| The new 'g-1 phone' on T-mobile is coming out. Google has made an 'open source phone OS' called Android, and it opening the world up to developers. Seems like an amazing thing, no? Right now there's a lot of hype, but the phone isn't on the market until Oct 2008. I posted this comment on TalkAndroid.com. I for one am psyched about open-source phone OS. Great idea. Lots of room here for dev -- I STRONGLY SUGGEST some developers make a password protected user-defined database app (like "ThinkDB" aka "Smart List To Go", the killer app for Palm) and make that ... free & compatible with Notes or Google Docs. Anyone remember Hypercard for Mac, back in the day of floppies? What about something like "1000 Blank White Cards" except let people share decks of cards, exchange individual cards, etc etc. That would be kinda fun & creative ... & viral. re: Metosphere -- great concept, very much like William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition" book which had the concept of large 3D art objects living in Virtual Space overlaid on real space, viewable only with certain viewers. This could be great. re: TwitterDroid -- fearful, I'm fearful re: KudoStar -- is everyone on the planet going to get a vague unexplained 1-5 star rating? (MY GOD that would suck!) re: Parallel Kingdom -- I'd like to see people be able to overlay things on things in real life, but I'm not sure we need it to be the violent paradigm of knights and conquering. I suggest you look into the other histories besides the expansion of the West thru force (and drugs, slavery, religion, etc) and find a paradigm that is more ... savory? |
Android -- are you ready to become one? Too late, you are, but Google got the name rights.
SPORE - reality vs DRM
This is my buddy Burrup (on the left, posing), who lives in Spore. I am hooked on this game!!
Spore is a revolutionary/evolutionary game from Electronic Arts (I suggest you read an article on it, perhaps) and so far Spore is marked as the MOST pirated game in history. :)
I don't believe copying is technically 'pirating', but it's a government derived Double-Speak that is commonly accepted, so I'll use it in some of this post.
Anyway, the incentive to grab a copy (ie 'pirate') Spore is primarily b/c it has a DRM setup (Digital Rights Management) that is widely criticized for being overly aggressive, limiting # of installations, and installing software into your computer that you can't remove or control. But the pirate version lets you block all that stuff... Evolution? HA
And of course I downloaded it with BitTorrent as well, b/c --> if the download revolution has begun, I want to be on that bus. HA
And the game is freakin' insane. It's ridiculously cool, and ALSO very shallow and biased. I want to tell you more and more, but in the end, it's just another addictive videogame...
about evolution
and consequences of actions
and global/galactic domination
Sounds crazy, eh? (Does to me, at least.)
For me, the next (*r)evolution in gaming is FUN gaming that is not based around war or killing or dominating. I thought awhile back about game philosophy, and games around teamplay vs a common problem (not a 'being' per se, but a circumstance or scenario).
While in some ways this is the foundation of the cash-cow MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer OnLine RolePlaying Games) universe (including World of WarCraft, GuildWars, City of Heroes/Villains, and many more), generally the 'enemy' is personified and must be killed.
I'd like to see this paradigm of war as 'fun and entertaining' morph into another more life-positive paradigm, like 'solving complex problems utilizing teams'.
UPDATE 9/19 -- So I bought it. $50 down the hole, but this is the kind of game development I want to support. Creativity enhancement, violence OPTIONAL, brain-expanding and mind enhancing. I was going to buy it initially, hesitated b/c of DRM, grabbed it on Bit Torrent (rocks!!!), played it for 2-3 days obsessively, and decided I wanted to support this project. GOOD JOB EA, even w/the stupid DRM. Hopefully they will learn -- I sent emails and made my contact to the company.
But the game is just that good.
REkzRANT #4
Latest REkz RANT#4 -- Obama or McCain, other Americas, and more. Two new characters make their first appearances.
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