuning in (welcome!), I issue a fair warning about this blog post: Gaming rant ahead. It might not be the greatest arguments ever assembled, but it should be a hell of a read.

I’ll start this rant by posing a question to all of you gamers out there: Are you completely and utterly fed up with being told you’re a subhuman moron, interested in only explosions and boobs? Well I am, and I think it’s about damn time we take a stand against this insanity, not only because it really holds the videogame medium back from its potential, but also because it makes all of us look like bumbling, idiotic, Mountain Dew driven, Neanderthals. And maybe you’re happy as a knuckle-dragging, fart-sniffing, salivating, misogynist, but friends, the Commodore IS NOT. Now let’s get started before my blood pressure reaches capillary busting levels (oh it’s coming).

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How much information do you really want to put on the web?

July 2nd, 2010 |

Commodore128

Were this Google, I'd share all the personal information I have with it/her

What would you trust Google with? Is there a limit? Are there things that you would consider too private to use on Google’s services? It’s no secret that the Commodore stands firmly in the Google camp (almost always... and their turning it around in China). I use Gmail, Google Calendar, Gchat with video and audi conferencing, An Android phone, etc. This means that if someone were to uncover the sum total of my Google information, they’d have a pretty substantial picture of my life ranging from my friends, my schedule, my account info for lots of internet services and the like. But there are (hopefully) a few things to which they wouldn't find access. This gets me thinking though, as Google is working around the clock to offer more services with the ultimate goal of gathering even more information from all of us, so they can sell advertising (I mean it is there business model). On other words, if there is a chance that Google can get more info from you, they will do so.

I’m not making any kind of statement about what (dubious or otherwise) purposes Google would want my information for, I’m simply asking what I think is a good question for us as a web savvy society: What information is too sensitive for use (or storage) on the web?

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A History of Videogames/Juggling

June 26th, 2010 |

Commodore128

Alright so instead of me going on for an hour about something this week, I'm offering an opportunity to lose an hour of your time elsewhere. From time to time I like to expand my mind by watching (or listening actually) to Google Tech Talks which are basically academic (or sometimes not so much) lectures given by field experts to the people at Google. Google then takes these lectures and posts them to the web in the form of Google Tech Talks. They even have their own Youtube channel. I watched this video only a few days back and thought that some of you might find it interesting. Check it out here.

Here we have Bill Guschwan who recounts a “history” of video games from his own (mildly insane) perspective. Even though he's a bit eccentric, this guy's been through it all. He was instrumental in the launch of the PS1 in 1995, he worked for Apple in the Jobsless days, and he befriended Miyamoto who referred to him as the philosopher. I don't always agree with his perspective (whether philosophical or in terms of video game media) but I greatly enjoyed his recounting of events, especially when we talks about the substantial differences between him and Ken Kutaragi as the Playstation (Kutaragi's baby) was being launched. If you have an hour to put in on in the background, take a listen. And you are also free to do as I did when he just starts basically listing all of the philosophical schools he's aware of (which is completely irrelevant to the conversation) about 15 minutes from the end and just turn it off. And if you feel like it, post any ideas it inspires for you here and maybe we can get some good discussions going. Enjoy!

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