GameCity 2011 took place in Nottingham between the 26th and 29th of September, and is a festival looking at many different aspects of computer gaming old and new. Whilst there were many activities that took place during the festival, I wanted to only comment about my personal experiences, both good and bad, of the events that I attended.

You can see all articles on Game City by clicking here

To mark the 25th Anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series of games the activities on the final day of Game City 2011  were  dedicated to the iconic Adventures of Link.

If there was ever any doubt about the impact that the series has made upon players over the years, then these were put to one side by the devotion and numbers of fans that turned up for the event. From way before the the doors opened to the public and for the majority of the day the queue for entry went from the front door right around the side and behind the festival base. A lot of fans dressed up for the occasion and came dressed as Link, and this wasn’t limited to children as many adults got into the spirit, and had obviously spent a lot of time getting their costumes together. This shouldn’t come as a surprise really as the Zelda games are 25 years old and will have been a big part of many peoples lives since they first started playing games.

Upon entering the festival HQ is was clear to see that the only focus of the day was going to be Zelda. When entering the venue every visitor was given a special Zelda themed ocarina and every Nintendo Zelda game ever produced was available (unlucky if you wanted to play the CDi ‘classic’ Link: The Faces of Evil) in one form or another around the edges of the room.

Zelda based activities took centre stage, for example, a sword fighting demo was given with visitors taking part in choreographed fight scenes, and there was a fancy dress competition for those wanting to take part, although it was the activity behind the main screen that generated the most interest. Several demonstration Wii’s had been set up running a sneak peak of the forthcoming Zelda game Skyward Sword.  The Gameplay looked intriguing, fun, adventurous and in the familiar style to it’s Wii predecessor, but to me it was noticeable how dated the Wii’s graphics had become, I know that the Zelda (and Wii games in general) are about the substance rather then the style but I couldn’t help but wonder what the Zelda game would have looked like on the PS3. That aside it was impressive how players were able to just pick up the wiimotes and play the game comfortably and, as shown in the video below, instantly start to enjoy the adventure, This must have been a real treat for Zelda fans.

The Legend of Zelda Take Over Day was extremly well organised and given the shear numbers of people trying to get into the event the organisers should be proud that it seemed to go very well.

Related Posts:

• GameCity 2011 My Thoughts: The Wild Rumpus
• GameCity 2011 My Thoughts: Retro Gaming at the HomeMade Cafe

You can see all articles on Game City by clicking here

Following on from our disappointing start at the Retro Gaming night we moved onto the Wild Rupus Event held upstairs at the Chameleon.

The first thing that we noticed was that the event was very well attended and that the small venue was packed, no cat swinging here!!!

Again we were a little disappointed by the lack of content as only 3 games were on show, these were 4 Fourths by Mikengreg Games Co, Jesus Vs Dinosaurs by Grapefrukt & Kloonigames & B.U.T.T.O.N by Copenhagen Game Collective.

4 Fourths was presented in a spectacular manner, projected onto a wall, which suited its bright, vivid vector style graphics and presented a very impressive spectacle.

Unfortunately nobody around us could work out how to play the game, and it wasn’t straight forward but I suspect that after  you get used to the control system, there may be a fun and challenging game hidden away in there.

Jesus Vs Dinosaurs was shown on a standard size screen  and was a cross between a beat ‘em up, and a physics game where objects had to be created to use on your opponent, the game had a Biblical Vs Science theme and used effective Terrance and Phillip style graphics. The game was proving to be very popular and getting near the table to play the game was difficult, truly a sign of a successful game.

For me, as an example of a true adult style party game, B.U.T.T.O.N. (standing for: Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now) takes some beating. The game is very simple, 4 controllers are placed on a table and simple instructions are displayed on screen. The instructions range from walk 5 paces backwards, to dance for 30 seconds to the last person to hold their fire button down for 15 seconds is out. Interaction with the game is kept to an absolute minimum but as the games title emplies this is not true with interaction with other players, as they can employ any means necessary to knock out their opponents. As the video I filmed below shows this simple game generates plenty of fun, just watch your Tv’s though as the screen used at the Rumpus nearly ended up on the floor several times.

The concept of The Wild Rumpus is good, it let visitors let their hair down with a beer or 2 and enjoy some different and unusual styles of games, but  the concept needs to be scaled up to a larger venue with more space and more games. From small acorns… and all that.

Related Posts:

• GameCity 2011 My Thoughts: The Legend of Zelda Take Over Day
• GameCity 2011 My Thoughts: Retro Gaming at the HomeMade Cafe

You can see all articles on Game City by clicking here

My first experience of Game City came from the Retro Gaming Event which was held at the HomeMade Cafe.

This event was one of the key reasons I decided to attend GameCity, as I’m a keen Retro Gamer and was keen to see some of the games and systems from my days as a heavy gamer. It’s fair to say that my expectations were set far too high and were not met.

Arriving at the HomeMade Cafe we discovered that this was a very nice but  small, narrow venue, and that it wasn’t going to host the Retro gaming hotbed that we were expecting. There was a £3 entry fee which felt a little excessive considering that there were only 4 consoles available to play with, and only 2 screens to play them on. On 1 table there was an N64 running the classic shooter Goldeneye, although as there was only 1 controller it wasn’t possible to play the much lauded multi-player mode. On the other table there was a SNES, Megadrive and Atari 2600 sharing a single screen. There were a group of gamers playing the SNES trying to get as far as possible, which is an honorable and worthwhile challenge fitting of the event, but it meant that half the available consoles weren’t available to play on.

Whilst not an ideal venue for a gaming night the HomeMade Cafe was fantastic, the food available was first rate, and anyone visiting Nottingham should definitely check it out.

Well fed but feeling slightly disappointed we moved onto the next event “The Wild Rumpus”

Related Posts:

• GameCity 2011 My Thoughts: The Legend of Zelda Take Over Day

Studies have shown that Dementia Sufferers want to stay physicaly fit, develop new skills, and Keep in contact with outside world, helping to maintain a sense of self and assist them to self manage their condition for as long as possible.
Current studies are focusing on the use of common everyday technology rather than specialised adhock equipment to help Dementia Sufferers.
Cost effective and readily available technology like Video Phones
Electronic Reminder Services, Social Networking sites,Webcams and mobile phones with GPS tracking systems can be used to make life a little easier for sufferers.
These kinds of off the shelf technology can used for :

• Prompting e.g. prompt to wash hands
• The Safe use of domestic equipment e.g. cooking prompting Following recipes
• Orientation through the house at night
• street navigation
• Reminiscence & Recall e.g. digital story telling
• Socialising
• Comfort eg robot pets and Digital scrapbooking/blogs

The abilities of the person suffering Dementia should be focused on for as long as possible, and this is facilitated by supporting and readily available technology.

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• The use of Telehealth with Heart Failure Patients
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Greg Martin a Web Security Pro, and self proclaimed hacker, had his Apple MacBook Pro Stolen during the recent riots in London. Unfortunately for the thief Greg had installed the Prey Security Software on the laptop.

When the Prey service is notified over the Internet that its host device had been stolen it provides reports on how the device is being used and provide screen capture images.
Using Prey, Greg Martin was able to see how his stolen MacBook was being used and also capture the thief’s location, email and social media login credentials. Photos of the thief were also captured using the laptops webcam.
This technology is finding it’s way into the mainstream. It’s already possible to locate and wipe stolen iPhones and it won’t be long before stolen computer equipment will be worthless.

An 18 year old named Soheil Khalilfar has been charged with the theft of Greg Martin’s MacBook.

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Yesterday (05/08/11) after a few delays Final Fantasy Tactics was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Many (including myself) had been waiting for the release but not many were expecting the price tag of £10.99 ($15.99).

The game has previously been a hit on the Playstation, GBA & PSP and is without doubt is a great game, although the iOS version is little more then a port of the previous versions, the quality of the game play is not in question.

Traditionally iOS games have a low price tag, the majority cost less then £1, some are free, and even the top titles rarely cost more then £5, so to see a game costing £11, which isn’t dissimilar to the cost of a budget console game, has come as a shock. But surly the developers are able to charge a higher rate for premium games, especially when the compare in quality to games released on traditional consoles, aren’t they.

There definitely seems to be 2 separate camps here.

On one hand, the developers, Square Enix, should be able to turn round and say that the development of mobile games doesn’t cost them any less, especially for a big block buster of a game, and as the mobile market grows they are in danger of loosing revenue due to the shrinking market for games on physical media.

Everything in life has a value and in the case the developer has chosen to value the game at £11, which is still significantly cheaper then most console games. I’m sure they would argue that raising prices allows for greater investment in future projects, so everyone benefits right?

..but on the other hand…….

The game is a revamp of a 10 year old game, without significant additions, certainly the graphics haven’t been upgraded and retina display support isn’t included.

The distribution chain for electronic media is significant less then that of physical media so games can sell for less and still make money.
Compared to other AAA titles on the iPhone Final Fantasy Tactics stands out as being very expensive, for example the big name FIFA by EA was less then £5 when launched and is currently less then £0.69.

For me Final Fantasy Tactics is a great game but it is priced to high for it’s Market place. Its price doesn’t fit with the Market price of it’s piers, and this presents a risk to the App Store. By artificially increasing the price of an app there is a real chance that other apps will increase their price, especially if Final Fantasy Tactics sells well. This will reduce the amount of sales in the Market and everyone will lose out.

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There are currently 1 million patients affected by heart failure in the uk. There are 450k admissions of heart failure sufferers  into hospital each year, with 65k of these patients in a first diagnostic position. The average (Median) age of admitted patients is 79 years old and there is a high rate of recurrence in this cohort of patients.

The use of Telehealth with Heart Failure Patients

There are some significant reasons why the use of telecare in the care of Heart Failure patients should increase:

• The number of heart failure patients is increasing
• There are fewer professionals to provide health care
• More monitoring of patients may be required.
• There is a need to Reduce costs to the NHS.
• The environmental agenda to reduce travelling and reduce CO2 admissions
• Telehealth generally leads to better (and automated) record keeping

Why can TeleHealth can work for the care of Heart Failure patients?:

• Patients With chronic illness learn routines.
• Most patients are keen to improve their health, leading to more responsibility for their own health
• There is a need to invest in patients, they could be seen as part of the ‘workforce’

With Telehealth equipment evidence suggests that you can:

• Reduce admission into Hospital
• Reduce duration of a patients stay in hospital as it’s possible to Improve Discharge planning with telecare
• Improve mortality rates
• Improve the overall patient experience.
• Reduce cost of care
• Manage a patient’s health from their own home rather than from hospital,
• Know the right time to send the right patient to hospital.
• Provide patient reassurance.

There have been trials of telehealth equipment and these suggest that:

• There was a deduction in mortality of absolute 16.4% or relative 36%
• There was No reduction in hospitalisation rates but  a decrease in the length of stay
• Only 3.3% of patients ask for equipment to be removed
• Telehealth supports clinical input.
• With Structured Telephone support
  • Mortality Improved by just .88%
  • All cause hospitalisation improved by just .77%
• With Home telemonitoring systems
  • 34% improvement in mortality rates
  • 10% improvement all cause hospitalisation rates
• 227k investment  led to 87k net saving

There is a need to use caution of some stats as “Health generally improves when focused on”.

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• The use of Technology with Dementia sufferers
• The Use of Telehealth with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

The use of Telecare, Telemedicine & TeleHealth is becoming more of a target for NHS Health trusts, as the ability to treat a patient in their own home without a clinician leaving their base can bring both care and cost improvements.

At the moment NHS trusts are looking at the use of Telehealth equipment in order to help COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) sufferers but will it bring the benefits to justify the expense outlaid by health trusts.

COPD isn’t actually one disease but a Spectrum of different disorders that cause airflow obstruction, Treatment for which can be complex and the NICE guidelines for COPD patients cover 673 pages.

Statistics show that with the use of telecare there can be a 75% reduction in A&E attendance and  83% reduction in hospital admittance, but it’s also recognised that telehealth can only work in conjunction with a treatment plan which includes input from multi-disciplinary teams.

The problem with using telehealth with COPD sufferers is what do you measure? Measurable levels don’t change much during an episode, meaning that even a Face to Face meeting with a clinician can provide difficulty is measurement. Therefore the cost of expensive measuring equipment may prove to be wasted investment.

Perhaps the biggest advantage from current Teleheath technology is the ability to talk directly with patient to provide calming reassurance and support, both as support during Exacerbation and as an aid to depression.

The use of  future telehealth equipment to reduce attacks by predicting Exacerbation.

COPD  patients that have a productive cough (“the Morning Cough”) are more likely to have exacerbation, and the more frequent the cough the more likely the exacerbation. Currently paper based questionnaires are issued to COPD patients to capture key health information, the paper forms are starting to be  replaced by telemonitoring systems, but it’s telehealth systems that automate cough recording that could provide the biggest benefits.

The number of coughs experienced by the patient increase during COPD as the patient is heading towards exacerbation, recordings of patients throughout the day can be electronically processed to identify coughs therefore significantly speeding up analysis, this would allow prompt intervention to stop the exacerbation.
Electronic Monitoring is more accurate then patient self-monitoring as chronic coughing is generally under reported by patient.

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• The use of Technology with Dementia sufferers
• The use of Telehealth with Heart Failure Patients

Flipboard is a fantastic application for the iPad which in addition to providing a number of quality news streams, can turn your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader feeds into a virtual Magazine. The end results are fantastic, well presented articles with associated media that is 100% relivent to you as it uses your own Social Media Feeds to produce the articles.

This also opens up another avenue of providing content to your readers. If you readers follow you on RSS then you articles will appear in their Flipboard articles, also if you Tweet the links to your posts then any Flipboard users who follow you on Twitter will also see your articles. This is definitly a facility that you can promote to your readers, most Flipboard users will check their articles regularly, so this is a great way to reach them.

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