Future of Gaming – Microsoft IllumiRoom + Bungie

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Ummmmm, I've never been a fan of Microsoft ever... and especially since they acquired Bungie back in 2000 to steal Halo away from the macintosh platform in favor of their unreleased XBox platform.

Not many people realize how integral Bungie was to the Macintosh platform for keeping Apple’s computing platform more awesome than the others (Windows)… but it’s true. If you can remember Pathways Into Darkness then you most certainly will remember Marathon, Myth, and totally fucking awesome Oni.

Obviously Marathon was finally ported to Windows in 1996, and the entire trilogy is now available for free on all platforms – but that didn’t completely change the company from abandoning the Macintosh platform as Bungie’s developing platform of choice. Bungie loved Apple and during the 1999 MacWorld Keynote Address Steve Jobs allowed Jason Jones to unveil Halo for the first time to a public audience to showcase Apple’s new adoption of OpenGL.

On June 19th, 2000 Microsoft announced that it had acquired Bungie Software and that Bungie would become Bungie Studios underneath the Microsoft Game Division. Luckily the core team of Bungie game developers resisted all of Microsofts efforts to ‘boring’ize the group and they were actually able to finish Halo specifically for the XBox and thus changing the world of gaming… again.

Bungie continued making Halo 2 (2004) and Halo 3 (2007) underneath Microsoft and specifically for the XBox until 5 days after Halo 3 was released and they announced they were leaving the ‘boring’ giant. After leaving they continued development work on the Halo brand for a couple years until finally parting with Microsoft with a new publishing deal with Activision Blizzard in 2010.

And now, finally – that your slightly educated – we can announce the future of gaming… Pathways Out of Darkness — Destiny.

[YouTubeUlar] <— 4,949,334

I just hope IllumiRoom does some stellar work with this game.

[Geek out on Illumiroom - Engadget]
[Geek out on Destiny]

Lennon & Maisy Stella’s Adorable “Nashville” Lumineers “Ho Hey” Cover

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Ho Hey (feat. Lennon Stella & Maisy Stella) – Ho Hey (feat. Lennon Stella & Maisy Stella) – Single

Last week on ABC’s “Nashville” episode 16, Rayna Jaymes Conrad finally gives into her daughters wish of partying like rock stars and allows them to perform a soundcheck for her. Maddie and Daphne (played by Lennon & Maisy Stella) perform this adorable cover of “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers and instantly give replay credit to their 2012 smashing hit.

Ho Hey – Single – The Lumineers

If you don’t believe these girls are for real, as I didn’t… I suggest you watch this live performance of the two covering the same song last week at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, Tennessee.

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The real life Lennon and Maisy Stella are indeed the real thing. They are real sisters from Canada who grew up on a farm without internet and television and nearly play the same age characters in “Nashville” as they are in real life. Lennon Stella (13 years old) and Maisy Stella (8 years old) made themselves famous last May with this instant YouTube hit video [15,507,340 views] performing their unique version of Robyn’s ‘Call Your Girlfriend’ [3,764,522 views].

In real life, Lennon & Maisy’s parents are real musicians performing as “The Stellas” and moved to Nashville in 2009. They won a 2012 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) award for music video of the year for their song “In This House”. Lennon & Maisy are featured in the video and can be seen growing up in the Stellas new song “Riding in the Back Seat” [159,698] music video.

In Episode 3 of “Nashville”, Lennon and Maisy perform a cover of Juliette Barnes’ (Hayden Panettiere) “Telescope” [160,475] during a school talent show which hinted at their future talent ability for the future of the show. Rumor has it, they were signed to appear on “Nashville” before they made themselves famous on the interManets.

To learn more about these future superstars… travel through the links below.

[Stella Sisters Fanpage]
[Lennon and Maisy - Youtube Channel] <— 266,980 subscribers
[Lennon and Maisy – Facebook Page] <— 64,054 likes
[Lennon and Maisy – A Christmas Interview] <— 433,874 views
[Kid President with Lennon and Maisy] <— 527,290 views
[Lennon and Maisy Huffington Post Interview]

Kickstarter 2012 – The Stats

Kickstarter 2012 - The Stats

Kickstarter continues to be the worlds largest funding platform for creative projects. I recently reviewed Kickstarter’s 2012 year in review. The stats are unbelievable and continue to grow as their demographic base increases. Last year Kickstarter collected a total of $274,391,721 million in pledges which is 85.6% of of all pledges given. This does not mean that 85.6% of all projects reach their goal, actually only 44% of all 41,765 projects launched reached their goal. And of those 18,109 kickstarter projects, there were a select few that completely blew out their goal.

Hydle’s 1 favorite kickstarter highlight from last year – The Griz Coat by Buffoonery Factory.

Our successful Blackbox Case project from 2011 pales in comparison to some of the numbers being generated today. I feel like it is time for another Hydle project in the Kickstarter arena again.

Immediate potential projects:
Blackbox Case needs an iPad Mini Case
VersaTowel
Suitcase Speaker + mini Keg

Doug Smith – I Am Craig Video

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LinkedIn recently inquired me to write about some projects from my past, so I thought I would share this little write up on the 2011 Craig Hospital Push Dinner video with Doug Smith, the most amazing pianist (sorry doug) in the world.

The 2011 installment of the “I Am Craig” PUSH Dinner Video was a fun one. Getting the opportunity to interview Doug Smith, a true musical genius, was a treat for me to figure out where his creativity comes from. Tying his story into a live show was a first for the Craig Hospital PUSH dinner videos… something they have now copied three times since this 2011 showing.

If you could have only been there to feel this transition take place… to see my work presented on such a large scale to tell the story of Doug Smith and then have him revealed and play such a powerful song live — It was such an amazing feeling.

I shot, edited and directed this piece with a small team of Jake Manley, Mary Bonner and myself. We all had a fun working road trip to Lubbock, Texas were everyone on the team learned a lot about each other, the local watering holes, and the man Doug Smith!

After the 6:40 mark in the video… I had zero control of shooting and editing. I feel as if the impact could have been a bit better matched to my original work – but you still get the impression of how impacted the audience was. [raw video]

I can’t wait to actually tell this entire story in Hydle detail sometime in the near future for all of you loyal readers and newly Doug Smith fans :) But for now – it stays in the memory bank.

Don’t hesitate to pick up the most amazing Doug Smith album of all time. It was recorded live in 2000 before his injury. The stories behind the recording of this album are incredible, but Doug Smith’s playing is even better.

[iTunes - Live - Doug Smith]
[Doug Smith - The Amazing Piano Player - Homepage]
[Doug Smith - The Amazing Piano Player - On Hydle.com]
[Craig Hospital]

Mom + Dad + Me

Les Hydle + Greg Hydle + Susan Hydle

Today I randomly found the last photo that I had taken with both of my parents. Here is a little message to my dad…

“Today I’m randomly going through media and SD cards that I have piled around the house… and not only did I find a card that contained my last visit to Grandma’s, but I also found this little gem … which I’m pretty sure is the last photo I have with you and mom. This was the day you guys signed your papers … and you two were getting along beautifully. Pretty sure we went to tequilas after this to celebrate… yum. Oh – and just so you know, that place burnt down too. What a shitty year :) But just like everything good in life, it will be re-built – bigger and better. Hope your having fun up there…”

Susan Hydle + Les Hydle + Greg Hydle = A Good Time (always!)

I Want To Say

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I’m no expert by any means… but I do impose a question. When viewing the above video about technology being the solution for autism — Has anybody thought about technology being the creator of autism?

Autism birth rates:
1970 – 1 in 10,000
1995 – 1 in 1,000
2012 – 1 in 88

?