The Female Gamer

What are you looking for?

2012-02-05T11:41:00.002-04:00

This year is looking like an awesome game year. I have a new poll up that needs some votes. The list includes:

Diablo 3
The long awaited sequel to Diablo 2 is finally being released, but not before tons of beta testing.

The Last of Us
This game looks amazing! The trailer shows in game graphics which rival most cinematic cut scenes in games. Another take on a ravished post apocalyptic society but with graphics like those seen in the trailer this could be a buy at launch date title.

Bioshock Infinite
The next Bioshock game, as you can see in the video, like The Last of Us looks graphically amazing. Taking a whole new approach to the series by no longer being in the deep dark murkiness of the ocean but outside in the bright open floating city.

Resident Evil 6
You can hold your gun and walk too, maybe! Enough said. This game follows the two great male characters from previous Resident Evil games, Leon and Chris, through a split story that takes our heroes to China and Washington.

Cactus time!!

2012-02-05T11:36:00.001-04:00

Awesome submission by my awesome chicofriend :)))

When it goes live everyone should vote on it so it can get printed :)))

Purse v. Game

2010-11-02T00:55:00.008-04:00

The other day I was posed with an odd situation.

A friend had explained to me that he was interested in buying a "sports" type game that is new. The new price of this game is roughly $60 but being like the rest of us he too is burdened by the ewwwy economy and said that a reasonable price for the game was $40. Now my automatic dislike for sports games and the little to nothing new that they offer with sequels I began a sort of rant that even $40 was not a low enough price for the game. So eventually we ended the discussion agreeing to disagree and the night concluded.

The very next day I encountered a purse, yes a girly object of little necessity versus great want, that I felt compelled to have. Now, I rationalized that it was not acceptable to spend full price on the purse but it was on sale for $44, only slightly more than what my friend was willing to pay for the game he wanted.

How could I rationalize it was alright for me to spend just about the same amount for something that serves very little difference from what I already have and not find that same rationalization for this game my friend wanted? Am I too girly and not hardcore enough to be called a gamer?

This brings me to the point of this little tale, want versus need, gaming versus being girly. As a female gamer I work on keeping a happy balance with my hobby and my femininity, but is that actually possible? Am I as hardcore as the boys or do I lack that intensity because I find just as much enjoyment from the girly things?

Let me know your opinions in the comment section. : )

Test your NES knowledge

2010-09-29T22:40:00.005-04:00

As I was stumbling this evening I came across a fun Nintendo quiz. As I'm working on a NES play through this quiz fits right in.

So I'm a noob at this NES quiz, but how well do you think you know your Nintendo games? Take the quiz and post the results in the comments. Good luck!

NES Quiz
Click on the link to test your Nintendo game skills.

Oooops for A

2010-09-29T18:13:00.004-04:00

So I stand corrected on my ABC play through set. I actually do have a game that starts with the letter A and it is, drum roll please, Al Uncer Jr.'s Turbo Racing.

Turbo Racing is similar to other Nintendo racing games, especially similar to Rad Racer with some subtle differences. Some added game elements are: car upgrades, pit stops and three game play styles.

Here is my sample of Al Uncer Jr.'s Turbo Racing

Next is Beetlejuice based off the feature film and animated series. You play as the ghoul with most Beetlejuice who is trying to scare away the Deetz family. It's a side-scrolling game for the most part, with some overhead game play scattered throughout the game. Exploring through the Maitland house you get scare upgrades to assist with the many enemies and bosses.

Here is my attempt at Beetlejuice

Going Back to the Future

2010-09-25T09:34:00.003-04:00

Going back in time to when I learned the alphabet with a play through set of all my Nintendo games from A ,or in this case, B through Z.

First on the list is Back to the Future 2 and 3. Developed by Beam Software the game is a combo of sorts squishing the the last two movies in the series into one not so good game. A single player game for the NES that didn't offer a save feature, a map function and is lengthy, is talked about as being one of the worst games ever.

I have had this game since childhood and I have never gotten past the first stage and never experienced the part 3 section of the game. It is kind of sad that Back to the Future 2 and 3 was so horrible because the first game in the series, while hard, is beatable and fun.

Here is my most recent attempt:

No Nintendo Game

2010-09-21T23:48:00.003-04:00

A particular line from rapper Eminem's new single, "Love the way you lie," caught my gamer ear.

The line in question is, "You don't get another chance, Life is no Nintendo game." While yes you only get one life, or in gamer lingo one man, life kind of is like a Nintendo game.

A bit about Nintendo games:

They are expensive and they rarely get cheaper
They are all about being fun
They are some of the hardest (frustrating) games ever
They strive to be unique and memorable

A bit about Life:

From birth to death, experiencing life is expensive
Journeying through life is a fun adventure
No matter what path you take life is hard
Life is the most unique thing their is and each life has its memorable moments for everyone that crosses your path.

That's just a few of the obvious comparisons for the few that may have thought the same thing when they hear this song.

Enjoy the musica of Eminem and Rihanna

Racing the rad way

2010-07-13T09:57:00.002-04:00

Designed by Square in 1987, Rad Racer does everything to try and live up to its name, even trying to incorporate 3-D way before it blew up in popularity.

At the car selection screen, the player can pick one of two cars: a Ferrari 328 or an F1 racing machine, both drive exactly the same though, just personal preference on what you want to drive. Once you pick your car the racing begins. There are eight courses in the game that get progressively harder and all have the option to be played in 3-D.

Programmed by Nasir Gebelli, designed and supervised by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and music by Nobuo Uematsu, these three who contributed similar roles to the final fantasy series, surprisingly are responsible for making Rad Racer an enjoyable game for the NES.

Now here is my non successful attempt at Rad Racer.

Scott Piligrim is the next Kick-Ass?

2010-06-03T23:08:00.003-04:00

Well not literally but the next big comic to movie adaptation, is Scott Pilgrim vs The World and it looks eerily as awesome as Kick-Ass did, just from the trailer.

Check it and see if you agree.

Based off the comic series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The series and the movie are about 23-year-old Canadian Scott Pilgrim, who plays bass guitar in a band called "Sex Bob-Omb." He is an uber slacker who falls head over heals for an American delivery girl Ramona V. Flowers, but before he can date her he must defeat her seven "evil exes."

Is this the next awesome summer film? You can find out when it hits theaters summer 2010.

The Kick Ass summer movie

2010-06-03T22:24:00.005-04:00

Average high school boy becomes real life superhero, minus the super powers, in the super awesome Kick-Ass movie.

Kick-Ass hits all the bases: comedy, action and even romance, in this comic to movie adaptation. Based off of the comic series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita Jr. It was published under Marvel comics' Icon Imprint in February 2008.

The movie is pretty spot on to the original graphic novel. All the characters are are there. For the good guys you have: Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy. For the villains you have: Red Mist and mob boss John Genovese and his henchmen.

In the movie Hit-Girl steals the show. From her action packed scenes to her equally intense script she alone should makesthe movie worth seeing and owning. But her acting plus the flawless cinematography and the perfectly balanced soundtrack make this the summer to beat this year.

As Kick-Ass says,"With no power, comes no responsibility. Except, *that* wasn't true." Now enjoy the trailer.

Explore the Tales of Mr. McDuck

2010-04-24T09:12:00.002-04:00

Going old school with a review of Duck Tales 2 for the NES.

Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey and Louie are back and on the hunt for lost treasures. Travel to five famous destinations: Niagara Falls, Bermuda Triangle, Mu, Egypt and Scotland. Each level offers bountiful treasures, a treasure map piece and a boss to boot. You can find all seven map pieces but it is not necessary to complete the game, but with them you unlock a secret level and more treasure.

Some changes were made with this sequel. The pogo jump now only requires you to press the B button alone and now there is an inventory that can be stocked with health items and safes that save your money, if you were to fail in your quest to be the richest duck in the world.

Enjoy my play through !!

Calling all dungeon crawlers and treasure hunters!!

2010-04-18T09:49:00.000-04:00

The mining town of Torchlight needs your help! Traverse the 50 dungeon floors in search of loot, adventure and to secure the safety of the town from the evil bubbling up from beneath it.

While mining the townspeople stumbled upon a type of ore that is the richest and most pure element ever found known as ember. Ember is the essence of magic and a key component in alchemy but it is also a source of much evil. It is on you, the chosen champion, to help rid the town of all the evil crawling out from the dank underbelly of Torchlight.

KEY FEATURES

Randomization – level layouts are randomly created, so each adventure is unique. Monsters, treasures, puzzles, and items are also different each time you embark on an adventure.
Easy, approachable interface – The intuitive interface gives players easy access to a rich and varied world.
Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks to new characters.
Pets – Players will choose a pet to accompany them. Pets can level up along with the player, and will help in battle, carry items, and perform a variety of helpful services.
Character Classes – Players will create and customize a character and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character will be custom-tailored and different.
Fishing – Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to visit one of the fishing holes and relax and see what they can catch. Fish have interesting benefits for the player and pet, and other rewards can also be discovered
Editor – Runic Games is embracing the modding community by providing an editor so our players can create and design their own content.

Three things really make this game worth purchasing:

1. It's similarity to Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, Titan Quest and Fate. It's like if these three games were to have mated and then had a spawn, Torchlight would be said spawn. From the music, to the skill tree design, to the randomized level design and even to the story the similarities are too there to be missed. This is all due in part to the developers of the game. Development of the game is led by Travis Baldree, designer of Fate and Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, co-designers of Diablo and Diablo II, joined by the team that developed Mythos. While similar, Torchlight still holds its own with its unique pet design, limitless modding and seemingly endless in and out of game extras, including achievements.

Torchlight Town Music

Diablo 2 Tristram Town Music

2. The what's next factor for the game. Right now Torchlight is a single player RPG that is exclusively for the PC but by 2011, there will be an MMORPG version of the game, that is still set in the town of Torchlight, and a version for the Xbox 360. "We're going to put some serious effort into it, pretty quick, getting Torchlight onto consoles," Runic CEO Max Schaefer confessed on The Rumble Pack on March 12, 2010.

3. Price! As has become the trend for most of my posts and most gamers price is a leading factor in purchasing a game. Retail Torchlight goes for $19.99 but you can find it on direct download sites like Steam, Direct2Drive.com, or gamestop.com for as low as $9.99 and on sale for $4.99 .

Boy put that game down!

2010-04-11T21:32:00.000-04:00

So while going around the news sites today I came across an article that basically touted that video games are a possible but indirect cause for the decline in males receiving degrees. While this seems odd for me to post something about males and gaming, this does relate to females and gaming too. A "study" was conducted and the conclusion was that males become addicted to games and thus fall behind in their studies. (Click on the link to read the full article)

"Robert Weis and Brittany C Cerankosky of Denison University measured a group of boys' academic baseline achievement and surveyed their parents and teachers as well. They then gave half the boys video-game units. Boys receiving the video-game stations experienced an academic nosedive. The control group of boys without video games continued with solid schoolwork. This established the cause-and-effect relationship." Taken from University World News.

My question for this article and my linking it to females, is why in this case study did they not perform the same trial on a group of females? It seems biased to say that females do not become as addicted to video games when you don't conduct the test or study on a group of girls to come to said conclusion.

More and more woman are emerging in this market and articles like this, while yes it promotes that woman are doing well in school and apparently don't have video games to blame, it also seems to be denying women gamers too. With out a fair and equal case study that had a group of girls that were giving video games and girls that were not it is biased to say that only boys become addicted to games and then begin to fail in their studies.

While I do pat myself on the back for being one of those females that was able to attain a degree, I did it with a huge video game addiction. I know that I am only one female but I also know that there are many more just like me that have done the same.

Defend that Grid

2010-04-08T13:37:00.000-04:00

Defense Grid: The Awakening is a similar yet different tower defense game. Swarms of robotic aliens are out to steal your orbs of power and you must defend your grid with varying towers.

The world of Defense Grid is brought to life by a well composed soundtrack, engaging environments and beautifully rendered graphics. There are multiple ways to construct your defense and that leads to a high replayability. Another perk of the game is its diverse enemy selection including 15 different types of alien hordes. With 20 unique levels, a multitude of tower upgrades and budget price tag of $9.99 Defense Grid is worth the try.

Game trailer ahoy !!

And me beating the game !!

Pew Pew !!

2010-04-06T21:43:00.000-04:00

So you say you want shooting plants and zombies in your game? Done! With Plants vs Zombies.

A game that is simple, cheap and fun to the point of being addictive, Plants vs Zombies is a great game for any one, gamer or not.

One day you get a letter from these zombies that just want to have fun, oh and eat your brains. You have to put up a defense in your back yard with zombie-zapping plants, including: peashooters, wall-nuts, flaming chili peppers and more to fend off the 26 different brain munching zombies. So think fast and plant even faster or else your brain is num nums for these persistent zombie foes.

Play five game modes: Adventure, Mini-Games, Puzzle, Survival, plus the stress-free Zen Garden
Conquer all 50 levels of Adventure mode -- through day, night and fog, in a swimming pool and on the rooftop
Battle 26 types of zombies including pole-vaulters, snorkelers and “Zomboni” drivers
Earn 49 powerful perennials and collect coins to buy a pet snail, power-ups and more!

Created buy PopCap Games, the creators of Zuma, Bejeweled and Peggle to name a few, aims to make games that appeal to everyone.

With a motto for making games that, "... are easy to learn, tough to master... and utterly addictive!" as said on PopCap's website. (Click on the link to be redirected to PopCap's website to learn about them) The best part about a majority of PopCap games is the fact that they are free or really cheap. Plants vs Zombies is priced at $9.99 but you can catch it on sale for only $4.99 and it's available every where. You can buy it for your cell phone, on the PC and on your consoles.

Enjoy the trailer!!

So much killing on that floor!

2010-03-20T21:46:00.000-04:00

A unique first person shooter for the PC, Killing Floor holds its ground against other more popular FPSs. (click on the link to read the review for Killing Floor on Gamespot's website)

Killing Floor is a survival horror game that offers:

Co-op and single player options: Survive hordes of mutated experiments gone wrong with up to 6 teammates.
Seven character perks including: Field Medic, Support Specialist, Sharpshooter, Commando, Berserker, Firebug and Demolitions experts.
Twenty five weapon choices: Knife, 9mm Pistol, Machete, Axe, Katana, Chainsaw, Handcannon, Dual 9mms, Dual Handcannons, Shotgun, Bullpup, AK47, Lever Action Rifle, Crossbow, L.A.W, Hunting Shotgun, Flame Thrower, M14 EBR, AA12, SCARMK17, MP7M Medic Gun, M32 Grenade Launcher, M79 Grenade Launcher, Pipe bomb and Grenades.

Each time you complete a wave, which entails you killing all the mutants, the next wave is harder and has more mutants than the last. This aspect can make the game very addicting, and with it's unique character perks, grossed out mutants and cheap price tag of $19.99, Killing Floor is worth the buy.

Watch for yourself in the game trailer:

Deadly Premonition, what is this game about...????

2010-03-10T13:03:00.000-04:00

After the holiday season my game inventory is huge. On my steam account alone I now have 67 games. (click on the link to learn more about steam) I also now own an Xbox 360, with nine games for that. So my gaming options at the moment really feel limitless and I think the only way that I will ever really try out all of these games is if I have some kind of purpose for playing them. So in the next few weeks keep checking in because there is some hardcore reviewing that will be taking place, starting with Deadly Premonition for the Xbox 360.

Deadly Premonition was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 on Feb. 17, 2010 and is priced at $19.99, which is great for the gamer on a budget. It is a survival horror video game or at least that's what wikipedia and game sites will tell you.

In all actuality it's more of a free-for-all run around puzzle game.

You play as Special Agent Francis York Morgan, you can just call him York everyone else does (insider joke). York has a bit of a split personality and his alter ego is simply known as Zach.

York is an FBI agent sent to Greenvale, a small creepy town, to investigate the murder of a local woman named Anna. As you investigate and profile the townspeople you slowly come to find out that the town is plagued by what the locals call the rainy night serial killer and a fog that brings with it, what appear to be, undead Joker wannabes.

But the story really doesn't seem all that important to the game. As you progress through it you begin to notice that there are so many distractions that the creators intentionally didn't want you to follow the story. For example, during nearly all the cut scenes the background music is playing louder than the characters voices, to the point where, at times it seems like, the characters are trying to compensate for the loud music.

Yes the music is really loud, yes that is a huge table and yes it is all done on purpose!

And the game provides you with an ample amount of side quests that don't progress the story at all but merely provide you with Xbox achievements to boost your gamerscore. (Click on the link to learn more about gamerscore and Xbox live)

Deadly Premonition is entertaining, massively frustrating and flawed and at times scary. It is a unique find that will shine out in any gamers collection and if completed it is one of those games that will give a gamer, "street cred," or at least street cred in the gaming universe.

Fun and Free Online MMORPG

2009-01-09T22:22:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying out some free MMORPGs, Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games.

Last week was all about a game called La Tale, which is ultra cute, pretty to look at, has addicting anime-esk music and there are always tons of people online to play with (Click on the link to be redirected to La Tale's website).

There are 12 character types to choose from that are each very unique:
Warrior - Warriors deal great damage in close combat.
They can use two-handed swords and spears.
Warlord - Warlords are the ultimate achievement of the Strength Alteration research in Atlantis. Mechanical intensification in the alteration process maximizes a Warlord's physical power, giving them amazing attack strength but leaving them with low stamina.
Warlords are extraordinary warriors who excel at leading their party into battle with their great power and weapons.
Wizard - Wizards can use various elemental and healing magics. They are bad at close combat due to their low HP, but with the help of support magic, they overcome their weakness. Blow your enemy away with your elemental power!
Sorcerer - When a witch or wizard has reached the peak of their skills, they can take the "Ralafalucia" test. Wizards that fail this test lose their connection to magic forever, but those who pass become Sorcerers, gaining amazing new magical abilities.Sorcerers have a deep connection to magic and can tap into its most destructive and powerful skills.
Bard - This skill, developed by Sonia of the "Musician" mystical tribe, was created to channel the power of song into her spell-casting. As a Bard's music fills the air, it turns the musician's song into magical effects. Musicians can unleash amazing magical effects on the world around them by giving holy performances.
Blader - Through genetic research, Chimaera Institute has invented a variety of medicines to strengthen physical power. Despite some side effects, these medicines allow Bladers to overcome their physical limitations with a series of skills that counter any weaknesses.
Bladers are nimble and smart swordsmen with twin swords that never stop slicing until the battle has ended.
Knight - Knights are the tanks of the party. They are well-balanced in both offensive and defensive stats. They can also use shields.
Explorer - Explorers are the quick-attack class with various useful adventuring skills, whose stats are focused on luck. They can learn many support skills. Ranged weapons and daggers are their weapon of choice.If you want versatility, this is your class!
Temple Knight - Heaven smiles upon those who devote themselves to honor and bravery. These followers of Heaven's light have long been referred to as Temple Knights, and have received holy protection to help them defend their allies and their beliefs. Temple Knights use their holy blessings to defend the front lines and to reinforce allies from the back.
Treasure Hunter - The magical Memorium stones were created to pass their owners' memories and experiences on to future generations. The Treasure Hunter class was born when Explorers discovered that these stones also lead to forgotten treasures. Treasure Hunters live for adventures and specialize in trapping and finding treasure.
Guardian - These monk-like fighters have their own mystical power called Chakra which allows them to fight with extreme strength regardless of age or illness. Guardians who can master their Chakra can defeat even the strongest enemies. Guardians are knights that have followed a warrior’s path and have become a combination of the two classes.
Gunslinger - Through the combined efforts of Atlantis and Lilliput, the devastatingly explosive technology that they called gunpowder was created. Gun Slingers use gunpowder-powered pistols with their own mystical gun fighting technique known as Transcendent Concentration.
Gun Slingers fearlessly wield dual pistols, giving them explosive power.

The game is hosted by OGPlanet.com and with donations the game is made free to download and play.

With free MMOs like this one is makes me wonder, why people pay for other MMOs like WoW.

Other free MMOs that you may be interested in:

Dofus - Initially it's free to play until about level 20 would you need to purchase the full version, but montly payments are under $7.
Maple Story - Very similar to La Tale, visually speaking, this one has been around for a few years and has a pretty big following.
Trickster - This is the next free MMO that I'm trying out this week, from the looks of it, it should be fun and hey you can't beat the price of FREE for a good looking game.

Console Wars 2008

2008-12-30T11:19:00.000-04:00

Now that the holiday season is wrapping up (no pun intended), the big three in the gaming industry, (Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii) find out which has sold the most consoles in 2008.

And this year's top selling console and hand-held both go to Nintendo.

Nintendo sold over 2 million Wii consoles in the month of November. Their closest competitor was Miscrosoft which sold 836,000 Xbox 360s.

"And at over 1.5 million DS systems sold, Nintendo tripled the output of Sony's PSP 421,000," according to an article on yahoo's website (click the link to read the full article).

While those numbers represent the final year end totals, the order of most sales through out the year still is:

Nintendo - Wii
Microsoft - Xbox 360
Sony - Playstation 3

Most had predicted that this year would be Sony's comeback year but unfortunately that was not the case. But what they lacked in console sales they made up with winning games.

Both Xbox and Playstation both released many highly anticipated games, which sold millions of copies, such as; Grand Theft Auto 4, Fall Out 3, Fable 2, Little Big Planet and many more. While Nintendo's big selling games were limited to: Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit, which all sold millions of copies but don't come as close to matching sales of their competitors. And Nintendo's predicted big hit, Wii Music has recieved poor ratings and lack luster sales.

So as this year is ending, here is looking forward to 2009, and all the new games that are promised to make it an even better year than the last. (Oh and lets cross our fingers for the release of Starcraft 2 in 2009!)

Super low holiday prices

2008-12-02T11:14:00.000-04:00

Black Friday has come and gone, but that doesn't mean that you missed out on the the great sales. Most stores, like Circuit City are continually offering great deals on their consoles and games.

Circuit City Sunday Ad

Prince of Persia 59.99 each
Click for more details

Wii: Animal Crossing: City Folk 49.99
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$10 gift card** free with purchase of these hot holiday games
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Wii and DS games 2 for $40
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Call of Duty: World of War 59.99 each
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PS3: Resistance 2 59.99
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360: Gears of War 2 59.99
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Wii: Wii Music 49.99
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ACTIVISION Guitar Hero™ World Tour Guitar Bundle for Wii™, PS3™, or Xbox 360™ 047875954557 99.99 each
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ACTIVISION Guitar Hero™ World Tour Guitar Bundle for PS®2 047875954496 89.99
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EA Rock Band 2 Bundle for PS3™ or Xbox 360™ 014633191561 189.99 each
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Prince of Persia: The Fallen King for DS™ 29.99
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NDSL Animal Crossing: City Folk 34.99
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Fallout 3 save $15 34.99
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Call of Duty: World at War save $15 34.99
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Lord of the Rings Online save $15 24.99
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Gears of War save $15, 50% off 14.99
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First ever Gaming Day at your local library

2008-11-12T18:04:00.003-04:00

Libraries all around the country will be hosting the first-ever National Gaming Day on November 15, 2008. Hundreds of libraries are working with the American Library Association (ALA) to celebrate the popularity and educational value of video and board games in this event.

National Gaming Day will include:

An attempt to establish a record for the most number of people playing the board game "Pictureka!" on the same day at the library.
A national video game tournament via the web. Gamers of all ages will be able to compare their ranking on a local, regional and national level.
Libraries will offer a variety of role playing games, including Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering.

The creation of this day is being used to evaluate the potential video games have on improving word problem and literacy skills, in the hopes that in the near future video games can be implemented as learning utensils in schools.

New Obama video game... Well kind of

2008-11-12T18:04:00.002-04:00

It's being called Obamania and it is every where. From T-shirts to TV and now even a ROM game that an independent programmer made.

The game designer basically took the Mario World game, and used that to model Super Obama World. The levels are slightly different instead of gold coins there are golden American flags and a Mario character with an Obama head runs through the levels.

"The Super Obama World video game comes as another sign that the technology [world] embraced Obama just as his presidential campaign embraced technology," as explained on eFlux Media's website.

Super Obama World is fun, addicting and sure to at least make you smile.
Click on the Super Obama World link to try it for yourself.

A controversial new video game: BoneTown

2008-11-12T18:04:00.001-04:00

BoneTown is a controversial new game that will include adult themes and humor mixed with action. The game is being developed by D-Dub Software, which is an independent video game studio.

BoneTown is all about "sticking it to the man" and allows the gamer to roam the wide maps freely. There really doesn't seem to be a very important story line, the game really focuses on how many times a character can use profane language, make sexual references and use fart attacks. All in all the game doesn't appear to have much of anything going for it unless you want a quick laugh or enjoy being grossed out.

Here is the trailer for BoneTown

Gears of War 2, not your typical war game

2008-11-12T18:04:00.000-04:00

Gears of War 2 was released for only the Xbox 360 on November 7, 2008. The game is one of Xbox's holiday titles that they were banking on making a profit and that it did.

With over 2 million copies already sold around the world in the first weekend of its release, it's already surpassed the first Gears of War.

Gears of War 2 is a shooter game and is the sequel to Gears of War, one of the most popular titles for the Xbox 360. The original Gears sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, but it looks like Gears 2, could double that.

"The original Gears of War became an action genre classic thanks to its incredible graphics, cinematic presentation, and solid cover system. The sequel repeats this formula, and though it introduces new weapons, enemies, and environments, it remains an incredible yet familiar experience," as explained on GameSpot's website.

Gears of War 2 offers:

A 10 hour campaign mode
An upgraded multiplayer function that now has four new modes, that can support up to 10 players instead of eight
10 new maps for the multiplayer mode
A story that picks up right where the first game left off
A more intense difficulty that promises to add a welcome longevity to the game

Visit GameSpot's website for more details about Gears 2

Here is the trailer for Gears 2 (intense)

World of Warcraft expansion has fans lining up for a copy

2008-11-12T18:03:00.001-04:00

Fans of the World of Warcraft series lined up outside their local video game stores in hopes of purchasing the new expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King on release day.

World of Warcraft (known as WoW) is one of the most popular massively multiplayer online role playing game (known as a MMORPG).

"With more than 11 million monthly subscribers,World of Warcraft is currently the world's largest MMORPG in those terms, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG.In April 2008, World of Warcraft was estimated to hold 62%of the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) market," as explained on Wikipedia's website.

Wrath of the Lich King is only the second expansion pack for the popular series and even before playing the game the fans are ready and willing to wait hours outside in the cold to make sure they get a copy on release day.

Categories and nominees annouced for 6th annual Video Game Awards

2008-11-12T18:03:00.000-04:00

The annual Video Game Awards premiers on December 14 on Spike TV and will include:

The honoring of legendary game designer Will Wright with the Gamer God Award
Exclusive premiere footage from the industry's most highly anticipated releases
An exclusive performance by hip-hop star 50 Cent
The bringing together of megastars from the worlds of video games, Hollywood, music, sports and more to honor the achievements within the video game industry over the past year.

There are 26 categories ranging from: Game of the year, Best PC game, Best music game and so on.

"Leading the way with nine nominations, including a nod for Game of the Year, is Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV, while LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots all notched seven nominations," as explained on the Market Watch website.
(click the link to read the full article)

Count down clock
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For more information on VGA2008 visit Spike TV's website.

Xbox live has a new look

2008-10-29T11:31:00.003-04:00

Xbox live is a service provided by Microsoft that Xbox 360 owners use to get connected to the internet. Xbox live is not a free service, you have to pay for a subscription.

There are three subscriptions:

$7.99 for one month
$19.99 for three months
$49.99 for 12 months

So what's different with this "new" Xbox live?

A new interface that appeals to a more general audience
A customizable avatar, an animated graphical representation of a person.
Brighter color scheme
The ability to try out new games more easily
The ability to discover and navigate through a library of 30,000 movies, TV shows and video clips.

New Xbox live

Old Xbox live

New SAT prep game for the Nintendo DS

2008-10-29T11:31:00.001-04:00

No more SAT For Dummies books for high school kids any more, now they can just go to their local GameStop store and pick up a copy of FutureU for the Nintendo DS.

"FutureU promises to sharpen students' critical thinking skills and build relevant knowledge with a collection of interactive games focused on math, reading, and writing. There's also a section that teaches the test-taking and time management skills necessary for taking the big exam," as explained on the Cnet news website.

This is an excellent game that should appeal to parents that have children that play video games. Educational games are on the rise and it's not just the parents that are buying them.

For example there is the hit Nintendo DS game Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which is nothing more than SAT questions neatly hidden throughout the story of the mysterious village.

Gamers are diverse, they don't just play hack and slash kind of games, they too like to play something that challenges their intellect and that's what FutureU promises to offer.

Game publisher THQ partners with CoverGirl

2008-10-29T11:30:00.005-04:00

THQ a leading video game publisher, responsible for such games as Saints Row 2, Star Wars the Force Unleashed and Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, is now working with CoverGirl on a cheerleader game.

"THQ announced a collaboration with CoverGirl® for the recently released All Star Cheer Squad™ video game for Wii™, as well as the upcoming Nintendo DS™ version expected to be available next month," as explained in a press release on Oct. 29.

The agreement includes:

CoverGirl logos on the performance stages
Billboards and banners seen throughout the game
CoverGirl branded uniforms with matching makeup, found in the "Create a Cheerleader" mode
Voice overs by CoverGirl spokespeople Drew Barrymore and Rihanna

The game is a full cardio experience, meaning the gamer will be using the Wii balance board for foot movements and the nunchuck for hand movements. The end result is to make the gamer feel like they are really putting the cheers together and really participating at a cheerleading competition.

Here is a trailer for All Star Cheer Squad for the Wii

Obama ads to be featured in nine video games

2008-10-29T11:30:00.003-04:00

You see the ads in newspapers, on television and now you will be seeing the vote for Obama ads in nine games that are being released this holiday season.

"Obama is the first presidential candidate to buy space [in video games], according to Holly Rockwood, a spokeswoman for Electronic Arts, whose company is featuring the Obama ads in nine of its games," as explained on the London Free Press's website.

Candidates are known to try everything to reach every audience and some feel that this is an uninformed or hard to reach audience. Electronic Arts allowed the ad space to be bought and used for the campaign to help inform this audience.

"As a gamer this is too much, I hear it enough on the radio and on TV I don't need to be 'informed' again while playing my video game," said Daniel Beach, 22, who has been playing video games since he was four-years-old.

The ads will be featured in such popular games as Madden NFL 09 and Guitar Hero 3 and will be using this new temporary ad function that has only been in use for the past 18 months. The ads appear on billboards in a racing game or stadium banner ads in the football game and so on.

Here is a video of the actual ad in the Madden NFL 09 game.

"I think it's annoying, you don't feel like we have seen your face enough so now you buy space in our games, that's just lame," said Billy Jones, 22, who has been a gamer since he was seven-years-old.

Here is a video of MSNBC explaining the new Obama ads.

Video game addiction is blamed for missing teen

2008-10-29T11:30:00.001-04:00

Brandon Crisp, a 15-year-old Ontario teenager ran away after having an argument with his parents about his Xbox console being taken away.

The parents of the boy say he ran away because he had a "video game addiction."

What is this video game addiction? Is it real?

The addiction to video games is believed to be just like most other addictions. An addiction is, "The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma," as explained on Dictionary.com.

American Medical Association (AMA) council members believe that video game addiction involves psychological habit forming but as of right now they can not fully prove that.

"The percentage of players affected by video game overuse varies. Many researchers believe that video game addiction occurs only in a small minority of players, while others disagree... there is currently insufficient research to definitively conclude that video game overuse is an addiction," as explained on AMA's website.

This fight to get this supposed condition validated is not going to be easy or something that happens over night. The main reason for that is because, "Video game makers scoff at the notion that their products can cause a psychiatric disorder," as expressed on MSNBC's website.

In my opinion I would have to agree with the game developers. I believe that it all depends on the person and their background before playing video games. I don't believe that a video game is going to cause you to be addicted to it, the addiction is something you already have with you before even playing the game.

Guitar Hero World Tour risks high price for holiday season

2008-10-29T11:29:00.002-04:00

The holiday season is fast approaching and for game developers that means massive releases and dollar signs.

One of the most anticipated holiday titles this year is Guitar Hero World Tour. The game was released on Oct. 26 for each of the consoles and priced at $189.99, for the bundle pack. The bundle includes a guitar, a drum kit, a microphone and a copy of the game. To date it is one of the most expensive games that Activision Blizzard Inc. has ever released.
(Click on the link to learn more about Activision Blizzard Inc. on their website)

Most gamers expect a new game to not be cheap, but during this economic crisis that most consumers are facing right now, is that price too high?

ABI expects a profit from the game, predicting that it will bring in $1.4 billion in sales this year. They are anticipating the people that have played the games' predecessors, Guitar Hero 1, 2, 3 and Aerosmith, to add this new installment to their collection and the addition of the drum set and microphone is expected to attract new gamers to the title. ABI will soon find out if their prediction was in fact correct after the holiday season.

Check out the trailor for GHWT

A new kind of music game has arrived

2008-10-29T11:29:00.001-04:00

One of Nintendo's big holiday games, Wii Music, was released on Oct. 20.

Wii Music is a rhythm/music game, in which the player conducts or plays in an orchestra, using the wireless Wii remote and nunchuck adapter.

Wii Music features:

60 instruments including: the piano, the violin, the cello, the sitar, the accordion and even cat sounds.

"Each of these instruments is played by one of four simple motions. Guitars are played by holding the Nunchuk as you would the neck of a guitar and then moving the remote in a strumming motion. Wind instruments are played without the Nunchuk; just hold the top of the remote toward your mouth and press the 1 and 2 buttons to change notes. You can raise and lower the remote to increase or decrease the volume. Violins are a little more complex; you hold the Nunchuk out from your shoulder and then move the remote back and forth like a bow across strings. Drums and keyboards are played by waving the remote and Nunchuk up and down. A more complicated drum set is available if you have a Wii Fit Board as well (it acts as a pedal)," as explained on GameSpot's website.

The option to conduct the orchestra.
The ability to use your own Mii character, also called avatars, that can be created to look like you. (Click on the link to be learn more about Miis on Wikipedia's website)
Offers two types of game play: Jam mode and Minigames.

For more information on Wii Music click on the link to GameSpot's website.

Parenting.com and the Entertainment Software Rating Board collaborate to educate parents about video game

2008-10-29T11:28:00.001-04:00

As of Oct. 29 the Bonnier Corporation's Parenting Group with be working with the ESRB and producing a series of web tools and content on Parenting.com. Geared to assist parents this holiday season in picking up the right video game for their child.

Every game that is made for any console is reviewed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, more commonly known as the ESRB, and then given a rating on what age is appropriate for playing that game.

"As we head into the Holiday season, parents are keeping their ears open for gift ideas, and video games are a perennial favorite. But just like movies and TV shows, not all games are intended for kids," said ESRB president Patricia Vance in an article by News Blaze (Click on the link to read the full article on News Blaze's website).

Four things to expect on Parenting.com's updated website

A series of three articles by ESRB president Patricia Vance, the first of which, "5 Steps to Smart Video Game Choices."
An ESRB search widget will be located on the site, that searches ESRB's database of reviewed games.
A monthly list of some of the best-selling titles with their complete ESRB rating information.
A shopping channel that will have shopping guide videos, one of which will be, "The Parenting.com Video Game Cheat Sheet," to aid in helping parents pick the right age appropriate game.

New controversy involving Little Big Planet

2008-10-23T18:05:00.000-04:00

The release date for Sony's Little Big Planet (click on the link to be redirected to GameSpot for more information on LBP)has been pushed back because of the controversy surrounding a song with lyrics taken from the Qur'an, in the game.

What has a majority of the Muslim gaming community upset are two verses that are taken from the Qur'an.

"Concerns about the lyrics--contained in the track "Tapha Niang" by Grammy Award-winning African kora player Toumani Diabate (click on the link to be redirected to Wikipedia for more information on Diabate)--came to light on official PlayStation Community forums and reportedly on some Arabic gaming forums, as well," as explained in an article on cnet's website.

Little Big Planet is Sony's big game of the year, mainly because it is only being released for their Playstation 3 console. The game was officially supposed to be released on Oct. 24 2008, but now all of the games that have already been shipped to retailers are being recalled and the new game, minus the offensive lyrics, will be shipped on Oct. 27.

Here is the song that caused the recall. You be the judge.

Highly anticipated holiday game releases

2008-10-07T18:36:00.000-04:00

The holiday season is the most anticipated time of the year for gamers. Considering the games that are released right before Christmas are the last games of the season and are usually the most talked about games of the year.

Here are the top three games for this holiday season.

Left 4 Dead (PC and XBox 360) - This title is from the Valve team, the creators of Half Life 2 and Counter Strike Source, and is being released on Nov. 20. This game is being talked about because of the past two titles that Valve worked on were so well done. The game is a zombie first person shooter game that looks, graphically, amazing. (Click on the links for more information about Valve) Check out the video for some game play footage from this years E3 expo (Click on the link to learn more about E3 on Wikipedia's website).

Tales of Symphonia 2 (Nintendo Wii) "To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Tales series in North America, Namco Bandai brings us Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World on the Nintendo Wii. The game takes place just two years after the events of Tales of Symphonia, and you'll come across familiar faces and revisit this new world that Lloyd and Collette had saved," as explained on GameSpot's website. This game will be released on Nov. 11. Check out the video for the latest trailor of the game.

Chrono Trigger (Nintendo DS) - "The classic SNES game makes its way to the Nintendo DS featuring dual-screen presentation and touch-screen functionality," as explained on GameSpot's website. This game will be released on Nov. 24. Check out the teaser video for Chrono Trigger for the DS.

Major League Gaming professional gamer Xena

2008-10-07T18:24:00.000-04:00

Her game name is Xena, also known as Bonnie Burton, she is a professional gamer and was one of the people to compete in this years Major League Gaming competition in Orlando. Her game of choice is Halo which she started playing after her brother got the game and after countless hours of practice she is now a professional gamer.

Burton sat down after she competed in this years competition to give an interview on the event, how she did and what she is going to do next. While she did not take home the top prize she did make it a lot farther than most of her, male dominated, competitors.

I was able to find the interview on www.youtube.com and I hope everyone else finds it as interesting as I did.

Major League Gaming competition continues through Orlando

2008-10-07T18:07:00.000-04:00

The Major League Gaming 2008, Pro Circuit tour stopped in Orlando on July 11, 12 and 13.

"Orlando [was] the third stop on MLG's 2008 Pro Circuit tour, which feature[d] Halo 3, Gears of War, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and World of Warcraft," as explained on Major League Gaming's website.

The event offered up $93,000 in cash prizes, brought together some of the world's most talked about gamers that were working towards making it to the National Championship and invited any one that was interested in attending to stop by this free to see event.

These types of events are open for anyone, from the most casual of gamers to the most hardcore gamers and non-gamers will all be there. Some people come just for the competition but there were events just for the visitors and prize giveaways taking place that whole weekend.

"Orlando is OPEN TO EVERYONE:

-- You do NOT need to compete in Pro Circuit Ladders in order to compete in a Pro Circuit Event.
-- You do NOT need to have competed in a prior Pro Circuit Event in order to compete in a future Pro Circuit Event.
-- You do NOT need a sponsorship in order to compete in a Pro Circuit Event. -- Spectating at all Pro Circuit Competitions is free," as expressed on MLG's website. (For more details on the event check out MLG's website)

What's the deal with PC games?

2008-10-07T17:42:00.000-04:00

With all the talk centering around consoles lately, how are PC games fairing? The truth is PC games are doing just fine, if not better than consoles and their games. The down side for console gamers is that they have to wait for their next generation, more commonly referred to as next gen., consoles for upgrades in game graphics,

When it comes to gaming your personal computer is where it really begins. The most average of person can be considered a PC gamer simply by playing a game of solitaire or mine sweeper on their computer.

On the PC you will find the most hardcore of gamers that spend a majority of their life in a virtual world. For example, the game World of Warcraft has more than 10.9 million players as of this year. These people spend hundreds of dollars, real money, and countless hours, to maintain characters, accounts and items in game. These are the hardcore gamers.

"With more than 10.9 million monthly subscribers,World of Warcraft is currently the world's largest MMORPG in those terms, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG," as documented on Wikipedia's website.

So no matter how many consoles are made each year, there will always be games being constantly made for PC gamers and they never have to wait for their next gen system to be created so they can play their game.

Scare fest in your hands

2008-10-06T18:22:00.000-04:00

Silent Hill: Origins is the hand held game that I'm currently playing. This game fits the month of October perfectly, considering it is one of the scariest game series that has ever been made. (Click on the link to get additional information on GameSpot's website)

Silent Hill: Origins is a horror game that takes place in the fog filled town of Silent Hill. You play as Travis Grady, who is a truck driver with some unknown connection to the town.

The game begins with Grady driving past the town on a stormy night and out of nowhere a girl runs into the middle of the road. Grady narrowly misses the girl but sets out in search of why she was there and if she is truly unharmed. As he begins his search for answers, you gain control of the character and begin your nightmare. The game is filled with eerie music and sound effects, grotesque monsters and scenery and weird camera angles. The game has two worlds the normal present day world and the evil cursed world that is filled with unimaginable horrors.

Full Silent Hill: Origins Opening Video

Silent Hill is an on going series that began on the PlayStation on Jan. 31 1999, and has since had five additional titles released since then. The most recent release was Silent Hill: Homecoming, which was released on Sept. 30 2008. This particular game series has also under gone a game to movie adaption during the Spring of 2006, the title of the movie was simply Silent Hill (Click on the link for details on the Silent Hill series on GameSpot's website and/or the Silent Hill movie on the Internet Movie Database).

A hand held console is a game system that has a screen and controls in a console that is small enough to fit in your hands. There are only two names that people discuss in the gaming industry, when it comes to hand held consoles and they are Nintendo DS (click on the link to get additional information on Nintendo's website) and Sony PlayStation Portable (Click on the link to get additional information on PlayStation's website).

Scholarship being awarded to female gamers

2008-10-05T21:46:00.000-04:00

While I was at work the other day I had a coworker inform me that he heard about a girl gamer scholarship that I might be interested in checking out. So as soon as I got home from work I got right into researching this unbelievable scholarship.

What I found out was that yes there actually is a scholarship that is being awarded to female gamers. It is sponsored by National Computer Camps and WomenGamers.com (click on the individual links for additional information about either sponsor).

"The $925 scholarship is being offered to two girls aged 8-18, and will enable the girls to enjoy the forerunning technological experience offered by the National Computer Camp," as explained in an article on Opposable Thumbs website (click on the link to read the full article).

By creating this scholarship people involved with the video game industry hope to tap into an untapped market. They hope to interest some of the female gaming community to share with them their fresh new ideas and concepts for video games.

The Dark Knight Lego Style

2008-10-03T18:14:00.000-04:00

I was stumbling around on YouTube and I found an interesting video of a trailer for The Dark Knight. What made it different from the rest is that it was done in Lego style. So for your enjoyment here is the Lego Dark Knight trailer.

Holy Lego Blocks Batman!

2008-10-03T18:10:00.000-04:00

On Sept. 23 Lego Batman was released for all of the gaming systems.

Fortunately I was able to pre-order the game for the Nintendo Wii console and I have been playing it on a regular basis for the past four days.

My review thus far:

Pros

The controls are easy and fun to use in the game and their is a small learning curve of about 15 to 30 minutes.
The game offers up a variety of characters from the Batman universe for the player to choose from and that is always a plus.
The multi-player game play actually works very well in this game and helps to progress the story line more smoothly.
The animation and in game music/sound is very fluid for a Lego game and for a Wii game.

Cons:

The Wii controller works on batteries (mine has rechargeable ones) but the constant use of the vibrating function, the sound function and just the constant use of the controller I am finding that I have to stop the game and charge my controller a lot. It's not always that great for a game to use all of a controllers capabilities for this reason.
The muti-player game play is limited to only regular game play and is not online.
The puzzles in game are more often than not just tedious ways to lengthen the game but in an annoying and boring kind of way.

Final Verdict

If I were to score this game on a 1 to 10 system I would give it an 8, because it does what most games are supposed to do. It is fun, it allows me to play with my friends and it looks and sounds good.

For more information about Lego Batman, including photos and videos, check out the reviews on www.gamespot.com

Top three influential females in gaming

2008-10-03T17:58:00.000-04:00

Female characters have been a major part of video games since the beginning. Whether you were the brave Link, in the Legend of Zelda, looking for Princess Zelda or you were the main character Samus Aran in Metroid, females were and still play major roles in most games.

In my opinion here are three of the most influential female video game characters:

Samus Aran

Samus is an interesting character in the sense that in the game Metroid the gamer is led to believe that her character is actually a he. The gamer is shocked at the end of the game when Samus removes her helmet and reveals that he really is a she. Samus is also one of the first female lead characters ever.

Lara Croft

Lara Croft is from the Tomb Raider series. She is influential because she was one of the first female characters to be well designed so that it was obvious that you were playing a female character. Also the Lara Croft games showed that a female character could be beautiful, intelligent and just as tough as the boys.

Aerith Gainsborough

Aerith is from Final Fantasy VII. In the beginning of the game she is one of the main characters, up until she is killed by the main "bad guy" Sephiroth, an hour or so into the game. This is influential because the game's main character, Cloud, has set out to protect her from the main Sephiroth, but for the first time in gaming history a main character, Aerith, is actually permanently killed off about a quarter of the way into the game. While her character is killed, her spirit and what she was fighting for is enough to encourage the main character to continue and in the end save the world.

For a more in depth look on influential female characters you should check out Tom's Games website, which lists the top 50.

So as always thank you for checking out my blog and check back often for updates.

The Big Three

2008-10-03T17:54:00.000-04:00

In gaming there is something called the "big three". The big three refers to the three, next generation, consoles that are available today.

The big three includes :
Microsoft's Xbox 360 - released on Nov. 22, 2005

Sony's Playstation 3 - released on Nov. 11, 2006

Nintendo's Wii - released on Nov. 19, 2006

Each console offers people an extremely different gaming experience.

The Xbox 360 is more of a hardcore gamer console but it still can and does appeal to casual gamers. The hardcore gamers are attracted to the Xbox for the high profile games, like Halo 3, visit www.gamespot.com to find out more on Halo 3 and many other Xbox 360 titles. The casual gamers are attracted to the group games, or "party games" as gamers would call them, like Guitar Hero Legends of Rock or Uno, which you can play online using Xbox's, Xbox Live online feature.

The Playstation 3 is mainly considered, amongst gamers, to be solely a hardcore gamer console. Gamers expect excellent graphics, difficult but replayable games and big named titles like Metal Gear Solid 4. Playstation understands what hardcore gamers want and really does tap into that market but lacks what the Xbox and Wii have, which is good and unique party games.

The Nintendo Wii is considered by most to be a for everyone kind of console. That means that not just a hardcore gamer would use this console but it is easily adaptable for any type of gamer to just pick up and play. Also with its abundant selection of games there is bound to be something that appeals to just about everyone.

So thanks again for visiting my blog and as always check back often for updates. For my next post I will be discussing some famous video games that have female heroines.

Video game terms and history

2008-10-03T17:45:00.000-04:00

I believe that it is important to understand some terms and a bit of gaming history to fully understand my blog.

First some frequently used terminology:

Noob - Some one that is new to a game or gaming, otherwise known as a newbie.
Pwn - primarily used with online gaming crowd, it means to own or to overtake an opponent. Originating from the word "own" and is thought to have started as a typo and then just became accepted.
"Casual gamer - is a loosely defined term used to describe a type of video game player whose time or interest in playing games is limited compared with a hardcore gamer," as explained on Wikipedia's website.
"Hardcore gamer - This type of gamer prefers to take significant time and practice on games, in contrast to a casual gamer. Many hardcore gamers pride themselves on mastering the rules or use of a game, although this is not a strict requirement," as explained on Wikipedia's website.

Click on the links to get a better understanding of those terms through Wikipedia's website.

Something that most people, including gamers, don't know is that the idea of video games and consoles started back before most of our parents were even born. While searching my favorite video game website, www.gamespot.com, I myself found out that one man opened up the idea for video games and in the year 1949 too!

"In 1949, a young engineer named Ralph Baer was given an assignment to build a television set. He wasn't supposed to build just any television set, but one that would be the absolute best of all televisions. This was not a problem for Baer, but he wanted to go beyond his original assignment and incorporate some kind of game into the set. He didn't know exactly what kind of game he had in mind, but it didn't really matter because his managers nixed the idea. It would take another 18 years for his idea to become a reality, and by that time there would be other people to share in the glory, like Willy Higinbotham, who designed an interactive tennis game played on an oscilloscope, and Steve Russell, who programmed a rudimentary space game on a DEC PDP-1 mainframe computer. And then there was also Nolan Bushnell, who played that space game and dreamed of a time when fairground midways would be filled with games powered by computers," as explained on gamespots website, http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hov/

So thanks again for visiting my blog and check back often for updates. For my next post I will be discussing the "big three" consoles.

Fellow female gamers

2008-10-03T17:31:00.000-04:00

While visiting a local comic book store, Tate's, the other day I met two girls who were shopping for comics and decided to ask them their thoughts on female gamers.

(Click on the link to be redirected to Tate's website for additional information)

The first girl I spoke with was Leanna Barrows. She frequently shops at Tate's for Spider-Man comics and Japanese manga novels. Barrows also plays video games. She explained that she is a casual gamer, expressing she only plays video games with friends and not so much as a hobby. The game that she has played most recently is Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

(Click on the links to be redirected to Barrows' email, Tate's, Wikipedia's Guitar Hero or Microsoft's website for additional information)

"Guitar Hero is one of those games that just has rhythm to it, it's easy to pick up and just play and really it's just fun," said Barrows.

I asked Barrows, if she too gets that generic response from guys when she tells them she is a casual gamer.

"Usually it is a shocked response, it's not what they expect and I totally think that is because I'm a girl," said Barrows.

The second girl I spoke with was Alexa Turner. She shops at Tate's for rare and unknown comics; such as, old Disney comics. Turner like Barrows is a casual gamer but she is interested in the classic games. She occasionally plays her original Nintendo Entertainment System, the NES.

(Click on the links to be redirected to Tate's or Nintendo's website for additional information)

When asked the same question as Barrows, Turner had a slightly different response.
"A lot of the time, yeah guys are surprised to hear that I play video games, but it does seem that more and more guys are acknowledging and accepting the reality that yes girls do play video games," said Turner.

Overall my experience speaking with these two female gamers gave me two different and yet similar responses to the way fellow female gamers are perceived, especially when it's by males.

Thanks again for visiting my blog and as always check back often for updates. My next blog is going to be an explanation into some gaming terminology and history.

A female gamer by definition

2008-10-02T16:56:00.000-04:00

So what is a female gamer? Are they just like male gamers? Do they play video games more or less? Can they be professional gamers? Those are just some of the questions that people ask about this growing "new" trend of female gamers.

The way I define a gamer (male or female) is someone that regularly plays video games and/or is involved with the video game industry.

A more technical definition of a "girl gamer" is:

"A girl gamer is a girl or woman who:

Works in the game development industry or
Regularly engages in the practice of playing video games, role playing games or other games (colloquially referred to as "gaming"). This can be from the most casual interest to the most serious professional gaming, where female players often draw extra attention due to their rarity," as explained on Wikipedia's website.

(Click on the highlighted words to be redirected to Wikipedia's website for additional information on those topics)

Basically a female gamer is just like a male gamer. They can play the same amount of games and spend the same amount of time playing them, as guy gamers, and there are professional female gamers that are currently challenging male gamers for the title of best gamer. The only real difference is that female gamers are still not as common to this form of entertainment but that is steadily changing.

The modern introduction

2008-10-01T21:28:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone and thanks for checking out my blog. I wanted this first posting to be an explanation of my blog and to include a short video about me. I felt like taking the modern approach is something that is and isn't expected.

My blog is about, as the title implies, a focus on females and video games. I want to inform people about females that play video games, opportunities for them and up to date video game information. So now that you know a bit about what I want to write about, check out the video about me.