So 8am on Sunday morning after the games conference found me at the doors of Cardozo, arguing with the security guard about letting me in. It is not easy to get into this building, but I managed it somehow. I went to my office and opened up the CD jewel box for SecondLife. All very exciting, right? And I was delighted to see that SecondLife was giving me a free year's worth of playing.
But it won't work. It keeps crashing. The IBM ThinkPad I bought less than six months ago doesn't have an adequate graphics card for this game (or, probably, any other top-line game). I called IBM and they said there was nothing I could do short of buying a new machine. Sigh.
If this is really the new frontier (and I'm prepared to believe it is), I'll have to break down and get yet another notebook. Research has revealed that the gaming notebooks weigh as much as a bowling ball.
Here's a collection of interviews/quotes about the future of online gaming. It's fascinating stuff. I talked to a couple of my Cardozo colleagues about the conference and they just couldn't take it in. The bit about McDonald's franchises being picketed by avatars particularly got them.
The draft paper I wrote about online identity for the conference is here. All comments welcome.
Suggestions for laptops also welcome.
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Comments
Re: Why I cannot play games
by
Byron Henderson
on Mon 24 Nov 2003 02:55 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
I'm waiting for the Mac version, which is ANY DAY NOW-ware.
Re: Why I cannot play games
by
Christopher Cohen
on Tue 25 Nov 2003 03:34 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
Unfortunately “desktop replacement” laptops are behemoths. If you are going to go that route make sure to get the best graphics card available for the model you choose because you can't replace them in laptops (except in some by Alienware). Since you’ve already invested in a laptop, which presumably functions well enough for the day-to-day, you could get a beefy desktop for gaming at home instead of another laptop.
I purchased a top of the line Dell laptop about two years ago which is just now beginning to have difficulty running newer, more intense games, meaning that I have to turn down the resolution of the graphics at times. I must say that while I have been pleased with its performance it does weigh a ton so I rarely take it anywhere unless I must. Note however that a laptop is never a hardcore gamer’s preferred rig...but if you are as busy as your students (ahem, cough, cough) then I doubt you are looking into becoming very “hardcore.” |
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