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Critical Hit Episode 5 should be a “Living, Breathing, Star Wars Universe!”

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Greetings, programs!

This week’s podcast is juicy and tender, with guest Kyle Reden joining us for the discussion round-table.  We touch on the nature of physical media, and where it’s going in the future.  Brendan raises the excellent article where Gabe Newell briefly outlines a plan for consumers to fund game development.  We get into some Battlefield 1943 talk and we wrap it up with some Star Wars discussions!  Everybody likes Star Wars!

My Otakon segment is draggin’ its heels but I’m still categorizing the almost two hours of interviews I did to weed out the good stuff!  Be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes and share the love!  Hit the jump to see what song I used for the breaks!

NOTE: There’s a little commercial break at about 42:20 so you can stretch, get a sammich maybe.  Critical Hit: The Podcast that Cares…about sammich breaks. (more…)

My bad, apparently the govenrment of Ireland didn’t censor The Pirate Bay. The problem isn’t getting better. Whole Post was irrelivant.

Another week gone working here at iD tech, it is going by really fast and I am having a really good time. Unreal engine is becoming second nature to me and I am learning new aspects about it everyday. One of the other instructors has been programming for 10 years now and is very fluent in the Unreal editor so it is really good for me to be working with him. He also revealed that he is one of the lead programmers at Bioware and is working on Mass Effect 2, this really got me excited because I have made a very valuable connection in the game industry. He hasn’t revealed anything secret about it yet, but I am working it out of him! I am dual teaching a class with him this week and its helped me learn a lot because he has a lot more experience and he teaches differently then I do, so I am learning how to teach at a different angle. Lake Forest’s camp is over at the end of this week and I will be going to be teaching at Northwestern for two more weeks. It has been a great past few weeks and I’m ready to get going again next week, and get a few more hours of sleep this weekend.

Our non-profit organization, Chicago Girls Coalition, is seeking a student, intern, or independent web-developer/designer to help us update our organization’s website. We are in need of someone who would like to expand their portfolio, and who is willing to provide their services pro-bono. However, we will feature your name in our newsletter, and you will also be noted at our end of the year performance.

We are seeking someone who is proficient at handling the following updates to our website: updating the overall aesthetic (we already have pictures and logos), installing a fact of the day feature (connected to a discussion board), a resource map, calendar, facebook link, and lastly “girls only” for our program Sisters Empowering Sisters.

To tell you a little about us, we are an umbrella organization for a variety of Chicago non-profits that specifically cater to the needs of young women. We also have our own youth leadership-development program entitled Sisters Empowering Sisters, in which young women aged 14-19 are trained in grant-writing and advocacy. These young women are truly the empowered leaders of tomorrow, as they have brought the skills they have learned at CGC back to their neighborhoods and schools, resulting in positive social change in their communities!  

We would so much appreciate a chance to talk to you about this, or if you are looking to expand your portfolio, and provide our organization with pro-bono services we would appreciate you contacting us. Please feel free to contact, me, Mary Miro at the Chicago Girls Coalition 312.322.2101. I hope you have a wonderful day!! 

Mary Miro / mmiro@chicagogirlscoalition.org
 Chicago Girls’ Coalition 
 11 East Adams, Suite 902 
 Chicago, IL 60603 
 
p: 312.322.2101 
f: 312.322.2107

I am looking for a website developer, either an advanced student or a graduate, to build a portal-type website for my business. This could be a paid, three-month internship for a student, or a temporary contract job for a graduate with commercial experience. It is also possible that it would lead to a permanent position.

The candidate should have experience building websites using HTML, PHP, WordPress and/or Drupal, SQL, and e-commerce, plus good taste in design (I would hire a graphic designer separately).

I am located in Highland Park, but the intern/contractor could work at home most of the time.

David M. Freedman
Freedman-Chicago
847-780-4192 (office)
847-204-6848 (mobile)
dave@freedman-chicago.com
www.freedman-chicago.com

Imagine having to hire a group of specialists for a mission that you are guaranteed to not survive. A task unlike any attempted before. It will be the most grueling task of your life and there is absolutely no room for failure as overlooking the smallest error will affect the live of thousands, if not millions. What I’m referring to is the task set forth for the Mass Effect 2 programming team.

In Mass Effect 2, it’s confirmed that your character will die if you sacrifice or fire most of your squadmates (making life unbearably unpleasant for them until they leave is also an option) you are going to die in the final mission. This is assuming that you can still have additional members of your old squad from the first game since you could theoretically finish the game with only half of them. Given that Mass Effect is a trilogy, you’re going to want to live so that you may use your save file for the third game, making the choices that you made in Mass Effect 1 massively affect the way that Mass Effect 3 turns out.

Now try to imagine yourself as a Bioware programmer.  If your brain did not explode across the screen then you have not properly visualized this. Mass Effect is not just a game series, it’s going to be the series that changes the way that we play games forever. The first game is merely the key to unlocking the future of gaming itself.

Firm: Res Publica Group, 444 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 3600 Chicago, IL.

Firm Overview: Res Publica Group is a public affairs firm specializing in issues management, media relations, community relations and crisis communications. We serve a variety of clients in both the public and private sector across several industries including health care, transportation, real estate and gaming.

We focus on communication strategies and tools that will support a business, policy or political goal.

Qualification and Skills:

·     Must be actively enrolled in Columbia College.

·     An interest, established presence and/or experience in the following: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, My Space and blogs.

·     Strong organizational research skills, including online research.

·     Interest and ability to stay current with new media developments.

·     Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

·     Ability to effectively use computer software.

·     Self starter. 

Intern Responsibilities:

·     Conduct new media audits to develop strategy.

·     Search and identify new communities, blogs and networks for various issues and organizations.

·     Help leverage existing new media channels to connect with target audiences.

·     Help generate dialogue in business and social networking spaces.

·     Monitor relevant blogs and networks and prepare report on key influencer outlets for various industries. 

·     Handle administrative duties when the need arises.

Schedule: Flexible, preferably 4-5 half days a week or 2-3 full days.

Duration: Summer Internship (late May through Mid-August)

Compensation: Non-paid, School Credit

To Apply: Please send a cover letter and resume to:

Lisa Trafficanta, Vice President

Res Publica Group

444 N. Michigan Ave. Ste. 3600

Chicago, IL 60611

Or e-mail: lt@respublicagroup.com

I need a programmer who is skilled in ASP.net– someone who can finish the reprogramming of the site and is able to integrate the SQL 2005 data base.
He/she would be working with Brian Nielsen who is developing templates for the create a video portion of the site.

I would be happy to pay per hour or on a project basis. Furthermore, I am hoping that whomever I find can be part of the site and work into a full-time position.

Lori Blackwell
Broker Associate
Presidents Club
Koenig & Strey GMAC
900 N Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
Mobile:  312-560-5538

e-mail: lblackwell@ksgmac.com

HEAVEmedia, an independent music and culture website based in Chicago, is looking for a PHP/Javascript web developer with some familiarity in Object Oriented Programming. We are looking for this developer to maintain and update the website regularly, as well as be comfortable with implementing the new ideas that we will develop throughout time. You would be assisting our full time Web Developer in an internship like position, but we would give you “free reign” on projects you are assigned.

Please send your resume and portfolio to wes@heavemedia.com

Everything we do in the world relates to the person we will become in the future, we are the sum of our actions and experiences.  If we aspire to do great things we will be successful in life.  Success is the measure of our progression.   Video games are only simulations generated for entertainment.  There is no substituted for physical engagement.  My brother for example is twenty years old and is consumed by video games.  He lives for the type of stimulation that only they can offer. He sits in his room one hundred percent of the time that he is not at work.  His life has not progresses in anyway since he graduated high school over two years ago.

Video games are simulations that offer a false sense of mastery over their subject matter.  They promote a decrease in true human interaction.  Video games even there in most advanced form don’t teach physical techniques that can be used in the real world.  We already live in an age supersaturated with digital media in conjunction with video games we are positively influencing our populations obesity rate.

Video games definitely offer a false sense of knowledge over their subject matter.  Lets look at the new technology that the cutting edge Nintendo platform Wii employs.  This new age game console is designed to let you use a motion sensor controller to operate it’s video games. The problem is that the game is still striving for entertainment first and real life simulation second.   Take Wii’s sports games, they are not any where close to real sports when you analyze the actual movements they train your body to execute.   Tiger Woods is the number one ranked golfer in the world however he is not the number one ranked Wii golfer in the world because the skills he has acquired playing the actual game of golf do not translate into skill in the virtual world. 

Another great example of the false sense of knowledge you get from playing video games is found in the popular title Grand Theft Auto 4.  The game lets you ride a motorcycle and shoot a machine gun at the same time.  Any one who shoots guns or rides motorcycles knows that these are activities that require two hands so doing them both at the same time is impossible.

One major and potentially catastrophic issue that video games teach their players is the problem solving method they use.  If you fail you can always restart again.  In the real world you get very few chances to start over from scratch after making a mistake.   In this way video games are very addicting.  They teach your mind to rush through the problem solving method and pay little attention to detail because if you screw up the error of your ways will be shown via your failure.  In real life you would want to take into consideration all the parameters of your problem and achieve success the first go around. 

Video games endorse a lack of true human interaction because most of the time you play by yourself. Even in situations where you play with other people you interact differently.  Think about the way you Instant message people verses the way you speak to them in real life.  In video games you are always able to shed your identity and there fore you experience less consequence for your actions, again if trouble is lurking you can always create a new avatar and start over.

It is also important to understand that in video games you are honing your hand eye coordination but again it is a false representation of the reality the game is depicting.  Remember you are still using a controller with buttons and a directional sensor (D-pad, Joyce stick, motion sensor).   When you are playing a baseball game your still just button mashing.  You don’t have a real bat or real ball.  The game is giving you the illusion that your timing the pitch right however; there is a fundamental difference between holding a 33 ounce 36 inch bat and a video game controller.   These comparisons can be made straight down the line; here are a few more example of areas people do actually feel experienced in after playing video games. Driving games don’t offer a gas pedal, shifter or steering wheel.  In Gun oriented games there is no way to simulate actual gun shot sounds or the shock factor of the recoil.   Unfortunately button mashing doesn’t equal actual skill.

In America we are in an age already saturated with digital media.  There are a rising number of jobs in digitally based professions.  Every thing is becoming animated in some way.  In our recreational lives we have to strive for a return to physical activity.   It is unhealthy for humans to become over weight and it can lead to a decrease in life expectancy.  Walley, movie from Walt Disney Pictures depicts a world where humans technologically advanced enough to never have to leave there recliner and every one becomes fat and after years and years of it people forget what it’s like to actually go outside and round around.  Although the scenario is unlikely to play out in real life we must keep it in mind as we progress in to the digital age.

After reviewing numerous video games and the effects they have on people I believe that they are a great pass time.  They are fun and they can be very captivating.  In my experience if let video games start influence aspects of your life other than your free time you could be setting your self up for a down fall. Just like going to a comedy show or socially drinking, video games offer no self-advancement and should be prioritized as such.  I believe that the key to having a successful life is keeping your eye on your goals and making progress towards them.