The Barking Dog - Slashdot User

Valve Provides Details On Left 4 Dead Survival Pack DLC 62

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday April 18, 2009 @01:06AM from the a-new-take-on-not-dying dept.

A post on the Left 4 Dead blog shares details of the Survival Pack downloadable content due out next week. It will be free, and available for both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game. "Our goals for Survival Mode are to deliver a mode of play distinct from Campaign or Versus, have games that regularly last under ten minutes, and emphasize competition with team play through leaderboards. Survival Mode draws on the planning and communication aspects of a successful Finale or Crescendo event, while taking it to another level. It rapidly hits a fever pitch that only a well coordinated team will be able to successfully survive. ... Given the extreme pace of Survival Mode, the number of zombies killed in a single round often outnumbers an entire campaign."

The Real Story Behind Gaming Addiction 300

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday April 16, 2009 @06:03AM from the spotlight-on-black-tar-warcraft dept.

Gamespot is running a feature looking into the facts behind gaming addiction: what it is, whether it exists, and why the need still exists for objective research into the issue. Quoting: "[Richard M. Ryan, a psychologist and professor of psychology, psychiatry, and education at the University of Rochester in New York] thinks the lack of quality research into video game overuse will be rectified with time as games become more sophisticated in the ways they satisfy people's psychological needs. 'We have a lot of people, some in the media and some in the sciences, who are too ready to make very strong claims about video games, whether we are talking about aggression, addiction, or cultural estrangement, based on very little evidence. I think that is especially how the media often sells stories. Some commentators exaggerate risks, and on the other hand there are defenders of games who deny any and all problems and attack any perceived bad news. Games are relatively new in our culture, and such vacillation between hysteria and denial I suspect often greets any new phenomenon, from hip-hop to the Internet to video games. Both sides usually have some part of the truth, but it may be a while before at least we as scientists, much less as a society, have a coherent understanding.'"

Comment Dogs (Score 1) 1397

by The Barking Dog on Tuesday February 03, 2009 @08:28AM (#26707753) Attached to: Why Do We Name Servers the Way We Do?

I've had various naming schemes at employers. One, it was sea creatures (the name of the company was The Pond). Another, military aircraft (the owner was a vet who spent his Army years flying helicopters). Another, the staff picked so it was a mishmash, though our SpamAssassin cluster used names of successful US presidential assassins (though when we got to McKinley's and couldn't spell it, it was marking the end of the meme). Yet another, trees.

For my personal stuff, though, I use names of famous dogs, and I try not to recycle them. I've used Toto, Fido, Speck, Einstein, Astro, Scooby, Nipper, Laika, Strelka, and a lot more. My latest are Gromit (can't believe that in 10 years I'd never used it!) and Petey.

Comment Re:Inspired (Score 1) 381

by The Barking Dog on Monday December 29, 2008 @06:52PM (#26262763) Attached to: Resurrecting Old Games, What Works?

The story's icon inspires me: Pac Man should be revived as a first person eater!

Part of the greatness of Pac-Man was that you could see the entire board at once and plan your route accordingly. A first-person perspective would take that away. Sure, you could have a map, but that clutters the HUD and mars the immersion.

But, I haven't seen anyone mention the superb Pac-Man Championship Edition. It took everything great about Pac-Man, improved the visuals, and tweaked the gameplay just enough to make it new.

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