A new study by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) working with Her Majesty’s Inspector of Education and the University of Dundee tested 600 pupils and 32 schools to determine whether Nintendo’s Brain Training games really do improve learning. The answer? Yes! After nine weeks, all students improved their test scores, but students playing the game improved by a further 50 percent than the control group.

Also in the news, companies too are researching whether games can improve your cognitive abilities. From CNN:

Could playing computer games enhance mental agility enough to turn people over 50 into better drivers? Allstate Corp. wants to find out, and if the answer is yes, it might offer insurance discounts to people who play the games

The article goes on to state that the games aren’t specifically driving-related, but rather designed to raise visual awareness and reverse age-related cognitive decline.

“Multithreading is just one damn thing after, before, or simultaneous with another.”

– from “C++ and the Perils of Double-Checked Locking”

Jonathan Rush at pig-brain has an excellent tutorial on building 3D character joints so they animate properly. Building shoulders and elbows that deform properly is something a lot of new artists have difficulty with, and even experienced artists struggle with from time to time–especially when working low-poly!

Read the Tutorial

The SoftImage site has a great case study on the making of MGS4 with lots of wonderful images for those of you interested in some behind-the-scenes pictures of the game design process.

From Kate MacAlpine, a trainee at Cern: