myNotebook is the first entry in a series of applicatioons dubbed myLifeCollected. As the name implies, myNotebook is a notebook application for Nintendo DSiWare that provides users with 32 pages to write to their hearts content.

After the application is selected, a loading screen pops up for a short time, before you are greeted with ambient music, and the cover of the virtual notebook. Should you dislike the tunes, there is an option to turn it off, along with the other sound effects. myNotebook requires the user to hold the Nintendo DSi in a vertical position, much like a book while it is in use. As mentioned before, the application gives you 32 pages to write on which can be set to either gridded or lined paper. Each time you turn a page the program saves the content of your book.

myNotebook has its fair share of switches and knobs. You can play with a variety of options such as pen style, colour, and thickness of the pen tool. Writing on the screen is very accurate, although the eraser is a bit hard to use without the assistance of a reticule or icon to know exactly how much you are erasing. It also could’ve of benifitted from an undo function. myNotebook also features unlockable paper designs and other special unlockables for those who buy the other colours of the application and Nnooo other DSiWare title, Pop+ Solo.

Bottom Line

myNotebook is a great buy for only 200 Nintendo DSi Points. The application is both very stylish and functional.

Update!

Because of myNotebook’s success, Nnooo is going to release optimized versions of the games in three new colours: Pearl, Tan, and Carbon. Some new features include: minor UI updates, a blank page option, 128 pages to work with and the ability to export notebook pages to the DSi Photo Album. The new version will be available on the Nintendo DSi shop for 500 Nintendo points.

Character creation is a topic which every mainstream role-playing game devotes pages to. Most of these systems are very interested in action resolution, so these pages focus on translating our fictional character to a system that clearly states what this character is, in order for us to know what the character can do.

Few games, however, tell us how to make a fictional character in the first place. Fewer still, guide us to make a fictional character that is suited to take one of the main roles in the stories these games allow us to create and play through. This is what I want to talk about.

Throughout this series I will look at a RPGs (role-playing games) as interactive processes of storytelling in which each participant is part player, narrator and audience. We know that the act of storytelling in role-playing games is quite different from the act of writing a novel, a script or a play. Regardless, there are points of contact between this and those mediums which allow us to use, adapt or extrapolate the tools and practices that are used to create an engaging product or, in this case, an engaging experience.

This series will focus on the process and tools required to make a good protagonist, the lead for a engaging story. The goal is to create a process that is both clear and simple and that can achieve this goal in the least amount of time. If I succeed, you will have a solution that is to be applied to your game and your group but can also be modified to suit your specific needs.

Upcoming Titles

Announcements this week are short and not particularly sweet; new games are to be released in the near, but indeterminate future: The Sly collection and Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters. The former will hit stores this fall, retailing for $39.99 USD; the latter, which will be based on the upcoming Green Lantern Movie, will be slated for release in summer 2011.

WiiWare

• AquaSpace (600 Wii Points)
• Furry Legends (1000 Wii Points)
• HoopWorld (1000 Wii Points)

DSiWare

• Petz Kittens (800 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Scrabble Tools (500 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Hospital Havoc (500 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Happy Birthday Mart (500 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Crazy Sudoku (200 Nintendo DSi Points)

Sony PSN Update

PS3

• Sam And Max Episode 4: Beyond The Alley Of The Doll (free with purchase of Episode Bundle)

PSP

• Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 ($29.99)
• Gravity Crash Portable ($9.99)

Because the Japanese love giving dead horses a good beating, we have a new Pokemon game coming out. The new Pokemon game is called Pokemon Black and White and will be released on September 18th, 2010.

Downloadable Goodness

WiiWare

• Jett Rocket (Shin’en Multimedia) – 1000 Points
• Pong Toss Pro – Frat Party Games (JV Games) – 600 Points
• Robin Hood: The Return of Richard (Nordcurrent) – 500 Points

Virtual Console

• Mario Tennis (N64, Nintendo) – 1000 Points

DSiWare

• Maestro! Green Groove (Neko Entertainment) – 500 Points
• Date or Ditch (Gameloft) – 500 Points
• Animal Color Cross (Little Worlds Studio) – 500 Points
• Ancient Tribe (CIRCLE Entertainment) – 500 Points
• Brain Drain (Enjoy Gaming) – 500 Points
• Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects – Revenge (Ubisoft) – 800 Points

PSN Update

• infamous (PS3) – $29.99
• Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play (PSP) – $9.99
• Hot Shots Tennis: Get A Grip (PSP) - $19.99
• Bejeweled 2 PSP (PSP) – $9.99

More Kinect Extravaganza

The week shows a clear dust trail from the big announcements of this year’s E3. Regarding their new catalogue of software titles, Microsoft says that Kinect based games will be designed to appeal to all gamers; the company, however, will continue to make controller-based games for the (hard)core audience:

At Xbox, we’re developing controller-based games for the core and Kinect titles that appeal to everyone (…)

Pricing on the Kinect device still seems to be an ambiguous topic. On the Microsoft store, it is shown that Kinect is priced at $150 (US dollars); during its press conference, however, Microsoft said the device would cost “(…) under one hundred dollars (…)”

Other News From Round the Block

According to one of the latests reports from Bloomerang, there is the chance that the Television streaming service Hulu will be available on Playstation3. According to our sources (which are totally not rumour and hearsay), subscription fees for the service will be about $9.95 (US dollars) per month.

Coming Soon to your PS3!

Editor’s Note: Notice what we did there? We told you nothing and blamed someone else for it… this is first class journalism I tell you, straight from the pros!

Editor’s Note 2!: This has now been confirmed! We’re now no longer unethical hacks and you can totally trust us with your babies. Follow this [link] for more information.

Game Releases (downloadable titles)

Nintendo

WiiWare

• Art Style Rotozoa (600 Wii Points)
• The Tales of Bearsworth Manor: Chaotic Conflicts (1, 000 Wii Points)
• The Tales of Bearsworth Manor: Puzzling Pages (1, 000 Wii Points)

DSiWare

• Spin Six (500 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Puffins: Let’s Fish (500 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Mega Words (500 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Super Swap (500 Nintendo DSi Points)
• Legendary Wars: T-Rex Rumble (800 Nintendo DSi Points)

Sony

Playstation 3

• Sam & Max Episode 3: They Stole Max’s Brain (free with purchase of Episode 1)

PSP

• TNA Impact: Cross The Line ($29.99)

Microsoft

During its conference on Monday the 14th, Microsoft pushed its new advanced camera now dubbed Kinect. Kinect is expected to launch November 4th with 15 titles including Kincect Sports, Kinect Adventures, and Dance Central. Footage of Call of Duty: Black Ops was shown with the announcement that for the next three years, all downloadable content pertaining this game will be coming to Xbox first.

New services will be introduced to the Xbox such as ESPN on Live for Gold members as a free service and Zune for Xbox. As the conclusion of their press conference, Microsoft revealed the new Xbox 360, now with built in Wi-Fi, and is available now for $299 USD.

Watch out! It knows your every movement.

Nintendo

During the Tuesday conference (June 15th) Nintendo announced a bundle of new first party titles for Wii, most of which are returning franchises. The most prominent being Kirby’s Epic Yarn, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Donkey Kong Country: Returns, Mario Sports Mix, and Wii Party.

The second, and arguably biggest, part of the show was the unveiling of their glasses-free 3D system Nintendo 3DS; the system is due for release before the end of Nintendo’s fiscal year (March 31st, 2011). Third party support for the new device will include successful franchises such as Saints Row, Kingdom Hearts, and more.

All the coolness of 3D, without the goofy glasses.

Sony

Sony also had its conference during Tuesday the 15th. The company is pushing their new Move controller which will be coming out in September at will be priced at $49 for one remote; bundles for Move will also be available during the coming months. In the third party support department, Portal 2 will be coming to Playstation3 with Steamworks functionality.

Another feature that was heavily advertised is the availability of 3D content (both games and movies) for the Playstation3 in conjunction with their new Bravia television line. Games that will support this new feature include Killzone 3, EyePet and Gran Turismo 5.

Part magical wand part politically incorrect toy, the Move controller.

I’ve recently been playing games that share the sandbox label. Like  a lot of things in game design, however, it lacks a formal definition which (right or wrong) would aid communication and facilitate analysis. Here, I will try to describe some of the most prominent features of games that have been adorned with the sandbox label. I don’t pretend to be fully comprehensive and additions or corrections are always welcomed.

Thoughts on the Concept

The term sandbox is evocative of the idea of a geographical location or terrain where play happens; this play is only defined by the sandbox as much as any activity can be defined by its setting. The idea of a sandbox (a literal one) is closer to the idea of kids playing with toys rather than playing a game.

If we extrapolate this to video-games, we could then say that a sandbox would be composed of a setting, a number of elements within that setting and a set of rules that describes the possible interactions between those elements and the actor (the player through his character), those elements among each-other and between both of these and the setting.

One of the more successful parts of the design of Saints Row 2 involves the gradual but constant doling of rewards for basically any action that you can take during the game that falls into one of the four basic game-play types. These four game-play types are:

What I feel is one of the core strengths of the game is that (for the most part, there are a couple of exceptions) the developers have managed to put in quite a lot of mechanical and thematic/fictional variations to those basic game-play types in the form of missions, stronghold attacks, neighbourhood defences and a host of activities and diversions (basically side-missions.) What is most important, however, is that each and every one of these items has a specific and relevant reward for completion usually in one or more of the game’s currencies:

It doesn’t stop there, however, as the game gives you rewards for things done outside of the formally structured sections of game-play. While going around the city you can earn money and respect by driving dangerously, mugging civilians, robbing stores and dealing with rival gang members. All of these things are expressions or variations of the core game-play mechanics and are also thematically/fictionally appropriate to the genre and the tone of the game.

What this means is that, at any time during your play time of Saints Row 2, you have a variety of different things to do which are in line with the mechanical and fictional premise of the game. On the one hand, this means that if you bought into these premises you will most likely enjoy the variety of activities (as most people, me included, on the internet seem to do.) On the other hand, this means that the game constantly acknowledges and rewards you for doing the things that your fictional character would do, considering the setting, tone and type of game.

This works very well.

Talking about games without a shared technical language becomes a tricky proposition rather quickly. I’ve been using a series of terms often among my circle of like-minded friends and I thought some definitions were in order. The purpose of these definitions is to be functional to the exploration and analysis of games; in that way, they help us understand each other better. They are all subject to improvements and suggestions are always welcome.

The next two definitions are used to describe certain aspects of challenges.

More ideas about challenges can be found here:

• Checkpoint Woes