war-games
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Boeing looks to combat sim for war games
Air Assault Task Force, ever heard of it? Neither have we, but apparently the little known combat sim has not escaped the attention of Boeing, which has enlisted developer ProSIM to create a custom version of the title to be used as a "hyper-realistic ground combat simulator" for use in war games. With the ability to obliterate countless virtual lives, Air Assault Task Force puts the notion of games as killing simulators into perspective, but since the game is played from the cold comfort of an overhead tactical display, it makes everything a-okay.According to Boeing, the title will be used in conjunction with tutoring software that the firm is currently developing, adding that the final product will "watch" a player as he plays, making suggestions along the way and after the fact, most likely on how to be a more efficient killing machine. That is until Matthew Broderick hacks the network and sends us all to the brink of global thermonuclear war. If you need us, we'll be in the Joystiq bunker. We have a bunker, right?
Avoiding the high-def movie format war
While Microsoft and Sony are obviously hoping their respective high-definition movie support will give them an edge in the console wars, other companies are busy trying to find a way around the format war brewing between HD-DVD and Blu-ray. First, Warner Bros. announced a new layered disc format that would allow all three DVD standards to reside on one disc. Now NEC has announced " two new low cost chips" that will allow standalone players to more easily support all formats starting in April '07.These efforts could cast the proprietary format support of the console manufacturers into a new light. On the one hand, gamers might use their game system of choice as a low-cost entry into the high-def movie market, supporting one format over the other by default. On the other hand, wary movie fans might hold off on locking in to any standard (through a game system or a standalone player) if they know the option for easily supporting both is just around the corner. With all the confusion, it's hard to blame the movie studios for mostly "sitting on the fence and hedging their bets until the technology waters become clearer," as iTWire puts it.Perhaps those considering which side of the format war to support should take their advice from the 1983 movie WarGames: "The only winning move is not to play."(Thanks Prof-KOS)
Play the news: kill Al Qaeda's al-Zarqawi
If you've recently witnessed the news on TV or your disagreeable neighbor's house getting blown to smithereens, you'd likely be aware that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a decisive US air strike earlier this month. If this is the first time you're learning of it, the news is reaching you in a way quite dissimilar to the way in which the people behind Kuma Reality Games want it to. Reaching you is just the beginning for them -- they want it to grab you by the arm and yank you into a Source-powered, 3D recreation.The goal of Kuma\War is elaborate and intriguing, though much like a minefield, it's also laced with topical traps that require careful movements to navigate successfully. For every major battle or newsworthy event that takes place in the ongoing war on terror, Kuma\War offers a free, downloadable counterpart, plunging you right into the war-torn boots of an American soldier and tasking you with carrying out the very same mission. Just a scant few weeks after al-Zarqawi's death, Kuma\War will be offering "players" the opportunity to call in the airstrike that killed him or, alternatively, rush his house with a group of comrades in tow.
