Plataformed

The Future of Gaming is Here

7:57 PM

SirLeshchuk

GDC came and went again, and once again, the Developer's conference has delivered something for gamers to look forward to. Epic finally unveiled some of the details behind their Unreal Engine 3, which supports full Direct X11. The event itself has brought some exciting news, however, to some, even words like DirectX 11 or even Unreal Engine mean nothing, so I won't even go into detail Subsurface Scattering and Deferred Rendering. What I will do is explain what the mean for gaming visuals in the most simple terms possible, with images to help illustrate this provided by ign.com. The big draw is realistic lighting reflections. Pre

viously something incredibly difficult to render graphically is now coming around. It demonstrates how light now acts more realistic on a variety of surfaces. This allows for more interaction with the environment as well as for overall better looking games. Subsurface Scattering also deals with rendering light, and its easiest to explain using the example of a human being as opposed to a plastic action figure. The light doesn't always reflect off human skin making it look glossy like many video games have been displaying it lately. On the contrary, it is quite common for it to penetrate certain areas. Even games that have had amazing visuals (see Uncharted) have also fallen to such smaller details. What Epic promises with Unreal E

ngine 3 is indeed something revolutionary for lighting in game visuals.

The other big thing about the engine

is anti-aliasing. Aliasing refers to the jagged look of a lot of video games, sharp edges where those shouldn't be. The new engine promises a more refined process that makes surfaces smoother, especially hair.

There are a few other innovative ideas that come from Unreal Engine 3. The new engine will also aid in better displaying depth of field for many games as well as make deferred rendering available to a wider array of developers. Deferred rendering allows for scenes in games to be "drawn" at the last possible second which also allows to get

more lighting and details to be displayed on screen. For more information and a detailed breakdown of all of the features by someone who knows a whole lot more than me head over to IGN.

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Gaming as a Cause for Concern

2:42 PM

Liz Says

Gaming addiction: is it a problem or does it have the potential for problems? The Ottawa Citizen feels there is cause for concern in this recent article:

A game too far: When kids, gaming, and parenting collide

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Mac vs PC: Gaming

9:08 PM

Liz Says

So, I think we can all agree the Mac vs. PC thing is kinda a moot point now. Who cares what system you use? Well, gamers know who's the boss. Here's some of the funnier spoofs out there:

and

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What type of gamer are you?

5:16 PM

Liz Says

Casual gamer

A casual gamer is a player whose time or interest in playing games is limited. Casual gamers tend to play games designed for ease of gameplay and don't spend much time playing more involved games. The genres that casual gamers play vary, and they might not own a specific video game console to play their games. Casual gaming demographics vary greatly from those of traditional computer games, as the typical casual gamer is older and more predominantly female.One casual gamer subset is the "fitness gamer", who plays motion-based exercise games.

Hardcore gamer

Hardcore gamers prefer to take significant time and practice on games, and tend to play more involved games that require larger amounts of time to complete or master. Competition is another defining characteristic of hardcore gamers, who often compete in organized tournaments, leagues, or ranked play integrated into the game proper. There are many subtypes of hardcore gamers based on the style of game, gameplay preference, hardware platform, and other preferences.

Pro gamer

Professional gamers play video games for money. Whether a professional gamer is a subtype of the hardcore gamer largely depends on the degree to which a professional gamer is financially dependent upon the income derived from gaming. So far as a professional gamer is financially dependent upon gaming, the time spent playing is no longer "leisure" time. In countries of Asia, particularly South Korea and Japan, professional gamers are sponsored by large companies and can earn more than $100,000USD a year, in addition to the following that some obtain.

Newbie

Newbie, or "noob", is a slang term for a novice to a certain game, or to gaming in general. It can have derogatory connotations, but is also often used for descriptive purposes only, without a value judgment. Two derived terms are "newb", a beginner who is willing to learn; and "noob", a derogatory name (an alternate spelling for noob is n00b).

Retrogamer

A retrogamer is a gamer preferring playing and collecting retro games - older computer, video, and arcade games. The term retrogamer is used mostly in the UK and Europe, while the terms classic gamer, or old school gamer are more prevalent in the US and Canada. The games are played either on the original hardware , on modern hardware via emulators. Some retrogamers are in the business of refurbishing old games like arcade games, while some even make their own.

Girl gamer

A girl gamer is any female who regularly engages in playing video games. According to a study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association in 2009, 40% of the game playing population is female, and women 18 or older now comprise 34% of all gamers. Also, the percentage of women now playing online has risen to 43%, up 4% from 2004. The same study shows that 48% of game purchasers are female.

Gaymer

Gaymer is an umbrella term used to refer to the group of people who identify themselves as part of the LGBTQ and have an active interest in the video game community (gamers). While mostly used as a positive identifier by those within the group and their supporters, it can also be used in a derogatory fashion, similar to its root word.

(Wikipedia.org)

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