Link roundup

1. The Los Angeles public school system is reducing the emphasis on homework, making it now account for no more than 10% of students' grades. This criticism is pathetic:

Critics — mostly teachers — worry that the policy will encourage students to slack off assigned work and even reward those who already disregard assignments. And they say it could penalize hardworking students who receive higher marks for effort.

Shouldn't the teachers be confident that the kids who work the hardest on homework will also score the best on tests?

2. I might have linked to this before, but since it won an Emmy, here's a video by the Washington Post in which a comic book cover featuring Frank Cho's Brandy character (based on Lynda Carter) is brought to life. Via.

3. Seven fascinating moments in online video game history.

Flash game lets you play golf on the moon

Golf Sector 6:

What will it be like to do ordinary things on the extraordinary alien worlds of our solar system? For instance, will we still play our favorite games? In 1971, during the Apollo 14 mission, astronaut Alan Shepard hit a few golf balls on Earth's moon, where the gravity is six times weaker than on Earth. But what if you took a swing on Hyperion, where the gravity is 500 times weaker than on Earth? How gently would you have to swing to prevent the ball from going into orbit?

GOLF SECTOR 6 is an easy-to-play, Flash-based golf game that lets you tee off on Saturn's moons. It is based on some of our most stunning images returned from the high resolution cameras onboard the Cassini spacecraft that have been processed by CICLOPS and released to the public here on this website. Each of Saturn's moons has its own weak gravity, which should keep things interesting, so be sure to take that into account when you make your swing! Just like golfing on Earth, the goal is to hit the ball into the hole -- or in this case, the crater! -- using the smallest number of swings.

It loaded instantly and ran smoothly in Chrome and was pretty fun. Via.

The Old Republic: Alderaan trailer

The latest trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic shows off a mission on Alderaan. Via.

Assassin's Creed: Carte Blanche

Some interpretations of the Assassin's Creed character - - they'll be included in Assassin's Creed: The Encyclopedia, which will be part of the Assassin's Creed Revelations Animus package:


Grzegorz Domaradzki.



TomX/SeedSeven.



Will Murai.



JamesNG.



Karl Kerschl.

And these images were also submitted for inclusion in the book:


David Alvarez.



Shari Chankhamma.



jodeee (I think).



Nykolai Aleksander.



Roberto Gomes.



Levi Hoffmeier.

Via these sites.

*Previously: Metal Gear's Raiden is a playable character in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

L.A. Noire Toon Town edition

L.A. Noire Toon Town edition would be great.

Bioshock Infinite gives a shout out to Star Wars

The latest Bioshock Infinite developer diary shows off the game mechanic that lets the busty heroine interact with alternate realities. Via.

*Buy Bioshock posters at eBay.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

You might have heard mention what a frightening game Amnesia: The Dark Descent is. Well, this segment from about an hour into the game (from a full playthrough) gives a good taste. All you need to know is that you're alone in a haunted castle with no means of self defense.

Stay Human

A glimpse at Eyeone's contribution for an upcoming Deus Ex Human Revolution art show.

*Deus Ex Human Revolution walkthrough.

A love letter to Blur and its artists

It's pretty obvious at this point that just about every great video game trailer is by Blur, including the Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City trailer I posted a few days ago.

In fact, I mentioned Prey 2 the other day, but haven't posted the terrific trailer for the game, which of course was also made by Blur. Think Blade Runner meets The Fifth Element (with a little adult language), set to a country western version of Soundgarden's Rusty Cage:



Blur's so good that the studio does little to nothing to promote itself, letting the work speak for it. And the Blur artists that even have personal websites have websites that are well out of date. That being said, here's a look at few of the people responsible for Blur's great work.

Shaun Absher's work includes modeling the Sith Inquisitor for The Old Republic opening cinematic and Batman for the DC Universe Online trailers. Since I've already posted those, here's something he created for fun:




Joshua James also worked on the Old Republic and DCU trailers (and created the tattoo for the The Girl With the Dragon tattoo):





Toni Bratincevic has posted images from some of his older projects for Blur including Force Unleashed (and also has prints from personal projects on sale):





Eric Durante worked on the trailers for The Goon, RE, Bioshock Infinite, and more. Here's a look a gladiator he created for a personal project:





Jason Martin was the character lead on the Resident Evil trailer and has also teased some Tyger Guard characters from Arkham City (see the latest trailer here):





Alessandro Baldasseroni has posted some of the models he created for ToR, The Goon, and Force Unleashed (you can watch the trailers here):






Heikki Anttila has posted several images from TFU and ToR:

Deus Ex: Revolution walkthrough

Enjoy the first 40 minutes of a playthrough of Deus Ex: revolution:






I also made a few screencaps:








*Previously: Deus Ex action figures.

Little kid playing Dance Central in a store

Little kid dominating Dance Central (and don't miss the older gentleman at 40 seconds in). (Watch w/o sound if you don't like Disturbia.) Via.

Link roundup

1. NY Times' review of the first Chrome notebook:

How well does Google’s newfangled concept hold up in the real world?

Unfortunately, not very well.

It's ludicrously expensive considering its shortcomings.

2. Did you see earlier this week that a PR company promised to punish sites running negative video game reviews? I couldn't help but think of it in reading the uselessly contradictory conclusion to Destructoid's review of Alice: Madness Returns:

In spite of tedium and technical faults, I quite enjoyed Alice: Madness Returns, which says quite a bit for the extraordinary world McGee has created from the blueprint of Caroll's original tales. Fans of the original Alice find plenty of here to love, and will certainly want to return to Wonderland to work towards a satisfying narrative conclusion. For others, putting up with the game's monotonous design may prove to be a personal spiral into madness they may want to avoid.

UPDATE: To be fair, as the commenter points out, Destructoid gave Duke Nukem a terrible review.

3. There's a theme park in Las Vegas where you can operate excavators and other machinery. But packages start at $400 and no kids under 14, so I can't imagine it lasting.

New Bioshock Infinite footage

Zeppelins and propaganda star in the latest Bioshock Infinite trailer. (Could they have chosen a worse screenshot for the Youtube video?)

*Buy propaganda posters at eBay.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Commandos in bodysuits and gas masks vs. zombies in the cinematic trailer for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Via.

*Previously: Jill Valentine doll.

Games With Honest Names

From the Games With Honest Names edition of Photoshop Phriday.

The Postman delivers lies

I cropped a few stills from the latest Bioshock Infinite gameplay video. This video emphasizes use of the sky-lines.

*Buy Bioshock toys at eBay.