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A few months ago we mentioned a new cloud video gaming service that was being rolled out called OnLive. At the time, the details were pretty sparse, but some representatives from OnLive recently put on a presentation explaining in detail the technology and business model they are planning to use to make OnLive work. They provided a full demo of the service as well as a Q&A session.

After seeing the presentation I must say that they are doing some really cool stuff over there and seem to really know what they're talking about. They've got guys on staff that developed the original QuickTime video compression algorithms. They've also got most of the major game publishers on board. I think this has the potential to be very big and my skepticism is slowly fading. Check it out!



The rest of the presentation on YouTube:

Part 2 of 5
Part 3 of 5
Part 4 of 5
Part 5 of 5

Alexander Stern is suing Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) saying that they have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to implement features that make their games accessible to visually impaired gamers.

I'm honestly not quite sure what to think about this. The Act does say that no one can be denied on the basis of disability the full and equal enjoyment of goods and services - and that includes recreational goods and services. I'm all for that, but at the same time, I'm not sure that this is what the act was referring to. Does this mean deaf people can sue theatre groups around the country if they don't have someone doing a sign language translation of the play? Or that blind people can sue museums and art galleries that don't offer audio tours?

Full article at Gamespot

I've mentioned the Uncanny Valley of computer graphics in the past. Well, it now looks like we may be on the brink of getting out onto the other side of the valley. Here is video footage from a TED talk showing off some amazing new facial animation technology.

I'm going out on a limb here and saying that this idea should be filed under "Awesome".

The Game Crafter is a new print-on-demand tabletop game service that was launched a few months ago. The idea is that independent tabletop game designers can upload their rules and artwork to The Game Crafter along with a list of other desired components (pawns, dice, wooden cubes, etc.). Then, they can sell their game through The Game Crafter's website. No games are produced until games are ordered. So, there is no setup cost to the designer. Royalties are collected per copy sold.

The designer retains full rights to their game and can purchase their own game at cost, so this makes The Game Crafter a great option for prototyping games. If you decide to make changes during playtesting it's simply a matter of uploading new rules or artwork. If your game is ever picked up by a major publisher, you can simply stop selling it through The Game Crafter.

Non-designers can also find some unique games here to stock their shelves. I'm thinking about picking up an interesting looking game they have called Soaps where you manage a soap opera and all the crazy drama that goes on in typical soaps.

I've had ideas for game designs in the past, but I never moved on them because of the work and cost involved. This idea has gotten me excited about game design again, though. So, I may just have to block out some time to work on something...

The Game Crafter website

At a loss for something to creep out your roleplaying group this October?

Intelligent Gamer has some ideas for you...

Full editorial

I just found out that online game retailer, Funagain Games, has a program called Funagain Games Monthly Game Grants which I think is so cool that I had to draw some attention to it.

The basic idea is that schools, libraries, community organizations, and military personnel can apply for a Game Grant from Funagain Games. If your grant request is accepted, then Funagain Games will provide you with $100 worth of games completely free of charge. They even cover shipping costs.

They give out 3 grants every month: 1 to schools/libraries, 1 to community groups, and 1 to military personnel. All you have to do to apply is submit a 300-400 word essay describing how your games would support education, community outreach, or how they would help in some other way.

Funagain Games Monthly Game Grants

I just randomly stumbled on this today, but apparently BoardGameGeek.com is expanding beyond just boardgames. They've had a no RPGs policy in the past, but now it looks like info on that once shunned category of gaming will have its own home.

Currently RPGGeek is in open beta and hasn't been formally launched, but the site is functional and already has over 10,000 RPGs in its database.

RPGGeek

A PhD student in Artificial Intelligence at Imperial College in London has created AI control for Mario to go through levels in the style of his old 2-D platforming games (like Super Mario World on the SNES). His AI Mario can run through the level, dodge enemies, pick up koopas, throw fireballs, and jump from platform to platform. It's pretty neat stuff, and he has videos posted of his AI Mario in action. In his videos you can actually see the paths that the AI considers drawn in red overlaid on the game screen.

The source code is also available if there are any programmers out there that want to tinker with his work.

Mario AI project

This past Thursday, Lara Croft's first adventure for the Playstation, Tomb Raider, made its way into the downloadable PS1 classics section of the Playstation Network. Now Laraholics everywhere can experience her first (and this writer would argue best) adventure all over again. So if it's been too long since you last guided our lovely gaming girl through the caves of Peru and the temples of Atlantis, you owe it to yourself to remember why she's still starring in video games over ten years later.
[Submitted by Areala]