Programs: 'Myst IV' Preserves the Magic
641812
PROVIDENCE, R.I.  - The "Myst" series has always  been for people who don't typically play computer games.  Instead of providing pulse-pounding action, it has taken  players to exotic worlds, given them lots of time to explore,  and required them to solve challenging puzzles to move through  the adventure.
220662
It's been six years since Valve Corp. perfected the first-person shooter with "Half-Life." Video games have come a long way since, with better graphics and more options than ever. Still, relatively few games have mustered this one's memorable characters and original science fiction story.
349196
Tycho:  You might want to see this, or you might not:  I know that Gabriel has sworn off all exposure to the game, which may also be your policy.  Even so, this is the first time they've shown the distaff side of the character creator, so maybe you'll rescind your earlier mandate.  A video with a similar theme popped up over at 1up as well, and it does things a little differently:  I don't like its look at the character creator as well, but the cut they have of the intro is far superior.  If you watched the other one, you're in for a penny, in for a pound:  you should check it out.    There's a lot of other content out today as well  at GameTrailers - but the whole thing is a minefield of spoilers so I'll understand if you hold back.  The intro itself (from the 1up cut) is perfectly executed.  Understand that I am almost the optimal audience for this sort of game, but even so.  I see a lot of game content, and you need to dig pretty deep to generate actual wonder.      I was excited to learn that they got Jack Wall in to do the soundtrack - he's worked with BioWare before, but he also did the soundtrack for Myst IV: Revelations - one of my all-time favorites.    (CW)TB
103810
Tycho:  We never sit down with the firm intention of making another Bioshock comic - indeed, we intend the opposite - but somehow Bioshock comics continue to be written.  One day, science will pierce these mysteries.  Until then, you'll simply have to endure more strips regarding interactive storytelling's electronic opus.  My recovery from this weekend's rigors would be quite accelerated if I were not up until two or more every night, which is to say morning, hacking and slashing my way through the new releases like some malarial jungle guide.  I put Bioshock to bed last night, and theoretically this should be cause for joy, but I suppose it's like finishing a pie.  There is a whiff of accomplishment, semisweet - but the pie is gone.  Without pause, I slapped the input stud on the video switcher before the final cinema faded to black.  Hurling the gamepad into a knitting basket, I dug deep into the faultlines of the couch, producing a wiimote/nunchuk pair.  I've now played enough of Metroid Prime 3 to know that they've washed the filth of Red Steel completely from the system.  For awhile, I was doing that thing we sometimes do, playing until "the next savepoint," which so frequently becomes "until the savepoint after that," only to meld seamlessly into "until I can no longer see."  They've been spinning the tumbler at Retro for awhile on this one, trying to define first person on Nintendo's weird little chimera, and they've drilled down with enough diligence to find it.  No doubt some measure of the enthusiasm directed toward the game is due to the fact that people are actually using their Wii again, but that shouldn't diminish what they've done.    People have seen Corruption for a couple years, now, builds that bubbled up at different press events, and it's been slightly different each time.  I think they've moved some of the interactions since I last played it - things that were mapped to the nunchuck's gyro before are now handled by the wiimote's pointing device, and I understand why.  Gestures are a very immersive, intuitive means of interaction, but when they fail (or when they fail to express us correctly) they are Goddamned infuriating.  In a case when your hand is actually "present" in the simulation - such as when your left hand is pulling, then twisting, then pushing forward - those motions need to be as authentic as possible.  They must have chosen the perfect translation of the pointing device over the more "correct" left hand interaction.  It creates situations where you are using a different hand than your character, but because the motion is really one to one it still feels pretty good.    That's the long way of saying what you could learn in five minutes, sitting in front of it.  This entire exercise has only stoked my ardor.  It is my intention to begin playing this game at ten, and continue doing so until light begins to creep under the curtains.
531044
From iTunes U, which lets students take educational podcasts on the road; to the computational tools running on Xserves, which allow students to see and explore the structure, function, and behavior of molecules; to the Digital Academic Television Network, which delivers live TV via a network connection using QuickTime as a client), Macintosh computers, servers, and software help educators articulate the âWisconsin Idea.â Erasing completely the âborders of learning,â they depend on the Mac to let learning go onâfor students and teachers alikeâanywhere and at anytime.
369687
In a genre most commonly represented by uninspired low-budget titles or odd adventure-action hybrids, Ark: Broken Sword IV is a great delight.
165385
A new product from Swarmcast monitors data flow to optimize video quality.
67787
For one, âMac hardware is beautifully designed,â explains Ed Baig (USA Today). And âthe underlying software is polished, robust and secure.â For example, new Macs âcome with iLife â08, a slick multimedia software suite for handling pictures (iPhoto), video editing (iMovie), making music (GarageBand) and websites (iWeb).â And Mac OS X Leopard  âhas standout features of its own, including Time Machine (dirt-simple backup) and iChat (way cool video chat).â Whatâs more, Macs âhave been immune from the scourge of viruses and malware that have long plagued Windows.â  Mac customers âheap lavish praise on Macs for good reason,â Baig concludes.
139527
Tycho:  We still think about Eye of Judgment quite a bit - sometimes I will sit in silence and think about it, or think about it while I lay dormant in my charge casket.  I think about placing cards carefully on its luxurious cloth mat, smirking as distant foes are gnawed by my lizard proxies.  We are overjoyed (joymax!) that they stuck with the new concept, the card thing, as opposed to the brutally sardonic original.    I don't like constantly being pushed to pre-order things, but there is also a point (it would be easy to graph) where I'm not willing to let fate's whimsical machinery determine what I play.  So during a recent mall run I put down some money on whatever I could remember at the time - unscientifically, it was Metroid, Stranglehold, Halo, Stuntman, and Mass Effect.  This doesn't account for everything between now and November, certainly, but it kind of felt like a quiz show and I was intimidated.  Then I remembered Eye of Judgement and its manifold pleasures, endeavoring to append it, listwise.  It was at this point that "John" told us that both the game and the Playstation Eye peripheral had been cancelled.    At this assertion Gabriel stood up straight and still, like a meerkat.    "No, it wasn't," said he, quietly.  A cold quiet, like space.        When I am confronted with mere distortions of facts, I can typically slice through them to the beating truth.  But when a person says something that is flatly false, this is very disorienting for some reason and I am without my mind's full power.  Then the guy compounded things by saying they had very few preorders, and this was accompanied by a sneer, as though the number of preorders was some crucial consideration when assessing quality.  He actually thought it was funny that I wanted to buy it.    I wanted to ask him if he understood that a product not being available for preorder and a product not existing, or never being allowed to exist constituted profoundly different states, but these are the deep thoughts that occur to a person while they are tucking in at the food court and not when they are face to face with strange men at the EB.       When we returned from the store, almost as if on cue the product began to appear at online retailers - for sixty dollars.  Yes, that's correct.  The Playstation Eye peripheral plus the card game, for ten dollars more than a Sixaxis?  I won't say that I expected extortion, but I at least expected profit.  Assuming you have the Triple already in hand, they're making the Eye (and Eye of Judgment) an easy decision.    Let me take a moment to welcome PAX attendees to this year's celebration, even though it isn't especially useful to readers in Glasgow.  I hope the new venue is to your liking.   Be kind to each other, even to your defeated foes!  And be kind to your Enforcers, for they have toiled in your service.
653547
There are still video games where twitch counts for less than thoughtful concentration, and experience may mean more than endurance. One writer picks a half-dozen four-star titles friendlier to fumble-fingered fortysomethings:
480021
The world's greatest detective takes on the ultimate incarnation of cosmic madness through video games and literature. In Table of Malcontents.
540560
Here is a new release of Crystal Space 0.98r004. Crystal Space is an Open Source and feature rich 3D Engine which runs on Linux, Windows, and MacOS/X.    Lots has changed since 0.96 (see http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?group_id=649&release_id=266198). This is the fourth release of 0.98. This version should now be very stable. Go to http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=649&package_id=664&release_id=266198 to download Crystal Space.   Greetings,
176536
Software transforms brainy games like chess and backgammon. Why not the brawny sport of the pigskin? By Sam Jaffe.
107817
God games, in which  players must control virtual people, could be educational, says research.
558358
At Macworld, it is finally possible to see a rendering of Electronic Arts' much-anticipated evolution game on the Macintosh.
581666
The videogame love runs deep in Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's animated series set in the year 3000. Get an inside peek at the geekiest show on TV.
217724
Fans of open-source programming and multiplayer gaming explore ways to bring the concept of the metaverse -- an infinitely expandable virtual world -- closer to fruition. By Daniel Terdiman.