Grow Cube!

Check out GrowCube, a frighteningly addictive little flash game.

Basically, you’re building your own cute lil world on a cube, and you’ve got to pick the “correct” order to add water, fire, people (not to mention springs and a bouncy ball) to your world. I’m using quote for “correct” because the items interact with each other in fun ways, so your cube-world changes based on what you pick. GrowCubereally isn’t about beating the game, but about fooling around with fun toys.

Just make sure you turn the sound down… the music isn’t nearly as cute as the game.

Persian Prince To Play Prince Of Persia?

You’ve probably heard the Prince of Persia is soon to be a movie (I know I’m going to watch it, but I can’t decide if I expect the best or the worst). But who will be the movie’s Prince Dastan? Kotaku says:

Both international and U.S. audiences overwhelmingly favored David K. Zandi, motion picture executive, actor, champion equestrian, model, and honest to goodness Persian prince. One of the last male members of the Zand dynasty (1747 - 1779), David has also studied both fencing and Roman sword fighting in England, so the only way he could be better suited for the role is if he actually possessed control of the Sands of Time, which I am not completely ruling out at this point.

My expectations have just risen!

Try Before You Buy

Can this be real? According to Kotaku (who are never, ever wrong!) GameStop is offering 10 days of Haze free. From their article:

Here’s an odd promotion: GameStop is offering pre-orderers the chance to buy Haze, play it for a week and return it for a full buy-back refund. Whereas most would simply rent a game that they intended to return, GameStop would prefer you to buy a game and forget to return it.

Sounds like an awesome way to check out a game, although the store stands to make a lot of money on gamers who miss the return deadline. It’ll be interesting to see if GameStops are full of returned copies 10 days later, or if this catches on.

Video Games Cause Chuck E. Cheese Violence

A shocking post on PlayGirlz talks about kids’ videogaming leading to violence… between their mothers.

Talk about leading by example. An argument between two Massachusetts moms came to blows in defense of their sons’ gaming habits. At a Chuck E. Cheese.

This is not an early April Fool’s gag folks, this is an accurate representation of the current state of humanity. Apparently Mom A got a little cranky at the restaurant cum playland when Mom B’s little darling hogged an arcade game. Mom B apparently didn’t like Mom A’s tone and soon the cops had to be called in to separate the tousling pair.

Both are now charged with simple assault and battery and even more importantly, their children have learned that even the most mundane of problems can be addressed using violence. No word on what the arcade game actually was, or exactly how a youngster hogging a video game could so enrage supposedly mature adults, but hey, maybe Jack Thompson has been right all along…

Good thing the kids weren’t playing ice hockey, then things could really have gotten out of hand.

Bully: Scholarship Edition — Are You Worried?

New post on GGL about teachers protesting Rockstar’s Bully.

Remember six months ago, when Rockstar released Bully, its comedic and mildly violent horrors-of-high-school simulator? Remember how some people were upset, believing the game would somehow glorify or promote bullying in school? You know, as if playing a video game could completely change a person’s personality?

Yeah, neither do I.

But the Canadian Teachers Federation, which bizarrely includes teachers in the United States, Britain, South Korea, Australia and the Caribbean, wants you to remember. They’re calling for retailers to refuse to sell the Bully: Scholarship Edition, a rerelease of the game with additional content.

We rented Bully to see what the fuss was about, and I wasn’t impressed. It wasn’t a horror that rewards players for bullying and beating the weak, but it also wasn’t a fun and ironic high school game. Kind of second-rate all around, with missions that weren’t horrific but also weren’t much fun.

I did find the drunk, homeless vet character disturbing… much more disturbing than teenage boys getting into fights.

Charter’s Wii Sweepstakes

Gamers! Check this contest out! Charter internet is running a sweepstakes here to win a Nintendo Wii with some games and accessories.

The contest is linked with Charter’s Internet For Life promo (I don’t know why anyone would want a lifetime of Charter but I guess for $10 it would be ok.), so you have to be in a neighborhood that can receive Charter to enter the Wii contest as well. Go here and go to the bottom right of the page to try for a Wii without bidding on a lifetime of Charter. It looks like there’s no charge to sign up, and at worst, you’re trading some spam for a shot at a new Wii.

The winner will receive a Nintendo Wii console, Wii stand, 5 sports games (Boxing, Baseball, Tennis, Golf and Bowling), 1 remote controller, 1 nunchuk controller, 1 sensor bar, 1 Wii AC adapter, 1 Wii AV cable. Just remember not to hit yourself in the face with the Wii-mote, ok?

Gary Gygax Dies At 69

Gary Gygax, co-creator of D&D, has passed away. From the NYT obit:

Gary Gygax, a pioneer of the imagination who transported a fantasy realm of wizards, goblins and elves onto millions of kitchen tables around the world through the game he helped create, Dungeons & Dragons, died Tuesday at his home in Lake Geneva, Wis. He was 69.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Gail Gygax, who said he had been ailing and had recently suffered an abdominal aneurysm, The Associated Press reported

As co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, the seminal role-playing game introduced in 1974, Mr. Gygax wielded a cultural influence far broader than his relatively narrow fame among hard-core game enthusiasts.

I played a lot of D&D before discovering online text-based MUDs, and I’m sad that the co-creator has passed away. D&D is a great starting point for videogamers, and if you haven’t played it already, you definitely should!