Barrel Distortion

Fingerspitzengefühl

Sat, 12 May 2012 22:10:00 -0400

Fingerspitzengefühl is a German term, literally meaning “finger tips feeling” and meaning intuitive flair or instinct…

The term is only figurative, and cannot in itself give a realistic picture of the ability being described. It is cognitively related to personal possession of multiple intelligences, notably those pertinent to visual and spatial data processing. The term indicates that in addition to any discursive processing of information that the commander may be conducting (i.e., mental thinking through things in inner discourse), something else is going on, the simultaneous assignment of cognitive relationships between disparate pieces of information reaching the commander and immediate re-synthesis of the whole picture.

Even though there is no physical connection between the commander and his troops, other than conduits for discursive information such as radio signals, it is as if he had his own sensitive presence in each spot.

Read more here.

geometrydaily: #124 Cuboctahedron – A new minimal geometric...

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:52:10 -0400

geometrydaily:

#124 Cuboctahedron – A new minimal geometric composition each day

The Trouble With Call of Duty’s Scary New War of the Future

Mon, 07 May 2012 17:51:00 -0400

Paolo Pedercini in Kotaku:

The story of how Oliver North went from being a convicted felon for these activities, to Republican candidate for the Senate, best-selling author, news commentator for Fox News and eventually testimonial/media-stuntman for Activision, is a kind of twisted version of the American Dream that I’m not going to tell.

Back to the trailer: it’s quite unusual to see a major game developer contextualizing a title in relation to current, hotly-debated issues; that is, avoiding the notorious “it’s just a game” stance and acknowledging that military-themed games are part of a larger discourse around war. It’s also somewhat gutsy to take a clear political position by hiring a figure like North. I personally would love to see more game companies taking their roles as cultural producers this seriously.

As it turns out, it’s hard to sell a shooter about black operations without glorifying the real black operations. The “documentary” feels like a polished piece of propaganda that may have come straight out of the Department of Defense.

Read more here.

Rise of the Existential Crisis: How One Woman Nearly Never Finished a Book Review

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:47:09 -0400

Jenn Frank in Unwinnable:

Do I have to make a game? Do I have to answer Anthropy’s clarion call?

I mean, I agree that games are important – often banal, sure, but sometimes larger and greater than the sum of their parts – and Rise of the Videogame Zinesters goes a long way in exploring how important videogames are, what videogames can do, how they function as autobiographical documents. But that alone will not make me want to turn my autobiography, my personal data and baggage and girlhood and adulthood, into a game.

I cannot begin to imagine building a game, even as the book tries to imagine the process for me. And okay, this book has convinced me I can, and that you can, and that’s nice, but I’m not sure anyone can be convinced towant to.

What if I don’t want to make a game? What if I only want to play them? What if that is enough for me?

Suppose I feel like – or suppose I might be worried, maybe – I can only say things with words.

Suppose I have a dying need to over-explain, to never let a videogame do all the subtle work for me. Suppose I might be misunderstood; worse, suppose a game left me overexposed. No, I’m not too sure I have an entire game in me.

Read more here.

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Fri, 04 May 2012 07:35:48 -0400

Diablo 3's Ability System

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:27:38 -0400

David Sirlin on sirlin.net:

Allocating stat points as you level up: gone. Great, this was busywork that contributed basically nothing, so the subtractive design makes the game more elegant overall.

Talent trees: gone. You have exactly 6 slots for abilities, and you can put whatever you want in those slots. There are approximately 24 abilities per class, so your build involves making meaningful choices about what to keep and what to leave out.

Runes: interesting new feature. I read that this system took far longer to design than any other system in Diablo 3, and I totally believe it. When I first saw the interface in the recent open beta test, I couldn’t believe what I saw. I was so blown away, that I had to go read about it before clicking on anything because it appeared too good to be true. I think this actually happens a lot in design, where when you finally create / see / experience the “right answer,” it seems so obvious, like it couldn’t have been any other way, but it might have taken years for the designers to figure out that answer. Elegance is hard.

Read more here.

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Thu, 03 May 2012 13:17:37 -0400

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Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:14:35 -0400

(via These Movies Are Old. - Justin Mezzell)

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:47:51 -0500

(via These Movies Are Old. - Justin Mezzell)

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Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:22:46 -0500

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Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:23:59 -0500

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Video

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:44:28 -0500

(via My computer program is like a piano. I could continue to...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:43:38 -0500

(via My computer program is like a piano. I could continue to use it… - but does it float)

(via Weather Master Wall Clock — ACCESSORIES — Better...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:43:07 -0500

(via Weather Master Wall Clock — ACCESSORIES — Better Living Through Design)

(via Cork Planter Bookend Set — ACCESSORIES — Better...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:42:46 -0500

(via Cork Planter Bookend Set — ACCESSORIES — Better Living Through Design)

(via Auroville belongs to nobody in particular - but does it...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:42:23 -0500

(via Auroville belongs to nobody in particular - but does it float)