Major League Baseball 2K10 Stats & Splits Trailer

The Real Language of Baseball – Stats & Splits! What will happen this year?

Originally posted here:
Major League Baseball 2K10 Stats & Splits Trailer

Major League Baseball 2K10 Stats & Splits Trailer

The Real Language of Baseball – Stats & Splits! What will happen this year?

See the original post here:
Major League Baseball 2K10 Stats & Splits Trailer

Major League Baseball 2K10 Stats & Splits Trailer

The Real Language of Baseball – Stats & Splits! What will happen this year?

Read this article:
Major League Baseball 2K10 Stats & Splits Trailer

Coming to PSN this Week: Darksiders Demo

It’s been over a month since Darksiders released with near-universal critical praise, and the team at Vigil Studios is still hard at work. On Thursday, Vigil releases a demo for Darksiders . This isn’t your typical demo, however. It packs an unprecedented 90 minutes of gameplay, encompassing the entire first dungeon of the game: the Twilight Cathedral. I had a chance to talk to Vigil’s Creative Director and comic book legend, Joe Madureira (Joe Mad) — along with composers Mike Reagan and Cris Valesco — to get some more info on the demo: Now that Darksiders has been out for a few weeks, what do you think about the fans’ reactions to the game? Joe: We are incredibly excited to finally get Darksiders into people’s hands! The response has been fantastic. We already have armies of ravenous fans clamoring for a sequel, and that’s a dream come true for us. For Vigil, the development of Darksiders was almost as epic a journey as War’s is in the game—so of course, we’re excited to finally see it through to its end. We look forward to hearing from even more gamers over the next few months as they check out the demo, and news of the game spreads. Let’s talk about the demo. What can fans expect from the demo, and where does this take place within the main story? Joe: In this demo, War has been tasked with retrieving the heart of one of the Destroyer’s chosen. Tiamat, a massive demon queen is not about to give it up without a fight, so you’ll have to pry it from her cold, dead body. Luckily, this is just the sort of thing that the Horsemen of the Apocalypse are good at—and War is probably the toughest of the bunch. Of course at this point, War’s powers have been stripped from him, so he’ll have to use every weapon at his disposal, and locate the ancient artifact called the Cross Blade. Its mastery is vital to navigating the Cathedral, and ultimately bringing down Tiamat. The Cathedral itself is chock full of puzzles and other hazards, and of course, it is home to a host of the Destroyers minions. Be especially wary as you approach the walking pile of cadaverous flesh that is—the Jailer! When you meet him, you’ll see why… Darksiders is obviously a game with an epic scope. Why choose to focus the demo on the Twilight Cathedral? Joe: It’s true, there is so much to do, and so much to see in Darksiders, that it was difficult to pick one area to feature. We liked the Cathedral because it’s a self contained chunk of the game that’s fairly early on, so it’s easier to pick up and play. It’s also the first ‘dungeon’ experience in the game, so it’s a good one for players to learn the game’s structure. The dungeon exploration, using keys, solving puzzles, mastering the dungeon’s gear item ( Crossblade ) and of course, introducing tougher enemies and boss battles. It really gives you a taste of the adventure aspect of Darksiders, and hopefully will show gamers just how far from being a typical hack-n-slash Darksiders actually is. After playing the demo, what do you want fans to know about the rest of the game? Joe: By the time you beat the demo, you’re going to realize one thing—this is an adventure game! That’s right, you can go back to any area even after you beat it. You’ll want to do this because War is not equipped to find everything his first time through most areas. As War gains new abilities and items, he will be able to unlock areas of the levels previously unattainable. This creates an interesting pace, where combat is carefully balanced with exploration and puzzle solving. It’s not just a button mashing combat drill! That said, I do think it’s important to note that we at Vigil just LOVE to create kick ass enemies. There are some truly cool looking creatures in this game that make for fun and memorable battles! The bosses in particular are a lot of fun and end in a rewarding mess of gore! So what are you waiting for? Check out the demo, and pick up a copy today. YOU MUST OWN THIS GAME PEOPLE!!!! If you’ve been on Home lately, you may have seen the occasional Angel, Demon, Horseman, or Man-Horse walking around. We wanted to give the denizens of Home a chance show their allegiance to Heaven, Hell, or the Horsemen. We tried to pick some of the more iconic images from the game – including angel wings and demon horns. It’s a real credit to Joe and the rest of the team at Vigil that the characters and costumes look just as cool in the “real-world” Home environment as in the “comic-inspired” game environment. What’s most impressive is that we were able to take some of the in-game models and port them directly into the Home environment. We recently released War’s armor with the Mask of Shadows. My favorite item, however, is the Ruin horse head mask. It’s at the same time awesome and disturbing. I can’t deny the fact that I was partially inspired by a certain burlap-skinned character from one of my favorite side-scrolling platformers. If you’re a Darksiders fan, or just want to show your good, evil, or creepy side – go check out the Darksiders virtual items! Lastly, I spoke with composers Mike Reagan and Cris Valesco about the incredible music in Darksiders. You may not know their names, but you definitely know their work – God of War and God of War II being two of their most well-known titles. What other games have you worked together on? Mike: This was really the first project that Cris and I truly collaborated and wrote a theme together. Previously, we had both been hired individually to work on the God of War series . Cris: Mike and I have previously worked on the God of War series together as well as Van Helsing. However, this was the first time that we were actually able to collaborate on actual music. In the past we’ve always just worked on our own music independently. This time we were really able to brainstorm on the Darksiders Main Theme and I think it really shows. What was your inspiration for the “sound” of Darksiders? Mike: Spiritual warfare was a key motivator, and we wanted to create a sound that could be heard in complete darkness and convey a haunting experience. The Choir as well as the solo boy soprano sung by Zack Weisberg really added something special to the sound. Cris: Darksiders clearly has some religious connotations attached to it and we wanted to take advantage of that with the choir. They’re singing in Sanskrit throughout. This language dates back as far as 1500 BC so we thought this would help give the music a sense of weight and age. What is your favorite track? Mike: I’m really proud of the Main Theme that Cris and I did together, and the pieces with longer melodies that work really well over the Boss themes as well. Cris: The Main Theme that Mike and I wrote is probably the stand-out track in the game. It’s definitely my favorite piece. I also really liked the boss music that Mike wrote for the Greaver. Of my own music in the game, I am partial to the final boss music. This track and the Main Theme were actually performed live at the Night In Fantasia ’09 concert in Sydney this last summer too! Thanks for reading. I hope everyone enjoys the demo!

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Coming to PSN this Week: Darksiders Demo

Imaginary Triumphs: Sports As A Role-Playing Game [Stick Jockey]

We stalk back to the visitor’s clubhouse, everyone suffused with silent disgust. In my big-league debut, family beaming from the stands, I scattered five hits and one run over eight innings. Behind that my teammates, the Washington Nationals, scored nothing. Their eyes follow me all the way up the Citi Field ramp. The tension is upon us all; I’m the phenom with the 98-mph blowtorch. My starts are found money, the opportunity that can’t be wasted. When they are, it makes my distance from the team even more apparent. It makes it worse. And it makes it all up to me. I fire my glove into my dressing room stall and stand atop my chair. The writers are outside but I’m sure they can hear. “You know what, fuck this game,” I say. “This game is over and I no longer give a shit and none of you should either. We play tomorrow and I pitch next week and when I do I swear to you I will fuck the Braves up.” • • • None of this happened in MLB 09 The Show. Nor will it happen in MLB 10 The Show. Nor, considering the language, will it ever happen in a licensed video game. I made it all up in my mind. I said these things to a television screen, stabbing my finger in the air in an empty room. It was another episode in a freelance narrative I’d pieced together over a month while brushing my teeth, getting the mail and buying groceries. “No one has yet calculated how many imaginary triumphs are celebrated by people each year to keep up their courage,” the Greek rhetorician Athenaeus wrote around 200 A.D. Even if it were calculable, the number has surely mushroomed in the advent of sports simulation gaming. And it’s a figure that can only grow, for sports are the undiscovered country for the role-playing genre in video games. It’s an urge that’s been brewing for years and has only recently been tapped by solo-player career modes like NCAA Football’s Road to Glory, NBA 2K’s My Player and MLB The Show’s exceptional Road to the Show. But it lies outside the design orthodoxy of both console role-playing games and sports simulations. Sword-and-shield RPGs, no matter how open-world they profess to be, still supply a backstory, a goal and missions. Sports simulations have none, beyond the player’s institutional memory of the league and its performers, then the games he plays, and the continuity he remembers. RPGs will create milestones as one progresses through the story. In a sports career mode, not only must the player achieve them, he must create them. Nothing foreordains a seventh-game World Series showdown by your fifth – or any – year in the majors, but such climactic events are essential to standard RPGs. Yesterday I put the question to the MLB The Show team. Is what you make a role-playing game? I expect them to say yes. Why not? It appeals to more players, right? Not exactly. “I think we do a good job of tiptoeing that line” said Aaron Luke, a designer on the MLB 10 The Show team. And for a genre where true-to-life simulation sells the most copies, tiptoeing the line is about as far as anyone wants to go right now. “One of the things that makes it hard to commit fully to a role playing game, even though the aspects of creating a player and improving him and customizing him are there,” said senior designer Eddy Cramm, “is that role playing games come from a basis of fantasy and make-believe. But baseball, a sports game, is based on reality. When you’re making a sports game, you are all about making it more accurate and true to life.” That’s not to say your accomplishments in MLB The Show, or any sports game, take place in a vacuum. The announcers will tell the viewers you’re making your debut. Through the seventh inning of a no-hitter, the ritual of not mentioning the elephant in the room begins. Closing in on a milestone victory, home run or hit carries its own special audio and cut scene, with celebration and catharsis. But sports games still must serve the here and now more than posterity. There’s a tremendous multiplayer constituency that console RPGs don’t have to serve. “Me, I’m more of an on-the-field guy,” says Cramm, “I play against a buddy, and that’s my competition. But there are a lot of guys out there who want to compete against themselves, who want that role-playing aspect, that career aspect. It’s important to reach them, too.” Luke, however, is a man after my own heart. As a designer, he’s played thousands of games. But his most memorable one goes back to the original Road to the Show mode of MLB 07 The Show. “That’s the one I’ll always remember,” he said, “I’m a Cubs fan, so I specifically remember pitching for Chicago, it was in the playoffs of my third major league season and I was the No. 3 starter.” Cramm nods at this. “This is three years later. It was one video game, and he still has an attachment to that moment,” he says. “I think it says a lot.” I understand that sports simulations are largely sold on how well they reflect real life. You’ll see it when MLB 10 The Show’s marketing campaign ramps up. But that value isn’t mutually exclusive to the fantasy it can deliver – which is the longest and most commonly held dream of a population more vast than video gamers worldwide. Generations of men have died wanting it before the pitch was thrown, the first goal scored, the first touchdown made on an Atari 2600: Make the big leagues. Win the big game. Hear the cheering of thousands. Now, if only as a palliative for our own regrets, missed opportunities, inadequacies or failures, video games are starting to soothe that. “That exact philosophy is what spawned the Road to the Show mode three years ago,” Luke said, “taking someone through that experience, something we all wish we had.” • • • Luke treasures his first major league shutout. And now I’m on a mission for mine. In my second start the Nationals face the Braves in Atlanta. In the second inning, Ryan Zimmerman pumps a solo shot off Javier Vazquez to get us on top 1-0. (Vazquez, like others in this simulation of a 2011 season, have signed with different teams in real life 2010). I scatter a couple hits over three and the game locks into a pitcher’s duel through five. In the sixth I come to bat and Vazquez hits me on my right forearm, the nonpitching one. In the bottom of the inning, he comes to the plate with one out, everyone expecting me, the hothead, to hit him. I dismiss Vazquez on three fastballs. Then I deliberately put on two runners so I can face Chipper Jones, the future hall of famer, Mr. Brave, hitting third. Without hesitation I blast Jones between the shoulder blades, loading the bases. Only the implausible foolishness of the situation saves me from an ejection. I shrug and pat my jersey front but I can’t even hear the umpire’s warning; my ears ring with the hate of the Turner Field crowd. But I make sure to leave the mound casually after freezing free-agent pickup Pat Burrell with a 1-2 change, plate umpire Mac Harvey pumping his elbow and punching at the Braves’ dugout for effect. Turner Field in April is a mausoleum as I finish this out. The score is again 1-0. This time, we win. My 11 strikeouts and one hit batsman have delivered on my promise. Two weeks ago I made the major leagues. But in my second start, I have made this team. Stick Jockey is Kotaku’s column on sports video games. It appears Saturdays at 2 p.m. U.S. Mountain time.

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Imaginary Triumphs: Sports As A Role-Playing Game [Stick Jockey]

Imaginary Triumphs: Sports As A Role-Playing Game [Stick Jockey]

We stalk back to the visitor’s clubhouse, everyone suffused with silent disgust. In my big-league debut, family beaming from the stands, I scattered five hits and one run over eight innings. Behind that my teammates, the Washington Nationals, scored nothing. Their eyes follow me all the way up the Citi Field ramp. The tension is upon us all; I’m the phenom with the 98-mph blowtorch. My starts are found money, the opportunity that can’t be wasted. When they are, it makes my distance from the team even more apparent. It makes it worse. And it makes it all up to me. I fire my glove into my dressing room stall and stand atop my chair. The writers are outside but I’m sure they can hear. “You know what, fuck this game,” I say. “This game is over and I no longer give a shit and none of you should either. We play tomorrow and I pitch next week and when I do I swear to you I will fuck the Braves up.” • • • None of this happened in MLB 09 The Show. Nor will it happen in MLB 10 The Show. Nor, considering the language, will it ever happen in a licensed video game. I made it all up in my mind. I said these things to a television screen, stabbing my finger in the air in an empty room. It was another episode in a freelance narrative I’d pieced together over a month while brushing my teeth, getting the mail and buying groceries. “No one has yet calculated how many imaginary triumphs are celebrated by people each year to keep up their courage,” the Greek rhetorician Athenaeus wrote around 200 A.D. Even if it were calculable, the number has surely mushroomed in the advent of sports simulation gaming. And it’s a figure that can only grow, for sports are the undiscovered country for the role-playing genre in video games. It’s an urge that’s been brewing for years and has only recently been tapped by solo-player career modes like NCAA Football’s Road to Glory, NBA 2K’s My Player and MLB The Show’s exceptional Road to the Show. But it lies outside the design orthodoxy of both console role-playing games and sports simulations. Sword-and-shield RPGs, no matter how open-world they profess to be, still supply a backstory, a goal and missions. Sports simulations have none, beyond the player’s institutional memory of the league and its performers, then the games he plays, and the continuity he remembers. RPGs will create milestones as one progresses through the story. In a sports career mode, not only must the player achieve them, he must create them. Nothing foreordains a seventh-game World Series showdown by your fifth – or any – year in the majors, but such climactic events are essential to standard RPGs. Yesterday I put the question to the MLB The Show team. Is what you make a role-playing game? I expect them to say yes. Why not? It appeals to more players, right? Not exactly. “I think we do a good job of tiptoeing that line” said Aaron Luke, a designer on the MLB 10 The Show team. And for a genre where true-to-life simulation sells the most copies, tiptoeing the line is about as far as anyone wants to go right now. “One of the things that makes it hard to commit fully to a role playing game, even though the aspects of creating a player and improving him and customizing him are there,” said senior designer Eddy Cramm, “is that role playing games come from a basis of fantasy and make-believe. But baseball, a sports game, is based on reality. When you’re making a sports game, you are all about making it more accurate and true to life.” That’s not to say your accomplishments in MLB The Show, or any sports game, take place in a vacuum. The announcers will tell the viewers you’re making your debut. Through the seventh inning of a no-hitter, the ritual of not mentioning the elephant in the room begins. Closing in on a milestone victory, home run or hit carries its own special audio and cut scene, with celebration and catharsis. But sports games still must serve the here and now more than posterity. There’s a tremendous multiplayer constituency that console RPGs don’t have to serve. “Me, I’m more of an on-the-field guy,” says Cramm, “I play against a buddy, and that’s my competition. But there are a lot of guys out there who want to compete against themselves, who want that role-playing aspect, that career aspect. It’s important to reach them, too.” Luke, however, is a man after my own heart. As a designer, he’s played thousands of games. But his most memorable one goes back to the original Road to the Show mode of MLB 07 The Show. “That’s the one I’ll always remember,” he said, “I’m a Cubs fan, so I specifically remember pitching for Chicago, it was in the playoffs of my third major league season and I was the No. 3 starter.” Cramm nods at this. “This is three years later. It was one video game, and he still has an attachment to that moment,” he says. “I think it says a lot.” I understand that sports simulations are largely sold on how well they reflect real life. You’ll see it when MLB 10 The Show’s marketing campaign ramps up. But that value isn’t mutually exclusive to the fantasy it can deliver – which is the longest and most commonly held dream of a population more vast than video gamers worldwide. Generations of men have died wanting it before the pitch was thrown, the first goal scored, the first touchdown made on an Atari 2600: Make the big leagues. Win the big game. Hear the cheering of thousands. Now, if only as a palliative for our own regrets, missed opportunities, inadequacies or failures, video games are starting to soothe that. “That exact philosophy is what spawned the Road to the Show mode three years ago,” Luke said, “taking someone through that experience, something we all wish we had.” • • • Luke treasures his first major league shutout. And now I’m on a mission for mine. In my second start the Nationals face the Braves in Atlanta. In the second inning, Ryan Zimmerman pumps a solo shot off Javier Vazquez to get us on top 1-0. (Vazquez, like others in this simulation of a 2011 season, have signed with different teams in real life 2010). I scatter a couple hits over three and the game locks into a pitcher’s duel through five. In the sixth I come to bat and Vazquez hits me on my right forearm, the nonpitching one. In the bottom of the inning, he comes to the plate with one out, everyone expecting me, the hothead, to hit him. I dismiss Vazquez on three fastballs. Then I deliberately put on two runners so I can face Chipper Jones, the future hall of famer, Mr. Brave, hitting third. Without hesitation I blast Jones between the shoulder blades, loading the bases. Only the implausible foolishness of the situation saves me from an ejection. I shrug and pat my jersey front but I can’t even hear the umpire’s warning; my ears ring with the hate of the Turner Field crowd. But I make sure to leave the mound casually after freezing free-agent pickup Pat Burrell with a 1-2 change, plate umpire Mac Harvey pumping his elbow and punching at the Braves’ dugout for effect. Turner Field in April is a mausoleum as I finish this out. The score is again 1-0. This time, we win. My 11 strikeouts and one hit batsman have delivered on my promise. Two weeks ago I made the major leagues. But in my second start, I have made this team. Stick Jockey is Kotaku’s column on sports video games. It appears Saturdays at 2 p.m. U.S. Mountain time.

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Imaginary Triumphs: Sports As A Role-Playing Game [Stick Jockey]

The Nintendo Download: Something, Something, Ace Attorney [Downloadables]

It must be tough for lesser-known games when the Nintendo Download contains a big-name title like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney , but Chronos Twins DX , ShadowPlay, and the rest of this week’s offerings put up a good fight. Good fight or no, it’d be hard for any title to compete with a port of the original Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (1,000 Wii points), especially when it features new Wii remote gesture-based controls for presenting evidence and objecting. The only downside is the game only contains four of the five chapters of the original game, with the final chapter showing up in May for 100 points. If you find that objectionable, then there are plenty of other games to download this week. Take Chronos Twins DX from EnjoyUp Games (1,000 points). It’s a neat little mix of action, platforming, adventure, and puzzle gameplay, with the player controlling the game’s hero, Nec, through two different space time continuums at the same time. Or how about Deep Fried Entertainment’s ShadowPlay (800 points), which challenges players to transforming shadows into new objects in more than 100 puzzles? That sounds semi-intriguing, doesn’t it? And hey, there’s always DSiWare, which gets Touch Solitaire (200 DSi points), Jazzy Billiards (500 points), and Word Searcher (500 points) today. Those all sound…swell. See? There are plenty of games to play besides Ace Attorney this week, and that’s not even counting the Virtual Console ’s addition of Shanghai II: Dragon’s Eye (800 points), the mahjong game for the Sega Genesis! So yeah, Phoenix Wright. WiiWare™ Phoenix Wright™: Ace Attorney Publisher: Capcom Players: 1 ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence Price: 1,000 Wii Points™ Description: Meet Phoenix Wright, the rookie defense lawyer new to the scene with the wildest cross-examination skills in town. Take on four intriguing cases to reveal dramatic, stunning and even comical court proceedings. Use the Wii Remote controller to investigate the crime scenes, question witnesses and present shocking evidence. Chronos Twins DX Publisher: EnjoyUp Games Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence Price: 1,000 Wii Points Description: Enter into the original world of Chronos Twins DX to live a fantastic adventure full of innovative ideas. Thanks to its Dual Gameplay game system, you’ll be able to control Nec in two temporal scenarios at the same time. Chronos Twins DX mixes action, platforms, adventure and puzzles to challenge your intelligence and ability. ShadowPlay Publisher: Deep Fried Entertainment Players: 1-2 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Alcohol Reference Price: 800 Wii Points Description: Welcome to ShadowPlay. Let your imagination run wild when light meets everyday objects to create fascinating shadows. Play and experiment, make a monster out of a pineapple, a dolphin out of a banana – the only limit is your imagination. ShadowPlay challenges players by transforming shadows into more than 100 exciting, unique puzzles. As more challenging puzzles are unlocked, players will have to find more creative ways to solve problems. You will never look at a slice of pizza the same way again! Winning a round will allow players to advance to the next level as well as score another item to use in the Free Play Mode, where you can unleash your imagination and create your own shadow art. Family and friends can also jump in to help tackle a puzzle at any time using Local Co-op Mode. ShadowPlay will provide tons of brain-racking fun for players of all ages. How do you ShadowPlay? Nintendo DSiWare™ Touch Solitaire Publisher: Nintendo Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points™ Description: Touch Solitaire features two of the most popular versions of the world-famous card game – Spider and Klondike – with simple touch-screen controls and an easy-to-understand interface. In Spider, the aim is to arrange cards in piles of a single suit from King down to Ace, thereby removing the pile from play. When all cards are removed, you win the game. The goal of Klondike is to arrange cards from Ace to King in piles, one for each suit, on the four foundations. You win when all cards have been moved to the foundations. Various difficulty levels are available for Spider and Klondike, allowing beginners or experts to enjoy the game at their own pace. Jazzy Billiards Publisher: Aksys Games Players: 1-2 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: Challenge intelligent computers or even your friends to a traditional game of 9-ball while enjoying mind-soothing music with Jazzy Billiards. Take advantage of the intuitive stylus mechanic to aim and hit the cue ball with varying strength to sink the other balls. Defeat your opponents by being the first to sink the 9-ball. Jazzy Billiards’ Stage Mode features nine different stages, each with an opponent of ascending difficulty. Find out how many computers you can defeat in a row with Challenge Mode, or challenge your friends to a game of 9-ball in Versus Mode. Word Searcher Publisher: Digital Leisure Inc. Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: You’ll need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher contains fun words from multiple categories including anatomy, world cities and U.S. presidents. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle anyone will enjoy. Help improve your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills with these challenging puzzles. Keep track of, and try to beat, your own play-through times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play. Get your thinking cap on and conquer all 100 today. Virtual Console™ Shanghai® II: Dragon’s Eye Original platform: Genesis Publisher: SEGA Players: 1-2 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 800 Wii Points Description: The ancient pastime of mahjong solitaire is reinvented as an interactive video game where each tile you remove may be your last. Discover enchanting music, fun animation and exciting obstacles that are built in to this intriguing board game that will keep you engaged for hours. This classic title challenges you to clear the board by removing matching pairs of tiles. Play the traditional Shanghai® II or take the game to a new dimension with Dragon’s Eye. Don’t let the simple rules deceive you – the depth and intricacy of this challenge will become your new obsession very soon.

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The Nintendo Download: Something, Something, Ace Attorney [Downloadables]

Something Modern Warfare 2 Got Wrong About Pakistan [Infinity Ward]

Pakistani reader Saad was thrilled when he heard that Infinity Ward ’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was getting a multiplayer map set in the city he calls home, Karachi. That is, until he played it. “I, being a Pakistani, was so excited at seeing a Karachi map and then immediately so disappointed when I played the map,” says the Karachi resident. The map has Arabic written all over, even though that isn’t the country’s language. The country of Pakistan has two official lingos: English and Urdu . With somewhere between 60 and 80 million speakers of the standard language, Urdu has more speakers than, say, Italian, Korean or Polish. “Infinity Ward probably thought, ‘Oh hey its a Muslim country so Arabic is the language,’” says Saad. While Arabic and Urdu use the same script, the words are completely different. For example, the noun “people” is “al-naas” in Arabic (الناس), and “log” or “loug” (لوگ) in Urdu. “To someone who doesn’t know urdu won’t be able to tell the difference,” Saad explains. “It’s like Spanish and English, I guess. Some letters are same, some are different but the words are completely different.” There isn’t a single Urdu word on the entire Karachi map and no one writes in Arabic in Pakistan.

Originally posted here:
Something Modern Warfare 2 Got Wrong About Pakistan [Infinity Ward]

A Conversation with a Game? Devs Seek to Break the Ice [Speech]

Language recognition is not a new concept to video games – the first text adventures had to understand commands somehow. But researchers are trying to integrate it in more open-ended ways – allowing for dynamic conversations between players and characters. BBC Radio profiled the efforts, lately highlighted in the game 221B, a movie adaptation of the recent Sherlock Holmes film. In it, players must interrogate witnesses and suspects to gain answers that advance the story. “Rather than attempting to create an exhaustive list of possible questions and the appropriate response, the characters in the game are capable of making a ‘fuzzy interpretation’ of what is said to them,” the BBC reports. “The intention is to remove the frustration, familiar to any who played the old text-based adventure games, of having to guess the right way of asking a question or giving an instruction.” Other games based on open-ended use of language, spoken or written, include Facade and, of course, Scribblenauts – and even Left 4 Dead . “Each of the characters has a set of voice samples which can trigger based on events, situations and other dialog lines,” Rockstar’s Alex Champandard said of L4D. “This results in completely emergent short conversations depending on the situation.” The BBC calls it one of “the last uncracked problems” in games design. It’s a good read, especially for the humorous kicker paragraph. AI Aims to Solve In-Game Chatter [BBC Radio]

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A Conversation with a Game? Devs Seek to Break the Ice [Speech]

Look At These Otaku Rooms! [Book]

Yes, yes, look . Before I left Japan, the folks at Kotobukiya were kind enough to send me a copy of OTACOOL, a book project spearheaded by Danny Choo of dannychoo.com . The idea for the book is fantastic and works on the same principal as our desk feature — people’s personal spaces shed telling light into their lives. Countries represented include places like Japan, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Spain, China, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Israel and the U.S. The rooms run the gamut of anime and manga otakudom. (Hopefully future editions will expand to other types of otaku! Such as train, airsoft gun, video game, etc.) Still, it is interesting. The pictures were all submitted by users and do vary in quality — something that actually gives the book charm and a hint of realism instead of a slick, commercial feel. Text is in both English and Japanese, making it good for those interested in practicing either language. And the book has been tearing up the sales charts in Japan. You can learn more about OTACOOL in the link below. Hooray! OTACOOL [Official Site]

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Look At These Otaku Rooms! [Book]

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