Valve's Steam has been the de facto standard for downloadable PC gaming for some time now, and it has long been reported that they intended to move into the console gaming arena, with the "SteamBox" rumoured to be announced at a trade show/convention (E3, PAX, GDC, etc) for the past few years.
The first tentative steps have been made over the last 12 months, with Valve first releasing "big screen mode" to make the transition from PC gaming with a keyboard and mouse to console gaming with a control pad simpler. Following this came the Linux Steam client, and its steadily increasing library of games, although still lagging behind the numbers available on the Windows and Mac clients. The next big announcement came just this past week with the announcement of SteamOS, an Ubuntu-based Steam operating system that will be made available for free to hardware manufacturers, similar to Google providing the Android OS to mobile device manufacturers.
However, I don't think this is going to be as big a success as Android (now the dominant mobile OS) in the gaming market.
Firstly, PC gamers are unlikely to spend money on hardware to play the games they already play on their desktop/laptop. Modern laptops can easily be connected to modern TVs with HDMI cables, and I've used a PC to play DVDs on a TV using a graphics card with a TV out port for almost a decade. A similar setup could easily be used for gaming, if you really wanted to use steam on a TV.
Secondly, console gamers are unlikely to be interested in buying another console in the near future. Sony's PlayStation 4 and MicroSoft's XBOX One are launching in November, costing 400 and 500 respectively (according to gamestop.ie). After that initial outlay plus new games, gamers are unlikely to be willing to pay for another box to sit under their TV, no matter what it offers, unless of course it is ridiculously cheap.
Finally, and what is most important on any console, games. Steam's main rival in the downloadable gaming market is EA's controversial Origin platform. EA are unlikely to make any of their big franchises available on any Steam platform - FIFA, Madden, Modern Warfare, etc - which are among the top selling games on consoles every year. If they are not available, then gamers will simply not buy the platform.
There are two more announcements to be made by Valve, the first coming this evening at 6pm GMT, which may change my opinion, but as it is, there's little to be excited about.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
How to get the historical FIFA rankings for a country
FIFA, the world's football association have issued a set of international rankings once a month since August 1993 but have not made them available to developers, either through an API or downloadable files (e.g. csv, excel spreadsheet, etc).
However, it is possible to access the rankings for a country in an xml file using Firefox and the Firebug plug in.
First, open fifa.com and click on the relevant association's page, e.g. Scotland: http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=sco/index.html
When the page opens, click the "Rankings" link: http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=sco/ranking/gender=m/index.html
Right click on "Rankings Evolution" and select "Inspect element with Firebug"
The parent element of the div containing the "Rankings Evolution" text box is a div with a class type of "box". Right click on this and select "Copy HTML".
Paste the HTML into a text editor (notepad, gEdit, Kate, etc).
Search for the text "new SWFObject(" (without the quotes) and copy the first parameter, e.g. /flash/maranking/marankbrowser.swf?t1=sco&g=m&a=1&v=2&lang=e&environment=PROD
Add this to http://www.fifa.com to create the URL for the flash object: http://www.fifa.com/flash/maranking/marankbrowser.swf?t1=sco&g=m&a=1&v=2&lang=e&environment=PROD
Open a new tab and activate firebug. Click the Net tab and ensure it is enabled. Note that two requests are sent to the server, flashranking.xml and association=sco.xml. Right click on association=sco.xml and select "Copy Repsonse Body".
Open a text editor and paste in the response body. Each entry is in the format
However, it is possible to access the rankings for a country in an xml file using Firefox and the Firebug plug in.
First, open fifa.com and click on the relevant association's page, e.g. Scotland: http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=sco/index.html
When the page opens, click the "Rankings" link: http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=sco/ranking/gender=m/index.html
Right click on "Rankings Evolution" and select "Inspect element with Firebug"
The parent element of the div containing the "Rankings Evolution" text box is a div with a class type of "box". Right click on this and select "Copy HTML".
Paste the HTML into a text editor (notepad, gEdit, Kate, etc).
Search for the text "new SWFObject(" (without the quotes) and copy the first parameter, e.g. /flash/maranking/marankbrowser.swf?t1=sco&g=m&a=1&v=2&lang=e&environment=PROD
Add this to http://www.fifa.com to create the URL for the flash object: http://www.fifa.com/flash/maranking/marankbrowser.swf?t1=sco&g=m&a=1&v=2&lang=e&environment=PROD
Open a new tab and activate firebug. Click the Net tab and ensure it is enabled. Note that two requests are sent to the server, flashranking.xml and association=sco.xml. Right click on association=sco.xml and select "Copy Repsonse Body".
Open a text editor and paste in the response body. Each entry is in the format
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Door closed for Trap
If you had said after the 1-1 draw at home to Cyprus that we would be
at a World Cup play off in two years, and qualify for a tournament two
years later, you'd have been laughed off the internet. Yet, that's where
Trapattoni brought us.
I'm genuinely sorry to see him go, and I fear for the future of the game here with GAA in the ascendancy again, and rugby still drawing massive viewing numbers, but I have to admit it was one qualification tournament too many.
I think in time, his majority of his tenure will be remembered well.
Thanks for the memories Trapattoni, Paris, Poznan, etc,
I'm genuinely sorry to see him go, and I fear for the future of the game here with GAA in the ascendancy again, and rugby still drawing massive viewing numbers, but I have to admit it was one qualification tournament too many.
I think in time, his majority of his tenure will be remembered well.
Thanks for the memories Trapattoni, Paris, Poznan, etc,
Thursday, September 05, 2013
A farewell to boots
Since camping at all but the first Witnness events, and attending the Sunday night of the first Oxegen in 2004, it's been the better part of a decade since my last music festival (Slane isn't a festival) and, much like buses, this year I've been to two! The Longitude festival was held in Marley Park, not far from where I live and work, and the Electric Picnic celebrated it's tenth anniversary in Stradbally, Co Laois.
I wore the same work boots I had with me at Punchestown many moons ago, they were given to me as a health and safety requirement in a temporary warehouse job I took a lifetime ago, during a three week break between semesters during my Grad Dip in UL and the only positive from that job. Regrettably I had to retire my musical companions as the sole of the right boot finally conceded defeat on Sunday afternoon when it cracked, and the metal plate between it and the in sole of the boot snapped back, rendering the boot useless. They've served me well these past years, and I hope to replace them with a similar pair as soon as possible.
Among other firsts at the EP was my first yoga class. Waking early on Sunday morning (well, earlier than I had planned) and unable to regain a state of slumber, I walked first around the campsite and then on to the main concert site. Wandering around in the ealry morning, with little of the guests for company and precious few stalls open, I did feel an odd sense of serenity. While passing a tent for some local businesses in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, I noticed an sign for a free yoga class starting at 11, seeing as it was 10:40 or so, I resolved to try it out. The instructor began by asking was it anyone's first time, and happily I wasn't alone in making my debut. Of the class of about 30, I'd estimate there were eight others attempting this for the first time. The instructor took us through some basic breathing exercises, and then into some simple movements, before some intermediate poses, including one developed at the EP by her and a partner. While I didn't really get the breathing correct during the class, I found the movements and poses relatively easy to complete. I've been attending the local gym regularly after work and my warmup includes some similar stretches.
While the art, comedy and spoken word attractions were the big differences from the Oxegen and Witnness festivals of old, it's the little changes that struck me the most. Whereas in festivals past, facilities were kept to a minimum, there's been a mass growth in the cottage industry of offerings to festival attendees, offering everything from massages to phone recharging to ATMs (incidentally the only queue longer than the ladies toilets was for the ATMs!). Londis had a pop-up shop at the campsite in Stradbally, and the Irish Time's Ticket supplement was given away for free on each day with reviews of the previous day's events.
Ep has a reputation for being more family-friendly and I did find this the case with many young children in attendance, which did give a more relaxed atmosphere to proceedings. There were many infants as well, with one girl passing us pushing a buggy carrying a child that had not yet seen his first Christmas! One downside of this was that many remained in attendance in the main arean after the sun had passed below the horizon and night had set in. While there's nothing wrong with this in theory, in practise this meant a child could disappear without notice and be left alone in the dark, in a field with more than 30,000 people, (many of whom in were in later stages of intoxication) and with mobile phone coverage at a premium. I can only imagine what this would do to a parent.
What I had noticed at Longitude and moreso at EP was the reappearance of symbols of 60's flower child idealism, girls wearing flowers in their hair, beaded hairbands and CND-branded clothing. What troubled me was the flowers and beads were plastic and mass-manufactured, instead of real and hand woven, and clothes bearing the symbols of peace and tolerance were made and sold by fashion houses with more eyes on the bottom line than anything the icons they stood for. I wondered did these children of children of the cultural decade ,and the pivot of change that followed it, believe in what they wore, or did they just want others to think they did?
I doubt this will be my last festival, or that another nine harvests will be reaped before I attend another, but I cannot imagine myself camping again. While not unable to function without the creature comforts of home, the simple fact is that, in my fourth decade, the recovery time is longer, the stiffness less bearable and the cold night air more penetrating. C'est la vie.
I wore the same work boots I had with me at Punchestown many moons ago, they were given to me as a health and safety requirement in a temporary warehouse job I took a lifetime ago, during a three week break between semesters during my Grad Dip in UL and the only positive from that job. Regrettably I had to retire my musical companions as the sole of the right boot finally conceded defeat on Sunday afternoon when it cracked, and the metal plate between it and the in sole of the boot snapped back, rendering the boot useless. They've served me well these past years, and I hope to replace them with a similar pair as soon as possible.
Among other firsts at the EP was my first yoga class. Waking early on Sunday morning (well, earlier than I had planned) and unable to regain a state of slumber, I walked first around the campsite and then on to the main concert site. Wandering around in the ealry morning, with little of the guests for company and precious few stalls open, I did feel an odd sense of serenity. While passing a tent for some local businesses in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, I noticed an sign for a free yoga class starting at 11, seeing as it was 10:40 or so, I resolved to try it out. The instructor began by asking was it anyone's first time, and happily I wasn't alone in making my debut. Of the class of about 30, I'd estimate there were eight others attempting this for the first time. The instructor took us through some basic breathing exercises, and then into some simple movements, before some intermediate poses, including one developed at the EP by her and a partner. While I didn't really get the breathing correct during the class, I found the movements and poses relatively easy to complete. I've been attending the local gym regularly after work and my warmup includes some similar stretches.
While the art, comedy and spoken word attractions were the big differences from the Oxegen and Witnness festivals of old, it's the little changes that struck me the most. Whereas in festivals past, facilities were kept to a minimum, there's been a mass growth in the cottage industry of offerings to festival attendees, offering everything from massages to phone recharging to ATMs (incidentally the only queue longer than the ladies toilets was for the ATMs!). Londis had a pop-up shop at the campsite in Stradbally, and the Irish Time's Ticket supplement was given away for free on each day with reviews of the previous day's events.
Ep has a reputation for being more family-friendly and I did find this the case with many young children in attendance, which did give a more relaxed atmosphere to proceedings. There were many infants as well, with one girl passing us pushing a buggy carrying a child that had not yet seen his first Christmas! One downside of this was that many remained in attendance in the main arean after the sun had passed below the horizon and night had set in. While there's nothing wrong with this in theory, in practise this meant a child could disappear without notice and be left alone in the dark, in a field with more than 30,000 people, (many of whom in were in later stages of intoxication) and with mobile phone coverage at a premium. I can only imagine what this would do to a parent.
What I had noticed at Longitude and moreso at EP was the reappearance of symbols of 60's flower child idealism, girls wearing flowers in their hair, beaded hairbands and CND-branded clothing. What troubled me was the flowers and beads were plastic and mass-manufactured, instead of real and hand woven, and clothes bearing the symbols of peace and tolerance were made and sold by fashion houses with more eyes on the bottom line than anything the icons they stood for. I wondered did these children of children of the cultural decade ,and the pivot of change that followed it, believe in what they wore, or did they just want others to think they did?
I doubt this will be my last festival, or that another nine harvests will be reaped before I attend another, but I cannot imagine myself camping again. While not unable to function without the creature comforts of home, the simple fact is that, in my fourth decade, the recovery time is longer, the stiffness less bearable and the cold night air more penetrating. C'est la vie.
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