Category Archives: Video Game Misc.

Does The Sight of a Video Game Make You Shake in Your Shoes?

Silly Billy Pills

Silly Billy Pills

You could suffer from “crippling video game fear.” It’s an uninspired name – hey, I didn’t invent it – but it’s tragic for victims.

Watch out for these symptoms when you near a video game:

  • Sweaty palms
  • Scratchy throat
  • Your heart pounds in your chest as if a worker was hammering a railway spike into it

Common Causes of This Condition

  • Playing while inebriated

Do I really need to explain this one? If you’re drinking too much, you probably won’t be able to hold a controller or mouse, much less beat a game.

  • Playing against a veteran gamer

They taunt, tease and beat you mercilessly. By beat, I mean both with their fists and in the game. You and your avatar need to keep ice handy for that.

  • Traumatic event where your avatar died in a game

You swore never to play a game again after it happened. You try to forget, but it keeps playing back in your head, like your brain was a theatre.

It all started at the arcade on a crisp autumn day. You fed the machine quarters until it burped so you could drive in Daytona USA. But you did more than drive. You lived through a nightmare.

It seemed like an innocuous turn around the corner. Then, the next thing you knew, another driver rammed your call against a wall. Sparks flew as high into the sky as you can imagine. The car called it quits. It flew into the air, landed on the road and exploded, killing the driver.

Everyone at the arcade pointed and laughed at you. They laughed loud enough to wake a video game zombie from the digital cemetery. Worse, the boy or girl of your dreams left you after your car exploded.

The nightmares still wake you up in the middle of night. An ice-cold sweat soaks your face and sports car shaped bed.

But the good news is that you don’t have to suffer. You can get help.

Treatment

Try the following:

  • Silly Billy Pills

Read the (fake) ad for these pills:

“Save the princess and impress a real girl with your skills. Try our pill! (*Note: We cannot guarantee this will impress her. In fact, the odds are against you.)”

Let’s Get Serious for A Moment (I know it’s Hard)

Take time to help others when they’re stuck in a game. Don’t call them a noob and laugh. Well, at least not all the time.

This is one small step toward improving the public’s perception of gamers. If we seem decent enough, it might encourage people to play video games for the first time. After all, don’t you like to try new hobbies with polite and patient people? I do.

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To Turn the Page or Play the Game? That Is the Question.

reading vs. video gamesWhen you think about books, what image pops into your head? Dry and dusty tomes covered with cobwebs. Librarians, with fingers on their lips, shush you.

However, adrenaline surges through your veins and your heart pounds at the thought of games. The amazing graphics knock you off your feet. The HD visuals fan your hair back like your couch was sitting on a roller coaster. You can’t turn a page in an atmosphere like that.

But get off that roller coaster sometimes. You should always find time to both read and play. After all, you don’t want to become a mindless zombie from staring at a screen all day.

  • A lot of people see gamers as zombies who lack social skills and a life.
  • A lot of people like to take pot shots at video games. We gamers don’t need to give these haters more ammo.
  • A lot of people don’t know what they’re babbling about.

Tips for Reading Books and Playing Video Games

We can prove that we’re well-read – maybe by starting a blog like me! – and remind others that gamers are just like them.

Here’s some things to keep in mind about balancing these two activities:

1. My Blog Doesn’t Count

Look, I’m flattered that you like it, but it just doesn’t cut it. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should stop showering me with praise.

2. Dialogue and Subtitles Don’t Count as Reading

Yeah, not even really wordy games. That includes old-fashioned text games too.

3. The Best of Both Worlds

You can start reading books based on video games. Check out the Halo Books if you’re into sci-fi.

4. Gateway Drugs

You know, those books based on video games could be like a gateway drug. Start with these and then you can go on to real literature and war stories, like the The Red Badge of Courage.

5. Books Aren’t Saints Either

Are you a teen? Still not convinced you should read? Well, teen novels have more swearing than video games, according to one study. You can get your fill of profanity in book form.

6. Balanced Diet

Don’t get too much of video games or books. Aim for the golden mean.

7. Now get out there and read, zombie!

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Breath of Fresh Light: Video Games and Fun Flashlights

flashlights in video gamesThere’s a cavernous tunnel up ahead, and you have to go through it. The way ahead is so dark that no one could make it through alive.

Wait! What was that?

A blood curdling scream and the sounds of a monster’s faint footsteps behind you. You fumble for your flashlight, as you slowly turn around, to face your fear. But the flashlight emits a sickly light for a mere two seconds.

Then the light dies and darkness surrounds you. The darkness swallows you and the monster gets ready to do the same.

Game over…

***

You’ve probably used a flashlight in a video game at some point. Here are the three “F’s” that I’ve noticed about these flashlights:

Video Game Flashlights: The Three “F’s”

1. Frustrating

The above story may have you pulling out your hair. Your flashlight has a short battery life, has to recharge constantly and doesn’t give you much light. You get more juice when you squeeze an orange in the morning.

2. Frightening

In these games, the flashlight still doesn’t have much juice, which is annoying, but it’s effective in a scary game. I think F.E.A.R. is a good example of this.

3. (and sometimes) Fun

In Alan Wake, your flashlight isn’t frustrating; it’s your best friend. You’ll use it as a basic weapon to take down an enemy’s shield that’s made of “darkness.”

Basic usage of the flashlight doesn’t seem to drain much battery power in this game. But you won’t use it for the usual stuff.

You’ll spend a lot of time “boosting” your flashlight – kind of like a charged up shot – to take down enemy shields as fast as possible. That’s because you want to shoot them in the head before they throw an axe at you. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? However, boosting will drain your flashlight, and you’ll have to replace batteries.

Alan Wake has a flashlight that runs on batteries and is still fun to use. Gee, what a novel concept!

Best Use of Flashlights in a Video Game

The award for best use of a flashlight in a video game goes to… Alan Wake.

Can you think of any other games that use flashlights well? What games use them poorly?

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Level Up Everything Until You Drop!

Level upWhen you level up something in a game, you take it to next level; you upgrade it. That level process never gets old. You can’t say that about everything in life. You also can’t walk around and try to level up your cat or lawn mower. And why would you want to do that anyway?

Games, which are kind of like digital playgrounds, are the perfect place to level up things and go crazy with them.

Want to know if it’s a good idea to put a chainsaw and a flamethrower on your car? Test it in a game first. You wouldn’t want act irresponsibly would you? I thought so.

So here are some things that I love to level up in games.

(1) Guns

It’s rewarding and fun to start with a pea shooter and then level it up to a mega weapon. Pea shooters leave you feeling like a scrawny kid who gets beat up for lunch money. By contrast, you stand tall with the mega weapon and mow down bad guys who scurry for cover so fast that they leave behind dust clouds.

The Rhyno V in Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is a good example of a mega weapon. The Rhyno wastes bad guys with style and a lot of deadly projectiles. Did you know this gun also plays Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture while you shoot it? It may sound like a macabre celebration of death, but it’s Ratchet and Clank and they make it fun.

I think more shooters would grab me if they let me level up guns from pea shooter to mega weapon.

(2) Vehicles

Heroes can’t survive on guns alone. They’re feet also get sore after walking for miles in a game. That’s why we have tanks: good guys can both run over and blast baddies.

But the traditional tank would be so much cooler if it hovered, had a speed burst and rocket launcher. Imagine racing a warthog with two machine guns through Halo.

(3) Medieval weapons

I’m talking about swords and arrows here. It would be really cool if I could upgrade the tips of these weapons with poison. What about adding fire arrows and magic swords?

What’s this sword missing? “Hmm maybe I should level up the sword to add a gun to it!” Now that sounds like a plan.


What do you like/want to level up in games?

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When Do You Play Video Games During the Week?

When do you play video games?

The sand that slipped away.

There’s not enough time in the day.

I’d like to squeeze in some play time, but the week is usually jam-packed with things to do. Time seems to slip through my fingers like sand.

I wonder how people find the time to play all the latest games. Seriously, you can find games that are hundreds of hours long, and some people go through them like daily clean shirts.

How is it that we will all find time to pursue this awesome hobby when there’s so much to do?

Some Wonderful Things That Can Keep You from Your Beloved Video Games

• You’ve worked so hard that you can barely stand on your feet. The fridge is empty and dinner doesn’t cook itself.

• Young students have an alphabet [soup] to digest and new crackers to crunch at school.

• You have other hobbies to pursue and want to spend quality time with more than a machine.

• You’re running around a house trying to keep order as your children laugh and play. You probably would like to prevent more crayon frescoes on your walls.

• You’re taking your spouse out for a fancy dinner.

• You care about what’s going on in the world around you.

• Surviving a zombie apocalypse… Oops! That belongs in another list.

What Keeps Me from Playing Games?

I’m so glad you asked.

I’d say all the things in the list above, except for kids and a spouse, learning the alphabet and zombies. I would add things like volunteering, reading and writing.

Maybe I’m also not very good at games because it takes me a while to wrap up one. You won’t find broken controllers in my apartment; you will find me replaying sections of a game though.

How do I Make Room for Video Games?

That’s easy! I make time for them. There are few things as relaxing as playing video games when you have nothing else to do.

When do you play video games during the week? How do you find the time to play them?

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Movies Invade Your Video Games! Uncharted 3 and 3 Blockbuster Movies

Uncharted 3 Movie References

Pictured: My cold germs. Don’t worry! You won’t get sick from reading this post.

So I was cold and clammy for a good part of Christmas. I spent a lot of time growing roots on the couch while watching the same old action movies.

Yep, I’m alive and thriving now.

Anyway, Uncharted 3 has a crush on some major movies and it’s got it bad. In my opinion, the game doesn’t try to hide it like a secret admirer; it’s all out in the open. You can see the love of Hollywood in its eyes.

Let’s take a closer look. Continue reading

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5 Simple Rules for Gamers to Play Nice Together and Make the World Better

5 rules for gamers playing video gamesSo many sports and games have rules to keep players in line. What  do video games have?

Oh, sure, individual video games have rules like shoot or die or jump to survive. But how should gamers treat each other?

I started with an ambitious goal: I wanted to write a list of ten rules for gamers. I got a little lazy and my creativity dried up, so I capped this list off at five.  Here’s my five rules.

  • Don’t steal any person’s consoles, PC, or game collection.
  • Don’t pirate games.
  • Don’t engage in friendly fire.
  • Stand up for gaming as a hobby and don’t let people mock it.
  • Whenever possible, introduce other people to video games and have some fun out there!

Can you come up with 5 more or some better rules? Share them in the comments below.

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Dear Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk: I’ll Miss You

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk BioWareDear Ray and Greg (two founders of BioWare),

Before the tears trickle down my cheek, let me explain why I’ll miss you.

I have a lot of fond memories of your video games.

Knights of the Old Republic was my first ever BioWare game. I loved using a lightsaber to slice and dice bad guys. The RPG elements only made the game better.

I didn’t think anyone could top Kotor, but I was wrong.

Mass Effect blew my mind. It shined the spotlight on great writing in video games.

Mass Effect was so good that I had to let everyone know about it. So, naturally, I talked about it in show and tell – it was a pop culture seminar, ok? – in an undergraduate class. Believe it or not, the zoomer aged Professor had heard of and even played it. He liked it too.

Mass Effect 2 showed me the light: it was action and RPG done right. This is, so far, my favourite game in the series.

It’s too bad that some gamers didn’t like the Mass Effect 3 ending. I hope you didn’t let these angry gamers influence your choice to leave BioWare.

I have not seen the ending that launched a thousand angry gamers off their couches. Someday soon I hope to play Mass Effect 3.

See, the second game was so good that I just had to go back and play it again. In fact, I may go do that now.

But, first, let me say that I’m proud that you, like me, are Canadian. It’s good to know that we’ve made the best games in Citadel space.

During the maelstrom of everyday life, I got a lot of joy from your games.

Thanks for the good times, eh!

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Video Games in Canada: They’re Not Just for Beavers Anymore

Video Games in Canada I want to share some of my thoughts on video games in Canada. I’ll try to keep this free of excessive flag waving.

1. It’s nice to see that people want to make video games here.

When I think about video game companies, I think of Japan or the U.S.

2. I take pride in seeing games made here and in my home province of Ontario.

  • I like that my country plays an important role in making fun games.
  • I hope to see more Canadians start companies to make great games.

3. Video games have grown up.

  • Did you know that some Canadian gamers are 31 years old?
  • You can put aside the bibs, cribs and baby food.

 

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5 Halloween Video Game Ideas: Now with 100% Less Zombies

Halloween Video GamesThey’re in books, movies and games. They are even shuffling down your street in hordes.

Zombies will take over the world.

I think it’s time for a change. I want to play some games that have these five awesome monsters. Continue reading

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