In Education, Does Gameplay or Narrative Matter Most?
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Video Games and the Psychology of Divinity
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What Are You Playing This Weekend?
By James Hawkins
in Game Talk/Community
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Thank god, we made it. We made it, folks. It is Friday. The finest day of any week. I swear, if I have to look at a grey cubicle wall for another minute without hope for the weekend, I'm going to fling myself into a river and let it take me away. Then I'll go live under a bridge somewhere and become a hermit troll-man who eats children and poops into a ravine.
Again, we made it, so that isn't going to happen (yet. Remember, the week starts over again in a few short hours). And I have a ton of video games to play this weekend. Well -- actually -- not a ton of individual video games. I have to beat three games in a very small time frame because I want you people to know what I think of them in an official Joystick Division review. And its not like I can do one game bam review, one game bam review, one game bam review. I was given the Jak & Daxter HD Collection as a collection. And I will appraise it as such. So far my verdict? It works in my PlayStation 3, so that's a start.
I'll keep you posted. Now post about what you're going to be enjoying over the weekend. Okay? I want to know.
Tags: what are you playing?
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Sometimes I Just Want to Punch Stuff
By Ryan Winslett
in Infinite Ammo
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 11:00 am
I'm all for video games as art and elevating the medium, but I think we sometimes forget that the word "game" is right there in the title. I've been playing a lot of fighting games lately and, just the other night, as my eyes glazed over and my thumbs instinctively beat out the right patterns to put together my best combos, it occurred to me that I was using video games for something I hadn't done in quite a while: I was having some good old fashioned, mindless fun.
Now, don't get me wrong. The majority of the time I prefer for my video games to be the total package. I want the great gameplay, an engrossing story, believable characters and a sweeping soundtrack all rolled into one. And I'm happy that the industry is moving in a direction that accommodates those tastes.
But is it really so wrong to want to aimlessly bash hordes of baddies from time to time? Or maybe shoot dudes in the face without some hackneyed military conspiracy yarn weaving through the background while a meticulously crafted orchestral score punctuates all of the big set pieces?
Of course it isn't. That was a rhetorical question. But I feel like, somewhere along the line, I
(along with many others) forgot how to let myself just unplug and enjoy the ride.
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Tags: fighting games, Infinite Ammo, mindless fun, Rival Schools
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In Education, Does Gameplay or Narrative Matter Most?
By Rich Shivener
in Unraveling Yarns
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 1:00 pm
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| We jump between gameplay and narrative. |
In my experiences, as well as those I've read and heard about, video games can be effective learning tools, active approaches to a certain idea, skill, etc.. But why are they effective? Do students connect more with the narrative or gameplay? But much as I enjoy waxing on about narratives in video games, I'm
beginning to question their power in education settings.
Indulge me for a few minutes as I meditate on those questions, drawing on some classroom experiences.
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Tags: Assassin's Creed II, Metal Gear Solid, Narrative, Unraveling Yarns
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The Achievement Hunter Case #1: Avatar: The Burning Earth
By Jackson Maringa
in The Achievement Hunter
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 10:00 am
Hi everyone, I'm the new guy! In between getting wedgies and having my lunch stolen by the other guys, I play games - a lot of them. Hey, don't walk away, I'm serious! Most of my time is dedicated to the Xbox 360 and I'll be the first one to admit that I'm a shameless, pathetic achievement whore.
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Tags: achievements, avatar, captain america, gamerscore, hannah montana, tmnt, xbox 360
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Win The Darkness II!
By Jeremy M. Zoss
in Contest
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Now that you've seen our review of The Darkness II and had a chance to win a copy of the original game, it's time to give away copies of the game itself! We've got one PC, 360 and PS3 copy of The Darkness II, and some of you good folks are gonna win them! As always, head below for details.
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Tags: 2K, Contest, The Darkness II
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Jak & Daxter HD Launch Trailer Makes Me Happy
By James Hawkins
in Gaming News
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Today, a package arrived for me. The familiar bubble-lined manila envelope with the scrawly letters splayed across the front sat at my front door. "From: Joystick Division HQ. To: James Hawkins." I opened it, not really sure what I would find.
I found a review copy of the Jak & Daxter HD collection nicely shrink-wrapped up, with the small folio of information from the publishers. And I got really excited because I, the lowly James Hawkins, am the one who is going to review it. It has been so very long since I handled a review, and this iconic trilogy is perfect for me to re-cut my teeth on.
Anyway, I'm happy because I saw this launch trailer, and it made me realize what a monstrous task I have ahead of me. So, look for it in the coming week (hopefully). And enjoy the show up top here, with its HD graphics and all that. The game is out now, and I know we're all excited to see if this HD-update is worth the buzz, or if it is another waste of effort.
Tags: HD collections, Jak & Daxter, launch trailers
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Fall Of The Space Core, Vol. 1 Hits Skyrim
By James Hawkins
in Gaming News
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 10:00 am
The good folks at Valve are being collaborative badasses again, and they are incorporating Bethesda into the fun. (I say again because they've done this with other folks, like Supergiant and their rocker,
Bastion).
Basically, to celebrate the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's Content Creation Kit on Steam, the team behind Portal 2 has teamed up with Bethesda to deploy an official mod in Skyrim. You'll be able to enjoy a wee Space Core in your fantasy world with a download. Which you can get here. Obviously, it must be on PC, and you gotta do it on Steam.
This is Volume 1, which leads us to believe there will be more. See the YouTube video above to catch what is in store.
Tags: Bastion, Bethesda Softworks, Mod, Portal 2, Skyrim, Steam, Valve Software
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Video Games and the Psychology of Divinity
By Aaron Matteson
in Dangerous Physical Appliances 2000, Humor
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 3:00 pm
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| Video games: gateway into the mind... of GOD?? |
Where cheat codes and theology intersect, God Mode exists. God Mode is the king of all cheat codes. It is to Infinite Ammo or Big Head Mode cheats what Zeus is to dumb gods nobody knows about, like Aeolus or Nike. That's right, "Nike" was a god. A goddess, to be exact. Her dad was a titan and her mom was a river. Ringing a bell? No? That's because the shoe company named after her has completely eclipsed her in fame to the point that if you walk up to a classics professor and start talking about Nike, he will assume you want to talk about arch support. Case in point. Zeus reigns supreme. And God Mode, his cheat code equivalent, puts you, mortal, in his place.
But even without engaging any cheat codes, video games are largely about simulating godlike agency. One of the most appealing things about gaming is that, usually, one assumes the role of a character with amazing abilities or resources at his or her command, or at least a character in extraordinary circumstances. It gives one a sense of transcending the constraints of daily life. A sense, perhaps, of becoming a kind of god.
But being a supreme being isn't just being invulnerable to bullets and being able to slap bosses to death. Divinity comes with a host of privileges, surprises and even responsibilities that those of us who are used to regular human life might not be able to handle gracefully.
And it's this part that I'm interested in. What happens to a human elevated to god status on an emotional level? What's it like to have more power than you ever imagined? What do we learn about godhood by reigning over even a small, fictional universe like a video game world?
WARNING: SACRILEGE AHEAD
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Tags: God, Religion, Skyrim
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The Darkness II Unleashed Madness - Review
By Jeremy M. Zoss
in Reviews
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm
As the next game after the sleeper hit The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, big things were expected of Starbreeze's The Darkness. Based on the Top Cow comic book, The Darkness was generally well-received, but didn't quite live up to the promise of Riddick, or the comic's perfect video game premise (a mobster with supernatural powers while in the dark). But the game did well enough for a sequel, which arrives today courtesy of developer Digital Extremes. Did the years and the switch in development teams do the trick and establish The Darkness as the next great video game franchise? Find out below.
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Tags: 2K, Review, The Darkness II
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The Simpsons Arcade Game Dishes Nostalgia - Review
By Jeremy M. Zoss
in Reviews
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:00 am
Let's face it: The Simpsons Arcade Game is, by today's standards, not very good. But it's hardly fair to judge it against modern games, and no one wants this game because they expect it to stack up to today's fare. We want this game because we remember playing it back in the days of actual arcades, back when The Simpsons was a young, roughly drawn phenomenon. We've long wanted The Simpsons Arcade Game to return because of pure nostalgia.
I generally have little use for nostalgia (desecrate my childhood favorite cartoons with souless big-budget Hollywood movies, I genuinely do not care), but The Simpsons Arcade Game definitely pulled me back to days gone by.
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Tags: Konami, PSN, The Simpsons, XBLA
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