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"Sythentic World Initiative" Sets Foot on Azeroth
Metroblogging Azeroth put up a link to this very strange site called the "Synthetic World Initiative" out of Indiana University. I have to say, it looks pretty academic and obscure, but the base idea here is that they're organizing "expeditions" into uncharted territory of the modern world-- namely, virtual, online worlds just like the one we spend most of our time in, Azeroth.The reason why they're doing this, however, isn't really clear. Their about page quotes Shakespeare a lot-- the end result is that they seem to be attempting to quantify these new online, virtual worlds in the same way unknown worlds were quantified back in the Age of Exploration. But here's the really interesting part: it seems like they're going to discover these online game worlds by playing a game of their own. They're going to research virtual worlds by creating and interacting in their own virtual world. They say they're "test[ing] the possibility that professionals engaged in a properly designed game would generate both entertainment and productivity at the same time."Which is a fancy way of saying, I guess, that they're going to play their own roleplaying game, while playing online games and studying them (sweet gig if you're a social sciences college student). For their first "Kuriaan Expedition" (named after, I gather, something from their created game), they're meeting in World of Warcraft, over on the Alliance side of the Silver Hand server (on Sunday, they're leading an expedition into the Deadmines). At any rate, it should be interesting to see what analysis comes out of it-- odds are they won't find much we don't know about, but maybe their work will help to correct public perception of online gaming. And hey, if you're over on Silver Hand, go give 'em a /wave for us.
A Slew of Essays on WoW
Now this is something that could potentially provide endless debate fodder. While stumbling around the web, I came across this page; a collection of term papers written by undergraduates at San Antonio's Trinity University for the class "Games for the Web: Ethnography of Massively Multiplayer On-line Games".The subjects addressed include "Sexism in WoW", "Real World Transactions of Digital Items from MMOGs", "The Prisoner's Dilemma and Factional Conflict in World of Warcraft", and my personal favorite, the oh-so-socially relevant "Wizards vs. Engineers: The Rumble in the Proverbial Jungle". There are several others covering a wide-range of topics; I haven't had the time to read them all yet, but since I eat this stuff up, I might not get much work done today.Of course, the real question this begs is: why couldn't assignments have been this cool when I was in school? Do you have any idea how severely the nuns would have beat me if I had asked to write my term paper on a video game?*sigh*
Third-party X360 Bluetooth headset beats MS to the punch
Datel's 3rd-party Xbox 360 Bluetooth headset has popped up on Amazon UK with a shipping date of the 30th of June and with a price tag of £59.99/$109. Originally the headset was said to ship on the 17th of March, but there's still no mention of it on the company's website, so it's possible that Amazon jumped the gun by placing it on their site. If it does ship when they say, it'll have the market for wireless Xbox 360 headsets to itself for quite a while; Microsoft hasn't said anything more about when their official headset will be released.The device itself is a bundle of what appears to be a relatively generic Bluetooth headset--it looks strikingly similar to Motorola's HS820 headset--coupled with a dongle that attaches to the controller's standard headset port, packaged together in a standard Xbox-green and white box. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Gaming and work motivation: not mutually exclusive
It's like you can feel its adorably shaped nose pressing into your back. You're trying to assemble a droll (is there any other?) business presentation, and all you can think about is how woefully uninformed your employers must be if they expect you to be motivated by a moist creature of the sea balancing a ball on its face. "Persistance," it says. "SEAL the deal." You really hate puns.But you like gaming. Perhaps that's the key to motivating you at work or, at the very least, reminding you that there's a much better world out there ... in your computer. Have a glance at these gaming-inspired motivational posters (you know the ones) and watch your productivity soar to hitherto unseen heights. Or, more realistically, have a laugh. It's the only thing keeping you sane.[Thanks David!]
Dude, Where's My Country?
When we purchased WoW, we all made a (mostly) unconscious choice. Based on geographic location alone, we committed ourselves to life on a certain set of servers, walled off from other regions -- American, European or Korean, we're now stuck with the original decision we made months or years ago.There are various good reasons to think about switching, or going dual-region. It's possible to run two copies of WoW, or even just the one, as long as you're prepared to cough up the initial payment and monthly fee twice over. You might have friends abroad you wish to play with, or you may be away from your home country temporarily. You might be a night owl or early bird, more comfortable in a timezone several hours distant from your own. Perhaps there is a particular guild you wish to join, or news items you wish to keep up with; perhaps you would prefer to speak a certain language.There are also bad reasons -- if you're disillusioned with some less-than-savoury experiences on your home server, switching region isn't going to help any more than just switching server, as bad PuGs and antisocial players exist on all servers. Also, playing away from home for the purposes of selling gold or characters in a more lucrative market isn't going to win you many friends.
"I EAT POO" tops Metroid Prime online leaderboards
Just when we were starting to think that there was hope for the video game community, someone called "I EAT POO" goes and tops 5 out of the 8 leaderboards in Metroid Prime: Hunters. We're too disillusioned to accurately describe how it feels to be beaten by someone whose name takes its inspiration from feces, so we'll just throw the words "anger", "pain" and "disappointment" in your general direction and hope that you can empathise.In other more mature news, Nathan dropped us a line to tell us that WitendoFi.com (a Nintendo Wifi community) is now tracking aforementioned Metroid Prime stats for its users. So come on WitendoFi users, kick Mr. Pooman's pongy butt off the leaderboards![Via fark. Thanks, murph and Nathan Grebowiec]Update: fixed poo related error. Thanks denigod!
Nintendo marketing gets all edgy and subliminal
It would seem that there's a lot more to one of Nintendo's latest UK adverts than meets the eye. Once you get over the snazzy visuals and dramatic trailer choir (on loan from Steven Spielberg), you may spot the secret subliminal marketing going on in the background. Is that the word "Revolution" sneakily scrolling by in the background, or is it yet another case of our overactive and Skittle-enhanced imaginations getting the best of us? Most people (including the guys at Go Nintendo) seem to think it's the former, with the Revolution's appearance signalling its forthcoming reliance on the same online network that powers the DS. This hardly comes as a surprise, but it's arguably one the first real Revolution commercials, especially considering that the clip never specifically mentions the DS--only global, wireless, multiplayer gaming. If Nintendo decides to keep the service free, it could pose a significant challenge to Microsoft's Xbox Live offering and Sony's unified PS3 network whatever it is they're doing. [Thanks Eric!]
