Filed under: Video Games, Back to School

The University of Florida is not the first college to offer a course in ‘StarCraft,’ but it is the first to offer one that at least pretends to have some intellectual value beyond boosting your APM (actions per minute) rate. EME2040, or 21st Century Skills in ‘StarCraft’ is being taught by Nate Poling, and uses the blockbuster real-time strategy game as a tool for teaching lessons about time and resource management, as well as “adaptive decision making.” Poling says that managing businesses and facilities like hospitals and factories require skills similar to those required by ‘StarCraft’ — namely tracking units that have distinct specialties.

21st Century Skills in ‘StarCraft’ is only available to students enrolled in the honors college and who have at least a “basic knowledge of and experience playing ‘StarCraft’.” Shockingly, this is also the first online-only course taught at the University of Florida. The goal for Poling is to help his students learn by doing, rather than reading an endless parade of books and articles on the finer points of resource management. Of course, hospitals aren’t about to hand the reigns over to a bunch of college kids (even if they are honors students), so Poling has turned to the next best thing: games. The obvious choices here would have been ‘Sim City,’ or perhaps ‘Lemonade Tycoon,’ but the split-second decision-making and reflexive recall of unit-specific information make ‘StarCraft’ a much better sim of real world management skills. [From: Technology Review]

‘StarCraft’ Used to Teach Management Skills at the University of Florida originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games, Reviews, Playroom

Although, for a time, the video game industry valiantly staved off the recession while other enterprises suffered, console game sales did eventually stagnate before precipitously dropping. Online gaming currently thrives, though, particularly with enormously popular titles like Zynga‘s ‘FarmVille’ and ‘Mafia Wars.’ Other services like Xbox Live, which reportedly generates billions in revenue, also demonstrate that certain aspects of gaming can experience resounding success while still producing absurd profits.

Given the colossal audience of social networking sites and streaming services like Hulu and Netflix, the adoption of such financially sound models by the video game industry represents a boundless and untapped gold mine. Enter OnLive, a service that seeks to provide video games instantly to users (on an array of devices), while also enabling trash-talking friendly networking. Currently experimenting with an invitation-only, pre-release program, OnLive showcases industry veteran Steve Perlman as CEO, and claims stalwarts like AT&T and Warner Bros. among its supporters.

The cloud-based game service, which also plans to release a MicroConsole in the fall, won’t require lengthy, storage-sapping downloads. But will it provide seamless, uninterrupted gaming at a competitive price? That question, as well as numerous others, remains to be conclusively answered.

Continue reading Hands On With OnLive: On-Demand Gaming Scores, but Still Clouded With Issues

Hands On With OnLive: On-Demand Gaming Scores, but Still Clouded With Issues originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games

Billy Mitchell, the ostensible villain of ‘King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters‘ and recently usurped ‘Donkey Kong’ champion, doesn’t like to lose. Despite the fact that he did lose the latter title to Steve Wiebe in 2006, he eventually regained the world championship, and retained it for three years. Then, in March of this year, a dude named Hank Chien muscled out Mitchell with 1,061,700 points, beating the Sauce King’s previous score of 1,050,200. But, like some kind of nerd hydra, Mitchell has just come back, and edged out Chien.

Verified by Twin Galaxies — the arcade gaming mecca and a primary setting of ‘King of Kong’ — Mitchell set the new record for ‘Donkey Kong’ at 1,062,800 points. But his ego could not be sated by reclaiming the Kong crown; he also decided to set the record for ‘Donkey Kong Jr.’ with 1,270,900 points, replacing former champ Mark Kiehl, who had achieved 1,253,000 points.

Continue reading Billy Mitchell, ‘King of Kong’ Loser, Becomes Gaming Champ Once Again

Billy Mitchell, ‘King of Kong’ Loser, Becomes Gaming Champ Once Again originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games, Web

Continue reading ‘Achievement Unlocked 2′ Revives the Blue Elephant for Time Wasting Fun

‘Achievement Unlocked 2′ Revives the Blue Elephant for Time Wasting Fun originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Tech, Video Games

With a massive, controllable robotic arm, many unprecedented and momentous tasks become achievable. Such an appendage could perform difficult rescue missions, extraordinary construction tasks and urgent emergency responses. But, its greatest perk might be the reactive, mid-air environment it can contribute to incredibly awesome gaming sessions.

Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics has created a CyberMotion Simulator Robocoaster for just that high-flying function. (The Nobel Prize winning founder of quantum physics must be proud.) The Robocoaster simulator allows gamers to realistically drive a Ferrari F2007 through a Formula 1 course, while cradled in an enormous, responsive and elevated robotic hand. The Institute’s Paolo Robuffo Giordano believes his group’s enhanced “six-axis Kuka KR 500″ should be used as “a fundamental tool to understand how humans experience the sensation of motion.” But two unanswered, pertinent questions require a resolution: Who is the lucky guy in the video? And, how do we get his job? [From: ieee Spectrum and YouTube]

Continue reading CyberMotion Simulator Helps Scientists Steer a Course Toward Robo Racing

CyberMotion Simulator Helps Scientists Steer a Course Toward Robo Racing originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games

Cooperstown, New York and Ottumwa, Iowa will soon share an unbreakable bond — as cities that host a hall of fame. According to USA Today, the International Video Game Hall of Fame will induct its first class of 29 members this weekend. The honored include the classic arcade game ‘Pac-Man,’ ‘Mario’ creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the Xbox design team, video game record holders Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe, and still others. But why Ottumwa? The city gained notoriety in the ’80s for holding some of the first competitive gaming tournaments at the Twin Galaxies arcade, which is owned by Walter Day, a force behind the International Video Game Hall of Fame. Mayor Dale Uehling told NPR in an interview that this makes his town “The Video Game Capital of The World,” a strong claim for a town of only 25,000. [From: USA Today, NPR and IVGHOF]

Video Game Hall of Fame Opens in Iowa, Inducts ‘Pac-Man’ in First Class originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games

Foldit may seem like a relatively straightforward game, but the scientific theory behind it is anything but. Created by Washington University’s Seth Cooper, the game requires players to deconstruct the complex, three-dimensional structures of various proteins — a task typically left to biochemistry PhD students or researchers. Foldit, though, allows even novices to enter the world of protein architecture, thanks to its intuitive game controls, colloquial language and clear tutorials. Instead of wrapping their minds around arcane scientific concepts, users simply have to “tweak,” “freeze,” “wiggle” and “shake” the shapes that appear before them. As Discover reports, only one-eighth of Foldit players actually work in a scientific field, and a full two-thirds have had no biochemistry training beyond high school.

According to Cooper, the game is designed to “attract the widest possible audience… and encourage prolonged engagement.” That’s why, for example, he added a competitive element to the game, by scoring users based on the stability of their final protein structures, and ranking them against fellow gamers. Foldit also has a social aspect, as users can chat with each other, and collaborate on different puzzles.

Continue reading ‘Foldit’ Lets Gamers Unintentionally Make Scientific Breakthroughs

‘Foldit’ Lets Gamers Unintentionally Make Scientific Breakthroughs originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games, Playroom

In March, the streaming video game service OnLive promised us it would launch its final version during E3, specifically on June 17. Well, by midnight yesterday not everyone had been granted access, but it appears that the company is rolling out the service in stages. We’re still not seeing a link to sign up for a new account, but some who pre-registered for the service are reporting their accounts have been turned on.

The new service will allow users to play power-hungry video games in their browser, putting the burden for running the game on OnLive’s servers instead of your home PC. The service is launching with 23 games, including ‘Assassin’s Creed 2′ and ‘Borderlands.’ Some of those who signed up pre-launch will be given a year of free access, others will have to cough up $14.95 a month for a subscription, in addition to paying for access to individual games. OnLive is just the latest push, along with QuakeLive, to make gaming on-demand and put an end to the need for high-end gaming rigs. [From: Yahoo!, via: Engadget]

OnLive Goes Live, Brings Streaming Games to Your Browser originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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