An autism institute apparently is interested in using Half-Life 2′s facial animation capabilities to help teach autistic children how to recognize expressions, according to PC Gamer magazine.

While we’re on the subject, can someone explain to me why having your code downloaded illegally can delay your product development by a year. Sure, you’ll want to change it sufficiently that online play can’t be hacked. But a year??? Half-Life 2 better be durn good!

And here’s an unrelated tip: If you want to discuss Aspberger’s Syndrome with your thirteen year old, try pretending it’s pronounced Frenchily, as in Ahz-bair-shay. Otherwise, I can promise you that you won’t get past the syndrome’s name.

Walt Mossberg at the WSJ takes the ButtKicker for a ride. It sends vibrato through the seat of your chair whenever the notes get low enough, including when you’re firing your shotgun at zombies. How long ’til Chanukah?

And speaking about How Long, Hiawatha Bray [link breaks soon] reports from the E3 convention that Half Life 2 is approaching cinematic quality, at least in terms of the graphics. Of course, he was watching the 15 minute demo video, which might possibly have been rendered by a server farm.

Categories: misc dw