Unwell

Hey guys - just a note to let you know that regular posting will resume in a few days.  I'm sick with the flu and will be back when I'm better.  In the meantime, happy gaming!

Move Over Motion-Control

Forget motion controlled systems that still use a controller like the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation Move.  Heck, you can even forget about motion controlled systems that require you to wave your hand or other parts of your body, like Microsoft's Kinect.  The next generation of motion control is already on it's way.

Picture this: you're playing an FPS (or other first-person view game) and instead of pushing a control stick or keyboard button to move down the next path all you do is *look* in the direction you want to go.  Imagine reading a webpage that automatically scrolls as you read - no mouse or keyboard action required.  Sound interesting?  Then check this out:

The folks at Tobii teamed up with Lenovo to create 20 prototypes of this Windows 7 laptop that they unveiled yesterday at the CeBIT conference in Hanover, Germany.  That strip just below the screen is the current eye-control sensor, and there's also a large hump on the back.  Neither is attractive or practical, but it is just a prototype.  Future plans entail the sensor becoming much more narrow - about the size of the small space below the laptop screen today.  If you'd like a review of how it it performed (I'll give you a hit: excellently) head on over to Endgadget and check out their video of the laptop in action.


Between the new BCI technology and this new eye-control system, we are two steps closer to synchronicity.  The future is coming!  Are you ready?

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.