global-gaming-league
Latest
Face-capturing tech to be "in-game soon" for Age of Conan [UPDATED]
Lopping off heads in Age of Conan might soon be taken very personally, as ShackNews has reported that some fancy face-importing technology is being prepared for use in-game -- you're bound to be just a tad more put out when you see your actual face rolling away on a decapitated noggin. The above picture is a somewhat terrifying example of what might be seen when walking around Funcom's Hyboria in the near future. The technology itself comes from a company called Big Stage Entertainment, and you can already get a feel for how it works at their website by registering an account and creating your own 3D "@ctor". For now, the @ctors can only be used with videos and pictures on the web, but Funcom is working with Big Stage to bring both real-life faces and voices to in-game avatars. The Global Gaming League is running a competition called the "Big Stage Crown Yourself King Conan Contest" to promote the whole operation. Entrants must generate AoC-related Big Stage creations, and then share them around with as many people as possible for a chance to win some game time and in-game items. ShackNews has a video demonstrating the use of the technology in its current implementation.[Edit: Now we're hearing that this technology will NOT be used on AoC after all, despite the information (and contest!) from Big Stage. "While Big Stage may be planning to implement the technology in games soon, it is not currently slated for implementation into Age of Conan," said a Funcom spokesperson when asked by MMORPG.com.]
Game tournament to be "Welcome Event" at Beijing Olympics
Fans eager to get competitive gaming recognized as a real sport got a boost recently when the Global Gaming League announced they will be organizing a video gaming "Welcome Event" for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. "The Digital Games" will include World Cup-style national tournaments leading up to an international finals competition in Shanghai, where Olympic soccer matches will be held.While video games are recognized as an official sport by the Chinese government, the tournament falls quite a bit short of being an official, medal-worthy event at the 2008 games. Still, it's an important first step to that eventual goal, and one that GGL CEO Ted Owen thinks will be popular in its own right. "We believe the crowds we'll get will be far larger than for the Olympic games themselves," he said. That's a little hard to believe, considering 3 million attendees overall are expected for the real games. If the GGL is lucky, maybe they'll be more popular than racewalking ...Read - Announcement on GGLRead - Article on CNN/Fortune
