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Filed under: Culture, Hacks, Action, First Person Shooters, PuzzleScience Blog covers a University of Rochester study that says action videogames improve visual processing by 20 percent. A group of students played Unreal Tournament and another group played Tetris, which was selected because of its motor complexity but visual simplicity. After regular training with the respective games, the UT players more easily identified the orientation of a letter "T" among a jumble of other shapes in a crowding test. The Tetris group`s responses didn`t change.The study suggests that action games alter the way our minds process information even after playing; the researchers think that games could help combat certain visual disorders. We just hope that our improved ability to identify objects makes up for our blurred vision after marathon game nights.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, OnlineThe controversy surrounding the positive and negative effects of modern video games has drawn commentary from luminaries ranging from the governor of California to the Pope. But among all this high-level pontificating, one question has loomed large: What does Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad think of video games? Apparently, he doesn`t like them. This according to an interview Al-Assad gave to Good Morning America`s Diane Sawyer, who figured that since the dictator has "talked about the internet," a question about video games was appropriate. Al-Assad tersely answered that he uses the internet "for information, not for video games" before moving on to important topics like his favorite movies and what`s on his iPod (we`re not kidding). Al-Assad`s discussion got us wondering how the world might be different if more heads of state actually were gamers? Could President Bush gain a deeper understanding of history through Civilization? Could a nice, calm game of Mario soothe Tony Blair`s nerves after a long day in front of Parliament? Could the world-gobbling power of Katamari Damacy satiate the ambitions of Kim Jong-Il? The world may never know. [Via NewsBusters]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Fashion When it comes to video games, marketers tend to focus their in-person efforts on youth oriented events like sports, concert tours, and extreme sports-infused concert tours. Sony is taking a bit of a different tact, marketing the PS3 to the audience at the English National Opera (ENO). As the London Times reported last week, Sony will be placing a PS3 kiosk in the foyer on the London Coliseum, the ENO`s home stage. The kiosk will accompany a Sony-sponsored version of Puccini`s La Boheme and an initiative aimed at convincing British schoolteachers that the PSP is useful as a learning tool. Personally, we`ve learned a lot about taking out cops from our PSPs. The Times piece goes on to draw a link between controversial games like Grand Theft Auto and controversial operas like Strauss` Elektra or Berg`s Wozzeck. Where are the Jack Thompson wannabes crying about the deleterious effects of opera on our troubled youth? Oh, that`s right ... our troubled youth doesn`t care about opera. We forgot.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Business The 7th annual Game Developers Choice Awards nominations were announced today, with Okami and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion taking the most number of nods at four each. Wii Sports and Gears of War also earned high honors with three nominations apiece. With Capcom`s recent bitterness over the AIAS "snubbing," four Okami nominations and a Technology nod for Dead Rising should satiate their ego. We`re also glad that Rayman Raving Rabbids, Dreamfall, and Sam ` Max: Episode One are getting some much-deserved kudos.The awards ceremony will occur Wednesday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. and is being hosted by Tim "Psychonauts owns your soul" Schafer (also known for Monkey Island and Grim Fandango). The nominations are listed after the break.Continue reading Oblivion, Okami top GDC Awards NominationsRead | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture After the cake presentation yesterday, we decided to show off this Katamari cake Thomas Mannino showed us. Enjoy the video, be hungry, and check out the highlights for today:JoystiqueryReaders pick best webcomic and hate Mario PartyToday`s hottest game video: Command ` Conquer 3Joystiq Podcast 001 - The DreamcastNewsPing Pong with Penny Arcade, to the pain!Blue Dragon paraphernalia arrives in JapanWii-chargeable battery packs (almost) ready for releaseXbox 360 sporting new `super-quiet` internal DVD drivesTransGaming and Nvidia team up for high-end games on the MacSega: Virtua Tennis 3 brings its 1080p game to the Xbox 360EA bullish on future PS3 performancePSP mod inexplicably adds a cooling fanBubble Bobble Revolution recalledRockstar reveals Manhunt 2 for the PS2, PSP, and ... WiiUniversity of Rochester: Action games improve visionNews Alert: Syrian prez doesn`t play video gamesCrysis will run on ye olde gaming rigSony to market PS3 at English National OperaMicrosoft to reward Xbox Live achievers with freebiesCasual games consuming `me time`Oblivion, Okami top GDC Awards NominationsTekken in PS3 Store this monthMicrosoft to soon decide fate of Space Giraffe, alpha build shipping outWii email informs consumers of strap replacementRumors ` SpeculationRumor: Killzone 2 demo before Halo 3 betaBlizzard: consoles soon obsolete, becoming one with PCsCultureTilt modded Xbox 360 controller now wirelessMetal Gear Solid 4 Snake figureBen Heck explains how to make Wii laptopThe death of the game mascotPermalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, PC, Action, Adventure, RPGs, Video, MMO Finally, some hard video evidence that druids are a bit too overpowered in World of Warcraft. You can`t really argue after seeing this video. Could your poor warlock, paladin, or shaman stand up to this? We highly doubt it. Hopefully Blizzard will heed the call and scale back on the druids just a tad, because while some of the other classes are pretty powerful, this one goes to 11.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360Now that the PS3, Wii, and 360 have all launched, the gents at Gaming Nexus have put together a set of standards for console manufacturers to abide by next time they decide to launch new platforms. Commandments if you will. And wouldn`t you know it, there`s 10 of `em; 10 things we as consumers don`t want to see happen again. For example: thou shall have more than 100k units at launch, thou shall make accessories readily available, and thou shall only launch with one SKU. Read on for the full list peppered with old school ecclesiastical prose. Thou shall entertain.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person ShootersThe Onion (yes, the parody newswire) tells the story of one frugal Gears of War enthusiast named Ronald Franks. You see, Franks likes Gears, but not enough to spend $60 on it. We`re not even sure he actually owns a 360; maybe just a memory card."Ronald Franks could be as little as two Best Buy visits away from completing the Xbox 360 video game Gears of War, Franks said Tuesday. `I told [wife] Susan not to expect me for dinner tonight, because right now I`m at the Train Wreck and I`m about to take on a Berserker,` said Franks, 35, who has been playing the game daily for nearly three weeks [at the store] and brings his own memory card from home. `I`m thinking I can get through that pretty quickly because I`ll use my sniper rifle.`"The economical Franks also won`t budge for a $20 strategy guide. Rather, he takes a legal pad to Barnes ` Noble for a copy fest of the official strategy guide. That`s one way to do it.[via Amazon]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Business, FashionLess than a month after energetic Troy Hurtubise set out to attract a corporate buyer for his Halo-inspired "Trojan" suit, the man known for inventing the `bear suit` is broke and turning to eBay. Hurtubise`s full-body exoskeleton ballistic armor will apparently be sold to the highest bidder (currently $10,000) when the online auction closes February 15. Hurtubise allegedly spent $15,000 (all of his family`s savings) and roughly 1,750 hours creating his most ambitious project to date.The Trojan suit boasts such splendid pageantry as an ophthalmologist-approved helmet-mounted laser sight, wrist-mounted canister of ultra-mace (capable of downing 40 machete-clad "insurgents"), and crouch-mounted world clock. All this and more documented in the video below...Continue reading Real-life Halo suit up for sale on eBayRead | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Mac, PC, MMOI played Pirates of the Caribbean Online at a media gathering last week; this post describes the event put on to keep us journalists entertained. While Capcom has thrown its share of parties -- publishers often dangle shiny objects to draw us journalists in -- Disney Online tied its in-game sword-fighting to a real-life fencing event.Any event like this has food. (The tasty plantains paid dual tribute to the Caribbean of said online pirates and the largely Latino location of San Francisco`s Mission District.) Beyond our stomachs, Disney Online tried to impress us with various props used in the movies, hidden behind glass cases, safely away from our greasy fingers. But the real spectacle was that they thought it`d be a good idea to give us all swords and let us spastically fight each other.Okay, it was a little more controlled than that because the event was held at the Golden Gate Fencing Center. Olympic coach, Mike Pederson literally said that he didn`t want any of our eyes on the ends of our swords. (I assume they`re hard to clean off.) We all worked to live up to that goal, but our legal waiver aimed much lower.Continue reading Pirates Online event recap: Sword-fightingPermalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo GameCube, PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, SportsThe Washington City Paper this week has an interesting look at how two D.C.-area Madden players struggled to win a spot on ESPN2`s Madden Nation. The pair criss-crossed the country to win two separate regional finals and an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii, where they`ll face off against 30 other finalists for a $100,000 grand prize on national TV. Not all is wine and roses for these pro-level players, though. Maddener R.J. Warren got fired from his job at a video game store because of his obsession. Justin Chow has fallen a year behind in his studies at Radford University because of time spent with the game. What`s worse, Chow says "this Madden thing, and the ability to make money on it, that has ruined me for other games. I`d just feel like I was wasting my time." The Madden, she is a harsh mistress.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, FightingWil Wheaton (yes, that kid from Star Trek) has a touching column on the slow death of the arcade over at Suicide Girls, of all places (page is safe for work, but links to NSFW content). Wheaton lays out some interesting historical analysis on what actually caused the game center`s slow decline (endless fighting game clones might be as culpable as powerful home systems), but just as interesting are Wheaton`s carefully laid out sensory memories from the gaming rooms of his youth. More than the games themselves, the pizza-stained, Mountain Dew-infused social atmosphere of the old arcades are what give them a special place in many an old fogey gamer`s heart. These young whippersnappers don`t know what they`re missing with their online deathmatches and Xbox Live Arcade downloads and what-not. In my day, we played standing up at a wooden cabinet in a dimly lit room... and we liked it, dagnabbit!Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, PC, SimulationsGame addiction might be a hot topic at the moment, but researchers at the University of Georgia are hoping a specially designed virtual reality game can help people get over a much more prevalent addiction: smoking. Patients in the study don a ridiculous looking VR headset and are placed in simulations of situations where they might be tempted to smoke, like a party full of other smokers or a tight traffic jam. With the help of a therapist, the smoker gradually learns how to handle these situations without lighting up. Does it work? One elderly smoker interviewed for the story had failed to quit with the patch and medications, but after the VR sessions found she could "be in a room with four or five people smoking and I don`t light up." We have the opposite problem -- after years of playing Mario, it`s hard for us to be in a room full of turtles without feeling the need to jump on their backs over and over. Related: Virtual reality student project aims to cure acrophobia [Via Game|Life]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Portable, Sony PSPHey, watch where you`re going! Reuters reports that New York State senator, Carl Kruger, plans to introduce legislation this week to ban the use of all manner of handheld gadgets while crossing the street. It seems that some inhabitants of the city become so embroiled in the contents of their musical pods, their dark electronic fruits and their portable Playstations, that they fail to notice things like four-wheeled hunks of metal coming to crush them."What`s happening is when they`re tuning into their iPod or BlackBerry or cell phone or video game, they`re walking into speeding buses and moving automobiles," says Kruger. "It`s becoming a nationwide problem." Ignoring the proposed ban will not only place your fragile life in immediate danger, but also result in a decidedly unpleasant $100 fine.In the coming weeks, New York State is expected to ban glitzy neon signs, second-rate street musicians and loudly gossiping girlfriends in a continued effort to keep the streets free of deadly distractions. You`re not reading this on your smartphone, are you?[Via Gamespot UK, thanks Gabe]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, ActionShortly after delivering his convergence keynote at this year`s D.I.C.E. summit, the vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed to Gamespot that Sony`s film studio would be responsible for dragging Metal Gear Solid into the cinema. "We`re working with the Metal Gear guys," says Yair Landau. "It`s a very cinematic game, it really lends itself to movie telling. But the question is, `How do you translate Snake`s experience into a full arc that conforms to what audiences expect on the large screen?`"Lead Metal Gear guy, Hideo Kojima, announced the film at last year`s E3, though barely any details have surfaced since then. Apart from crushing the hopes of Dr. Boll, Kojima and co. have said nothing with respect to casting, directing or script. A safe assumption sees Solid Snake strangling inept soldiers and battling at least one psychopath with a penchant for babbling about the philosophical hangups of dropping nuclear bombs ... on the rainforest. The real trick will be to provide a film more entertaining than the infamous Metal Gear Awesome (embedded after the break for old time`s sake).Landau also hinted at an Everquest movie from Sony Pictures, but declined to name the supposedly esteemed producer attached to it. If it winds up being an epic tale of elven mana dealers and over-the-top dragon chases, we`ll know it was Jerry Bruckheimer.Continue reading Sony Pictures producing Metal Gear Solid movieRead | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, BusinessIn his final speech as head of the ESA, Doug Lowenstein told those attending his D.I.C.E. keynote that he was proud of the ESA and ESRB but saddened by the developer`s unwillingness to stand up for their work.Describing them as "cut and run developers," Lowenstein lamented about game makers who create controversial content and then refuse to defend it. "If you want to be controversial, that`s great," Lowenstein remarks, "but then don`t duck and cover when the shit hits the fan. Stand up and defend what you make." Lowenstein also blasted what he called a "Greek chorus" of those criticizing the ESA but not offering any suggestions or solutions.Other targets in Lowenstein`s crosshairs include those who didn`t take the time to join the Video Game Voters Network ("You go to a website, click a few keystrokes and that`s it. No one has bothered to take the time to do that, and it makes me sick.") and the gaming press for a lack of maturity and professionalism relative to the film and music industry press.Lowenstein has always been open, albeit a bit careful, with his words, so it`s certainly interesting to see him let loose before leaving the industry. He has always been effective and lobbying and has a heap of accomplishments; imagine how things might have been different, for better and worse, if this Fire and Brimstone Lowenstein had been running the ESA.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, PuzzleAmateur archaeologist Andy Darley has discovered the Receda Cube, ending the first season of alternate reality game Perplex City and earning a hefty $200,000 reward (before taxes). Darley was joined by more than 50,000 other registered players, spread throughout 92 countries, on the two-year hunt. The cube was unearthed in Wakerley Great Wood, England, about 110 miles north of London.Perplex City`s first season was "played" using a deck of cards (collectible in packs) that featured various types of puzzles, from simple trivia to optical illusions; to an answer masked with heat-sensitive ink. Solutions often pointed players to further clues posted on websites, written in books, recorded in voicemails, and held by real-world individuals. Creator Mind Candy has confirmed that plans for a second season are underway.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, BusinessWord from the Canadian newswire is that Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is preparing to announce a major "growth plan for the company" tomorrow. According to Quneacute;beeacute;cois newspaper La Presse, Guillemot will unveil plans for a new computer-animation studio in Quebec, which would initially produce "short films for the general public."Ubisoft`s new CGI studio would be made possible, in part, by an ongoing government grant that is providing the company with roughly C$454 million (approximately $383.9 million USD) over time, in order to create 1,000 new jobs in Quebec. Supposedly tomorrow`s announcement will see Canada labor minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay present Ubisoft Montreal with a portion of the grant worth C$8 million (approx. $6.8 million USD).Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, Retro So long as video games exist, let there be nostalgia-inducing remixes of the Super Mario Bros theme; preferably good ones like the above. Listen in as Greg Patillo covers the venerable classic in beatbox flutist form. Just don`t forget to breathe.[Thanks to Jack for unearthing this one.]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Filed under: Culture, PC, Retro, Action, Adventure, RPGs, Video, MMO World of Warcraft meets Super Mario Bros. in a big way in this video. Frankly, we`re surprised it`s taken someone this long to do this. But here it is in the flesh, and it ain`t looking too bad! The editing is top notch, and that underwater level is done really well. People with mad skillz like this will one day take over the world, and we`ll be bowing down to these video editing overlords. Mark our words.Given that the video comes to us from The Last Boss, it`s a bit ironic that the only weak moment is the boss fight at the end of the lava level. Did he just use really bad breath on him FTW?[Thanks, Tom]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/