mssv

  • A History of the Future in 100 Objects

    ·

    2–3 minutes

    ·

    1 comment on A History of the Future in 100 Objects

    Last year, I listened to a programme on Radio 4 called A History of the World in 100 Objects. It took 25 hours, or 1500 minutes. In the show, the BBC and the British Museum attempted to describe the entire span of human history through 100 objects – from a 2 million year-old Olduvai stone…

  • A Tale from the Academy

    ·

    1–2 minutes

    ·

    3 comments on A Tale from the Academy

    To my utter amazement, I turned my computer on this morning to discover an email from none other than Kurt McAllister! As far as I was aware, communications between Earth and Perplex City were strictly monitored, and as you might imagine, these days I simply don’t have the clearance to send or receive anything at…

  • On Justice (2010 Reviews, Part 1)

    ·

    3–4 minutes

    ·

    No comments on On Justice (2010 Reviews, Part 1)

    Since moving into a new flat two months ago, I resolved to demolish my pile of unread books that had been eyeing me reproachfully for far too long. Counting some extra books I tackled after the pile of doom, I read: Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael Sandel The Lifecycle of Software…

  • Yakuza 3: A Serious Game

    ·

    10–15 minutes

    ·

    2 comments on Yakuza 3: A Serious Game

    I fell in love with Yakuza 3 at five different moments. Let me count them: (It goes without saying that there are spoilers below – but only for the early/mid game) 1. Nakahara’s Pride Kiryuu Kazuma, the hero of Yakuza 3, spends much of his time cooking dinner and solving petty disputes about pocket money…

  • In Defence of Gameification

    ·

    3–5 minutes

    ·

    4 comments on In Defence of Gameification

    There’s been lots of joking going on about gameification and pointification and badgeification lately. Everything is being gameified, and game designers don’t like it. It’s a bit odd – shouldn’t game designers like game mechanics (and points and badges) being applied to the world? Aren’t game mechanics great ways of engaging people and producing fun,…

  • More on the Death of Publishers

    ·

    5–8 minutes

    ·

    6 comments on More on the Death of Publishers

    If book publishers want to see the next decade in any reasonable health, then it’s absolutely imperative that they rethink their pricing strategies and business models right now. Hopefully this example will illustrate why: I’m a big fan of Iain Banks’ novels; I always buy them in hardback as soon as they come out. It…

  • The iPad and the Kindle

    ·

    2–3 minutes

    ·

    1 comment on The iPad and the Kindle

    Since I installed the iOS 4.2 Beta on my iPad, which allows for multitasking and folders, I’ve been pushing it as far as it can go as a work machine. Now that navigating between apps is much, much smoother, I can actually keep an IRC window open at the same time as writing email and…

  • What if the Civilization music had lyrics?

    ·

    1–2 minutes

    ·

    No comments on What if the Civilization music had lyrics?

    Bonus 11th Civilization post!

  • Civilization Forever

    ·

    3–4 minutes

    ·

    3 comments on Civilization Forever

    This is the end, my friends – it’s the tenth and final post of my month-long Civilization series that’s touched on storytelling, addiction, democracy games, education, music, after-action reports, Alpha Centauri, and Sid Meier’s other games. There’s a reason why I can write ten posts on Civilization – it’s one of the most compelling and…

  • Covert Action and Pirates

    ·

    5–7 minutes

    ·

    No comments on Covert Action and Pirates

    After Shigeru Miyamoto – the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda – Sid Meier was only the second person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. A quick look at Sid’s credits reveals why, with its dozens of award-winning games, ranging from flight simulators, spy games, golfing…