Nanovor

When Smith and Tinker came in on Wednesday, I was almost literally jumping out of my seat. I was anxious as I  knew they were going to hand out their developing new product for each of us to test. I didn't even have a clue what the product or game was going to look like, but I found myself still wanting to get my hands on it. It was like a little boy on Christmas day waiting for his presents. As they were presenting the IP and game development of Nanovor, I can honestly say that I pretty much zoned out and thought of only when they would hand out the products. Despite my lack of concentration in the classroom, I was still able to comprehend some of the things they were saying. 

One thing particularly interesting was how they were able to integrate an offline and online compenent together. This was exactly what I wanted to do originally as a group project with augmented reality and a trading card game. We later switched to another idea, because it was too hard to figure out how to integrate an offline and online part together, but I thought that the people at Smith and Tinker achieved this goal almost perfectly. I was very pleased with their product once they started handing them out. Unforunately my excitement died a half an hour later as my Nanoscope stopped working. Hopefully their online beta will be a lot more error free than the Nanoscope, but this is definitely a product that I look forward to in the future to compete with Pokemon and other big name brands. 

Monopoly

Lately, I have been obessively playing online Monopoly (in fact I'm playing as I'm writing this). I mainly started playing to free myself from boredom in class (never in Digital Play though!). Now, I have not only resorted to playing in my classes, but in my free time as well. I have always enjoyed Monopoly as a kid, as I seemed to have an innate business sense which many of my fellow peers lacked. Also with less and less time to actually find time to playing console games due to lack of portability and time, Monopoly online is a casual game that only lasts about 45 minutes. 

A couple years ago I found out that there was an actual Monopoly World Championship (since 1973). Its quite a hefty process to be eligible. You first have to take multiple choice test about Monopoly. If you get more than 80% correct, you then have to answer 5 essay questions that are then judged before a panel. 24 people are selected through the process and are sent to Washington DC, and the winner of that goes to Las Vegas for the World Championship! I then made a goal for myself to one day become the Monopoly World Champion (even though it sounds ridiculous and unproductive). Now that I am eligible (21 and over), I will be trying to compete in it every year! 

Pixel Junk

The other day, I stumbled upon a YouTube video. It was the preview for the new Pixel Junk game! Just like its three predecessors: Pixel Junk Racers, Pixel Junk Monsters, and Pixel Junk Eden, it looked fantastic. What I love about the Pixel Junk series is its fun and simple gameplay along with an original creative design. In Pixel Junk Racers, the only controls  you have is the gas and changing lanes. Even without the steering (which is what almost all racing games involve) the gameplay is extremely fun as you play modes such as "Sunday Drivers" where you try to pass as many cars as possible in a traffic jam filled race track. The style of gameplay for each of the games always has a unique style which is rare in the mainstream games today.

The basic plot of the 4th installment of Pixel Junk series is that you are piloting a spaceship like vehicle, and are trying to beam up fellow workers in order to save them. The spaceship can shoot at the rock substance. The most interesting concept is the manipulation of magma and water inside the cave environment. When you mix the two together, the chemical reaction results in creating soft earth which the spaceship can shoot through as well. With this, it is possible to explore and reach parts of the environment which were unable reachable before to rescue the rest of the workers. Although the game is pretty much completed, the name for it was still pending (it was called Pixel Junk 1-4 at the time). I checked the Pixel Junk website, and found the naming contest for the game! My entree was Pixel Junk Element, as I thought of the manipulation of fire (magma), water, and earth was the key concept to the game. The game will be announced at the end of this month, and so I await patiently :)