Synesthesia(a.k.a. synæsthesia or synaesthesia, plural synesthesiae) is a term that literally means the combining of one or more of the five human senses. Nominally, in from the standpoint of neurology, this is actually an unusual condition found in less than 4% of the human population, which causes people to make unusual associations between items of thought or memory. Examples would be somebody whom thinks of Thursdays as having the texture of concrete, or remembering the smell of the basement of your old house as being the sound of pigs grunting.
When I first found out about synesthesia I wasn't at all surprised, I had related smells to colours, tastes to shapes, the seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years of my life to giant clockwork mechanisms, etc… for as long as I can remember. What I was surprised to learn is that it was such an uncommon occurrence, and that there was actually a technical name for it!
However, after initially discovering this concept, I sort of set it into the back of my head. Sort of the same reaction I had when somebody explained Asperger's Syndrome(a type of mild autism, which causes many kinds of environmental sensitivities, which seems to be a common thread among the world's geek popular), which was "cool, file in the cerebral databanks and move on".
Actually, thinking about Asperger's and Synesthesia just now has got me wondering if anybody has ever attempted to discover a cross-correlation between the two? Sounds like a research paper worthy of Kaitlen from Douglas Coupland's "JPod". (Which, incidentally is the funniest book I've read in ages!)
Anyhow, sorry for my digression, back to Synesthesia, which has actually become a bit of a buzzword in the gaming industry these days, which brings me to the subject of this post, a couple of really cool games I just came across.
The first is a literal attempt to create a Synesthesia based game. It's called "Synaesthete" and basically combines the mechanics of Robotron with the rhythm basics of a "PaRappa the Rapper" or "Dance Dance Revolution" (which in turn spawned the epically famous Guitar Hero games) with a very Tron(looks like we're going to get a Tron movie sequel in 3D for 2011, I wonder if it will be as good as the Tron 2.0 FPS that came out a while back?), or Darwinia-like (A fun little RTS set inside a computer) aesthetic.
Basically, you run around glowing mazes, defeating enemies by taping out various musical beats and receiving Marshall McLuhan-esque philosophy each time you defeat a group of enemies. The beats that you tap out add to the visual experience, so that the music and visuals become a Synesthesia. A very interesting concept indeed and after playing through the first 3 levels, I can say that it's pretty good fun. (I understand that the old PS2 game "Rez", which has recently been re-released as a download on the X-Box 360 is a similar experience. Although, differing in being a "rail-shooter", as opposed to directly moving your character, the concept is the same, shoot things to make beautiful sound and light shows.)
I think it is cool to note that Synaesthete was created by students at Digipen, which is possibly one of the coolest schools on the plant and just won the 2008 student award at the IGF.
The second is actually one of the most inventive and entertaining games I've come across in ages. It's called "Audiosurf", and no, it's not about being some poor Rockstar slave to the RIAA (that would be an "AudioSerf"), it's a game which translates songs of your choosing (in several popular audio formats, including ubiquitous MP3s) into multi-lane digital highways that again follow a bright-glowing colour motif. The beat of the music determines the bumps and shape of the highway, which you must ride along in an attempt to score points by either hitting or avoiding (depending on the game mode) various coloured blocks. In effect, the game world combines with your choice of music to create a Synesthesia upon which you race through (sometimes at breakneck speed, depending on your chosen song).
At the end of each race, Audiosurf connects with a high score server to show you how well other players did with the same song. I can't stress enough how brilliant this design decision was. Let me attempt to explain: You see, the rest of the game is basically a combination of other concepts melded together in a highly creative manner. The blocks on the highway are very similar in concept to the notes you hit in Guitar Hero, although, you're not actually strumming, you just have to move from side to side to hit them. The matching of blocks can be linked back to puzzle game time immemorial, with classics such as Tetris or Bejewelled. Even the overall look of the environment basically breaks down to one of those cool musical visualizations that have been a common component of software for playing digital music files for ages.
So, while the concept is highly original take on old ideas, the "drive" or want to play only crystallizes after you've finished your first "race" and you see the tally board of other players. All of a sudden, we are not only driven to compete for higher or more complex scores, but we're also drawn into thinking "Oh, I wonder if anyone has ever set a high score for this song or that song". Our minds become overloaded, as we think of song after song to try, we want to know if it's popular, we want to know who else has the same taste in music as us.
In short, it is brilliant marketing. The designer has driven us to buy his product, not just because of how cool it is, but because it allows us to utilize a commodity (music files) that just about everybody possess. And admit it, how many of us don't believe that there's something interesting or unique or special about our own taste in music?
Audiosurf delves into a region of collective unconscious that groups (beyond regular game developers) like the RIAA really need to study. Music is not about "the old ways", such as radio and CDs anymore, it's about new ways of interactive with music as a graphic and visual whole. The success of games like this is proving that every single day, I personally believe that more and more developers are going to run with these concepts and produce some absolutely spectacular results!
In my book, Audiosurf is a 10 out 10! (and it's only $10 and can be downloaded straight away, you can't get any better than that!)
As a comic xkcd covers some pretty sophisticated ideas about everything from romance to hard core math and everything in between
Many of the strips really hit home (although, I'd probably go hunting to find a fulgurite before attempting to make one), especially ones like this about "Small Talk".
However, this comic is my absolute favorite:
P.S. Don't forget to visit the site and check the hover tags for each comic!
I admit it, I'm an old school "Diablo 2" addict, I really didn't care for the original and nothing since has really twisted my fancy as far as action RPGs go.
Sure, "Titan Quest" was ok, if just a little boring, especially for interesting item drops. "Sacred" was an ok diversion, but was sort of rough around the edges and definitely not polished to the mirror sheen of Diablo 2.
Plus Sacred had one of the most hilarious random item naming systems to date. Anyone who has played Diablo 2 will know that certain attributes are always linked to certain naming conventions, a "Blazing" weapon will always do fire damage, etc… However, in Sacred, the names weren't linked to specific properties, so it was completely common to have "Rotten Leather of Smelly Muck" with attributes that far exceeded "Exhausted Super Armour of the Most Glorious Gods", which always makes for some good laughs.
Anyhow, the point here is that after getting every single ounce of juice out of Diablo 2, I've been really hurting for a good action RPG. Something that's easy to fire up and hack away at, for those days when you just want a quick diversion. So I was more than just a little excited when I learned that a bunch of ex-Blizzard employees that had worked on Diablo 2 had gotten together to form their own company and were working on a spiritual sibling of Diablo 2 called "Hellgate London".
And after trying out the demo version of Hellgate London, I have to say that I was totally impressed and started to get that little giddy feeling that I get when I think about the possibility of finally having a good action RPG to plunk away at. Expecially one that crosses a totally cool post apocalyptic world with loads of demon slaying action!
However, the ending of the demo was a little odd, in that, there wasn't one. Just a few quests that eventually lead to a pretty big dead end, not exactly what I'm used to in a demo. In my experience, most demos end with a nice little "if you'd like to see more, buy the damn game" sort of thing. (In fact, the most frustrating demo of all time was for Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail, which ends with a female character finally pulling down her top to reveal a nice "if you want to see the real thing, buy the damn game" message. Talk about guerrilla advertising!)
Having been left completely unsatisfied by the inconclusive ending, I decided to check Google, just in case I had missed something, which it turns out that I both had and hadn't, in that no, the demo doesn't have any sort of proper ending, but yes, the demo apparently comes with a type of advertising software that some folks are dubbing "spyware".
Basically, it's a package that allows the game to connect to a special server to download fresh advertising content, which is then displayed in-game. Which, while incredibly tacky, it's not precisely "spyware", which is a name I normally reserve for the crappy sort of advertising software that tries to take over your computer and do things that it's not supposed to, like crash or run very slowly.
Now, why do I call in game advertisements tacky? Well, it's because of Hellgate London's developer's choice to also add a subscription service to their game. In that, sure, you can buy the game and play it all you want, both on and offline, however, if you want access to "exclusive items and features", you have to dole out a $10 monthly extortion fee.
So, let me get this straight: I'm going to be paying a recurring fee for the "privilege" of being advertised to in a game which out of the box doesn't contain the game's full content?
I don't f-in think so!
I have nothing against developers making some extra money by putting out add-ons after a game has been released. I have nothing against MMOs and monthly fees that support new content. But I have a hella-big problem if a game is already receiving advertising support and charging me for new content. Hellgate's devs really need to sit down and look at other precedence, like Anarchy Online, where I can play for free and see ads or pay a fee to have the ads removed (or maybe at Diablo 2 and Blizzard.net's FREE out of the box access to the WHOLE game!)
Ya dudes, you make be making one cool game, but that doesn't entitle you to double dip consumers.
Guess I'll just have to wait (and wait and wait) for Diablo 3 for the "real" action RPG "fix" I've been looking for!
Yesterday on Digg.com I noticed that there was a link to a leaked copy of the PC Bioshock demo on Piratebay. Being a System Shock fan from way back I simply couldn't resist downloading the demo, which, due to immense popularity of torrents, downloaded in less than half a day. (Which is pretty impressive for having a DSL connection out here, somewhere west of nowhere!)
Anyhow, I decided to give the demo a whirl this morning, foregoing my normal morning news reading routine and man, all I have to say is "WOW"!
Bioshock has the potential of being a massive hit, which strikes me as funny considering the lacklustre sales, if legendary status of its spiritual predecessors: "System Shock" and "System Shock 2", two of the greatest (and scariest) games ever made.
(Actually, "Deus Ex" and "Deus Ex 2" probably also be classified as direct decedents of the System Shock games, however, the Deus Ex series floundered even more than System Shock and also lacked some of the atmosphere that made the System Shocks so very special.)
What becomes apparent as you venture into the Bioshock demo is that the designers absolutely loved System Shock and wanted to create a true heir to the series in every way possible, which, if the demo is any indication at all, they have done in spades!
The Plasmid and Weapon system of Bioshock is definitely reminiscent of the System Shock's upgrade system, but with even more cool options. There are even ghosts and tape recorded messages spread around the fallen underwater paradise of Rapture, which is a complete nod to System Shock 2.
I was able to get through the demo in about an hour (yes, on easy mode), which ends with a projected message from Rapture's creator; Andrew Ryan, which obviously sets up Ryan to take on the roll of omnipresent malevolent force, much like System Shock's infamous SHODAN.
It's somewhat hard to imagine that the outer space environment world of System Shock could be successfully replaced with an art deco inspired underwater setting, but somehow the designers pulled off the migration flawlessly and gorgeously. It's amazing to sit back and recall the faux 3D worlds of the Ultima Underground games (The first games to take the faux 3D concepts of games like Castle Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, add the dimension of height and turn the environment into an action RPG experience) that gave rise to the original System Shock and how in just a few short years we're now playing games that look better than most early CGI movies, with amazing fire, water and physical effects.
I guess my biggest hope is that Bioshock will be enough of a cash cow that somebody will consider System Shock 3, which any hard core fans will remember ends with a pretty decent cliff hanger.
Happy Happy Joy Joy, the big C is technically 50% past, all that's left now are the afternoons with family, incredibly large meals, laying around lethargically and waking up to engage in Boxing Day shopping madness.
I will admit that even though I have left behind most of the childhood trappings of Christmas, I still somewhat enjoy imagining this day as special in someway. For all the stress and consumer madness, at least some families get to enjoy some time together and perhaps tap into the often sought "true spirit" of the holiday seasons.
Catching up on the story of the fine Byzantine necklace I posted about a few days ago, the trade went down, so somehow, in the oddest set of circumstances, I managed to snag "the must have" x-mas present of 2007 for myself; the Nintendo Wii.
Which is actually quite hilarious, as I couldn't care less, in fact, if anything, being an early adopter of technology is actually quite taboo in my little universe. I mean, there's hardly any software available for the Wii, it hasn't been out long enough to know if there are any substantial problems, heck, I've even heard reports that there's going to be an upgraded model in 2007.
Yet, here I am with a chunk of very modern technology, I mean, the axis sensors in the Wiimote are micron-sized machines and while not loaded with the most modern processors, it sure is a nicely compact little bundle of gamin goodness.
"No one would have believed in the last years of the 19th century that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space. That we were be scrutinized as someone with a microscope watches creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets and yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us."
I was introduced to this album (yes, album) when I was very young because my father was probably the biggest Moody Blues fan in the world. He was always sitting me down with a pair of ancient headphones stuck to the sides of my head to listen to the Moody's or War of the Worlds, which we were lucky enough to have a cassette tape copy of, although, later, we also gained a copy of the album insert from some unknown source.
April 2008
. (Which, incidentally is the funniest book I've read in ages!)
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