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Saturday, August 27th, 2005
Time
Event
9:29a
Congressman Ed Case (D-Hawaii) is enthused about obtaining federal funding that will, among other things, introduce at-risk Native Hawaiian youth to video game design techniques in one Oahu high school.
The Wai'anae High School Alumni and Community Foundation will receive $471,350 as part of an overall $5.4 million federal grant that includes 11 schools and programs on four Hawaiian islands. The money is intended to improve the quality if education for Native Hawaiian students.
The Wai'anae High School portion of the grant will fund a project which will help students learn about digital media industries through the traditional Hawaiian cultural practice of mo'olelo (storytelling). Students will receive instruction and commercial production experience in a variety of digital media technologies, including digital video and audio production, computer art and animation, broadcast journalism, web application development, and video game design. The program is intended to increase the number of Native Hawaiian youth from the Wai'anae Coast participating in digital media arts education in high school and college and going on to adult careers in digital media industries.
Of the grants, Rep. Case said, "...The purpose of the Native Hawaiian Education Program is to support innovative projects that enhance educational services to Native Hawaiian children and adults...I wanted to ensure that areas with significant populations of Native Hawaiians, particularly on the Wai'anae Coast and Molokai, received their fair share of attention and funds. The results are very encouraging, especially on Molokai where Kaunakaka'i and Kualapu'u elementary schools and Molokai Community Service Council are receiving funds to improve student performance in the classroom through programs rooted in the Native Hawaiian culture."10:11a
Can an MMO 'bot be an instrument of real-life crime?
A Japanese court will decide. The New Scientist is reporting that a Chinese exchange student has been arrested by police in southern Japan's Kagawa prefecture for scamming NC Soft's popular MMORPG Lineage II.
The complaint alleges that the scammer programmed a Lineage II avatar to function as an unstoppable mugger that defeated other player-controlled characters, looting their possessions as the spoils of "victory." The player controlling the 'bot would subsequently sell valuable looted items through an online auction for real world cash. Looted items included the Earring of Wisdom or the Shield of Nightmare (hey, I've been looking for one of those!)
Ren Reynolds, a games consultant who edits gaming MMO research blog Terra Nova told New Scientist, "There's an ongoing war between people who make bots and games companies. And making real money out of virtual worlds is getting bigger...Theres nothing exceptional about the virtual world. Wherever there is that sort of money, there's always crime too."
Software 'bots prosper by performing in-game tasks repetitively and very quickly, making them more than a match for human-controlled avatars. Security countermeasures used by MMO publishers includes posing chat questions to suspected 'bots or presenting them with a non-standard situation to see how they react.11:13a
Conservative syndicated columnist and author Betsy Hart serves up a rather strange column in today's Daily Camera (Boulder, CO) in which she details how she disconnected all of the video games, TV sets, and PC's in her home.
"I've unplugged. I've completely had it...Last night I literally pulled the plug...The arguments, the fighting, the obsessions over it all were just too much for me. There's one of me and four of them (her children). I decided to even the odds a bit. It's all gone. The cable service has been stopped...The computer and video-game controls are deep in the garage. I will physically allow a TV set and a VCR to remain for the occasional tape. That's it."
Sounds like a fun weekend at the Hart ranch, if living through Mom's unpredictable meltdown is your idea of a good time. The columnist describes her kids as in "various stages of shock and irritation, and I've fully admitted to them that this was all sudden...They woke up to it this morning..."
Hart also mentions that this will help once school starts up, "No more...'Can I just play video games for a few minutes?'...I'm not saying this is forever - though my kids don't know that..."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Unless they can read, that is... Psst, kids - check the garage.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Hart is currently pushing a new book, It Takes a Parent. Amazon describes the book as examining the harmful effects of today's "parenting culture." Chapters include "Led Zeppelin and the Culture Wars (The Culture can Be Cool Too)," but we can't seem to find anything on the tantrum as a parental strategy. 1:35p
Interfax is reporting on a new MMO in development by Chinese publisher Powernet.
"Anti-Japan War Online" will be released by year's end. The game is based on the Japanese invasion of China during World War II, which lasted from 1937 through 1945. Players will be able to simulate important battles, but will only be able to play as the Chinese side. Nor will there be any player vs. player killing allowed. Combat between Japanese and Chinese soldiers will be shown in miniature in order to reduce the violence level.
So, in gamer terms, PvP-less, top-down co-op play, perhaps?
Although Anti-Japan War Online sounds like any number of other historical simulations such as Sid Meier's Gettysburg and Shogun: Total War, there is one aspect of development that is a little odd, and possibly troubling. Development is being done in cooperation with the China Communist Youth League (CCYL). GamePolitics claims no familiarity with the workings of the CCYL, but it sounds rather like having the Young Republicans partner with an American firm on the design an Iraq War game.
"The game will allow players, especially younger players, to learn from history. They will get a patriotic feeling when fighting invaders to safeguard their motherland," said a PowerNet employee, identified by Interfax only as Liu.
The news service reports that the CCLY issued a statement saying that very few games on the Chinese market today generate a "national spirit" that can educate young players. Thus the CCYL will actively partner with gaming companies to jointly develop "patriotic" online games.
"Anti-Japan War Online" is a patriotic online game that is both interesting and instructive, and can attract and guide young players," said Chen Xiao, the CCLY official in charge of partnerships with online gaming firms. "We will pay close attention to the authenticity of historical facts in the game."
The CCYL is also in development partnerships with other game companies on "Guohun Online" ("National Spirit Online") and other titles.
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