A Trippy Trip Down Memory Lane - Otomata

Because I am an occasional stumbler (on the Internet), I find the most bizarre and amazing sites. Somewhat recently, I found this gem:

Otomata

Otomata is a generative sequencer. It employs a cellular automaton type logic I've devised to produce sound events.

This musical tool sounds quite geeky, but is actually a lot of fun and pretty simple to understand. Though I can't say I was knowledgeable of the term "cellular automaton" there was something about the style which seemed familiar from my youth. Then I saw this:

And instantly I'm back as an early teenager. Other kids were riding bikes or learning skateboard tricks. I did those things too, but I also spent a large portion of my time in front of this magic box:

One of the many shareware and freeware games my dad had found this magic box was called Conway's Game of Life. It didn't seem like much on the surface. You could add squares to a grid and start them in action. Sometimes they'd fizzle out and die, but other times they'd react with each other in a very life-like way (hence the name). I followed the link to refresh my memory and suddenly I've gone down the proverbial rabbit hole and am itching to play this learning game again. What's more, I want to introduce my kids to it. With Reese's analytical mind, she'd love it!

More Information

• Wikipedia
• Recent news about Conway's Game of Life
• ConwayLife.com - Wiki

Desktop Tower Defense ...and Other Video Games

Free time is always a premium. Yet you have to get a few minutes after the kids go to bed (and the wife dozes off on the couch) to unwind and perhaps play a short video game. I do sometimes spend a bit of my down time hacking away in some online game or another. One of my current favorites is pretty simple and I think that says something important.

All too often, the advertised latest and greatest game around needs to be large, expansive and complex. Life-like high-end graphics, realistic artificial intelligence and physics engines that would make Newton cry are the norm for the store-bought games you'll find on the shelf of your retail outlet store.

But are these monstrosities really what the average gamer is looking for? In fact the gaming market might be (read: should be) seeing a back-swing response to these games and their reviews. The Nintendo Wii is somewhat a manifest response in the sense that the console maker has abandoned the escalating war to create the highest end machine but instead strives to improve game play and the fun rather than higher resolution and rip-roaring frame rate. But what should someone do who doesn't yet have a Wii?

Turn to the simplistic flash-based web game. Sometimes what you really need is a simple abstract type of game where all you are doing is blowing little bad guys up. Desktop Tower Defense is a good example of this.

Desktop Tower Defense

In this point-and-click game, you control the placement and layout of different types of automated gun towers within the playing field. The basic premise is that you must protect the East (and South) edge of the map from the enemy approaching from the West (and North). The enemy in this case are small amorphous blobs of varying types and difficulty called creeps. It sounds simple and at first it certainly is. However it gets difficult fast and carries an addictive quality that is hard to withstand.

Bonus: You can also get a good idea for how this game is played by watching some fast-motion videos of DTD on Google Video.