Agile development another new oldie

It struck me about a week ago. Agile project development, which is a somewhat new fad in software development, is not really that new.

Now most of you are probably shaking your heads thinking Of course it isn’t, we’ve been using it for ten or more years. That might be true but I’m talking seriously old here.

Compare agile development, where features are implemented in short both to enable developers to work instead of plan and at the same time not commit the entire project down one road if something changes during development. With Kaizen, where each working (or even living) person takes time to be just one step better, just one step more efficient, each day.

Now I know, the parallel is a bit stretched, But it’s not really that far fetched is it? We’re all simply trying to improve our projects just one step (feature?) at a time.Perhaps we can learn even more from Kaizen and shorten our sprints even further.

Brütal Legend demo impresssions

One word: Awesome.

To tell you the truth, I had already planned to buy Brutal Legend just for the story writing and the fact that original games are few and should be promoted. But after playing the demo I have to say that the team at Double Fine has outdone themselves. This is one hell of a game, the gameplay is simple and fun while the narrative is awesome. The game has excellent polish and definitely seems worth the money.

Truthfully, I’m a bit surprised and a bit impressed. I had not suspected that the game would be this fun to play.

Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta impressions

I like Uncharted 1. Let’s get that straight before I say anything else. Because it does make me slightly biased.

But that aside, Uncharted 2 among thieves really ups the ante. The graphics are slightly better, everything is more smooth and the free running/climbing is really more integrated into the world.

The multiplayer beta is just what it sounds like, a demo that only showcases multiplayer. And its a lot of fun. Gameplay is engaging even though it’s quite slow compared to other shooters. The levels are pretty large and since you can climb you have to think vertically unless you want to get shot repeatedly by the other players climbing the ruins.

There is a modern standard leveling system and a matchmaking system that we really don’t know much about since there aren’t that many players playing it.

So far though, the beta has me convinced that the game itself is holding up to the hype. Still, Uncharted is just as much about the narrative progression as the game mechanics. And we haven’t seen them yet.

LOVE pre-play impressions

Sitting here watching the love tech alpha on my 37″ LCD screen.

It’s just a flythrough of the world that loops over and over again, showing of scenes form the game and the engines dynamic day and night cycle.

It’s really different from other games. It’s astonishing that it’s made by one person. Really impressive, check it out if you’re on a PC.

Monopoly city streets

The word wide Monopoly match is finally running smoothly without slowdowns or lag. The game is a fantastic experiment on the google maps platform. I’ve been wondering why it hasn’t  been used more for games up til now, let’s see if that changes.

There is only one problem with the game. Chance has such a small effect on actual play that the main strategy in Monopoly (buy everything as fast as possible) is not only dominant but effectively the only one. Still pretty fun though, buying your own neighbourhood.

LOVE mmo is complete

At least according to developer Eskil Steenberg’s blog. LOVE is a hugely interesting MMO since it’s mostly procedurally generated with the world being constantly constructed and destroyed by players. Also noted for being developed solely by Eskil (except for the music) it looks to be quite an achievement.

So far though the game is only feature complete, which since it’s procedurally generated also means content complete, it does not mean it’s ready for release though. Eskil is probably going to test the shit bejesus out of the product before launch or open beta. I for one will be glued to the site looking for a download button.

Playstation 3 drive error update

Got another PS3 on my warranty. Pretty decent by Sony I think, sadly it was broken as well.

Went back to the store and got another one, courtesy of the Sony retailer in Sweden, this time it worked. Then I realized my enormous mistake. A PS3 drive is encrypted to specific machines. That means you can’t swap drives to other PS3’s.. Now this I just don’t understand. There are no real security benefits with not being able to swap drives. If a hacker wants to pirate something they will, eventually, break the encryption. But besides that, why use a specific machine? Why shouldn’t I be able to move my drive to another PS3.

Maybe I want to upgrade to the newest revision of the PS3 hardware some time in the future? No? Alright Sony, if that’s the way you want it.

Since I’m now without save games and with no real must play titles out right now, I am seriously thinking about exchanging it for an Xbox 360 elite. At least there I know what kind of problems to expect…

Playstation 3 slim and pricedrop

Huzzah! The rumors were true. Sony has announced that they will release a slimmer, cheaper version of the PS3 September 1.

Wow. That’s great. A lot of more people will buy PS3s…

It’s just a bit sad that Sony is already lagging behind with every service associated with the PS3. The online functionality is simple not nearly as good or entertaining as Microsofts Xbox Live. PSN has less games and content. PS3 developers are still not getting enough help to really push the PS3.

So, as I did smile for a short while at the very late price drop, I’m afraid it might not be enough. And while I do enjoy and respect the 360. Something tells me I just don’t want Microsoft to dominate my living room as they have, for far to long, dominated my workspace.

The first Real virtual world

Oh alright, virtual worlds have been around a long time. But never as alive as this.

One of the largest MMOG’s in the world, Eve Online, is getting a sister game from the same developer. The game, Dust 514, will feature shooter gameplay in the same world as Eve. That’s right. Games in different genres played in the same game world at the same time. Even if the games themselves do not interact directly the indirect possibilities of cross game effect and not to mention news has the potential to be amazing.

This could really be the first MMO world that might live on, with the games coming and going. A true perpetual world.

How fast do you want your data?

Media is becoming snippets of entertainment.

Don’t believe me? Check out a few Ted talks or simply watch something good on youtube. The reason I can say this is because the Internet is letting people choose their entertainment on demand. They watch, read and play what they want when they want it.

But since there is a lot more media available then you can ever consume in a lifetime people are choosing to experience what they want now. We see short funny clips, but we might spend hours watching such clips. We also watch high quality TV-series or a new blockbuster movie but not nearly as much as we check blogs or mail.

The point is, media is getting smaller, quicker, more effectively made for individuals. We can either use that knowledge to create content that will appeal to the new customer behaviour or we can fight it and say that the people using content this way are just tech freak pirates anyway.

The early adopters are not copies of the next generation of media consumers, but they do show the trend. It has been that way for the past hundred years with Radio, Cinema and TV. Why would this trend be different?