Just a quick look and tribute to the Sims franchise. More power to the Sims franchise and hope it goes a long way!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Mike Wang returns to 2K Sports
Articles can be found here:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6249192.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=hot-stories&tag=hot-stories%3Bstory%3B1
http://www.operationsports.com/feature.php?id=1006
The moment I read the title of this GameSpot article, I saw images of the NBA Live franchise fading as one of my favorite video games. Clearly, if there is a definition of being a loyal gamer to NBA Live, I think I belong to that category. But this has to be one of the most disappointing moves by EA Sports.
Just when they were on the verge of righting its ship and redeeming the legend that NBA Live once was, they let Mike Wang slip away. And the reason for his leaving? OperationSports has got it covered. 'Nuff said:
"Mike: After NBA Live 10 wrapped up and we started going through the pre-production planning phase for '11, we held several meetings to discuss the future of the franchise. After going through those meetings, it became very clear that the vision I had for the game was different from where the leadership wanted to take it. I parted ways with EA shortly after and came back on-board with the NBA 2K team last November."
Definitely, the EA Sports management does not care about bringing quality back to its basketball video game franchise. Mike Wang was the lead game designer of NBA Live 10 and obviously it has gotten really good reviews and there is now a bright future for the franchise. Sure NBA Live 11 will still have Beluba's (Mike Wang) influence in the game but with his departure, what will NBA Live 12 look like? Obviously, in the last decade while being a loyal fan of NBA Live, the game has progressed very slowly. It came to a point where it needed pirating of the competitor's lead designer to radically influence the entire staff to overhaul NBA Live as it is.
This has to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Probaby NBA Live 11 will still look good but Beluba's departure and his reasons of leaving will make me shift to NBA 2K. Even my fellow OperationSports forum posters were definitely upset about it.
So what do we expect of NBA Live on the future? Unless Mike Wang's departure didn't make a slap on the face of reality in their quality of video games and make an effort to completely turn around their games, they will continue to have just gimmicks and shallow gameplay on their video games.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6249192.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=hot-stories&tag=hot-stories%3Bstory%3B1
http://www.operationsports.com/feature.php?id=1006
The moment I read the title of this GameSpot article, I saw images of the NBA Live franchise fading as one of my favorite video games. Clearly, if there is a definition of being a loyal gamer to NBA Live, I think I belong to that category. But this has to be one of the most disappointing moves by EA Sports.
Just when they were on the verge of righting its ship and redeeming the legend that NBA Live once was, they let Mike Wang slip away. And the reason for his leaving? OperationSports has got it covered. 'Nuff said:
"Mike: After NBA Live 10 wrapped up and we started going through the pre-production planning phase for '11, we held several meetings to discuss the future of the franchise. After going through those meetings, it became very clear that the vision I had for the game was different from where the leadership wanted to take it. I parted ways with EA shortly after and came back on-board with the NBA 2K team last November."
Definitely, the EA Sports management does not care about bringing quality back to its basketball video game franchise. Mike Wang was the lead game designer of NBA Live 10 and obviously it has gotten really good reviews and there is now a bright future for the franchise. Sure NBA Live 11 will still have Beluba's (Mike Wang) influence in the game but with his departure, what will NBA Live 12 look like? Obviously, in the last decade while being a loyal fan of NBA Live, the game has progressed very slowly. It came to a point where it needed pirating of the competitor's lead designer to radically influence the entire staff to overhaul NBA Live as it is.
This has to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Probaby NBA Live 11 will still look good but Beluba's departure and his reasons of leaving will make me shift to NBA 2K. Even my fellow OperationSports forum posters were definitely upset about it.
So what do we expect of NBA Live on the future? Unless Mike Wang's departure didn't make a slap on the face of reality in their quality of video games and make an effort to completely turn around their games, they will continue to have just gimmicks and shallow gameplay on their video games.
Microsoft VIP Blogger's Night
January 28, 2010 - 16/F 6750 Microsoft Office and Exchange Room - This was the first time I have attended a Microsoft event so I was excited about this one. I really didn't know what to expect in these types of events that Microsoft offers monthly. Luckily, I didn't feel like a first-timer after the dinner. Bloggers were invited as their audience and the speakers told us that this was also a first to them - bringing an audience of consumers instead of MIcrosoft technology developers attending. It was the other way around as I thought many of the bloggers knew each other before the event because they've been attending blogging events together as a fellow blogger thought of the fellow blogger attendees as "regulars". And I thought they were also developers as well who were "regulars" to Microsoft talks.
Judging from the audience, it was quite obvious that the product of showcase by Microsoft would be its latest Microsot Office release - the Office 2010 which is only in beta. Some of the features that very well interested me about their product was MS Powerpoint's ability to do on the fly photo editing ala Adobe Photoshop and video editing ala Adobe Premiere/ Windows Movie Maker. Incorporating the basics of these two make Powerpoint even more powerful with its multimedia capability. One thing which interests me most about the video feature is its ability to be embedded on the fly on the slides and actually play them without opening Windows Media Player. The only thing bothering me is why do you want to edit the video on the fly in Powerpoint when there's the built-in quite handy Windows Media Player?
Other products such as Office Web Apps and Windows Live Essentials were also promoted. Now, these products I think will definitely help the bloggers as well. You don't need to have Microsoft Office installed in your PC. You are actually editing the Office documents on the fly on your browser. What's even more good about it is the ability to share content and work on the same file simultaneously. As you all know, this feature is also similar to Google Docs and Google Pack but hey who doesn't use Microsoft Office and who doesn't want Office to go online?
Bloggers attending also received a Microsoft Office 2010 Beta installer with an Internet Explorer cap. Well, I guess that's about it. I'll definitely be looking forward to attending more Microsoft seminars. To wrap it up, I guess Microsoft has been aligning its products into what the trend is all about - going online and making the browser one of the most powerful software ever developed.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Windows Azure CTP extended through April 2010
Great news for developers hoping to spend more time in tinkering with the Windows Azure SDK - the CTP is extended until April 2010 if you're from these locations.
I'll be posting some tutorials on how to develop in Azure especially with its storage services such as blob, table and queue. For the meantime, this is a great opportunity to delve in to the world of cloud computing the Microsoft way as other cloud computing services such as Amazon Web Services and SalesForce.com are already on commercial release.
I'll be posting some tutorials on how to develop in Azure especially with its storage services such as blob, table and queue. For the meantime, this is a great opportunity to delve in to the world of cloud computing the Microsoft way as other cloud computing services such as Amazon Web Services and SalesForce.com are already on commercial release.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Windows Azure Pay-Per-Use to Start this February 2010
As of this writing, we only have exactly 15 days to play around with Windows Azure. Beginning February this year, Windows Azure will finally go commercial. You can read the entire article here for the pricing details.
Windows Azure is Microsoft's implementation of cloud computing. One of its notable features is its storage services which are of prime importance with regards to the cloud computing business. If you have time, you can download the Windows Azure SDK and tinker around with it which is one of its great advantage - running a local development fabric on your computer to simulate what is going to happen in the cloud.
If you have Visual Studio 2008 and an OS of Windows Vista, Server 2008 or Windows 7, you can give it a try. It's worth it. It has tutorials on how to create cloud-based applications which practically is very similar to creating web-based applications. Also worth noting would be its interoperability with PHP. It has PHP-support thru FastCGI so you can deploy a site created out of PHP into the cloud.
Windows Azure is Microsoft's implementation of cloud computing. One of its notable features is its storage services which are of prime importance with regards to the cloud computing business. If you have time, you can download the Windows Azure SDK and tinker around with it which is one of its great advantage - running a local development fabric on your computer to simulate what is going to happen in the cloud.
If you have Visual Studio 2008 and an OS of Windows Vista, Server 2008 or Windows 7, you can give it a try. It's worth it. It has tutorials on how to create cloud-based applications which practically is very similar to creating web-based applications. Also worth noting would be its interoperability with PHP. It has PHP-support thru FastCGI so you can deploy a site created out of PHP into the cloud.
Next-Gen Nintendo DS to feature Motion Sensing
According to the report, as translated by GameSpot, Iwata told the paper that the DS successor could be expected to feature a "high level of visual quality," as well as sensors to read a player's movements.
You can read the entire article here.
This is great news for the handheld gaming industry and handheld gamers as well. It is also important to note that the "high level of visual quality" is a huge step forward for Nintendo since they are the last to boost their graphical performance against Sony and Microsoft. Also, this could probably be something brought about by Microsoft's release of Zune HD which was Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPod Touch. In the meantime, iTouch and iPhone are pretty much attracting game developers with their motion sensing. Nintendo's next-gen handheld console with the new motion sensing will probably be the start of serious game development featuring games with motion sensing capabilities in the handheld industry.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Next-Gen Console Ideas
While Nintendo has been rumored to be working on an HD version of the Wii and Sony and Microsoft has been looking forward to adding accessories to their current generation consoles, I'm wondering, like you guys, what will we be expecting in the next-generation consoles?
Nintendo's Wii is a sure hall of famer to the short-listed best consoles ever produced. With its unique motion-sensing feature, many non-gamers jumped into console gaming. However, as a sign of aging and due to lack of future technological advances, third party developers tend to sway away from the idea that it is a console for hardcore gamers. Meanwhile, if you're a casual gamer, do you turn into Microsoft XBox 360 or Sony Playstation 3 for gaming? Graphics-wise, you'll probably jump into buying one of these consoles but fun factor? An obvious answer would be "No". That is why both these companies are now targeting the casual audience and creating accessories for them.
Now I'd like to give some ideas on how next-generation consoles are made up of?
Hardware
Storage-wise, I'd say go embrace the Blu-Ray technology. Content-heavy games are always in demand for most gamers. So 25GB of pure gaming content is a necessity for the console. Graphics-wise, I'd say go for the average - way above Wii's hardware, definitely at par with PS3's graphics. Even until now, only very few games were able to maximize PS3's graphics hardware. Controller-wise, now this is something to be treated with utmost confidentiality. Wiimote must have been kept secret for the longest time for us gamers and the gaming media. Chances are, the success of the console may be heavily dependent on the controller and its capabilities. But since Wii did it with necessity, so must the next-gen console be - motion-sensing and vibration. Many of you wouldn't agree to some of the add-ons I would like to have but anyway here are some of it:
Indicators - Since all controllers now are wireless, I think it wouldn't hurt if they have some indicators when then battery is running low or providing some information about the game their playing.
Creative buttons - How many games actually use the "Select" button extensively these days? Only a few right? What if we replace some of the buttons we have been used to seeing with sensible ones.
Multi-touch screen - I think its usage would still be a concern but who knows it's just a suggestion.
Games
There are a lot of genres for games nowadays but the gamers I think are still divided into three: social apps, casual and hardcore gamers. Social apps gamers are those who just plug in their pc, log on to Facebook or any site and play social apps. Imagine if the console you're creating is a social app-friendly and has heavy tie-ups on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Top social apps developers Zynga and Playfish may be involved in the discussion as well. Homebrew games should also be encouraged as well.
Don't you think it's time to boost up campaign for creation of new franchise games for casual and hardcore gamers? I know it is hard to conceptualize games per se and build on it as a franchise but hey third party developers such as Square Enix, EA and Rockstar North. Even Nintendo has to really come up with a new set of franchise games. Mario and Zelda need major revamps, God of War and Halo must be extended more to the casual audience.
Finally, gamers are the most important part of the console business. Interaction through communities is a necessity for its continued success. Continued invention and innovation is the key towards driving that success further.
Nintendo's Wii is a sure hall of famer to the short-listed best consoles ever produced. With its unique motion-sensing feature, many non-gamers jumped into console gaming. However, as a sign of aging and due to lack of future technological advances, third party developers tend to sway away from the idea that it is a console for hardcore gamers. Meanwhile, if you're a casual gamer, do you turn into Microsoft XBox 360 or Sony Playstation 3 for gaming? Graphics-wise, you'll probably jump into buying one of these consoles but fun factor? An obvious answer would be "No". That is why both these companies are now targeting the casual audience and creating accessories for them.
Now I'd like to give some ideas on how next-generation consoles are made up of?
Hardware
Storage-wise, I'd say go embrace the Blu-Ray technology. Content-heavy games are always in demand for most gamers. So 25GB of pure gaming content is a necessity for the console. Graphics-wise, I'd say go for the average - way above Wii's hardware, definitely at par with PS3's graphics. Even until now, only very few games were able to maximize PS3's graphics hardware. Controller-wise, now this is something to be treated with utmost confidentiality. Wiimote must have been kept secret for the longest time for us gamers and the gaming media. Chances are, the success of the console may be heavily dependent on the controller and its capabilities. But since Wii did it with necessity, so must the next-gen console be - motion-sensing and vibration. Many of you wouldn't agree to some of the add-ons I would like to have but anyway here are some of it:
Indicators - Since all controllers now are wireless, I think it wouldn't hurt if they have some indicators when then battery is running low or providing some information about the game their playing.
Creative buttons - How many games actually use the "Select" button extensively these days? Only a few right? What if we replace some of the buttons we have been used to seeing with sensible ones.
Multi-touch screen - I think its usage would still be a concern but who knows it's just a suggestion.
Games
There are a lot of genres for games nowadays but the gamers I think are still divided into three: social apps, casual and hardcore gamers. Social apps gamers are those who just plug in their pc, log on to Facebook or any site and play social apps. Imagine if the console you're creating is a social app-friendly and has heavy tie-ups on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Top social apps developers Zynga and Playfish may be involved in the discussion as well. Homebrew games should also be encouraged as well.
Don't you think it's time to boost up campaign for creation of new franchise games for casual and hardcore gamers? I know it is hard to conceptualize games per se and build on it as a franchise but hey third party developers such as Square Enix, EA and Rockstar North. Even Nintendo has to really come up with a new set of franchise games. Mario and Zelda need major revamps, God of War and Halo must be extended more to the casual audience.
Finally, gamers are the most important part of the console business. Interaction through communities is a necessity for its continued success. Continued invention and innovation is the key towards driving that success further.
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