There are plenty of games franchises that could use a helping hand to improve. So we're going to start stealing the best bits from the games we love and figuring out how to insert them into games that would benefit most.
Halo: Reach, Bungie's swan song to the Halo universe, takes what's been done well for the past decade and makes it all even better. There's a lot of great things in Halo: Reach -- things other games need. Hold on to your britches, Halo, you're about to get jacked.
Easter Eggs in games is nothing new, but Halo: Reach took this to the next level. The variety of hidden goodies included a secret rally race and a hidden room packed with computers full of little Halo details. The final cut-scene even offered a hidden view of Master Chief, frozen in stasis and on his way towards the first Halo game. These Easter Eggs weren't just cool little asides, but sometimes functional pieces of the gameplay well worth finding.
Grand Theft Auto is a franchise predicated on the exploration of (and mass destruction) of massive cities, but aside from some pigeons and Statue of Happiness' hidden beating heart, GTA IV's Liberty City was fairly light on Easter eggs. A sandbox game could always use more sand, and something like seeing a glimpse into protagonist Niko Bellic's seedy past through a hidden flashback mission would be just one of many hidden (and totally optional) ways to flesh out some awesome back story.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/118/1181202p1.html
Showing posts with label Video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video games. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Gamers make good employees
April 7, 2011, 7:59 AM PDT
Takeaway: Gamers are often stereotyped as lazy, unmotivated slackers. However, a recent article suggests that gamers might actually be learning skills in their online worlds that make them great employees.
Scott F. Andrews suggested in his book The Guild Leader’s Handbook (which I reviewed for TechRepublic’s 2010 Geek Gift Guide) that lessons learned as an MMO guild leader or raid leader can improve performance in management roles in “real life.” This concept seems to be substantiated by claims and evidence in a recent GigaOM article by Jessica Stillman entitled Do the Best Web Workers Think Like Gamers? Research in the article indicates that employees who play multiplayer online games, especially those who work remotely, will do better in the 21st century workplace than non-gamers because of the skills they learn by participating in the games.
Stillman discusses a famous 2007 speech by FedEx CIO Rob Carter and a 2009 Time interview with Carter in which he says World of Warcraft requires players to solve problems and collaborate, which are valuable skills in the workplace. She also references a 2008 article by University of Southern California scholar John Seely Brown and professor Douglas Thomas in which they outline gamers’ attributes that make them attractive hires, such as interest in and comfort with diversity, change, learning, and innovation.
While all of this is great news for gamers, what does it mean for businesses? It might be a challenge for hiring managers to determine an interviewee’s affinity for multiplayer online games. I like TechRepublic contributor Justin James’s tongue-and-cheek suggested interview questions for making a geeky hire, but I think most Human Resource and recruiting managers would frown upon using them. Another option, though it’s a tricky one, is to simply guess. TechRepublic contributor Nicole Bremer Nash suggested a method of Identify[ing] the geeks in a crowd by how they communicate, which I am itching to test out. Regardless of how you potentially search for gamers to fill the ranks at your company, the findings referenced in Stillman’s article is at least worth considering the next time you have a position to fill.
What do you think about choosing gamers to fill technology or other roles at your company? Would you ever consider saying that you playWorld of Warcraft or some other game if asked during an interview about your hobbies? Let us know in the comments.
More gaming resources
Friday, March 25, 2011
Hot U.S. jobs in game development: Week of March 21, 2011
Electronic Arts (EA
Job Title: Director of TechnologyReq. number: 35336
Role: Software Engineer
Location: California - Redwood City
Zynga
(To learn more about any of these positions, click on any of the links below and you will see its description in the right margin of the resulting web page.)Rockstar Games
Click this link to see requirements of positions and to apply online.
Senior PS3 Programmer, Location: San Diego, CA
Flash/UI developer, Location: San Diego, CA
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Iconic 'Guitar Hero' video game gets the ax
FILE - This file screen grab released by Activision shows "Band Hero" a pop-oriented entry in the "Guitar Hero" series. Activision Blizzard Inc. said Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011, that it is ending the "Guitar Hero" franchise after a run of more than five years. (AP Photo/Activision) NO SALES
, On Wednesday February 9, 2011, 8:05 pm EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- These days, guns are more popular than guitars, at least when it comes to video games. The company behind "Guitar Hero" said Wednesday that it is pulling the plug on one of the most influential video game titles of the new century.
Activision Blizzard Inc., which also produces the "Call of Duty" series, is ending the "Guitar Hero" franchise after a run of more than five years. The move follows Viacom Inc.'s decision in November to sell its money-losing unit behind the "Rock Band" video games. Harmonix was sold to an investment firm for an undisclosed sum. Harmonix, incidentally, was behind the first "Guitar Hero" game.
Game industry analysts have long lamented the "weakness in the music genre," as they call it -- that is, the inability of game makers to drum up demand for the products after an initial surge in popularity in the mid-2000s. Music games are often more expensive than your typical shoot-'em-up game because they require guitars, microphones and other musical equipment. While extra songs can be purchased for download, this hasn't been enough to keep the games profitable.
Activision's shares tumbled after the announcement, but investors appear more concerned with the company's disappointing revenue forecast than the demise of the rocker game. As far as investors go, discontinuing an unprofitable product isn't the end of the world, even if "Guitar Hero" fans disagree.
"In retrospect it was a $3 billion or more business that everybody needed to buy, so they did, but they only needed to buy it once," said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. "It's much like 'Wii Fit.' Once you have it, you don't need to buy another one."
"Guitar Hero" was iconic and often praised for getting a generation weaned on video games into music. But its end after a mere half a decade is a big contrast to other influential video game franchises, such as the 25-year-old Mario series from Nintendo. "Call of Duty" first launched in 2003, two years before "Guitar Hero."
In a conference call, Activision said its restructuring will mean the loss of about 500 jobs in its Activision Publishing business, which has about 7,000 employees. But the company's overall work force numbers are not going to change much because it is hiring people elsewhere.
Activision did better than expected in the fourth quarter, which ended in December, but that already was anticipated. After all, it launched "Call of Duty: Black Ops" in November. That game, which is mostly set during the Vietnam War, made $1 billion after just six weeks in stores. Its latest "World of Warcraft" game has also been doing well.
Bobby Kotick, Activision's CEO, said the company's big franchises "have larger audience bases than ever before and we continue to see significantly enhanced user activity and engagement for our expanding online communities." Revenue from so-called "digital channels" -- that is, downloads, subscriptions and extra game content sold online -- now accounts for 30 percent of the company's total revenue.
Activision said Wednesday it lost $233 million, or 20 cents per share, in the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $286 million, or 23 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Net revenue fell to $1.43 billion from $1.56 billion.
Its adjusted earnings of 53 cents per share were better than last year's 49 cents and beat analysts' expectations of 51 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue that's been adjusted to account for games with online components was $2.55 billion, up slightly from $2.50 billion a year earlier and above analysts' $2.25 billion forecast.
For the current quarter, which ends in March, Activision forecast adjusted earnings of 7 cents per share, and adjusted revenue of $640 million. Analysts are looking for earnings of 10 cents per share on higher revenue of $771 million.
Activision Blizzard also said its board authorized a new $1.5 billion stock buyback plan. And it declared an annual dividend of 16.5 cents, an increase of 10 percent from the dividend it issued in February 2010, its first ever.
Shares of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company, which is majority-owned by France's Vivendi SA, tumbled 87 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $10.82 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed the regular session down 19 cents at $11.69.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Ideas Sim About Egypt in Second life
i have searched the web for some clues and ideas for a game about ancient Egypt
i found a nice game called (Sim 3 World Adventures)
Bookstore: Sells the New Egyptian Cooking Recipes for Falafel and Shawarma as well as regional novels. You can also find bait books for crocodiles and mummy fish.
General Goods: Sells an assortment of cameras. You can also buy a mummified teddy bear. The incense holder for sale here helps your Sim to retain fun, preventing stress. Great for writers!
Food Vendor: The food vendor will sell the Egyptian foods Falafel and Shawarma at the appropriate meal times. Additionally you can buy pomegranates and cherries for your Gardening, Cooking or Nectar Making purposes. Otherwise it's just a place to grab a snack. Useful for one of the quests in which you need to serve up some Shawarma.
Relic Vendor: Look for canopic jars here, but note the difference between a normal jar and one of the collectibles. You can sometimes find items to fill out your collections here, and some may even be more valuable than the purchase price. It's a bit of a gamble.
Snake charming is a hidden skill learned from the appropriately named snake charming basket. Buy them at the general goods store for a mere $325. This is a small price to pay for a really cool new way to earn tips. As your Sim gets better, they'll eventually be able to put a cobra into the basket, for $1,000 Simoleons) and possibly even grow skilled enough to kiss it on the top of the head, which gives a positive moodlet and can be used to heal the mummy's curse.
This place is not even accessible without first reaching key stages in the In Search of Love adventure chain. You'll eventually get both keys. Unfortunately, the place doesn't have great treasure but is home to a sigil and perhaps other relics for your collection. The entrance can be hard to spot: it's on the left side when you're looking at the temple. You'll need to walk up the small staircase there to reveal the inside, which is very open save for two rooms with keystone holes. If you get stuck in the Servant's Quarters section, look for two hidden doors in the last two bedrooms of the long hall. Gives the Sigil of Queen Hatshepsut.
The Great Pyramid is massive, and probably the largest tomb in World Adventures. It's however a bit easy to complete, and doesn't require any adventures to clear, but to fully explore it you'll need Pangu's Axe to smash a boulder. With that boulder gone, look for a hidden door along the wall to find an upper level with great treasure and a Sarcophagus of Kings that has a high likelihood of containing a mummy for you to deal with. You don't need Pangu's Axe to get the Sigil here however: The Sigil of the Den of Lost Souls is found toward the end. If you're having trouble finding the Death keystone, look in the patch of light on the ground near the tree where you use the Lodestone Keystone. In that same room, there is a rubble pile that's hard to get to: look for a torch on a wall in the nearby room which can be activated to allow passage.
Added to that some images from Sim3 Game about Egypt
i found a nice game called (Sim 3 World Adventures)
Al Simhara, Egypt is a great place for tomb explorers. It features probably the largest tombs in the game, along with a wide selection to choose from. This is a great place to stop after you've visited China, but don't feel obligated - Egypt is great for first timers, too. Here you can learn snake charming, and purchase the best cameras in the game to pursue thephotography skill.
Egyptian Shops
Snake charming is a hidden skill learned from the appropriately named snake charming basket. Buy them at the general goods store for a mere $325. This is a small price to pay for a really cool new way to earn tips. As your Sim gets better, they'll eventually be able to put a cobra into the basket, for $1,000 Simoleons) and possibly even grow skilled enough to kiss it on the top of the head, which gives a positive moodlet and can be used to heal the mummy's curse.
This place is not even accessible without first reaching key stages in the In Search of Love adventure chain. You'll eventually get both keys. Unfortunately, the place doesn't have great treasure but is home to a sigil and perhaps other relics for your collection. The entrance can be hard to spot: it's on the left side when you're looking at the temple. You'll need to walk up the small staircase there to reveal the inside, which is very open save for two rooms with keystone holes. If you get stuck in the Servant's Quarters section, look for two hidden doors in the last two bedrooms of the long hall. Gives the Sigil of Queen Hatshepsut.
The Great Pyramid is massive, and probably the largest tomb in World Adventures. It's however a bit easy to complete, and doesn't require any adventures to clear, but to fully explore it you'll need Pangu's Axe to smash a boulder. With that boulder gone, look for a hidden door along the wall to find an upper level with great treasure and a Sarcophagus of Kings that has a high likelihood of containing a mummy for you to deal with. You don't need Pangu's Axe to get the Sigil here however: The Sigil of the Den of Lost Souls is found toward the end. If you're having trouble finding the Death keystone, look in the patch of light on the ground near the tree where you use the Lodestone Keystone. In that same room, there is a rubble pile that's hard to get to: look for a torch on a wall in the nearby room which can be activated to allow passage.
Added to that some images from Sim3 Game about Egypt
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