Video Game Technology finding Oil? Now find Gold!

The company IBM is supporting the UH Mission-Oriented Seismic Research Program (M-OSRP) and its petroleum industry sponsors with a Cell Broadband Engine(Cell/B.E.) to find oil. The engine was originally created for the Play Station 3 and it is able to process different types of data at once.

The chip is used for the Play Station 3 for better imaging for the HDTV users. The main processor in the chip is the the Power Processing Element (PPE), and is capable of running an opearting system by itself. With this, the chip can't find oil on it's own. It is built into a "supercomputer" that is able to analyze many types of data at once. According to Merriam Webster's dictionary (because I had no clue what it meant) an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end especially by a computer. This is important because in the M-OSRP there is an algorithm that is able to supress a form of coherent noise, and to locate hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas.

Now, the data that that these chips have in them are able to find different material that is difficult to find in the earth, including some forms of oil and gas. University of Houston Professor Arthur Weglein is the director of M-OSRP. "Our research purpose is to provide new, high-impact seismic capability, methods and algorithms – the ‘what to compute.’ However, many of our algorithms are extremely computer intensive and their new level of effectiveness requires a matching new computing vision and capability," said Weglien.

This is really the beginning of what could be a futuristic machine. The producers of this machine are really using this as a stepping stone to see how the chip and the supercomputer handle the environment and the elements it can find. “Our partnership with IBM contributes to an effective and comprehensive response to the pressing challenges faced by the petroleum industry in locating and producing hydrocarbons. Located in Houston, the center of the petroleum universe, UH is the ideal place for this partnership to flourish. The success of this initiative has important implications for both our nation’s and the world’s energy and security interests," said Weglein. Well, if a chip created for a video game system has this much ability, who knows what the future holds for advancements.

Bitter Bushnell

Atari was a video game console created 25 years ago. The founder Nolan Bushnell apparently thought that those games were never going to be updated. Bushnell, who is now 64 is not fond of the new style of video games. "Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that," Bushnell told the tech magazine Electronic Design in an interview.

Ouch. That's a downer for new video games. Bushnell is revolutionary in the fact that he created the original Atari, which was a pioneer in arcade games, but c'mon stop living in the past. It sounds like to me he thinks that Atari would last forever and there would be no other life form of video games again.

So what is he doing an interview in a magazine for? He has a new system in restaurants, a touch screen at tables in which you can play casual games with the family, called uWink. As of right now there is only one restaurant that has uWink, in Los Angelas...once again ouch. "A lot of video games today are very isolated. You don't see mom and dad, sister and brother, sitting down like they used to play, say, Monopoly. That represented good mentoring time for families that just isn't happening now," said Bushnell.

I do agree with Bushnell that families don't play as many "family" games anymore, and their kids are shooting aliens and bad guys in the other room, but that is the age of video games today. We don't live in the 70's anymore, and there are educational games today, most likely not the shoot 'em up games, but it is a form of entertainment, just like movies are different today than they were 90 years ago. Let's face it, as time passes, so will our form of entertainment.

In this corner movies, in this corner Halo

I have been blogging on Halo 3 and the impact it has had on the entertainment world, and I apologize because I don't want to sound like a Halo nerd, but this game has been so huge around the world, and now it has maybe taken the majority of movie goers.

According to Advertising Age Total cinema ticket sales in North America for the weekend of October 5 were a relatively meager $80 million--the worst results for an October weekend since 1999, and who are they blaming, lazy people. Well, they are blaming people who play Halo 3 rather than going and seeing a movie. Mike Hickey, an analyst at Janco Partners, commented, "The audience on this game is the 18-to-34 demographic, similar to what you'd see in cinemas. This could last for several weeks." And don't think Bungie, the creator of Halo 3 isn't happy. "We marketed it like a film," said Josh Goldberg, a "Halo 3" product manager at Microsoft, adding, "and now, we're just as big or bigger than film." He said "Halo 3" was marketed as an event film in terms of its partnerships, with beverage, automotive, fast feeders and mobile-phone companies all joining up.

This is what I put on my first post, on how much advertising Halo used to try to sell its game, and this shows how important video games are in our culture. This surpased any one day sale in entertainment ever, and it doesn't spend nearly as much money as the big name movies like Spiderman. The stereotype for the hardcore gamers, especially Halo players, are that they just sit in front of their TV, and don't socialize or go out anywhere, and you know what, they may have just been proven right.

News Flash!....Video Games are Violent!

I know other countries are behind the U.S. in advancements, but the United Kingdom seems to be too far behind on their new study of violent video games.

Tanya Byron, who presents television shows to the U.K. audience is conducting the research for the study. She is trying to figure out how kids (1-18) react to violent video games. (which seems wrong in itself) The study is also trying to find the effectiveness of video game ratings, to see if they are appropriate for each age range.

Video games are violent, sexual, and crude, but you can't hold the company or designers responsible for making the game. The game rating is on the game for a reason; So parents don't allow their kids to get games out of their child's age range, and if they do the blame is on them. If the U.K. needs to revise the rating system a little bit then so be it. I know this argument has been used plenty of times, but I'm going to use it anyway....aren't there more important issues to be discussing then this? Children are not forced to play violent video games, if the parents allow them to play them, it's on them.

Virtual World, Second Life.....Virtual Life

What is the point of virtual worlds? Why do we like to play virtual worlds on our computers when we have a life of our own? Well, after doing research for my pop culture class, I have found virtual worlds to be decently intriguing.

Before coming to this class I thought virtual worlds were just something for the people that were attached to their computers, and they are. But I didn't realize just how extremely popular they were, and that you can make money through some of the things you make. For example in Second Life you can trade properties you created for actual money through a different website. Also in virtual worlds, like Second Life, you have the freedom to be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do. Just like in real life you have to work hard to earn a nice life, you can make new friends online, even though you never see their actual face, but you're still socializing.

So maybe I do now understand why people love virtual worlds. You have the chance to live another life, maybe a life you would ideally want to live. Would I ever want to play in a virtual world? Probably not, but I have a feeling if I start it will be hard to finish.

What Have Wii Come Too?

Video gamers are lazy enough. There is no need to add things into a video game that causes us to be more lazy. But Atlantic Inc., manufacturer and distributor of media storage products, and Wii have made something that will indeed make us more lazy.

Atlantic Inc. is making a line of gaming accessories—the Wii Bag, a portable Wii case designed for active, on-the-go gamers, and Wii Straps, which secure the Wii Remote to the gamer’s wrist, allowing them to play their favorite game, with a more secure, comfortable grip. “The Wii is a very interactive and physically demanding gaming console, and with the Wii Straps, gamers can enjoy their favorite games, such as bowling, baseball or boxing, without worrying about letting go of the controller and damaging their TV or injuring their wrist", said James Dardashti, chief operating officer of Atlantic, Inc.

OK, I somewhat already take my original statement back because have you ever seen that commercial where the remote flew out of that kids hand and it broke the high def TV, right? That seems reasonable, but I still think this is rediculous. No offense to whoever would buy this, but it seems like a waste of money. Carrying your Wii around in a portable bag seems a little out of line to me, and practiclly taping a controller to your hand...wow. But you know what, for the hardcore gamers out there, if you want to spend your money on this, go ahead. Who am I to criticize?