Clare Townhill

Glorious Gaming

As is often the way a conversation with Alistair sent me scuttling for the Google search bar. There are some wonderful and exciting things going on in the world of gaming: Chipuya - the Japanese avatar creating shopping and tresaurehunting ARG that rewards its predominantly female games players with tokens for their real world shopping in the Shibuya Shopping Mall. Chipuya Town is a Flash-based 2D version of real-world Tokyo youth hotspot Shibuya that users will be able to navigate around and interact in with avatars. The offering also features a virtual currency system which can be redeemed for avatar clothing as well as interior goods for avatar rooms, and according to the press release for mobile content such as full track music downloads, too.
I've just really enjoyed listening to the Gaming Academy on Radio 4 - the games in development are available to play at Dare To Be Digital. Good stats on UK gaming too via the BBC: UK gamers spent 3 billion dollars this year, up 25% on last year:

Last week more than £87.9m worth of games were sold, setting a new record.
Paul Jackson, director general of industry body Elspa, said games were now "truly mass market".
"Videogaming is enjoyed by everyone, young and old, male and female," he said.

The prognosis across all the major titles is a consensus that gaming is in its 'golden age'.

Opodo Done Good

I was really heartened when this arrived in my inbox just moments ago:

To be honest I hadn't even realised that I was receiving unwanted correspondence (I browsed it for cheap winter hols in fact). This is exactly the kind of powershift in the relationship between client and consumer that makes me love the web. They appreciate that they made a mistake; I appreciate that they give enough of a shit about wasting my time to apologise and rectify the situation; I feel much warmer about them; they don't have to worry about me flaming my way through forums/grumbling into a pint.

Brain Food

I've been meaning to blog this for ages. So here it is. A vocab testing and building game that rewards knowledge with the donation of rice to the UN Food Programme. Brilliant.
www.wfp.org
www.freerice.com

Dino Booty

I've loved dinosaurs since the moment I saw the T-Rex skeleton in the lobby of the Natural History Museum There has been a lot of excitement in my house and the palaentological community fuelled by the find of an extraordinarily preserved Hadrosaur (a bloody big duck-billed dino) nicknamed 'Dakota':

Research into the dinosaur's remains may further scientists' understanding of how the ancient creatures' skin appeared and how quickly they moved, said team leader Phillip Manning of the University of Manchester, a National Geographic Expeditions Council grantee.

"This specimen exceeds the jackpot," Manning said.

Dakota was about 35 feet (12 meters) long and weighed some 3.5 tons, but the dinosaur was no slowpoke, according to preliminary studies. (Related news: "T. Rex Quicker Than Fastest Humans, Study Says" [August 23, 2007].)

With the aid of a large-scale CT scanner, researchers determined that Dakota had a more muscular rear end and more powerful legs than previously believed, according to Manning.

More images and the full Nat-Geo Story.