I'm Taking a Break

I've been busy enough that I'm taking about a week or two off from the blog. In the meantime, check this study out.

Guess the Game (Character) 2!

Here's another of my little brother's drawings, like the Resident Evil one he made before, and you're to guess which game (in this case a game character) he's symbolizing. No one guessed it last time, more likely due to lack of traffic rather than difficulty, but this one should be a bit easier. Let's try:

Northern Illinois Shooting Blamed on Games As Well

Yet another college shooting, and yet another bit of violence blamed on a "violent culture" of video games happened last week. After the shooting, Jack Thompson immediately sprang up in a FOX News interview, in which he obviously blamed the shooting on "the Counter-Strike Half-Life" game, which apparently the shooter had played along with most people in the world. Makes me wonder why I haven't killed anyone yet. It must happen at some point, I just wish I'd get it over with now. Anyway, then a New York Post article mentioned Counter-Strike, and an Illinois legislator blamed our violent culture rather than gun control issues. The guy came off medication, so I'm not sure why a history of playing Counter-Strike would be more responsible than that. Also, any proposed gaming legislation wouldn't even affect his playing Counter-Strike, because he's 27 years old. I hope that we're not going to suggest 30 year-olds can't play violent games either. Especially if they can have whatever guns they want.

All Together Now: 2/10/08 - 2/15/08

Sail the ship. Chop the tree. Skip the rope. Look at me! All together now...

2/10/08- I made a quick recap on several things at once, like a Pokemon hold-up, and the British crackdown on video games.

2/11/08- I fell for the reigning rumor that Wal-Mart was about to cover up M-rated games. Yeah, I'm pretty ashamed, because I realized it must have been a joke at the time, but couldn't find anyone laughing.

2/12/08- I talked about Hush, the quick downloadable Rwandan genocide game.

2/14/08- I quickly linked to Bruce on Games' editorial on the British gaming crackdown, and gave you all a chance to guess what game my brother was thinking of when he drew a little picture of raccoons with umbrellas in front of an evil house.

Holiday Laziness: Guess the Game!

I don't feel like writing a huge essay or anything for Valentine's Day, so instead I'll show you one of my little brother's drawings and you have to guess in the comments which game he's drawing it about. This may be tough, because it's not literally like the game, but think about what all the things in the picture are, and I'll devote a hall of fame on all future Guess the Game posts to whoever is first to guess it. Click on the picture for a much closer look.

Shameless Link: The British Government is Stupid

Really, just read this story for all you need to know. The British government is forcing every video game to go through BBFC classification, as I've said before, and this post from Bruce on Games tells you everything that's wrong with it.

Hush: Rwandan Genocide Is a Rythm Game (Actually Very Tasteful)

In Ian Bogost's new column at Gamasutra, he talks about a new-ish game (describing it as a video game vignette) about the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Hush comes from USC, (where you got the funky flOw) and it's basically a five minute long "rhythm" game. Letters appear on the screen that you are to press on the keyboard when the letters reach their brightest. This represents you, a mother, singing to your baby to soothe him, while Hutu soldiers are committing a massacre around you. You constantly hear sounds of the massacre, knowing that allowing your baby to get too riled up will expose your location, killing you. It's not exactly Rock Band, no... Even the gameplay isn't, due to the patience necessary in waiting for the letters to actually get bright enough. Well, it's recommendable, and provides a short but intense emotional experience for those willing to be given a short but intense emotional experience from a game about singing to a baby. So any Call of Duty freaks can probably just move along.