Evolution of Video Game Controllers

The complete family tree of video game control schemes–including handhelds, joysticks, paddles, gamepads, and one notable glove–this chart shows how gaming input has evolved from simple knobs to directional pads to touch screens. Including every console ever, this sprawling print features 179 species and 12 genera over seven decades of gaming.

http://popchartlab.com/products/the-evolution-of-video-game-controllers

140

The developer who crafted the creepy puzzles for the 2010 platformer Limbo is close to releasing 140, a side-scrolling rhythm game with constantly changing levels. The landscapes in 140 alter as its overlaid techno soundtrack hits major percussive beats, requiring players to time their movement and jumps with the rhythm to stay alive — the game's soundtrack controls everything from the player controlled character to the environment's shape and color. The music design earned the game Excellence in Audio from the 2013 Independent Game Festival awards presented at last week's GDC. 140 looks like a color-soaked hallucination of an 8-bit platformer, which should be equally wild to play as it is to watch. The game was created as an independent project of Playdead developer Jeppe Carlsen, and it's set to be released later this year.

Faster Than Light

FTL: Faster than Light - Trailer from Justin Ma on Vimeo.

FTL: Faster than light won the Best Debut award at this year's Game Developer's Conference.

Game Website

Now You're Swimming With Portals

Lab Rat Comic

Here

Learning Processing

Hey buddy,

I'm going to be learning programming in processing - do you want to learn with me? I found these video tutorials that seem pretty good. They say you should be at least 10 years old, and OMG, you're 10 years old.

Healthier Living Via Video Games

Doug and Janet sent you this article about video games in health care.

A video game can turn a child with diabetes into an empowered superhero who tests his blood sugar before taking on monsters. Give a new mother a game — with gift cards as prizes — and she’s more likely to show up for well-baby visits.
“Games tap into very deep and fundamental aspects of our psychology,” said Ken Werbach, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School who wrote a book on gaming. “We love surprises, we love challenges, we love competition, we love fun.”