Games, Toys, Puzzles, Quiz, Tests, Hobbies etc

[millionairemind]

Any 1 playing this game?

July 10, 2008
Google Launches 'Lively,' Challenges Second Life Leadership in Virtual World
By Susan J. Campbell

With its continued success in dominating the Internet, Google (News - Alert) has dipped its virtual hands into another venue in what appears to be an attempt to match the popularity and revenue potential of Second Life from Linden Labs.

The search giant on Tuesday launched a three-dimensional virtual experience Web site to enable effective competition with the popular virtual world of Second Life. Called “Lively,” the service uses real-time virtual world characters known as avatars and three-dimensional graphics that allow these avatars to congregate in virtual rooms.

With its launch five years ago, Second Life was the first online community with its own currency and a growing economy. Beyond cultivating a sizable consumer user base, Second Life has also become a strategic tool used by enterprises seeking to recruit or communicate with the public.

On Google’s official blog, Niniane Wang, the development manager for the creation of Lively wrote: "If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or Web site, you can immediately get a sense of the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose."

One hook offered by Lively that Second Life cannot match is the playing of YouTube (News - Alert) videos in virtual TVs and the showing of photos in virtual picture frames inside the rooms. To make all of this technology a “virtual” reality, Google worked closely with Arizona State University.

Beyond the attraction that such sites present to the average consumer, larger corporations are also taking notice of their appeal. Socialtext’s next press release is slated to be a virtual event on World of Warcraft (WoW). While this move is somewhat of a parody of the trendy idea of companies hosting events on such sites, it can also prove to be lucrative, maximizing on the potential reach.

While some companies have jumped on this bandwagon in an effort to be cool, there is significant opportunity for collaboration in the virtual world. Companies such as Sun and IBM (News - Alert) have recently held press conferences, meetings with financial analysts and brainstorming sessions in virtual worlds such as Second Life and WoW.

IBM has even gone so far as to invest $10 million just to see what kind of collaboration tools it can develop within Second Life and other virtual worlds. Brands such as Nike and General Motors (News - Alert) have also established a presence on Second Life and Reuters has set up a news bureau to report on events “in-world”

While it is still unclear as to whether these virtual worlds are a vital tool that will evolve and continue to deliver benefits or if it is just another passing fad. The reality is that Second Life has found a significant following. Lively may present some competition in this area, but it will have to get more innovative than just its YouTube offering to effectively compete.

[blid2def]

Hmm... dunno why like dat. I cleared my caches, still okay - still can see. In fact, I went to my server, used 'wget' on the link and I can grab the file down, so it's actually there.

[la papillion]

Hey, do you play diablo? Diablo 3 is coming out, check it out!

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/index.xml

Eagerly awaiting it

[blid2def]

I finished Diablo, didn't finish Diablo 2 (got tired of the same old hacking and slashing haha). Friend told me the Diablo 3 screens / demo was really good, so yeah, perhaps time to look at it again.

Other titles I'm looking forward to:

Fallout 3 - I played Fallout 2; fantastic game (if you can get past some of the bugs and slowness; great story line and twists). This new installment (after many years) seems different - probably will play this as part of the "continuation" thingie; not sure if it'll be as nice as before.

Spore - bloody hell, how long has this been in the making? So much hype, it better be good...

[blid2def]

Did / Do you play any MMOs, La Pap?

[la papillion]

GD,

Fallout3? Haha, I looked forward to it too I love the good ol' apocalyptic kind of games. I played the ancestor of fallout - Wasteland. Fallout1, fallout2 all are great games

Never heard of Spore though..

I played MMO before, though I detest to pay. I tried gunbound, maple, the dancing game, 9dragons before, but no longer active. Too busy these days I don't really like MMO, usually sucky graphics (perhaps I'm too cheapskate to pay, that's why!). Good to find another gamer here, haha

[blid2def]

Wow - Fallout fan! I actually didn't own the original Fallout series (haha), but bought the original Fallout 1 box set (though I didn't play it) a couple of years ago. Kind of hard to find that these days for a good price; got mine in the US. Not able to find the original box set for Fallout 2 for a decent price.

I have my apprehensions about Fallout 3 though - not least because it appears to me to be a first person game instead of the traditional isometric view games (which I love). Hopefully it doesn't disappoint, though I'm always wary of sequels.

Spore: http://www.spore.com/ftl (another of those "God" games)

Other games which I've enjoyed tremendously in the past years:
- Nethack (hahahaha... geeks of the work, rejoice!!!)
- Baldur's Gate series (the best fantasy RPG I've played)
- Icewind Dale series (same engine as BG series, not as intriguing, but still good fun)
- Planescape Torment (very, very captivating story)
- Grim Fandango (haha - this one is really fun and funny... you play the role of a "Grim Reaper"... solid humour, although the interface was kinda' confusing at first); the creators then went on to make another hit, "Psychonauts" (which I didn't finish playing - same style, funny wisecracks)

[la papillion]

I think you can't find fallout anymore. It's too old to find it, haha I also prefer isometric view (I am such a sucker for RPG games), though I prefer swords and sorcery over guns and grenades. Fallout series is quite fun, with it's irrelevant humor and references to reality. I still remember the brahmins - those little cows that roam around. Brahmins actually refer to the indian caste system - the highest caste is brahmin!

(Spore looks good - though I dun really like strategy games. I played COH - company of heroes until I sian. I prefer the intense, 1-character, focused kind of RPG)

Nethack - i've played other versions of it. Dun really like nethack. I prefer super old school, like the one in your avatar pic. The main character is made up of @ and $ can either be a mimic or treasure I understand your avatar picture I played dungeon crawler, and was a lvl 60 or 80 pyromancer, hoho

Baldur's game - I was aware of it only after a few years after the release. After that, the graphics looked too painful for me to play. Just like Diablo 2, i can't play it anymore But I agree, superb hardcore RPG)

Planescape torment - didn't play that before

Grim fandango - haha, saw it, but didn't play.

My favourites are:
1. Wasteland - That was back in pri school
2. Ultima series, esp Ultima 4 and 5
3. Final fantasy series
4. Titan quest - this one is the closest I can find to diablo style. I've played this game over and over again so many times
5. Metal gear (there's only one that i played - sons of liberty - cos I only have PC and no consoles)
6. Wizardry series
7. Bard's tale (I, II, III) - excellent game. So hard! I remember with fond memories that Bard's tale 1, you even have to map out using pen and pencil!
8. Alternate realities series - I played the Dungeon one, not the city one. Great game!

Haha, you can see that I am hardcore RPG gamer

[blid2def]

Nethack - i've played other versions of it. Dun really like nethack. I prefer super old school, like the one in your avatar pic. The main character is made up of @ and $ can either be a mimic or treasure I understand your avatar picture I played dungeon crawler, and was a lvl 60 or 80 pyromancer, hoho

Er... my avatar IS from Nethack... Oi!!!! Hahaha... I think you're thinking of the Windows version of Nethack, with the graphics. The avatar is from the DOS version. Okay, Nethack actually evolved from Hack, and Moria, so we're just talking about the same thing.

Haha - nice list of games there - though I didn't play some of them...

Final Fantasy... woohoo! I gave up playing after 7 and 8 (only ones I played really). Rich story, very addictive, but the final boss battles were a pain and the work of sadists...

[la papillion]

Haha, i know there are 2 versions of nethack. I always prefer the dos one. I was such a dungeon crawler kind of fan back then. No graphics to speak of, but the simplicity of the games just keeps making me come back. I always play magic user, because of the intense challenge. It's hard to survive the first 3 levels, haha

Final fantasy isn't that hard if, ahem, your characters are all max level and you collected every single thing there is to collect and learn every skills there is I'm such a hoarder.

Great to have another net hack fan here What do you play as?