USC IMD:

A Venezuelan gamer speaks out about the country's criminalization of violent video games

This is an amazing article written by a man in Venezuela about Chavez's insane anti-video game laws. This guy risked his freedom to write the article- not only is possession of a violent video game now a crime, but the very act of questioning the law is also a criminal act. Venezuela is basically attempting to heap the blame for the country's insanely high crime, murder, and kidnapping rates squarely on video games and the people who play them. I wish more Venezuelans would write like this. This guy, Guido Núñez-Mujica, deserves a medal.

Laxdaela

Here's Laxdaela, a spatial narrative project I did for Andreas Kratky's "Experiments in Interactivity" class. I'm really pleased that I was able to get the art done myself, and I think the title system has the seeds of an interesting game hidden in it.

Just wanted to get this posted before I forgot about it, since this blog's been silent for so long. I'm working on that!

CTCS-505 Powerpoint Presentation on Time

Download file

Backchannel record for: IMD Forum for 11/4/09: Mark Bolas

‹dread› IMD Forum for 11/4/09: Mark Bolas
‹dread› http://interactive.usc.edu/members/abalsamo/archives/2009/11/imd_forum_for_11409_mark_bolas.html
‹KylaG› Was last week's backchannel discussion archived somewhere? It was really good...
‹defenestrator› on the internets
‹JoeOsborn› There's a chiptune show and chiptune-making workshop this Saturday! http://databeez.tumblr.com/post/229695047
‹JoeOsborn› that's my little announcement
‹defenestrator› historically, there are other ways of dealing with city councils
‹JoeOsborn› Here are some recent MxR projects (as of this summer): http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/?page_id=28
‹Jade› That's a catchy name.
‹Jade› What if I print my resume on people?
‹defenestrator› that works 5 percent of the time
‹defenestrator› http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Barack_Obama
‹Jade› When our powers combine...
‹Jade› I am Captain Planet!
‹defenestrator› how do they test the effectiveness of these training methods?
‹defenestrator› you would need to send in a control group of soldiers who did not recieve the training
‹dread› 542
‹MAnnetta› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_gambling_task
‹tootsie› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Colossus
‹defenestrator› how do nuggets relate to shiny things?
‹JoeOsborn› Nuggets can suggest the presence of shiny things, or in other words: a pile of nuggets seems to shine?
‹KylaG› Why the SotC reference?
‹Teddy› Gold nuggets shine.
‹tootsie› you can say the controler vibrates, but it doesn't capture the feeling of climbing on a colossus
‹defenestrator› how would anyone know the feeling of climbing on a colossus?
‹KylaG› Very true.
‹KylaG› And you really do feel like you're climbing one as you do it.
‹KylaG› Very immersive on all three levels.
‹MAnnetta› The Sixth Sense project for those interested:
‹MAnnetta› http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/#ABOUT
‹dread› Croquet Project develped by David Smith
‹dread› http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet_Project
‹JoeOsborn› http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/ again!
‹dread› END
‹dread› http://mashable.com/2009/11/03/hotseat/#disqus_thread

Phono Air Attacker 2D

So... this is what i come up with in a week for the 534 class...

The plane in the game is constantly pulling down by the gravity and your job is to pull it up by making sound to the microphone. The higher the sound intensity the higher the plane goes. However, you must be careful not to hit anything within the game. The six sided spinning polygons are your enemies, you must peak the sound input in order for the plane to produce a bullet which will kill them off. Orange polygon will move while blue are stationary. IF THE PLANE IS PRODUCING A BULLET EVERY TIME YOU MAKE A SOUND, PLEASE LOWER THE MICROPHONE SENSITIVITY FOR PROPER GAME PLAY.

BTW... if you found this game too difficult... press space bar to cheat... :P

Enjoy~ (hopefully) :)

======= CLICK HERE FOR THE GAME =======

SpaceWolves (even space isn't safe... from wolves)

SpaceWolves is a board game developed by myself, Samantha Vick, and Mike Sennott, as part of our "Up the River" variation assignment for Tracy Fullerton's class. For anyone who might be curious or want to play it, we've decided to post up the rules and the panels so you can download it and make it yourself!

Here's what you need to do:

my first flash game ever... THE FISHY GAME (2006)

The FISHY GAME is a project that explores the computer mouse in a different dimension as an interface. It purposely avoids the gesture of "pointing and clicking" and the whole game is controlled by quickly shaking the mouse left and right.

To begin this game, shake the mouse left and right until the ‘S’ comes down in position with the “ake”, namely “Shake”. The goal of this game is to control the little yellow fish escaping from the big gray fish. Quickly shake the mouse left and right to boost the swimming speed of the small fish. As soon as the small fish swims outside the viewable area, you win. Otherwise, the big fish will take over after 2-3 minutes. If the big fish gets near the small fish and opens his mouth, the user has to shake much faster for it to escape.

*Note that it is possible to win this game, it just take some pratice

======CLICK HERE FOR THE GAME =======

Dynamic Pong (Jan 2007)

Dynamic Pong is a simple flash game which draws on similar logic as the game “Ink-Pen” in Window Vista. The game allows the user to change the rolling ball’s directions by ‘drawing’ dynamic barricades, meaning that the ball would bounce against the line drew by the player. Dynamic Pong essentially borrowed this idea to redesign the classic Pong game.

In the game, the user will first choose between a ‘free mode’ and a ‘game mode’, the ‘free mode’ is just a practicing playground for players to enjoy controlling a ball using self-drew lines. In the ‘game mode’, things get a little bit more interesting. The player must be able to keep the ball within the screen by blocking it with lines. However, only one continuous line can be drawn at a time and that it will self disappear within 3 seconds so that it is impossible to trap a ball by drawing a line around it. One new ball will be generated every 20 seconds to increase the difficulty of the game. The top and bottom borders would also move to left and right every 30 seconds.

BIGGER ~~~~~~~

Hey! Hey, you guys!

Hey, I know this girl! I worked on this game! I'm famous by association!
Congrats Kyla!

Jordan Weisman at UCLA tomorrow 6:00PM

UCLA Design|Media Arts' Mobile Media Lecture Series continues tomorrow at 6:00PM with expanded storyteller and ARG designer Jordan Weisman. From the UCLA website: "Jordan has been the creative force behind a number of entertainment companies, including his newest venture, Smith & Tinker (connected toys), FASA Corporation (roleplaying games), Virtual World Entertainment (networked virtual reality entertainment) acquired by the Disney Family, FASA Interactive (PC games, including the MechWarrior franchise) acquired by Microsoft, WizKids (collectible games) acquired by Topps Inc., and 42 Entertainment (alternate reality gaming). During his career, Jordan has created some of the largest and longest-lasting franchises in the gaming industry, including BattleTech/MechWarrior, Shadowrun and Crimson Skies."