Gamasutra features an interesting article on a study that used brainwaves, heart activity, and blinking to measure the engagement of gamers. Among the examined elements are cutscenes, integrated tutorials, pacing, and close combat, with Gears of War getting good marks on the latter:

For instance, in both Halo 2 and Gears of War, players were rewarded with an instant kill for using the energy sword and chainsaw... In addition, Gears of War players recorded high emotional reward for the spray of enemy blood after they succeeded.

So what caused players to disengage from games? Well, lots of things, but a big one seems to be repetition and assured outcomes. Using Gears again as an example:

In the first 90 minutes of gameplay, players encounter three Seeders, one at a time. Killing them can only be done with the Hammer of Dawn weapon, and taking them down is crucial to restoring radio communications.

The result is that the novelty of the first encounter with this enemy makes the gameplay intensely engaging. However, the second and third encounters with Seeders do not engage players at nearly the same level of intensity. In some sense, emotion data demonstrated that players only went through the motions with the second and third Seeders.

A rather crafty group of guys must really like the Lancer from Gears of War quite a lot, because they've decided to make their own.

A few enterprising gun enthusiasts have gone the extra mile for their bayonets, strapping on 14 inches of chainsaw for proper eviscerating. They call it the "Firearm Mounted Anti Zombie Device" but we know it better as the standard issue Lancer from Epic Games' third-person shooter.

Yes, it works, as proven by the video of the thing in pumpkin-slaying action.

According to Reuters, Sumner Redstone has unloaded his 87% shareholdings in Midway for a mere $100,000 (or $0.0012 a share) and a hefty tax write-off. Redstone's National Amusements corporation is facing outstanding debt in the neighborhood of $1.6 billion. Private investor Mark Thomas is now the majority shareholder of the UT3 publisher.

Hourences seems to be a very busy guy and his site updates always reflect that; today's is no exception. First up is a brand new portfolio website, complete with a bunch of screenshots of some of the levels he worked on for the recently released The Chronicles of Spellborn (see a few below) and the upcoming Huxley.

Modcenter is featuring a Q&A with Hourences about his many projects, including The Ball modification for UT3. A few details of plans for the mod's future:

For part three we have planned to introduce at least one enemy, preferably two. There will be more action orientated gameplay with a brand new environment set in two golden cities. We will also have new and original music. I am very excited about the new weapon model and if it all goes right we will have our own menu! We hope to become a fully fledged total conversion for Phase 3.

For Phase 4, we will likely continue to improve these new features, add another new enemy, and have the player arrive at the palace of the King. These things are in development and being discussed but the overall target is to have at least 6 hours of gameplay by the end of the contest.

Last but not least, Hourences has begun giving UnrealEd and level design lectures to game development schools and is in the process of attempting to gather support for persuading the makers of the low cost modeler Silo to support Unreal modding.

For all the Americans out there, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving full of fun times, family, good food, and lasting memories. Now, to top off the ending holiday, why not start up UT3 and join us for FragBU ? Join BU staff members and your fellow BuF'ers for two nights of fast and heart pumping matches which take you from DM, TDM, CTF, vCTF, and even WAR. If you've never been to a FragBU event before, don't worry, it's open to anyone who wants to join us for some good old fashioned friendly fragging.

Before you start, don't forget to check out the FragBU thread in the UT3 forums for download links to all of the custom maps on the server. There are quite a few large map packs like the excellent and often played HOLP1 and HOLP2 plus many stand alone maps which all see their fair share of map play. All the downloadable content is available through the servers fast redirect, but downloading these before you jump on the server may be a good idea if you want to jump in on the action right away.

To check on the status of the server without opening the game, you can either check the FragBU thread or log on to the official FragBU IRC channel at #fragbu on EnterTheGame where there's always plenty of people to help you out if you need assistance getting on the server.

If you are on the server and no one else is there don't fret, wait a few minutes and people will eventually join. Most people start joining around 10pm EST but people will join earlier if they see activity on the server. If idling on the server isn't working and you don't want to wait any longer, you can always ask people to join in the IRC channel and many will eagerly hop on.

Last week's attendance was a bit low but what better way to burn off that Thanksgiving feast than with some adrenaline pumping fragging? Let's fill up the server this weekend and we hope to see you there!