Comment Re:!Interesting. (Score 1) 33
You mean five millenia?
Comment Re:Excellent manufactured blog post (Score 1) 33
We have a new terms which is "social games," which implies that the intersection of games and social-behavior is a new to many people. The fact that this term is in use, and that it has caught on, is evidence of this. I don't think "most people" are dimwitted, however, although I do think that games are not yet a central part of the lives of most people, which perhaps explains why the term has caught on.
Comment Re:Excellent manufactured blog post (Score 1) 33
I think we're in violent agreement then. What is obvious to you (the social nature of games), however, isn't particularly obvious to most people.
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Killed By Ice 113
coondoggie writes "NASA officially ended its Phoenix Mars Lander operation today after a new image of the machine showed severe ice damage to its solar panels, and repeated attempts to contact the spacecraft had failed. 'Apparent changes in the shadows cast by the lander are consistent with predictions of how Phoenix could be damaged by harsh winter conditions. It was anticipated that the weight of a carbon-dioxide ice buildup could bend or break the lander's solar panels. [Michael Mellon of the University of Colorado] calculated hundreds of pounds of ice probably coated the lander in mid-winter.'"
Nero Files Antitrust Complaint Against MPEG-LA 247
hkmwbz writes "German technology company Nero AG has filed an antitrust complaint against the MPEG-LA, the company that manages the H.264 patent pool. Nero claims that the MPEG-LA has violated the law and achieved and abused 100% market share, by, among other things, using 'independent experts' that weren't independent after all, not weeding out non-essential patents from the pool (in fact, it has grown from the original 53 to more than 1,000), and retroactively changing previously-agreed-on license terms."
A Brief History of Social Games 33
Tarinth writes "Social games (such as FarmVille, etc.) are hardly new, because games have been part of recorded history for thousands of years. An infographic has integrated many of the key games from history (starting with Egypt's Senet game from 3100 BC), showing major milestones along the way, such as play-by-mail, Dungeons and Dragons, and Magic: the Gathering. Today's cultural phenomenon of social games, which might better be better called 'social network games,' is the confluence of several trends ranging from asynchronous gameplay, social play, and virtual economies — all of which are shown within the infographic."
Submission + - Brief History of Social Games (radoff.com)
Tarinth writes: Social games (such as Farmville, etc.) are hardly new--because games have been part of recorded history for thousands of years. An infographic has integrated many of the key games from history (starting with Egypt's Senet game from 3100BC) to present, showing major milestones along the way such as play-by-mail, Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering. Today's social games phenomena, which might better be better called "social network games" is the confluence of several trends ranging from asynchronous gameplay, social play and virtual economies--all of which are shown within the infographic.
Comment Re:Competitive in the gaming industry?!?! (Score 1) 192
I thought it was an odd statement too. It would be a good public service for the Army to reveal as much as possible, since the information could actually benefit the industry by providing useful benchmarks, development methodologies, budget allocations, etc.
Comment Re:How about relative to other recruitment methods (Score 1) 192
Numerous studies have shown that games are about the most consistent and effective way to reach young US males. They generally watch a lot less TV (sports being the possible exception). Considering the huge marketing budget that is spent on advertising the Army, I'd wager that programs like this are highly effective--but I'd be very interested in additional data that reveals how many recruiting leads the Army associates with the program!
Comment Re:Surprising benchmarks (Score 1) 275
I think the key takeaway from the benchmarks is that your mileage can vary. For many people, the Google DNS may be considerably faster. For others, you might have an ISP with very good infrastructure (like FIOS).
Submission + - How does the new Google DNS perform? (and why?) (radoff.com)
Tarinth writes: Google just announced its new Google DNS platform. Many have viewed this as a move to increase ad revenue, or maybe capture more data. This article explores those questions, as well as the actual benchmarking results for Google DNS — showing that it is faster than many, but not nearly as fast as many others.
Comment Re:If I worked on AvP, I'd be partying over this. (Score 1) 277
Not only that, but the game itself will be a symbol of rebellion for anyone who wants to "stick it to the man." People will buy it who previously had no intention to do so. Well played, AvP...
Comment The Problem is Game Design (Score 1) 201
I think what's often overlooked in these discussions around gold farming is the extent to which it's basically a fundamental flaw of game design. See also Is Gold Farming a Game Design problem?
