2013 Game Hint!
 

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr.../blog-10-11-12
directs to this photo:
http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default...Game%20Lab.jpg

Let the fun begin.

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The GDC are no strangers to love.

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They know the rules, but we do not.

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A third alliance on the field? The yellow alliance?

This hint has me rolling.

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Or the other member of the blue alliance got a yellow card for poor singing.

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Rick Astley is an anagram for "Real Sticky"... take that as you will.

Another anagram is "Cry, it's lake!" WATER GAME.

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Hardcore Robotics Pick-Up Sticks.

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It is also an anagram for 'A Slick Tyre' -> Slick -> Wet -> Water Game!

(Sorry, I had to)

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That made me smile more than the hint, but I am more interested in that it is on a cork board. Though the scouter in me would love the chance to scout a 3v3v3 game (Red, Blue, and Yellow)

Don't say that it makes me think of lunacy which is not well thought of on my team

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Not appropriate. Consider this a warning.

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It seems they included the metal bar/edge of the board as well. The metal bar kind of resembles a pole. Could this be a symbol that mini-bots are returning?

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3v3v3 does sound interesting. Anyone have ideas as to how that would work for QFs through Finals? A possible change to the 8 alliance system?

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...

"I Lack Tyres".

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Frank was reading this discussion. He is now rolling on the floor laughing at us, saying "next time I'll send them pictures of Rorschach inkblot tests, that would be hilarious".

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TinEye gives back zero hits.

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Dang, been "Rick rolled" again!

"Never Gonna Give You Up"

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One other thing too. Andymark just released a new wheel they will be rolling into their warehouse on their Facebook page.

Quoted from Facebook Page:
"We have a new wheel rolling into our warehouse four you!"

Picture of wheel:
http://i.imgur.com/YY1fM.jpg

This could easily have nothing to do with next year's game but still.

I'm also seeing the word "roll" a lot as well.:D

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Looks like the Lunacy wheel material.

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Without increasing the size of the field (which would potentially have major venue problems for established regionals), I don't think we'll ever see 3v3v3 - the field can already get cramped (at times) with only 6 robots!

that said, 2v2v2 is possible. You could even fit 4 stations on one side of the field, and two on the other - in other words, there would be minimal need to change the field design/layout, which would help reduce costs.

I could see that leading to an interesting strategy game... Coopertition points for all 3 alliances if at least two alliances do X together, but if 2 alliances do it, it gives the third alliance an advantage in scoring. That could create an interesting dynamic between trying to score a lot of points and needing to get coopertition points for seeing placement (if seeding went with the same win/loss/coopertition structure as this year). Would we see a situation where the three alliances agree to coopertate ONLY if all 3 participate equally, given the scoring advantage to no one?

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3rd alliance? Lunacy-looking wheel? Rick Astley? The GDC is trolling us.

Or at least...I hope they are.

Edit: They know the rules...and so do I. ;)

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The photo is an original. Taken at 9:42 (Eastern) this morning, in New Hampshire, with an HTC Evo 4g smartphone. Good old exif.

(my code is compiling, give me a break)

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I don't think so. You can see a bit of rubber that spilled from the mold towards the top left. The material from a lunacy wheel wouldn't do that. And why would they make a wheel with no traction in the same form of as a high traction wheel. I'm not sure what the deal is with the color change, but I think that's a 4 inch wheel.

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Screenshot is from about 3:00 into the music video. Welp, that's it. Third alliance confirmed.

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It is another hint first stealthily gave us, 2v2v2 alliances with a larger lunacy goal and it is played like Zone Zeal where everyone has a home zone. (Hence the color and the high traction to assist in pulling the goal.)

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A reoccurrence of the number 3 can mean anything, and even then, it could just be a big troll. 3 could relate to the field, a game element, a rule, etc.

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I'd hate to state the obvious here...but I believe that we all just got Rick-rolled...

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GDC, you guys do so little to manipulate all of our minds. :)

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As far as an actual interpretation, my current bet is on the earlier idea of "You know the rules, and so do i". Maybe a close rehash of a previous game with some added coopertition thing.

edit: Rick N' Roll

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3:00 mins in to the video, maybe the matches are going to be 3 mins long now?

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actually, exactly 3:00

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I'm thinking the repetition of threes may be more likely tetras or something similar than a third alliance, although that would be an awesome change up!

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Considering that a rick roll is used to troll people and that the picture is taken 3:00 into the video...

and for the past however many years a match has been 3:15...

What if... they're taking away autonomous mode. :eek:

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3 colors 3 min in to the video, and were due for a arm/ weird object game. I feeling triple play 2.0?

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A match is 2:15...

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Matches are 2:15. As mentioned before, possibly adding another minute to matches?

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Everyone is predicting a three alliance game, but, there are 4 thumbtacks. To me, it seems like there are 4 separate colors: Red, Yellow, Blue, and Orange. Maybe then it will be 1v1v1v1, or 2v2v2v2? 8 teams on the field at once would mean more matches per team given the current schedule, but that may be too many teams on the field at one time, though...

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I'm agreeing with the triple play 2.0. They did Rack 'N Roll, then went back another year to Aim High, and now they should be going back another year for Triple Play. I'm a bit skeptical about adding a third alliance simply because they've spent so many years on the 3v3 concept that it might take too much of a field change to add more alliances.

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Trackballs return.

You read it here first.

-Nick

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I am curious as to what lead to that assumption

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In 2003 Rick Astley released his compilation album "3 Originals" including the very first song on the list, "Never gonna give you up."

2003 was Stack Attack... please no...

Also worth pointing out that Stack Attack was played 2v2 so would it really be out of the question to return to the stacking idea of scoring (Last time it was even kind of used was 2005) and adding a third alliance to make it 2v2v2 could make it a very modern version of Stack Attack. Someone else mentioned the Aluminum bar at the top as well, I'm thinking 2003 field but in a triangle formation with a triangle mound in the middle, with a 2004 end game bar in a triangular shape over the top to hang on in the end.

All I have to say is... no more boxes please....

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Orange? The two pins on the left are the exact same color (ignoring lighting and angle/reflection differences).

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The whole "following the repeat" trend of it being time for triple play (2007&2011 , 2006&2012" is kind of a stretch...I don't think the GDC follows patterns that closely. As engineers we're always trying to find ways to understand the system in which the game is chosen but it's really whatever meets the GDC's goals and is a combination between crazy and fun :)

Speculate on though...I love reading it!

-Anna

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Aim High II, with longer periods. I'm glad to hear FIRST is replaying the best game.

Thank you GDC!

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Sorry I try not to post unless the info might be useful but is it just me of does the bottom left tack look like a thumbtack(flat) and the others look like pushpins?

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"never gonna give you up", they are bringing back failed concepts from the past. We are going to have a kinect, minibot, and lunacy wheels.

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Best idea yet

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Now I understand that I do not know a lot it being only my second year. But i am a bit concerned about the cage-like background. Could we be looking at a multi-level cage match?

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Don't forget the Xv0 and stacking bins.

And extra bonuses placed just outside the field.

And pressure pads.

And lighted vision targets.

And just for good measure, a ridiculously small endgame bonus.

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:mad: Not a fan of those three items!

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Or worst, depending on how much you liked plastic wheels, cheap motors prone to burning out, and using motion-sensing videogame controllers for driving robots.


:rolleyes:

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Since many of you are stuck on the concept of 3s:

Hockey is a 3 period game, with 3 zones.
(Aim High had 3 periods after Auton.)

The 3 colors represent two alliances, red and blue, and the active goal on the field, yellow.

Just my $.03.

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Which game are you referring to with that?

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I see things a little more like this:
3 pushpins: one red, one blue, one yellow.
3 alliances, but what if they were 1 robot each.
3 minutes into the video for the screenshot giving 3 minute matches as predicted. 3 robots on a field gives room for 2 smaller fields. Which does not disrupt event flow.

More time to play, less reliance on teammates, more individual success.
Maybe that 4th pin which is red but not a pushpin plays a major role.

Also Rack n Roll similar to Rick Roll

Re: 2013 Game Hint!
 

Triple Play. 10 points for getting all three robots completely behind a line that ran along at the points of the 3 home row goals. (Incidentally, the area was big enough for 4 robots... if you took the time to put them in. 2 robots started in the area, and one was out on the center home goal.) One tetra placed during that time could usually score 13 points if in the right place; if you really got lucky, 23 points, not counting the potential -20 to the opponents, so up to a 43-point swing if you didn't bother to go for 10 points.



Oh, and BTW: the hallmark of all the game hints for Triple Play was a very high tendency to the number 3.

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Red, Yellow, and Blue are PRIMARY COLORS. I'm not sure what this might mean; I'll leave it to others to speculate. (Although when I first saw the yellow, I immediately thought of the yellow tubes in LogoMotion...)

Additionally, I'm pretty sure that the bottom left pin IS also a pushpin; you can see a faint shadow at the edge of the photo border, which corresponds with the angle of the other pushpin shadows. (Plus, non-pushpins tend to leave more of an indent. I could be wrong, though.)

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The picture has GPS coordinates in its metadata.... It points near DEKA in New Hampshire, but not quite in the building.


<exif:GPSTimeStamp>2012-10-11T12:00:00Z</exif:GPSTimeStamp><exif:FocalLength>431/100</exif:FocalLength><exif:GPSAltitude>0/1000</exif:GPSAltitude><exif:GPSLatitude>42,59.396216666 6664416N</exif:GPSLatitude><exif:GPSLongitude>71,28.07568333 33332907W</exif:GPSLongitude><exif:ExifVersion>0220</exif:ExifVersion><exif:GPSAltitudeRef>0</exif:GPSAltitudeRef><exif:DateTimeOriginal>2012-10-11T13:42:34Z</exif:DateTimeOriginal><exif:ISOSpeed>32</exif:ISOSpeed></rdf:Description><tiff:make>HTC</tiff:make><tiff:model>HTCEVOV4G</tiff:model></rdf:Description></rdf:RDF></xmp:xmpmeta>

Re: 2013 Game Hint!
 

O.K. this is my second year with FIRST. Now I see there is a lot of talk about previous year games. We must remember this is a new game we must look at the big PICTURE. Literally look at the picture. I believe that the material in the back is a cage material. Above the picture there is a red and yellow alliance. Then below is a red and blue alliance. Now this is just a thought. We could be looking at a multiple level game.

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GDC pretty much Rick Roll's you guys and in 2 hours we've already got 51 comments?

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FYP

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Not that it helps much but the picture seems to be genuine, it still has metadata on it. It was taken today (10/11/2012) at 9:42am with an HTC EVO 4G at these GPS coordinates 42.989937, -71.467928 (google map) http://bit.ly/ReaHbF

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::rtm:: I think triple play 2.0 is likely a this point but instead of 2005 and tetras and in 2009 orbit balls its time for 2013 and the rectangle shape could hint as a cube you have to stack or rectangle prisms.

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Assuming that we're not being rick rolled by the GDC (a big assumption I might add), I'm taking a literal interpretation of that photo. The song is titled "Never Gonna Give You Up" and that is also the line being sung at 3:00 when this photo was taken. That to me implies some sort of control aspect to the game, either over a game piece or field object.

If we're insistent on FIRST reusing a game element two that come quickly to mind that fit the bill are king of the hill (Stack Attack :ahh: ) and trackballs (as already suggested by Nick).

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There's the line right after 3:00,
"Never gonna let you down"

ascension endgame?

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This is just the GDC telling you to know the rules.

We know the game and we're gonna play it.

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Could inclusion of the microphone in the clip be an indication of a voice command assisted autonomous mode?

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What was the problem with these?

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Depends on the year. They were used in 2003 and 2005.

2003: Human players returned to them after stacking bins on the field. Automode started when ALL the pads were active; the humans then returned behind the glass as the pads were not used again.

2005: Human players started on the pads, then jumped off of them carrying tetras and ran out to another area of the field, then ran back. But when the human was off the pad, the robot of that human was disabled.

The biggest problem was stopping on the pad from a dead sprint (because naturally you want the robot moving as much as possible. It's not easy to do. I think at some offseasons in 2005, the pad was replaced with a hand button.

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Was the problem the pads themselves, or the fact the the human player could disable the robot? I'd like to see something like that, but if the pressure pads weren't sensitive enough/too sensitive/had other problems, what else could be used?

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My school had Rick Roll grams this week for homecoming... that means we're going to win championships.

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Libby Kamen just posted on FaceBook, "This is probably just a little one to get your feet wet." Obviously Libby just told us it is a water game. :D

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Remember Rick Roll, Rack and Roll? The end game bonus of Rack and Roll was for a robot to lift its partner(s) off the ground, (and never let them down...?) I wouldn't mind another shot at that.

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the pins are weird. 1 flat and 3 bigger pins

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I don't know about the hint, but I could definitely see a return of placing things in/on high goals a la 2000 or 2005.

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Never gonna give you up came out in 87; FIRST had first game in 91. 4 years apart. 2013 minus 4 is 2009. 2009 is Lunacy. But this year, Mars themed, but close to Lunacy with Tetras because 3 of the pins are regular pins, but the 3rd is thumbtack. 3 minute screen shot. 3-3-3 is tetra.

Edit: NVM... First season was 92

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3 alliances, 2 bots each, red, yellow, blue. You have to switch the goal (thumbtack) to your color in order to roll your game piece in.


Although now we will have to build three sets of bumpers, ack

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oh my goodness!! What does this mean!?!

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Maybe FIRST has answered our prayers and won't require bumpers next year?

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Doubted. Especially if its another game similar to lunacy

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Your prayers maybe, I would like looser rules on the bumpers don't get me wrong but I feel they are a necessary thing in the evolution of FIRST, just like helmets and pads in football.

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A clever guise warning teams that their bumperless robots will need to float.

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Buy them, if you don’t have them already, for your 2013 bumpers.

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Rick Roll + Yellow Pin = Tennis Balls?

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throwback. The field will be corn:) guess us Indiana teams will have the advantage :)

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Libby Kamen posted this on FIRST's FaceBook:
Technically, it's just a picture from the GDC lab.... Don't dive in just yet. It takes some time for the GDC to formulate hints. This is probably just a little one to get your feet wet.

Water game :D

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I feel like everyone is missing something important: if this is a recent picture from the Game Lab, wouldn't they be working on the game after next? You know, they have more than once said that next year's game was mostly developed last year...

(Although the URL does say 2013....)

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hmmm....

1. 3 colors
2. 3 minutes in
3. 2013

3 3's.... I think I know what this means...

Valve is now a FRC sponsor and will be announcing the Half Life 3 release date, the day after the FRC World championships....

The game will be half life themed....

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and the '10 ranking system...

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I think that if there was a third alliance, it would be a white alliance, because the FIRST logo colors are red, blue, and white, the 3 colors of the FIRST logo.

Just a quick thought, more to come later.

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personally, as a driver, i would LOVE a 3 minute match! more time, more competition, bigger scores

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Perhaps the "3" represents 3 game pieces? This year we only had one game piece, Logomotion had 4 if you count ubertubes. Lunacy, however, had 3. Lunacy revisited? I think so.

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Rick Astley does repeatedly say "Never gonna run around a desert you." I would assume a "Never desert" would have lots of water. Also, a limit on "running" would seem to point towards a challenge more geared towards swimming or floating.

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Do the game hints ever give meaningful hints about the game?

Anyway, I think the GDC is just rick-rolling all of us.

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You know, this came from the GDC lab. They never said it was a game hint. Maybe they just really like the song...

(if it is in fact a game hint, it seems a little earlier than usual. I had always thought of game hint as holiday gifts)

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Great question! I'd like to say no.

In 2011, our hint was another picture "music/song/artist/singer" related. She sang the song "Locomotion". The name of the game that year was "Logomotion". Did anyone connect "Locomotion" to scoring inner tubes on pegs to form the FIRST logo with a minibot endgame? I think not.

This year might just be the same thing: a hint to the name of the game, which really can not tell us anything. Especially because (according to CD patterns), this year's game will not be sport oriented (Rebound Rumble sort of implied basketball).

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Am I the only one that connected the pole she was hugging to the minibot pole?

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Quick! Someone count the number of minute holes in the corkboard! It must be a clue!

All joking aside, I think the game will have something to do with the Curiosity landing. Just an educated guess, and probably a bad one at that...

Re: 2013 Game Hint!
 

Yes.

However, this is not an official game hint. Official game hints are given a page on the FIRST website and given proper fanfare as a Game Hint in an email blast. All other 'hints' by members of the GDC or FIRST before then are just poking at the collective mind of CD to squeeze out some ideas for next year's design discussion they haven't thought of yet. Which is a good thing.

That said...I think the only thing here that can be considered a game hint at all is the screenshot at the 3:00 mark. I would welcome a 3 minute game - like 2:30 match with 30 second hybrid.