Let's just take a moment to mourn the advancements in gaming technology that have just been silenced by the calls of the internet.
I think the saddest part of this story is that it's only after we lose some of the coolest advancements in console gaming that I'm starting to see people come out and say that the Xbox One was what they were interested in buying because of what the DRM enabled. Thanks for fighting against the hivemind earlier, guys. The gaming community on the internet was spouting the same misinterpreted data over and over, clogging news articles with ignorant phrases like "draconian DRM" and "Microsoft hates its consumers and only want money" while they ignored the advances that the Xbox One was bringing to them. Now that Microsoft is trying to change the fickle opinion of the internet, we are left with only a few of the advancements we could have had.
With the original, single ping needed every 24 hours to check if you were still who you said you are, people were able to have ten people play ANY of your games on their consoles. They wouldn't even have to spend time downloading the games because they could stream them from the cloud network. We could have played games without having the disc in the console which not only helped with the lazy, but allowed us to keep our games on the harddrive and not worry about losing/breaking a technology that is slowly going out the door. When was the last time some of us bought a physical CD for music, but we're still buying video games on them? I'm sure DVD/BluRays will eventually fade away too, I mean, just look how popular Netflix and other streaming companies are. The Xbox One was a good transition between physical discs and digital copies, but now you'll HAVE to have the disc in to play. I feel like that's a bit of a step backwards.
There were some good outcomes possible with this new digital gaming paradigm, but it doesn't seem like many people saw them. If we switched to the way games worked on the Xbox One before the change, we could have eventually had cheaper games that don't have to include the price of creating physical copies and shipping it all over the world. More money could go to the creators, who surely deserve the money, if games sold back were given to dealers that agreed with the gaming companies and the rules for their games. This means cheaper games, more money to creators to make better games, easier ways to obtain the games, and trading games in for credit to buy more games available at the press of a button. Yes, this change would probably have an impact on places like GameStop, but do we have stores where we trade in and buy used copies of PC games? Besides, we wouldn't have to deal with the low trade in prices that Gamestop has. The console war is leading consoles to become more PCesque, and I feel that looking at that market shows what the future of console gaming may look like. And it's nice that PC gaming industry has already gone through this change that the Xbox One was trying to start. The last PC game I bought on a physical disk was Diablo 3, and before that... Starcraft, actually, the battlechest with BroodWar when we played back in high school. With computer programs like Steam, players buy, download, and play the games through the same platform, with no trading or selling back used games. This is what the Xbox One was transitioning to, but with the ability to give games to friends (though yeah, only once was a bit of a let down), play friends' games from their library, and trade in old games for credit to buy more. Sadly, this great change got stopped by the squeakiest wheels on the internet that were complaining about things that weren't even true (like having to always be connected to the internet to play games).
If people hadn't over reacted to having a check to see if their game library is up to date, we might have gotten something like Netflix for video games, digitally obtaining games for a time before turning them back in and receiving a new game to play. The DRM of the Xbox One before the change would have allowed that to happen because Microsoft could be sure it was a paying customer playing the games. Now we can't even play our own games on the console without having the disc in the machine. That statement almost sounds archaic to me since we've been playing games with no discs for years on PC, but when we try that for console gaming, it gets stopped because the requirements are "draconian." What's draconian about a split-second check once a day and specified dealers for trade-ins? With the trade-off of disc-less playing on multiple consoles near instantly as well as allowing ten people to play your entire game library, I thought it sounded pretty good. Now we're left with cloud computing, which is still pretty cool, but we could have advanced gaming so much more.
So I thought the Xbox One sounded like great advancement to video games, and I've convinced some people to check the facts before they think the new console was the worst thing to ever come to gaming, but then they usually try to hit me with the always plugged in Kinect and the fear of being spied on. Guys. Let's just take a moment to think about how silly that is. Microsoft has over a billion people using products that they've created, many of them with cameras and microphones. In fact, there's probably some device close to you that could tell the government where you are, what you're saying, and what you look like, but you didn't think about those until I pointed it out. Your phone has so many ways to track you, but you probably didn't fear that too much, if at all. The Kinect can be shut off and not allowed to record anything, audio or visual, and can also be specified as to what, if any, information that it picks up from you can be given to others. It's completely under your control.
Ah, but what about the fact that it always has to be connected to the Xbox One? It could still record you if someone wanted it to since it's still connected to the console! Well, yeah, but so could the cameras on our phones, laptops, and tablets. You could have been tracked and listened to for years now, but since the whole NSA thing got picked up by the media around the launch of this console, the Kinect must be a surveillance device! I think part of the reason it needs to be connected is so that companies will want to look into innovative ways to use it since everyone will have one. On the 360, not everyone had one, probably not even a majority of people had one, but now that more people do, we can look forward to amazing new features that people will and probably already have created (the new Kinect is pretty cool, allowing 1080p recording at 30 frames a second, as well as many new upgrades). And like I've said before, if you still think someone is spying on you, just turn it around and put some blankets over it.
This whole "console war" is just making me think of witch burnings and ostracizing simply because something new is proposed. Proposing that the earth rotates around the sun? Laughter. The gaming industry should leave behind an extraneous format to further the abilities of gamers and ask for just a few things in return? It's the worst console ever and proof that the company only wants money and no happiness for their consumers. I hated getting online for awhile because all I saw was Xbox One is the worst thing ever, PS4 is the best console ever, Microsoft has draconian DRM, and a bunch of other misinformed titles. I found a single article that praised the Xbox One, though not the console itself, but the fact that the games for it were worthy E3 winners, if winning E3 was based on the games announced and not the consoles they run on. I couldn't find any articles that said anything positive about it until this change. Under all this crazy shouting about over-hyped possibilities, there was some real change happening. Now I'm just sad it'll probably be a while before I see these changes come back to help the gaming industry evolve.
Xbox One, I'm sorry you were ahead of your time.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Werelions and Werewolves and Werebears, Oh My!
So now that Game of Thrones is over and won't be back for another year, some people are looking for something to spend their time on while they wait for more high fantasy shenanigans. I have a lot of friends that are a little intimidated by the roughly 1000 page average for the Song of Fire and Ice series while others just want to be surprised by the show. For either group, or if you have another reason to not read Game of Thrones, I have another book series that may pique your interest. Just picture the Game of Thrones world, but populated by clans of people that rules the "normal" humans and can change into animals, called therianthropes, which is a fancy word for wereanimals. Think werewolves but with other types of animals as well.
Hailed as the "Game of Thrones for the tween set,” by the School Library Journal (tween? lame term), it is an easy read that is extremely entertaining and has many parallels to the writings of George R. R. Martin (with no sex scenes!). The author, Curtis Jobling, is surprisingly familiar to most of us because he is responsible for the design of the popular children's show Bob the Builder. I think he does a great job catering to an older audience in his Wereworld series that is set to finish up with the sixth book this fall (before Game of Thrones even comes back!). So many elements remind me of Game of Thrones throughout the books, but really, it's a great series by itself and I hope more people pick it up! For this post though, I want to look at some of these parallels between series and maybe get some Game of Thrones enthusiasts to branch out and try some young adult high fantasy.
Characters
We first meet our main character, Drew Ferran, as the son of a human farmer on the Cold Coast, unaware of his great heritage and his family's demise. The first parallel is the fact that Drew is a werewolf, which is similar to the Stark's sigil of the direwolf. He also holds many of the Stark's values, such as being fair, brave, and truthful. If I had to compare him to some Starks, I'd say he's a bit of a mix between Jon, Robb, and Arya for his dedication to friends, his attempts to take on the role of being a king, and willingness to break out on his own adventures to do what he deems as right. Drew is definitely the crux on which this story turns as the kingdoms of Lyssia are pulled apart by the far-reaching war, and he may just be the right person to bring everyone together.
The main villains in this series are the Catlords, ruled by the werelions Leopold and his son Lucas, with others joining the story in the subsequent books. The obvious connection here is the lion, but don't worry, there's no incest in this family. Leopold did marry Drew's mother, Queen Amelie (a white werewolf), and thus had Prince Lucas, so there are some weird family ties going on. Lucas is also very Joffreyesque with his spoiled and violent personality, making him a perfect villain, and a half-brother to our hero, no less. The felinethropes of this series channel the Lannisters well but have their own special talents and reputations that make them formidable foes.
Some other connections are a female werebear similar to Arya since she wants to be a scout and not a lady, a prissy redhead werefox that is a bit Sansa-ish, a fat bibliophile wereboar who is rather similar to Sam (though they get rather opposite while following a very similar path), and a black panther werelord that screams Tywin at me every time I read about him (very powerful, merciless, and wants to rule all). Also, the sheer amount of characters in this series is reminiscent of Game of Thrones, as well as the untimely deaths and sudden reappearances of other characters.
Land
The continent of Lyssia contains seven kingdoms, which is the same amount in Westeros, though none of the names are too similar. The Wereworld series ranges all over the continent as the books continue, taking you to places like the dangerous and wild Dyrewood to the scorching volcanic island of Scoria to the freezing wastelands of Sturmland. There is a second continent in the series, Bast, but it doesn't contain a beautiful war woman like Daenerys. Instead, it's where the Catlords invade from. The kingdoms have their own ruling families of different werespecies, as well as realistic histories that give the land a real feel and help forge a deeper connection with the story.
Plot
Much like the Starks and their quest to bring down the Lannisters and remain as rulers in the North, Drew is trying to reclaim the high throne from the werelions and bring the people of Lyssia together. Other than that, it has its own story that is adventurous, full of blood and gore, flows well, and is even a bit magical (if we're not counting the changing into animals as magic). The high fantasy aspect is the same, but Jobling definitely puts his own spin on the genre.
Basically, the Werelords series is a complex story with realistic characters (including pirates!), a deep history, some fun plot twists, and an engaging pace. It's a great series for anyone that likes to read fantasy and I would recommend it to anyone that's read books like Harry Potter, anything by Tamora Pierce, The Hunger Games, and I guess any other popular young adult fiction series, even Twilight. Just give it a try, pick up the first book, Werelords: Rise of the Wolf, and enjoy the trip to the world of Lyssia and the Werelords. You'll love it.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
The Truth about Xbox One
Yes, the following is quite the wall of text. One of my ADHD friends requested my article to be explained in 10 words or less, so here it is at the beginning before I lose some people's interest: Xbox One is completely different than what everyone else thinks. Now continue on if you want more details.
Okay guys, first off, I just want to say that I am not trying to get everyone to buy an Xbox One because it's necessarily better, I'm just trying to show people that all of this hype on the internet is wrong, sometimes completely unfounded, and is hiding the potential of future gaming. The phrase that keeps running through my head, courtesy of Jesse, is "People want change because it's new, but hate it because it's different." Xbox One is really offering some amazing new technology and concepts that have been spit upon by the mass and social media because they think Microsoft is only out for money or is only out to screw the consumer. How does that even make sense? Of course Microsoft wants to make money but keep their fan base wanting more, so here it is, the true next generation console, explained by refuting common fallacies surrounding its existence.
1. Xbox One is the next Big Brother because it's always online, always on, and the Kinect will be watching everything I do and reporting it for financial gain of big companies.
Okay, I think these type of ideas came about before the console was really revealed and Microsoft took a bit of time to answer these questions clearly without muddying the waters. I would like to say that all of the above is completely wrong. Here's a(nother) list to explain.
A. The Xbox One does not need to be contiually connected to the internet 24/7. It does need to connect to the internet at least once every 24 hours, but I don't know why this is an issue. Our Xbox 360 is always connected to the internet anyway, so this is not a big difference. But guys, here's the kicker, leaving the Xbox One always connected to the internet means that games can be continually updated and patched without you having to wait for it when you want to play the game. So it's a time saver! And now many games include things like real-time weather patterns and dynamic worlds that continually change and require periodic internet connection to stay up to date. But I'm sure there will be many more new and innovative elements that can take advantage of periodic updates to make gaming even more fun. So for anyone worried about a crappy connection that will interrupt gameplay when it disconnects, I don't think that will happen since games only have to update every so often. Anyone with that bad of internet connection probably has a hard time playing games like CoD or Halo online anyway. Hopefully Google Fiber gets internet companies playing by their rules soon so we can have internet comparable to the rest of the world! Also, playing DVD/Blu-rays discs and watching live TV don't require internet and can play offline, so there's that.
B. The Xbox One can be turned completely off! The Kinect can stay on and will only respond to the phrase "Xbox On" to turn the console back on, but that is a setting that can be turned off. The console has been designed to benefit from continually being on, but it by no means needs to remain on. Forza 5 gives players a reason to stay connected online because of their "drivatar" which is an AI tuned to your driving style that "plays for you while you're not playing," and I believe you get the credits that your drivatar wins. Or you at least get to see how your AI played against others. This give the AI cars in the game a more realistic feel because they imitate the driving styles of real people. I think it's cool because then you can see how well you compare to other people that play the game without having to actually play them, or while you're not even playing. When racing, you will have the option of choosing the difficulty of drivatars that you'll face, but this is still an early development in the game and the developers at Turn 10 are always looking for new ways to incorporate cloud computing (which I'll talk more on in a bit) to make gaming better. The app Word Lens gives us an idea what cameras can do for augmented reality that may make its way into more games.
C. As I said earlier, the Xbox One can be turned completely off, and this goes for the Kinect as well. While it does need to remain plugged in, you can pause or turn off the Kinect. The reason it needs to always be plugged in is so that it can always be able to take user's commands and be available for games. If this bothers you, then never have the Kinect turned on, and if you're still scared, put some cloth over it. But really, the Kinect has a lot to offer users, like being able to take both audio and visual commands for going through menus as well as really cool integration with games. Microsoft has explained that "you can play games or enjoy applications that use data, such as videos, photos, facial expressions, heart rate and more, but this data will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission." This is not the beginning of Big Brother, but instead Microsoft and other companies' attempt to make gaming, believe it or not, better for the buyers.
tl;dr Point 1: Xbox One doesn't have to be continually connected to the internet (though that's how must people have it anyway and it really streamlines gaming), it can fully turn off, and the Kinect is not an eye that is used to spy on gamers as it can be turned off and is really just to make gaming new, different, and better.
2. Xbox One is going to kill the used game market and crush my ability to share games with my friends.
I would just like to say that Microsoft is still allowing used games to be sold, but Microsoft left it up to the game publishers to allow people to trade in used games at participating retailers. On top of that, Microsoft is not requiring any fee for anyone to resell their games, so it's up to third party places and companies to come up with pricing. This is just an example of the misdirected hate at Microsoft because it's not their decision on whether games can be resold or not. Now here's where it gets interesting. You can now have up to ten "family members" hooked up to your account that can play any of your games ON ANY XBOX ONE that can connect to the internet at least once an hour, and I think all ten accounts can play at once, provided there are enough Xbox Ones to go around. How's that for sharing games, eh? You can still give the disc version of your games to a friend, but it is restricted to Xbox live friends you've had for at least thirty days and it can only be given away once. I know this is pretty limiting, but honestly, it's not that bad considering you can just log on to someone's account you've got a connection to and play their games. So whatever happens to the used game market is not on Microsoft's back and I think game sharing is still pretty viable, just not in the traditional way. Honestly, this way seems much easier and cooler. And as proof that Microsoft listens to their consumers, they've said that they're looking at different ways to allow lending games. There is still room to improve the console and Microsoft will try to fix what they can once they get more real feedback from people that have played and not just followed the bandwagon.
3. DRM is going to be the end of gaming and I hate DRM because everyone else hates DRM.
With the future of gaming being based on games stored in the cloud (Sony will have this option available in 2014), DRM is going to be important to gaming companies because it will keep people from simply getting copies of games from pirates or friends. If you pay for the games, it's not going to affect you at all. Basically, the Xbox One is going to be a gaming computer for the livingroom, with all your games stored on the cloud for faster gaming (no having to wait for the slow CD read speeds) and DRM will just make sure it's a legit copy so all of the game extensions work correctly, game information is patched and updated, and you can have a worry-free gaming experience. And if you try to say only Microsoft is allowing DRM, you are very wrong. Both Microsoft AND SONY are leaving DRM up to the gaming publishers. Get mad at the right people, guys.
4. The Xbox One is way more expensive than the Playstation 4 and will probably fail miserably in sales.
For reference, this is what was said of the Playstation 3 when it came out, and look what happened. The PS3 was $500 at launch, a full $200 more than the $300 Xbox 360, and yet the PS3 completely sold out on it's first day, with 40% of presales not even appearing for the launch because so many people pre-ordered them. The PS4 is premiering at $399 and the Xbox is $499. I just don't think that is too much of a price difference to try and base the future sales of these consoles on. That extra $100 is, in my opinion, completely worth it, because if any of these new consoles are truly "next gen" consoles, it's got to be the Xbox One for it's use of cloud computing. Also, Xbox live gold is only $10 more per year than the PS Plus ($50 compared to $60), and Xbox live, contrary to popular belief, or at least this video, does have free membership in the form of Xbox live silver. So while the PS4 looks much cooler than the PS3, but when I look at it, I just see a better PS3, not a new take on gaming. This is only the beginning of cloud computing and I can't wait to see what game developers do with it in the new future.
So now that I've commented on the most common issues I've seen, let me geek out a bit on cloud computing. I've already mentioned the drivatar from Forza 5, but there are so many more applications that can make games so much cooler. I think my favorite point so far is that cloud computing will allow the Xbox One to focus its computing power on making your game look good and play well while the cloud takes care of physics for everything else in the game, including other players. This makes multiplayer games run seamlessly, lag much less, and generally play much better. Without having to concentrate on every piece of information you see on the screen, cloud computing will make gaming so much crazier.
It also allows for multiplayer games have as many as 128 people playing at once! I don't know if that affects how many people can play on one console, but can you imagine playing in a game that big and not lagging or watching other people lag out when pulling amazing feats of physics that would tax the processor of the console? Such a cool upgrade. And because all this cloud computing needs more space, Xbox live will be upgraded from their current 15,000 servers, to 300,000! That's a crap ton! Haha. So that is going to improve playability A LOT.
I think this is where Microsoft has created the true next generation console because it has taken the chance to try a new way of gaming that could, and I think will, revolutionize the way games are played and created. “It’s not like on day one, everyone will have figured out how to take advantage of that power,” Microsoft interactive entertainment CMO Marc Whitten told Wired. “It’s just one of those stakes we’re placing.” I love that quote because they're leaving it up to others to find new ways to make cloud computing even better, but they've opened the doors for amazing things to happen.
So give the Xbox One a chance instead of writing it off like everyone else.
Now for homework. Read this article, or really any article, blog, or meme about Microsoft/E3/Xbox One and exercise what you've learned to see from this post and how no one else has seemed to pick up on the potential. And remember, question everything!
PS: No more having to deal with Microsoft points now. :D
Sources:
Okay guys, first off, I just want to say that I am not trying to get everyone to buy an Xbox One because it's necessarily better, I'm just trying to show people that all of this hype on the internet is wrong, sometimes completely unfounded, and is hiding the potential of future gaming. The phrase that keeps running through my head, courtesy of Jesse, is "People want change because it's new, but hate it because it's different." Xbox One is really offering some amazing new technology and concepts that have been spit upon by the mass and social media because they think Microsoft is only out for money or is only out to screw the consumer. How does that even make sense? Of course Microsoft wants to make money but keep their fan base wanting more, so here it is, the true next generation console, explained by refuting common fallacies surrounding its existence.
1. Xbox One is the next Big Brother because it's always online, always on, and the Kinect will be watching everything I do and reporting it for financial gain of big companies.
Okay, I think these type of ideas came about before the console was really revealed and Microsoft took a bit of time to answer these questions clearly without muddying the waters. I would like to say that all of the above is completely wrong. Here's a(nother) list to explain.
A. The Xbox One does not need to be contiually connected to the internet 24/7. It does need to connect to the internet at least once every 24 hours, but I don't know why this is an issue. Our Xbox 360 is always connected to the internet anyway, so this is not a big difference. But guys, here's the kicker, leaving the Xbox One always connected to the internet means that games can be continually updated and patched without you having to wait for it when you want to play the game. So it's a time saver! And now many games include things like real-time weather patterns and dynamic worlds that continually change and require periodic internet connection to stay up to date. But I'm sure there will be many more new and innovative elements that can take advantage of periodic updates to make gaming even more fun. So for anyone worried about a crappy connection that will interrupt gameplay when it disconnects, I don't think that will happen since games only have to update every so often. Anyone with that bad of internet connection probably has a hard time playing games like CoD or Halo online anyway. Hopefully Google Fiber gets internet companies playing by their rules soon so we can have internet comparable to the rest of the world! Also, playing DVD/Blu-rays discs and watching live TV don't require internet and can play offline, so there's that.
B. The Xbox One can be turned completely off! The Kinect can stay on and will only respond to the phrase "Xbox On" to turn the console back on, but that is a setting that can be turned off. The console has been designed to benefit from continually being on, but it by no means needs to remain on. Forza 5 gives players a reason to stay connected online because of their "drivatar" which is an AI tuned to your driving style that "plays for you while you're not playing," and I believe you get the credits that your drivatar wins. Or you at least get to see how your AI played against others. This give the AI cars in the game a more realistic feel because they imitate the driving styles of real people. I think it's cool because then you can see how well you compare to other people that play the game without having to actually play them, or while you're not even playing. When racing, you will have the option of choosing the difficulty of drivatars that you'll face, but this is still an early development in the game and the developers at Turn 10 are always looking for new ways to incorporate cloud computing (which I'll talk more on in a bit) to make gaming better. The app Word Lens gives us an idea what cameras can do for augmented reality that may make its way into more games.
C. As I said earlier, the Xbox One can be turned completely off, and this goes for the Kinect as well. While it does need to remain plugged in, you can pause or turn off the Kinect. The reason it needs to always be plugged in is so that it can always be able to take user's commands and be available for games. If this bothers you, then never have the Kinect turned on, and if you're still scared, put some cloth over it. But really, the Kinect has a lot to offer users, like being able to take both audio and visual commands for going through menus as well as really cool integration with games. Microsoft has explained that "you can play games or enjoy applications that use data, such as videos, photos, facial expressions, heart rate and more, but this data will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission." This is not the beginning of Big Brother, but instead Microsoft and other companies' attempt to make gaming, believe it or not, better for the buyers.
tl;dr Point 1: Xbox One doesn't have to be continually connected to the internet (though that's how must people have it anyway and it really streamlines gaming), it can fully turn off, and the Kinect is not an eye that is used to spy on gamers as it can be turned off and is really just to make gaming new, different, and better.
2. Xbox One is going to kill the used game market and crush my ability to share games with my friends.
I would just like to say that Microsoft is still allowing used games to be sold, but Microsoft left it up to the game publishers to allow people to trade in used games at participating retailers. On top of that, Microsoft is not requiring any fee for anyone to resell their games, so it's up to third party places and companies to come up with pricing. This is just an example of the misdirected hate at Microsoft because it's not their decision on whether games can be resold or not. Now here's where it gets interesting. You can now have up to ten "family members" hooked up to your account that can play any of your games ON ANY XBOX ONE that can connect to the internet at least once an hour, and I think all ten accounts can play at once, provided there are enough Xbox Ones to go around. How's that for sharing games, eh? You can still give the disc version of your games to a friend, but it is restricted to Xbox live friends you've had for at least thirty days and it can only be given away once. I know this is pretty limiting, but honestly, it's not that bad considering you can just log on to someone's account you've got a connection to and play their games. So whatever happens to the used game market is not on Microsoft's back and I think game sharing is still pretty viable, just not in the traditional way. Honestly, this way seems much easier and cooler. And as proof that Microsoft listens to their consumers, they've said that they're looking at different ways to allow lending games. There is still room to improve the console and Microsoft will try to fix what they can once they get more real feedback from people that have played and not just followed the bandwagon.
3. DRM is going to be the end of gaming and I hate DRM because everyone else hates DRM.
With the future of gaming being based on games stored in the cloud (Sony will have this option available in 2014), DRM is going to be important to gaming companies because it will keep people from simply getting copies of games from pirates or friends. If you pay for the games, it's not going to affect you at all. Basically, the Xbox One is going to be a gaming computer for the livingroom, with all your games stored on the cloud for faster gaming (no having to wait for the slow CD read speeds) and DRM will just make sure it's a legit copy so all of the game extensions work correctly, game information is patched and updated, and you can have a worry-free gaming experience. And if you try to say only Microsoft is allowing DRM, you are very wrong. Both Microsoft AND SONY are leaving DRM up to the gaming publishers. Get mad at the right people, guys.
4. The Xbox One is way more expensive than the Playstation 4 and will probably fail miserably in sales.
For reference, this is what was said of the Playstation 3 when it came out, and look what happened. The PS3 was $500 at launch, a full $200 more than the $300 Xbox 360, and yet the PS3 completely sold out on it's first day, with 40% of presales not even appearing for the launch because so many people pre-ordered them. The PS4 is premiering at $399 and the Xbox is $499. I just don't think that is too much of a price difference to try and base the future sales of these consoles on. That extra $100 is, in my opinion, completely worth it, because if any of these new consoles are truly "next gen" consoles, it's got to be the Xbox One for it's use of cloud computing. Also, Xbox live gold is only $10 more per year than the PS Plus ($50 compared to $60), and Xbox live, contrary to popular belief, or at least this video, does have free membership in the form of Xbox live silver. So while the PS4 looks much cooler than the PS3, but when I look at it, I just see a better PS3, not a new take on gaming. This is only the beginning of cloud computing and I can't wait to see what game developers do with it in the new future.
So now that I've commented on the most common issues I've seen, let me geek out a bit on cloud computing. I've already mentioned the drivatar from Forza 5, but there are so many more applications that can make games so much cooler. I think my favorite point so far is that cloud computing will allow the Xbox One to focus its computing power on making your game look good and play well while the cloud takes care of physics for everything else in the game, including other players. This makes multiplayer games run seamlessly, lag much less, and generally play much better. Without having to concentrate on every piece of information you see on the screen, cloud computing will make gaming so much crazier.
It also allows for multiplayer games have as many as 128 people playing at once! I don't know if that affects how many people can play on one console, but can you imagine playing in a game that big and not lagging or watching other people lag out when pulling amazing feats of physics that would tax the processor of the console? Such a cool upgrade. And because all this cloud computing needs more space, Xbox live will be upgraded from their current 15,000 servers, to 300,000! That's a crap ton! Haha. So that is going to improve playability A LOT.
I think this is where Microsoft has created the true next generation console because it has taken the chance to try a new way of gaming that could, and I think will, revolutionize the way games are played and created. “It’s not like on day one, everyone will have figured out how to take advantage of that power,” Microsoft interactive entertainment CMO Marc Whitten told Wired. “It’s just one of those stakes we’re placing.” I love that quote because they're leaving it up to others to find new ways to make cloud computing even better, but they've opened the doors for amazing things to happen.
So give the Xbox One a chance instead of writing it off like everyone else.
Now for homework. Read this article, or really any article, blog, or meme about Microsoft/E3/Xbox One and exercise what you've learned to see from this post and how no one else has seemed to pick up on the potential. And remember, question everything!
PS: No more having to deal with Microsoft points now. :D
Sources:
- Great breakdown of Always Online, Used Games and Giving Games to Friends, Game Installations and Digital Downloads, and Kinect Requirements.
- Another good breakdown
- Good overall article and a bit on Cloud Computing
- Cloud Computing and Forza 5
- A little more on the Kinect
- PS4 Cloud info
- Xbox 360 info
- PS3 info
Friday, June 7, 2013
Adventure Time in the Classroom
I really want my future classroom to be full of fun and new ways to look at life through the perspective of literature, so when I came across this blog post about Adventure Time and the Hero's Journey, I knew I had to hold on to these ideas. Adventure Time is a crazy kid's show that seems to have very polar reactions from people that view it (or at least from the people I talk to about it). I personally love the show for its commentary on society, hidden humor, and absolutely random story lines that blow my mind when I figure out what it all meant. The recurring jokes are also great, like the snail that is somewhere in every episode, but it also has a vast history that is weaved throughout the show in small pieces during its five seasons (and they're going to have a sixth!). I can somewhat see where people are coming from when they say it's complete trash and worthless and makes no sense, but that seems to only come from people that have only seen one episode or don't see the implied meanings and whatnot. I always tell people to look for the hidden messages when they watch another episode.
But I think this is a good example of a show that I could possibly work into my classroom because of its short length (eleven ish minute episodes) and appeal to kids around the age I want to teach. I haven't put too much thought into other episodes I could use in the classroom, but the author of the blog that I'm referring to chose Season 1, Episode 5: The Enchiridion as an example of the Hero's Journey. Now, if you're not familiar with this narrative pattern, I won't kill you, but I'll be a little sad. Basically, it breaks down stories into somewhere between twelve to seventeen steps (depending on what version you're working with) that detail what the protagonist is going through at specific points. Ryan's blog uses the twelve step version that include these steps (also taken from his blog):
1. Ordinary World - At this point in the narrative, the reader or viewer sees the world as it exists for the hero before the introduction of the primary conflict.
2. Call to Action - The hero faces some sort of challenge or change to their ordinary world.
3. Refusal of the Call - Unsure of him-/herself, the hero(-ine) expresses uncertainty about or refuses to participate in the journey or quest.
4. Meeting the Mentor - The hero meets an individual who trains or advises him or her on beginning the quest.
5. Across the threshold - The hero abandons their ordinary world and the quest begins in a place where he or she encounters challenges not usually faced in the ordinary world.
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies - As one might expect, this is the part of the journey is where the hero undergoes various tests, learning who his or her allies and enemies are along the way.
7. Approach - The hero and his/her allies prepare to confront their primary challenge.
8. The Ordeal - The hero faces this primary challenge; the stakes are high.
9. The Reward - The hero accomplishes the goal they set out to achieve, but there is often a chance that the reward he or she receive for his or her troubles may be lost.
10. The Road Home - On the way back to the ordinary world, the hero is confronted with the possibility of losing the reward.
11. The Resurrection - The hero faces one final challenge, this time with often higher stakes than before.
12. Return Home - The hero arrive at home with the reward or treasure they fought to secure.
So take a story you're familiar with and plot it out with these steps. You'll probably find a lot of similarities and scenes that directly connect to these ideas, but not every story will follow all of these steps. This pattern is a nifty way to teach students how to break down stories or even build their own. Watching an episode of Adventure Time after learning the steps can help reinforce the pattern and let students see the it happening in their own lives. I'm thinking this would easily fit into a single class period, but it'd be nice to expand it a little bit so the students can have some time to work with the steps by either applying it to a story in class or having them write their own (short) hero's journey. I'd like to see if I can work this in during my student teaching just to see if it could actually work in a classroom, but I'm not sure how I'll do it since I don't even know anything about my teaching assignments next semester/year. At least I'm thinking about it, right? Maybe if I'm really bored I'll try to write an actual lesson plan with an Adventure Time episode to highlight the content. I'm sure I can use other episodes for other English-y stuff, but I really loved how Ryan wrote out the Hero's Journey in his blog. If I find a good episode that complements something I'd want to teach, I think I'll try to break it down like he did.
Which shouldn't be too hard since I'm always looking for new things to potentially use for teaching, and when I do find things, I try to update my links page with them. I'm thinking about elaborating on some of the links through some more blog posts so I can keep a record of my ideas (good or bad, haha) somewhere. Let me know what you think of my ideas or if you've got some more to add!
Monday, June 3, 2013
Learning? During the Summer?
I started off this vacation from school with a list of things to do that mostly entailed voraciously working on my reading list and trying to work on some writing. I've definitely still found room for common summer practices like enjoying the outside, coming inside and turning the a/c up, half-price shakes at Sonic after 8pm, and going swimming, though maybe getting caught in torrential downpourings of rain doesn't quite count. But for the last two weeks, I've been reading all the time! I've finished six books so far, working on my seventh, and here I am, practicing some writing with a blog post! And now my hours have (finally) increased at work, so now I'm working five days a week instead of two. This makes me feel a little bit better about lying around all day and reading books.
But I do more than just read these books; I try to learn as much as I can from them. It helps that almost all the books I've read so far were either science-fiction, or actual non-fiction science books. These facts and possible ideas that stem from these books are so interesting to me that I just can't help looking up more information to see what other applications can be found. Wikipedia has always been a great help and I seem to always have at least one tab open to an article from them at all times. I currently have tabs up for String Field Theory, String Theory, Nuclear Propulsion, and Antimatter. It's gotten to the point that Google just opens up Wikipedia articles for me instead of giving me all the other results of the search. I love Google. :)
Anyway, Jesse also helps in my endeavors by playing video games, oddly enough. His latest time sink is a game still in alpha called Kerbal Space Program. It has thousands of dedicated players already, a helpful community, is available on Steam, has third-party mods, and its own subreddit. It's in version 0.20, but it still has many opportunities to have fun and explore new places. It is basically NASA if they had an infinite budget and astronauts that are super cute and don't need to plan for food/water/oxygen/time spent in space. There are also several places out in the solar system to explore such as other planets and moons, but sometimes just leaving Kerbin's atmosphere is quite the challenge. The game operates with mostly realistic physics and requires players to pay attention to actual rocket science components like delta-V, angles of trajectory, and surface weight to thrust ratios. It's fun seeing terms like apoapsis and periapsis in the game because they're not shying away from the real terminology, and it definitely made me want to learn what they were so I could understand the game better. Someday there will be a career mode, but until then, it's a sandbox game that lets the user do whatever they want from making rockets to space planes, and even rocket powered boats, because why not.
His current mission is to land a 150 ton floating base on a mostly water covered moon (Laythe) of a Jupiter-like planet (Jool). It's a three part base that includes the core, a large fuel tanker, and a return craft. My favorite part is the inclusion of two boats that the Kerbals can sit on and boat around the moon. This is a very different mission than some of the others he's done, such as landing on the moon (Mun), making a space station to orbit Kerbin (the Earth-like planet), and landing on a planet similar to our Mars (Duna). It's just so much fun to watch what people can do in this game and it's like real rocket science. So crazy! Youtube has many videos of this game, if you're curious, and it has plenty of tutorials for those wanting to play.
So there's just a little bit of a glimpse into my science-filled summer so far. I'm learning about other non-sciencey things as well, but science is always fun to talk about. Now I challenge you guys to learn something new today/this summer as well! Go go go!
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