Sunday, April 7, 2013

Link roundup

1.  Former Microsoft employee Daniel Cook:
Correct games
There is a form to modern console games.  If you've played the recent Bioshock Infinite, you can see the full glory of the vision. 
First there is a world rendered in lush 3D. This justifies the hardware. 
Next are intermittent dollops of plot. These are voice acted because it is a quality signal. They feature intricately modeled characters on a virtual stage. This gives the arc narrative momentum and lets you know you've finished something meaningful. 
Filling out the gaps in the 7-12 hours ride are moments of rote game play with all possible feedback knobs tuned to 11. Blood, brains, impact. Innovation is located at 11.2. This makes you feel something visceral.
2.  Photo gallery: "Every CCTV camera between my house and Dalston Junction station." ("1.4 miles, 140ish cameras.")

3. Techdirt:
 We may come to look back on today's Wikipedia as the project's golden age, before those "with skin in the game" started their assault in earnest, and before Wikipedia editors increasingly gave up trying to ward them off for fear of legal reprisals. 
The news today:
French spies demand removal of a Wikipedia entry, threaten random Wikipedia admin in France when they don't get their way