Creativity

New MuseHack Experiment(s)

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First, we have our first talent promotional: http://www.musehack.com/blog/2013/07/musehack-connecting-talents-and-positions.html

See someone you like?  Contact ’em.  See something you want to do, contact ’em.

Also we had the first MuseHackathon tonight!  I’m writing up the results!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

News Roundup 7/26/2013

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EDUCATION:

College appears to be in a kind of peak, which should affect colleges. The for-profits (which seem to be the worst deals) look to be taking a hit as well. Let’s see how/if colleges adjust to this reality.

http://gawker.com/the-college-boom-has-peaked-921579798

MEDIA:

Sharknado is getting a theater release. No, really. As for what this says . . . well, yeah. No I’m not sure, but I’m sure someone will try and imitate this success and fail.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sharknado-theaters-aug-2-594051

TECHNOLOGY:

Google has shown another Living Room device – a kind of meeting system. It looks like the living room really is the site of the next big battle. Be ready for it – if you’re in any form of IT it’s going to affect you.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/07/25/google-has-showed-another-living-room-device-sources/

Is Microsoft on a long, slow decline? Is it getting irrelevant? Here’s some numbers to think about. Also consider this in light of the Google announcement and the XBox One – is the living room a must-enter market for them? Keep this in mind if you work in technology, a Microsoft decline is going to change the landscape.

http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2013/7/20/the-irrelevance-of-microsoft

UK Prime Minister David Cameron thinks he can have a hackhaton to create a porn filter, missing many, many points. Note however that the “hackathon” idea is now in the heads of reactionary panderers.

http://boingboing.net/2013/07/26/no-mr-cameron-you-cant-sol.html

Also Mr. Cameron’s dream filter would censor plenty of other things: http://torrentfreak.com/uk-porn-filter-will-censor-other-content-too-isps-reveal-130726/

Video Games

One game developer gives up on the industry. Food for thought?

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/HaroldLi/20130725/196924/My_Game_Design_Exit_Interview.php

– Steven

Gaming’s Tower of Babel

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A few weeks ago I discovered Rogue Legacy, a brilliant indie game that instantly became a time sink for me over vacation. I even reviewed it at NerdCaliber. No, I haven’t finished it – yet – but it is a fascinating study in getting a game “right” in a way where people “get” it. Also I want to finish it but I started a new job . . . and Cubeworld.

Rogue Legacy is a fusion of several elements:

  • Roguelike randomness (deriving from the early random-dungeon game Rogue).
  • Sidescrolling castle exploration of the “Metroidvania” type (reminiscent of some Metroid games and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
  • Brutal difficulty common to both of those games and popularized in the hardcore games Demons’ Souls and Dark Souls.
  • An aesthetic reminiscent of other hardcore games, Ghosts and Goblins and Ghouls and Ghosts.

Basically you go into a randomly generated castle, explore, die, and then a randomly generated set of ancestors are available for you to take on the journey again to get far enough to win – usually after a lot of descendants.

Now if you’re a gamer like me, you’re already responding to rods like “Roguelike” and “Metroidvania” and “Hardcore.” My choice of words – and Rogue Legacy’s ancestry – speak to powerful and popular concepts in gaming. In short, Rogue Legacy’s designers speak the language of people like me, and a language with years of history. They know what some of us want and how to do it and communicate it.

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