Gamertell

As video games become more widespread and enter our everyday lives, online gaming is quickly becoming the main form of entertainment for many people. Games like World of Warcraft or Second Life attract thousands everyday who spend hours in virtual worlds. Many people think this is just an escape from everyday life but for one games designer, this is just education for changing the world.

Jane McGonigal is a games designer and researcher who has been working on a theory about how virtual communities work and how they differ from the real world. Recently she had a very interesting talk at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference regarding how we could learn from online games.

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Since James Cameron shocked everybody with the debut of Avatar on the big screen, 3D technology has been all the rage. Almost every movie is released in 3D now and different TV manufacturers are releasing models that employ this technology.

Fortunately video games were not left behind, and with Sony’s announcement of the PS3’s 3D gaming capabilities, consoles are entering the race. Thanks to NVIDIA, PC gaming is also getting the 3D treatment.

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With Final Fantasy XIII recently released, Square is already putting the finishing touches on the next entry in the franchise: Final Fantasy XIV.

FFXIV will be a massively multiplayer online role-playing Game (MMORPG) set in the world of Hydaelyn. The story revolves around different guilds - remnants of an alliance to fight off an invading army - and adventurers that roam the land of Eorzea. Players will be able to choose from five different races: The elf-like Elezen, the small and agile Lalafell, the human-like Hyur, the giant Roegadyn and the cat-like Miqo’te.

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Anime Expo (AX) is the biggest convention for all things related to anime and manga in the US.

Every year AX attracts thousands of Otakus who flood Los Angeles (Convention Center in Southern California) to get their fill on the latest news and maybe hang around dressed like their favorite characters. Fans of the genre should mark their calendars for July 1 through 4, 2010, because this year among the concerts, presentations, contests and of course karaoke, AX is presenting Toshihiro Kawamoto as a guest of honor.

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Nudity and sexual themes in general are among the most heavily censored subjects but, despite this trend, some developers have managed to find tasteful ways to include them into their stories. With this idea in mind, 2K Games has partnered with Playboy Magazine for its upcoming game, Mafia II.

Mafia II will recreate the world of organized crime during the late ‘40s and the ‘50s in the US. Players will control Vito who will get involved in various criminal activities reminiscent of a Grand Theft Auto game.

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I guess I like weddings. Not that I’m planning on having one myself on the near future, but I’ve always liked a good party and they generally mean a fun time and maybe some catching up with old friends. Even though I enjoy the parties, I rarely pay attention to the details, especially to invitations. I know people take a lot of time choosing the right one, but most times I already know the details of the wedding months before the invitation arrives so I usually just throw them away. (Sorry to anyone just finding out.)

A couple in Germany have come up with an awesome idea for their wedding invitations. Instead of going with the boring, I mean traditional, paper or cardboard, they used a video game as an invitation.

The game, in all its vintage-8-bit glory, features a couple of stages where players can choose either the bride or the groom to rescue their significant other. The game takes inspiration from Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong and the reward for completing the game is the invitation to the wedding itself.

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First there was an original NES system selling for over $13,000 and then two vintage comics, featuring Superman and Batman, selling for 1 million each. Recently there was another auction involving an unusual collector’s item and, again, it left the owner with an impressive profit.

The auction was for a 1987 NES video game cartridge but this one in particular turned out to be one of the rarest available. The video game in question is Stadium Events, which is rated one of the top ten rarest games. In addition to being a collector’s item, this particular copy was not only in mint condition, but it was still in its original package with the price sticker…

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Rehabilitation is unfortunately most times a slow and painful process. Many people have to go through tough sessions for months or even years and sometimes it can be hard to keep focused on the exercise.

Researchers are looking for different ways to help with this process and now some have turned to video games.

Games have proven successful in helping to rehabilitate burn victims and now it seems games might also be beneficial for stroke victims.

The Stroke Outcomes Research Unit at St. Michael’s Hospital in Canada is conducting a study involving the use of Wii games for the treatment of patients recovering from a stroke. By playing games using the WiiMote, patients can exercise while enjoying themselves and this helps them in staying engaged with their rehabilitation.

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Art has always been a subjective thing. Some paintings may stir strong feelings on certain people while others squint their eyes and tilt their heads trying to make out what’s on the canvas. While to some these paintings are totally bizarre, others pay amazing sums of money for them.

When we hear of art auctions where hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions are offered we tend to think of paintings or sculptures but now there is another form of art that has reached these amazing sums. Once considered cheap entertainment for children, comic books have now reached the status of works of art, and now can compete with Picasso or Van Gogh for real estate in a gallery or the living room of some millionaire.

A couple of vintage comic books were sold for one million USD this week. Oh, and I mean one million each. A copy of Action Comics No. 1 from 1938 - Superman’s first appearance - was sold for one million on Monday, and then on Thursday a copy of Detective Comics No. 27 from 1939 - Batman’s first appearance - was sold for $1,075,500 USD…

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A group of researchers in the US have developed a process that can create a 3D representation of an object using a group of regular photographs.

The system, developed by computer scientists from the University of Washington and Cornell University, can take a collection of 2D photographs and find certain cues on each one to determine the angle from which it was taken. Using this information, the system can construct a 3D model of the object in the pictures.

Because of the way in which the technology works, more images of a certain object allow for a better representation, so the researchers are trying to get as many images of an object as possible. To do this they have incorporated their system into a social video game.

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