The grant to the universities - N.C. State and Georgia Tech - is part of the federal stimulus package and will span four years of research. Phase one of this study will seek to identify the qualities a game must have to improve cognition - memory, problem-solving, critical thinking and the like."

"We want to determine the components an effective game should have," said Dr. Anne McLaughlin, an assistant professor of psychology at N.C. State, and the study's principal investigator.

After determining which game qualities deliver the greatest improvement in cognitive function, phase two will seek to develop guidelines for "a new class of video game for older adults," and also develop a prototype game that follows those guidelines. State seems to be supplying the analysis, with Tech coming in to create the game. The study will last from September this year to August 2013.

Boom Blox was chosen as the study game because its "novelty, attentional demand and social interaction may be manipulated by the researchers."

I think it's significant for a number of reasons: They're moving the Wii-as-therapy fad beyond the examination of physical benefits. They're starting with a reasonably current and commercially successful title. And they're trying to spur games development. (And I went to N.C. State, but no one should really care about that.)

Study to See if Video Games Can Boost Thinking Skills in Elderly [Eurekalert.org thanks Jason]

Video game designer Robin Hunicke, noticeable at any gaming event for having the reddest hair of anyone in attendance, is trading her big-company background for ThatGameCompany, a sign that the small studio behind Flow and Flower is growing its ranks.

Hunicke had served as lead designer on MySims, the Wii spin-off of the classic PC series that itself has launched MySims spin-offs. She also was a producer on the original Boom Blox and the sequel, Boom Blox Bash Party, which launches this week.

In an e-mail to Kotaku, Hunicke explained her move:

"I've always pushed to try new things. With MySims, we reached beyond core Sims compulsions, embracing a whole new range of casual game mechanics. With Boom Blox, we channeled the beauty and complexity of physics into an edge-of-your-seat game that's also extremely accessible. Add intuitive editors and online features (a huge win for Bash Party) – and you're allowing people to create and share experiences in a whole new way.

"These projects, GDC and Experimental Gameplay, teaching, research... all my work is united by a single thread. I want to reach new people, with new experiences, via the medium of games and the language of game design. TGC was founded with similar goals in mind, and is at the forefront of the indie movement as a result. The blend of emotion and exploration they have achieved with their titles is what sets them apart.

"It's funny – I don't think I fully appreciated their impact until I began telling folks about my new gig. 'Oooh, Flower,' they'd say, smiling. 'I really *loved* that game!' And in their voice I could hear this ... resonance. It's a connection to the game and its creators that goes beyond the experience itself. That's the kind of connection I want to help bring to life!"

ThatGameCompany co-founder Kellee Santiago wouldn't let slip what Hunicke will work on, but said "Her talents as a designer and her experience and skill as a producer make her an asset to any team, but make her a perfect fit for thatgamecompany, where we're trying not only to change what games are made, but how they're made. I think Robin is going to push us all to greater heights in video game development."

Normally a job reserved for Japanese idols, voice actors and bikini models, EA has tapped Mr. Spielberg to hold aloft his latest Wii creation, showing expert product placement with a hint of a smile that shows just how pleasing a game of Boom Blox Bash Party can be.

Kudos go out to Spielberg's stylist, who downplays the Steven with a tasteful, homogeneously brown blend of merino wool, suede and corduroy, so as not to distract from the zany Boom Blox Bash Party box art.

Full-on Spielberg modeling after the break!

Electronic Arts sends along their well wishes for a bright new year and the codes to unlock most everything in their Steven Spielberg-backed Wii title Boom Blox.

At the BOOM BLOX title screen, hit up, right, down, left on the D-pad button

Type in the codes below using the keyboard
Pandoras Blox: Unlocks all levels in the game
Tool Pool: Unlocks all the toys in Create Mode
Nonstop Props: Unlocks all the props in Create Mode
Critter Litter: Unlocks all the characters in Create Mode

He tells Yahoo! Games' Celebrity Byte that he and his family bond over games of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, with Steven on the drums. They're not just playing Boom Blox to keep dad happy.

Spielberg himself is more of an action man, playing titles like Call of Duty 4 and Half-Life, raised on Pong which he calls the "Woodstock of video gaming." He's not a fan, however, of cut scenes in video games.

"You know the thing that doesn't work for me in these games are the little movies where they attempt to tell a story in between the playable levels," he says. "That's where there hasn't been a synergy between storytelling and gaming."

Spielberg says more needs to be done in the providing a "universal narrative" in video game storytelling.

"They go to a lot of trouble to do these [motion-capture] movies that explain the characters. And then the second the game is returned to you and it's under your control, you forget everything the interstitials are trying to impact you with, and you just go back to shooting things," Spielberg laments.

But we like shooting things, Steven.

A Close Encounter with Steven Spielberg [Celebrity Byte]

LittleBigPlanet may be the stunt-modder's level design palette of choice these days, with some truly spectacular creations, but its not the only game in town.

Speilbergian Wii favourite Boom Blox comes with a nifty level editor too, and someone has spent a lot of time waggling that WiiMote to create Boom Bloxified recreations of 8-bit classic including Galaga, Duck Hunt, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.

8 Bit Games Recreated in Boom Blox [GoNintendo]

Variety also reports that a sequel to Boom Blox was in the works at the Blueprint group and by developers around the world, but that the project has since shifted to EA's Sims & Casual division. So, to sum up, a development division you weren't supposed to know anything about or likely weren't aware of is no more and a sequel to a game you knew was coming is on the way.

Electronic Arts shuts down Blueprint, making Boom Blox 2 [Variety]

"Boom Blox from EA Casual continues to sell well," EA CEO John Riccitiello said in today's quarterly earnings conference call, adding that the Wii game "is judged by many to be one of the best Wii titles this year."

Since launch, Boom Blox has sold over 450,000 copies, meeting EA's expectations, according to CFO Eric Brown, keeping Spielberg in fresh baseball caps. EA execs didn't specify whether those figures were worldwide or not, but we'll assume they are for now.

So why was Boom Blox an initial dud?

Our first thought was meager and poorly aimed marketing attempts. We don't personally recall seeing much in the way of advertising, but anecdotal evidence from net denizens who watch cartoons and networks aimed at kids swear they were fed a steady diet of Boom Blox TV spots. Why advertise just on kid-friendly programming, when Spielberg himself has said that the game was intended to be something that kids and their parents would play?

NPD analyst Anita Frazier apparently had similar thoughts, telling GameDaily that despite positive review, new intellectual property like Boom Blox has a hard time breaking through the "noise in the market" and that perhaps marketing was to blame.

Frazier points to a noisy release schedule that included Mario Kart Wii, Grand Theft Auto IV, Wii Fit and Metal Gear Solid 4. One might think that Boom Blox may have drowned in a sea of Wii shovelware, but the amount of crap heaped onto retail shelves was relatively light in May.

Perhaps it was just that the Spielberg name just doesn't carry much weight with gamers, as the initial announcement that the famed director was involved in a block smashing game that looked a hell of a lot like a Jenga rip-off seemed like an odd, perhaps disappointing match. A $50 price tag for a game that doesn't come packed with an accessory like Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii likely didn't help matters, especially when better sellers like Game Party and Carnival Games undercut what looks like a similar offering.

While we're hoping that Boom Blox's initial misstep at retail will lead to smarter marketing and better prices for Wii games, we suspect we'll unfortunately see third-party publishers just point to Nintendo's high quality offerings for something to blame. The argument that only Nintendo published titles has some merit, but we think third-party publishers have to shoulder their own part of the blame.

Wii Third-Party Struggles Highlighted by May NPD [GameDaily]

...some games are so over-the-top violent and so extraordinarily interactive that I am even afraid of them. I am not going to name names... My kids will never go in and take an R-rated DVD and play it. But there is something very compelling and different about the artwork on the box of what might be an M game that could tempt my kids... There are games that are taboo. And I won't have them on the premises. I don't want my kids saying, 'How come Dad is playing that and we can't?'

Side note: Watched Temple of Doom three times today. Damn, that's a good movie.
Spielberg Switches [USA Today via Go Nintendo]

But is it all of that enough to shake off the stink of Wii shovelware and live up to the expectations of a game created by the man behind E.T., Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Loved
Eclectic Gameplay: With more than 300 levels, a myriad of ways to play (from blasting and throwing to pulling and stacking), Boom Blox is a virtual toy story of Wii gaming. Each facet of the game manages to deliver, with little to none of the technical issues that have marred other remote-heavy Wii titles.

Great Character Design: What's a game without character? While Boom Blox is loaded with plenty of entertaining character design, it's in the adventure mode that the funky characters really shine. The four themed worlds were "creatively directed" by Spielberg himself and some of the sizzle seems to have made it through the process. Also, it's hard to go wrong with mini-fig like monkeys, cows and kittens in my book.

Deep Pick-Up and Play: None of the many games and modes in Boom Blox are hard to understand or to master, but the level of depth, the sheer number of puzzles included in the game are staggering. Many may take you only a minute or two to whip through, but all of them are satisfying.

Level Editor: The game's mix of multiplayer, single player, co-op, competitive, story and play is nicely augmented with a surprisingly innate level designer that, once the game is fully played through, grants you access to just about everything you come across in the packaged game. Building levels in the editor is so quick and easy to test out that it's almost as fun as playing them.

Sense of Fun: Boom Blox is a charming toy, a game imbued with a sense of fun that somehow makes it greater than it's many parts.

Hated
Weak Co-Op Gaming: After playing through the addictive adventure mode, I was looking for a similar experience to share with my son. Unfortunately I didn't get one. The co-op levels felt more like something meant for training or to show off the tech than for fun.

Shallow Competitive Gaming: While a bit better than co-op, the game's relatively shallow competitive mode feels like what I thought Boom Blox was going to be before I played it: A one trick pony.

Gimped Level Sharing: There's nothing more disappointing then being given a surprisingly robust tool with which to create your own fun and then being told you can't really share it with many people. Boom Blox level sharing relies on the Wii's innately flawed online support, which is so protective it throws down roadblocks to fun. In this case, you can, at least for now, only share them with a select group of friends. Perhaps a new channel will pop up on the Wii for level sharing down the line, but until then it's not very useful.

Boom Blox is, at it's heart, a puzzle game; you have to move, blow-up or shoot away blox to score points, save little blox characters, or defend buildings, but with so many different things to do and so many different ways to do them, it's easy to forget that. Add to the absurdly large number of puzzles and modes the game's four adventures, each with its own story and distinct look, and you've got a game that's sure to entice.

While Boom Blox isn't without its issues and moments of tedium, the main thing that prevents this title from realizing its full potential is the lackluster multiplayer. A game about fun should make multiplayer a top priority, not something that feels so tacked on.

Boom Blox was developed by Electronic Arts LA, published by EA and was released on May 6. Retails for $49.99. Available on Wii. Played single player Adventure mode to completion. Played single player Explore and all multiplayer modes and tested level creation.

Iron Man (PC)
SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 (PSP, PS2)
Boom Blox (WII)
Great War Nations: The Spartans (PC)
R-Type Command (PSP)
Speed Racer (WII, DS)
Neverwinter Nights 2 Gold (PC)
Baseball Mogul 2009 (PC)
The Dog Island (WII)
Toy Shop (DS)
Brain Voyage (DS)
Crosswords DS (DS)

New Releases Week of May 4 [Gamespot]

There's definitely the potential to go to other consoles. Our mindset, our philosophy was that we didn't want to taint our thinking by taking any other console into account. The way we saw it we wanted to make this the most authentic Wii experience that it could possibly be. So we didn't think about the PC, DS, PS3 or Xbox 360. We're still very much in the mindset of finishing this game. But once it's over the sky's the limit. There's definitely the possibility of going to other consoles.

This video walks you through the training for the game, which does look fun, but until it's in my hands I'm holding off on getting excited.

Once it's over the sky's the limit. There's definitely the possibility of going to other consoles.

Boom Blox's main gameplay draw lies in the ability to knock down towers of inconsistently shaped blocks with the toss of baseballs, bowling balls, whatever, all of which adhere to an accurate physics model. Simply line up your shot, after a careful panning and scanning of the camera, then whip the Wii-remote at the screen to start knocking blocks off. Special blocks and multipliers pile on the tactics, but gamers of any skill level can compete from the get-go.

If any game needs to be bundled with the Wii Remote silicone safety condom, it's Boom Blox. Players may be encouraged to violently whip the Remote at the TV, adding extra force to their throws—and extra muscle strain. It's not entirely necessary to give it your all with dramatic, forceful throws, as side pitches and underhanded tosses were just as, if not more, effective in toppling blocks efficiently. A more measured flick of the wrist recommended, as is a tight Wii Remote wrist strap.

Spielberg's first collaborative effort with EA may not have been what you were expecting, but there's something indescribably fun about deconstructing the pre-built levels with up to three other Wii gamers. The only downside to four-player competitive Boom Blox-ing is often the long wait between turns, as your rivals can take an extended period to plan out their shots as you watch. They'll be taking all the good shots, too, or so it seems as you're left with nothing but clean up duty.

The concepts behind Boom Blox may not sound like much, but the impressive number of puzzles and game modes, combined with a deceptively simple mechanic, may warrant more looking into.

I was actually pretty surprised to find out how much of a gamer Steven Spielberg is.

He - regularly, when we meet with him - makes references to games that a lot of us game developers haven't played or haven't played in years. But also recent games, like Crysis, he talks a lot about.

As a Chicagoan, when I used to hear "Michael Jordan's Bulls," even with as good as Michael Jordan was, it seemed to sell the incredible Bulls short. Now when I see names like John Woo and Steven Spielberg headlining titles—guys who don't even show up for every game, so to speak—it sure feels like the credit (and I'd guess, the paychecks) are a bit misaligned.

Boom Blox producer impressed by "gamer" Spielberg [Gamesindustry]