This is one issue that one poorly written Techcrunch article in particular brought up - people seem to think that Wolfram Alpha is made to compete with web search engines like Google. In reality, this kind of comparison is like saying that Wikipedia is trying to shut down Google - it just doesn’t make sense! Wolfram Alpha does focus more on a search bar than most wiki sites, but it’s not made for finding web pages - it simple uses curated data to answer questions, plain and simple.

Wolfram Alpha Homepage

I can see how the whole Google-killer title developed - Wolfram Alpha’s homepage even looks like Google in design. Google’s brand new charts for a few types of information (released during the Wolfram Alpha webcast, no less) also are bordering it’s functionality. However, the people who have tried the product (or at least watched the webcast) agree that it has a wide range of factual data and is capable of making computations based on this data. This is a functionality different from any keyword-based searching and something unseen so far (most notable attempt being Cyc and OpenCyc); as a result we have no baseline to compare it to or a service to be one-upped.

One thing that would really clear up these arguments, though, would be a proper demo from Wolfram - not a long webcast or a leaked screenshot, but a proper 2-3 minute video just demoing its capabilities. Because of the academic presentation of Wolfram Alpha so far, its descriptive hasn’t reached that wide an audience - a more accessible video would make much more of an impact. The point is mute, of course, since they’re opening it for public use in the next month; all the same it would be nice to get one proper preview.

With that, I rest my case. I’m sure that, if it lives up to its claims, it will be an amazing academic resource and completely irrelevant to general Googling. I think that it’s got a good chance of fulfilling its claims too, considering that it’s the same team (and mind) that created Mathematica - even with a 15-day trial it’s clear the software’s over my head in complexity. So if any team can pull it off, it’s likely Wolfram’s.

Well, after a demanding day of school (first day back, grade 11) I got home to find that my spore download was done! So, I’ve played through cell and creature phases and decided to make a video series about them.

Here’s part one, hosted on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkuLk0qDkrs

It covers the cell stage of the game and my review of that section. I’m planning on releasing one of these a day, the last coming out when spore does on the 7th - that being the space age one. So, if you have some time come take a look!

Two days ago Rebellion reminded me of what I originally was doing with this site - freeware game reviews. While I have no plans to go back to doing that, as the free game market isn’t exactly saturated, I still do have a lot of experience with various titles and have as a result compiled a list. So, here are my top 20 freeware games:

1. TrackMania Nations Forever: Fantastic graphics with great racing action, all free. The multiplayer is fun and the tracks imaginative - with an easy to use editor and infinite replayibility, this game should be played if at all possible.
2. Starsiege: Tribes: Originally a commercial produce, the first Tribes game was released as freeware quiet a while ago. It has great fps action and gametypes, plus it’s almost guaranteed to run. The multiplayer is still active to this day.
3. I Wanna Be The Guy: IWBtG is considered one of the hardest games made, especially for freeware. It’s unforgiving and at the same time well-designed. Since it’s also a small download, it should be tried, though no guarantees of getting past the first screen.
4. BZFlag: A multiplayer-only tank game, BZFlag is simple but fun. There are objectives to reach, a variety of maps, and a lot of power ups that change the way your tank functions - from genocide to lasers to ghosting through walls. It’s very dynamic and unique but never gets too complex.
5. Sam & Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die!: This is a freeware release of the commercial game from Telltale games. It’s a point and click adventure game with fantastic humour. Even if you use a walkthrough you will laugh, though really you shouldn’t have to consult one.
6. Nethack / Dwarf Fortress: I’m grouping these because they are both ASCII games and about equal in overall quality, though they are worlds apart for depth and type of gameplay. DF is more of a rts game, by which you guide a nation of dwarfs to victory. Nethack is the classic dungeon crawler that has been in production for over 20 years now.
7. Cave Story: A Japanese platformer with an English patch, Cave Story features RPG leveling elements along with an interesting story and fun gameplay. It’s unfortunate that it’s not a particularly long game.
8. Knytt Stories: A great episodic-user-created adventure platformer. There are many different situations you can download - my favourite is “Don’t Eat the Mushroom”, which should be played no matter who you are.
9. Echoes / Torus Trooper / Mu-cade: All three are arcade-style games that are have good concepts backing them up and can be played quite frequently. Mu-cade is a combination between Robotron and snakes that relies on physics - push other snakes off of the playing field and your snake’s tail grows longer. Torus Trooper is a simple shooter that has amazing speeds of thousands of Kilometers per Hour available. Echoes is a Robotron and asteroids combination with a retro feel. Coming it at only a few megabytes in total, these three can be put on a flash drive and played on almost any computer.
10. America’s Army: Though a heavily bloated ad for joining the military, America’s Army does have some unique and interesting gameplay if you take the time to get it. It features some tactical elements along with weapons that seem more realistic. You really need to rely on your team in it.
11. osu!: A clone of “Elite Beat Agents” for the DS (and its Japanese predecessor), this is a mouse driven rhythym game. You click circles when their shrinking outer rings reach them, in time with the music. Featuring a library created by the users (and probably copyright infringements), there are many songs playable. It also has online leader boards and multiplayer. It is very fun, especially if you have a touch-screen computer.
12. TA Spring: An incomplete but growing reproduction of the original Total Annihilation. I consider TA the best rts of its time (better than Starcraft) and while this reproduction has a ways to go it’s looking promising.
13. Ac!dbomb: A gamemaker creation, Ac!dbomb is a puzzle based game about defusing bombs. Unique gameplay, good music, fantastic concept, and even a newer commercial version with a level editor!
14. Fraxy / Warning Forever: Two games based on fighting modular bosses. The first features user made content, the latter is procedurally generated. Warning Forever in particular is an amazing challenge.
15. Trilby: The Art of Theft: A game by Escapist Magazine’s Yahtzee, AoT is a platformer that incorporates stealth along with other aspects for a short but fun game. For more on this, look at its page or this Yahtzee-style youtube review.
16. Gridwars: Very similar to the xbox live Geometry Wars, so much so that the creator was actually contacted to take it down. You’ll have to hunt to find it but it’s got more depth than the original Geometry Wars and just as much of an addictive quality.
17. Frets on Fire: A freeware Guitar Hero game. It plays almost identically to Guitar Hero, just with different graphics and user created song maps. I’m still waiting for a freeware Rock Band
18. Within a Deep Forest: Another 2D platformer adventure. Has unique gameplay, environments, and a cheesy evil scientist story!
19. Synaesthete: A unique music-based shooter, this Digipen project has you running around while simultaneously playing a three column music note game, where successful hits fire your weapon. It’s quite cool and unique.
20. La Mulana: A puzzle oriented platformer of insane complexity and length. Why is this not higher on the list? Because it is vague and unforgiving at times. However, just watch Deceased Crab’s videos of it for some help.

I wish I could put Gmod on there, as it would have gotten #1 - but $10.00 is more than free, unfortunately. Likewise, Cortex Command is shareware. A few other freeware games worth a try:

• Savage 2, a multiplayer FPS RTS combination that I haven’t gotten the hang of yet. I feel like I should put it on the list but I just don’t know enough about it.
• Icy Tower, the classic freeware title most people have heard of.
• Step Mania, a DDR clone.
• Tower of Goo (Unlimited), a simple game that has led to the Wii and PC game World of Goo.
• String Theory, a hard but interesting game where you guide your low-grav character through a level by throwing elastic strings that stick to objects.
• Ramjet, a game about jets that can’t fire but can break, where you destroy each other by ramming - fun on a LAN server.
• Gate 88, a slightly flawed but great game that’s a combination of an overhead asteroids-style shooter with rts elements. Once again, it’s best when you play with other people - it’s just unfortunate that the game doesn’t have more depth.
• Flywrench, a gamemaker game where you pilot an aircraft that based on its state changes colour. Touching anything that’s a different colour will kill you.

Oh yeah, go visit You Have to Burn the Rope right now. If it doesn’t load download it - don’t worry, it won’t take up much of your time.