Video games have been pushing technology since Pong came out in 1972 and brought the industry into the limelight. Any gamer knows that sheer graphics and technology aren’t everything (the Wii is the perfect example), and that the industry is truly pushed by innovation in terms of interactivity, gameplay, and overall design. Here’s a look at 10 of the most interesting and innovative games that have graced our televisions:

Braid

(Images via ggl wire, bravenewgamer, savetherobot, metagame)

Braid is interesting as an experiment in gameplay. On the surface, the game seems like any side scrolling adventure, until you realize that most of the puzzles and action revolve around the ability to manipulate time. If your character accidentally falls down a hole, you can instantly reverse time and remove him from the situation. You can see several futures at the same time while you’re playing, seeing the potential boons and pitfalls of every potential action. When you add the fact that the backgrounds and characters are beautiful and appear to be hand painted, this game really stands out from the crowd.

Audiosurf

(Images via 4colorrebellion, quaedam, chrisfacezek, kotaku)

Audiosurf is a dynamic racing game that adapts itself to your MP3 collection. Unlike the famous Guitar Hero series, this game does not force you to play a concrete set list, instead it plays your music library, adjusting the racetracks to coincide with the note and tone of the music. This game is basically an interactive audiovisual companion to your favorite tunes.

Dune II: Battle For Arrakis

(Images via vgmuseum, allegro, nokiamobiletalk, webdesignerdepot)

Dune II is famous as the forerunner of the real time strategy game. Its gameplay contained features that continue to be a staple for every game in the genre: for example, the creation of bases to gather resources, defend against attack, and produce new units for your army. The ability to choose which group you’d like to lead (each with different strategic advantages and disadvantages), provides an additional facet to gameplay that hadn’t been fully fleshed out before. Each of these features was a plus, but putting them all together into one game created a legend.

Mirror’s Edge

(Images via gamespot, thehobbyshophero, maxontreik, gameslave)

Mirror’s Edge is famous for its crystal clear graphics and first person perspective. The control of your character is incredibly realistic, and the feedback makes you feel like you’re in the game, and the greatest parkour master of all time. Most of the game revolves around traveling throughout the city by leaping from building to building, and crossing narrow bridges, but the fast pace keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Fable

(Images via unlimitedgamer, softpedia, xbox-360den, gamespot)

Fable took place in a rich three dimensional world in which you were able to roam freely and choose when and where you’d like to start your various adventures, but what truly set it apart was the fact that the decisions you made would affect both how characters would react to your actions, but would also change your appearance and skills. The dynamic nature of the game, and feedback to your actions, made the gameplay incredibly varied and fun to replay… as both a hero and a villain.

Facade

(Images via gamedev, cbc, nerdyheartbeat, gamasutra)

Facade is more of an experiment in artificial intelligence than your typical commercial production. In this game, you find yourself in the sparsely furnished apartment of two characters having relationship issues, and you attempt to help them resolve their problems via your typed reactions to them and their situation. At times the interaction is surreal, as the characters are able to respond appropriately and realistically to your dialogue, but sometimes their reaction isn’t nearly as realistic (or it’s entirely off-base). Regardless of the consistency of the gameplay, the innovative nature of the game opens a door that most game designers hadn’t even known was there.

We Love Katamari

(Images via pwned, armchairempire, gamespot, itreviews)

We Love Katamari is notable for its simplicity: the entire purpose is to roll around gathering as many items as possible within the time allotted. The gameplay is as simple as can be, and surprisingly addictive. Basically anything you touch sticks to you and affects how you roll in terms of which side you’re pulled towards, how quickly you can get going, and how hard it is to stop. There isn’t an incredible amount of skill involved, though playing for a little while definitely improves your game.

The Sims

(Images via angelica686, webdesignerdepot, kotaku, 4ever7)

The Sims was a revolutionary step forward by one of the most esteemed game creators, Will Wright. At the time, it was the culmination of the entire popular Sim series, a chain of successful simulation games that include the famous Sim City franchise, the less well known Sim Farm and Sim Ant. The most interesting aspect of this game was the lack of a concrete goal. The entire game consisted of directing the daily life and career of a family of characters, and handling the purchase and design of their home.

Shadow of the Colossus

(Images via gametrailers, dobbsmethod, personalgaming, vancityguy)

Shadow of the Colossus has a unique premise: in a land full of giants, you are a normal sized man who is tasked with bringing down your gargantuan enemies. The game has an absorbing atmosphere that lends an airy, dreamlike quality to the setting, and seeing a giant lurch out of the fog is amazing. It’s even more amazing to take the giant on, and use the incredibly intuitive controls to bring it to the ground.

Spore

(Images via encefalus, digitalbattle, pastemagazine, jhard713, emol, endsights)

Spore makes the Sims look like a stepping stone, as it takes the entire simulation genre to an extreme. Starting from a two dimensional landscape with a birds eye view, you’re tasked with bringing a single celled organism through every step of the evolutionary process (including designing its form and function) until you have a tribe, and then a city, and eventually, a planet full of your creations. The scale of the game is impressive, but so is the functionality, as the game actually populates your land with other people’s creations that fit well with the balance of your ecosystem. It’s impressive as a single player sandbox, but also with how it manages to integrate the wider scope of the gaming network.

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One of the oldest and largest cathedrals in the world hid a fantastic secret for centuries, one that was often rumored but not confirmed. The vast, splendid Hagia Sophia, which is now a museum, sits atop an ancient series of underground tunnels said to connect the cathedral with the Basilica Cistern, Princes’ Islands and Topkapi Palace. Director Göksel Gülensoy has enjoyed a long-standing love of the Hagia Sophia, and he decided to embark on a scuba diving expedition under the building to unlock some of her ancient secrets.

Gülensoy began his documentary project in 1998, but budget concerns and Turkish government red tape delayed its completion until late 2009. His 50-minute film, “In the Depths of Hagia Sophia” (or “Ayasofya’n?n Derinliklerinde”) shows a side of the historic structure that has never before been explored in depth, let alone filmed. Along with two divers and four spelunkers, the director delved into the mysterious depths to see what, exactly, Hagia Sophia was hiding.

The team began by opening the reservoir doors in the main hall; the two doors had both been shut for quite some time, and never before had a diver been allowed into the reservoir. After studying the small first chamber, the team moved on to the larger second reservoir. There they found flasks thought to have been left behind by British soldiers in 1917, a chain which may have contained a prisoner at one time, and various other bits and pieces of the cathedral. The spelunkers then took over and moved into the two passageways beneath the Hagia Sophia.

Beneath the huge cathedral, the team found sealed passages, a graveyard full of children’s bones, and the burial chamber of Hagia Sophia’s first priest. Threats of gas leaks, landslides and collapses weighed heavily on everyone’s minds, but the entire team emerged safely. For their own peace of mind, and to head off any rumors that might arise in the future, every person who dove beneath Hagia Sophia that day underwent a full-body X-ray to prove that no artifacts had been removed from the site.

After the project, it became clear that Gülensoy and his team had disproven many of the myths surrounding the ancient cathedral. The passages long thought to lead to the Basilica Cistern and Princes’ Islands were found to be nonexistent. However, the exploration led Turkish officials and the Hagia Sophia Museum Director to believe that further research should be carried out to see what other mysteries may be hiding beneath this beloved building. If he can gain the necessary government permissions, Gülensoy plans to return to make another film about the hidden history of Hagia Sophia.

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There are three things most people have on them at all times: keys, wallet, and phone. Considering how integral phones are to our lives, it’s strange to think how quickly they’ve risen from being only landlines, to the size of backpacks, to thinner than our wallet (and smarter than our old computer). Here’s a tour through the history of phones – a revealing look at the past and future of one of our most celebrated technological companions:

The First Phones

(Images via lifethinking, porticus, pmptoday)

The first telephones were a purely scientific endeavor, with little thought to aesthetics. The entire focus of these first creations was to come up with a replacement for the primitive telegraph. Alexander Graham Bell is credited with the invention of the first working telephone, though there is controversy over who actually received the patent first: Bell, or another inventor, Elisha Gray, who came up with a model using similar technology. The first call was made from Bell to an assistant sitting 15 feet away on March 10, 1876, when Bell said, “Watson, come here, I want you.”

The Telephone Book

(Images via opengardens, 4thefirsttime)

When telephones first hit the market they were about as elite as a new technology can be. The first phonebook (pictured right), was a single sheet that didn’t even list the participant’s phone numbers (because how could you call them?). These early phonebooks are incredibly sought after collector’s items, an ironic change considering the much maligned yellow phone book of today.

Early Phones

(Images via myfinances, old-photos, oldphonerepair, connected-earth)

Early telephones were for the elite, and were so uncommon that they came in widely varying designs, nearly all ostentatious and victorian in appearance. It’s odd to think that the two handed design was the first attempt at a handset, and not the one handed design we’re now so used to.

Phone Booths

(Images via textually, 4thefirsttime, felixip, porticus)

Phone booths were once widely seen as the wave of the future, for they allowed you to call someone from the road (kind of), and how else would mobile calling ever be possible? The rise and fall of the phone booth was swift, and now they’re more an icon than something most people ever use. Chances are the next generation will only know about phone booths from cliched scenes in television and movies.

Car Phones

(Images via wikimedia, themotherhood, wearentfrench, darkroastedblend)

When phones went the least bit mobile, the amount of hardware required to accompany them required they be incorporated into a car so the heavy guts of the phone could reside in the trunk. This is an additional example of a technology that the next generation will find laughable, despite its revolutionary effect at the time.

Mobile Phones

(Images via textually, yesterdaysclues, fiercewireless)

The first truly mobile phones… were not very mobile, though better than their hulking car phone predecessors. A halting step towards true mobility, these behemoths weighed up to 10 pounds and were basically an extra briefcase. They carried a hefty price and weren’t widely available until slimmed down versions started hitting the market.

Handheld Phones

(Images via dialaphone, recoveryourlife, mobiletracker, madeintheshaide)

The mobile phone stunned the public, and was actually produced as a technology demonstration more than an actual attempt at cutting the landline. The industry was as shocked by the clamor for mobile phones as the public was shocked by them. They began their lives as what are now considered “brick” models, for their sturdy heft and blocky, angular appearance.

Smart Phones

(Images via onedigitallife, invokemedia)

Apple’s iPhone shocked the industry and spurred an onslaught of fierce smartphone competition, but Apple made a less well received foray into communications in 1983, when they came out with a stunningly advanced contribution to the typical landline – a touch screen.

Video Phones

(Images via techantropology, pixware, modernmechanix, sexygadgets)

Video phones were a consistent vision of the future of communication, but nobody took into account that one of the greatest benefits of talking on the phone is being able to communicate without having to worry about your appearance. The ability to multitask while on the phone is crucial, but videophones require you to be planted, and focused. Visions of the future of communication now mostly revolve around VOIP technology (calling via the internet).

The Future of Phones

(Images via nextnature, itechnews, handcellphone, whollysblog)

The modern telephone differs so wildly from the original conception, that it’s interesting to look forward and imagine where it will go from here. Some see the creation of Blue Tooth headsets as a forerunner of a phone that will be physically embedded inside of us, whereas others continue seeing it as a mini computer that’s used more as a mobile port to the internet. Will it be entirely moldable? Clear glass with infinite display options? Will it even require a receiver, or will it be with us all the time? Our great grandchildren will surely look back on the phones of their childhood with as much bewilderment as we do now.

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Jaipur and Jai Singh II

(images via: Rivaaj Magazine, IN.com and Rajasthan Info Tour Guide)

Maharaja Jai Singh II founded the city of Jaipur, located in modern-day Rajasthan, in 1727. The city owes its wide streets and gridlike layout to an architectural master plan – in fact, Jaipur was the first planned city in India. Jaipur is known today as The Pink City, referring to the 1853 visit of Great Britain’s Prince of Wales in which the entire city was painted pink.

(image via: Arturii)

Jaipur’s major buildings were ordered by the “warrior-astrononer” Jai Singh II on the advice of India’s leading architects and mathematicians. Notable architectural masterpieces include the Palace of Winds or Hawa Mahal (above) and the Jalal Mahal, a pleasure palace that rises from the center of a lake. The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur was part of this first flurry of construction and over the next decade other versions were built in Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi.

Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar

(images via: Asia Explorers and Go2Holiday)

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is the largest and best preserved of Jai Singh II’s five pre-telescopic observatories, featuring fourteen major geometric devices. One might ask why, over a century after Galileo had invented the telescope, India’s rulers were still unfamiliar with it. In all probability they knew of the telescope, but the Jantar Mantars were not that type of observatory. The traditional instruments employed were designed instead to calculate the precise positions of celestial objects, crucial knowledge of which was required to determine horoscopes and to pinpoint auspicious days.

(images via: Norman Koren and Galen Fry Singer)

One of the highlights of the Jaipur Jantar Mantar are the dozen precisely angled structures that each target a specific constellation. Most of these were restored in 1901 and have been well-maintained up to the present day.

Samrat Yantra, The Supreme Instrument

(images via: Obvious, Fabric and Lines and Eyefetch)

The most imposing of the Jaipur Jantar Mantar’s astronomical structures is the giant sundial known as the Samrat Yantra (The Supreme Instrument). A staircase rises 27 meters (88.5 ft) to a small cupola where notable readings were announced. With instruments of this type, size does matter: the Samrat Yantra is the world’s largest sundial and can tell the time with an accuracy of 2 seconds.

(images via: Swimming in India and Galen Fry Singer)

The measuring surfaces of the Samrat Yantra and other calculating instruments are faced with white marble and have incised notches used to note the path of the sun’s shadow. Observers can actually view the progress of the shadow, which moves at a rate of 1 mm 1/25 of an inch) per second, or 6 cm (2.4 inches) per minute.

Restoration & Preservation of the Jantar Mantar

(images via: Wikimedia and Wikimedia)

Jai Singh II was a singular leader among the statesmen of his era and few of his descendants approached the standards he set in the arts of war, science and governance. The Jantar Mantar built in the 1720s and 1730s were neither added to nor upgraded in any way.

(images via: WMF and Travelpod)

Though all 5 of the Jantar Mantar drifted into disuse and decay over the centuries, only one (at Mathura) was completely deconstructed and their building blocks reused. At various points in the 19th and 20th centuries, restoration work on both the structures and their landscaped grounds was undertaken with the pleasing results we can see today.

Heavy Metal Music of the Spheres

(images via: Imageo and Galen Fry Singer)

As mentioned, the calculating instruments of the Jantar Mantar were constructed of local stone faced with white marble. One other material was used: bronze. Various thin rings and facings were crafted from the ductile alloy of copper and tin – though it may tarnish, it will not rust and thus not stain and crack the stonework.

(image via: Galen Fry Singer)

One would think that bronze fittings would be the first to be looted in troubled times, but those at the various Jantar Mantar appear as though they have been in place for centuries.

Delhi’s Jantar Mantar

(image via: Getty Images)

Completed in 1724, the Delhi Jantar Mantar had decayed considerably by 1867 when the above photograph was taken. Much like the Great Sphinx of Egypt, however, it was not to late to return the calculating instruments of Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to their former glory.

(images via: LiveIndia and Atlas Obscura)

The Delhi Jantar Mantar, located near Connaught Place in Delhi, differs from its twin at Jaipur in that it is constructed of the local red sandstone. This aspect is uniquely beautiful when combined with gleaming white marble.

Misra Yantra

(image via: Redes)

The Misra Yantra was designed as a tool to determine the shortest and longest days of the year. It could also be used to indicate the exact moment of noon in various cities and locations regardless of their distance from Delhi – quite remarkable!

(images via: Henley Graphics)

The technical requirements of the Misra Yantra pushed India’s astronomers, craftsmen and stonemasons to their limit. Each marble facing stone had to be precisely curved and set in exact alignment with its neighbors. Here’s a short video that gives one an “in person” look at the amazing Misra Yantra:

The Misra Yantra observatory in New Delhi, via India Video

Ram Yantra

(images via: Redes, Ibibo and Bob Culley)

The twin circular sundials of the Ram Yantra remind viewers of dueling Roman Coliseums. Used to measure the altitude and azimuth of celestial objects such as the sun and stars, these monumental instruments are in fact perfect complements of one another – the solid portions of one Ram Yantra’s floor correspond to open spaces in that of its partner.

(image via: India Mike)

The cut-outs allow observers to note the precise positions of shadows cast by a central gnomon without inadvertently blocking the light. Should the shadow fall into a space inside one Ram Yantra, the observer simply moves to the other instrument. This pattern is repeated with several other calculating instruments of the Jantar Mantar.

Jai Prakash Yantra

(image via: Aryabhatt)

The Jai Prakash Yantra are a pair of hemispherical bowls faced with marble. Like the Ram Yantra, one complements the other – open spaces in one are replaced by surfaces in the other. Inside the spaces are steps for the observers to stand and each bowl was mounted on lead sheeting to ensure it would remain perfectly stable over the years.

(images via: TrekEarth and Imageo)

The purpose of the Jai Prakash Yantra was to act as a reflection of the sky above. Crosswires stretched over the center of the bowl hold a metal ring, and every point in the sky can be reflected onto a corresponding point on the bowl through the ring. It is said that the Jai Prakash Yantra were so accurate, they were used to calibrate the other instruments in the Jantar Mantar.

Art By Numbers

(image via: Artnet – Lynn Davis)

The unique impression of the Jantar Mantar results from the combination of modern mathematical precision with the rich patina of time. As such, the captivating angles and curves of the instruments appeal greatly to painters and photographers. The above photo by Lynn Davis taken in 2007 adds a dash of life in the form of a verdant palm grove to add softness and contrast to the deep oxblood hue of the Delhi Jantar Mantar at sunset.

The Jantar Mantar is relatively unknown as ancient monumental works go, as are the significant accomplishments of India’s medieval astronomers. It is hoped that the preceding exploration will help change that… though only time will tell.

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With much of the East coast of the US under a heavy blanket of snow, it’s starting to look (and feel) almost like the cold wilderness of Siberia. Luckily for us, spring and summer will eventually return. But in Russia the winters are even longer and harsher, and military operations can be hindered by meter-deep snowfalls. No amount of snow could slow the Soviets down, though, and they created all kinds of fascinating snowmobiles to help them get around.

(images via: Dark Roasted Blend)

If there are any positive comments to be made about Communist officials in the former Soviet Union, it’s that they encouraged the swift growth of some technologies. Snowmobiles and aerosleds were a high priority for officials who saw their merit in the struggle against all of the Soviet Union’s enemies. Much time and creativity were thrown into the development of powerful snow vehicles, many of which could convert to run on solid ground and even water.

(images via: Dark Roasted Blend and South Pole Station)

The origins of the Soviet snowmobile were innocent enough. They were used to deliver mail through the harsh and often impassible landscape. Russian-built snowmobiles, like the above beast Kharkovchanka, also helped transport explorers, researchers and equipment on several South Pole missions.

(images via: Dark Roasted Blend)

But during World Wars One and Two, snow vehicles took on a more military purpose. The RF-8 model shown above was maneuverable enough to get soldiers around in deep snow, something that the invading forces couldn’t compete with.

(images via: Jalopnik)

During World War Two, the Germans tried to engineer their own wartime snowmobile, but their Tatra, above, never really made it into production. So instead, the Nazis simply captured Soviet models and adopted them as their own. These Soviet snow vehicles were a far cry from the small, fast snowmobiles we know today; they were more like cars on skis – and the larger models were almost like tanks on skis.

(images via: Dark Roasted Blend)

At least one of these vehicles was (almost) literally a car on skis. The Sever-2 was built with the body of the well-known Soviet car Pobeda. A 260-hp aircraft engine was slapped onto it, along with some tough skis, and the Sever-2 was able to navigate just about any amount of snow or ice. In the 4 months out of the year when the area isn’t covered in heavy snow, the Sever-2 could be modified to run on wheels instead of skis. It was used primarily for delivering mail and supplies to remote areas.

(images via: Dark Roasted Blend and Jalopnik)

The NKL-26 was an impressive wartime snowmobile that was equipped with a machine gun, allowing it to glide along the snow and take out enemies at the same time. The armored compartment protected the pilot somewhat, but the soldier manning the gun was vulnerable as his head and shoulders protruded from the roof.

(images via: Dark Roasted Blend)

But Soviet snowmobile production carried on well past the war. This fetching model was known as the KA-30, and it featured the ability to morph from passenger vehicle to business vehicle to ambulance, all while skiing effortlessly through the snow-covered Russian landscape. But if a river had to be crossed, it could also be converted to a floating vehicle, making it a truly unstoppable machine.

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