It was an interesting question that I didn’t answer so quickly. I thought of a world without first-person shooters. I imagined the gaming industry being filled with more adventure games. Madden would still be wildly popular. And role-playing games would have more of a presence in the industry than they do now.
Some of the biggest publishers in the business wouldn’t be so big. And there would be a chance that smaller studios would have the ability to develop worthwhile games without worrying so much about the industry’s high barriers to entry.
After visualizing all that, I reasoned that yes, I could live in a world without first-person shooters. Moreover, I think I’d prefer that world.
Now, I’m sure that there are many gamers out there that scoff at such a statement. They love first-person shooters and derive all kinds of enjoyment from them. To them, the thought of first-person shooters being expelled from the gaming industry is too much to bear.
But when I look at first-person shooters, I think of a category of games that might have done more to hurt the industry than help it. Many of the titles are big on graphics and action, but lacking in storylines and in-depth gameplay. The success of first-person shooters has helped spur a get-rich-quick mentality in the industry that causes developers to turn their backs on innovative ideas and stick with the run-and-guns that are most likely to make money.
Worst of all, every time I play a first-person shooter, I’m reminded of how derivative they really are. I’m a solider of some sort that needs to stop a catastrophe. I have weapons and grenades. Every now and then, I can get into a vehicle. Often times, the same voice actors are in multiple games. And in the vast majority of cases, the multitplayer element is given more thought than the single-player campaign.
When it comes to first-person shooters, it’s the same game with a different name.
Of course, I realize that I’m probably one of a select few that can live without first-person shooters. After all, games like Call of Duty: Black Ops continue to set sales records. People around the globe salivate at the thought of sniping others from a perch online. Playing a first-person shooter is simply the favorite pastime of millions of people around the globe.
Luckily for those folks, first-person shooters are here to stay. They represent too much revenue potential for developers to shelve them now. And franchises like Call of Duty have become such an integral part to the financial operations of companies that the chances of first-person shooters not coming to store shelves in droves seem awfully slim.
So, we don’t need to worry about living in a world without first-person shooters. But if we did, I think I’d be just fine.
What about you?

We’ve been given the opportunity to take a hands-on peek behind the scenes at Samsung with a fully functional Samsung Galaxy S II phone running Android 2.3.1 with TouchWiz 4.0 over the top. In addition to the hands-on video we’ve got here, we’ve also got a demonstration of some of the more fun gesture-based elements in TouchWix 4.0 [as presented by] our main homie Philip Berne. The Samsung Galaxy S II handset is an impressive device – one that I mistakenly call the thinnest device in Samsung’s line of phones.

The reason I’m wrong is that it’s in fact the thinnest phone ever. Period. In the world, ever. A point we heard more than once this past week is that the thickness of Samsung’s newly introduced versions of their Samsung Galaxy Tab line the 8.9 and the 10.1, are 8.6 mm compared to the Samsung Galaxy S II which is an amazing 8.49 mm. That’s thin! Holy crap!

A bit on the specs: this phone features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED WVGA display, a nameless 1GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera on the back, a 2.0-megapixel camera on the front (NOTE, I MISTAKENLY SAY 1.3MP IN THE VIDEO,) and what will surely be the newest version of Gingerbread when the device is released. There’ve been some mixed reports on this, saying sometimes that it’ll be released with Honeycomb, but I assure you, holding this device in my hands literally, it’s got Android 2.3.1, for sure, for real.

Source : Androidcmunity

 

It’s tough to read too much into this, but when  a couple of job applications hoping to bring on folks who can “radically improve how people interact with maps and location-based services,” we can’t help but take note. The outfit’s currently seeking a pair of full-timers to be labeled as iOS Maps Application Developers, and it’s honing in on applicants with “excellent skills in object-oriented software design and programming.” We’ve felt for awhile that Apple’s built-in Maps application wasn’t even comparable to Google Maps Navigation, but it could be time for that to change. Even now, iOS users need to fork out cash on a legitimate turn-by-turn app if they’re hoping to navigate with the iPod touch or iPhone, but we can only hope that these applications are hinting at a more full-fledged internal program for the software’s next major iteration.’Course, we’re sure TomTom would.

 

We’ve heard, we’ve toyed, and we’ve waited. And now, we’re presenting you with two vital nuggets of information surrounding the Xtreamer Ultra HTPC. The Ion 2-based machine is one of the most compact (and most affordable) pre-built HTPCs available, complete with six USB sockets, 4GB of DDR3 memory, an HDMI socket, IR remote and — if you place a pre-order before the end of April — a mini wireless keyboard, 8GB USB key, an HDMI 1.4a cable and a fresh copy of Linux. €249 will get one headed your way on May 3rd, or $323 if you’re Livin’ In America. Hit the source link to get in line, ya heard?

Lasers destroy missiles, missiles shoot down satellites, and soon, satellites may tell both where to aim, as the United States successfully managed to track an entire ballistic missile launch from “birth-to-death” with its prototype Space Tracking and Surveillance System. After a year and a half in orbit, two Northrop Grumman-built satellites managed the feat last week, in what the company’s calling “the Holy Grail for missile defense.” While we’re not reading about any plans to mount any lasers on the satellite’s… ahem… heads, Space News reports that the US Navy will attempt to relay the satellite tracking data to its Aegis ships with interceptor missiles on board, and hopefully obliterate incoming projectiles with the extra range and reaction time that satellite coordinates afford. The Navy has reportedly scheduled its first game of space-based Missile Command for next month.