Rejected Wii Game Concepts

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Tick Tock...Tick Tock...

I haven't had time to do as many posts as I've wanted to. You really have to be in the right frame of mind and mood to write stuff people will respond to. Also busy constructing the final project. I'm leaning towards a music video. Details coming soon Marie, I promise. Anyways enough ranting. Got a link from Marie and I think every blogger should support this cause.

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HyperFiction

The Electronic Literature Directory is not the most helpful search engine in terms of finding good literature. For one thing, I had to click through a lot of dead links. And their "subject" search isn't well thought out. It's not like YouTube where there's categories like top rated, most viewed, etc to help guide you. But the ELC paints a better picture...it actually uses one.



So, I gave up and googled. What I found in most of these sites was typos, misspellings, and just plain stupid, dumb, web formatting. And we're talkin like 1995 style HTML formatting.

Namely, the lime green or turqoise blue backgrounds with the "Zapotec" style checkered wallpaper. No way you can read a story with that kind of design.

But then again, most writers dont have the time or the training to design fancy web pages. Writers just wanna write and what's wrong with that? Anyways, some of the writing out there is good or at least, decent enough to make one turn the pa... errr...click on.

So, here's my picks:

Sandstorm

I don't want to give too much away, but the story takes place in a kind of post-apocalyptic world where life and death hang in the balance. Think Mad Max but with a sandstorm and a devastated New York City. We're given a kind of reluctant-hero type character and a love interest. Perfect set up for a fictionalized drama.



The first paragraph lures you in, but sadly, the story isn't finished. But the author is willing to play ball with you so long as you stay within his defined world. Sandstorm didn't have any kind of "choices" option for the reader to take, which is unfortunate since the subject is perfect for it. Some editing here and there to help reduce extraneous words would have been nice, but overall its a whirlwind of a read.

Deviant

Wow, this was a strange one. I won't even attempt to try and psychoanalyze this. It's like an interactive painting. Apparently, the story is about the Possession of Christian Shaw. It's an animated interactive graphic based on the historical story of Christian Shaw and her demonic possession.

*Cue Ominous music*

Set in 1696 amongst the witch trials, this project explores new ways of experiencing a story — harnessing the allure of mystery and uneasy tensions and plucking the participant's sense of social responsibility.



The landscape of Deviant is presented in a visual and almost entirely non-textual way, although the piece has a textual basis and its narrative and defamiliarizing aspects can easily be seen. The piece's effect arises from how it cuts off possibilities, putting the reader at the mercy of her exploration history. An interface offers tiny "active" portals, which may or may not carry the story forward; a world changes scale, and unnerving events take some effort to figure out.

Phew, my head hurts. You'll need to have the flash plug-in installed to view this one, and oh yeah, sound, so pull out those headphones or switch on your speakers.


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My premise for a hyperfiction novel would probably be set in a small metropolis rife with crime and corruption by a mysterious militia. The protagonist(s) would find themselves waking in a building, alley, ditch, sex shop, whatever, and finding a way out of the city. Eventually the characters meet and form a coalition to fight their way through seemingly impossible situations: roving gangs, falling debris, disease, hunger, etc. Of course, I'd try and make it all interactive, leaving readers the ability to "choose their adventure." And for some added silliness, I'll throw in some love story/triangle/trapezoid twist for added drama. Oh and a seeing- eye dog that poops bejeweled treasure.

Here's a mental image for you. Click to view a sample intro.

MMORPG - Battlefield 2

(Wiki) Battlefield 2 (BF2) is one of THE most massively played games online today. In a way, it's very much like an MMORPG because the entire premise of the game is based on teamwork. If you don't work together, you and your team can lose the battle in a matter of minutes. This is what sets BF2 apart from most MMORPG (Wiki) First-Person shooter (FPS) games in that it combines several genres/devices together (tactics, real-time strategies, FPS, RPG) into one game.

(Movie Trailer-Like Riffs)

You also have communication abilities - either text type or through a microphone inserted in your sound card. You can talk with other players and work together throughout the game.

The world of BF2 is a bit complex to explain to people who normally don't play games such as this. You're also not limited to one character, you can be a: Medic, Engineer, Special Forces, Sniper, Assault, Supplyman, etc. The more you play, the more you can build your soldier and give him new weapons. You're also "ranked" and other players can see how high your score and position is.

One of the overall goals of the game is to either hold all the spawn/territory points or defeat the opposing team's army. When I play, I usually play a Medic and help out my squad. So, goals/objectives/responsibilities in the game vary from soldier to soldier. There are many maps/worlds to choose from.



At your disposal is an array of weapons and vehicles (jets, helicoptors, tanks, boats, etc) you can use to lead your team into battle. You can also choose to be a field commander and order artillery strikes, monitor troop movement with radar, supply troops with air drops, vehicle drops, talk with squad leaders, and give out various orders and tactics. The opposing team can also work together to raid your Command Post and destroy your radar systems and artillery.

In other words, you're not just an Army of One, but an Army of Many...players. It's one of the most current and realistic games massively played today. But don't take my word for it.



View the videos below and see first-hand what the game is like and how popular it is among online players.

(Players having fun)

(Pop Culture Reference)

There's also tips on how to be a better BF2 player. Like how to be a Good Medic.Click Here

I've been playing BF2 off and on and it's one of the better FPS games out there. What I like most about it is that there's no subscription fee to play online and the game is constantly upgraded and monitored to ensure cheaters and hacks don't ruin the game experience for all.




The Ranking System Click Here

There's literally thousands perhaps millions of people playing since its launch in 2005. Not to mention the thousands of websites dedicated to it.




www.totalbf2.com

It just so happens the game's narrative is centered on real warfare instead of some made up fantasy world. Then again, reality never does make much sense to begin with.

Final Proj: Tools - Firefox Extensions

If The Internet is a boxing match between old rivals and new contenders, Google would be the *current* heavyweight champ and Firefox, it's coach in the corner.

I'm still on the ropes trying to develop my final project. Fortunately, Firefox helps my brainstorming a little easier. I won't go into all the details of how nifty Firefox's extensions help browsing and searching the web easier.

Those industrious developers that build the extensions alone are the reasons for that. I have De.lici.ous, AdBlock Plus, Cool Iris, Map +, FireBug, Download StatusBar, IE Tab, NoScript, and Web Developer installed on mine.

Although Cool Iris will take some getting used to. It helps give a preview of a link or site without having to actually click it. Much like the Magnifying glass feature in the Ask.com search engine.

De.lici.ous is my sticky note database. Like Google, I would be lost without it.

If anybody knows of any good extensions or items worth of note, please share them. For now, I'll just dig through the haystack and if I find a needle, I'll pull it out for all to see.

Firefox Extensions

This just in: Hawaii will sink!............In 80 Million Yrs

Seeing as how we live in Earthquake country, another little island just east of the Mississip... is worrying about the same thing. *The island was also rocked by a 6.7 just days ago*

Slowly, slowly, the Big Island of Hawaii is sinking toward its doom. From its palm-fringed beaches to the summit of Mauna Kea, 13,796 feet high, nothing will remain of that volcanic island but a small, stony lump on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in the far northwest, thousands of miles from where it stands today.

And then it will disappear completely, swallowed into the Earth's heaving crust.

Click below to read the SFgate article.

Wii would like to play

Whenever a new videogame system debuts over here in the U.S, the theme song from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey always pops in my head for some strange reason.

It's become well known that the videogame industry surpasses the movie industry in terms of sheer profit. Which makes me wonder, and fear, and wonder some more. "What the heck are we all studying?!?!?









No one is ever too old for videogames. No One. (There's a video of a 60-year old man enjoying a rousing game of remote bowling).

And Kudos to Nintendo which favors exercise and getting lazy arses (like mine) out of our cushy chairs. This is what probably makes the Wii stand apart from the PS3 and the Xbox 360. And its retailed at $249.99. PS3 and 360 base price, bare necessities ~ $399. (pricing and bundles vary)

See for yourself kids.

Click below to see a videodemo of the Wii in action.