Final Fantasy IV contains a rich story and a highly memorable cast that still resonate some 20 years after it was first released. FFIV: The Complete Collection adds a contemporary touch to this epic, implementing enhanced visuals while maintaining its ground-breaking battle system. The package also contains The After Years, a sequel first released in the US as WiiWare in 2009. The collection marks the first time that both updated games have been brought together, along with a new chapter that acts as a fun transition. With updated visuals and plenty of fast-paced combat, this collection breathes fresh life into a rewarding classic.
Innovators in technology and design continually reimagine computer games. User-generated content for commercial games (Spore, Little Big Planet), social network games (Farmville), vast simulation worlds with their own economies (World of Warcraft), games using mobile phones to augment reality (Ghostwire)--ten years ago these were dreams, and now they're part of the cultural fabric. As the imagined becomes real, the question of "what's next?" confronts both academic researchers and the game industry.
"Inventing the Future of Games," a day-long symposium April 15 in Silicon Valley, aims to explore the possibilities of the next decade of gaming innovation and technology. Sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Center for Games and Playable Media, the symposium will gather some of the brightest minds of academia and industry to discuss the advancement of game design and technology.
The Inventing the Future of Games Symposium 2011 was on Thursday, and I’m glad I went. Got to see a lot of friends and hear some interesting speeches.
The one that stood out the most for me was Rod Humble’s. While he took a rather bleak perspective to the future, he was asking great questions. Can games reflect humanity in a way that has never been done before, that changes our cultural viewpoint of ourselves? I found it fascinating that he flat out said, paraphrasing here for memory reasons: “Games are art. We showed up with signs to protest our exclusion and they held the door open for us,” and “The power of our medium is frightening. What other medium is designed to focus us for 500 hours?” and “The most noble art to make is one that reflects nature. Including human nature.” It’s well worth a watch when the video comes out, and perusing the twitter feed (#ifog2011).
this sucks!
Interested in improving education?
Me too. We need computer science cartoons.Inspired to start programming?
There are lots of ways (and lots of things) you can learn for free.How or why did you learn to program?
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from gillian