ShankarThe Starcraft 2 strategy syndrome
March 20th 2011 07:28
IGN has recently compiled a list of the five craziest Starcraft 2 strategies. If you're interested CLICK HERE to know more.
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SUPERMAN KINECT!!!
February 11th 2011 14:14
First of all, IM BAAAAAAACK!!!!! Anybody miss me? Comment below and let me know!
Now, moving on, as you may or may not know, the Kinect has several uses outside the X-box with an array of developers creating a large number of hacks for it...And now, a new hack has released through you can play superman himself, with a Vuzix Headset and a Kinect..
The experience offers many of Supe's abilities, including ice breath, super strength, heat vision and, best of all, first-person flying. Bonus, you can also zap Darth Vader(I wonder why everyone likes to make fun off Vader....what did he do?!?!).
Now, moving on, as you may or may not know, the Kinect has several uses outside the X-box with an array of developers creating a large number of hacks for it...And now, a new hack has released through you can play superman himself, with a Vuzix Headset and a Kinect..
The experience offers many of Supe's abilities, including ice breath, super strength, heat vision and, best of all, first-person flying. Bonus, you can also zap Darth Vader(I wonder why everyone likes to make fun off Vader....what did he do?!?!).
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Joysticks vs. Mice: A PC Gamers’ point of view...
February 2nd 2011 12:52
For generations in the game industry, there has been constant argument about the superior control system for a First Person Shooter. I’m talking about the age-old Mouse vs. Joystick battle. Each person/gamer seems to have his own take on which is superior and better, but looking at the general opinions I believe it can safely be said that most console owners think joysticks are the way to go where as almost all PC gamers believe and even a select few console owners believe that nothing can beat the mouse. Looking at it statistically, I think it can be assumed that about 70 out of a 100 people believe mice are superior.
Looking at both sides of the coin, it is interesting to note that the reason stated for mice being superior to the joystick is because it feels more realistic. While this explanation may sound dumb and incomprehensible (How can a plastic, clicking thingy with light coming out of its underside be called realistic?!?!), if you look at it logically you might quite understand why the mouse is so popular to control FPS games. Here is, what I believe to be, the reasoning behind this fact.
The computer mouse is one of the most brilliant inventions in the field of Human Computer Interaction that unfortunately was christened with a completely unrelated name (Why this happened, I don’t know. The inventor was probably drunk or something). The reason for its brilliance is simply because, it moves the cursor on screen exactly the same amount as the user moves his hand. This greatly improves hand-eye co-ordination for the user, resulting in a very comfortable environment. Now, you might ask: “We know this! What’s the big deal?!?!”
But, the “big deal” is not the movement; it’s the part after the movement that I believe is the secret of the mouse’s success. After you move your hand, you stop; and the mouse also stops; at the exact same place you stop! And that makes it Awesome!!
You see, in a joystick, to look left or right, you turn the analogue stick in the respective direction. But then to stop turning you need to take your hand off the stick or (in extreme cases) push the stick back to its original state. And believe it or not, both these actions take about 2 milliseconds of time to perform (When you’re depressing a stick it’s not very easy to take your finger off; I’ve tried it). While this may not seem like much on its own, imagine a 2ms delay every single time you want to turn ever so slightly to watch your six!
But with a mouse, you don’t need to take your fingers off. You just need to stop moving. That’s it! With a joystick there are three steps: Depress in direction, stop depressing and extract finger (and this last part is hard, because you’re finger moves upwards, which means it’s moving against gravity!) With a mouse it goes: Move in direction and stop moving. That’s why it’s so damn easy to use. Because every time you turn the mouse saves you those valuable 2 milliseconds of time! Add to that the earlier mentioned fact of the same amount of distance covered by the pointer as by the movement of the hand, and we have a winner!
Although, I’m not saying that joysticks suck; Honestly, I’d be lost without a joystick for racing games. Because racing games require continuous motion in one direction. In such scenarios joysticks can overpower a mouse, like a lion overpowers a rabbit (ok, that was a lame metaphor!).But when it comes to games that require quick fire response in all direction and constant twitchy movements, joysticks cannot equal a mouse. Because, the mouse was designed for exactly that purpose! Fragging noobs in Call of Duty!!
Looking at both sides of the coin, it is interesting to note that the reason stated for mice being superior to the joystick is because it feels more realistic. While this explanation may sound dumb and incomprehensible (How can a plastic, clicking thingy with light coming out of its underside be called realistic?!?!), if you look at it logically you might quite understand why the mouse is so popular to control FPS games. Here is, what I believe to be, the reasoning behind this fact.
The computer mouse is one of the most brilliant inventions in the field of Human Computer Interaction that unfortunately was christened with a completely unrelated name (Why this happened, I don’t know. The inventor was probably drunk or something). The reason for its brilliance is simply because, it moves the cursor on screen exactly the same amount as the user moves his hand. This greatly improves hand-eye co-ordination for the user, resulting in a very comfortable environment. Now, you might ask: “We know this! What’s the big deal?!?!”
But, the “big deal” is not the movement; it’s the part after the movement that I believe is the secret of the mouse’s success. After you move your hand, you stop; and the mouse also stops; at the exact same place you stop! And that makes it Awesome!!
You see, in a joystick, to look left or right, you turn the analogue stick in the respective direction. But then to stop turning you need to take your hand off the stick or (in extreme cases) push the stick back to its original state. And believe it or not, both these actions take about 2 milliseconds of time to perform (When you’re depressing a stick it’s not very easy to take your finger off; I’ve tried it). While this may not seem like much on its own, imagine a 2ms delay every single time you want to turn ever so slightly to watch your six!
But with a mouse, you don’t need to take your fingers off. You just need to stop moving. That’s it! With a joystick there are three steps: Depress in direction, stop depressing and extract finger (and this last part is hard, because you’re finger moves upwards, which means it’s moving against gravity!) With a mouse it goes: Move in direction and stop moving. That’s why it’s so damn easy to use. Because every time you turn the mouse saves you those valuable 2 milliseconds of time! Add to that the earlier mentioned fact of the same amount of distance covered by the pointer as by the movement of the hand, and we have a winner!
Although, I’m not saying that joysticks suck; Honestly, I’d be lost without a joystick for racing games. Because racing games require continuous motion in one direction. In such scenarios joysticks can overpower a mouse, like a lion overpowers a rabbit (ok, that was a lame metaphor!).But when it comes to games that require quick fire response in all direction and constant twitchy movements, joysticks cannot equal a mouse. Because, the mouse was designed for exactly that purpose! Fragging noobs in Call of Duty!!
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Game Dev Story: Something that takes game development to a whole new level
January 26th 2011 05:49
Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the extended period of inactivity in the website; It was due to the fact that I got a little preoccupied. About two weeks ago I got myself a brand new Android in the form of a Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 and it being my first smartphone and all, I fell in love with it and spent the whole two weeks customizing it.
Now that I've spent a lot of time with it the initial attraction has passed and I just look at it for what it is: A Phone. However in my two week affair with that little 3 inch beauty, I discovered something that blew me away. I'm talking about this game called: The Game Dev Story by this Japanese studio called Kairosoft that was released for the iOS and Android operating systems[ Click here to read more ]
Now that I've spent a lot of time with it the initial attraction has passed and I just look at it for what it is: A Phone. However in my two week affair with that little 3 inch beauty, I discovered something that blew me away. I'm talking about this game called: The Game Dev Story by this Japanese studio called Kairosoft that was released for the iOS and Android operating systems
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Read More Artificial Intelligence, The hardest thing to create?
January 16th 2011 05:35
I am a full-time gamer. I'm also a student of Game Development. And as a member of both these occupations, I must say, nothing has ever made me more curious and intrigued as Artificial Intelligence. These simple two words, according to me, entirely define the whole experience of a game. A bad AI, whether accompanied with 'mind-blasting' graphics or not, will most certainly lead to a disastrous game-play.
As a Developer and a Gamer, I'm often torn between the choices of how to make the AI in my game[ Click here to read more ]
As a Developer and a Gamer, I'm often torn between the choices of how to make the AI in my game
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The Sims 3: A game that's more than just a bunch of dummies walking around.
January 13th 2011 08:06
I've played the previous iterations of the Sims, and I've always only opened the game to build my Sim up for 5 minutes and then kill him in increasingly torturous, creative and some quite disturbing ways. My personal favorite, is locking my Sim inside a room with no door, and watch him/her starve/wet himself/herself to death. There is something about the two previous iterations that brings out a torturous animal residing inside me (Something even the Resident Evil series failed to accomplish! Well done EA!)
But the latest installment of the series, Sims 3, is quite different. For the first time in my life, I actually cared about my Sims life and relationships. No matter what I did, I just could not bring myself to end my Sim's life. Sure, I tried..A LOT..But, I would always, at the last possible minute, stick a door in the wall, and let my Sim escape. I feel the reason for this is the personality that EA has infused into the game, a vital factor that brings the whole thing to life. At the start of the game you get to create a Sim, and choose for him, a list of personality traits for him, such as Hot-Headed, Bookworm, Loves Outdoors, Athletic, Artistic and so on. Then depending on the traits chosen the Sim is given a Lifetime Achievement goal that needs to be achieved during the course of the game. There is a story progression that keeps you gripped throughout the game[ Click here to read more ]
But the latest installment of the series, Sims 3, is quite different. For the first time in my life, I actually cared about my Sims life and relationships. No matter what I did, I just could not bring myself to end my Sim's life. Sure, I tried..A LOT..But, I would always, at the last possible minute, stick a door in the wall, and let my Sim escape. I feel the reason for this is the personality that EA has infused into the game, a vital factor that brings the whole thing to life. At the start of the game you get to create a Sim, and choose for him, a list of personality traits for him, such as Hot-Headed, Bookworm, Loves Outdoors, Athletic, Artistic and so on. Then depending on the traits chosen the Sim is given a Lifetime Achievement goal that needs to be achieved during the course of the game. There is a story progression that keeps you gripped throughout the game
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Comments (2) Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2010
January 13th 2011 06:16
Electronic Arts has described the new Need for Speed game as the most connected game ever, with several open-world thrills, and some edge-of-the-seat racing excitement. And after 5 long and hateful years of possibly the worst games ever that were part of the Need for Speed series, I finally feel the need to agree with them. Being a die-hard Need for Speed follower ever since Need for Speed 2, I felt utterly disgusted when I played Pro-street and Undercover, and once Shift came out, I had lost all hope of the Need for Speed series on ever re-obtaining that top spot that Need for Speed: Most Wanted had throttled it into.But finally, with the latest installment of the series labelled Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010) it looks like Electronic Arts has woken up and learnt from its mistakes. Hot Pursuit, which is basically a remake of the 1998 classic of the same name, sees the NFS series going back to it’s roots, and while it’s not the next Most Wanted of the series, it’s definitely a big step forward.
[ Click here to read more ]
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Kinect for PC!
January 12th 2011 08:10
Just a couple of months after the release of Microsoft's answer to the Wii and the Playstation Move, the Kinect has seen a humongous surge in popularity with every Tom, Dick and Harry tinkering with it coming up with extremely innovative (and some extremely disturbing) applications for it. As you may know, there are tons of such hacked uses for it on the PC.
But, apparently, Microsoft plans to add official PC support for the Kinect, thereby allowing you to connect your Kinect to the PC in a 'Microsoft-supported' way[ Click here to read more ]
But, apparently, Microsoft plans to add official PC support for the Kinect, thereby allowing you to connect your Kinect to the PC in a 'Microsoft-supported' way
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DC Universe Online
January 12th 2011 03:23
Stay tuned to this space for a review of the new DC Universe: Online....Let's see just how cool it is to play as apprentice to Batman!
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The CES Extravaganza!!
January 12th 2011 03:15
So , the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES) 2011, is over and done with. And it was a hit, with some big names bringing up some Uber cool products into the arena. Here's a look at all the tech that was unveiled during the show..
First Up: The Razer SwitchBlade[ Click here to read more ]
First Up: The Razer SwitchBlade
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