Typically you can listen to Zero Punctuation and “Yahtzee” Croshaw to get a great laugh. This episode had me smiling all around and I enjoyed the topic of reviews until he began to speak about people only being able to afford one console, he states that this is what creates fanboys, which I guess makes some sense. He loses me at the very end of his video monologue when he refers to “being white enough to afford all of the consoles”, I have to say this comment really sat with me badly and shone an ugly light on an otherwise great episode.
I can only hope that Yahtzee had some kind of temporary lapse in judgement or his statement is not translating well, because to me this statement screams racist. We joke about a lot of things, but never racist remarks, to say that luckily he is “white enough to afford all of the consoles” is a slap in the face to any non-white person that plays video games or listens to his show.
The frontman for Korn, Jonathan Davis, talks about making a Haze exclusive song and how it differs from a normal track on his albums. Pretty sweet that Haze is getting some Korn love, this game looks very promising and now with a promise of a solid soundtrack is shaping up very nicely. Korn frontman sums himself up well, I write music and play games, damn good life if you ask me.
Many gamers often write about first person shooter titles making them ill and even having to take Dramamine because of the camera perspective and fast movements, but GTA IV? That’s right if you haven’t picked up the game yet or played the portion where you go to the bar and get drunk you may want to think twice about it. Drinking in GTA IV has a severe affect on your character in the game, the camera gets heavily affected and the graphics become blurred. Your character will have a very difficult time walking down the street without stumbling and losing health, let alone driving. Read More »
Looks like truancy is a big issue in Hamburg, Germany and the state minister has decided there is a direct correlation between truancy and demo kiosks. He is asking for all demo pods to be turned off during school hours, which I think makes some sense but what about adults that would like to demo certain games during a lunch break?
The minister has stated that:
Truancy can be the beginning of a criminal career and that’s why we have to intervene. Not every truant becomes criminal, but criminals skipped school at one time or another.
Quite the profound statement! I also believe that criminals at some point in their lives have drank water, perhaps a ban on water?
What started out as a few blips and beeps has turned into full orchestral scores and original music by some of the world’s biggest bands. NPR has a great look at the history of music in our favorite past time.
The complexity of the music improved to the point where the score of a video game became almost indistinguishable from the music played in the finest concert halls. Wall went on to score the third and fourth installments of the Myst series, and he based the main theme for Myst III on Karl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
I remember the first time I heard the music in Zelda on the NES. I thought it was such a huge leap forward for video games. Now I look at things like Final Fantasy XII or Halo 3 or Uncharted and wonder what things will be like in another twenty years. We’ll probably have 10.1 channel sound cards embedded in our ears by that point.
You slap a Wii on your sign and you’ll draw a crowd. That’s what libraries in Albany, NY are hoping. Since people coming in and checking out books isn’t happening as much as it used to, library officials are doing whatever it takes to get people to read.
“It’s a growing trend nationally. Libraries are using what’s appealing to the preteen and teen market,” said Michael Borges, executive director of the New York Library Association.
“Using a media format that’s popular with teens and preteens draws them into the library. That demographic has been missing at the library,” Borges said.
While I do applaud their efforts, I think it’s futile. The generation their targetting is using the internet for everything a library is designed for. You need to do research? Go on the internet. You want to read a new book? Buy the ebook and download it. The library is really going the way of the dodo.
What’s worse for your kid? Seeing an extremely lifelike human character getting his brains splattered all over a wall with a 50 caliber bullet or seeing some side-boob? According to a recent survey, the side-boob is the worst thing possible.
WhatTheyPlay, a site for parents of gamers, ran a survey to find out what is the most offensive. The four choices were: A graphically severed human head, A man and woman having sex, Multiple use of the F-word, and Two men kissing.
As you can see from the resulting graph above, both A man and women having sex and Two men kissing came in above A graphically severed human head. So let me get this straight… having your kids see sex in a game (something they ALL will be doing when they grow up) or gay attraction is much worse than someone being beheaded? What a fucked up society we live in. I guess the parents from this survey want their children to be virgin homophobic killers. We’re going to get very far as a society with a lot of those people running around. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.
Wait? What is this? Is this a study that does not attempt to rip gaming a new asshole? According to a study presented by the British Psychological Society:
There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the [violent] game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type.” The researchers also hope this study will pave the way to finding the “personality type” that is more likely to “transfer their online aggression into everyday life.” Their aim is a public health policy that addresses troubled young people, not video game players at large.
This study is noteworthy because it contradicts a prior study.
In 2000, the University of Central Lancashire conducted a study that concluded teenage players had “higher ratings on hostility and anger after playing the [violent] games.”
I have to say that whenever I am feeling a little perturbed, I find games are the perfect remedy. An example is last night. My girlfriend was bitching me out for no reason and I played about an hour of COD4 and felt much better. There are far worse ways to release anger than playing a “violent” game. Plenty of people turn to real violence, alcohol, drugs, or any combo if the three and if a one hour of a good gaming session is therapeutic; I see no problem in that.
New technology is always interesting and when it leads to more interesting video games it’s even better. In this video we see how a company has developed software to use the camera on a cellular phone to track movement and in essence make a cell phone into a Wiimote. The developer shows off a bowling title in which you swing your arm to make the ball go down the alley, pretty insane really.
This is a pretty interesting report on how a group of researchers is working on contacts with built in electronics that could be used for enhanced vision. The possibilities of this kind of technological advance are huge, the capability to zoom in on things, night vision or even playing video games without a television. Obviously the most important one being the last point about gaming with your contacts! Only problem I can see is how do you power these remotely and not electrocute your eyes?
We're like Spaceballs... we're making Loot Ninja everything. Coming soon we'll have hats, shirts, hoodies, possibly banana hammocks if one Editor has his way...
Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
