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Shooting Virtual People Makes You Better at Paying Attention, Science Says
It’s good timing for everyone to be excited about Call of Duty: Black Ops II, it seems. New research finds that playing the game, and others like it, can actively change your brain for the better. Several previous studies have found that playing different kinds of games has a different effect on the brain, from…
By Kate Cox -
Yet Another Game Developer Claims Used Games Kill Innovation
Rumors continue to swirl about the next iterations of the PlayStation and Xbox consoles. With nearly nothing actively confirmed by either Sony or Microsoft, one of the most popular recurring threads is that the consoles will in some way block the owners’ ability to play secondhand, used copies of physical games. Players and consumers tend…
By Kate Cox -
A Gorgeous, Living World Sets Guild Wars 2 Apart
We all have our personal gaming quirks. I, for example, have a habit of leaping into any new game as a thief, rogue, or assassin type whenever possible. I prefer to move slowly and cautiously, in stealth and shadows, choosing my targets with utmost care. I operate alone or, when in teams, as a scout…
By Kate Cox -
Plants vs Zombies Toys Want to Eat Your Money, Not Your Brains
The next time your neighbor tells you there’s a zombie on your lawn, you can finally reply, “Thanks! Isn’t it cute?” And ideally, your neighbor will have meant the cute little toy zombie from Plants vs. Zombies and will agree with you. (Either that, or you’ll be eaten by horrible, slavering zombies. As happens.) PopCap…
By Kate Cox -
Angry Birds Land is Now a Real Place, and It’s In Finland
Angry Birds remains big business. The original, now-classic game continues to expand, and the sequel, Angry Birds Space, just hit the 50-million download milestone in 35 days. You can get Angry Birds fruit snacks, costumes, playground equipment, and any other kind of irritated avian-themed merchandise you can possibly think of. And now, Eurogamer reports, the…
By Kate Cox -
No One Wins a Car In Oprah’s New Game
Game designer and champion Jane McGonigal advocates games as a tool for making the world a better place. She has a book and a pile of research explaining all of the ways in which games can be beneficial for players’ physical and mental health as well as for the wider world. So now, it seems…
By Kate Cox -
How One Hacker Unintentionally Triggered one of the Biggest Data Thefts of All Time
George “geohot” Hotz found himself with overnight notoriety when, in 2007 at the age of seventeen, he successfully unlocked an iPhone — the first known to do so, bragging about it online. In January, 2010, he became the first hacker successfully to break through all of the restrictions Sony had put on the PlayStation 3.…
By Kate Cox -
The Adventures of James Vega
James Vega can be an easy character to overlook, in Mass Effect 3. He’s just another human guy, and the final game in the trilogy is the first time he appears. He hides out down in the Normandy‘s cargo bay, a little out of the way when Shepard’s just making the rounds. But James Vega,…
By Kate Cox -
Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Bonus Weekends Finally Available on PS3
BioWare has been running regular multiplayer bonus weekend events in Mass Effect 3 since March, but until now, PlayStation 3 owners had been unable to participate. An earlier statement from BioWare seemed to point the finger at an issue with approval on Sony’s end, leaving players hanging. However, today BioWare announced that effective this weekend,…
By Kate Cox -
Listen Up! Ken Levine and Amy Hennig Are Talking
Game design, particularly for big-budget, blockbuster console titles, is an incredibly tricky and intricate process. In the most recent episode of the Irrational Interviews series, the creative directors of two renowned franchises compare notes on how they work, what creative design really means, and how the games ever get out of the door. Ken Levine,…
By Kate Cox -
Word Off Makes Spelling Into A Territorial Death Match
Word Off is, well, a face-off… with words. It’s an asynchronous Scrabble-scored Boggle fight, played on a strategy game’s grid and covered in a Roy Lichtenstein touch. Many word games have a sense of gravitas about them, something in their art style that holds up a hand at shoulder height and says, “You Must Be…
By Kate Cox -
EVE Online Producers Declare Player’s Attempt to Destroy Game’s Economy “Absolutely Brilliant”
In most MMOs, if a player spearheaded a public, concerted crusade to destroy the game’s economy, the game’s producers would find a way to put a stop to it. But EVE Online isn’t quite like most other MMOs. High-ranking EVE Online player The Mittani was temporarily banned from the game after an unpleasant incident where…
By Kate Cox -
Elijah Wood Stars in Next Season of Red vs Blue. Yes, Really.
Rooster Teeth started their popular Halo-based machinima comedy series Red vs Blue all the way back in 2003. What was actor Elijah Wood up to in 2003? Oh, just carrying the lead role in a little old top-grossing fantasy movie that won 11 Oscars. But nine years later, Red vs Blue is still churning away,…
By Kate Cox -
Jay-Z’s Life Story, Told as a Facebook Game
Jay-Z is one of the world’s most famous rappers. He has a fashion line, a chain of upscale sports bars, and a share of the New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets. He has sold millions upon millions of albums and married Beyoncé, with whom he now has a daughter. What was left for the…
By Kate Cox -
Classic PlayStation Title Appears in Vita Store, But Isn’t Playable Yet
A classic PlayStation title appeared in the PS Vita store overnight, kindling hopes that players would now be able to enjoy their classic games on the go. Alas, the game is not actually playable, but its appearance does indicate that perhaps the anticipated feature is nearly ready for prime time. NeoGAF users spotted the game,…
By Kate Cox -
Woman Caught Stealing Video Games After Selling Them Back to Store She Stole Them From
Stealing is wrong. That’s pretty much universally understood. But going back to the store you just stole from, to sell them the goods you took? Well, that takes a certain kind of chutzpah. And it also gets you caught. Police in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, report that a woman went into a video game store (called, appropriately,…
By Kate Cox -
The Entire Universe, And Other Things That Are Awesome
People aren’t very big at all. But at least we’re bigger than ants, cells, the X chromosome, and all the empty space between particles. On the other hand, we get tiny awfully fast. Even dinky little Rhode Island looks huge in comparison to us. At least, until you keep scrolling out… From quantum foam and…
By Kate Cox -
What Your Video Game Controllers Look Like At Airport Security
I’ve never actually wondered what a console controller looks like on the inside. Perhaps I am too easily distracted by their colorful plastic exteriors, or by wanting to throw them across the room in response to certain games. But a Reddit user out there with access to an industrial-strength x-ray system did wonder how a…
By Kate Cox -
A Valley Without Wind Still Managed to Blow Me Away
While I was playing A Valley Without Wind, someone asked me what I was up to. Here’s what I said: “Well, it’s a platformer. I mean, it’s not, it’s a roguelike. But totally a platformer. Really, it’s a dungeon-crawler. It exists for exploration. Well, no, for upgrades. Actually, it’s kind of an adventure game. Also…
By Kate Cox
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