Destinaion Arcade

So, Microsoft appear to be stepping up to the plate. We've seen that the PlayStation boys are able to have customised 'store fronts' for their various publishers in the PlayStation Store (on PS3 only, boo!) and with the New Xbox Experience, I had almost expected something along those lines in there. I mean, it's got some great features and is FAR more usable than the original dashboard used to be, but there was a lack of customisability in there from a Publisher's point of view, and that kinda sucks.

Major Nelson, however, has announced Destination Arcade, which looks to bring a much better discovery experience to the Xbox. Go have a look at the screenshots, it's pretty nice. It's a departure from the dashboard, but maybe it'll feature Kinect interaction some how. With this first simple change to what has been a neglected and increasingly over-priced part of the Xbox Live experience, we could see offerings like that offered by PlayStation. Soon, they may even one-up them. I'm not a fanboy, but Microsoft are quite an underdog, and Underdogs are always fun to root for.

In the future, I'd love to see a similar service offered for Retail/Games on Demand titles, offering access to DLC for games you've got, much like they're already offering on the Dashboard in a simplistic manner. The Internet is changing it's focus to User Content and User Owned Content, they call it Web 2.0. Maybe this is Xbox 360 2.0 in it's infancy? I wait with bated breath.

A formula: How long will it take me to reach Level 70, 10th prestige?

Two posts in one day? Don't worry, this one won't deafen you, though it may give you head a bit of a workout.

I like Mathematics, and for a while, I've liked Modern Warfare 2. Unsurprisingly if you paid attention in school, these two do have quite a bit of overlap, be it Geometry (Bouncing Flashbangs off of walls or calculating the physics of a sticky grenade's blast), Simple Arithmetic (How many point do you need to level up now?) or in this case, Algebra.

In Modern Warfare 2, combat garners Experience (XP). This XP counts towards ranks, ranks unlock guns, guns kill people. It's a cycle. When you reach Level 70, you've unlocked everything bar accessories and paintjobs. After Level 70, you can delete all your progress in trade for a shiny little icon a total of 10 times. This is, predictably, called 'Prestige Mode', with Prestige making it's debut with Call of Duty as an Adjective, referring to the act.

Each level takes more and more experience to reach, with Prestige mode being unlocked at 2,516,000 XP. The game also takes into it's records how much time you've spent playing the game. Using this information, we can extrapolate some information.

To find the formula, we must assume or know the following:

• You can collect a total of 2,516,000 * 11 = 27,676,000 XP (That's reaching Prestige Mode 10 times, then getting to enough XP to prestige again, even though I don't think you can)
• The amount of time spent playing the game.
• How many times you've Prestiged.
• How much XP you currently have.

With this information, we can derive the speed at which we are accumulating XP with the following formula:

R = (2,516,000 * P + E) / T

R = Rate, P = Times Prestiged, E = Experience, T = Total Game Time

With my own current data of P = 3, E = 623,025, T = 7 Days, 12 Hours and 4 Minutes, it can be seen that R equates to 756.3 XP per minute, which seems correct as I score about 1.25 kills per minute, focus on objectives in objective gametypes and frequently complete challenges.

As you may remember from Mathematics or Physics, Time (Duration) is Speed over Distance. The Distance in this instance is the amount of XP we must accrue to reach our goal of Lv 70, 10th Prestige, 27,676,000 XP. When we Divide our Speed, or Rate (R), by our Distance, 27,676,000 XP, we are told how much time in total it would take at our current rate of XP growth to reach our Goal, with one last simple calculation to decide the remaining time.

R = (2,516,000 * P + E) / T

X = R / 27,676,000

Y = X - T

R = Rate, P = Times Prestiged, E = Experience, T = Total Game Time, X = Total Time to Goal, Y = Remaining Time to Goal

Using my own data, I can show you how it works out.

R = (2,516,000 * 3 + 623,025) / ~7.5 Days = 756.3 XP/Minute

X = 756.3 XP/Minute / 27,676,000 = 25.41 Days

Y = 25.41 Days - 7.5 Days = 17.91 Days

Now, that's not to say that I'll get my skull icon on the 11th of July. No, this is Game time, not Game and Menu time. :) Either way, it seems about right, as I was at 3rd prestige in 1 week of game play. 3 Weeks (21 days) of gameplay could see me at 9th Prestige, with the remaining 4 days plenty of time to get up to Level 70 of 10th Prestige.

Sorry if I made you think, but this thought been wanting to be thought out properly for a while.

Scaleform and Vuvuzelas.

So, I've been playing a lot of games recently and I've noticed that there's a popular bit of middleware doing the rounds amongst the lazier developers, and that's Scaleform. That's not to say that Scaleform is as annoying as early SpeedTree uses, oh no. Scaleform is actually useful, in that it's a great way to create a UI and according to their list of games using their technology, some awesome (and less awesome) work has come out of it. Let me offer a few quick examples.

• Fable II - Terrible menu system, exacerbated by an awful inventory system.
• Borderlands - Consistent, but painful to use in certain situations.
• Splinter Cell: Conviction - Awesome Main Menu, beautifully integrated with a 3D scene.
• Fable II: Pub Games - I'm pretty sure the whole game was made with Scaleform.
• Civilization IV - Very much a menu-driven game, and it works well.

You can see that, as a technology, it's gained users, and big name users at that, but it's also plain to see that it's easy to use badly. I can see your next question now, though: What the heck does that have to do with Vuvuzlas? Not much, frankly, until you have a quick look at YouTube at the moment.

See that tiiiiiiny little Football? Click it, and make sure your sound is on. :)

A Blogger client for Android.

I found a Blogger client for Android. Blogger-droid. Seems very simple, but what more do I need, really, to blog on the go?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.3.4

Crap. Sorry.

To my dearest and beloved readers,

(Yes, both of you...)

I'm terribly sorry for my lack of posts. Amazingly, Google don't have a Blogger client for my newest phone, and I've really not had much to talk about recently. Money troubles have lead to fewer gaming purchases and none of those I've made have inspired me to rage, particularly.

My life, however, has changed MASSIVELY since we last spoke. I have 2 whole groups of friends I didn't have last time, who I plan to write about at some point very soon as they're both quite important to me. There's my friends I meet regularly in London, and a group of friends on Second Life who have helped me identify quirks in my personality. To them both, I am eternally grateful for everything they've done for me, even if they don't know they've done things for me.

As a courtesy, I will now link you to some blogs and podcasts that are relevant to my future postings that may help you understand the changes in my life.

Efficient Ramblings - A blog written by a guy I fancied and 'lost' to another guy I fancied.

No Expectations - A blog written by a guy I know who liked to make me tie him to things.

Loki and the Goonies - A stabilising force in a chaotic community.

Bridging the Rift - A Doctor Who podcast involving a person who has become dear to me.

There are other, of course. There always are. I'm still deciding how much of it I want to tell the internet... not that you can't easily Google it, but I'm gambling that most people won't bother.

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled. Something wicked this way comes.

I'm on a bo... train.

Sat on the train, on my way to Scunthorpe. First Class. Fancy reclining seat, I love it. I could get used to this.

This guy complained I don't post enough...

...so he gets his face on the internet. See his PC tutorials at www.adamsdvds.co.uk.