TERA already won my love with their gorgeous concept art. (A larger version of the picture above is my laptop’s wallpaper — and that’s saying something, considering I get new game assets in the mail every day) I’m really excited to see their new MMO at E3

En Masse Entertainment, a new breed of game publisher focused on delivering highly anticipated online video games to Western audiences, announced today that it will present the first hands-on demo of its flagship Action MMO title, TERA™, at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 in Los Angeles. The hands-on demo will focus on TERA’s groundbreaking action combat system, which allows players to step into a world where their actions, teamwork, and combat expertise—not statistics—give them a chance to become true heroes in the face of danger.

“At E3, people will have the chance to experience firsthand what makes TERA‘s gameplay so exciting,” said En Masse CEO Dr. Jae-Heon Yang. “Select media will form a party with varied roles and venture forth to experience their first battle using our innovative action/adventure style combat system. During the show, players will see how TERA is changing the rules of MMO combat.”

TERA is an innovative Action MMORPG with rich graphics and animations where players fully control their characters through the game’s dynamic battle system. Player actions in TERA can change the balance of power in a world threatened by dark powers as six allied races work together to protect their world. The game, which is currently in development for PC, will launch in North America and Europe in 2011.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Speaking of Capcom announcements….

City of Industry, Calif.—June 7, 2010—InterWorks Unlimited Inc., the
fastest-growing distributor of innovative gaming peripherals, today
announced they have extended their official license deal with leading
worldwide developer and publisher of video games Capcom Entertainment,
Inc. to develop Resident Evil® Darkside Chronicles and Resident Evil®
Umbrella Chronicles and other Capcom® game-branded peripherals for use
with this generation’s gaming consoles.

“Resident Evil® is one of the most successful franchises in video game
history,” said Michael Kidakarn, Executive Creative Director of
InterWorks. “Our products must achieve the design and technical
sophistication that gamers expect from the Resident Evil universe. We know
fans will be proud of the final product along with future inventions we
have in the works for popular Capcom brands.

“InterWorks has come up with some innovative ideas that will enhance the
gameplay experience for Capcom gamers,” said Seon King, Senior Director or
Licensing at Capcom. “We are excited about the new products and looking
forward to hearing the response from gamers.”

The next products to launch will be the Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles
and Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles Magnum and Knife Kit, continuing
upon the success of the Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles and Resident
Evil Umbrella Chronicles Shot Blaster for the Nintendo Wii™. Both will be
featured at the InterWorks booth at the upcoming Entertainment Expo in Los
Angeles, June 15-17, 2010.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I’ve posted about Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box and about The Game Composer’s Blog before, and today’s post over at the Game Composer’s Blog was just awesome. Sayre’s latest post transcribes a podcast he did about Tiger Eye, with an alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.

ALIEN: Welcome back, humans. One of your kind is now with us. Behold Matt Sayre!

MATT: Thank you, Alien. I’m happy to be here.

BIGFOOT: (English accent) Welcome, Mr. Sayre.

FRANKENSTEIN: Urrrgh!!

MATT: Hi, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.

BIGFOOT: Oh, go ahead and call him “Frankenstein”. He’s grown accustomed to that particular appellation.

MATT: Great. I will, thanks.

FRANKENSTEIN: Gyee.

ALIEN: Begin this interrogation by giving us the history of your project and the human faction that has created it.

MATT: Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box is a new hidden object puzzle adventure game based on the paranormal romance novel Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. The game basically covers the first half of the book. You play as Dela Reese, a young woman traveling in China. She finds a mysterious riddle box and once she opens it she discovers an ancient warrior, Hari, who has been trapped within for centuries. He is cursed to serve as a slave to whomever possesses the box. You try to rid him of the curse and deal with the Magi, the antagonist who is responsible for the curse and who wants his riddle box back.

Our team, PassionFruit Games, was formed specifically to make this game and, we hope, all its sequels. Tiger Eye is the first in the Dirk & Steele (the psychic detective group Dela belongs to) series of books and it’s an exciting series, perfect for video games. The members of PassionFruit Games previously worked at Her Interactive (I did contract work for them, the rest were full-time), where they worked on the Nancy Drew Dossier series. Unfortunately, the Dossier series did not pan out (even though Resorting to Danger won Yahoo’s 2009 Hidden Object Game of the Year award) so the team was laid off. The day after being laid off, however, we were already planning this new venture. And last month we shipped TE: CotRB!

I kind of want to quote the whole thing, actually. And also I want to subscribe to the Alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein podcast.

Via Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box Postnatal « The Game Composer’s Blog

Popularity: 4% [?]

Ok, maybe not smarter exactly, but a new study shows it does increase brain function.

SEATTLE, Washington – May 26th, 2010 — PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual video games, today announced that preliminary results of a new study being conducted by East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab have identified improvements in cognitive function through the playing of “casual” video games such as Bejeweled and Peggle. (PopCap Games, maker of the aforementioned games used in the study, did not underwrite the study.) The study, which has been underway for nearly six months and will be completed later this year, involves dozens of U.S. consumers age 50 and older, and explores the effects of the games on subjects’ short term cognitive acuity. In each instance, sizable improvements were identified in the performance of the experimental group as compared to the control group.

Dr. Carmen Russoniello, Director of the Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic at ECU, is presenting initial data and analysis from the study today at the 6th annual Games for Health Conference in Boston. Full study results will be submitted this fall for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

“The initial results of the study are very intriguing, in that they suggest that the ‘active participation’ required while playing a casual video game like Bejeweled provides an opportunity for mental exercise that more passive activities, like watching television, do not,” said Russoniello. “Future applications could include prescriptive applications using casual video games to potentially stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-type disorders.”

More than 40 test subjects have participated in the study so far, with dozens more being included by the study’s completion. Measurements were achieved through tracking of Electroencephalography (EEG) brain waves as well as subjects’ participation in the standardized Trail Making Test™ parts A and B. Both cognitive response time (the speed with which a subject completes a task) and executive function (the frequency of correctly completing parts of the task) were tracked. Those subjects who played Bejeweled or Peggle for short (30 minute) periods showed an 87% improvement in cognitive response time and a 215% increase in executive functioning when compared to a control group. According to ECU, these improvements in overall cognitive acuity are comparable to changes recorded after other types of cognitive interventions such as mindfulness based cognitive therapy and cognitive remediation therapy.

“Video games with more complex rules and controls, and more sophisticated or detailed imagery – so-called ‘hardcore’ video games – might provide similar cognitive benefits for many people,” said Russoniello. “But those games take significantly longer to learn to play and appeal to a considerably narrower subset of the overall population, especially older consumers. In our experience, ‘casual’ video games are ideal both in terms of their accessibility and ease of understanding and because they appeal to nearly everyone.”

Via GamesPress

Popularity: 2% [?]

Just saw the announcement from Majesco (the people behind Cooking Mama, Gardening Mama, and Crafting Mama) that they’ll be working on a new Martha Stewart game. I really like the Martha Stewart cookbooks (what’s not to like about easy recipes and gorgeous food photography?), but I thought the related TV show and magazine were pretty disappointing. I don’t have high hopes for the game, I expect it to be more of the underwhelming-spinoff variety, but I’m ready to be proved wrong!

And even if it’s not the greatest game ever, the fact that there’s a Martha Stewart game at all says something good about breaking the stereotype that all games are slobs living in their mom’s basement.

From the press release:

NEW YORK, NY and EDISON, NJ, April 20, 2010 -Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) and Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced a strategic partnership to develop and produce interactive electronic games based on MSLO’s expansive portfolio of award-winning lifestyle content. Under the terms of the partnership, Majesco receives the exclusive worldwide rights to publish these games.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Martha Stewart brand to bring sensibility to the video game market,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia offers a vast wealth of content and has a passionate following. Branching into the interactive entertainment space is a natural next step, and Majesco Entertainment is proud to be the exclusive partner.”

“Majesco Entertainment is well respected for bringing consumer-friendly titles to the mass market and has a proven track record of tapping the interests of family and non-traditional video game players,” said Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. “Women are increasingly engaged in social gaming. We feel confident that this new offering will delight loyal customers who are active in the space while introducing a new generation to the brand.”

Via Majesco Entertainment – For all your gaming needs

Popularity: 4% [?]

New development studio Passionfruit Games plans to release a casual adventure game Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box, based on the paramornal romance novel Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. Romance games are a wildly popular genre in Asia, but in the US, they’re hard to find and usually pretty second-rate games.  (Did I mention how bad My Boyfriend was?) We have high hopes for this one because new Passionfruit is made up of many HER Interactive veterans — the game team who put together Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! and NDD: Resorting To Danger.  The game is currently in beta.

From the Passionfruit press release:

Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box also officially marks the launch of PassionFruit Games and represents a unique moment in the history of gaming.  Although a market for romance themed video games has existed abroad for years, these games are essentially unknown in the U.S.  Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box will be one of the first romance casual games to hit the U.S. market when it goes on-sale in April 2010.

In discussing PassionFruit Games’ decision to launch their company with Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box, Melissa Heidrich, Studio Director, expressed her enthusiasm for reaching out to romance readers: “The majority of casual gamers are women aged 25-65, who report they play casual games mainly to escape.  Interestingly, those same attributes apply to romance novel readers – so it’s surprising that there are currently so few romance casual games on the market.  That’s why we’re excited to bring Tiger Eye to life as interactive entertainment.”

For Marjorie M. Liu’s fans, it will be a great chance for them to experience a game written by, designed by, and created for women. Mari Tokuda, one of the designers translating Marjorie’s novel into game form, says: ““There just aren’t many romance games in today’s market.  And, for many women, romance novels are not interactive enough.  That’s where we come in – we are giving players a chance to experience the romance through fun gameplay and sensual cut scenes that further the relationship.  This game will really appeal to players who want a storyline and those who want to BE the smart, down-to-earth romance novel heroine.  And of course, we’ll have a sexy leading man heavily featured in the game.  A game like Tiger Eye is one of the most engaging ways for readers to experience characters’ relationships.”

Fans will also be able to experience things that weren’t in the book and to search for hidden objects, play minigames, listen to a film quality soundtrack, and solve puzzles, all the while following the storyline as the main characters’ relationship deepens emotionally and grows in intimacy, though there will not be explicit sex scenes.

PassionFruit Games acknowledges the challenges of turning a popular book into digital entertainment and of adhering closely to the book’s storyline.  In their quest to stay true to the novel,  all members of the team—from artist to programmer—read Tiger Eye, as well as other novels in the Dirk & Steele universe, to get a feel for the “essence” of the game.  The producer and lead designer held regular video conferences with Marjorie to go over the latest design ideas and Marjorie herself wrote the script for the game and is involved with the game every step of the way,  giving input on scene art, character design, and voice actor selection.

Says Marjorie, who is well known for her New York Times bestselling Dirk & Steele and Hunter Kiss series and for co-authoring the hugely popular Dark Wolverine Marvel comic book series, about playing the game’s early build: “I was amazed by the beautiful cinematic cut scenes and the way players could actually experience things my characters had done.  It’s an incredible feeling to not only see favorite characters brought to life but to experience life through their eyes as you progress through the game.”

The Tiger Eye novel, which Publishers Weekly praised as a “first-rate debut” and “a striking paranormal romance,” tells the story of Dela, a woman with psychic abilities who buys a riddle box in Beijing’s Dirt Market and opens it to find an ancient warrior, Hari, bound to serve as a slave to the person who has opened the box.  The action moves between China and the U.S. and PassionFruit Games will mirror this international scope through two games, the first to take place in China and the second in the U.S.  PassionFruit games also plans to involve readers in the release of Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box with the chance for a select few fans to be Beta testers and with fan voting on looks for the character, Long Nu.

More on Passionfruit Games and Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box from Simpson’s Paradox.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Cooking Mama isn’t satisfied with Cooking Mama 2, Cooking Mama 3, and Gardening Mama. Upcoming Majesco title Crafting Mama will let players help Mama with her new skills and hobbies.

MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES ‘CRAFTING MAMA’ FOR NINTENDO DS

The extent of Mama’s talents are limitless! She can hold her own in the kitchen and garden next to the world’s best, but now Mama is poised to dominate arts & crafts too as Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, announces Crafting Mama exclusively for Nintendo DS. Developed by Cooking Mama Limited, this all-new crafting game lets players create their own unique crafts across a wide range of different projects.   

“Crafting is a natural extension of our most successful franchise,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Much like last spring’s Gardening Mama, Crafting Mama combines the award-winning Mama formula of addictive stylus-based activities with a popular pastime that has been underserved in videogames. We’re looking forward to sharing Mama’s newest hobby with her vast and diverse group of fans this holiday season.”

In Crafting Mama, players will create 40 different projects across a wide range of different crafts: make patchwork quilts, earrings, candles, xylophones, kaleidoscopes, birdhouses, flower decorations and even mini-Mama dolls! Using the stylus as a universal crafting tool, crafters will sew, mold, glue, cut and paint under Mama’s masterful direction. Best of all, players can use each of their creations within the game itself: dress Mama up in a new apron you’ve sewn or even fly a freshly folded paper airplane.  In addition, new materials, colors and patterns are available to customize each project, and multiplayer support lets players create with a friend. Crafting Mama is guaranteed to turn Mama fans into crafty creators in no time!

Crafting Mama for Nintendo DS is expected to release this fall.  For additional information about Majesco’s exciting line of products, please visit http://www.majescoentertainment.com/

Popularity: 2% [?]

Just in case you don’t have enough time-wasters on Facebook (I’m looking at you, FarmVille players), here’s something new to try:

The Konami code, named after the Japanese company behind classics like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and the Nintendo Contra classics, is one of video-gaming’s most storied cheats. During development of the 1985 Konami arcade game Gradius, a programmer found the game to be too difficult and programmed in a key sequence — up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A — that, if entered, gave the player a set of the game’s power-ups. As word of the shortcut spread, other programmers aped his cheat, working the same sequence into their own games. The Konami code works in nearly 100 video games now, including Frogger and Dance Dance Revolution.

And now it works for Facebook. Try it for yourself — log in to Facebook and type the code: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, enter. It doesn’t matter where you type it: just have the Facebook page open and active. The result? Lens flares — those groovy circles that appear when pointing a camera into the sun — appear on your page with every click of the mouse. Useful? Not in the slightest. But they’re easy enough to get rid of — logout and they’re gone.

Reading this made me immediately made me tab over to Facebook and type in XYZZY to see what would happen

Via Konami Code: Facebook Uses Video-Game Cheat, Adds Flare – TIME

Popularity: 3% [?]

I don’t often post press releases in their entirety (and I get a bit annoyed with publicists who think I should) but I loved this one and wanted to share. The games aren’t bad, either.

Santa Claus Presents The Indie Video Games Advent Calendar 2009

Santa’s Office, North Pole (December 3, 2009) – Santa Claus announced today the indie xmas advent calendar is available for every merry indie gamer out there. Santa’s official advent calendar is featuring unique and innovate indie video games at www.indiexmas.com

The Indie games advent calendar features 24 doors, which can be opened one-by-one. Behind each door, gamers find one or more fun indie game to play, and trailers or demos to watch. Naturally, the indie advent calendar is only available in Christmas time.

When Santa was asked about the fun factor of these games, he replied with a warm “Ho ho ho!” laughter and continued eating porridge.

To follow the Santa’s official indie advent calendar, please visit www.indiexmas.com.

About Santa Claus:

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or simply “Santa”, is a legendary figure who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I’m so jealous of everyone heading to E3! I’m sure I’ll be going too, once I become a famous games journalist, but for now, I’m just looking on enviously at all the new games and announcements of upcoming games.

I’m pretty excited about LEGO Rock Band, even though a lot of people are complaining that it’s slapping the LEGO name on just another Rock Band game, or slapping the Rock Band name on just another LEGO game. To me, this is a bit like complaining that mint chocolate chip ice cream has MINT and CHOCOLATE CHIPS.

Here’s the trailer, so you can see for yourself.

Popularity: 11% [?]

LOS ANGELES, Calif.– March 17, 2009 – Independent video games developer Zombie Studios has reached an agreement with Fox Atomic, a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, and production company Union Entertainment to develop its military action franchise “Blacklight” as a feature film, comic book series and video game. The announcement was made jointly by Zombie CEO Mark Long*, Fox Atomic President Debbie Liebling, and Union President Richard Leibowitz.

An original property created by Zombie Studios,“Blacklight” is a covert military action epic set twenty-five years in the future. The three companies will work together on a movie and comic book series to be produced by Fox Atomic and a multi-platform video game that will be produced by Zombie.

Both the film and the video game will be written by Jason Dean Hall, a veteran writer whose latest film, SPREAD, sold at Sundance to Summit. He is also writing projects for DreamWorks and Universal.

“We are excited by the huge potential “Backlight” has to succeed across multiple platforms — theatrical features, comics books, and video games,” said Liebling,“it offers us a remarkable franchise opportunity for film.”

“From the start, I have envisioned’Blacklight’ as a story that spans all of the forms of media I enjoy most,” stated Long.“It’s an ambitious project and I’ve been fortunate to find partners at Fox Atomic and Union who share that same vision. We are cooperating on the comic, game and movie at levels that are unprecedented in the industry.”

“’Blacklight’ plays to Union’s strengths as a film and game production company, allowing us to help bring a great property to consumers in both media,” added Leibowitz, a producer on the project.

Richard Leibowitz will produce and Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons will executive produce for Union. Mark Long, in addition to developing the video game, will serve as an executive producer on the feature. Zak Kadison and R. Eric Lieb will oversee for Atomic.

The“Blacklight” film, video game, and comics will feature the same characters and high caliber military action, but with unique, intersecting storylines that complement each other. No release dates for any of the properties have yet been announced.

*Is it just me, or would “Zombie CEO” be one of the best titles ever?

Via Blacklight | Press Release by MCV | MCV.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse? from the Onion News Network.

Thanks to ash::the blog for this!

Popularity: 13% [?]

Gamertell talks about the proposed videogame warning labels:

I read the report posted on CNet by Don Reisinger which indicates that on January 7, 2009, Joe Baca, a democratic representative of California, introduced the H.R.231: The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009 bill to 111th Congress requesting to make it mandatory that video games that have received a rating for violence to display the following warning:

WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.

I thought it was funny. At first. Then again, (according to a report card published by the Nation Institute on Media and Family in 2008) if we can’t get parents to read the labels that are already displayed on the packages now, how would this be any different?

I don’t believe videogames provoke violence or aggressive behavior — I think the cause goes the other way, that aggressive teenage boys are attracted to blowing up pixels, not that blowing up pretend people makes you want to blow up real people.

It’s the same thing as when people worry that Barbie is going to give little girls warped self-esteem. Um, Barbie is pretend. Videogames are pretend. I hope that kids can sort out the difference between real and pretend, and it seems like a gross failure of parenting if they can’t.

So, warning labels are a total waste of space. Good parents talk to their kids about what they’re playing, and don’t need it,  and bad parents probably wouldn’t be swayed by a little warning sticker.

Via Opinion: Warning labels!? Don’t even pretend video games are as bad as cigarettes – Gamertell

Popularity: 10% [?]

  Ok, Grand Theft Auto gets a lot of trouble for encouraging kids to violence. I don’t really believe that videogames encourage violence, I think if someone’s going to actually commit crimes because they saw that in a game, well, they’ve got more problems than gaming!

But this kid was clearly influenced by GTA in some way:

A 6 year-old boy in Virginia missed his school bus so he decided to take his parents’ car to school. During his time behind the wheel, he passed some cars, made a couple of 90º turns and ran off the road a few times. He eventually crashed after driving almost 6 miles, but suffered only minor injuries. His parents were then charged with child endangerment when it was found that his mom was asleep during the incident. The funny part of the story was that he told police he learned to drive while playing Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam.

So mom was asleep and the little boy just hopped in the car without her noticing? I think we can use this as a valuable lesson about not leaving children unattended.

As Playfeed points out, this little boy must really like school!

Via Boy Tries To Drive After Playing Video Games | Playfeed

Popularity: 9% [?]

January 11, 2009 — Platinum Arts Sandbox is an open source easy to use standalone 3D Game Maker and 3D Game Design program currently being used in many schools throughout the world that allows kids and adults to create their own video games, worlds, levels, adventures and quests, even cooperatively! The goal is to make it accessible to kids but also powerful enough for full game projects. Now features new game modes such as sidescroller, machinima, kartmode, RPG, and more! Our homepage is http://Kids.PlatinumArts.Net

Popularity: 3% [?]

I love to play car racing video games as much as I like racing in real times. Some of my favorites racing franchises are Need for Speed, Project Gotham Racing, Burnout, Test Drive, Moto GP etc. One of my favorite car racing game franchise on the Playstation platform is Gran Turismo. In this post I will review Gran Turismo 4. Gran Turismo 4 is the latest in the series. It was released by Sony American in-house game development studio and polyphony digital in 2005.Gran Turismo 4 is a GT Street racing game and its ESRB rating is Everyone. It is one of the best driving games on the PS2. There are alot of different cars and types of races to choose from. It also features some of the best graphics that i have ever seen on the PS2. This game is sure to provide you entertainment for months. However, the AI is not very clever and it is not very difficult to leave them behind. Overall, it is a superb game. If you are looking for a racing game then go for this one.

Overall Score: 4.5/5

Popularity: 5% [?]

I am a big fan of action RPG games especially those involving fantasy. Such as God of War, Max Payne, Gta, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid. One of my favorite fantasy RPG games is Final Fantasy XII. I have a great respect for this game franchise in my heart. It is no doubt one of the best RPG video games that i have ever played on the PS2. The game has a rich cast of characters which will take you away from the real world into a totally different and magical world. The game offers a very engaging storyline with alot of twists and turns which keep you glued to your seats even after you have ended the game. The combat system is strategic and very complex. You will also get to explore a number of different environments. The graphics are also very good. Overall it is one of the best games that i have played so far and i will give it 9.3 out of 10.

Popularity: 11% [?]

LimitlessUnits.com has a post about all the things we’ve learned from videogames. With stories like this one floating around, and the constant bad press videogames get, it’s good to see that other people are getting good things out of gaming. I have to agree with Tony Huynh here, I’ve gotten much more then just enjoyment from playing games. Tony talks about goal-setting, getting over failure and recoving after a loss, decision-making and others. I’ve also written before on how beneficial multiplayer gaming can be in a relationship. Tony says:

Playing video games has taught me…

1: …to set goals and overcome challenges.
Video games taught me to set goals. On the surface, the goals in most video games are clearly defined and easy to understand. When I first started playing video games, as I met the challenges of overcoming a level or a boss in a game my self-confidence grew. By setting goals to achieve and persevering to meet my goals I was learning the foundation of what it is to be successful in real life. Just like in real life, as your video game playing matures, the goals in games become more self-appointed, like climbing a competitive ladder or winning a tournament. With video games, I was given a safe place in which learn and grow and take on self-appointed challenges. I began to learn about self-reliance and being able to see the growth in my abilities and learning to trust in myself to accomplish my goals. The self-reliance and confidence in my abilities does not leave me when I turn off the game. It carries through as I set and meet goals in real life as well.

The whole things is worth reading, and possibly printing out for parents/SOs who don’t get why you spend so much time playing games.

Via What Video Games Taught Me About Life at LimitlessUnits.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

I saw this today on Gears of War 2 Tops Sales Chart on PlayGirlz:

Nintendo might be sitting pretty at the top in the console wars, but when it comes to software, Microsoft’s got the lead. The economic crisis seems to be hitting everyone but the world of video games. Anxious shoppers tossed games into their carts like they were Halloween candy. And the results are in.

*
Gears of War 2 (Epic, Xbox 360) – 1.56 million units
*
Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, Xbox 360) – 1.41 million units
*
Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) – 796,000 units
*
Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) – 697,000 units
*
Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) – 637,000 units
*
Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, PS3) – 597,000 units
*
Guitar Hero World Tour (Vicarious Visions, Wii) – 475,000 units
*
Left 4 Dead (Valve, Xbox 360) – 410,000 units
*
Resistance 2 (Insomniac, PS3) – 385,000 units
*
Wii Music (Nintendo, Wii) – 297,000 units

The Xbox 360 managed to get 3 out of the 10 spots, including the number 1 and 2 positions, thanks to Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty. But Nintendo dominated in numbers once again, picking up half the slots. And that leaves only 2 slots for the PS3, with Call of Duty and Resistance 2. Alas, Resistance 2 was the only PS3 exclusive to make it on the list. Sorry, Sony.

I was pleased about this because someone who lives in my house works for Epic on GoW2 so it’s nice to see his work rewarded.

Via Gears of War 2 Tops Sales Chart

Popularity: 8% [?]

Jenni Lada at Gamertell has an editorial on how games encourage kids to read. As a teacher and a gamer, I’m always pleased to see someone focusing on the positives of gaming. Videogames, like anything else that entertains kids, can be a useful classroom tool.

Games based on popular books also help encourage kids to read the source material. The Harry Potter series of games often only presents a small fraction of the story from the books and, if a child plays the game and watches the movie, he or she may then be compelled to move on to the books to discover subtle nuances not found in the other adaptation.

Lada makes some great points. Jenni, if you’re reading, bonus points for seeing manga as a stepping
stone towards reading for pleasure, not going the other way, towards a generation of illiterates who can barely spell out “POW!” and “BAM!”  Still, she seems a bit caught up in using game and movie spinoffs to point kids back at books. This isn’t wrong, but I think she’s skipped over all the great text-based games and story games that intergrate playing and reading. Yeah, I’m old, I remember when computer games were text. The older Adventure or Zork games were essentially choose-your-own-adventure books.

I recently played Nancy Drew: Lights, Camera, Curses! and part of the dialogue was remembering what you’d seen earlier, and choosing that option. Even games that aren’t quizzing players on their recall require reading of mission descriptions, journals, RPG clues and so many other things.  Unfortunately, players determined not to read, say, WarCraft quest text can just click OK and go kill things, but this is where Lada’s point comes back. Quite a few of the hack-and-slash RPGs have spawned spinoff novels.

Via Opinion: Video games get kids to read without them realizing it – Gamertell

Popularity: 3% [?]

Role Playing Games are really a hit in video games. Whether it’s in Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 or Playstation 2. It’s nice to see your character evolve to what you want. Take for example the game Fable 2, the character evolves to what you do to him. When you always eat meat and fatty foods to replenish stamina the character physical appearance became fat. Which there is a mini game which you must pursue a girl then marry her. Your Characters Attractiveness decline when you eat that kind of replenishment. And also, the character evolves in the decisions you make. If it became evil, corrupt or good.
Even in the final fantasy game series, your character is what you make it. You can have a strong character by fighting a lot or a magical character by enhancing your magic most of the time. Level up in terms of experience, that you will get when you encounter things or in a fight. It’s really fun to see your character grow. Take for example a character in Final Fantasy VIII, my favorite game thus far. The hero started as a student in a military academy. Who has a rival student which eventually became his greatest enemy in the end. The graphics was really ahead of it’s time, the game was first introduce in Playstation 1.
RPG really is for the explorer kind of players.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Star Wars is one of the greatest franchises in the history of movies and the Star Wars video games are equally good. Recently Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was released on the Xbox 360 and other platforms and is a satisfying game. The game offers an intense and exciting story and game play. The graphics are beautiful. The combat system great and there are a lot of fighting moves that you can perform in the game. However, Star Wars is not without its flaws. There are a lot of glitches and performance problems in the game. The game play is sort of repetitive. Overall the game is nice and I will give it 7.5 out of 10.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Cheats for Gta San Andreas:

Gta San Andreas is on of the best games that I have played so far. Gta is one of the greatest franchise in the history of video games industry. Gta 3 revolutionized and took the gaming industry to a new level. Gta San Andreas was the third installment since Rockstar started making Gta in full 3d environment. The game allows you to take control of a gangster name Carl Johnson. In this game you can hijack cars, bikes, boats, airplanes and even trains. Here are some useful cheats for Gta San Andreas PC version.

1) IOWDLAC: This cheat will give you black traffic this means that every vehicle that you see will be black.
2) BTCDBCB: This cheat fill your Fat bar to maximum.
3) JYSDSOD: This cheat will increase your muscle bar to maximum.
4) AEZAKMI: This is a very useful cheat. After entering this cheat you will be never wanted. This means that you will be playing the whole game without any police. You will definitely see them but they won’t chase you if you commit a crime.
5) MROEMZH: You will see gang members everywhere after entering this cheat.
6) BGKGTJH: All the cars that you see in traffic will be fast cars.
7) HESOYAM: This is the most useful cheat. This cheat will give you maximum health, armor and $250 k.
8) AKJJYGLC: This cheat will give you a quad bike.
9) ALLCARSGOBOOM: Entering this cheat will explode all the cars in the game.

Popularity: 3% [?]

VIDEO games and films will soon be allowed to be advertised before classification in an effort to help thwart piracy, the NSW government has announced.

In a bill to be introduced in state parliament today, the NSW Classification Enforcement Act will be amended in anticipation of new federal laws.

The laws will include a maximum $22,000 fine for failing to advise consumers to check classification, or advertising M and PG-rated films during a G-rated movie.

“The increased risk of piracy and rapid advances in technology has led to many products only being available for classification close to their release date, which makes marketing difficult,” NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said in a statement.

“In response, the commonwealth government, states and territories agreed to new legislation to allow advertising of films and computer games prior to their classification, similar to what happens now with certain films released in cinemas.”

“The new advertising scheme will benefit industry, while still protecting the rights of consumers.”

The new scheme will not apply to X-rated or other restricted categories. Advertising of this material will continue to be prohibited.

Source : news.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

Youtube is a great website for entertainment. Sometimes when I have some free time to kill, I go to Youtube and watch some funny videos which helps me in getting some entertainment. If I have miss episodes of my favorite TV shows and programs, I just have to go to Youtube and type the name of the program in the search box and it shows hundreds of results based on my keywords. Youtube is owned by Google and millions of people visit this site daily. Now Google is planning new strategies to make more and more money out of this site. They are planning to join hands with big online retailers such as Amazon to sell stuff like games, movies, books and things like that. The retailers will be sharing revenue with Youtube sales.

Popularity: 2% [?]