Remote Brains

Gamification: The Game in Advertising

Advertising through computer games has been around longer then most people realise.  From McDonald’s commissioning their own game in 1992 (McDonald Land), all the way through to DunderMifflinInfinity.com (created solely by NBC to generate sponsorship revenue and word-of-mouth buzz for the hit TV show ‘The Office’), advertising and gaming are intertwined more closely then the casual or hardcore gamer realises.   This strand of marketing has become known as ‘Gamification’ and is being used widely by companies and organisations old and new.  The use of game-design techniques to solve problems, motivate, and engage people is not new, but what is new is the technology allowing these elements to be applied to pretty much anything.

Good or Bad?

With computer games and online gaming in particular receiving a lot of bad press (mainly from ill informed tabloid journalism), the role of gaming in advertising could be seen as just another step toward brainwashing a vulnerable and naive young generation.  However advertising has been around for centuries and has yet to cause the collapse of civilisation as we know it.  Whilst it will always be true that there are certain sections of society more susceptible to addiction and being easily led, the majority of the populace know the difference between manipulation and advertising.  More

Online Gaming Etiquette

Etiquette is something I find to be sorely lacking in online gaming and best practice is rarely discussed. When I say the name Jane Austen what do you instantly think of? If you’re like me it’s likely to conjure up gentlemen in tight breeches and ladies in regency gowns. I’ve never actually watched ‘Pride and Prejudice’ but I’ve heard enough about it in the media to get the general gist. Proper etiquette is essential to the way the characters interact with one another. So should it be in the online gaming world.

Now I’m not saying a console game should be based…scrap that thought I’ve just found out there’s an upcoming film called ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’. Imagine it, Elizabeth Bennet prowling around Regency England with a rifle blowing away rabid zombies! Would definitely set it apart from ‘Resident Evil’ et al! Anyway getting back to my original point, part of the focus of Austen’s books is on the manners shown to one another by the characters. I would like to be treated equally well by someone online as I would if we were face-to-face, but experience has taught me not to always expect that.

First off is the subject of good sportsmanship at the end of game. Now I know those in sports don’t always show the highest of respect to officials or to each other but there is an expectation that at the end of a competition the individuals should accept the result with relative good grace. If not, as in football, they are usually shamed or made to feel foolish by the press or via social media. In online gaming I sometimes win but more often lose and am pragmatic enough to accept that situation. I’d like to win all the time but there’s likely to be someone around even better. Reminds me of some of my past job interviews, don’t ask. However other gamers seem unable to deal with losing with calm acceptance, I’m amazed by the inventive ways swear words can be utilised. They must see curse words like Lego bricks. The offenders are sometimes playing against me, on an opposing team or on my own team. I would say it’s childish but that would slander the children!

Stay alert for more lessons.

Heavy Metal

If you like to let off steam when you play your console then Twisted Metal certainly scores higher than Solitaire for out-and-out extreme violence. It has been a long time since the city destroying marathon first came to our attention and the latest version is long overdue.

Twisted Metal is based around a competition, organised by a guy called Calypso, in which much of the landscape is up for destruction as players fight to come out on top.

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Review of The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile

One of the finest games this year could easily be The Dishwater: Vampire Smile with its splatter of violent entertainment. For one the game has flashy action though there is a copious amount of blood at the end of each action. The design gets the scenarios of the game quite a closeness to reality and with its effectiveness, both online and offline, makes the game a value for money.

Vampire Smile is a sequel to The Dishwasher which had the sparks missing and therefore did not last long in the gaming arena. The original game had certain potentials, through that the sequel develops on and builds further making it a much more interesting and engrossing game. Combating a virtual figure in the virtual world could not be more realistic than that which occurs in this game given the smooth controls and the animations that the game makers have indulged in.

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Wipeout 2048

When you play the new game Wipeout 2048 one thing will become clear and that is it’s all about familiarity. From the layout of the tracks, the feel of the ships, to the punch of a rocket. In spite of the fact that you may end up playing this game thousands of time on your Sony console, it will still be as thrilling each time. Here’s a little more about this game for 2012.

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Killzone 3 Video Game Review

Video games are a dime a dozen these day based on the number of games that actually are released each year on the market. Few of them ever make any sort of impact and even fewer are a success. One of the better games to have been released over the past eight years is Killzone, and Killzone 3 is the latest edition in the series. Now Killzone 3 is a first-person shooter that truly draws players into the game. It has excellent pacing and intensity, with exciting combat and a fantastic look and feel.

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MW2

Although I haven’picked up this game a year after its launch, today was the day I cured my curiosity and my verdict is good. Not great, but good. I enjoyed the campaign, however short it was I enjoyed the best of it. The multi-player didn’t hook me in cause after 5 days of it, I felt like it was going on repeat mode. So i put the controller down.
The graphics did a great job, I loved the effects and and everything else, it is traditional modern warfare stuff but with a little bigger punch. Good stuff. Settings, cinematic and visualization all did a good job. The scene that caught me the most was the one when you jump of the ice cliff and hook on the the vertical ice sheet on the other side, your slipping and Soap – the former you grips on to you and pulls you up. Just shows the true toughness of the American solider.
The story, eventhough a short wasn’t much of a story but more a action pack movie. It’s only mean’t to entertain you and thats it. So the story got morale’s and blah and blah that can make you cry and weap, but this is pure Hollywood action.
The sound is good again not perfect, battlefield series are the best in sound design, the AI is good, and that can be a complement as other games though with great visuals have terrible AI. This doesn’t. All in all its been a 5/5 experience, push those Chess Sets aside and be a nerd for a while.

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Kinect and Play

Physiotherapy Jobs are going to be all the rage when hospitals receive the latest casualties from one of gaming’s great inventions. I am of course talking about the X-Box Kinect which since its release has become the fastest selling piece of hardware in gaming history. The only problem with Kinect is that you do need a large living space in order to play it properly.

I tried one out for the first time the other week. I started with Kinect Sports, a seemingly simple yet colourful range of mini games designed to test your whole body reflexes and cause grave injury if anyone is unfortunate enough to get in your way. I enjoyed the football game and it really served to demonstrate just how sensitive and clever the Kinect system is. It tracks your whole body movement and the delay between you moving your hand and the avatar doing the same is less then half a second on a bad day. I really was quite surprised at just how easy the system was to use.

Being a hardcore controller gamer I remember being initially reticent to use Nintendo’s new Wii system back in 2006. Now though I can’t imagine not owning a Wii as whilst some of the games were clearly rushed to take advantage of the new control system, most of the games are clever, intuitive and most of all fun! Microsoft were watching closely and have followed the idea through to its logical conclusion. Now if only Sony could step up their game a bit, we’d see some real competition!

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Finding Free Games Online

Finding free games online is fun but it may not be as easy due to the availability of many gaming websites. You may find it confusing to get the best one from the rest. Even if you like a particular type of game the options are so vast that sometimes it can get really confusing choosing one. When you are in search of a free online game, you should consider several factors.

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Online Gaming – The Best Example Of How Tech Will Change Our Lives

I often get amused when people opine that E commerce is the best thing that happened because of the internet. In my opinion, online gaming is the best thing that has happened because of the internet. Well, those who listen to this opinion point out that there are many individuals who do not play games online. Well, it is just a matter of time before they start playing games on the internet. How?

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