Adam Fields (weblog)

Interesting. I don’t really agree with the last one, and despite its pleas for games to be more interesting, the rest of the complaints are a bit FPS-heavy, but that’s otherwise about right.

“Game makers: it doesn’t have to be a jumping game for you to give the characters the basic ability to jump low obstacles that all humans have. And when I walk up to little ledges that are 10-inches off the ground, a ledge a toddler could crawl over, and you arbitrarily don’t let me pass because it’s not a jumping game, you remind me of what I’m really doing: playing a game. We’re to the stage where it should be a minimum requirement in the game universe: rock should act like rock, air should act like air and humans should move like humans.”

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/manifesto.html

In a conversation this weekend, on a whim, I made the prediction that within 3 years, Google will offer electronic tax filing.

New Yahoo search feature lets you slide the bar between commercial and informational results. That seems pretty helpful.

http://mindset.research.yahoo.com/

“Scientists have not only identified a critical gene involved in heroin addiction relapse, but they have also successfully blocked it, eliminating cravings for the drug.”

That’s huge.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7445

It sounds like it doesn’t block the effects of the drug, only the cravings. I wonder if that means that more people will be inclined to try heroin. Of course, that’s not a good reason not to do it.

Interesting article about how as the plot progresses in the first Prince of Persia game (Sands of Time), and your involvement in the story grows, the amount of control you have over the game events also increases (and then ebbs and flows with the story arcs). I liked a lot of things about both this game and the sequel, and I’m very much looking forward to the third. These games are emblematic of a new kind of platforming that’s very immersive, well-designed, easy to navigate, and just a ton of fun all around.

Many spoilers for the game if you haven’t played it:

http://waxebb.com/writings/plotting.html