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Import review: Contact
Gamebrink has posted a review of Contact, currently the most anticipated DS title that doesn't involve a duo of energetic plumbers. Instead, you get an eccentric professor looking for the parts of his downed spaceship in an original RPG that supports Wi-Fi play. The article praises the game for its unique story, excellent presentation and varied locations. I especially like how the game breaks the fourth wall right off the bat, having the professor communicate to you as the player on the other side of a mysterious portable device. The professor will quiz you about some of your favorite things at the start of the game, often sharing his own opinion regarding your answers. It's a cute little gameplay device that, according to the review, really boosts the immersion factor (often quite tricky for a portable game to get right).The only qualm brought to light was the fact that the game's combat system comes across as a bit shallow. Still, if an RPG has enough personality and a great story to tell, it can often get away with such issues. It's when things are the other way around that you start having problems. The English version of Contact should be out later this year, courtesy of Atlus.[Thanks Sense!]
Prediction: One virtual world to rule them all
This Wired piece by technology thinker Steven Johnson is a neat summary of a prediction about virtual worlds that's becoming increasingly common. If you take a step back from the MMOs and other online pursuits of today, you see a lot of standalone bubbles of activity with one common factor--you. However, you can't cross the boundaries between worlds, taking your Halo 2 friends list and reputation into EverQuest or sending your Animal Crossing characters messages from your mobile.The prediction is that, relatively soon in the future, this won't be the case. As in The Matrix, as in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, one virtual world (or metaverse, if you prefer) will connect everything together:Within a decade, then, the notion of separate game worlds will probably seem like a quaint artifact of the frontier days of virtual reality. You'll still be able to engage in radically different experiences - from slaying orcs to cybersex - but they'll occur within a common architecture.The heterogeneous environment of home computing in the 1980s underwent a similar transformation; now it's virtual worlds' turn. Whether a proprietary product like Second Life (which resembles a fledgling metaverse) will come to the fore, or whether it will (like the Internet itself) evolve out of open standards and protocols, only time will tell--either way, in ten years' time people will look back on this post, from their virtual homes in a virtual reality, and laugh.[Via Terra Nova]See also: Wharton Dean: virtual worlds are the future of MBA education Virtual crucifixion punishes bad behaviour onlineIs online gaming antisocial?
Single player gaming doomed, say execs [UPDATE 1]
At the Churchill Club in California yesterday, Peter Moore wasn't the only one gazing into his crystal ball. Raph Koster of Sony Online Entertainment and Lars Butler, formerly of EA, were cheerfully predicting the downfall of single-player gaming, with Koster going so far as to say that the last 21 years of gaming history are an aberration.Drawing from the fundamental principle that "people play games together", Koster and Butler predict a huge shift in the games industry as the impact of online gaming starts to really hit home. Butler's claim that "linear entertainment in single-player is to media what masturbation is to sex" is eerily similar to David Jaffe's comparison between games and porn. Experiences are enriched by the presence of other people, and perhaps the depth of multiplayer gaming and the online social interaction embodied in these games can provide the emotional content that Jaffe finds so lacking.[Via Raph's Weblog][Update: Raph has written a much more detailed explanation behind his statement.]
Real friends, real relationships forged online
This article at 2old2play takes a look at how we form relationships with others online, questioning the assumption that "real life" friends are the only sort of friendships worth having. Getting to know and like people via Xbox Live and other services isn't the exclusive domain of the nerd, nor has it been for some time.While friendships formed online have been flourishing for years, the advent of easily available voice chat certainly makes it easy to feel close to those you play with on Xbox Live. Spending time together in the same place, even if it is a Halo 2 map, can lead to heart-to-heart conversations -- hanging out in the pregame lobby, or just wandering around a map with friends, brings Xbox Live close to feeling like a virtual world rather than a framework for FPS combat.
Writely - The (free) Web Word Processor
C.K. told me about Writely a while back, and even when DownloadSquad blogged it in September it was available as an invite-only beta. Worse yet, it didn't (and still doesn't) like Safari. None of that matters now, however, as I just noticed that Writely seems to have opened its doors for all to come and play with a public beta. With how surprisingly cool this service is, I'll overlook the Safari incompatibility for now.What is this "Writely," you ask? Well, at face value it is an online, collaborative word processor with a wealth of extra bonus features such as full formatting support, blog publishing, tagging, multiple format exporting and revision checking. I am seriously impressed with all the features that are available and have already bookmarked it for my paper-writing ventures in Spring. Too bad 37signals' Writeboard doesn't have any of these fantastic features (hint hint guys), otherwise I'd be able to keep everything under one Backpack roof.One funny quirk about Writely: they're very open about how beta their service really is; once you sign in, a "Beta Meter" badge is placed on the right side of the toolbar. Nice.
Apple Second Life Feature
Are you familiar with Second Life? It's a virtual online community where you create your own custom avatar and interact with other losers whose first life isn't fulfilling enough other interesting people in a magical fantasy world beyond your greatest imagination! (Okay, okay, so I'm being a little hyperbolic and also mean with the strikethrough; in the words of the Great McNulty, "I kid, I kid.")
