tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4460075782234128682024-03-13T09:58:56.190-07:00The Media IndustryI practically grew up in an advertising agency, got my media chops in the production trenches of a television channel. Have worked in various roles including as a graphics artist, producer, public relations guy and even in ad time sales and account management. I've started 3 media companies and am currently running my own games and mixed and multi-modal media comapany.
With this Blog I hope to share my experiences and knowledge with those wishing to get into the industry.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-20221142453019458522014-07-18T00:24:00.002-07:002014-07-18T00:28:55.368-07:00Game-Based-Learning for a smarter transfer of enterprise practices<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWtvN6bBrEs/U8jLL9b2L9I/AAAAAAAAETU/u0Z48zoXRmg/s1600/trainingGBL1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWtvN6bBrEs/U8jLL9b2L9I/AAAAAAAAETU/u0Z48zoXRmg/s1600/trainingGBL1.png" height="163" width="400" /></a></div>
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In today’s highly competitive market, companies are required to adapt and respond nimbly to change in order to survive and grow. Constant introduction of new technologies, international competition, new and emerging markets, changing customer behaviour and a highly fluid workforce mean that successful companies are constantly learning and transferring this learning to leverage them across diverse geographies and businesses. <br />
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The two essential classes of ‘learning’ that enterprises need to transfer are ‘knowledge’ and ‘practice’. While existing platforms can be equipped to transfer enterprise knowledge they are not equipped to handle the transfer of practice.<br />
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Common criticisms of standard e-learning as a platform for acquisition of skills and practice are the abstraction of content and concepts, lack of contextual and applied understanding, limitations of choice and dryness of material. These create conditions of inefficient and insufficient practice transfer which in turn lead to accidents, mistakes and loss of profitability.<br />
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Familiar tools such as Instructor-led-training, or On-the-job-training, often, either don’t fully support transfer of Practice of skills (soft and/or hard skills) or are too cumbersome, expensive and may even carry elements of risk.<br />
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A well deployed practices transfer program can help a company accomplish strategic objectives such as drive step-change improvements in performance and also accelerate its development into a learning organization. It helps in identifying superior capabilities; transferring them across business units and then provides tools for the systematic monitoring and realizing of results. <br />
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By focusing on not only sharing knowledge but also applying it, practice transfer allows enterprises to tap the power locked in by its current structures, process and systems. Opportunities to leverage the transfer of good practices span the value chain and exist in all organizations across every industry.<br />
At the heart of an effective transfer of practice program are the following methodologies:<br />
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•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Guided experience<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Simulation<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Guided experimentation<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Narrative transfer<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Scenario Based Practice<br />
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Game-Based-learning is an effective vehicle for all these methodologies and more (such as teamwork, problem based learning). Through extensive research, led by early adoption and experimentation in Military and Healthcare sectors (symbolizing both ready-for-anything and life-long learning), Game Based Learning is fast gaining adherents in mainstream education and corporate learning.<br />
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Game-Based-learning supports desirable practice by translating an idea or concept into an action or choice; "a hard theory to put into practice". By a process of repeated performance and systematic exercise it helps its user in acquiring proficiency. From navigating complex decision processes to internalizing established best practices and procedures it motivates its users to think and reflect on their actions and understanding.<br />
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Today companies are successfully using Game-Based-learning for transfer of practice in the following ways:<br />
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•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To help staff apply their learning more effectively<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To provide staff with rich feedback in the learning experience and create a more authentic context<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To reduce the time to competency<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To reduce risk in the workplace<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To encourage team work and competitiveness<br />
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Built on top of the cutting edge technology, 3DHive is a cloud based, social, m-learning platform that allows enterprises to embrace ‘Smarter-Transfer-of-Enterprise-Practices’ on-the-go through the use of Games-Based Learning.<br />
Developed by Playware Studios Asia Pte Ltd in a four-year collaboration with the Infocomm Development Authority and National Research Foundation of Singapore, it has everything an enterprise needs to create and manage training and up skilling of its workforce. It even has in-built tools for assessment of the users’ performance and progress over time. It is cloud-hosted which means “anytime” availability without any setup or overhead costs. It has built-in tools for collaboration, management and assessment.<br />
Some of the distinctive advantages offered to enterprises on 3DHive include:<br />
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•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mobile Learning<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Better Transfer of skills and practices<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Content Management by enterprise<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Consolidated Assessments<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Self-Directed Learning<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Natural Language Interface<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Camera Based Interaction<br />
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The platform has been utilized by several organizations such as Jurong Health Services, Health Promotion Board and Civil Service college, Ministry of Education etc. and the results are compelling.<br />
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To find out more about 3DHive and try it click <a href="http://www.3dhive.net/"><b><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></b></a>!<br />
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SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-85447392929037317202012-02-22T21:13:00.002-08:002012-02-23T20:22:20.177-08:00RTS Game Design Issues<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I am a huge fan of RTS games and have been </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">disappointed</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> to watch the </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">diminishing</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> reach of this once popular genre. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">A few of my colleagues at PWS share my enthusiasm for the genre and w</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">e
conducted an informal yet extensive survey of people, who match the profile of
probable Strategy Game players, but were not playing contemporary real time PC
strategy games. (We also collected feedback from disgruntled real time PC
Strategy players).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">We
found a lot of consistency in terms of why a large number of players found the
contemporary real time PC strategy game experience dissatisfactory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Two of the Key Issues are
elaborated here:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Click
Time Build up:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Faster Hand-eye+ Hotkeys
>> Strategy in most real time PC Strategy games today <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Most excluded would-be
Strategy gamers don’t have enough time to memorize hotkeys and have to navigate
the game’s often complex UI and the maps etc by scrolling. This
not-surprisingly puts them at a disadvantage against a player using hotkeys as
the time requirement for executing a hotkey is a magnitude faster than
scrolling the map and navigating through UI. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This time lag suffered by
them builds up over time and eventually the player using hotkeys simply has
greater time to think about and respond to events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-indent: .25in;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=446007578223412868" name="_Toc187671736"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=446007578223412868" name="_Toc187671736"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
problems with AI in RTS</span></b></a><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">: <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-indent: .25in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Commercial RTS game
AI often cheats to compensate for its lack of sophistication. Tricks of the
trade include map revealing and faster resource gathering. At the same time,
they do not advance our understanding of how to make intelligent decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .25in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: list .25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following are
key areas faced by AI system in RTS that cause the games to require greater
degree of Micro management from the Player’s part:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .25in; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: list .25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adversarial
planning under uncertainty: Because of huge number of possible actions at any
given time and their microscopic effects in RTS games, agents cannot afford to
think at the game action level. Instead, abstractions of the world state have
to be found that allow programs to conduct forward searches in abstract spaces
and to translate found solutions back into the original state space. </span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: list .25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: list .25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All
high-level decisions in RTS games such as when to hide, when to retreat, where
to scout, and where to extend and attack from strategic position are based on
search in abstract state spaces augmented by beliefs about the world. Because
environment is hostile and dynamic, adversarial real-time planning approaches
need to be investigated. Without this planning ability, human interferences are
needed for micro-management.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: 27.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This makes the game less enjoyable for fans
of the strategy genre that generally prefer a slower paced thinking game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b>Conclusion </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">With the modern multi-threaded processors, i</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">mproving AI performance in intensively decision driven games with clever abstractions and algorithms can tackle the above mentioned problems. Players then can concentrate on high-level decisions without being
forced to compete with the World’s fastest mouse virtuosos in terms of speed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This will result in a larger audience for the genre from amongst </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">strategy enthusiasts who currently shun it. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-50974073770564424292011-11-21T18:42:00.001-08:002011-11-21T18:48:44.177-08:00Writing a Mystery GameA New Knowledge base article series titled <a href="http://4diplay.blogspot.com/2011/10/writing-mystery-game-part-1.html">'Writing a Mystery Game'</a> has just been published by me on the <a href="http://4diplay.blogspot.com/">4Di Blog</a>.<br />
<br />
This article is meant for Teachers and other designers who wish to design an engaging learning game. One of the ways to generate audience interest in any narrative is to add intrigue and mystery into it. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://4diplay.blogspot.com/2011/10/writing-mystery-game-part-1.html">Click here to read the article</a>SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-42651627650088161202011-09-16T02:03:00.000-07:002012-02-22T20:45:09.952-08:00Privileged?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A few days ago I was invited to speak at the inaugural South
Asian Diaspora Convention held at Singapore. I got to hear many distinguished
academia and prominent business leaders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Honored to be amongst such august company I observed at the start
of my own talk; “I feel a bit like that pinch of salt in really great
chocolate; I’m afraid no one will notice I was here!” Eventually though the
domain of my subject connected with and interested most of the people in the
audience and my session was well received with a lively debate in the question
and answer session. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the rousing talks I heard during the conference was
that of Mr. Pradeep Pant, </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">President,
Asia Pacific Kraft Foods, who was sharing about what he called “the DNA of
successful leaders”. He stressed that one of the essential components in the
makeup of today’s business leaders is a ‘solid primary education’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Later,
while talking about the topic given to me; ‘education through innovation’, I
used my own story as an anecdote to show why achieving even this is becoming
increasingly more challenging. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I got an Atari 2600, back in 1983, when I was 5 years old. This
was a few years before even Coin-operated arcade machines made their way to my
town. Its glowing 8 bit graphics and beeping music held me captivated for hours
at an end and started a lifelong love for computer games that has never abated.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1985 I got my first computer (which was a 286). I got a
computer before my school had a computer and by the time they were teaching us
how to use Wordstar at school I was already writing simple GW Basic programs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Both my parents were heavily into reading and we always had
an enormous library at home with all kinds of books and many genres of movies
and music. I spent many blissful hours, growing up, with my nose in a book
listening to music from around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All this early exposure helped shape much of my personality
and eventually led me to make a career in technology and media. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Though I owe much of my entrepreneurial drive and creativity to
the privileges I received in my parents’ house I believe these ‘privileges’ were
also largely responsible for me not sailing smoothly through school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I was never popular with most of my teachers in my ‘rote and
discipline’ type school because I would often ask difficult questions in class
and debate most topics till they were explained to my satisfaction. My penchant
for reading ensured that I would look up references outside curricula and be
generally disruptive in class with the ‘extra’ information I had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Like all youngsters I too found it challenging to connect
socially and my angst was aggravated because few people shared, or even knew
of, my interests. Aside from the few co-curricular activities I dabbled with I
found school in general either very boring or very stressful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Recently I was telling my elder daughter, who is 7 years old,
about my privileged childhood. She completely stumped me before I even began: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Me: “I had a very privileged childhood” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My Daughter: “Oh! You had an IPad too!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This innocent exclamation from her was heavily laden with
insights and implications for me. It dawned on me that the privileges I enjoyed
in my very special childhood are not only common place but completely trumped
by the facilities available in every average household today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On a quick count my own home has 14 internet capable devices,
18 game enabled systems and 21 different types of media players that are easily
accessible by her. On top of this ubiquity of access to information & entertainment-on-demand
we subscribe to some 24 television channels that she is allowed to watch. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Not only is she adept with using the tablets and mobiles for
both games and surfing she often uses Google to find more information on things
we talk about. Already, I can often find myself struggling to keep up with her
questions, while her onscreen time is still so regulated, and wonder how I
would cope as she gets older and has more access. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I wonder too how her school will cope with her growing
appetite for information, entertainment and connectivity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">While I work for a company that is working on the very bleeding
edge of education technologies and methodologies I will be the first to
acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers yet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All I know for sure is
that the traditional rote and chalk system of education will not work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-2636978465348439502011-09-15T03:20:00.000-07:002011-11-21T18:48:44.139-08:00Three simple Steps to your first 3D Game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The first in the series of Knowledge base articles
introducing the process of multiplayer interactive serious game design. The
articles are available for review and discussion on the Playware blog at the
web address <a href="http://www.4diplay.blogspot.com/">www.4Diplay.blogspot.com</a>.
<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>
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This first article deals with the conceptualization and
design planning stage and helps you get started with the initial documentation
you need to flesh out your idea. <o:p></o:p></div>
</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Click here: <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>
</b><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><a href="http://4diplay.blogspot.com/2011/09/three-simple-steps-to-your-first-3d.html">Three
Simple Steps for designing your first 3D Game</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Or paste this URL into your browser address bar:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<a href="http://4diplay.blogspot.com/2011/09/three-simple-steps-to-your-first-3d.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">http://4diplay.blogspot.com/2011/09/three-simple-steps-to-your-first-3d.html</span></b></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc; font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cccccc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-80228914755594785442011-09-14T22:00:00.000-07:002011-11-21T00:16:50.048-08:00A new emerging technology and interaction design blog<a href="http://4diplay.blogspot.com/">http://4diplay.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Is a blog covering a new immersion social learning game technology developed by my company Playware Studios. SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-14906629944432705412009-06-08T06:26:00.000-07:002011-11-21T00:16:50.041-08:004Di makes it debut on Youtube. We have plans to keep everyone updated on its progress with similar short clips. Thanks to the great folks at IDA for their support and input.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI0PLToFI4o&feature=channel_page">Clip</a>SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-62714220380703773092009-02-14T11:35:00.000-08:002012-02-22T20:45:37.028-08:00How I started my game studio (the first one)As long time computer enthusiast and an avid Gamer I always hoped to work in the Computer Gaming Industry.<br />
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With my background being mostly of Advertising and Television; my mother ran an Ad Agency and my father though a finance man established a TV Studio and Channel, I was one of the fortunate few who got an exposure to Computers very early on in life (At the time it was quite a unique position. Nowadays kids learn computers as soon as they leave the cradle).<br />
<br />
I got my First 286 back in 1987 and have always had PCs at home since, which I have been upgrading and maintaining myself. Even though initially most of the time on them was spent in either playing games or making documents for my mom or dad I did get to experiment a lot with all kinds of graphics and multimedia software, programming languages and various system utilities.<br />
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After schooling I worked mostly as a Television executive I dabbled in Computer graphics whenever the opportunity arose doing Transitions or Frames whenever required. Due to my inclination towards computers as the years progressed I got more and more opportunities to interact with advanced Multimedia software and hardware such as Non Linear Editors, 3D Graphics tools etc.<br />
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Though I have been associated with IT almost all my life, my first shot at Development came recently in ‘98 when I had to do a concept Long Distance Interactive Training Course for a Client. The project involved about 25 Hours of Instruction via television, Interactivity via Phone-ins and the Net and back up material available both as printed matter and on the web. It was a successful project earning kudos from all sectors it was displayed at from Financers to Govt and Institutional persons. <br />
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I guess here’s where I started really thinking about realizing my dream of developing a computer game. With a small loan from my dad I dropped out of the TV industry and started working on it as a project.<br />
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The vision was to create an RTS Game that was pure fun and killer on the tactics piled on with all the ‘game play possibilities‘ I always wanted from games I both played and loved (Games like C&C, Warcraft and AOE which still make my head swoon).<br />
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The first Indication of the rigors of the road I had gotten into were the difficulties in finding the appropriate people for or literature about the process of game development. <br />
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Where there was a lot of information available on how to go about 3D Game development or Industry tips for Independent Game developers there was and still is a serious dearth of info for people entering the RTS genre.<br />
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I put together a small team and started with the process of training and orientation. Starting with what I knew about Gaming from basic information about the different genres and their peculiarities right up to the tools available for development such as DirectX and their tutorials.<br />
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The grand RTS never made it. The main reason I'm still developing games and have a company is that we started doing smaller more reasonable titles such as budget and casual games which allowed us to build both our skills and portfolio.<br />
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There were a lot of other lessons learnt before we finally got to the point where the company makes money and those will be put forth in another article.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-42940839063715525272009-02-14T11:03:00.000-08:002012-02-22T20:46:05.032-08:00Getting into Mobile games (outsiders view)Mobile Gaming is one of the most fast changing, lucrative and exciting space to be in today. The mobile gaming industry in Europe alone is worth about $ 7 Billion. China, Korea etc are also large Mobile gaming markets and even networks in India are pushing this industry offering thousands of games to their subscribers.<br />
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The Mobile gaming market is a very attractive market for most startup developers because of apparent simplicity of the content. New developers are often fooled by the fact that being simplistic platforms with major technology restrictions themselves, mobiles are thought to be a medium where simple games developed with small budgets do well. The truth however is that the industry itself is very resource intensive and not as easy to survive in.<br />
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That being said it is still not to be shunned, just not underestimated, to be successful in the Mobile gaming market careful planning and proper allocation of resources is required.<br />
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I have put down some thoughts that came to my mind on how one can enter this industry.<br />
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The most tried and tested model for a viable Mobile game development studio is structured as under:<br />
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a. Multiple Development teams working on simultaneous projects.<br />
b. Development pursued on various platforms such as J2ME, Brew, Symbian and Microsoft etc. <br />
c. Specialized music and art departments with low resolution graphics & sound specialty.<br />
d. Gestation period provided for with resources to produce at least thirty to forty games before revenues start coming in.<br />
e. Resources to license IP from successful movies and franchisees <br />
f. R&D department closely following new technologies in the Mobile Handsets and their impact on the games.<br />
g. A strong marketing team and budget to negotiate good contracts with publishers as well as follow leads with networks.<br />
h. A model for regular infusion and training of fresh talent in creative departments with new ideas and concepts. <br />
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Additionally to the above it is my view that any company looking to enter the Mobile market should not only restrict itself to gaming and also target other mobile content segments such as ringtones, screensavers, jokes and cartoons etc.<br />
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The reasons for this model being necessary and prudent are as follows:<br />
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1. Most of the simple game content (which is the one that encourages the new developers to enter this industry) is provided free of cost to the mobile users by the mobile companies themselves.<br />
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2. Due to the abovementioned the successful retail mobile games are necessarily rare gameplays or very innovative use of technology.<br />
so a successful mobile gaming company requires dedicated development teams developing multiple products before they achieve breakeven or profitability with the success of a few of their products.<br />
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3. The Mobile gamer has a vastly different profile from a PC or Console gamer. Mobile gamers require their content to be interruptible, easy to learn and non explicit. This difference manifests itself mainly at design development time as innovative content here has a much longer design cycle compared to a similar product on the traditional gaming platforms.<br />
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4. The success of Mobile games besides their own merits also depend a lot on the hype and publicity created by the mobile network. Therefore it is advisable for those companies that are not themselves network backed to license expensive Intellectual Property in an effort to make their products marketing worthy for the networks. (e.g. movie franchise etc.) <br />
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5. Due to the initial attractiveness of the industry a plethora of small ventures have flooded the market with a vast variety of offerings. This has created intense competition with networks offering unestablished companies (even those ones with extraordinary content) literally peanuts compared to what they offer companies with a few successful products. This has also created an entry barrier of sorts with longer gestation periods for new startups.<br />
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6. The mobile itself is a restricted platform supporting limited input layouts and a small viewing area. The developing of immersive content for such a platform requires specialized graphics, programming, sound and design capabilities that are different from traditional content development teams. For existing Game studios to enter into this industry setup of new divisions with new development platforms is required.<br />
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7. The marketing strategy of the mobile games has to be well thought of even before the development begins as Games have to be very platform dependent to take advantage of specific features in different models of mobiles. This leads to a paradox where cross platform games are not optimized and the users of specialized games are restricted to the number of handsets sold.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-36414670641077530882009-01-28T23:51:00.001-08:002012-02-22T20:48:23.221-08:00PC Gaming for DefenseModern Defense Forces around the world today are rapidly adopting these systems to train their personnel. Defense Forces in USA, Erstwhile USSR, UK and India to name a few have been using specialized Computer based simulations to train their Commanders & Strategists. Simulators have been used for training in vehicle operations such as Aircrafts, Ships and Submarines etc. for more than a decade now.<br />
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Although PC games are traditionally deemed as entertainment tools, the Singapore Army and its key technology partner, the Defense Science & Technology Agency (DSTA), have recognized that they can effectively complement the conventional training methods such as field training. Soldiers here are the first outside the US Army to start training with PC strategy games.<br />
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Example of purposes for which PC Games can be used:<br />
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Military<br />
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· Battle Field Management<br />
· Squad Level Management<br />
· Reflex Training to Soldiers<br />
· Scenario Based Training<br />
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Civil Defense<br />
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· Disaster Management<br />
· Scenario Based Training for Police/Fire Brigade and Anti Terrorist agencies<br />
· Training Drills for Civilians (Earthquake, Fire, Armed Aggression etc.)<br />
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The viability of PC games as a medium of such training stems from their following inherent advantages over specialized simulations that run on Supercomputers:<br />
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· Low Development Costs: Even Block Buster commercial PC games with Budgets ranging in a few million dollars cost a fraction of the cost of setting up the hardware and developing specialized software for realistic simulation.<br />
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· Low Running Costs: Since these games can run on average multimedia PCs the cost of running and maintenance is much lower than super computers.<br />
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· Faster Learning Curve for users: As these games run on easily accessible and commonly available, popular platforms like Windows & Linux they are easier to use and learn for end-users<br />
· Short Development Time: PC Games take significantly less time to develop than complex simulations and the development process is more interactive. Therefore more scenarios can be explored with PC games in the same or smaller time frames<br />
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· Wider Development talent pool: The number of people engaged in and qualified for the development of PC based Games is vastly greater.<br />
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· Greater Adaptability: PC games can be easily, cheaply and quickly modified to play different variations of in built scenarios.<br />
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· Better Multimedia Capabilities: Since PC games are primarily Entertainment products the number of people and companies with products that provide better graphics and sound features is much larger and therefore the technology is much more advanced.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-80595533413292679012009-01-28T23:45:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:06:39.467-08:00AdverGamingAdverGaming is advertising through the promotion of the brand and goods in video game content. <br /><br />“People are starting to realize it's a much more effective way to advertise by embedding the brand in the gaming experience because that's what the users pays attention to," says Bill Pidgeon, an analyst with research firm Jupiter Media Metrix.<br /><br />"It's not unusual for some games to produce a viral compounding rating of 400 percent," reports Jane Chen, a strategy manager at KPE Interactive, which claims to have coined the term "advergames."<br /><br />There is little data so far on the branding power of gaming, but most experts point to stickiness rates far higher than for other forms of advertising.<br /><br />"It's very difficult to imagine anyone staring at a magazine ad or banner for three to eight minutes," observes Chen.<br /><br />Adds Pidgeon of Jupiter Media Matrix: "People just play those games for a long period of time, so if you embed the exposure within the brand you're getting mindshare."<br /><br />That kind of attention is responsible for the rapid deployment of brand-focused games. And it's not only kids they're after. From beer to basketball shoes, product marketers are latching on to games as the Next Big Thing.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-83859601341952042082009-01-28T23:19:00.000-08:002012-02-22T20:50:17.549-08:00Connected Games TodayIn today’s online world connected games are not simply games as products but rather games as a service.<br />
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Connected Games offer developers a way of bypassing several layers of content aggregators and distributors and come closer to their target audience and hence are an attractive proposition for most development studios.<br />
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With the massive success of online games, ranging from games such as EverQuest to Bejeweled to Pogo and Shockwave, it's pretty clear that this opportunity is real and here to stay. Online features are now starting to take hold in the console wars. It's no longer a question of whether the console world will embrace online, but how much. For the independent developer, the online world offers opportunities ranging from contrarian business models, to a less risky way to try out new ideas, to simply a way to work on different and cool projects.<br />
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But the independent developer is at a strategic disadvantage when it comes to the online world. Without access to research on what's actually happening in online, a developer can quickly find that any investments made will not get the returns needed.<br />
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One reason that connected games do not currently operate as well as standalone games is that MMG developers do not have a development platform on which to write and test their games.<br />
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Connected Games today come in various extremely distinct flavors;<br />
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· Online Persistent Worlds (Second Life)<br />
· Massively Multiplayer Online Games (e.g. WOW, Everquest, Maple Story)<br />
· Online ‘User Generated Content’ Community Games (e.g. Sims, Spore)<br />
· Online Trading Card Games (Magic the Gathering, Urban Rivals) <br />
· Online Virtual Economy Games (e.g. sharekhan)<br />
· Online Multiplayer Ladder Games (BF1942, CS, AOE)<br />
· Online Multiplayer Casual Games (Toribash)<br />
· Online Casual Game Leader boards (Bejewled, East of the Web)<br />
· Online Game Arcades (Real, Popcap)<br />
· Online Game Stores (XBLA, NGage2, Wii Ware)<br />
· And more…<br />
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Perhaps it’s not surprising that they can share a lot of common features despite having vastly different Experience, Gameplay and Narratives:<br />
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· User Personal Information Account Database & Hosting <br />
· User Gateway & Portal<br />
· Online World, Dungeons & Game Lobbies hosting<br />
· User Statistics & Inventory Database<br />
· Ladder & Leader boards<br />
· User Billing & Subscription Database & Hosting <br />
· DRM & Security and Online Authentication<br />
· Anti-Cheating Software<br />
· Online Community Services (Web pages, Forum, Chat, Blog etc)<br />
· User Inventory<br />
· Secure Online Transaction Services (Cash & Inventory)<br />
· Online Store<br />
· Front End Client Application (2D,3D)<br />
· Application, Demo, Content, Patch & updates hosting & delivery<br />
· Networking APIs<br />
· Network & Bandwidth Management and Provision<br />
· Server Hardware & Maintenance<br />
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It is unsurprising precisely because all the above elements other than sharing a common architecture with the Game’s Experience, Gameplay and Narrative and providing value-adds have very little in common with the process of game development. This throws up further barriers that smaller developers struggle to overcome.<br />
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Connected games so far have also suffered from conventional network infrastructure problems that have developed as quickly as the number of online gamers. Legacy servers based on inflexible, monolithic architectures are the source of the problems. As a result, MMG developers struggle with complex network and software balance issues, which distracts them from developing the best games possible.<br />
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Game publishers, in turn, must manage and support homegrown technologies for each game. This limits their ability to build effective, repeatable, and reliable infrastructures that support multiple connected games. They are forced to a high price for poor reliability and support costs, even as valuable revenue diminishes, thanks to server maintenance and reconfiguration that shuts down or slows down entire games.<br />
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Performance and reliability issues severely impact an online gamer’s experience and compromises their ability to interact with online friends. To avoid long delays to attach to popular game servers or the need to log in and out of MMG levels, developers must restrict the size of game worlds per server—which limits the players’ experience and satisfaction level in another way.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-30282248690140505882009-01-28T23:12:00.001-08:002011-11-21T00:06:39.427-08:00ARG (Alternate Reality Games)Many ARGs in recent times begin as an innocuous, seemingly misplaced item that piques the interest of several individuals out of thousands. It only takes one curious person to explore the unusual link, advertisement or other medium to discover something that they then share on the web, where it proliferates wildly, pulling in an entire devoted community dedicated to breaking the code. ARGs use various forms of media to communicate with the player, including printed media, telecommunication devices such as the Fax or Telephone, websites, etc.<br /><br />As one of the core rules, all ARGs do not classify themselves as a game. Although distinctions are made between reality and fictional content, most of these rely on a player’s common sense to distinguish and even then many players often lose their way, although a good ARG will constantly nudge them along the right path. In many cases, a PuppetMaster (PM) similar in role to a GameMaster of a typical classic RPG controls the actions within the game, the characters, and plot development.<br /><br />A strong narrative is required for a successful ARG, together with the PM’s ability to innovate and adapt according to the arbitrary nature of the game’s players, as a too-rigid storyline would break immersion, while a too-loose storyline would be unsatisfying, confusing, or worse, create backlash for the product meant to be promoted.<br /><br />A lot of the players are often required to partake actively in various ‘tasks’ assigned to them, or are self-assigned tasks, that help move the story forwards, often adding unexpected twists to the plot. This organic growth of the story is what keeps players interested as it involves a ‘real’ human element that prevents stagnation and is often an indicator of current real-world trends, which means it is relevant and interesting.<br /><br />Similar to viral marketing, awareness for an ARG relies on a people-to-people network to spread and therefore must have a clearly defined audience to begin with in order to achieve maximum initial market penetration. In fact, many of these games are created as partial Viral Marketing campaigns. In a world connected via the World Wide Web, almost any given phenomenon will find an audience within minutes, making it a perfect place for such marketing efforts.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-26725266805005537882009-01-28T20:54:00.001-08:002011-11-21T18:48:44.145-08:00Courage Vs Power (Game design Blurb)<p>Powerful is easy, to make a Player feel powerful in a game is easy. Give him enough extra Hit points or Armour or Attack or strategic bonuses and you have him taking down enemies five times his size. Agreed balancing the whole environment to make it just challenging, enough to be exiting, requires skill. Yet on the whole, making a player feel powerful is, by far, easier than making him feel courageous.</p><p><br />Sniping rules, in almost all games sniping / guerrilla warfare will win you the day. This is because you are able to take away a percentage of the enemies with little risk to your own self. Therefore telescopic rifles, silenced guns and other long ranged or stealth weapons are popular. Even in RTS games the race is to get your enemy at a disadvantage like getting at him early before he has resources, technologies and troops often is enough to win you the match.</p><p><br />We (Game Designers) tend to overlook the moral aspect of what we are doing. It is complicated to incorporate things like honor and courage into a game and therefore we simply set them aside with the explanation: who wants to be educated while playing games. </p><p><br />Courage and honor, Stuff that heroes are made of, are mostly ignored in the video game world for a quick design fix. Players like to win and to make them win we make them strong and make them act ruthlessly. </p><p><br />Few games like Sega’s Virtua Cop actually incorporate the justice shot (shooting in the wrist or knee to disable rather than kill) that police forces around the world use in real life. In war games we have to utterly destroy our opponent and that means wiping out entire towns and killing off all his villagers, a far cry from reality we are striving towards where despite Fidayeen attacks American soldiers maintaining peace in Iraq do not open fire on civilians. </p>SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-34010652670813424752009-01-27T20:50:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:06:39.433-08:00Computer Games IndustryIn the modern world the most popular, economical and easily accessible mode of entertainment and recreation is the electronic games medium. The concept of electronic games started with the porting of all time favorite board games into the software medium with the advent and proliferation of the home PC. This was recognized as a major industry after the successes of ‘Atari’, ‘Nintendo’, ‘Sega’ etc. who were manufacturing and selling consoles dedicated solely for the purpose of electronic gaming.<br /><br />Today the games have matured from humble 4-bit mono color simple arcade games to full fledged 128-bit Multimedia experiences boasting of Dolby sound and high-resolution graphics. From simple reflex action games to a full-fledged continuous interaction that immerses the player into a virtual world with complex plots, storylines and realistic scenarios that require 100% involvement to overcome. In fact the situation has changed so much that the PC manufacturing industry is being pushed to come out with newer and faster technologies to keep up with the growing demands for increased processing power of the computer gaming industry.<br /><br />With the growth of LAN and the Internet, the computer gaming has discovered an entire new aspect of its interactivity. From being a person playing against the computer, it has grown to be a major social activity with large numbers of people interacting with each other in multiplayer competitions. Computer gaming is now being considered for a recognized form of sport. Internationally many events are hosted where people from all over the world participate in electronic contests of dexterity and strategy with major prize money at stake.<br /><br />Computer gaming has also been recognized by other entertainment medias. We already have movies being made on the themes of popular games (e.g. Tomb Raider, Super Mario Brothers, Mortal Combat etc.) and massive growth in the publication and subscription of dedicated computer gaming magazines and journals (e.g. Computer Gaming World, PC Gamer, Strategy Gamer etc.)<br /><br />Computer gaming is also being recognized as an effective medium for increasing awareness about computers and their usage amongst children and even adults new to computers. It is an established fact that playing games on computers improves not only the concentration and quick response but also hand-eye coordination and general knowledge.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-92122095389782592592009-01-27T20:37:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:06:39.483-08:00Why Computer Games Industry?Computer/video Gaming is going to be the worlds biggest entertainment industry in the next couple of years. In terms of revenue it overtook Hollywood in the 1980s.<br /><br />It is the only FMCG (Fast moving consumer good) software product and also is fast evolving and ever-changing marketplace.<br /><br />Video Games have been proven to be the most effective way of teaching computers to people and breaking initial fear and hesitation barriers. <br /><br />Video Games are also an effective way of teaching other subjects in places where having a qualified instructors is unavailable.<br /><br />Research has proven that computer games not only increase speed of thought and quick decision-making but also enhance dexterity, hand eye coordination and strategic ability.<br /><br />With people forming regular Online Gaming communities it has become a major social activity and a place for people of all segments, societies, religions and races coming together and interacting on a common platform. <br /><br />RTS games are being encouraged amongst managers in elite schools worldwide as a way of learning multi tasking and opportunity cost based decision-making.<br /><br />It is an inexpensive but engaging way of recreation and relaxation. <br /><br />Computer Gaming is a market that is ever changing with no product occupying the same shelf space for more than three months. <br /><br />New innovations in creativity, technology or style happen with every product.<br /><br />The consumer profile and behavior are interesting and difficult to predict.<br /><br />Highly creative and inspiring content to work with. (E.g. themes of Mythology, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Thrillers<br /><br />Hi-tech industry gives one a chance to work with the latest technology and techniques.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-2638160636367658532009-01-27T20:26:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:08:53.651-08:00Steps in Digital Channel Transmission (Simplified)<strong>Procurement / Production of material</strong><br /><br />This is in the form of Videotapes containing the source material, as it is prepared by outside producers or in-house. This may be serials or advertisements.<br /><br /><strong>Capsuling</strong><br /><br />The process of putting together the source material onto the final broadcast tapes in the sequence that it is to be broadcast. Some other final touches may be applied to the material (like the channel logo) at this stage. The tape is then ready for transmission. <br /><br /><strong>Digitizing, Compression, Multiplexing</strong><br /><br />The tapes are played back into the Analog to digital converters. This process obtains digital signals that can be compressed using MPEG algorithms and then multiplexed with each other. Multiplexing is a way of mixing two or more signals in a way so that the original signals can be completely recovered.<br /><br /><strong>Transmitting</strong><br /><br />The multiplexed signal is then fed into the uplink equipment and is transmitted to the satellite. The satellite receives the signal and returns it exactly as is. <br />Reception<br /><br />The returned signal is received using dishes and is fed into the specially built multi-channel reception equipment that can re-convert the digital signal into a viewable analog signal in the following manner:<br /><br /><strong>Demultiplexing / Digital to Analog conversion</strong><br /><br />At the first stage the signal is demultiplexed, i.e. separated into its various constituent channels. These are then converted from their digital to their analog form so that they can be seen on ordinary TV Sets. <br /><br /><em>Note: Though the concept of tapeless broadcast is attractive the equipment still remains expensive and out of reach for many broadcast companies. </em>SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-81655150673705540892009-01-27T20:18:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:08:53.660-08:00Digital TelevisionDigital Television is a technology that resulted from research in 1980s and had developed high definition television pictures. While Digital Television offers improved images and CD quality sound, its main attraction in media market is its ability to compress multiple separate channels into same space used to transmit a single analog channel. As a result the cost of broadcasting is significantly lower. <br /><br />In contrast to analog television signal systems that are continuously varying voltage to represent the picture, a digital picture is composed of thousands of pixels (picture elements). The digital signal relays numerical information about the location and timing of each pixel as well as its brightness or luminance and its color or chrominance.<br /><br />Digital transmissions have two key advantages. If properly implemented, they can result in less noise - a digital receiver must simply determine whether or not a bit is present as opposed to the need to interpret small, continuously varying voltage differences as required in analog systems. As a result, satellite link using compression and a digital decoder / receiver can be relayed at almost 4 dB below the power level of an analog signal to achieve a similar or a better quality picture! In addition, digital signals are more amenable than analog to the use of very secure and reasonably priced encryption methods.<br /><br />Compression methods are used to reduce the data rate in a digital video signal to a fraction of its original value by removing redundancy. Digitally compressed video offers many advantages including nearly error-and ghost free transmission and a dramatic increase in the video capacity of an existing satellite communication channels. <br /><br />Since it takes a large amount of information or a large bandwidth to just send a television signal, one of the most useful manipulations of the signal is to use a lower data rate “repeat” message to transmit only those portions of the picture that are repeated or redundant and are thus predictable. This is in essence how compression reduces the data required for television images.<br /><br />Spatial, Temporal or statistical redundancy can occur in repeated parts of a picture and lie within a single frame - a spatial redundancy where, for example, the entire background consists of identical pixels. Temporal redundancy also can occur where the same background is repeated frame after frame. Statistical redundancy refers to those regularly occurring components of the TV signal such as line and frame sync signals. If this redundancy is eliminated then much less information must be transmitted to recreate the television picture at the receiver. <br /><br />The excess information capacity created in this process can be used to either lower the amount of power required to send the signal, to use less bandwidth to send the signal, to send more television programs or other information within the same bandwidth.<br /><br />Whereas the picture quality of an analog TV/FM system directly depends on the carrier-to-noise ratio in reception, the picture quality of a digital encoded TV signal is a function of <br /><br />•The data rate and the compression algorithm, which determine the intrinsic quality of the service<br /><br />•The nature of the picture (critical or not)<br /><br />•The quality of the transmission (C/N in reception), which determines the availability threshold of the service (related to the necessary downlink power from the satellite). <br /><br />Since the intrinsic quality of a digital TV system is only set by the data rate and the compression algorithm, the transmission path is fully transparent when dimensioned correctly. On the other hand, the lower the data rate, the narrower the bandwidth. It is possible to choose the best trade-off between the picture quality, directly related to the necessary power for satellite transmission, and the occupied bandwidth. <br /><br />When compressed digital TV signals are associated with digital modulation having a limited number of state, such as QPSK with an inner code (convolutional coding / Viterbi decoding) and with an outer code RS (Reed-Solomon), the performance under a clear sky condition, both in terms of necessary power and occupied bandwidth, exceeds that of analog systems having an equivalent picture quality. This quality remains unchanged until the service is interrupted, at some C/N threshold level. <br /><br />There are many ways to compress video images. To retain compatibility between future digital consumer electronic devices and electronic transmission industries, including cable television, the need arose for a single, worldwide video compression standard. In 1988, The Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) was formed as a subcommittee of the joint International Standards Organization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to establish this standard. Activities of the MPEG group have been concentrated into two areas: MPEG1 and MPEG2. <br /><br />The second phase of MPEG, called MPEG-2, deals with high-quality coding of possibly interlaced video, of either standard or High Definition Television (HDTV), primarily in the 4 to 15 Mbit/s range. However, it can function at rates up to 100 Mbit/s. A wide range of applications, bit rates, resolutions, signal qualities and services are addressed, including all forms of digital storage media, television (including HDTV), broadcasting and communications. Enhancements introduced in MPEG-2 codecs provide: <br /><br />•New field and frame prediction modes for interlace scanning<br /><br />•Improved quantization<br /><br />•New intra-frame variable length codes (VLC)<br /><br />•Scaled extension of resolutions for compatibility, hierarchical service and robustness, and<br /><br />•A new two-layer system for multiplexing and transport that provides high and low priority video packet/cells.<br /><br />Digital technology for Video Broadcast has been proven over the years. One of the most common systems for compression used today is the MPEG system. This system allows a compression of around two/three to one compression. MPEG 2 allows a compression of ten to one, which permits ten channels of video to fit into a bandwidth earlier occupied by only one analog video. <br /><br />MPEG4 is upto the time of this writing primarily used for Internet Boardcasts while MPEG3 or MP3 as it is more commpnly known as has become the defacto standard for digital music compression.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-28725550182334641602009-01-24T21:46:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:06:39.423-08:00Challenges developing serious and education gamesMost commercial games inherently have the ability to propel the user through extremely steep learning curves allowing them to go from the ‘get your feet wet’ stage to the ‘make crucial strategic decisions’ stage in unbelievably short periods of time in a manner that conceals from the player the fact that they are learning anything new. <br /><br />This and other facets of Games (such as enabling of concealed and vicarious learning and user data mining etc.) as a medium are irresistible to the education & training markets. Thus “Serious games” or “games for learning” are fast becoming popular. <br /><br />However to the surprise and somewhat dismay of the educational fraternity they discovered that players do not automatically start learning simply because game technology has been utilized in making the material. <br /><br />The skill and experience of the developers and a deep understanding of game design with appropriate metaphors for the content are all crucial for making games that are effective at teaching and in fact even otherwise entertaining.<br /><br />Even for experienced game developers finding the elusive virtues that give a game its engagement is a hard and often insurmountable challenge even for projects pursuing purely fantastic topics. In games for education this becomes even harder as simultaneously appropriate pedagogues and learning outcomes also have to be adhered to.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-33632271188755564082009-01-24T21:36:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:07:26.216-08:00Electronic Games MediaAs an entertainment medium the Video Games industry is one of the fastest growing and most competitive industries rivaling both the music and movie industries in market share. The fierce competition in this growing market is driving near constant evolution and innovation of new technologies and methodologies. As a result these technologies and methodologies are becoming increasingly more pervasive and persuasive. <br /><br />With the increasing maturity of the Industry the impetus towards consequential and socially responsible games is gaining momentum. Games technology is now competing with high-end simulation technology in its very strongholds such as petrochemical exploration, NASA and Military Simulations. Game Based training is seriously challenging e-learning, WBT & CBT in the fields of education and training. <br /><br />Today there are successful and highly acclaimed serious games in Healthcare, Military, Education, Corporate, Simulation, Aeronautics, Petrochemicals, Social & Environmental activism, Leadership and Governance.<br /><br />Games as an advertising medium are giving wider circulation and more sticky eyeballs than traditional media such as print and television. In the areas of human rights and environmentalism Games are sending a more emphatic message for social awareness and change.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-36019493241600822402009-01-24T20:39:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:08:13.478-08:00Artists and Demo reelsThe hidden trap of developing a demo-reel rather than a portfolio is that a demo reel like any other video piece depends heavily on non visual art related things such as editing, pacing, direction, story boarding, special effects and music. <br /><br />Due to this its often hard to figure out the true talent of the candidate whether it lies in visual art or video editing and production, and that’s assuming the demo-reel is good and interesting. <br /><br />If the reel happens to be made badly then even though the art may be good it’s very difficult to recognize it for a specially for a reviewer who has to go through at least a few dozen (often similar looking) demos.SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-28245343003538933302009-01-24T20:36:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:08:13.471-08:00Online job application basicsThese are a couple of general courtesies I ask my students to observe when they apply to any company;<br /><br />1) Make sure that your application has a especially tailored covering letter for every company you apply to. It is a cardinal sin to send the same application to a bunch of companies via the same email (make the effort to edit portions to suit each company you apply to individually)<br /><br />2) Most people who apply to the Media industry have a passion for Media. This fact alone is simply not enough, you must list work you admire and have tried to emulate. If you can please list maps, models or art that you have contributed to fan and open source projects (this can be a huge bonus). <br /><br />3) Make sure that you have online links to all you portfolio work rather than simply sending zip folders so as to spare the people who receive it the hassle of downloading huge email packets. <br /><br />4) Make sure that you resume is concise yet detailed with emphasis on work that you have done rather than a list of software you know.<br /><br />5) Do not use graphics backgrounds on your resume that make the size of the document bigger and can get smudged or disfigured when printed on economy mode (default mode for printers in most offices)<br /><br />6) Make sure that you resume lists important details such as contact number and things such as passport availability etc. <br /><br />7) Make sure that you use proper and polite language since not everyone knows and/or understands sms speak.<br /><br />8) Do not include frivolous information such as hobbies unless they happen to be related to the job you are applying for.<br /><br />9) Do not waste column space by listing scores for individual subjects or subjects that you took in your secondary schoolSIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446007578223412868.post-11504466354020969182009-01-24T20:32:00.000-08:002011-11-21T00:08:13.464-08:00An Artist's PortfolioThe real focus at the time of the hiring of an artist is on their portfolio. Though a good show reel done well does earn you extra points its only essential if you are applying as a rigger or animator. For other art positions such as concept artist, texture artist, modeler, lighting artist or post-production artist without an impressive portfolio of still images chances of passing an interview are incredibly slim. <br /><br />When hiring an artist most companies are not interested in how well you know the software (again unless you are applying for a specialist job such as Max Scripter, Photoshop touch-up artist etc). What we are looking for is both the quantity and quality of art produced by the candidate. <br /><br />A good art candidate has at least a dozen or so impressive almost complete images and models and a few dozen well started and developed work-in-progress type of ideas. Exceptional candidates have several folder full of art and often carry in several drawing pads of sketches. <br /><br />You will be surprised at how much things such as versatility of art styles, good perspective sense, ability to adhere to art genres, good sense of proportion (specifically human proportion), color aesthetic and other such basic art skills matter during the selection process.<br /><br />Most companies mine included are only looking for solid experience if we look at a CV for an artist (degrees or diplomas or the lack of thereof hardly matters).SIDONLIFEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12821815863676701018noreply@blogger.com0