Sunday Gaming News – 25/11/2012

November 25, 2012

Eep! The Sunday news is a little late this week because of… reasons. And also because Spec Ops: The Line is $14.97 on Steam RIGHT NOW GO GO BUY IT BECAUSE I HEAR THAT IT IS REALLY RATHER GOOD!

To the news!

  • Codemasters have taken the unusual step of asking the guys at XBox360Achievements.org to design the achievement and trophy lists for their upcoming racing title Grid 2. According to XB360A’s  Editor Dan Webb, the site has been criticising mediocre achievement lists for years, and now “it’s time to put our money where our mouth is”. The process of creating achievements will be documented, offering an insight into what goes into making achievements in games.
  • Minecraft is coming to the Raspberry Pi! There’s really not much more to be said on this one. For those who don’t know, the Raspberry Pi is a $35 ARM-based computer system designed to be as open and hackable as possible. Minecraft: Pi Edition is based on the pocket version of the game that’s available on mobile platforms. You will be able to create within the game, or by using its programming interfaces, keeping it in line with the programming-focused nature of the Raspberry Pi.
  • Here’s a something a little bit cerebral for you: a TED talk on how gaming affects your brain from cognitive researcher Daphne Bavelier. TED talks are always worth watching, and this one is no exception.

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  • Finally, something else to feed the brain: An absolutely facinating article from Wired about how a 250-year-old secret society cipher was cracked using modern machine translation techniques. If cryptography and European secret societies interest you, then go check it out.

See you all next week!