Get ready, parents of gamers. You may've already heard from a real authority at your house that today's the day for Halo fans - Tuesday is release day for Halo 3, and it's " almost guaranteed to be a blockbuster hit," the San Jose Mercury News reports, citing the view of many analysts that it's likely to be the top-selling videogame of 2007 and likely to "boost flagging sales" of the Xbox 360. … [Read more...] about The ‘Halo [3] effect’
gaming
Support for young videogamers
This is something parents of young Xbox Live users and Internet gamers should be aware of - that kids and teens can experience considerable verbal and text abuse in online-gaming environments and that there are grownup gamers out there supporting them. For example, there's the GR8 Clan gaming group, founded four years ago by Terra and Jen in Illinois. It represents the kind of community … [Read more...] about Support for young videogamers
Videogames increasingly social
Increasingly, experts are saying that banning a teen's use of social networking is like banning (or more likely inhibiting) his or her social life. That's increasingly true with videogames too. "People tend to play with friends and family more often than they play by themselves, contrary to the stereotype of the anti-social gamer that stays in their room all day," the Tehran Times (Iran's … [Read more...] about Videogames increasingly social
For female gamers
US society has evolved since the '60s, but videogaming is stuck in a pre-Feminism time warp, and the Los Angeles Times profiles someone working on that problem: Christa Phillips, screenname TriXie, "a goodwill ambassador for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox Live online game service. Her online group, GamerchiX, functions as a virtual Grand Central Terminal for women and girls who tread into the … [Read more...] about For female gamers
Videogames as art
"Just like paintings, sculptures, plays, films, or symphonies, videogames can both display breathtaking aesthetics and convey powerful messages. Videogames can carry the twin payloads of beauty and purpose as any other artistic medium," writes CNET editor Will Greenwald. Click "PRESS START" on the page and you'll see screenshots of 10 examples, among them Bioshock (featuring "brilliant art … [Read more...] about Videogames as art