Max Payne 3!!!

New screenshots of Max Payne 3 have been released. Rockstar (the new owners of this awesome franchise, was Remedy Entertainment) finally delivered us some pictures:

According to Rockstar’s Sam Houser, they are starting a new chapter of Max’s life with the game. “This is Max as we’ve never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever.” Since the last game, the press release states Max has left New York behind and has “drifted from bad to worse”. The press release then goes on to say Max has been double-crossed in this new city and he is searching for the truth and a way out.

A recent issue of Game Informer has revealed that the story is set 12 years after the last game. Payne has been cut loose from the NYPD, and has moved to São Paulo, Brazil where he’s taken up employment in the private security sector, working for a wealthy local family.

The game is due for release this Winter!

TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled screens…

Now im a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant (Ninja/Hero) Turtles and have been for a very long time. I’ve got countless retro comics from the Peter Laird (original) era which are delicately placed inside a plastic sleeve to protect them. Xbox have released a few screens of the upcoming release on Xbox Live Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
Here are a few pics:

So far we are aware that the game includes all but one of the original levels, and as you can see from the screenshots there has been a huge 3D overhaul which will hopefully boost the likeability of the turtles. The game is due for release on July 22nd.

Diving Fail

Lost Prophets vs Everyone else…

I’ve had these songs which I remixed for ages now so I thought i’d upload them and let people have a listen. Please feel free to leave feedback, try and be constructive though fanks!

This song featuring Lost Prophets was created using lots of different artists layed on top, it was done so long ago I cant remember how many artists were included. The ones I can remember are: Lost Prophets, Korn, Frank Sinatra, Mike Skinner (The Streets), Miles Davis, Pink Floyd… if you can spot anymore let me know!

Kanye West and 30 Seconds to Mars, I thought this would be an interesting mix together, its out a little in a few places but I think its not bad (I would though wouldn’t I?)

Pharrell vs Freq Nasty, this is probably one of my favourite mixes that I have done, I wont be uploading all of my mixes. Just the ones which I think are fairly good.

Dr Dre. vs apocalyptica, now I would say that this is my favourite out of all of them, I think it works.

For more mixes please visit my channel on Youtube.

Thanks for listening!

Project Natal E3 Update

Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Games Studios has been put under the spotlight with regards to the new phenomenon Project Natal which is all the rage at the E3 conference this week.

When asked how long Microsoft have been working on Project Natal Phil replied:

“Project Natal is the combination of a lot of software work that’s been going on within the company for quite a while. If you think about the different technologies at play–you have facial recognition, voice recognition, skeletal tracking–you have things that Microsoft research has been working on for years.

Some of this stuff, like voice recognition, you’ve seen in the past and it’s a continuation of that work. It’s based on strengths we have. We’re a software company that’s focused on research and development. As content creators at Microsoft worldwide studios, we’ve been thinking about the barriers to people playing games for a while. We’ve thought about controller-less gaming and how we’d interact–Dimitri was something we incubated at Lionhead many years ago and what you see in Milo today is sort of the culmination of platform innovation working in sync with a lot of our content creators and content leaders.”

And when asked about a price of launch date Phil said:

“We’re using this E3 to show the progress we’ve made. We have a firm belief that we have the technology and creations that will define the market when they come out for this space. As first-party, we’ve always been about tentpole games, call them showcases or hero experiences, either for Live or for the 360, or for the original Xbox when it came out.

The work had come along and we felt that we had a solid plan with a solid launch portfolio and a portfolio for the next few years, so we thought we should start talking about this publicly. We’re shipping dev kits out, which clearly when you start shipping dev kits out, the chances of leaks and everything go up. But frankly, I thought we were ready to stand on stage and show of our work, and I thought it held up pretty well.”

So its been an interesting week so far with more and more information being leaked every day. To read the full conversation follow here.

Super Mario Galaxy 2… pictures released

New pictures of Super Mario Galaxy 2 have been released, its the first full sequel to a 3D mario game!

Here they are:

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2

The new pictures come after the famed E3 conference which didnt disappoint (many) this year. With lots of new and exciting innovations due to be released over the following months.

Sony E3 Conference

Sonys E3 Conference courtesy of Gamespot.

The guy starts off with listing games which are due to be released, this starts off bad because the games arent exclusive to the Playstation. Again just like the Nintendo presentation lots of numbers which arent really useful to the consumer. I notice that the guy presenting is very clever with his word. He keeps going from the ps3 figures to Playstation figures which is blending them together obviously the latter being bigger.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves looks pretty cool, its not entirely groundbreaking but nevertheless a solid game, slightyly reminiscent of Gears of War but then again alot of games which are coming out have the duck and cover kind of feature. Something which strikes me early on when comparing the three presentations between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo it seems as though Microsoft have the biggest range between awesome game releases and exciting innovation looking to the future whereas Nintendo were hell bent on tell everyone last years figures while churching out the same games but with an added fart and Sony seem to be hanging on the release on big games (which isnt a bad thing…much). 

MAG is a fantastic idea, it had to be soon when such a vast game came out onto a console, this is the equivalent of World of Warcraft on the PC. I’m not sure how long the gameplay will last, maybe it’ll get a bit too repetitive. The Smugness of Sony is just oozing out of this presentation, they know they have nothing to worry about but it does seem as though they dont really care. The PSP Go! looks awesome, its nice and small which will combat the DS.

Gran Turismo PSP Go! is again another great idea, taking a big franchise onto the small screen, literally. One thing about the PSP Go! is the size, in the presentation the presenter mentions about Gran Turismo being a full size game, however, to enjoy the game would a bigger screen be better? I liked it though. Hideo Kojima has again made an appearance, Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker which is set 10 years after metal gear solid 3 which is a true sequel to the metal gear franchise. Hideo Kojima reiterates that he will be deeply involved in producing this game which is not to be looked upon as a side game. The trailer for Peacewalker looks fantastic its a take on the government creating utopia, it looks like a genuine game which fits into the Metal Gear saga.

The Assassins Creed 2 trailer has been released, set in the italian renaissance. The gameplay looks awesome, it hasnt diverted aesthetically from AC1. An interesting note is that Leonardo Da Vinci is incorporated into the game as the Assassins inventor, he is seen with his model of a helicopter which is flyable. It looks awesome!!! Another note is that there is another release on the PSP called Assassins Creed: Bloodlines which will unlock extra weapons if you connect it to AS2 on the PS3.

Someone commented on saying that Final Fantasy will probably be on one disc for the PS3 but how many on the Xbox? Its an interesting point, as we all know the PS3 isnt using all of its power yet so hopefully this’ll be the game to test its components, as for the xbox I hope when its ported turns out beautifully which im sure it will. To be honest I think both consoles are the same, purely because developers have to make games portable in order to increase revenue. Ultimately this is slowing the rise of the PS3 and its potential power.

The trailer for Final Fantasy 13 look spretty cool, its been out for a few weeks now and the one shown is just a smaller version. Final Fantasy 14 has also been announced which is a shock as 13 has barely has eyes set upon it. As we all know the developers of Final Fantasy keep trailers and gameplay almost secret until its being released so this has come as a huge shock. The crowd definetely didnt expect that, again the trailer look sawesome as always with the Final Fantasy saga.

So the new Eye Toy has had a live tech demo, so far its looking pretty cool. It seems to be just an upgrade onto the older Eye toy. It has the potential to be used in great games which will work with using things as a trigger just like the Wii. Project Natal seems to be much better though as there is no need for a controller. The archery thing looks pretty cool, its the same type of thing as the Wii Remote upgrade. But the PS3 looks to be far superior. I was really disappointed with Nintendos presentation and the Wii seems to have come to a hault in terms of being the forerunner in new innovations.

The Last Guardian looks like a pretty good idea for a game, well worth a look. As well as Gran Turismo 5 it looks too realistic… which is the point. All in all a good presentation but I think the Microsoft one won it this year. I look forward to the releases on the Xbox most!

E3 Nintendo Conference

Nintendos E3 Conference courtesy of Gamespot

Firstly what is with the woman at the start??? She reminds me of a high school teacher which has all the inspiration but theres just something missing which makes you believe she trying to hard. Could she be less enthusiastic? Now onto the new Super Mario game, all I can say is WTF??? Its pretty much the same DS game but shat out onto the Wii with a multiplayer function. This woman is starting to annoy me, she seems like some congresswoman, she isnt representing Nintendo with the fun and charisma which comes along with it. Instead just drivvling on useless pieces of information which the consumer probably doesnt give a crap about.

Nintendo seem to be hell bent on creating new innovations all the time with their wavy remote and the stupid wii fit. So now to add to that they have released Wii Fit Plus… another push to try and get more money out a gimmick which to be honest is starting to wear very thin. I dont own a Wii, the times I have played one I found fun for a few minutes. All over the internet there are countless users who think that their Wii is good at collecting dust once Metroid/Mario and Zelda has been completed. Before when the Wii was first release they seemed to have a young fun image where they knew there demographic but now it seems they are just a bit cunfused. ‘Games’ like the Wii Fit surely arent aimed at children and yet almost every game on there is aimed at kids, and we are talking kids not teenagers…kids (apart from resident evil…obviously).

Just to point on now that Microsoft have release their new innovation Project Natal, the interactivity with Natal is far superior to that of the Wii (ironically holding a remote is the difference.) It strikes me as odd that Nintendo have had this area sorted for the past few years and yet they are still stuck on using the Wii remote.

FFS!!! are you shitting me… archery? Are we stuck in the medival times? Who plays archery? and whats with the sky diving thing? Are users really going to want to sky dive? Fairly sure the real thing might be a tad better… The guy presenting is soo false aswell. He needs a good slap and a reality check, why does he feel the need to explain how to shoot a basketball hoop? Wii Sports Resort looks arse. And now Virtua Tennis 2009, you know what that means?!?! another game in the bargain bin within a month of its release.

It strikes me as though throughout the presentation the presenters are destined to ell everyone about their financial reports every 5 minutes. Final Fantasy looks cool. But guess what??? another crappy Mario game which has got something to do with Bowsers insides, I wasnt really paying any attention, it just looks arse. Also heres a Mario fact for you while I remember… Did you know that Mario was given a mustache and a cap so it was easier for the animators to reproduce him?

Cop: The recruit? That was piss poor, im sorry but Nintendo really hasnt done it for me. The entire presentation is just about number and figures and the same shit which they have released for the past 20 years turfed out and shat onto an ageing console. For gods sake does the consumer really need to know how much DSi consoles have been sold since its release? And that stupid animation tool which looks like a basic version of Paint. What the hell is that game creating thing??? Some stupid apple being biten is a game? I think not!

A vitality sensor??? i’m starting to lose the plot. What is the point? No doubt it’ll be at extra cost to the consumer and all it’ll do is tell you that how many beats per min your heart is beating after playing Paper Mario haha what a load of tosh! And then to add to the seeminly neverending Mario releases there is another, this time in 3D (the second as Cammie keeps on telling us), not sure if they mentioned the title although it looks like Mario Galaxy.

“How can mankind fight a war which has already been won?” – The Conduit… that doesnt make sense, I know its a game but at least make sense. Sounds like the guy that announces the blockbuster movies. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles looks pretty good although it reminds of Resident Evil Nemesis where the cut scenes were beautiful but the gameplay wasnt so nice. Dead Space Extraction looks pretty good, and for the first time in the video I can hear a clap for a game that is being released…

Metroid other M looks pretty cool, I must say that is a title which seemingly looks to be getting better, maybe if it was released on another platform it’ll sell better.

“… this is inkeeping with the timeless mission on Nintendo, bringing you names which are so familiar but revitalised to make them new again” – Quote near the end which sums it all up, its seems lazy and dull. I wished I hadnt watched the video. Maybe now if you’ve read this post you wont have to now. I think I caught all the main points but feel free to discuss any ideas and thoughts…

Project Natal and Microsoft

Microsofts stage at E3 Conference

The project natal thing is simply awesome its near 95 mins on that clip, its truely ground breaking. I got shivers when the guy creates a piece of artwork with the Kenyan background and elephant. The device seems to be far superior to the wii. There are a few clips on the internet regarding Project Natal but the HD clip on gamespot (linked at the top of this post) is by far the best. Microsoft really have pushed the boat way on this year with lots of really cool features like incorporating Sky into xbox live, adding facebook and twitter (not my cup of tea), the project natal thing, secret halo releases, alan wake, beatles rock band and of course Hideo Kojima announced that there is a new Metal Gear being exclusively released on xbox which will feature Raiden.

Microsoft will be dominating the market this year, they are releasing all the xbox as well as new search engine called Bing (due for release tomorrow but its live on beta now) and also the new multitouch operating system Windows 7. It’ll be an interesting few months to see what other competitors have lined up, i’ve already mentioned Google Wave in previous posts but surely that cant out weight anything from Microsoft?

South West Water parent company makes £259million

In relation to an article found here

My thoughts as posted on the website:
As usual this be the “top cats” raking in profits for their extra homes and cars while people who struggle get flecced for what is a basic human right. I’m from Scotland and you know what… they dont pay for water or education. England is just full of money grabbing top cats who are in it for themselves. I agree with Ian McGregor they cant put us all in prison. Its about time we actually knew what we were paying for, the MPs are having their expensive splashed across the papers surely we should see where/what else our money is going to?!?!?! Who else agrees?

Google Wave

Google have released a prototype called Google Wave. So far i’ve seen a long demonstration this was released on the 28th of May on Viral Video Chart. It was filmed at Google I/O please follow this link to see for yourself

Forum stats

Gaia Online

While I was browsing tinters I came across this site which displays how many people are posting on the top sites in the world. It was obvious it was going to be an eastern country which was top, dont quote me on this but it seemed that they were into blogging and sharing thoughts alot more. I’ve never played Gaia Online, however, I have played games like world of warcraft. These type of games can become highly addictive so if the fan base for Gaia Online keeps growing we will be sharing our information with the gaming world regardless of what the topic is.

Youtube Vids

Some of my remixes that I done ages ago have now been uploaded to my youtube page for the world to listen to. I hope you enjoy them and encourage constructive feedback! Thanks.

Intelligent Projector Graffiti

http://technology.todaysbigthing.com/2009/03/26
Simply awesome. I saw an early prototype of this in Turin. Not sure if its the same people but basically you move your hand under this projector and some bugs crawl up your arm, I should have some pics somewhere if I can find them ill post them up.

Boredom

So I havent posted anything here on a while since that course that I took. I’m still plodding away doing my E-learning stuff. I’ve started uploading my videos on vimeo which can be looked at here. They are just out of boredom, however my favourite piece will be uploaded next week when the upload limit is reset. Anyways, whats everyone been talking about? Any News? Oh heard this new band today called Pure Reason Revolution – check them out they are awesome!

Second GTA Session

We looked at Planned and Designing sessions in the first half of the session. We considered how to plan a session, sketch out a session plan, look at specific session design considerations and also we wrote effective aims and outcomes. We were giving a session plan template which was most useful, if we were to think of all the different aspects I guarantee we would have missed things out.

We came across the term SMART;

S = Specific

M = Measureable

A = Achievable

R = Realistic

T = Timed

This term enables you to think about the best way to set out your aims and outcomes. If it doesnt meet any of those points then the aim or outcome is not appropriate. Also while talking about this subject we came across Blooms Taxonomy and Blooms Cognitive Ladder. Here is a link to a website supporting todays information on Blooms Taxonomy.

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm

Blooms Cognitive Ladder sets out defined area which the aims and outcomes should be based upon:

Knowledge – Gain/have a basic knowledge of the subject.

Comprehension – Grasping concepts.

Application – Ability to use or apply learned materials.

Analysis – Recognise parts and see how they fit together.

Synthesis – Learned material in new ways or a new situation

Evaluation – Ability to judge the value of the material in various situations.

Each of these points come with a set of words (Blooms taxonomy):

Knowledge	Comprehension	Application	Analysis	Synthesis	Evaluation
. define . repeat . record . list . recall . name . relate . underline	. translate . restate . discuss . describe . recognise . explain . express . identify . locate . report . review . tell	. interpret . apply . employ . use . demonstrate . dramatise . practice . illustrate . operate . schedule . sketch	. distinguish . analyse . differentiate . experiment . test . compare . contrast . criticise . diagram . inspect . debate . question . relate . solve . examine . categories . appraise . calculate	. compose . plan . propose . design . formulate . arrange . assemble . collect . construct . create . set up . organise . manage . prepare	. judge . appraise . evaluate . rate . revise . assess . estimate

These words are perfect to use for creating successful learning aims and outcomes.

The second half of the session was on presentations.

Good points:

Involves the audience

Lots of different aids i.e. hand outs, video, watching the speaker.

Bad Points:

monotone voice

no aids

too much text

re-used powerpoints

numbered slides

Avoid reading from a script.

Have key points easy to hand.

Use vivid memorable examples.

Keep text to a minimum.

Add essential points in concise format

include pictures, graphs, diagrams.

Use sans serif, minimum 24pt (Ariel)

GTA First Day

Today was the first day of the GTA course. It has mainly been a meet and greet day. The usual icebreakers at the start…how we are, what we want from the course etc etc. Todays session briefly touched upon learning theories something which I feel is very important. As we know everyone stores and retrieves information in different ways and as a teacher we need to be able to appropriately address each individual, obviously there are constraints within this as time is a crucial factor.

Students and the Internet

One of the main objectives of E-learning is to establish if what we are doing is actually making any difference in comparison to the generic ‘old way’ of learning. A good way of testing if there is a stark difference is obviously asking for feedback but in most cases, certainly in university, students seem to avoid contact if they can. I understand I’m generalizing millions of students but since the revolution of the Internet communication has become damaged. Its great that we can talk to people from all around the world with a few clicks but do we really need to? All that we achieve is a sense of fulfillment in knowing that we can connect to people and almost feel as though we are one. Take the Internet away and we become hostile, racist, alone. Anyway I digress, the capabilities of software packages now far out way what was available 5 years ago. We are able to perform complex tasks using computers for its ‘number crunching’ capabilities. We can build mock designs of entire cities without lifting a single nail. Surely by having this time saver its already improving the way students can prepare for better things. Any academic year usually consists of working on your own and working in groups. The Internet is a great bridge for these two different tasks, on your own, endless research is at your fingertips. In a group, communication is made possible but more importantly it is cheap and fairly reliable. There are many papers available on research which begs the question how can we make learning better.

http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=case_studies&article=40-1

The link above is a prime example of how universities are almost panicking at how their (students) time is being spent, literally. With the media telling us that students are failing and tests are becoming easier, surely its time to think that maybe students are finding the work either too easy or too hard? This is obviously more aimed at High school students, but if the work is too easy then students are caring because they think they know it. If its too hard they still don’t care because there are a few who can grasp it which means everyone else is expected to know it. I understand that education is difficult to pinpoint in any specific way but I feel that students are relying on the Internet more so than academics.

Review of Google Sketch Up and Moviestorm

I was recently asked to attempt to recreate a doctors surgery using Google Sketch Up and another program called Moviestorm. Here is what I thought of the programs…

Google Sketch Up:
Firstly, in order to create a desk the first thing I had to do was create the surface
of the table. Very simple task using what looks like a rectangle button. Once drawn a
rough size I then realise that the current view point was going to hinder the
progression of the desk. I change the view a few times to try and get a better
perspective. Once I was happy I then had to keep switching between views in order to
check to see if I was creating the legs etc correctly. This was highly annoying and
very time consuming, I must have spent more time switching between views than actually
doing anything constructive.

In my opinion 3D max/Vue/Carrara would be a much more simpler way to create such a
basic scene, for one reason only, you can have multiple perspectives at the same time
allowing you to manipulate an object effortlessly. Ultimately this would save a lot of
time and allow the user to concentrate on the content.

Moviestorm:
At first Moviestorm looks a bit daunting, it’s like a slightly better version of windows
movie maker but with a Playstation 1 feel to it. Rather than creating a scene from
scratch I used one of the presets which was closest to a doctors surgery (this turned
out to be a front room with a chair in front of a log fire). Once I was happy with the
scene I had to put characters in, again you can use preset and then customise them. I
created one that looks closest to a doctor. Now, up until this point the program was
fairly straight forward, the prompts are helpful (edging on patronising) and the buttons
are clear. But then you suddenly realise that you have almost no control of the animation.
It’s very helpful in setting you a generic walk etc but it doesn’t show you how to do it.

In my opinion, Poser would be much more accurate. It would help create multiple patients
effortlessly and the animations are far easier to control. Moviestorm was very glitchy
which slowed the performance of the pc, the mouse response was delayed by about 1-2
seconds so I was constantly dragging the mouse too far. There are many programs to use
which would provide a much better professional experience in animating object, this
program felt tacky and cheap. Obviously if on a budget I imagine this is one of the better
options.

Degree of Difficulty:
Google Sketch up – Would be very hard for a novice, I’ve been animating for a few years and I found it tedious.
Moviestorm – Simple to use but you sacrifice level of control.

Quality of Final Product:
Google Sketch Up:
The desk turned out to be fine, didn’t really seem to have any life. But
as explained in the review the level of control of the viewpoints hindered in creating the
legs etc to be proportionate sizes. The chair was a nightmare to draw with the lack of
available dimensions. Overall, very poor.

Moviestorm:
The outcome looked like a Playstation 1 game, very tacky and didn’t reflect the current
possibilities of today’s animation standards. I plus side is how quick you can create one of
these scenes. But the quality is very poor.

More news about Baby P

As I sit here day by day watching the world tick by through the eyes of our major news companies we are being fed effervescent tripe that churns out at an alarming rate. We seem to be going through a stage where the media are picking up a story an running with it, then when the get to the end of this magical race they then run with it a little more, try and get everyone sacked who is involved, then peer around and see who else looks like they fit the criteria for whichever fad the are running with.

Now dont get my wrong the whole Baby P case clearly as we all know doesnt have a happy ending. But when will people realise its not the media’s job to bring these issues up. If people were more aware in the first place we wouldnt have these problems.  I refuse to believe that no-one knew about the baby’s injuries over the course of however long it was.

With this case and recent cases like the Russell Brand BBC incident its as almost as if the media are becoming their own police service, wandering around pointing the dreaded finger at anything which gets the attention of some pompus old fart, cigar in one hand, wine in the other, who sits there with there eager ears aimed at the wireless/internet/tv/police radio/air traffic control/taxi/… you get the picture.

The balance of what is relevant is clearly not there, and recently it has become clear that the media are not giving us the news as it is, they are sensationalising everything, pointing the finger, creating there own big brother state where they never want to be under the spotlight themselves. An interesting note is that very rarely are the newspapers punished for the content that they provide, yet the BBC seem to be getting rogered for their(our) money at every corner, why? because now that one thing has started the finger is having a wander close by peering at every move, every whisper. I hope they enjoy it while it lasts…