Your attach on EA Games is a little unnecessarily caustic. You have a point regarding some titles -- many of the EA Sports titles, and Lionhead's Black and White come to mind. But some, like The Two Towers and Return of the King games, were exceptional and polished.
Couldn't agree more. What were they thinking with that music?
I hooked my PC up to the TV so I could play the first game on a big screen. My whole family watched for parts of it, transfixed by the elegance and beauty of the game -- not just the audio but also the video.
I downloaded this demo tonight, and turned down the sound because I couldn't stand the music, and am going to bed before I even make my way through what they've offered me.
The first game was all about style and polish. It was elegant and the characters were intriguing. This is blood, violence, excess, swearing, a jerky camera... it is so many steps in so many... well, directions that I wasn't expecting. PoP was my favourite game last year. This demo is enough to turn me off of the sequel.
This isn't meant as a troll. I was so very much hoping to post something very different. By the way, I'm the "average gamer" at 28. I guess they're catering to a different audience...
I live in Dublin (admittedly, not in the UK, but mighty close geographically) and I've recently seen adverts for the n-Gage at bus stops, etc. But I haven't a clue what it's about. I think Nokia's done a dreadful job raising awareness of what the thing is, and why I might want it.
There are definitely biofeedback-game precedents, but the ambitions (and current research) of the MindGames group go far beyond Relax to Win! (I have recently joined the group after researching AI at MediaLab Boston).
As far as Relax to Win goes, the use of biofeedback to encourage relaxation in a competitive environment is, AFAWK, unique. There are also a couple of key differences in recent work: first, in projects like BrainChild (see this link, the use of multi-modal input (i.e. multiple biological and other signals); second, the goal of 'affective feedback,' wherein the system actually learns to predict its effects on a participant, and adapt its responses to accomplish goals like relaxing a participant by determining an optimal technique from among multiple techniques.
We're not claiming that we invented biofeedback, but are trying to demonstrate how a compelling video game combined with biofeedback could be used to teach skills in the virtual world that are actually useful in the real world. Like the ability to relax under stress -- sure you could quaff a pint or eight (and since we're based in Ireland, that sometimes happens...), but in this information-overloaded world, wouldn't it be great to be able to chill at will? (Lots more info at http://mindgames.mle.ie or feel free to send mail...)
If you had $60 million dollars, and you were going to *give it* to a cause you felt strongly about, but then you felt that, due to the political situation, your $60 million dollars wasn't going to be well-used... wouldn't YOU find another way to spend it?
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Your attach on EA Games is a little unnecessarily caustic. You have a point regarding some titles -- many of the EA Sports titles, and Lionhead's Black and White come to mind. But some, like The Two Towers and Return of the King games, were exceptional and polished.
Couldn't agree more. What were they thinking with that music?
I hooked my PC up to the TV so I could play the first game on a big screen. My whole family watched for parts of it, transfixed by the elegance and beauty of the game -- not just the audio but also the video.
I downloaded this demo tonight, and turned down the sound because I couldn't stand the music, and am going to bed before I even make my way through what they've offered me.
What a contrast.
The first game was all about style and polish. It was elegant and the characters were intriguing. This is blood, violence, excess, swearing, a jerky camera... it is so many steps in so many... well, directions that I wasn't expecting. PoP was my favourite game last year. This demo is enough to turn me off of the sequel.
This isn't meant as a troll. I was so very much hoping to post something very different. By the way, I'm the "average gamer" at 28. I guess they're catering to a different audience...
It's like being carded at the beer store these days. If I look that young still, I'm doing something right!
I live in Dublin (admittedly, not in the UK, but mighty close geographically) and I've recently seen adverts for the n-Gage at bus stops, etc. But I haven't a clue what it's about. I think Nokia's done a dreadful job raising awareness of what the thing is, and why I might want it.
We referred to it as the Iron Ring ceremony at Queen's.
As far as Relax to Win goes, the use of biofeedback to encourage relaxation in a competitive environment is, AFAWK, unique. There are also a couple of key differences in recent work: first, in projects like BrainChild (see this link, the use of multi-modal input (i.e. multiple biological and other signals); second, the goal of 'affective feedback,' wherein the system actually learns to predict its effects on a participant, and adapt its responses to accomplish goals like relaxing a participant by determining an optimal technique from among multiple techniques.
We're not claiming that we invented biofeedback, but are trying to demonstrate how a compelling video game combined with biofeedback could be used to teach skills in the virtual world that are actually useful in the real world. Like the ability to relax under stress -- sure you could quaff a pint or eight (and since we're based in Ireland, that sometimes happens...), but in this information-overloaded world, wouldn't it be great to be able to chill at will? (Lots more info at http://mindgames.mle.ie or feel free to send mail...)
If you had $60 million dollars, and you were going to *give it* to a cause you felt strongly about, but then you felt that, due to the political situation, your $60 million dollars wasn't going to be well-used... wouldn't YOU find another way to spend it?