It would make sense that he understands all of this if he is a Freeman...but upon double-checking the page, I find out he isn't really Gordon's brother at all.

His name was Thomas Wilburn.

Science is only The Fun with Mr Wizard!!!

SCIENCE! Well, here goes nothing...

@DiscipleofJamzy: O.o o.O O.o... *eyes still dilating..*

As we speak Activision are trademarking Chemistry Hero.

Science rules.

@Atheist Jew: childhood =D!!

@Manny:
lol seriously

Yum, MacGyver.

portal taught me that speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out! who knew?!?

@Atheist Jew:
And was that a Bill Nye pun?

I really like this idea... and he's totally right, by the way -- if you go back and rewatch McGuyver, almost every single one of his "contraptions" was really based in chemistry. If I had realized that when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure I would have been more interested in the subject myself.

@Manny: and instead of getting booed off stage if you miss too many, your lab explodes!

I've always wanted to play a MacGyver-like game.
Ahhh...the possibilities.

"Don't thank me, thank the earth's gravitational pull"

For the last few years, the buzzword for game engine design has been physics, but most games didn't use it for anything more than the most basic eye-candy.

And particles!

Most engines have a basic physics engine: the particle engine. Particles bounce on walls, and spread from explosiones with velocity, momentum and mass :D

HL2 showed that the model itself could actually be fun and interesting as part of the gameplay.

Th0se cool Valve guys!... :D

I like to imagine doing the same thing for other fields - chemistry, for example, which has never been one of my strong subjects but would almost certainly make for amazing puzzles a la MacGyver.

You mean,... like C64 atomino?

To some degree, this progression is already taking place; what's Spore but an expansive biology toy?

Spore?
The C64 game about atoms?

Science!

@Atheist Jew:

indeed, in the hands of Bill Nye Science does rule.

I wouldn't mind a Bill Bye science game, but what are the chances of that every happening?

Yay science!

I'm goin' to college so I can learn how to turn switches and put cement blocks on ramps! :D

I don't know what people expected from accurate physics engines. On the one hand, it's great because things start acting like they ought to (have you seen some of the tech demos for Force Unleashed?), but at the same time, a lot of game puzzles would simply break under reality. For example, if physics was the sole deciding factor on how a block falls from a certain height, a lot of Tomb Raider puzzles would break, or perhaps if physics were the only thing governing the way game cars worked, you'd be hard pressed to be able to accurately control most racing games because you're missing that in-the-seat feel of g-forces.

Still, I think the best application for a really great physics engine beyond eye candy would be to simply have sandbox-type play where you can construct devices like the Incredible Machine. You can kind of do that with Garry's Mod, but the toolset isn't exactly intuitive for most people.

@NeoAkira: Not very since he's sort of gone the way of Kinsey.
He's now making sex documentaries of some sort.

But yes, his Science segments were always a good part of my childhood.

The key to fun and interesting gameplay is limitless similar seesaw puzzles. Thank you valve, you broke the code.

@Kiriphii: JOHN FREEMAN WHO WAS GORDON FREEMAN'S BROTHER...

This article was an excellent read, and while I do doubt video games will be used as an effective education tool, HL2 and P0RTAL did spark interest in Physics. I'm sure Spore will do the same for Evolution and space travel, and hell, even microbiology.
Now it'd be hard to do as cool a game as Portal or HL2 that would get people interested in math, but game companies should try; there are many math nerds out there who would really enjoy that. There just has to be that element of nerdy humor that accompanies the game throughout.

To some degree, this progression is already taking place; what's Spore but an expansive biology toy?
Spore? What about SimLife that was a pretty expansive biology toy. Obviously not by today's standards but then after Crysis, HL2 isn't exactly a spring chicken any more either.

@NeoAkira: A Bill Nye game? Maybe back in the day when movie and TV licenses were turned into crappy games that might...

Oh, wait!

It could happen!

Game's will be able to do anything when we can create a few hundred billion tiny polygons the size of olecules and give them properties to recreate our world.

I've been waited for a couple years for someone to make a game where any item can interact with ANY other item. Those who have promised it just have a linear system, where 90% of the items in the game have a secondary use you might need once. Alone in the Dark 5 looks promising, though.

The only thing about physics in games, is that they are all inconsistent. For example, there are games where you can blow up a helicopter with a bazooka, but then you need the "Lions Key" to open a wooden door. Or a game like DMC4 where some objects (like a box or a table) can be broken but the same object in another room is just a static mesh. It ruins the whole illusion of a physical world.

That tech demo of the new Alone in the Dark looks like they are on the right track to actually having physics as a core element of the game and not just a dumb puzzle here and there. Does mixing gasoline and fire count as chemistry?

@cybereality: Yes in fact, explosions are science.

@DiscipleofJamzy: you...are..my...god......

@Atheist Jew: The lost game actually looks like it has potential to be something more then a crappy license. The other little lost games. find 815 and the Lost experience, both were top notch

Superman I don't think has ever been in a good console game.

Let's be serious: Half-life and Portal use Science as magic. The only difference is that you don't have to suspend your disbelief quite as much.

@huginn: lost game

Damn you.

But yes. Science is great stuff and what better way to increase my interest in it than by showing how it can both completely enslave humanity and lie to me about pastries? I sure as hell can't think of any, and I mean that.

A MacGyver/chemistry game would ROCK.

Chem lab is teh fun. Stuff that changes color, blows up, glows, blows up -- what's not to love?

Would work well for potions too.

Maybe a deal could be struck with the estate of Mr. Wizard.

science stole my virginity and raped my mom

@cybereality: That was my biggest beef with halflife 2.

In one level I can kill a walker with x missiles because I am supposed to.

But later, on top of the roof, I can shot the walkers with 100x missiles and it means absolutely nothing.

I was so pissed at the inconsistent implementation of physics in HL2, and its episodes.

We don't need hard science to solve puzzles ala MacGyver; all we need is sticky tape!

But people already use Chemistry in gaming...

Acid + Metal = BURN
Acid + Skin = BURN
Chemical + Chemical = BETTER chemical

And then there's Biology

Cell = GROWTH!
DNA = CLONING!
virus = DISEASE + MUTATION!

Now i'd love to see a video gaming attempt to butcher Quantum Physics, just like how the anime's Noien and Tengen Toppa tried to use the uncertainty principle and quantum states a bit too literally...

@brent_w: My bigger problem is the shotgun/magnum physics. A blast doesn't impart enough force to knock a person off their feet, yet I've seen this occur in Half-Life 2 on many occasions. The cross bow is bad as well.

@Ultrasinc: But the Heisenberg compensators were compensating!

Finally, one step closer to my dream of Glaciation: the video game.

Let's see if I can get this to work. *tries to embed an image*

Didn't work. Oh, well. Direct link time. I love this thing.

[i68.photobucket.com]

Star Trek gave me a lifetime love of new sciences, so why can't video games do the same for future generations?

@Ultrasinc:

Whoa whoa. I though Noien was pretty well done, granted I don't have a profound knowledge of quantum physics, but I still thought it did well in terms of incorporating some ideas into the anime.

Chemistry in a video game? Oh no no no. I'd blow up the place in seconds.

Time to date myself...

Lock up your daughters, shoot your sons, load your weapons. Mr. Wizard is coming!
No, it doesn't have Nye or children singing science themed covers of pop songs like Bill's show.
Or crazy hair and a guy in a giant rat suit like another show that I forgot the name of, but it's still the best.
By the way, if you can tell me what the rat show was called, I'll be your best friend.

@Erwin: Granted Mr. Wizard was a great show, but better than Bill Nye? You're high! ON THE WEED.

@Atheist Jew: No way. Two Mr. Wizard experiments blow my mind to this day, the silverware insta-polish using only water, aluminum foil, and hydrogen-peroxide and one where he mixed two chemicals together and proved the mixture immediately turns black after exactly 16 seconds.
Every. Time.
Anyone remember the program with the guy in the rat suit yet yet?

@Erwin:

Beekman's World. Let's not go into how I know this, I'm not that old.

Don't mess with video games... <