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The Game Archaeologist: The PLATO MMOs, part 2
In our last installment looking at PLATO, the educational computer network that linked a thousand terminals across the US together, I don't think I stressed enough how awesome this system was for the time. In the 1970s, most universities had computers that required punch cards for input and spat back results on printers, grade schools simply didn't have computers, and if you wanted a PC at home, you'd have to build one from a kit that ended up being little more than a box with blinking lights. To sit down at a PLATO terminal was to jump forward a decade or more: sharp plasma displays, touch screens, speech synthesizers, email, message boards, and of course, the latest games. Often brewed up by students and programmers in their off hours, the PLATO games demonstrated the potential for online gaming, even if the games couldn't be put into every home. Last time we saw some of the innovations that would fuel MUDs and MMOs in years to come: networking, persistent characters, multiplayer matches with up to 32 people at a time, 3-D gaming in a virtual world, video game bosses, chat systems, and even crafting. So let's move on to the second batch of what I'm calling the "PLATO MMOs" -- not truly MMO as we know them today but uncanny pre-echoes of what the genre would become.
The Game Archaeologist: The PLATO MMOs, part 1
In tracing the history and pre-history of MMORPGs in this column, we've spent a lot of time outside of the 2000s and into the explosive '90s, the experimental '80s, and even the extraordinary '70s. Early pioneers like MUD1, Dungeons & Dragons, GameLine, bulletin board systems, Habitat, Island of Kesmai, and even Maze War have contributed to the development of these games we enjoy today. But I think we're going to outdo ourselves this week. We're going to go back further than ever before in the The Game Archaeologist time tunnel. When we arrive at our destination, we'll see that MMOs started germinating within a decade of computers being able to talk to each other. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 1961.
Plato shown holding an iPad in a creative clay sculpture (video)
When technology meets art, the possibilities are endless. We have seen the iPad used as a canvas to paint portraits, most recently of Woz, and multiple iPads used to create a giant Lara Croft-emblazoned iPhone. This latest iPad-themed artistic experiment takes a traditional sculpture of Plato and places an anachronistic iPad into his hands. No longer contemplating the pressing social issues of his time, the great thinker can now ponder the meaning of FaceTime and whether he really wants it on his iPad, the influence of the App Store, and the validity of the reality distortion field. After the break, you will find a time-lapse video detailing the sculpting process which starts with a simple wire frame armature and ends with an iPad-toting Greek philosopher. It is definitely worth the four minutes it takes to watch it from beginning to end. Thanks to Adam who created this work of art and sent it in!
Ubisoft announces Jam Sessions 2: Jam Harder
Okay, so we made up the title, but the news is true: Ubisoft has announced Jam Sessions 2, a sequel to its musical DS title from 2007. Ubisoft promises the Plato-developed sequel will add more to the first game's formula when it releases this fall, along with a slew of new bands, including REM, Heart, The Ramones, The Clash, Doobie Brothers, Plain White-T's, The Black Crowes and The Pixies.According to the game's official site, some of the DSi's sound distortion capabilities will come into play and "enhance sound effects while playing." The sequel's included song creation utilities sound most interesting, allowing users to share their creations, made with the game's multi-track recording software, with each other. Just remember, kids: Friends don't let friends share remixes of Europe's "Final Countdown." We can ill afford further acoustic tragedies.
Ubisoft site reveals Jam Sessions 2
There hasn't been an official announcement that we know of, but a sequel to Plato's guitar simulator Jam Sessions is on the way this September. We first noticed a listing for Jam Sessions 2 at GameStop, then found it at Ubisoft.com. The Ubisoft product page has a fairly detailed list of features for the game. Players can now record their "freestyle" creations and make them into playable levels for other players. A multi-track song editor is now included. In addition, there are now multiple selectable guitars, including Fender and Gibson models, and both acoustic and electric guitars. Jam Sessions 2 features songs from artists including REM, Heart, The Ramones, The Clash, Doobie Brothers, Plain White-T's, The Black Crowes, and The Pixies. Some kind of DSi-based "features to enhance sound effects while playing" are also included.Ubisoft lists a September 29 release date for Jam Sessions 2. We're contacting Ubisoft to try to learn more about this currently unannounced title.
Roleplaying is a wave of the future
When you look at games like World of Warcraft versus games like Dungeons and Dragons, you can see that in some ways they are just the same, while in others they are vastly different. Thematically, they're both about romping through a fantasy world having adventures, and depending on the kind of activity you enjoy most in your games, the actual content of either one can be very similar. The difference lies in the user interface: WoW takes over your computers screen and presents you with intensive graphics, while D&D relies on paper, dice, and your imagination. While WoW is obviously a child of the early 21st century, all the practical tools used in D&D have existed for thousands of years. One might well wonder: "why didn't Plato (or any other suitably wise old figure out of history) ever think of putting together a dungeon adventure?" A recent Escapist magazine article asks that very question, and then provides us with a bunch of theories about what roleplaying is and why people do it. All these are interesting in themselves, but they leave me wondering "but wait... why didn't Plato ever think of it?" The answer I think the article is trying to give is that roleplaying is actually a form of social innovation that couldn't have existed before, because the culture and ideas to give it form hadn't developed until the '60s.So tonight when you get home and log into WoW, especially if you are logging in to roleplay your character, remember that you are participating in an activity that is on the growing edge of human civilization. Just as, all those hundreds of years ago, it was a great innovation for the Greek playwright Aeschylus to bring two actors onto the stage at once as opposed to letting one actor and a chorus carry the show -- in our own era, the way players get together today to collaboratively create worlds, characters and stories with one another is a new and exciting innovation that never existed before. Roleplaying itself is one of many brilliant and beautiful examples of how society and culture continue to evolve and progress well into the the future... and beyond.
Plato to school kids with new learning games for PSP
Despite a handful of 'me too' cash grabs for Sony's portable, exercising gray matter has been the domain of the Nintendo DS. However, Plato Learning, an e-learning company based out of Minnesota, has hatched a plan to bring educational games to the PSP beginning sometime in April. The games, part of the company's existing Achieve Now line of educational products, will be targeted at helping elementary and middle school students "meet high academic standards and improve academic proficiency" in areas such as language, reading, and math. The project could potentially bring as many as 57 different educational titles to the PSP, but will the games give players an inferiority complex by telling them they think with an addled brain of someone twice their age? For now, this too remains Nintendo's exclusive domain. [Via PSP Fanboy]
Plato brings educational games to PSP
Thought the DS was all alone on its mobile educational games? Think again. A company called Plato announced that they'll be bringing educational games onto the PSP as early as April 2008. Drawing software from the company's Achieve Now product line, the company could potentially port up to 57 titles over to the handheld system.The games are designed to help out elementary and middle school students in different academic subjects such as mathematics and language arts. While most of you reading this right now probably won't be needing this supplemental grade school tutorship, our kids or little cousins might benefit from a little brain exercise. We imagine these little second graders with PSPs will grow up extra smart, maybe even clever enough to learn how to hack their PSPs. Oh my, the vicious cycle.
Jam Sessions drops to a more musician-friendly price
Ubisoft's DS guitar ... thing Jam Sessions has dipped down to $20 before as part of a sale, but now the drop is permanent. Both GameStop and Amazon are now selling the novel virtual instrument at a $19.99 price point. As a bonus, GameStop has also dropped the price of the Nyko JAMMIN' Guitar Pick Stylus set, from $7 to $5. A fake guitar pick seems like an appropriate accessory for a fake guitar.Now, for the same price, you can have an all-DS trio instead of an all-DS duo! Just in case the lack of a third bandmate was the only thing keeping you from starting a Jam Sessions-only band.
Promotional Consideration: Party Like a Rock Star
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/videos/gaming/Outrageously_saucy_Jam_Sessions_commercials_in_New_Zealand'; Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out. This marks the third time we've featured Ubisoft's Jam Sessions in our Promotional Consideration column, but these latest ads for the New Zealand market are the best ones yet. We're not going to ruin their illicit content for you before you've had a chance to watch these not-safe-for-work commercials yourselves, so hurry past the break and see what all the kids are nattering about at recess.
Promotional Consideration: Santeria
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.It physically pained us to see Ubisoft's print campaign and European boxart for Jam Sessions, but the publisher came through with its commercial for the recently-released guitar sim. The 30-second spot is broken up into three scenes of alleged teenagers playing and enjoying the game, all of them singing along to Sublime's "Santeria," a track that isn't actually included on the Jam Sessions cart. It's a catchy tune, one we're sure you've heard many times on the radio, and we can see why it was picked for the piece. Continue past the jump for the commercial and this week's installment of Promotional Consideration.
Creepy Jam Sessions audio clarified, un-creepified
Remember how we were so spooked out by last week's hidden message in Jam Sessions that we swore off haunted houses for the rest of our lives and ran home to eat pizza rolls, sans ghosts hovering over our heads? We haven't been that scared since, well, since we saw the game's European boxart! Oh, burn!One of the programmers from Plato, Jam Sessions' developer, posted a video to explain the voice that seemed to be whispering, "Don't kill us," or "Forgive us," whenever users let the A6 chord play out. It's actually one of the recording engineers saying, "Tsugiikimasu," which is Japanese for "next," as in, "I'm going to play the next chord."While that makes a lot of sense, it doesn't explain that tapping noise we hear on our bedroom window every night, nor does it clear up the moaning and creaky mattress sounds coming from the apartment above us. We think it might be the Chupacabra. Bring your ghost hunting gear past the post break for videos of the creepy message and Plato's explanation.
Promotional Consideration: Come As You Are
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.If you missed our spotlight on Leo Burnett's "Communion Day" ad last Sunday, make sure to give it a glance. Even if you've already skimmed through our words on the award-winning piece, we've updated our summation with some insight from art director Rosemary Collini Bosso.This weekend's installment of Promotional Consideration takes a critical eye to an unconvincing ad that might actually drive away consumers. Read on for more details.
