Tag Archives: #videogames

Will The Real Virtual Eve Please Stand Up

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Virtual Eve and someone else... I think

For the past few days I’ve been noticing a continuing stream of visitors coming from search engines throughout the world – though mostly Europe. They all have one thing in common: they keep landing on this post in my blog because they’re entering “virtual+eve” in a search engine query. At first I thought maybe there was some researcher(s) out there using the net to gather information. A few moments ago I noticed even more visitors so I figured something else was up. And here it is from the second most popular search engine return:

What is Virtual EVE? Is it a video game? “Not exactly,” says Mr. Sexton. “It doesn’t fit within the tradition goal-oriented framework of what we define as a ‘video game’. There isn’t a specific goal you need to accomplish; it’s something you experience. So in that respect, it’s not a game, but it’s not just another static porn movie either. It’s more of a real-time sex simulator. It features completely real-time 3D graphics which allows for a more interactive, immersive experience. You choose the sexual position, you navigate the environment with a free-roaming camera, and you direct the on-screen action.”

That’s from a press release dated 20 June 2005, so it looks as if someone has recently figured out there’s money to be made from selling… who would have thought… s e x. But I have to wonder if the people behind this “game” even know about sims like Second Life or There (the latter of which I’ve heard is nothing but Socializing). And heck, for half that one-time price people could get a world full of Eves… and Liliths and whatever else strikes their fancy (be sure to say Csven Concord recommended you should you register for Second Life. Thanks.). But if this simulation strikes your fancy, google away.

(Above image is Copyright © 2005 Eve Interactive. And btw, sorry for the excess pixelation. Who knew hiding naughty bits could be so much fun?)

q, Meet qDot

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If you didn’t read the Wired articles I mentioned in an earlier post, this one may seem to come out of left field. The point of that post was mostly to show how technology seems to be driven by the *needs* of the extremes of human behavior. On the one hand you have the military developing swarming robotic/remote-controlled fighter aircraft (see this early post as well), and on the other hand you have the “pron” industry feeding technology into the public arena – whether it be vcr’s or webcam peepshows. And because they were both about telepresence technology, they were relevant to what I write here.

Now here’s a guy who’s integrating things with videogames (see related post here). From the Wired article:

His fascination with teledildonics — sex toys that lovers can control for one another over the internet, whether they’re in the same room, the same house, or 3,000 miles apart — grew out of his interest in video games.

Well, that does it. Videogames are most definitely eViL.

(p.s. I hope it’s not lost on you that this guy has hooked up a sex toy to a game called “Quake”)

Killer Spore

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About a week ago I posted this entry on a Will Wright interview and also made mention of a link to a video (the Will Wright/Spore one). Well, I tried to watch that video, couldn’t get it to play, then didn’t get back to it. Turns out I had browser issues. So yesterday I made my way back and watched it. Wow. It’s much better than I had imagined. But before you watch the video, check out this speculative article on the future of character design/creation. That way, when you watch all the cute characters shown in the Spore demo, you’ll be aware that it doesn’t have to look “cartoony”. It could look as good as this (mature content).

My First Prediction… and Maybe My Last

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{May 14, 2007: For all the reddit visitors, this post is almost exactly two years old, so it’s a bit dated imo. I’m not entirely sure MS is on track, though they may be based on this Where 2.0 event scheduled for the end of this month (Link), or this one at the same conference (Link).}

I wrote the following prediction some weeks back and then bit my lip; didn’t want to look too “out there”. But having just read a news item over on PCWorld.com, Gates Unveils MSN Virtual Earth, I’m ready to own up to it since this marks the first in what I expect to be a series of moves. So here it is:

Prediction: Microsoft is building a virtual 3D world.

And I’m talking virtual world [actually a virtual “mirror” world] as in Snow Crash’s “Metaverse”. I’m making this prediction based on not just recent news, but on some very old things. Here’s the basic breakdown:

– MS purchases Groove (two days ago), software designed for virtual collaboration; good for real world product development, but possibly better for virtual world development [or even better, transreality development]
– MS announces Xbox 2 specs to include “Marketplace” and “Micro-payments”
– Xbox picks Unreal engine 3 as primary engine platform, by far the most realistic 3D on the RT block.
– Meqon unveils radically advanced physics module, also to be compatible with Xbox
– Rumors that MS is pulling out of MSNBC; MS learned the big media ropes and it’s now time to move on perhaps.
– Allegorithmic’s “procedural textures” – infinitely subdivided, efficient, and perfect for games and virtual worlds
– Valve’s creation of the STEAM distribution system, paving the way for online content delivery as well as upstream content creation/distribution/sales
– The emergence of “virtual economies” and studies of their real value
– Longstanding MS goal to be not just a software company, but a major media player
– MS’s ongoing purchases of high-quality game development houses such as Bungie, Ensemble, etc
– MS’s initial involvement with VRML, and then it’s move out and into gaming where the real advances were being made without the concessions and compromises of a consortium
– MS’s positioning of the Xbox as a home media device instead of a game console*
– MS’s attempt to kickstart content development in the mid-90’s by purchasing ultra-pricey SoftImage3D, porting it from the Unix OS to Windows NT, slashing retail prices, and then inexplicably selling it off – leading to a freefall in 3D software pricing
– MS’s seemingly odd practice of hiring artists and content creators (including people studying esoteric musical instruments and such as reported – I believe – in the Seattle press) since the early 1990’s

Note the * item. Seems we got alot of that message from MS during E3. And I’d now add to this list the following:

– the announcement of Will Wright’s Spore (posts here and here) videogame which uses both parametrics and procedurals to allow unprecedented consumer creative potential (it may someday mark the turning point in the deployment and eventual mass acceptance of virtual worlds, imo).
– Sony’s policy shift regarding virtual commerce and the announcement of their new Sony Exchange virtual marketplace (posted originally here).

I already said we should expect a run-up in MS stock here when they were trading $24.19 (March 29) and I see they’re now up to $25.82 barely 7 weeks later. Effectively meaningless, but not bad.