Monday, March 24, 2008

Play Windows games on Linux

If you are an avid gamer, you probably dual-boot your favorite Linux distribution with Windows, because that's where you find most new cutting-edge games. But what if you could run your Windows games on Linux? PlayOnLinux is an open source Python-scripted front end that helps you install and play tons of Windows-only games -- and then some!

- linux.com (link here)

Friday, March 21, 2008

Math puzzle

A mathematical puzzle that baffled the top minds in the field of symbolic dynamics for nearly four decades has been cracked -- by a 63-year-old immigrant who once had to work as a security guard.

Avraham Trahtman solved the elusive "Road Coloring Problem" posed in 1970. The conjecture assumed that it's possible to create a "universal map" that can direct people to arrive at a destination, at the same time, regardless of starting point.

- Star Tribune (link here)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Rock Band gets patched

Harmonix feels you, and are dropping a patch for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game that will make some tweaks that the fans have requested, as well as introduce one major new feature -- the in-game Music Store, which you can read about elsewhere on Game|Life today.

- Wired (link here)

A great game gets even better.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A Sky Full of Ships

A simple (but not too simple) set of starship combat rules, which allow huge fleets to engage each other in epic battle (and finish in a reasonable amount of time). [Link here]

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Gygax, RIP

Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.

- AP/Google (link here)

Sunday, March 2, 2008

PSP

Once upon a time, tech pundits predicted Sony's PlayStation Portable would be an "iPod killer" because of all its flashy features. But the PSP has suffered from a slightly unfortunate image among gamers and gadget lovers: It's the device that can do pretty much anything, from surfing the Web to playing games, but that actually seems to spend most of its time gathering dust.

As the PSP hits the third anniversary of its U.S. launch this month, Sony is cranking up the fight again. Updates to the operating software have introduced Internet radio stations, for example, and Sony recently made voice-over-Internet service Skype available on the device, meaning that users can make cheap or even free phone calls to anywhere in the world.

- Mike Musgrove, Washington Post (link here)