The not-not-so-lazy activity after all!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about a new scientific study that was trumping previous studies that proved that cognition may not be improved by playing games. Today I bring you a study that may prove that playing games may help with improving eyes. Lazy eyes to be exact.

At this years annual American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, a study was introduced that was conducted in India that may hold the key to treating amblyopia, or lazy eye as it is commonly known. Over the course of a year 100 participants were followed with different treatments. Those who were giving electronic games and were able to see great improvements while the other 60 found average improvements with the standard treatments. Most improvements were seen in patients under 14 as opposed to those who were 14 and older.

Dr. Somen Ghosh separated the patients into 4 groups. Each person was given a special pair of eyeglasses that block the stronger eye and must be worn at least for 2 hours a day whole they exercised their weak eye. Group 1 followed the basic treatments and was used as the control group. Group 2 took a supplement that contained micronutrients considered important to good vision. Group 3 played at least one hour of video games daily using only the weaker eye. Group 4 took the supplement citicoline, which is associated with improved brain function.

The games that group 3 used were common shooter games for PC. Playing these with just minimal vision quality forced the eye to focus more on the movement on the screen and allow the eye to strengthen over time. This is similar to strengthening muscle motor skills after injuries. The forced pressure on the eye improved the muscles in the region and allowed faster activity in the receptors.

One of the 16 year olds who participated in the study is now able to experience good vision after a great decline in vision quality the previous three years. After being told he was too old to have his vision corrected he was told to partake in the study and was assigned to group 3. Along with vision improvement he experienced improvement in academic performance overall.

 "Playing the shooting games while using just my weaker eye was hard at first, but after a few months I could win all game levels easily," said Sen. "I'm very happy that I stuck with the program. My vision has improved a lot, so that I now have no trouble studying or taking exams. My tennis game also improved, and of course I'm now a pro PC gamer."

"The cooperation of the patient is very important, maybe even crucial, to successful treatment of amblyopia," said Dr. Ghosh. "We should never give up on our patients, even the older children, but instead offer them hope and treatment designed to help them achieve better vision."

Glad to see so many advances in the science fields that video games are helping break ground in.

The war begins today

The war between Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare officially starts today with the release of the most anticipated Battlefield 3. After watching all the video demos for in-game play and multiple cinematics it really all comes down to how well the games will play in the hands of all the gamers in the wild.

Last week we were shown the launch trailers for both games and I must say the Battlefield 3 trailer gave me the chills watching it. Modern Warfare 3 was not so fortunate in getting me excited. There's just something about the trailers that hold a huge importance as to what games people will pick up and which others may just skip but in the case of these two heavyweight shooters it may still not sway votes because of their superstar names. It will be a tough choice for those who have to choose. Good luck to all those people. It's going to be a nail biter!

Battlefield 3 Launch Trailer


Modern Warfare 3 Launch Trailer

No love for the Wii U. Sorry...

I know I haven't had enough time spent on what all Nintendo fans have been buzzing around but I can't say that I'm too thrilled about the new Wii U. It doesn't seem like a next generation console to me. Apparently, I'm not alone in thinking this way either. Don't get me wrong, the console does look amazing and it gives us a very different look on how interactive the controllers can be to a console. It does have a lot of options that the Wii does not but it also doesn't go that far beyond today's consoles. The graphics and processing power are just about on the same level as both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. On top of that Microsoft may be debuting a possible next-gen console next year at E3! So why all the fuss?

I guess what we should be looking at are the other tidbits that the Wii U is bringing us. Hardware wise it is offering some great changes besides the new control scheme. This time around Nintendo decided to have HD graphics viewable up to 1080p. This has been a long time coming as the Wii was never able to offer this for us. Something about playing Mario or Metroid on standard definition always left me feeling like I was missing something in my life. The graphics give us something we have never seen on a Nintendo console with water textures and the details to how sunlight is distributed through out the environment. Even though the Wii U will be backwards compatible with Wii games it will not upscale the graphics to HD. This is a poor decision on the part of Nintendo. It's understandable seeing that Wii games were written for hardware that was vastly different than the Wii U but surely Nintendo could have foreseen this years ago. HD was the future. Microsoft and Sony were able to see this and made sure that Xbox 360 and PS3 games would be able to handle all resolutions.

The new design on the controller has been what everyone has their eyes on. It's more of a tablet than anything else. It sports a 6.2 inch 16x9 touch screen smack dab in the middle of it. The design is definitely interesting as it streams visual information from the Wii U but doesn't actually do any processing on it at all. It's handled by the unit itself and the controller is just the display with minor touch sensor abilities. It has a built-in rechargeable battery so no need to replace those AA's anymore. The layout looks kind of like an upside down PlayStation controller with an LCD in the middle. There are added buttons meaning that there will be more control over some games.

On a plus side, the Wii U will be able to use all your current Wii peripherals and devices. All controllers will be usable that are available for the Wii and so will the balance board. Gamecube compatibility is although gone. But this is to be expected as you can only support so much before it just gets ridiculous.

It just feels that Nintendo is too late to this caliber of gaming consoles and to early to bring about a next-gen console. Sorry almighty Nintendo but I just feel that you failed us here. Hopefully you can find a way to blow me away before launch.

Science Says: Playing Games Does Not Improve Cognition

Here's something interesting I stumbled upon last night. I read an article that explains that playing video games does not boost cognition as many have believed it should over the last 3 decades. While I was ready to begin debating over the validity of this article by the title alone I started thinking about this in a new light - if games do not help improve puzzle solving, problem solving, memory, or heavy decision making then perhaps people who play games that have great cognition skills to begin with gravitate towards gaming to challenge their skills and adept problem solving. Then I finished reading and found that this is definitely one of the possibilities brought to light.

An assistant professor at Florida State University, Walter Boot, has began re-evaluating claims that playing certain genres of games such as first-person shooters and puzzle solvers would help improve your brain's abilities with critical thinking and attention to detail. Boot brings up an interesting argument that any study that has been conducted over the last 10 years that shows benefits of gaming to be flawed. Many of those studies compared the cognitive skills of frequent gamers to non-gamers and found gamers to be superior. However, Boot and his coauthors point out that this doesn't necessarily mean that their game experience caused better perceptual and cognitive abilities. It could be that individuals who have the abilities required to be successful gamers are simply drawn to gaming.

"Despite the hype, in reality, there is little solid evidence that games enhance cognition at all" he says.

When the original studies were being conducted researchers were looking for those who "excelled" in playing games. This is already suggesting that those who casually play games need not apply because there is a demand for more of an expert. This raises the bar and will not allow the kids who play once or twice a week to believe that they are as good as someone who plays every day. Even studies that featured non-gamers that trained to play action games had their own problems with games.

Boot grew up playing video games and was indeed interested in research that could prove that gamers held higher cognitive skills so naturally he and fellow researchers from FSU and the University of Illinois conducted their own video-game training study to find if any other abilities would improve after game playing but were not able to bring about the same benefits that other studies have been able to.

Thanks to their research they were able to create a new outline for future studies that are looking to prove if there are any benefits from playing games. They also have not written off the possibility of some type of improvement from playing video games. Boot does leave us with advice that is very important for everyone to take.

"Play games because you enjoy them, not because they could boost your brain power."

Rapid Fire: On

When was the last time you used a controller that had a Rapid Fire option built-in? Mine was back during the great Sega Genesis days. Made it so much easier on those Mortal Kombat challenges when trying to break the diamond! Before that was the NES Advantage controller. But there was something that just kept telling me that there really is no reason to get a rapid fire controller after the Genesis. Now I have seen a controller that is making me want one all over again: The Turbo Fire EVO Wireless controller for the Xbox 360. Available by Code Junkies, this controller has evolved the normal conventions of any rapid fire controller that has been on the market.

The controller has a built-in LCD for one and is fully customizable down to the button mappings! The 1.7" LCD allows you to set up custom rapid fire settings and profiles such as sniper mode, mission specifc mappings, and a combo mapping setup for you to be able to setup different super combos for games like Street Fighter 4 or Marvel vs, Capcom 3 with the touch of a button. This is something I've only seen with specific trainers for PC but never on a console controller.

Even rapid fire is customizable. You can adjust the rapid fire option so that you gain more control over just how fast you want the option to react. Instead of spitting 50 shots a second you can adjust it to just a few shots allowing better accuracy and more controlled shots. Or even better, create a profile for COD and one for Battlefield and switch back and forth without having to overwrite either one. The EVO can also be connected to your PC via USB to setup your profiles and save them back and forth so you don't have to lose one. Swap them and load them when you want to use them.

Rapid fire has definitely come a long way. This is definitely an evolution that is most welcome. The next time you're trying to figure out how someone got 5 shots out so fast from their pistol on multi-player before you got 2 off, wonder if they're running with one of these in their hands.

Live Arcade feature: Sideway: New York

Today, arcade has a different meaning. It's now the lesser known games offered by Xbox Live or PSN. I'm not one to have played many arcade titles but I do own a few. So today I will feature one that has caught my eye - Sideway: New York.

Sideway is not your typical platformer. While your character is 2D, the game adds depth and a 3D feel while navigating around walls and other surfaces around a New York setting as a graffiti artist named Nox transformed into a graffiti character by graffiti monsters. It's up to you now to save yourself and your friends from these monsters that attack the city's urban art.


While in this graffiti mode you travel along walls spraying graffiti to create platforms to help get around and in some cases to be able to grab various power ups scattered through out the levels. The power ups allow you to gain special abilities to battle graffiti "baddies" that have now become your enemies. Navigating the environment can become a little confusing because of all the turning and spinning it does but it's not enough to frustrate you or make you want to stop playing. Think of ilomilo. You can travel along side of the wall on a building and then turn the corner and the environment spins to keep you centered and in front of camera view. The same happens when jumping onto rooftops. There are also obstacles along the way such as thorned vines painted on the walls and major gaps. Remember, just because your a painting doesn't mean you can't get hurt!

The art is has great color schemes and is very animated. The graffiti is not over the top and allows you to focus on the purpose of the graffiti. The 3D elements have great depth. The artists have definitely done a great job of not allowing the 3D environment confuse you while playing a 2D character.

The music through out the game is very hip hop oriented. The soundtrack definitely fits the part. And it isn't your normal Top 40 hip hop and it has a more underground feel to it. Its a definite welcome to the scene.

This game is a great pick up for something new and refreshing. The game drops on 10/11/11 for $9.99 exclusively on PSN for the PS3. Xbox fans will just have to be envious

Another feat in the name of science!

Last week gamers were able to unfold the mysteries of an enzyme that would help to further find the cure for AIDS. This week they were able to locate 2 new planets outside of our solar system.

NASA has been allowing what they call "citizen scientists" view photos taken by the Kepler Space Telescope for the last couple of years now hoping that new habitable planet would be discovered dubbing it the Kepler Mission. Citizen scientists are just average people who have a love and respect for space and astronomy. Now reports are coming in that by playing the Kepler Mission's web-based game, Planet Hunters, two new planets were discovered. The findings will be published in an article in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society this week. You can read the full article here if you want to delve deeper.

How does a game offer the ability to discover planets in such a vast space? The way Planet Hunters works is by allowing the players to make use of public data from the Keplar public data and using the Transit Method. Users observe the light emitted by stars over a 30+ day period and are then asked to look for times when the light curve dips in signal. The dip suggests that a possible planet in orbit around the star is moving across the path of the star at the time. It takes roughly 3 hours for the planet to pass across the face of its star which is long enough for hundreds of light measurements, or dips, to be made. The challenge, as a player, is to identify these dips in light intensity over a course of time for a given star. The size of the planet also plays a role. If a planet is very large, the depth of the transit will be larger than that of a smaller planet, as the larger planet would block more light. Thus, we have a planetary discovery! It's like a tamer version of Asteroids.

Seeing how much work goes into this would make it understandable why more scientific research groups are allowing the public to access this type of data and create games out of them. It's allowing for science to further itself in a positive way by tapping into a form of media that is growing larger and larger everyday. Kepler realized this and so did FoldIt. Both were able to use the advantage of having gamers solve some of the most tedious jobs seeing as these research groups just don't have the manpower or the funding to do so on their own.

Now imagine what else can be accomplished if this type of motivation were presented to school students now? It's a shame that it would have to come to this in order for some students to show their full potential but it would show students what they are capable of and to what degree. Present a way to get someone involved by their own merit and they will be hooked. Couple that with text book knowledge and learning and we could see more classroom interaction. This is just the beginning of what can be accomplished.

We may not have paid attention through every minute of physics or science but every gamer loves a good challenge so long as you know how to motivate us. Come on Science, insert that quarter and show us what you got!

Throwback Wednesday: Captain N: The Game Master

Saturday mornings were that much more special for me when Captain N was on the air. Watching him get warped into Videoland and team up with Megaman, Simon Belmont and Kid Icarus to defeat Motherbrain and her henchmen Eggplant Wizard and a blue King Hippo all while eating Super Mario cereal.

If you didn't grow up watching this cartoon then welcome to this week's Throwback Wednesday! If you did make this show and comic a part of your childhood (or adulthood even) then take a stroll down memory lane.

Captain N was a cartoon created originally as a comic in the Nintendo Power Magazine. Nintendo then decided to change the original format and produce the cartoon as a teenage boy, Kevin, who gets warped into Videoland through his TV along with his dog, Duke, by way of the "ultimate warp zone" created by a Powerglove.

Once in Videoland he teams up with the "N Team" which consisted of Simon Belmont (Castlevania), Mega Man, Kid Icarus, and Princess Lana who is acting ruler of Videoland. Together they fight against the evil powers of the land which are represented by Mother Brain (Metroid), The Evil Eggplant Wizard (Kid Icarus), Dr. Wily (Mega Man), and King Hippo (Punch-Out). Each week the N Team battled with these characters and also "guest villains" such as Donkey Kong and Dracula (Castlevania series). And every once in a while there would be "guest heroes" such as Bayou Billy, Link, and Doctor Light. At the beginning of the second season the group was joined by Game Boy, a human-sized supercomputer shaped like an actual Gameboy.

In Videoland Kevin found himself equipped with a Light Zapper and a NES control pad belt buckle that he could use to execute video game type abilities such as pausing the action or jumping onto high platforms as long as the power of the controller didn't run down. He also found he could use portals called "warp zones" similar to those in Mario games. These allowed him to travel instantly between different video game worlds within Videoland. Using warp zones meant that N Team could quickly and easily travel from Princess Lana's residence, the Palace of Power, to wherever they were needed. The only problem with warp zones was that each led to only one location, and if the traveler was unfamiliar with a warp zone he could not know where he would end up.

The music on the shows consisted of variations of the music you would hear in the video games that inspired them. Sound effects were also taken from games and used for different actions in the show such as jumping and pausing. A lot of the characters looked slightly different than their game counterparts due to licensing concerns as Nintendo could not garner the licenses for games from Konami and Capcom but these characters still kept their names - for the most part.

I miss these crazy episodes. So in memory of such a great cartoon I bring you the first 8 minutes of the first episode. Enjoy!

Just another day of puzzle solving for a gamer

It's no big surprise that many gamers are advanced in puzzle solving. Puzzle solving has been a part of gameplay for as long as I've been playing games. That's why it's no real huge surprise when I read that groups of gamers helped scientist crack an enzyme that is a building block for a family of retroviruses of which contain HIV.

For three weeks, gamers were told to unfold chains of amino acids using a set of online tools in a game that was developed in 2008 by the University of Washington named Foldit. After three weeks they were able to successfully complete the task in which computers and other automated tasks have not been able to do so yet. Even the science community is shocked that in such a short time a fully completed model could have been made by someone outside of the community.

"We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed," Firas Khatib of the university's biochemistry lab said in a press release."The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."

This is great news for our gaming community as it now tells the story of how all that time spent playing video games may have helped develop an advanced problem solving side to our way of thinking allowing us to perform something that no one or thing has been able to. It has not been a waste of time as some think and it has not rotted our minds as so many who are opposed to this form of entertainment has tried to have so many believe. Now we have a new possible study in the works.

 Foldit is now also playable to the public. It is in beta but works really well. So go out there and see if you too can save the world.

Welcome to your... DOOM?

Imagine growing up and never having played Doom... That was the harsh reality for teenagers in Germany throughout the entire time that Doom has been around - until now.

17 years after Doom was first released Germany may now be able to sell Doom in any store they so please soon. Doom and Doom 2 were both classified as "Media Harmful to Young Persons" placing them in the same category as porn in Germany and getting them pulled from shelves across the country. Recently, Bethesda decided to try and appeal the decision and it was overturned. Although Bethesda has not given details as to when the games will go on sale in Germany we do know it will be soon. Of course it will have any references to Nazism removed as those images are banned it will still have all the great gameplay that we all know and love.

Now imagine all the fun that could have been missed out on if the same ban were placed in the US? Not just on Doom but any game that depicts any kind of fantasy violence? It was my understanding that the censorship is a little more lenient in Germany. This may only apply to TV I guess. I do know that GTA 4 has a huge following in Germany and it makes me question why Doom?

In any case this is a small victory for the industry. It's kind of like giving the censor board the finger. I know that I have a different mindset when it comes to these issues but it kind of is ridiculous to want to ban a game that does not clearly show violence to other humans but to fictional monsters that are trying to find a way of attacking earth. It's science fiction at its best.

Society has the tendency to want to censor so many things. Literature, movies, art. There is no media that will ever be free of being criticized and have work that is deemed obscene. There are schools that are banning books that go against certain morals of the community. Animal Farm should not be banned from high school reading. It is one of the best stories I have ever read. Such as Doom is one of the best games I have ever played. Both great works in their own artistic media. One for great writing and symbolism of how corruption is brewed in government circles and how such acts along with greed and ignorance can bring down a Utopian society, the other for showing that the bravery of one individual can overcome obstacles to help bring peace to the world that he knows and loves by doing the right thing.

Unfortunately this is the war that must be fought everyday. Just be grateful that there are those who choose to go against such views and introduce to the world what their imagination has to offer. Thanks id for introducing us to one of the bravest space marines that even Master Chief will salute.

These beats inside my head

Music within a game to me is a very major part of gameplay for certain games. I can go through FPS games without a soundtrack because it can hinder your gameplay in some situations such as in Call of Duty games where the background noises play an important role in your survival. But games such as Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Mario etc., these games have background music that has played an important part. Not only are the songs keeping up the beat of the level of gameplay but they add life to the experience.

Since I was younger I can remember going from playing Atari to playing NES and remember hearing those first 7 sounds from Super Mario Bros. world 1-1 for the very first time. It sparked something in me that had been missing from Atari games. It added an extra something special. One could walk around and hum these songs and everyone would immediately chime in. It added more emotion to the game and in my opinion it's what kept me going in some games.

The addition of background music began to drive the intensity of certain levels or even cinematics. Prime example, Ninja Gaiden for the NES. Hearing that pivotal change in music from the duel scene to Ryu reading the letter from his father set the tone from action to dramatic. You knew you were going into something bigger than just a simple duel. There was a plot behind it all that was about to be uncovered.

Fast forward to SNES and Genesis. The transition to 16Bit gaming added better music and with it the opportunity to own a game soundtrack. More and more game soundtracks started becoming available for sale in the market. My first soundtrack owned was that of Streets of Rage 2! One of the best soundtracks to this day. Yuzo Koshiro, a genius in the world of game soundtracks if there ever was one, brought to the table that music in a game is more than just background sound, it's a form of art. They transported you to a place where gaming was more than just good eye/hand coordination. It took you to a level of pure fun and bliss. It kept you in harmony with the game. Faster beats and more uptempo tracks had you pulling out all the stops to defeat any boss on the screen. Slower tracks had you pay more attention to the level and made sure you didn't overlook that one corridor and didn't leap before looking. It was a sense of direction that your subconscious held on to in order to alert you of danger. The fad kept going with the addition of Dreamcast and Playstation and was at its peak before it started plunging. Today these soundtracks are still available on the market but not as widely as before. Mainly because so many of today's games are using actual licensed songs or are using songs produced by famous artists specifically for the game and there are licensing issues. But the games that are still exploring with great original scores are leaving us game soundtrack junkies out to dry.

I know that you can still find soundtracks out there. It’s just a shame that you can’t get them readily available anymore. I guess for now I will stick with my classic soundtracks and keep converting them to ringtones. Or VG Tones as I like to call them. Well I’m off to listen to some 8Bit synth heaven…

Revelations Revealed

The newest trailer for Assassin's Creed Revelations has been revealed and it looks nice! Not only do we get to see more of the lush scenery of the new places that the adventure brings us to but we get to see Ezio and Altair in action. Ezio is sporting some nice new moves and we get to see the new hook attachment to his assassin's blade that allows him to use as a grappling device and to turn the numerous ropes around Constantinople as zip lines for faster travelling. This is one game that is high on my list for new releases this year. On top of the game dropping November 15th, NECA Toys is releasing an exclusive Ezio action figures and a replica of the Flying Machine from Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. November you can't come fast enough!

Throwback Wednesday: Tennis for Two

Quite arguably the first video game to be created, Tennis for Two was developed to cure boredom for visitors of the Brook Haven National Laboratory. Nuclear physicist William Higinbothan and  set out to develop Tennis for Two after learning that one of the computers in the lab could calculate missile trajectories. Knowing this he used that ability to form the games foundation.

The game had a simple concept - hit a virtual ball over a virtual net back and forth between two players. It used an oscilloscope as a graphical display and an analog computer to process all the physics behind the game. Players would control the gameplay using aluminum boxes that were fitted with a turn knob and a single button. The knob controlled the angle in which the ball was hit and the button would smack the ball. Hitting the virtual net would reset the ball back to the opponents side as it would in real tennis.

Amazingly the game was designed within 2 hours and assembled in 3 weeks. on October 18, 1958, Tennis for Two was introduced to the public at one of the lab's annual Visitors' Day. It gained much attention that day as it was the first time that anyone had seen such a device. Hundreds of visitors lined up to play and this would continue every Visitors' Day following.

It's most obvious that this game may have influenced games such as pong heavily. But it also used technology such as vector video signal that would be used in games such as Asteroids and even in flight aircraft HUDs. Without knowing about it, Higinbotham did introduce something to the future of video game design.

In the 1980's, Tennis for Two was part of a "first video game" controversy. Before 1958 there were three different developments that others had considered to be video games. One was simply dubbed the Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device. There was no motion in this game. It consisted of a beam of light that one would turn a knob to move to overlap an airplane that was painted on to a transparent screen. This would simulate that you fired upon an aircraft bomber and it would explode. Another was a form of tic-tac-toe. Players would press numbers on a keypad to input where they wanted to place an X on the grid. Both of these were simulations to study human interaction and were not meant for playing in enjoyment. Whether or not they should be deemed the first is still up for debate. On top of course was whether or not Tennis for Two qualified as a video game. The fact that it used a display that was not a raster signal such as a CRT and used the vector signal of an oscilloscope was the main point of argument. This would lead on to many arguments and would also be used in court cases in which Magnavox was being sued by Nintendo because of patent infringement stating that the tennis game for the Odyssey resembled Tennis for Two. This example was dismissed because of the video technology that Tennis for Two used and was not considered video games by the courts.

Whether or not Tennis for Two is a true video game or if it was the first or not doesn't matter. What matters is that a nuclear physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb would later on help create enjoyment for future generations. Here's to you William Higinbotham!



music from this video is 'To Find Our Freedom' by Peacespeakers, from the album 'Message From Planet Earth'

Happy Birthday Samus!

This week marked the 25th birthday of another Nintendo classic, Metroid! So consider this a special edition of my Throwback series

To all who grew up playing the NES Metroid is one game that still rings fresh in the mind. It brought to life an alien planet with all sorts of creatures and monsters controlled by a massive brain bent on revenge and power.

It was 1986 and Japan had just released this instant classic to the masses. For those who don't know or remember the game tells us the story of Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who searches the galaxies for Space Pirates that are bent on taking the power of the Metroids and using them for evil. After learning that Mother Brain, an intelligent creature that has gained power of over the pirates, is on the planet Zebes, Samus heads out to kick ass!




Looking back at the gameplay in Metroid reminds me of Super Mario and Zelda meshed together and then thrown on a desolate planet. It was definitely one of the darker games of the NES. It offered so much more to the standard side-scrolling platformers of the time because it was non-linear, you were able to gain powers and weapons,  and explored vast rooms and chasms on a planet fortress in search of bosses to take down.  No other game could offer you that.

Of course the most remembered moment of the game that set it apart from all others at the time is when you've reached the end and Samus removes her helmet and reveals to the player that all along the protagonist was a female. This was the moment that Nintendo used to shock every gamer in the world. It was unheard of at the time and it introduced the first lady of video games to the world. Metroid most certainly helped Ms. Pac-Man open the door to female characters in video games.

It was also pretty cool that the game had five different endings depending on how fast or slow you played the game. In addition, you were able to go back and kick ass using all the powers you had just obtained from your first playthrough.


Mother Brain even gained her own following. She later went to star as an evil character on Captain N: The Game Master. They even created episodes  that revolved around Metroid and Zebes.

Metroid also had a pretty good soundtrack for its day. I still remember the iconic music and some of the more eerie songs. Playing in the dark at 7-8 yrs old was freaky. The title song itself gave you the chills alone. If you care to hear the original theme song check it here.

Now after 25 years Metroid has released a total of 12 games on all Nintendo consoles except for N64 and Virtual Boy.  Clearly making itself as one of the most successful games for Nintendo and it deserves more accolades than it has come to receive. I really wish Nintendo would do something grand for the Metroid series. All the new installments that were released under the Prime moniker have been great games but the publicity for these releases have been really slim. Most have never played or even heard of them. I'm hoping that after reading this some of you decide to check out more of the Metroid games you never played. I guarantee nothing but fun

For all those reminiscent of the original that started it all! Enjoy!

El Shaddai hits next week

By next Tuesday the US can finally begin enjoying what the Japanese have been doing so since April, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. (Sorry Europe, you'll have to wait until next month...)

For those of you not familiar with this breakthrough game it is an action packed hack-n-slash style game with cel-shaded art styles that tells the story of Enoch, a priest seeking seven fallen angels to prevent a great flood from destroying mankind. The story is heavily influenced by the Deuterocanonical Book of Enoch. The game takes place in the legendary Tower of Babel, where seven angels have taken over a floor and turned it into their own playground.

At first I wondered, how would the reception of a game heavily inspired by religious texts be received? But the reception has been wonderful by the gaming community. The story line is filled with massive plots and the dialogue is better than expected. Thankfully there has been no criticism over the story that the game revolves around, causing the development team to produce a masterpiece that is this game.

The combat is simple hack-n-slash but is still difficult to fully master. You get 3 weapons: The Arch, a curved blade which also allows the user to float. The second weapon is the Gale. It's a ring like weapon that provides a dash ability and the power to throw small darts at targets. The third weapon is the Veil, a shield that also acts as a pair of gauntlets. This is the the strongest defensive item but it does allow for a strong punching attack. The Gale is the fastest weapon of the three and the Veil being the slowest. All of the holy weapons become corrupt as they are used and have to be purified throughout the game or simply steal one from one of your attackers. Corruption will cause the weapon to weaken it's attacks and defense. You do also get a handful of divine powers bestowed upon you by God. Powers such as self resurrection. Useful for when power runs low.

Combos are performed by rhythmically tapping the one button that is used for attack. For example, tapping the attack button 4 times will give you a basic combo but doing so like this "tap, tap (pause) tap, tap, tap (pause) tap, tap" will give you a different combo. Strange, but will make it that much harder for you to pull off the best, perfect combos.

Ignition has been trying to capture the attention of "casual gamers" and "female gamers" hoping to gain more of a spotlight for this game. It may not appeal to all but I am still looking forward to getting my hands on this game. It's a welcomed change to the visuals that we are all used to and the simple yet difficult fighting style will be a challenge. Sort of how Mirror's Edge was when it first came on the scene. All in all, El Shaddai is a definite recommended play in my book. Get yourself a copy and enjoy the fun.

Throwback Wednsday: Fairchild Channel F

I've been wanting to showcase old video game consoles and games that have been long forgotten and I think I will start doing this on Wednesdays from time to time. Today I would like to bring back the Fairchild Channel F console (also known as the VES).

The year was 1976 and Fairchild Semiconductor just released the Fairchild Channel F console to rival Atari. At the time Atari's major console was the Pong console. What set the Channel F apart? It was the first gaming console to use cartridges that were interchangeable! It also allowed users to pause the games which was not a feature so common back then. This feature was called hold instead. And it introduced player vs. computer AI to consoles!

Graphics were quite basic and it only had the ability to create 8 different colors in its palette. It ran on a whopping 64 bytes of RAM which is about half of what the Atari 2600 would end up using. Sound was all heard from an internal speaker until the second revision which allowed sound to escape from the TV through an RF switch. The controllers had a unique design. They were just grips with a triangular cap that operated for movement and a fire button.

Officially only 26 games were released for the console. They each were released as cartridges that were about the size of an 8track tape.

Sadly the Atari VCS was released and it brought a halt to the Channel F and its production. The Channel F was released to try and bring Atari to release it's newest console and when it did it brought the guns blazing and won. By 1979 the last console was made and sold and cleared the path for Atari's boom. Channel F, here's to you!

Video Game Renaissance

With all that is surrounding us we truly are in the "Renaissance" of video games. Almost every AAA release within the last 2 years have been blockbusters. Independent studios are publishing games that are being played on a much higher audience than ever before. What's more, games are now being branched off into movies, comics, and novels more than ever. This year is proving to be even bigger than before with major releases and more to come.

It truly is the best time to be a gamer. What's best about the current state of games is that there are masterpieces coming out from everyone rather than just a few hits from one or two top studios. Triple AAA titles are not the only ones in the spotlight as more mobile games and Arcade games are starting to garner more attention by the masses. Games such as Limbo, Outlands and From Dust are taking center stage for their beautiful in-game artwork and intriguing gameplay.

More novels and and video media are being made to tie-in to games. This opens up a great part of a storyline that a developer can't fit into cinematics. Back stories are introducing us to plots never before thought possible. Introductions to future characters are creating the chance of a sequel. In some cases it just expands the games universe creating a new type of fan. In any case these are being welcomed by the community as sales for such items are getting higher.

Yes folks, I truly believe we are seeing the peak of a true renaissance. I'll be sad when it's over but I know that down the road someone will bring us into a new age.

Playing the race card?

I stumbled upon an interesting article today by Game Informer where a prominent psychologist, Christopher Ferguson of Texas A & M, compared the blaming of video games for violent behavior as a form of racism. The subject alone sparked an interest in me to read the article and Ferguson brings up a very interesting argument to back up his claim.

“I know it’s a little controversial to say but there’s a certain type of racism in place with these killings,” said Ferguson. “When shootings happen in an inner city in minority-populated schools, video games are never brought up. But when these things happen in white majority schools and in the suburbs, people start to freak out and video games are inevitably blamed.  I think that there’s a certain element of racism or ignorance here.”

This made me think back to Columbine first. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's actions were blamed to have been brought up by the teens immersing themselves in Doom and Wolfenstein by Jerald Block, a US psychiatrist. The FBI findings of them being depressive and clinical psycho pathological were not good enough for him.

Then I thought about Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona state senator. Jared Lee Loughner was pinned as an "avid gamer" by his fellow peers and this was quickly brought to the media attention sparking more of a debate between a possible connection.

Lastly I thought about the recent tragedy in Norway. Anders Behring Breivik had brought into the media frenzy that his cover for him to become a social outcast was to become "addicted" to World of Warcraft. He also claims that he used games such as Modern Warfare as his training sims for the carnage he would wreak upon nearly a hundred innocents. Of course it didn't matter when his manifesto even pointed out that he was simply blaming the game for his absence in social circles.

“You will be amazed on how much you can do undetected while blaming this game. If your planning requires you to travel, say that you are visiting one of your WoW friends, or better yet, a girl from your “guild” (who lives in another country). No further questions will be raised if you present these arguments.”

Now when I think about the violence that happens in minority communities there never is a tie to violent media. It's usually summed up as gang related crime. But as I recall Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row games depict gang related crime at their worst. Why no connection?

The point that Ferguson made in his interview is that it is nearly impossible to fully blame violent media for individuals' violent behavior. Whether it be TV, music, or video games.

“Scientifically, the idea that video game violence, movie, or television violence contributes to mass homicides is pretty much a debunked idea that has no real basis to it. I think certainly the Supreme Court case helped, especially since they were so clear in pointing out that current research was not able to support that line of reasoning.”

Until a connection can be made with what really brings out violence in anyone we should stop trying to point the finger at sources. Not everyone is fueled by the same desire to hurt another living being. After all, most murders are committed by someone known to the victim(s) and there's always something that sparked the confrontation.

Come on media! Let's focus more on the real deal here. Don't take the easy way out!

Bionic Commando game not included

I love getting new toys. I love it even more when it's a surprise! So when I got his placed on my desk yesterday at work it was instantaneously a RAD day.

Thanks to my good friend Alex who got me this lunchbox. (If you're into cars, especially Datsuns, or fixing them up, check out his blog DirtyS30.)

This lunchbox was part of the special release for the rebooted Bionic Commando offered by Game Crazy. It was available with limited quantities. Fortunately someone out there decided they didn't want this one anymore! So now I have something new to proudly display.

Real in-game screen shots! Remember this?

You are quite right. This lunchbox is rad!

Thanks Rockstar!

Every once in a while I do something right and get a nice reward for it. Got some cool new threads courtesy of Rockstar Games. Both are great L.A. Noire t-shirts. They also threw in a nice thick pack of stickers which are  always nice and fun. Now for the unpackaging!

Love having stickers! 

Thinking about framing the L.A. Noire shirt. Would look nice in my home office hung up on the wall.

You may catch me in this shirt at the next convention

Thanks Rockstar!

Gather 'round children

The grandfather of video games and founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell, is back and trying to get all children to play games! But not just any games. He has created a form of edutainment to help improve learning. Especially in children. How else would one want to learn than by doing something fun? Isn't that how we all learned out ABC's and 123's?





Nolan Bushnell has started a website, Wordplay.com, that teaches people Spanish in a fun way. Similar to the more educational games on the NintendoDS. He claimed that his Wordplay.com Spanish vocabulary game can help kids learn Spanish five or six times faster than Rosetta Stone, the popular language software. He said that the games adapt to a user’s level of knowledge, known as adaptive practice, and will be combined with metrics and tutoring to recreate curricula for schools.

Now learning faster than Rosetta Stone is a feat in its own. Rosetta Stone can have anyone speaking Spanish in minutes.

The adaptive practice is a very unique aspect of this type of educational software. Most educational games are made rudimentary on one level plane. Everyone learns the same way and for those that learn faster there's no real challenge. If Wordplay adapts to your level of learning and challenges you on a higher level then it would definitely earn more merit in say a classroom setting. Teachers can now use this as a measure and aid to help students who are struggling and be able to pinpoint what areas they are struggling in.

With all the budget cuts going around nationally in education we should give this free software a shot. Here's what Nolan had to say during his speech at Gamebeat 2011:

“The public school system with its bureaucracy and unions and bullshit are stuck,” he said. “The pressure is building. There will be an earthquake. That will happen with the bankruptcy of California in two years. There is no chance California will fix itself with unfunded pensions and runaway public sector costs. It’s going to be like Greece. We don’t have the European Community to bail us out. It’s going to have to be the federal government, but California is a huge economy.”

Well Nolan, if you can make something to better the world as Pong did, I got your back.

NEA gives Roger Ebert 2 thumbs down!

About a year ago, Roger Ebert made a statement that resonated in the ears of all developers, "video games cannot be art." Well Mr. Ebert, the National Endowment of the Arts gave you the thumbs down.

The NEA has decided to expand it's grant program to include digital games and renaming it Arts in Media. Their newest exhibit is going to be aptly named 2Player: Computers. Games. Art. It will feature five computer game artists displaying some of their work and what video game art means to them.

So far the exhibit has been showcased in such places as the New Museum in NY, The Foundation for Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool, England, the National Museum for Contemporary Art in Athens, the Museu de Arte Moderna (Museum of Modern Art) in Rio de Janeiro, and this month, the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester, UK.

Many of these pieces are actually playable and can be played by two people and allows "players" to examine how art relates to the way we communicate. Taking the exhibit to numerous art galleries allows viewers to now consider graphics and the gameplay mechanics to be a form of contemporary art.

If graffiti was able to pull it off in the 80's, why not video games? There is so much artistic flow that goes into creating games. Not just graphic wise but story and mechanics as well. Sure they may never be on the same level as Plato, Homer or Michaelangelo but who's to say that it won't evolve. After all, our ancestors started by painting on cave walls and creating some of the most odd looking horses and animals but look at the works that came from the Renaissance.