Napalm Riot

I'm back after two weeks of travelling, beach time, and delicious ocean water... And I gotta say returning to 49 messages, 59 photos and 10 notes is fuckin' sexy. You guys rock my socks.

Today is my semester review. It is the last day, last obligation, last session of this semester.

I can already hear so much beer calling my name.


Also: AutoDesk finished their REAL VIZ acquisition! Exciting news, no?

"REALVIZ's products are used for panoramic photography, image-based modelling, match moving and optical motion capture. The technology extracts 3D information from pictures and videos, and is complementary to Autodesk's modelling, visual effects and animation products. REALVIZ technology has many complementary applications across the industries Autodesk serves, including architecture, film, broadcast and game development."

Read more about it here.

Amras (12:44 AM) I GOT A DATE!
Amras (12:44 AM) Everyone be stoked for me!
Amras (12:44 AM) (or I'll cut you up)
Spot (12:44 AM) I thought you were already with someone
Amras (12:45 AM) Spot, I told you it's not gonna work out. You're in Texas, I'm in DC... it's... it's just too far.
Spot (12:45 AM) bahhh
Spot (12:45 AM) FINE!
Amras sends Spot some flowers
Spot (12:45 AM) You're just like all the other men out there!
Amras (12:45 AM) Awesome?
Amras (12:45 AM) Yeah, that's true.
Spot (12:47 AM) congrats on your new fuck buddy
Amras (12:47 AM) hahaha
Spot (12:47 AM) I hope you dont use him for his body and then dump him with a lousy excuse like you did me!
Amras (12:48 AM) Ya know... if I could have been more sure you weren't spooning with Rick every night, maybe it would have worked out.
Amras (12:48 AM) But for that to happen maybe you'd have to take down the full wall posters of his naked body from your bedroom walls...
Amras (12:48 AM) Ever think of THAT, Spot?
Amras (12:48 AM) Eh?
Amras (12:48 AM) NO! You DIDN'T!
Amras (12:48 AM) You NEVER think of MY FEELINGS!
Spot (12:49 AM) Ohhhh here we go.
Spot (12:49 AM) Twisting things around just to make something not YOUR fault.
Spot (12:49 AM) I told you the posters are up there only because the room needs something on the walls and I dont have the money to buy anything else.
Spot (12:49 AM) Perfectly acceptable reason.
Amras (12:50 AM) I brought you wall paper. Don't try that excuse with me, dammit!
Amras (12:50 AM) And your "fung shui" excuse isn't going to work either.
Spot (12:50 AM) pffffft
Spot (12:50 AM) I gotta go, I have a real man, with a hot little ass in my bed!
Spot (12:50 AM) So go have your playtime
Spot (12:50 AM) I have my own



Your development team... working hard to fulfill your needs.
(Spot has asked me to state, for the record, that he loves vag... a lot.)

We all know that the iPhone, while awesome, is limited by being on the Edge Network as part of it's data plan. There's really just no comparison between Edge and 3G. So what's this that Digital Arts is reporting? A 3G iPhone?! "According to Scott Craig, an analyst at the Bank of America, the long-awaited 3G version of the iPhone will be released in June." Holy sweet nectar of concentrated Jesus! That's fucking AWESOME!

Also in the news is an interesting development in New England. I am, of course, speaking in reference to the newly created Rockstar New England. That's right, folks. Rockstar Games, a subsidiary of Take2 Interactive (who are still under siege by EA), acquired their partner in crime from Bully, Mad Doc Software. The industry continues to evolve.

And in still other news there is an excellent article over at DesignWeek.com about innovation in food packaging. Obviously this has nothing to do with games, but I'm featuring it here because it will most assuredly have a huge impact on the gaming industry and how it markets and packages titles (assuming that Steam doesn't come to rule the world of game delivery and that these prototypes make it to market, of course). Things like Sony Corp.'s flexible OLED fullcolour display film prototype will make the print labels in game packaging a less effective means of luring customers to purchase titles in the store (again this is assuming that the OLED fullcolour display is a cost effective solution, but you should also note that the price of technology drops like a lead weight in deuterium oxide). Imagine seeing previews on the back of your game box rather than screen shots. It's pretty hot stuff.

I should probably get back to class now. You kids play nice.

Today I bring you several great things, not the least of which is kyle, who recently interviewed with ROCKSTAR GAMES. Hooray for him!
He says, "hi." Actually that's a lie, he's sitting on my couch, reading The Rolling Stone, and chuckling about the lack of breakfast food in my apartment.

As usual I bring you Gamasutra articles!

The first is a rather interesting article about everyone's favourite MMO, World of Warcraft. In this "special feature" article Michael Zenke goes over just what it is that allowed WoW to get so big and retain its 10 million + user base. "We know WoW has hit it big. What we don't know -- what we don't think anyone could claim to know for certain -- is why exactly Blizzard's behemoth was the one to break loose from that nerd stigma. World of Warcraft's launch and subsequent popularity is a singular event in the history of gaming." It's certainly an interesting read.

And there's an update in the continuing saga of EA vs Take Two! EA has extended its offer once again to Take Two Interactive to purchase a controlling majority of shares at $26/share (which, when originally extended, is what drove Take Two's shares to their current value). EA representatives are touting recent actions a "poison pill" manoeuvre on the part of Take Two's board, namely the most recent rejection of the EA offer and "the changing of the date of the company’s annual meeting of stockholders and the establishment of a Stockholders Rights Agreement." What do you guys think of the situation between EA and Take Two? How would you like to see it play out?

There's also a rather well written article concerning game attorneys and how it is most assuredly in the best interest of developers to have a good line of communication with their lawyers. Even if you don't plan on being a game developer or lawyer, it's a good read full of allegory and pictures of puppies.

That's all for now.

I'm currently on break at school... I'm not sure how I feel about breaks.
While awesome, they have, for me at least, a fatal flaw: they allow me to remember how much I loathe being in school and how tired I am of be absolutely broke all the time.

At this point all I really want is to get a fucking job. (And move to Hawai'i.)


In other, less emo news: Intel is looking to join the GPU market, in case you hadn't heard... In an article published on Gamasutra.com yesterday it's revealed to the general public (you) that Intel Corp is looking to compete with nVidia and ATI by entering into the GPU market with its "new Nehalem microarchitecture, its Visual Computing initiative, and its Larrabee architecture". (I apologise if that sentence wasn't long enough for you...) The speech from Intel Corporation's Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital Enterprise Group, Patrick P. Gelsinger, was not focused specifically on Intel entering into GPU production and marketing, but announced to the press its plans for upcoming processors and chip architecture as a whole. What is most significant to gaming is the new Larrabee project architecture. The article goes into far more detail than I am prepared to type out for you here so I suggest that all interested parties go read it.

Also: We're wicked sorry about that downtime yesterday. We you guys!!

"Comcast's G4 TV network has announced that it will present its coverage of the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival Awards via its video game TV program X-Play, first showing February 29th at 8.00 PM EST (5.00PM PST)."

Full Gamasutra Article


In other less television related news, Konami has CONFIRMED a JUNE release of Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PS3. Largely hailed as one of the most important third party releases for the PS3, MGS4 is an exclusive title for the console which means that you can't get it on any other box. (Yeah, I know... "no shit", but you have to essplain things for the n00bs.)
And if you're thinking "OMG, not ANOTHER Metal Gear Solid" I have but two things to say to you: 1) STFU! and 2) This is, supposedly, Solid Snake's FINAL MISSION! zOMG! And quite frankly it's about god damned time. That mother fucker is getting kinda old, ya know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah you do.

Anyway, for a bit more information than that you can check out the Gamasutra article or wait until someone hits you with the Information Stick of Plenty.


And aside even from all of that, I post und question to you my dear Napalm Users. (That makes you all sound like druggies, btw.) What is your opinion of art in games? Are video games art? Is the art in games worthy of being considered such? I really am interested to see what you have to say on this so be as forthcoming as possible!

And if you're interested in "professional" (seems there's been some discussion about what that term constitutes on our forums lately) opinions I will direct you to articles on gamasutra.com from Jim Preston (a former game journalist and now a producer at EA) and E. Daniel Arey (designer of such games as Crash Bandicoot, Gex, and Uncharted).



Oh yeah, almost forgot. All you God of War fans better be ready, Chains of Olympus is out on 4 March!

We all know that HD-DVD was dealt a heavy blow when Warner Brothers announced exclusive support of Blu-Ray as its high definition format for DVDs. While the sales of HD-DVDs did increase after the WB announcement it's a pretty safe bet to say that was a side effect of dramatic price cuts in the HD-DVD players. The format has seen more announcements recently from smaller studios and companies saying that they're dropping it in favour of Blu-Ray.

Well it's not getting any better for HD-DVD... In an article on PopSci.com yesterday it's mentioned that Netflix and Best Buy have "also declared HD-DVD dead to them". The article makes mention of the common sense factor the HD-DVD camp has seemingly missed... In a format competition there will be a loser. Blu-Ray is backed by over 170 companies to HD-DVD's 10. What's even worse for HD-DVD is that Blu-Ray is locked in as a permanent fixture because of the PS3. Blu-Ray has the games market, HD-DVD might as well just call it quits at this point.

Sony lost last time in the VHS vs Beta Max battle, they did their homework and came out with not only a superior format (check out BluRayDisc.com for specifics), but they have a larger support base and inroads to several markets.

And that's your geeky news for today.

Aside from all that, could everyone do me a favour? Swing on over to optimus's user page and say hi. He's lonely. :P

Today I bring you TWO good things. Clearly I'm spoiling you and you're going to grow up not knowing how hard life really is. Bastards.


A friend of mine, our very own videlais, is a Game Reviewer/Game Critic! Good ole Videlais has an ingenious review format... 2 hours of play. That's right. His aptly named review/blog, 2 Hour Review, has covered many games I'm sure the lot of you have enjoyed at one time or another, and many you may not have ever heard of. So go check him out, give him praise, and be his friend here at NR. He's a really groovy guy, dedser.


Your other titbit for the day/blog is as follows: In a moment to be remembered by nostalgic 1980s kids as Mom! I need clean pants! 2008, Disney has announced that XBOX will be getting (one of the derivative arcade games based on) TRON! O yes, the beloved movie that spawned Tron Guy is coming to XBOX Live Arcade in time for VALENTINE'S DAY!

Gamasutra: Tron on XBOX Live Arcade


There, I'm done. Now get off my lawn. :P


EDIT :: ... OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS! :D

There is no story.

Okay, maybe little story...
I feel like I haven't visited the site in years, but it's only been a day.
Can you believe it? A WHOLE DAY WITH NO NAPALM!!
It hurt.


So anyway, to continue the trend::

"Graphics technology company Nvidia has announced it is acquiring gaming physics company Ageia to bring the latter's PhysX solution to Nvidia's GeForce graphics hardware cards."

That's right, kids. nVidia is buying out those beautiful people over at Ageia. Physics hardware for the masses, bitches!

http://www.gamasutra.com/…ews_index.php?story=17231

In an interesting bit of news from 28 January I learned that the Sony Corporation has developed a CHEAPER (to produce) Blu-Ray device! What does this mean?! Well it means that SCEA could be dropping the price of the much lusted after, infrequently purchased Playstation 3 console! (It also means that the price of those sexilicious Blu-Ray players is going to drop, but PS3 plays Blu-Ray DVDs so... just get one appliance and not two, mmkay!!!)

Now there's speculation all up and down this rumour because SCEA has <em>denied</em> they are planning to drop the console's price. And there's reason to listen to them on this one because the 40gig PS3 option has done better in the market than anyone thought it was going to (given its limitations). However, the last time the cut the price of the PS3 they maintained that it was just a terrible rumour up to the day the price dropped. Sooooooo.... yeah.


Gamasutra article : http://www.gamasutra.com/…ews_index.php?story=17132

I doubt many of you have seen this article as it only made it to Gamasutra at 10AM PST this morning, but some of you might. It's a little disheartening if you, like me, are in love with your Wii. I touch mine all the time.

I was rather excited when I'd heard there would be a Wii channel from which you could download DS games and demos. Such a channel would be BRILLIANT in terms of game availability and access. All they'd have to do is plug in some cheesy credit system or a billing system (much like iTunes uses) and the company could pull in more money than they'd spend producing the physical copies for store shelves.

But... it's not true.

Nintendo of America peeps negated the earlier report about such awesomeness. Yes, demos will still be available for download (which will be automatically erased when your DS gets powered down), but not full games (which would have to have been written to a blank SD card on download).

You're missing out on a good idea, Nintendo.

read the Gamasutra articles here:
http://www.gamasutra.com/…ews_index.php?story=16799
http://www.gamasutra.com/…ews_index.php?story=16836

Seriously...

The Viagra commercials have
GOT
TO
STOP!

I didn't mention this last go around, but in the process of mounting presentation boards for a book design for review I... I, uh... cut my thumb off.

Well, okay... I didn't cut my THUMB off. But I cut a part of it off.
Blood EVERYWHERE. It was awesome.

Since this happened only moments before I needed to head out the door to my review so I could test the equipment for my presentation reels (yes, reels plural), I did a few blood slowing techniques I'd picked up from my parents (both medical professionals) and the BSA (Boy Scouts of America). O, and I stopped at CVS on the way to Georgetown to get some gauze and cloth tape.

Later that evening after review, class, and some rather mind numbing pain I decided I should probably get it checked out. So after playing Let's Make A Deal Telephone Edition with my insurance provider I decided to just go to Georgetown University Hospital's ER. They said I'd waited too long for sutures or stitches and reattached the bit I had cut off with dermabond and a bandaid. (It was pretty pathetic, really.)

Well now that bit's coming off.
It's fuckin' gross.
It's dead and flaky.

How's that for a "day-in-the-life" story? Eh?

Finals are finally over. Finally. It's so nice to finally be finished with finals. It's so finalizing. Riiiight.

In reality my semester review is finished with. Review is like finals, only not. See, art students get to pull together everything they've done over the semester in all their courses and sit in a room with their instructors and listen to why nothing is as good as it could have been if they'd just put a little more effort into it. It's truly a most glorious experience.

My review was on Monday. I was the first of the digital media reviews (there are only three students in our department) and while my work definitely wasn't the best ever, it certainly wasn't the worst. But what more do you expect when you have a guy that wants to be a character modeller doing BOOK DESIGN? Not much I say, not much at all. Not because I can't do graphic design, on the contrary I fucking rock at it... I just don't have the motivation to do something I'm not really interested in. Blame my ADHD. ;)

Anyway, all that shit is over with. And that means one thing, I can play my games again. All is right with the world.

Just a bit of housekeeping... setting up shop that is. New. It's all new. All new episodes. This fall. 9pm, GMT. No, not really. Okay, that's enough.