Introducing the Future - The Birth of the Matrix

Input methods. Always an iconic part of video gaming, the various joysticks, controllers, mice, keyboards, wiimotes, dance mats, stylus, and touch-screens have, over the years, covered everything from violent button-mashing to frustratingly intricate flight simulators. Custom input devices are now de-rigeour, with wii-fit and rock-band topping the charts in terms of expensive periphirals.

An input device is more than just a novelty light-sabre. It is our only means of connecting with the game-world. No matter how quick or skilled we are, that movement has to be interpreted through the device. Luckily for us, input devices have evolved quite considerably since the early days of gaming. However, analogue sticks simply cannot recreate the feel of a gun - or a sword - in your hands. No keyboard can come close to recreating the vast range of movement available to us.

Clunky controls are the quickest thing to frustrate us. If I can’t handle a game intuitively, I quickly give up on it. I’m sure this is true of most people - if we die, and it’s our fault, fine. If we die, and it’s because of some incredibly obtuse camera angle or a sudden reversal of polarities, we’re done. Yet many of what we find ‘easy’ is really just long-term habit. If all games use the right-stick for the camera, and the left-stick for movement, it’s very difficult to adjust to a game that switches them over.

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Win $10,000 for your game idea

What Is It?

Get rid of your debt by taking the Indebted Digital Challenge. Come up with a creative, original idea for a video game that addresses the nation’s fiscal crisis and you or your team could receive $10,000 if your concept is chosen as the winner. You will also be credited in the final game and may have the opportunity to work with mtvU to make your idea a reality.

Enter the challenge!

The Winter Offensive

Last month, Isotx released their first stand alone game, Iron Grip: Warlord. It was an exciting day for everyone, and extremely busy all around. Keira posted a notice here about it when it was released, and we received several positive responses. Today, a little over a month later, in honor of the winter holidays (and just in time for Christmas!), a new expansion for Warlord was released. As regular readers know, most writers for Write the Game are or were attached to Isotx at some point, so this is an extremely big day for us and for everyone playing Warlord. The download is free to everyone who already owns Warlord, after all.

This new expansion has 2 new units (one with two different skins for variety), a brand new map to play on, and tons of new bug fixes. To access the content, all you have to do is download the expansion - if you own Warlord. If you don’t, well, why not look into it? This is the perfect reason to check the game out. A more comprehensive update/post will be coming over the course of the week. Winter’s busy for everyone.

Happy Holidays!

Spike’s Video Game Awards

If you’re an American gamer, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of it: The Video Game Awards. Hosted by Spike, a United States-based television channel, the “Video Game Awards” are an organization fashioned (loosely) after other large-scale award shows. Started in 2004, the VGAs sport over 20 categories for winners to bank in, and the winners are announced both on television as well as on the network’s website. Last night, the 2008 winners were announced, and unsurprisingly, Left4Dead acquired many awards, as did other popular games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Rock Band 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV.

The official Game of the Year winner is Grand Theft Auto IV. It also won in Best Action Game and Best Male Voice. Left4Dead won best PC Game, as well as Best Multiplayer Game, another that most people were probably not all that shocked by.

So who else managed to score an award?

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Pretty Characters ARE Appealing

These days, female gamers aren’t really rare - no matter what certain individuals in MMORPGs may behave like. More and more often is it that you’ll run across a female character that is genuinely played by a girl, and some of them are truly among the best gamers you’ll meet. Every bit as knowledgeable about tactics and statistics as men, gamer girls are a force to be reckoned with. The hardcore female gamer is every bit as tough and persistent as their male counterparts.

They’re just better dressed.

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The Ghost of Gaming Future

What role will gaming play in your familial relationships in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Having already explored both the past and the present, this month’s round table asks us to turn our eyes to our future gaming expectations.

Video Games are mainstream. In the past week I’ve had co-workers in my office job discuss Rock Band and Wii Fit, I’ve seen four-year old children called upon to say what they want for Christmas and asking for a Nintendo DS or PSP games, and I’ve watched a virtual affair in Second Life make headlines across the country. Our local McDonalds has an Xbox in the break-room, and video games are now an integral part of a party.

If I was going to point at one thing that helped this explosion, I would say it was community. It’s about both competition and team-work, guilds, playing rockstars with your best friend, and teaming your sniper with a tank. In short, it’s about connecting with other humans, which is something we all like to do in one way or another.
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