The Linkmeister

So, I guess this is one of those blogs that consists mainly of interesting links. Well, if I can keep posting regularly this way, then so be it. :-)

May seems to be the month for cognitive science news to be released. This link is an interesting news bit about how music is remembered. It repeats what entertainers have known for centuries, that music helps to evoke memories. Music, I believe, is understood on a different "channel" than speech, which allows it to be a seperate dataflow for the busy gamer mind. Using a recurring theme can remind the player of certain places and people he's met previously, creating new associations, and giving clues of hidden story linkages. Music can be pretty powerful, if used correctly.

In other news, Forza Motorsport, the last game I worked on, is enjoying incredible praise, and is hanging around #17 of the top 20 games listed on Game Rankings. That's two better than Gran Turismo 3! While I really can't take too much credit for the game, it still makes me really proud that I was part of making this excellent racer. Check it out if you have the time, like racing games, and own an xbox!

More interesting Brain News

As you probably know, I'm always interested in cognitive science stuff that deals with how people learn. Games are always about learning: learning patterns, learning strategies, learning controls, learning interfaces. Here are a couple of new articles.

This one deals with how young teens have a hard time multi-tasking. While that may be, I think the related ability this gives teens is an unswerving focus which makes them the most feared players on earth.

This other study talks about how people with more knowledge about a class of subjects have a harder time remembering specific individuals of that class than those people who know nothing of that class. For instance, people who have been around cats will find it harder to remember specific details about a new cat than a person who has never seen one before. This is interesting because it makes a good challenge. Memory tests about the specific details of an animal can be made harder by exposing the player to a lot of those animals beforehand.

Kids can't hit slow pitches

Interesting study on the fact that pitching balls slowly make them harder to hit for children.

This might be key to making better video games for preschoolers. Also, as I am learning from my own 3-year-old daughter, never underestimate their ability to con you out of your ice cream cone.