A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience
League of Legends World Championship match.
At South Korea’s World Cup Stadium in October, drums thundered, pyrotechnics exploded and fans banged red and white thundersticks for a world championship title worth a cool $1 million. (Video)
Continue reading… “40,000 fans pack South Korean stadium to watch people play video games”
The end of the console ban means that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft can now legally sell their systems in the country.
Niko Partners, an Asian games market research firm, predicts a $13.1 billion game market for China in 2013. This is in its China Games Market Mid-Year 2013 Update Bulletin, which includes data and analysis of video game salesfor the country that has recently lifted a long-standing ban on consoles. That’s a 28 percent growth for online PC games compared to 2012 and a 60 percent increase for mobile games revenue.
Urine-controlled video games.
There is a new hands-free gaming technology, according to Reuters’ Joe McDonald: “Play doesn’t need to stop for sports fans taking a bathroom break at a Pennsylvania minor-league baseball stadium that has installed video games in men’s room urinals.”
Continue reading… “Pennsylvania stadium installs urinal video games”
Thatgamecompany’s PlayStation 3 exclusive game, Journey.
Video games are the most interactive form of entertainment we have but they have been slow to achieve the kind of experiential status that is often associated with art, music, literature, and film. Last year there were many titles released that challenged this notion. Among them was Thatgamecompany’s PlayStation3 exclusive, Journey, which has received heaps of praise and made many video game enthusiasts’ Game-of-the-Year lists.
Continue reading… “Video games should be consider an ‘experience, not just a product”
Violent video game play has a long-term effect on brain functioning.
There could be something to that link between violent video games and aggression. Researchers have bantered back and forth for years with findings that support and then debunk such a link. But Indiana University School of Medicine researchers in Indianapolis found signs via functional magnetic resonance imaging that the brain is affected by violent games.
Continue reading… “Violent video games alter brain function”
Pee n Play.
This urinal video game allows you to control a slalom skier via *ahem* your stream, as you try to reach the finish line before you’re finished emptying your bladder. And while this might sound like fun after lifting a few pints, I can’t imagine it’s going to last long in the typical men’s bathroom, what with all the graffiti artists and *ahem* wetness everywhere…
Continue reading… “Urinal video games are a ridiculous reality”
Can heavy gaming be considered an addiction?
Some children’s brains could be hard-wired to spend hours playing video games, according to a study which reignites the debate over whether the habit should be considered an addiction. Researchers found that children who spent an excessive amount of time playing the games had an enlarged area of the brain which is the main hub of the reward system.
Art is an integral part of video games. But the debate continues whether video games are a work of art.
Continue reading… “Growing demand for artists in the video game industry”
Are your kids turning into a fountain of four-letter words? Blame it on TV.
A new study has found a link between foul-mouthed inner-city children and profanity-ridden shows and video games.
Continue reading… “Profanity on TV and video games linked to foul-mouthed kids”
Rather than violent crime rates soaring when new violent video games are released, they actually drop as gamers are too busy at home playing the games.
Video games such as Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto – where gamers rack up points or cash for killing or savagely attacking victims – are routinely blamed for a rise in violent crime. But experts claim violent video games may actually reduce crime as aggressive players are “too busy” shooting virtual enemies to cause trouble in the real world.
Model of a protein as seen in Foldit
In an experiment called CASP9, scientists were struggling to map the structure of M-PMV, a protein involved in a virus that causes a form of simian Aids. In that experiment and others, the search had been going on for more than a decade. But the solution was not found by a laboratory but the players of an online puzzle game.
Total video game sales fell 20% from $855.3 million in July 2010 to $687 million last month.
Video game sales have been dropping monthly. But, between June 2010 and June 2011 the drop in video game sales has been really big.
Continue reading… “Video game sales drops 20% in July”
