The Future Is Here - BCI Technology

Who out there hasn't read a novel or seen a movie that features some sort of BCI technology?  It seems that ever since the invention of the computer, humans have been fascinated with elusive Brain-Computer Interface and how it could make our lives better.  Cyberpunk novels and comics abound with tales of BCI technology, even going as far as to take it beyond EEG-style headsets to "wetware" - computers implanted directly into the human brain.

Today, both technologies are becoming a reality.  First, for the "dryware" BCI technology, check out the EPOCH - the newest BCI interface headset from the folks over at Emotive.

  According to the company's website:

The Emotiv EPOC is a high resolution, neuro-signal acquisition and processing wireless neuroheadset.  It uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expressions and connects wirelessly to most PCs.

 Imagine a paraplegic being able to control their own wheelchair.  What about creating art and music using your mind alone?  Or what about controlling your favorite games through mind-power alone?  This device could make all that possible.  The best part about it is the EPOC only costs $300, and comes with the EmoKey software to link Emotiv technology to your applications for free.  Sound interesting and exciting?  Check it out over at their website.

Now for the "wetware": two different types of BCI technology are undergoing testing at the University of Pittsburgh for use with spinal cord injury patients.  In the first, a BCI will be placed on the patient's monitor cortex surface for up to 29 days.  The device will pick up the patient's neural activity and hopefully allow them to learn how to control assistive devices such as a wheelchair or prosthetic hand.  The second uses an array of tiny electrodes implanted on the surface of the brain to interpret individual neuron activity and hopefully allow patients to control a more sophisticated prosthetic arm.

The technology of the future is here folks.  Just imagine the possibilities for the years to come.

The Top 10 Video Game Themes

In honor of the Oscars tonight, I thought I'd send out a little "Top Ten" action.  Only instead of being for "best acting," here are my nominations for Top 10 Video Game Themes (and yes, I know this post may have been better suited to the Grammy awards but oh well):

10. Super Mario Bros.

9. The Legend of Zelda

8. Command and Conquer: Red Alert (Hell March)

7. Dragon Age: Origins

6. Fallout 3

5. StarCraft II

4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion theme

3. Halo 3 (One Final Effort)

2. Castlevania Symphony of the Night (Moonlight Nocturne)

1. Final Fantasy 8 (Liberi Fatali)

Well, what do you think?  Do you agree with my choices?  What would you have chosen instead?

RIP MyGamerCard

It's a sad day for the XBox gaming community.  This morning as I was perusing my Facebook updates I was shocked and saddened to find this post from The Frag Dolls: 

Like many of you, I loaded up our forums and saw that my awesome gamer sig from MyGamerCard displaying a goodbye message. *sad face* You will be missed. Thank you for your support. - Spectra

Sure enough if you head on over here you can find the good-bye message left by MyGamerCard founder, Morgon.  It would seem that financial concerns and lack of support from Microsoft have led to the shutdown.  Whatever the reasons, we are all saddened by the loss of this great community resource.

RIP MyGamerCard - we will miss you.
~Binary Phoenix

Old Versus New: Why Anime Adaptations Fail

As an anime fan, I often find myself going back to some of my old Saturday morning favorites and thinking about how awesome they would look redone anime style.  Truthfully I think I'm looking to capture some of that nostalgia, and update it in a way that makes it relevant to my modern life and interests.

You can imagine, then, that I was initially pretty excited when I found this:

"The X-Men are reunited following the death of a teammate, and are summoned by Charles Xavier to Japan following the abduction of Hisako Ichiki (Armor). There, they confront the U-Men, a lunatic cult that steals and transplants mutant organs to further strengthen their own army, and the battle for justice is on.

The anime will premiere on Animax on April 1."

It looks pretty awesome.  The storyline sounds engaging.  I am excited.  I am also nervous, and cautious. I find myself wondering how much they are going to change the characters, and how these changes will be received by hardcore fans of the original comic and cartoon.  I also wonder if the actual series will be any good.  Let's face it, the trailer for the Iron Man anime totally rocked but when the series actually came out it wasn't nearly as well-done.  Many people were disappointed.

To a certain extent I think that our memories of the old series, and more importantly our memories of our emotions watching the old series tend to get in the way.  We remember how excited we were hearing the theme song music, feeling our little hearts thudding along with the beat.  We remember how we could get excited during the fight scenes, secure in the innocent knowledge that the good guy always wins.  We were young enough that we didn't care about things like artistry, shading, or corny dialogue.  The show was awesome and that's all that mattered.  The good guys fought evil, and evil always lost.

Today we hope that the anime will capture us in the same way, and bring back some of that feeling, and yet... it never quite manages to reach our expectations.  We're no longer children.  We notice how things are drawn, whether by hand or CGI.  We've learned enough about artistry to pay attention to the shading, coloring, and enough about writing to critique the dialogue.  It's harder to suspend our disbelief for the 30 minutes of the show and just immerse ourselves in it.  And, unlike so many of the new anime series out there that we can appreciate completely, we have something to compare the adaptations to.  It never quite measures up.

I for one will be trying to overcome this phenomenon, and I hope that I can give the X-Men anime adaptaion the chance that it deserves.

In The Words of Admiral Ackbar: "It's a Trap!"

Now normally I would not meddle in the world of religious activity or political statements - neither of those are what this blog is about (and frankly I don't really care).  However, the recently circulated Open Letter to Westboro Baptist Church supposedly from the hacker group Anonymous makes it somewhat necessary.  I'm reposting their reply here for your reading pleasure.  If you'd like to see it from the source for yourself, head on over here.

An(other) Open Letter to Westboro Baptist Church

18th February 2011

An Open Letter From an Anonymii.

TO THE CONGREGANTS OF WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH

We know that YOU in fact posted the Open Letter supposedly from Anonymous.

We know that you thrive on attention.

We know that you are short of money.

We know that this is a trap.

We know how you work. You don't give a flying fart about what your God thinks. But you know that putting God and Fag in a sentence together is guaranteed to make someone angry. You push it. You really push it. But you stay within the law. And then when some poor fool snaps, you sue them for infringing upon your rights.

Some of Anonymous thinks you're the worlds greatest Trolls. This is bollocks. You're in it for the money.

No doubt some of us will fall for it. But know this: most of us don't give a damn. You are shamelessly riding on the /b/andwagon after Anonymous' recent mass media coverage in order to get more publicity and more idiots to sue.

Yarbles to you.

WE ARE ANONYMOUS.
WE ARE LEGION.
WE DO NOT FORGIVE.
WE DO NOT FORGET.
EXPECT US.
But we're not all idiot newfags.

Peace out /b/rothers.

Game Review: Dungeons

Welcome to the anti-Valentine edition!  No gooshy lovie-dovey stuff or candy hearts over here.  Instead, I'll be reviewing Dungeons:  a game where the main goal is to build evil... well dungeons and lure heroes to their doom.

In Dungeons by Kalypso Media you play a former Prince of Darkness who has been overthrown by his vile, vicious, and also now ex-girlfriend Calypso.  Banished to the lowly rank of Dungeon Lord, you must now work your way back down through the levels of the underworld by placing gimmicks, treasure, and monsters all designed to lure heroes to their doom.  Placing gimmicks (essentially dungeon decoration) earns you prestige, which is necessary for various tasks throughout the game.  It also helps lure heroes through the dungeon, as they tend to follow from one gimmick to the next.  Every hero is motivated by different needs; some are motivated by piles of shiny treasure, others by battling monsters.  As their needs are met, they fill with "soul energy," which is what YOU are after.  Satisfy your heroes and then slay them for a percentage of their soul energy, or imprison and torture them in order to squeeze every last ounce out.



While it sounds fairly straightforward and easy, there is some strategy involved.  Each entrance into the dungeon releases heroes at the rate of one or two every 3-5 minutes (some even faster).  Let me tell you keeping track of 5-10 different heroes and fulfilling their needs while simultaneously not letting any of them escape or attack your Dungeonheart (the source of your life and power in the underworld) isn't as easy as it sounds.  That's not all there is to each level, though.  There is usually some quest that you are fulfilling while waiting for heroes to be ready for death or imprisonment which is also taking your time and attention.  In addition from time to time (and usually at the worst possible moment) your bosses will show up with a job for you to do, and you have to keep the bosses happy!  Of course, if you get tired of the strategy aspect you can always switch over to "sandbox mode" which allows you to simply build dungeons and lure heroes to their doom outside of the main plot line.

Throughout the game the heroes will spout off hilarious phrases like "mmm, treasure!" or "taste my +1 dagger!"  On the whole the game is fantastically light and fun, making it a good break if you've been on run of heavy gaming sessions.  The game has a little for everyone, and while it may seem overly simple at first, it soon reveals itself to be a challenge.  I give it a 4/5.

Happy Gaming!

Anticipation

You gotta hand it to the folks over at Blizzard - they certainly know how to keep an audience in suspense.




















Any other company that kept a fan base waiting more than 10 years for a game, and 2 full years after the game's official announcement would have lost them long ago.  But fans of the iconic Diablo franchise are just as excited about Diablo III today as they were 2 years ago when it was officially announced.


Blizzard has done a masterful job of releasing tidbits to keep its audience waiting, while still making us feel like we were getting something.  Concept art, screenshots, gameplay previews, even playable demos (the Diablo III PvP demo was available for play at Blizzcon 2010) have kept fans just satisfied enough to keep us hanging on.  And let's face it, the fact that Diablo II was one of the best RPGs of all time doesn't hurt - NPD Group listed the Diablo II: Battle Chest in their top 10 best selling computer games even last year, 10 years after the original release.


Many fans were psyched to find out that Diablo III was being previewed with Morgan Webb on G4's X-Play last night, holding their breath that at last we would hear an official release date.  Imagine the wave of disappointment when all we were rewarded with was a "hopefully in the near future" - sounds like Morgan is as excited as the rest of us to get her hands on the game.  The preview did include a great look at some of the skills of the different classes, the knowledge that the game will again have a randomized world, and "essentially endless combinations of skills and tons of equipment and things to explore".  The other big reveal?  Diablo III is going to be even more focused on multiplayer and getting people to explor how the combination of different classes and their skills can make the game even more dynamic.

Personally, I can't wait.  In fact, I went online today to preorder the game.  Want the gem I found?  Go to walmart.com and search for Diablo III and you'll find this gem:




"Preorder this item today and it should ship on 08/01/2011"





Happy gaming!