virtual
Latest
Ron Paul march in Azeroth
Here's video via Gamepolitics.com of the march that took place last night in Azeroth (a.k.a. the World of Warcraft) to support Ron Paul, a Republican candidate for the president of the United States. We originally reported on this topic over at WoW Insider (which, if I may say so, was one of the reasons so many people showed up), and we'll have more coverage of the march last night there soon.But while Gamepolitics gives a good man-on-the-scene writeup, they also avoid the real question here: does real-world politics belong in a world like Azeroth at all? No one questions it when politicians show up in Second Life-- in fact, the few Second Lifers I know take it as a badge of honor that their world is important enough to host those folks. And certainly there are places where politics don't belong-- on WoW's roleplaying servers, discussion of the real-world is a no-no.But let's not forget that we players aren't just avatars in a game- we're real people with opinions of our own to express, whether they be political or otherwise. Whether they should have or not (and many players on Whisperwind, where the rally took place, where extremely unhappy with the queues and congestion on their server last night), they expressed those opinons last night.Update: Looks like Paul also wins the presidential naming race.
Virtual doormen becoming more ubiquitous
Amazingly enough, virtual doormen aren't exactly new, but it seems that they're becoming entirely more ubiquitous (and accepted) in today's society. Increasingly, more and more apartment dwellers are coming home to voices in the wall rather than a physical life form, but virtual doormen can still let tenants into their room, allow deliveries to be made and keep disgruntled in-laws out. As you'd expect, these firms rely primarily on an internet connection, a webcam and a couple of microphones, and while typical services can range from "$10,000 to $70,000 for installation and $6,000 to $30,000 in annual maintenance," that still beats the $250,000 or so it would purportedly take for a small building to be staffed with full-time, on-site doormen. The next evolutionary step? Androids answering the buzz, and subsequent hacks to gain entry into any room you please.[Via ChipChick]
Vodafone "InsideOut" connects phones to Second Life
Vodafone customers now have access to a new service called "InsideOut" that allows interaction between characters in the vast virtual world Second Life and real, actual phones (you know, like in the real world) operated by Voda. Both voice calls and text messages can be ferried in and out of the game, with SMSes running a cool L$300 (which we think is somewhere around $1) and voice calls running L$300 per minute. Calls and messages placed to Second Life, though, are billed at the same rate as they would be to a traditional German phone (it seems Voda's pool of InsideOut numbers are based in of Deutschland at the moment). Through the end of November, InsideOut's still operating in a beta mode so it's all free to try out, but keep in mind that Voda's customer support won't be able to bail you out -- cue Matrix reference -- if you're having trouble getting to a hardline.
VMware Fusion 1.1 released
Even though Leopard ships with Boot Camp, lots of Mac users still get their virtual groove on with VMware Fusion, and its super-slick window display tool Unity. Today VMware announced Fusion 1.1, an upgrade that sports some cool new features and improvements: As expected, the upgrade now supports Leopard Better 3D graphics via the "experimental support" for DirectX 9.0 Full Vista and XP support A beta version of VMware Importer, a tool that allows users to quickly import virtual machines (including Boot Camp) Overall better speed and performance All told, there are about 25 enhancements in Fusion 1.1. Pat Lee, VMware's senior product manager for Mac products, told me that this upgrade is "all about giving the user choice." He points out that the biggest advantage of Fusion over Boot Camp is the ability to access your Windows virtual machine on the fly. Lee says that, unlike Boot Camp, it's not necessary to shut down your Mac and reboot into Windows every time you want to get to a Windows app. Instead, just use the Unity tool to co-mingle your Windows and Mac apps right on the same screen. On the other hand, if dual-booting is your thing, you can always use Importer to create a virtual machine.The upgrade is free for existing customers. If you're ready to try it out for the first time, snag a free 30-day evaluation from the company Web site or purchase it for $59.99 with a $20 rebate (US only).
IBM's SiSi virtually translates speech to sign language
We've seen a wide array of devices designed to help the deaf communicate and experience life more fully, and IBM is hoping to make yet another advancement in the field with its SiSi (Say It Sign It) system. Developed at an IBM research center in Hursley, England, the technology works "by using speech recognition to convert a conversation into text," after which SiSi "translates the text into the gestures used in sign language and animates a customizable avatar that carries them out." Currently, the system is still labeled a prototype and only works with British sign language, but there's already plans to commercialize the invention in due time. For a better look at exactly what SiSi can do, take a peek at the video demonstration waiting after the jump.
The BBC examines love in Azeroth
There's an interesting piece up over at the BBC's State of Play blog about how online games are becoming more and more social places, not just for friendly relationships, but for romantic ones as well. While meeting online used to be an embarassing thing for couples, nowadays it's much, much more common, and what better place to meet online than in a social MMORPG like World of Warcraft?Unfortunately, the idea doesn't quite fly with me. In an online situation like, say Facebook, you're more or less playing yourself-- odds are you've posted your own picture, your own opinions, and your own favorite music. But in World of Warcraft, you're playing a character. And even if that character isn't completely different from your real-life persona (most people actually are themselves in the game, unlike hardcore roleplayers), it's still different enough, in my opinion, to be a significant barrier to actually judging someone as a relationship partner.But that's just me-- lots of people have found significant others in online games, and even more have met lots of people in MMOs, and then actually become better friends or partners after meeting them in real life. But while an online space like Myspace or Facebook might be very conducive to getting a real sense of new people, an online game set in a fictional universe like WoW is still too separate from the real world to allow for a real love connection on its own.
Real reactions to virtual environments
The always-interesting Terra Nova has a piece up about Nick Yee's the Proteus Effect, which is based around how we relate to (and interact with) stimuli in virtual worlds, specifically our and others' avatars.Basically, almost all of the research so far shows that we react to virtual stimuli exactly the same way as if it were real stimuli-- we don't want our characters standing too close to other characters, because it's a social convention in the real world that we all have our own individual space. But we still react positively to attractive avatars, whether we know it or not. No matter how much we're supposed to be roleplaying, or how much we realize consciously that the virtual world is different from the real world, we still react in a real way to virtual stimuli. It's heady stuff, but here's Terra Nova's soundbite, by Dmitri Williams: "You can take the person out of the real, but not the real out of the person."And Williams closes with an extremely interesting proposition, considering how the interaction works: what if, by making many parts of Outland dark and gloomy, Blizzard has caused us to react realistically and feel depressed? TN's informal survey says that players' favorite zone is Nagrand-- is that because it's sunny and green there? And if so, what does that say about our reaction to the expected upcoming expansion-- should Blizzard reconsider the dark, cold stretches of Northrend for a more tropical locale?
The DS Life: Crossing into reality
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handheld and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at gmail dot com.Sean Foreman mixes his advanced technical abilities as a photographer with post-processing effects to create images that almost seem magical in their composition. Check past the post break for a sample of his creative work and this week's edition of The DS Life.
Getting married in a virtual realm
WorldofWar points us to this forum thread by Fabraz, in which he shows off a video of his WoW wedding. The video is all in German, but you can tell what's happening as two Night Elf druids stand together in Darnassus as onlookers kneel. They finish their vows, and then a party goes down, and gifts are even given.It's not the first time this sort of thing has been done, of course (that's another German vid, though-- are Germans more likely to do a virtual wedding?), but it is a strange little collision of our social gestures in the real world with the virtual one. Does it mean any less or more (in terms of social meaning-- of course it doesn't mean anything legally) when two people commit to each other in virtual space rather than physical space? We've seen funerals held for players before, and of course there's the famous Serenity Now incident, with my favorite music cues of any WoW video ever. It's interesting that it's these two rituals, perhaps our most important and symbolic, that have made it into Azeroth. I've never seen a virtual graduation, perhaps congratulating the recent class of 70s, but maybe that's the next big ritual to make the jump.As a player, it's not really my thing (I find social interactions like weddings and funerals much more meaningful in the real world, and would rather leave the virtual world for things like fighting dragons and melting faces), but there is obviously a draw for this kind of thing-- in almost every MMORPG, it pops up at one point or another. Do meaningful social rituals like this belong in the World of Warcraft, or are they just a waste of time?
iPhone Experience: The keyboard
We've got our iPhones. Now it's time to see what these puppies can do. This is the first in a series of posts intended to explore the iPhone's features. This time, it's about the keyboard.With the iPhone, Apple eschewes the "real" keyboard of some other smart phones, and offers virtual replacement. It shows up when needed, and disappears when it's not. It's available in both landscape and portrait orientation, depending on what you're doing. Let's look at an example of each.First of all, the iPhone's response to your keystrokes is immediate. The "Notes" application (as well as a few others) requires you to use the keyboard in portrait mode. Create a new note and the keyboard emerges, taking over the lower half of the screen. By default, letters are displayed with a QWERTY layout, as well as a backspace button, shift, and spacebar. An additional button swaps letters for numbers and symbols (for punctuation, etc.). Click any key and it immediately "grows" from underneath your finger to confirm your selection. The problem for me, at least, is that I don't always see the letter I expect.Typing on this thing in portrait mode with 100% accuracy requires the hands of a adolescent girl. When typing a 27-letter phrase ("This little piggy went to market," if you must know), I made 5 "errors." That's not a whole lot, but it's enough to be kind of annoying.Apple must have predicted that people with adult-sized fingers would have trouble, so they've built in a helpful feature. As you type, the iPhone takes a guess at which word you're after, and places it on the screen just below the cursor. To accept the guess, simply hit the spacebar. While this is handy for avoiding errors in portrait mode, it's a real speed booster while in landscape.This is where things change. Typing in landscape mode - say, while using Safari - is much easier. Because it's got more real estate, the keyboard is wider and the keys are larger. I was able to type my test phrase with no errors and as quickly as I could find the necessary keys. Speaking of Safari, the keyboard acquires a handy ".com" button while you're on the net. It's also more comfortable to type in landscape. Your hands quickly learn how to position the iPhone so that it's secure in your grip while leaving your thumbs free to type away. I wish there was some why to flip all applications on their sides, just so I could make use of that nice, wide keyboard.If anything is at fault here, it's my massive Meat Mittens, not Apple's software. However, I would imagine that a number of users have hands like mine. For us, "slow and deliberate" is the name of the game.
NTT's Tangible-3D prototype gives feeling to on-screen imagery
Regardless of general consensus, it looks like 3D display technology is making a run for our wallets (and to a lesser extent, our hearts), and just days after getting wind of Philips' latest iteration, NTT is hitting back with a newfangled approach of its own. Based around an improved version of the company's original 3D display, this prototype system relies on a sophisticated array of cameras and an actuator-stuffed glove that can allow the wearer to "feel the image" that shows up on the LCD. As the object changes, the glove moves along in real-time to give the user a lifelike idea of what the on-screen matter actually feels like, but unfortunately, it doesn't allow the individual to react. Thankfully, a two-way system that will enable tactile transmissions to be channeled in both directions is in the works, but those parked in Japan can check out the current system at the Industrial Virtual Reality Expo later next week.[Via Slashgear image courtesy of Mainichi]
Microsoft flip-flops again: now no Vista Home on Macs
We've seen our fair share of flip-flopping in the past, and Microsoft is yet again adding its name to the frowned upon list by retracting previous intentions to allow Windows Vista Home and Home Premium operating systems to run under virtualization. After reportedly stating that it would "change the EULA after listening to customer feedback on the issue," it appears that the suits in Redmond have thought better of said decision. Now, the firm has "reassessed the Windows virtualization policy and decided that maintaining the original policy announced last Fall" would be best. Ben Rudolph, Parallels director of corporate communications, noted that he was "obviously disappointed" in Microsoft's change of heart, but if the two-faced Mac users out there can persuade Google to take their side, we're sure this little spat could be cleared up in no time.[Image courtesy of ElliottBack]
World Wide WoW: The New York Times, gold farming, and righteous anger
The New York Times has an interesting article about gold farming, which does a lot to help us understand what gold farming is really like. The author is very insightful, both in his grasp of how WoW works (though he seems confused on details, like "night-elf wizards"), and he is able to communicate well with the Chinese who work as gold farmers. The article goes into greater depth than I've seen so far in any report on the issue, and even includes a video, apparently part of the gold-farming documentary we reported on a while back, to give you a first hand look at what the farmers' lives are like.There are many interesting things in the article, but I'd like to highlight one particular insight here, regarding our relationship to these seemingly strange people in a far away country. "On the surface," the Times reporter observes, "there is little to distinguish gold farming from toy production or textile manufacture or any of the other industries that have mushroomed across China to feed the desires of the Western consumer. The wages, the margins, the worker housing, the long shifts and endless workweeks - all of these are standard practice." Many of the Chinese who moved to the cities from the poor villages scattered all about are facing the same problem. The system provides little to no opportunity to arise out of poverty fueling the demand for cheap products to be sold in the West. Understood in this context, gold farming looks just one of many industries arising out of the relationship China has with the US, providing everything they can as cheaply as possible -- a relationship neither country is quick to change. (Some of my own friends from the countryside work under similarly grueling conditions running their own small restaurant near where I live in China. They seem happy enough but it may be that they just put a good face on things for me every time I see them. Their lives are not easy.)This is different from the usual textile sweatshop job, however: these people work in the same virtual space that we play in, and we the players are not happy about it: "In the eyes of many gamers, in fact, real-money trading is essentially a scam - a form of cheating only slightly more refined than, say, offering 20 actual dollars for another player's Boardwalk and Park Place in Monopoly." So true.
Augmented reality relationship game plays with your emotions
If you couldn't quite make it to the last Wii marriage counseling session, there's still good news coming from Georgia Tech. Thanks to a group of engineering minds at the university, a new augmented reality game (dubbed AR Facade) is placing you in the center of a marital spat with nearly limitless options. The program apparently runs on a back-worn laptop and utilizes an oh-so-tacky head mountable display, and developers suggest that being placed in the midst of an "interactive drama" allows you to choose sides, attempt to mediate, and basically "define your own way to win" as you try to talk some sense into the flustered couple. Interestingly, there's even talk of bringing such games "onto mobile phones" and into the workplace, but it looks like they've got a bit of hardware trimming to do first.[Via The Raw Feed]
Take an actual walk in virtual reality with String Walker
SIGGRAPH has certainly been the home of many virtual reality demonstrations, and this year yet another contraption that (partially) removes us from the world we know will be on display. Similar to the Powered Shoes and Virtusphere seen in years past, the String Walker is a "locomotion interface that uses eight strings actuated by motor-pulley mechanisms mounted on a turntable" in order to let users walk through virtual landscapes. Proprioceptive feedback allows the VR system to translate actual footsteps into the digital world, giving participants a reason to stroll around rather than just twiddling their thumbs. Reportedly, the biggest challenge was mastering the floor, which enables omni-directional walking that simple "treadmill-like" surfaces don't offer and in a simpler fashion than the "complicated" CirculaFloor. Next-generation DDR, here we come.[Via Gizmag]
GayGamer explores the Comix Zone
We don't see many features about individual Virtual Console games, which is kind of a shame. We love talking about old games, and we kind of thought other people did too. And since we can't download demos, it's beneficial for bloggers to talk up their favorite VC games and let people know what's good, or even what these games are. That's why we're highlighting this article on Comix Zone over at GayGamer. While their recurring feature isn't always going to be about Virtual Console games (it's about comics-related games), we're happy to point you to it now that it is. And don't forget to check out our own Virtually Overlooked feature every Thursday for the best Virtual Console games that aren't Virtual Console games yet. And let us know if you've found some in-depth VC game features!
Square Enix hasn't sipped the Virtual Console Kool-Aid
It seems that Square Enix isn't quite convinced about the whole Virtual Console thing. In an interview with Nintendo Dream magazine, Square's Shinji Hashimoto was dubious about the prospects for Final Fantasy games on the Virtual Console, stating that the Japanese audience (which is, of course, the audience that matters) needs physical media for their games. And like the responsible, friendly, consumer-oriented company that Square Enix is, they are happy to provide physical copies of Final Fantasy games. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Of course they don't want to sell a $5 copy of NES FF1 when they've got the PSP remake coming out.We aren't that upset, since they've already released the best game in their library (in Japan and Europe, at least). Go ahead and argue with us. You know Actraiser is way better than Final Fantasy.[Via Game|Life]
Virtually Overlooked: Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative. Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode isn't exactly a great game. In fact, it's more like an awkward agglomeration of a lot of not-that-great games into one game that is mostly mediocre. But somehow, out of its many imperfect elements, it manages to deliver an impressively James-Bond cool story that motivates players to continue the experience.
Here come two new VC challengers from Capcom
Two superb Capcom fighting games are headed to the Virtual Console. Final Fight and the inevitable Street Fighter II Turbo Hyper Fighting have been spotted on the ESRB's list of rated Wii games. The SNES version of Final Fight lacks co-op play and Guy, but has plenty of "Oh! My car" to satisfy us. Street Fighter II Turbo is just like Street Fighter II, but sped-up, with more moves, more characters, and some bizarre changes made to the color scheme. We aren't sure why we're explaining this, because everyone in the world has played enough Street Fighter II to know the different versions.Oh, also new on the list was Tecmo's Mighty Bomb Jack. As obscure game advocates, we feel like we should be most excited about this one, but ... yeah, Final Fight is really, really awesome.[Via Siliconera]
VMware Fusion Beta 2 now available
VMware, the top banana in the virtualization market though relative new comer to the Mac, has just released Fusion Beta 2, their Mac virtualization client. Fusion, much like Parallels, allows you to run Windows (and many other operating systems) on your Mac just like you would any other application.Fusion Beta 2 adds some interesting features: Support for DirectX8.1 on Windows XP virtual machines (DirectX is Microsoft's APIs for multimedia applications, i.e. games that use graphics acceleration). Snapshots of virtual machines: take a snapshot of one of your virtual machines, and you can always recover to that point in time. Support for Vista (both 32 and 64-bit flavors) Much better networking: including seamless switching between Airport networks and support for up to 10 virtual network interfaces (very cool, if you ask me) All in all, Fusion is shaping up to be very nice, though they are still missing Coherence mode which is Parallels killer feature. The Fusion Beta 2 is free (while it is in beta).Update: It is true that Fusion Beta 2 is available now, but it was also available a few weeks ago! I am the victim of a poor memory and a tardy PR email. However, now is a good chance to check Fusion if you haven't (see how I saved this post from irrelevance? That's the mark of a pro blogger).
