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.

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:

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."

IMD Forum for 11/4/09: Mark Bolas

Speaker: Mark Bolas, Associate Professor, Interactive Media Division, SCA

Time: Wednesday, November 4, 6-8 pm
Location: USC's Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts (RZC)
Room 201 Zemeckis Media Lab (ZML)

Please join us at the IMD seminar this week for a presentation by IMD Professor Mark Bolas. He also serves as the director of Graphics Lab at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT). Professor Bolas' research explores perception, agency, and intelligence; he creates virtual environments that are designed to engage one’s perception and cognition to create a visceral memory of the experience. His work has been exhibited in many venues including six Emerging Technology exhibits at Siggraph. In 1988, Bolas co-founded Fakespace Inc. with Ian McDowall and Eric Lorimer to build instrumentation for research labs to explore virtual reality.

594 - Hands On Wednesday

This Wednesday, from 1pm to 5pm, the 594 class is open for 'walk-arounds' by the IMD community. Students will have their projects running, and would love to have you come and try their projects and give feedback. This is a chance to go a little deeper than is possible in standard presentations. Come one, Come all! Location is the Flower Street Colab.

Watercooler

I don't think this requires any explanation...

Chaging World Views from a Balloon

The challenge is to be the first to submit the locations of ten moored, 8 foot, red weather balloons located at ten fixed locations in the continental United States. Balloons will be in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roadways.

534 Assignment 3 - Navigable Space: Pastorale

For our third assignment in CTIN 534 (Experiments in Interactivity) we were tasked with creating a navigable space which should "convey a sense of space based on the collaboration of the author with the viewer: the author formulates a space within which the viewer can decide by himself or herself in which direction to proceed, where to look and how to read the space in such a way that the exploration follows a dramaturgical development." I've created a pastoral scene for viewers to explore, which is timed well with this weekend's activities.

Click here to explore Pastorale in full screen and with sound!