Even more...Katamari Damacy
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Did it ever get this crazy?
How much more Katamari can we handle? Lots and lots!!
Check this out (via gewgaw)
I would just luvvv to cosplay this the next animecon:
And there is more and more!!
As you might have figured out: there is a Katamari Damacy community at Livejournal. Have a look. Wonderful stuff like cosplay, iPod socks and more... :D
oh and did I mention those hats? Handpuppets and mobile phone straps? And I could go on and on...
I think Katamari Damacy infested my blog... Hopefully I won't be rolled up anytime soon (oh the cleverness!)
Author: Z. » Comments:
Play-doh your Katamari
Monday, February 21, 2005
This is amazing! A fan of the wonderful and strange game Katamari Damacy came with the brilliant idea to run to the Toys R Us, buy herself some Play-Doh and mold it into...yes something that certainly looks a lot like Katamari Damacy! She even got the table right, with all the household thingies on it. I have to get myself some Play-Doh!
More pics at her livejournal page. (thanks Boing-Boing)
Author: Z. » Comments:
EyeToy goes Minority Report on you!
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
It is here,the future, it really is! I recently got the GameTrak with the game DarkWind.The GameTrak allows full, fast, accurate 3D movement, with no processor overhead and no delay. On the website they claim that in the near future (which is now) we can expect Minority Report-like moves. But...the GameTrak has only got Darkwind for a game for now. It is a fun game where you can box against a virtual player by moving your arms and hands, the latter wearing cool gloves which are connected to the GameTrak unit. It is fun, and gives you a workout which leaves you with aching muscles, it's still not Minority Report though.
Eyetoy innovation meanwhile is not sitting still. At the D.I.C.E Summit 2005, Dr Richard Marks spoke about the Eyetoy and new directions in interface design. And this presentation shows a promising future and features for the EyeToy. Among others is the Minority Report-like style, which is all about "retro-reflective" material which enables the user to grab onscreen photos and drag those around the screen. Another example which leads the EyeToy into a new direction is the use of the camera to really let the player interact with real-life items, your own furniture for example. It is all so exciting! Read the whole article on GameSpy.
Author: Z. » Comments:
More conferences and cfp's
Oh yes, more conferences coming up.
The second Women in Games conference will be held at University of Abertay Dundee from 8 till 10th of August. The Call for Papers can be found here. The deadline for submitting abstracts is March 21. Would love to go there, couldn't make it last year, maybe this year I will.
Another conference is the symposium Playful Subjects: technology, agency and computer games. The symposium is organised by The Play Research Group in the School of Cultural Studies at the University of the West of England and will be held Friday 13th and Saturday 14th May. One of the questions: "How can we theorise the intimate relationships between the human, the textual, the ludic, and the technological in the act of gameplay?"
This is actually exactly what I am doing at the moment and where I am interested in. Interesting speakers as well such as Barry Atkins, Helen Kennedy, Tanja Krzywinska and more. Artist John Paul Bichard will be there as well and will present his work. He does some interesting work. He also presented one of his works at Level Up in 2003.
I really should try to go to this symposium, think that there would be a lot of interesting research for my own interests. Don't think I will be able to submit something myself. I should first focus on finishing my thesis.
There is still some space open for more presentations. A 250 words abstract should be sent by March 15th.
Then there is a call for papers for a special session of Computer Games for Learning and Teaching at the ICET 2005 in Calgary, Canada, July 4-6. The cfp can be found here. Deadline is March 15.
Think that are enough conferences and cfp's for now... (does it ever end? :D)
Author: Z. » Comments:
Edge online
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Totally missed out on the following while wallowing in absence from this blog... The critical game magazine Edge has finally put some content online! No longer we have to search the site, mouse clutched in our hand, in a desperate attempt to find some clues on the magazine or just some plain information. Nope, no longer, they have....(drumroll)... a blog (there's even a feed)! Yes indeed, the popular format. And shame on me, it's there since December 10th of last year...
For what I have seen, it looks nice. They have a sidebar with top-jobs, so if you're interested in a job in the game industry and want a quick overview, it's the place to go. There is also categories (what madness is that!) such as Portable, Industry, Out there. And where can we find all of this? Yes: Here.
There is good stuff on it, I picked up the link to a print-out paper model of the main character of Katamari Damacy. And don't use too much glue... or you end up playing katamari damacy for real (not my joke).
(Which reminds me, I should visit Boing Boing more often again)
Author: Z. » Comments:
New blogster, WoW, conferences
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
I am doing very well with updating my blog huh? One post in January...
small one then today:
A friend of mine, went to the Northern Cold last week, for three months. Yes, Sweden. And to keep us posted she has her very own blog up, go there if you want to see what she's up to, written in a very witty style, and soon even pictures she promised us!: Tunnel--Vision
Another friend of mine is going to the Big Apple this week, if everything goes well, I might be the proud owner of a NDS from next week on! Oh, the happiness! I am looking forward to holding that little baby in my hands, and touch, touch, touch!
But first I have to enjoy the last days of the World of Warcraft Final Beta. I am still in doubt if I should buy the game, not because it's a shitty game or anything, quite the opposite, but as with the DS, I want to play, play, Play!! Omg, how addictive can a game be? I have to finish my thesis first before buying it (of course the money issue... is still there).
I currently am a level 25 Nightelf Druid and I just love it! Love it! The game is really amazing. Have a couple of other characters such as an Undead Rogue, Undead Priest, Shaman Warrior and others, but I think I like my Nigthelf the best. I would like to try a NightElf Hunter, they are quite popular, I think it is because of the pets they get. Well, no pet for me, I can shapeshift! Love to prowl around in Cat form. And then there is the Sea lion, a nasty quest that was, but hey I can breath under water now and swim faster than anyone! ha! Yep, luv the game. Everyone should try it once (except when there are heavy deadlines). But enough on WoW for now, I should go to bed. Tomorrow an opening of a new game company and some thesis work. (next time maybe more on WoW, in the meanwhile you can look on Thotbott.com, statistics, quest info and more, and a discussion on it at Terra Nova, and on Explorers, and I could go on and on and on....)
Oh nothing heard yet from the Changing View Gamesconference front, does it mean my paper wasn't accepted? Well, probably have to wait patiently for the answer. As soon as I know more, I will post it here.
Almost forgot: Interesting symposium coming up, February the 18th in Maastricht, The Netherlands: Innovative Game Design with speakers such as Ian Bogost and Celia Pearce.
Next day, Ian will give a lecture at a Playful extra and will show the NDS to Dutch public.
Lots of good things! (okay, so it wasn't a really short post =D)
Author: Z. » Comments:
