Scratch is rapidly becoming the application of choice for introducing the basic ideas of programming in the form of creating animated games.
The team at MIT have now released details of the next version. An interesting one is the ability to create your own blocks – i.e. creating your own functions or subroutines. Have a look at the You Tube video below for more.
Have you seen the latest billion-dollar action film lately?
Of course you have.
But are they all the creation of Hollywood, Japanese? – answer No!
They are very much British, in the sense of their special effects. The UK is a world leader in visual effects.
Problem: UK school children have no idea that there is an UK industry out there wanting their special skills, needed for film / video computer effects.
Recent survey asking about some famous films:
Film: Harry Potter, Inception: less than 1 in 10 knew the effects were made in the UK
Video Game: Grand Theft Auto, Singstar and Lego War. Less than 1 in 30 interviewed were aware that they were made in the UK
The money made with those films and games dwarfs the money made from the entire music industry. It is as serious as the traditional mega industry of car making.
So there is an effort in place to try and highlight the opportunities that this affords.
NESTA is trying its best to have an effect on the UK curriculum as this is the seed corn of any new industry.
I recommend looking at their entire video clip to explain the opportunity
Last voice clip, child: “I’d like to be a game creator.” She has a point
We have seen how computer games have developed and improved over the years from the early 8bit pixelated games such as Space Invaders to today’s graphically superb games such as Call of Duty. Game developers have been at the forefront of adopting new technological developments as they have become available.
Motion capture has been used to great effect to ensure that the movement of characters or avatars in games is now realistic. But the faces of computer game characters still look artificial and lack any detail or the ability to show proper emotions. You know … those little ticks, blinks, hesitations and facial expressions that a real person uses to convey their feelings.
It has taken five years of research, but now it is here in the form of a system called MotionScan. A whole array of cameras are focussed on a professional actor’s face as they play out a character. Every eyebrow raise, eye blink, mouth twist and other expressions are capture in full. The system can then map those details on to the in-game character.
Rockstar, the makers of Grand Theft Auto are developing a detective game called LA Noire, to be launched in 2011, that makes full use of the system. In the game, each character has a film-like quality making you believe (and care) about the characters. It plays out like a proper detective drama with each character reacting in a believable way to the detective asking tough questions.
Of course you need talented actors to play the roles – gone are the days when the development team had a go!
The clip below shows how this will look within a game setting. The web site will ask you if you are over 18 before you can view it. Whilst we don’t encourage those who are younger than this to view such material, the video only shows the technology. There is nothing in the film that would fit within an over 18 category.
Parents and teachers alike tend to berate students for spending (or wasting) time playing computer games. However, one British entrepreneur has made enough money from playing a computer game that he probably won’t have to work for many years to come. Jon Jacobs sold a highly sought after virtual nightclub in the online game, Entropia, for £400,000. Before he decided to sell the virtual property he was earning £124,000 per year from people who ‘visited’ the club and spent money in the shopping centres in the complex. Although he is undoubtedly now very rich his success didn’t come to him without a personal cost. Back in 2005 he took an immense risk by taking out a mortgage of £62,000 on his own home in order to fund the purchase of the virtual asteroid upon which he eventually built his nightclub.
This news story could be used to form the basis of a discussion on computer games, entertainment, enrepreneurial skills and risks.
