But if Oculus is so great, then why do people seem so surprised that Facebook has acquired it?
Partly it’s that Oculus, despite its popularity among gamers and its buy-in from the tech community, is still a small start-up. (It got its start on Kickstarter, where, in a 2012 campaign that sought $250,000 in funding, it raised more than $2 million. It remains one of Kickstarter’s most successful campaigns.) And, furthermore, Oculus has been focused on what many have seen as a niche technology for a niche demographic—hard-core gamers
Tag Archives: gaming
Apple rejects Tank Battle 1942 for depicting Germans & Russians as “enemies”
In case you think you’ve read that wrong, I’ll summarise: a World War II-themed game that depicts fighting between two countries that actually fought in WWII breaks the rules. And apparently Drive on Moscow, Panzer Corps, and every single one of Hunted Cow’s other Tank Battle games don’t.
via Apple rejects Tank Battle 1942 for depicting Germans & Russians as “enemies” UPDATED.
Open source physics engines
Graphics give games a visual appeal, but it’s the internal physics engine that gives the game’s world life. A physics engine is a software component that provides a simulation of a physical system. This simulation can include soft- and rigid-body dynamics, fluid dynamics, and collision detection. The open source community has a number of useful physics engines operating in the 2D and 3D domains targeted to games and simulations. This article introduces the use and basics of a physics engine and explores two options that exist: Box2D and Bullet.
via Open source physics engines.
The Biggest Battle in All Of EVE
Once the TCU onlining was decided, the fight just became about carnage: who could kill the most the fastest. The fleets committed by both sides represent a staggering amount of time, effort, and ISK. Each titan costs about 100 billion ISK (up to 160 or even 220b for particularly expensive fits), which can be purchased for about $3,000 USD by buying game time and selling it to other players for ISK. More than that, though, to build a titan requires several weeks and a nice quiet undisturbed area of space, something harder to find in the current climate. Supercarriers are similarly challenging. Dreadnaughts and carriers, while not as difficult to build, still represent a significant investment of effort on the part of an industrialist somewhere.
via B-R5RB: The Biggest Battle in All Of EVE | TheMittani.com.
Game over for Zynga? Firm loses 25 percent of daily active users in one quarter
In its latest earnings statement filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Zynga reported the number of daily average users (DAU) dropped to 39 million in the second quarter of 2013—the lowest ever since the company began keeping track. Last quarter, the DAU fell to the then-lowest record, 52 million users. The fall to 39 million means that 25 percent of its daily user base stopped using Zynga products in just one quarter.
via Game over for Zynga? Firm loses 25 percent of daily active users in one quarter | Ars Technica.
Why Nintendo can legally shut down any Smash Bros. tournament it wants
Video games are treated differently, though, primarily because they exist on a screen rather than a board. “A video game under copyright law is an audiovisual work, which gives a public performance right to the copyright holder,” Dallas attorney and Law of the Game blog author Mark Methenitis explained in an interview with Ars. “Under the public performance right, the copyright holder is allowed to say when, where, or whether something is publicly performed, meaning displayed in front of a group of people larger than, say, at your house.”
In other words, if you want to put on a Street Fighter tournament and charge people to watch, Capcom can make you get a license for the “public performance” of the game. In fact, that is exactly what Capcom does with for-profit tournaments.
via Why Nintendo can legally shut down any Smash Bros. tournament it wants | Ars Technica.
Where interactive fiction authors and games stand today
The rise of the iPhone and mobile platforms in general, along with developer-friendly app stores, has made the idea of commercializing interactive fiction possible again. In the age of Infocom, the crude graphics on top-end hardware meant the potential market for text-only games for personal computers was in the millions, and this was enough to fund a whole company of developers. Today, people aren’t likely to pay money to sit down at a PC to play a text adventure game, but enough of them might want to play such a game on their mobile device to fund teams of one or two independent developers.
via Heirs of Infocom: Where interactive fiction authors and games stand today | Ars Technica.
The birth of MMOs: World of Warcraft’s debt to MUD
Before there were the current generations of MMOs there were MUDs – multi-user dungeons or ‘dimensions’. And before there were MUDs there was MUD: A multi-player, text-based game running off a mainframe at Essex University.
MUD (known as MUD1 since the release of its successor, MUD2) used an interface similar to that of single player text adventure games and transplanted it to a multi-player realm where players could live virtual lives, solving puzzles, collecting treasure and killing fantastic creatures (and/or each other). The game launched in 1978, developed by Essex students Roy Trubshaw and, later, Richard Bartle.
via The birth of MMOs: World of Warcraft’s debt to MUD – games – Software – Techworld.
Microsoft outlines their system for used games, licenses, and family sharing
The real question is how publishers will deal with used games, and the possibility of “transfer” fees. Suddenly online passes, or their equivalent, are being supported at the console level. One thing is for sure, this is not a good system for any retailer that relies on the sale of used games, and it’s going to be very hard to rent games as well.
via The PA Report – Microsoft outlines their system for used games, licenses, and family sharing.
AI card game knows how to bend the rules
Automatic rule-balancing systems could cater for a variety of player abilities, too, generating different rules for different players. A game with variations built in can be a great way to have fun without anyone having an unfair advantage …
via AI card game knows how to bend the rules – tech – 04 May 2013 – New Scientist.