This week Chella tackles a few games that attempt to make a statement, or to comment on recent events. This begs the question, are games growing up to where they can express views and change minds? And are gamers ready for that if they are?
Child of Light is one of the most beautiful adventures ever made, to the point that comparing it to a living poem would not be much of a stretch. It’s also a solid RPG, so dig in!
Last week Chella celebrated the best game box art of 2013. This week, she tosses some tinder into the fire and gets ready to burn the horrible, the mundane and those boxes that utterly fail artistically.
“Urban legend CONFIRMED,” was the tweet from Xbox creator, Larry Hryb, who was present as a 30 year-old job lot of Atari game cartridges were unearthed in the New Mexico desert. Known as the game that killed Atari, “E.T.” was a massive flop. The game was rushed out in just a few weeks to accompany Stephen Spielberg’s mega-hit movie, back in 1982 and now it’s part of a documentary about Atari – one of the biggest games company of the early 1980s. The story goes that Atari buried truck loads of unsold E.T. game cartridges in the desert. The development and marketing disaster is said … Continue reading Atari’s “E.T.” Graveyard Found for ‘The Worst Game Ever Made’
Chella takes a look at all the amazing game art of the past year. Not what’s inside the game, but on the cover of the box. A sometimes overlooked area, there are some real winners, suitable for framing.
An armed SWAT team, police helicopters and dogs surrounded the Long Island home of a Call of Duty (CoD) player, Rafael Castillo. A hoax call to the emergency services claimed Castillo had just killed his mother and could go on a rampage According to The New York Post, Castillo was inside his house with headphones on, still playing the game and unaware that a fully armed team of police had surrounded his home. The emergency call was a prank call from a disgruntled gamer, who had just been defeated by Castillo and wanted revenge. Apparently, it’s part of a growing trend … Continue reading SWAT Team Surround House After CoD Hoax Call
Violence, drugs and the promotion of cults are just a few of the long list of things China has banned, when it comes to console games. Games in Asia has revealed the contents of a new document, published by the Shanghai Government, which outlines the rules governing console games. The rules follow news that the ban on foreign games machines may be lifted, allowing the likes of PS4 and Xbox One to retail in China. Banned content includes the following: Gambling-related content or game features Anything that violates China’s constitution Anything that threatens China’s national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity. Anything that harms … Continue reading China Unveils Censorship Rules for Console Games
This week Chella examines one of those violence in video games studies we all know so well. Only this time, researchers actually found out that it was the poor controls, not the violent content, that got gamers so frustrated.
Chella and the GiN crew jumped into the recent advanced beta for The Elder Scrolls Online, finding a fun but still flawed world that nonetheless is shaping up to be a powerhouse game.
Chella examines the 2013 Game of the Year awards, agreeing with most of the choices readers made this year, and only scratching her head on a few items.
