Power of Thought

It’s no secret that Apple Inc. has been on a hardware tear. In the last year alone, there has been a flurry of developments: The company branched into the mobile phone arena with the iPhone. It reinvented the mp3 player with the introduction of the iPod Touch. It worked its way into living rooms with an updated Apple TV.

But Apple is now exploring another hardware technology that has the potential to realign a multibillion dollar industry.

Apple has once again got an itch for gaming.

This isn’t necessarily a new frontier. Fans of the Cupertino-based company may recall how a Steve Jobs-less Apple entered the console gaming fray in 1996 with the troubled Pippin. At best, the Pippin ended up being a costly lesson. At worst, it served as a stinging footnote to the company’s strained relationship with gamers.

Fast forward to the present — the company has enjoyed a string of hardware and software hits and has disrupted the music and mobile phone industries soon after entering them. Today’s Apple certainly has the means to release another console, but let’s face it — a rehashed Pippin would be a huge gamble, considering the established relationships and competition represented by Sony’s PlayStation3, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Wii.

This doesn’t mean that Apple has abandoned ways to break into the gaming market with its desktop hardware. A beefed-up iMac offers an interesting possibility. Adding horsepower to the iMac line isn’t exactly new for Cupertino, but with an overclocked Intel CPU and an nVIDIA 8800M GTS under the hood, the new iMac could easily pass for a leading gaming rig — at least, if there were more developers creating games designed to run on it and OS X.

It seems much more likely that Jobs and Co. may be following a different path to gaming success — domination of the mobile gaming market.

A trademark extension filed last February with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is one of the strategy’s biggest tells. The filing extends Apple’s trademark in regards to:

“Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games.”

Skeptics could easily dismiss this as Apple casting a wide net for future expansion, but a swift call to action seems more likely. Not only are executives well aware of the strong interest in gaming among Mac users (and vendors), but also new conditions exist for gaming to be pushed to the forefront in the Apple hardware and software ecosystem. The faltering company behind the Pippin now dominates several hardware segments, which makes a huge difference in launching a new (and potentially related) product. The problems that the Pippin faced – such as the development and marketing costs associated with an unproven device – would be negated by a gaming platform tied into Apple’s market-dominating and innovative mobile devices.

And here’s the really sneaky part – the iPod Touch and the iPhone are already fully capable of playing games. Apple highlighted this home-court advantage with the recent release of the SDK for the iPhone/iPod Touch. By doing so, Apple let a community of eager third-party developers tackle designing games like “Spore” as well as casual games for its devices that utilize innovative features such as the multitouch screen and motion-sensing accelerometer. Along with all of the development tools necessary for building applications, developers will have the ability to upload and sell their creations through the iPhone App store (naturally, Apple will take a cut).

Consumers are already ga-ga over Apple’s mobile devices to begin with, so whether they should be re-imagined as gaming gadgets is more of a marketing issue. But with the developer community in a tizzy to create the next great Apple-friendly game, it’s only a matter of time before Cupertino announces that it’s ready to connect the dots. Don’t be too surprised if it ends up being Steve’s “one more thing” at next year’s Macworld.

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The US space agency is exploring the possibility of developing a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.

The virtual world would be aimed at students and would “simulate real Nasa engineering and science missions”.

The agency has published a “request for information” (RFI) from organisations interested in developing the platform.

Nasa believe the game would help find the next generation of scientists and engineers needed to fulfil its “vision for space exploration”.

“A high quality synthetic gaming environment is a vital element of Nasa’s educational cyberstructure,” the RFI reads.

“The MMO will foster career exploration opportunities in a much deeper way than reading alone would permit and at a fraction of the time and cost of an internship program.”

Space mission
Nasa already has a presence in the 3D virtual universe.

The agency owns an island in Second Life where individuals and groups with an interest in the space programme can meet, share ideas and conduct experiments.

CoLab, as it is called, is the brainchild of scientists at the Nasa Ames Research Center in San Francisco.

The agency hopes that the environment could one day be used to allow the public to take part in virtual missions.

“We at Nasa are working hard to create opportunities for what I might call participatory exploration,” the director of the project, Simon Worden, has said.

“We are looking at how this island can be a portal for all to fly along on space missions,” he told delegates at the National Space Society’s (NSS) conference last year.

“When the next people step onto the surface of the Moon in a little over a decade, your avatar could be with them,” he said.

The latest proposal was published by Nasa’s Learning Technologies Project Office which supports and develops education projects to promote science and technology.

Job seeker
The document says that games are becoming increasingly important in education and could be useful for teaching a range of skills.

“Virtual worlds with scientifically accurate simulations could permit learners to tinker with chemical reactions in living cells, practice operating and repairing expensive equipment, and experience microgravity,” it says.

The document calls for a game engine that includes “powerful physics capabilities” that can “support accurate in-game experimentation and research”.

“A Nasa-based MMO could provide opportunities for students to investigate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics career paths while participating in engaging game-play.”

Other organisations such as the US armed forces already use online gaming as a recruitment tool.

America’s Army for example introduces players to the “seven Army Core Values” and now claims to be one of “the most popular computer games in the world”.

Nasa has asked for interested organisations to respond to the request by the 15 February.

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One can say it many times and in many ways, but the truth remains the same: you should own Super Mario Galaxy.

This game sets the standard for presentation values on Wii. After playing Galaxy, it will quickly become apparent how little effort many developers have put into tapping the power of the console. This is a game that simply could not be pulled off on GameCube; any excuses that the Wii can’t handle ‘next-gen graphics’ should be disregarded entirely. At the same time, Galaxy proves that graphics alone cannot make a beautiful game; only through the seamless mixture of visuals, music and interactivity can a game become truly memorable. Mario’s latest adventure succeeds in all of these ways, and thereby earns The Wiire’s Eye Candy and Audio awards.

This game sets the standard for platformers and game variety. Exploring the game’s 30 galaxies is just as magical, if not more so, than traversing Princess Peach’s castle for the first time in Super Mario 64. Transforming a whole universe into one’s virtual playground is a significant step forward for the genre, one that Mario pulls off elegantly. Just when you think the game couldn’t output more awe-inducing moments, it proves you terribly mistaken. Running, jumping, swinging, collecting, surfing, balancing, spinning, flying, floating - if you can think it, chances are this game has it. Even more impressive is how the developers combined these elements so sensibly; all of the actions feel perfectly integrated with the world. For this, the game earns The Wiire’s Innovative Design award.

This game sets the standard for family interaction. Allowing a second player to control the star pointer as a means of easing them into the gameplay, or just to allow another person to share in the experience, works brilliantly. It would have been nice if players could switch back and forth in their roles without having to physically exchange controllers, but it’s still a fun mechanic that brings people together. For this, the game earns The Wiire’s Family Fun award.

The most dedicated players will still see nearly 20-30 hours of their lives lost if they pursue every star and secret. Other gamers may take weeks, playing in small bursts and cherishing every moment. The game easily accommodates any schedule and play style. When it’s done, many find themselves starting over - the game is that alluring. For this, Super Mario Galaxy earns The Wiire’s Infinite Replay award.

Super Mario Galaxy earns The Wiire’s Editor’s Choice award because it is why you bought a Wii; if you don’t own the console, this game is one of the best reasons to board the bandwagon. Do service to yourself, and to the extremely talented developers at Nintendo’s Tokyo studio, by letting Mario take you on a trip you won’t soon forget.

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Wii might be scooping up all the sales, but the game lineup for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is just as strong as for Nintendo’s fun little console. And not just because of Halo 3: Games for every kind of player surface this month. Here’s what we’ve been playing.

The Orange Box
Valve’s The Orange Box, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, is crammed to the gills with value. There’s so much content that I couldn’t devote more than a few hours to each of the three games in the box.

Storytelling is the strength of Half-Life 2, a critically acclaimed shooter originally released in 2004 and making its debut on Xbox and PS3 in this collection.

From the opening moments, when you step off a train into the grip of a prison city controlled by an Orwellian dictator, Half-Life 2 builds its world and characters in a realistic, subtle fashion that makes most other game narratives seem ham-fisted. It doesn’t hurt that the shooting action is also excellent, or that the package is completed with physics-based puzzles (stacking up bricks on a seesaw so the other half supports your weight, for example).

I sank even more time into Portal, a brilliant experiment in game design included in The Orange Box. In this first-person puzzle game, you get from place to place by creating portals that warp the fabric of space and time.

Retraining your brain to think outside the boundaries of physical space is a fascinating and often challenging concept, supported by a hilarious comedic story line.

If it’s multiplayer action you’re after, Team Fortress 2 is where you’ll spend the most time. Like most squad-based online games, your team has to take over the enemy’s base or capture their flag. But here, you can choose from nine totally different character types every time you respawn.

Do you want to lug around a massive gun and blow away the opposition? Fine. But you can also be a battlefield medic, healing your friends. Or (my personal favorite) become a spy, don the enemy’s colors and infiltrate their base without them even knowing.

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The creator of Second Life and technology stalwart IBM announced Wednesday they have joined forces to knock down walls separating virtual worlds on the Internet.

The US firms are using a Virtual Worlds Expo and Conference in San Jose, California, to promote enabling people’s animated online personae, referred to as “avatars,” to freely roam from one virtual world to another.

Currently, avatars are trapped in the virtual worlds in which they are created.

Since people routinely spend hours customizing online proxies with hairstyles, tattoos, wardrobes, skin tone and more, they are averse to repeating the processes in multiple virtual worlds.

This fact is thwarting the virtual life universe from reaching its potential as a place to socialize, advertise, do business and make money, according to San Francisco based Linden Lab, which created Second Life.

“You spend an enormous amount of time on your avatar’s appearances and the things it uses to interact and you want to take those with you,” Linden vice president of business affairs Ginsu Yoon told AFP.

“We don’t think the future of virtual worlds is going to involve a lot of siloed experiences competing against each other. The future is going to involve going from one world to another.”

Pioneering virtual world Second Life has approximately 10 million registered users, with nearly ten percent of those “residents” having logged into the virtual world in the past 30 days.

Other flourishing online worlds include Gaia, which is inhabited with avatars inspired by Japanese anime cartoon characters, and Entropia Universe founded in Sweden more than a decade ago.

IBM and Linden are crafting interoperability standards and protocols based on open-source software in the hopes they will result in open borders between virtual worlds.

IBM’s vision of the future of “three-dimensional Internet” includes companies using virtual worlds for tasks such as recruiting, meetings, and employee training.

“As the 3-D Internet becomes more integrated with the web, we see users demanding more from these environments and desiring virtual worlds that are fit for business,” said IBM digital convergence vice president Colin Parris.

Businesses have already followed people into virtual worlds; opening shops to promote brands and even sell items that are delivered to avatars’ counterparts in the real world.

Investors channeled more than a billion dollars (US) into “in-world” companies during the past year, according to virtual world conference organizers.

Virtual worlds will duplicate the explosive expansion of Internet websites that occurred in the 1990s if, as is the case browsing online, users are free to go whether they choose, Yoon predicts.

Gartner research firm predicts that by 2011, 80 percent of the people using the internet will have alter egos in virtual worlds.

“What we are really trying to do is lead an effort that others will want to join,” Yoon said. “None of this stuff is going to be enforced by the will of unreasoned dictate. I’m sure there will be the usual amounts of interest and skepticism mixed together.”

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