I "beat" Assassin's Creed - now what?

So I just beat the game "Assassin's Creed for X-box 360 and to say the least I was a bit underwhelmed. Overall it was a good game, with great graphics, decent gameplay, a really interesting storyline and tremendous attention to detail.

When I first popped in the game and was transported to a historically based, sci-fi, mystery featuring the Knights Templar, the Holy Crusades and pretty much the best graphics I have seen thus far on the X-box 360 I was hooked. I played the game consistently for the next three weeks. Every couple of days I would complete some investigations, scale alot of buildings, do a leap of faith or two and assasinate some bad guys.

(SPOILER ALERT)

The further I progressed through the game the more I learned about our character's history and the more ambiguous the story got. None of the bad guys really seemed that bad, as in evil or difficult to kill, and both the character and myself were going through a bit of an identity crisis. Were we really working towards peace in the middle east circa 1190, or were we just another part of the problem?

Ubisoft, the makers of the game, assured me that Assassin's Creed was created by a diverse group of individuals from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, so I could go on killing people without fear that I was being prejudiced or commiting hate crimes. But the character, Altair/Desmond, needed a bit more convincing so he keept going back to the leader of the Assasin's Guild for reassurance and clarifaction regarding his tasks. I tried to get him to realize that his master was the bad guy but he just wouldnt pull his blade on his Obi Wan until the end when it is almost too late.

So I wont ruin the whole game for you as it was an overall enjoyable experience, but the end leaves so many open ends (hello sequel, movie, etc...) and raises some new questions with regards to the mysterious writing on the lab floor that I had to do some poking around on the internet to figure out what it was all about. For a full analysis of the writing that appears at the end of the game check this article out. I wasnt really in the mood to try and break the codes at 5 in the morning after a 6 hour session or gameplay, but the one word I recognized was Yonaguni. Earlier that day I had been reading about the submerged Yonaguni pyramids off the coast of Japan, weird.

The entire game was a setup for the sequel, with a mediocre ending and pretty weak bosses, despite the fantastic graphics and interesting exposition of the story. I probably will get the next one, but how about a bit of a tighter ending next time Ubisoft.

8 Web design mistakes

Click here to read an interesting article that compares the programmer's and designer's roles in and biases towards developing quality web pages. Some great guidelines are illustrated throughout the article, my personal favorite: "I dont need to ask for opinions", it's a trap all succesful designers and programmers fall into at one point or another, being self-confident to the point where they can no longer see or consider alternate approaches.

The Art of Innovation

Guy Kawasaki is one of the best minds in online marketing and venture capital. He is the former product evangelist for the original Apple Macintosh and an all around cool dude. When this guy talks people not only listen they enjoy what they are hearing.

click here to view

I found out about this cool freeware called zentation that puts video and presentation slides side by side for your viewing pleasure, and the first presentation on their homepage was Guy's - so I had to share.

My key learnings from the presentation were: Don't just improve on past success - to really innovate you have to jump ahead of the curve, mission statements rarely capture the heart of a company's mission, innovation does not equal perfection, and beware of Bozo's - many of the leaders and innovators of the past are the unflinching standards fascists of today.

There's a 20% Chance we're living in the Matrix

I have got to work this into my book Continuum - Game over man, Game over. read this article now or never know what is going on in the mind of the Prime Designer. Once you read the article answer me this - is this science or scientology?

read more digg story

Bush Administration Spent $1.6 billion on PR in the US (2003-05)

Follow the link below for a slight diatribe against PR "over" spending by the Bush administration. Note the figures quoted are for entire government agencies and the only really scary item, to me at least, is the feeding of news stories to various media outlets, but not disclosing that the source was Uncle Sam, or at least the guys living in his town.

The Orwellian nature of government sponsored media is tantamount to both Rappin Karl Rove and Dubya forming a pact with undead Nixon. The nature of the pact: Zombie America. Oh wait, its too late.

All I am saying is don't go out at night unless you have a shotgun and at least three people that you can outrun. As for this Washington Post report, I would like to see the source material, then I will decide what spending is inappropriate, of course as a marketing guy I am probably biased.

read more digg story