ea seeks to hook kids early

Like so many Joe Camel ads before them, Electronic Arts understands that its main market lies with the 18 to 36 year olds but knows that the real money is in that elusive non-credit-card-holding child demographic of future brand addicts. That's why they've been teaming up with Hasbro to bring the most popular toys and board games that kids are enjoying onto the small screen in the form of interactive video games like Monopoly, Nerf and Littlest Pet Shop. I can tell you first-hand that kids love these games and parents seem less afraid to buy games with titles they recognize from crap they've already spent money on at Toys 'R' Us, so I think EA's master plan may be working.

How EA Markets Video Games to Kids

obama bad for video games?

Now there's an inflammatory and attention-grabbing headline if I ever saw one. Personally I doubt that president-elect Barack Obama will be bad for the video game industry (he was happy enough to spend money on ads for Xbox Live encouraging gamers young and old to vote) but apparently some people feel that he's made comments here and there indicating that he might not love video games as much as some of us do. Still, I do worry that mass media assumes too often that video games represent what's wrong with society:

A Web site called GamePolitics, established by a pro-gaming consumer advocacy group, pointed out in February that Mr. Obama had given campaign speeches in which games were used as a metaphor for underachievement.
“We’re going to have to parent better, and turn off the television set, and put the video games away, and instill a sense of excellence in our children,” Mr. Obama said then. One post on the site reminded others that Mr. Obama “is not anti-gaming, he is pro-better-parenting.”

Some Video Gamers Leery of Obama

i have ridden the unicorn

When I found out that you could adopt the unicorn in Oblivion as your own steed I of course decided I wanted to do so but it has not come without its price! First of all you have to kill a bunch of Minotaurs, but even once you've ridden the unicorn it will totally attack you any time you have a weapon drawn, including when you are defending its stupid ass from bears and mountain lions. Still working on figuring out how to build my disposition with the beast. Fleeing and fast-traveling helps and the unicorn does have an awesome attack and good resistance against magic and weapons but it's also pretty slow if you're used to one of the awesomely fast black horses. We'll see how long my relationship with the unicorn can withstand his deep hatred for the presence of any weapon in my hand.

sims 3 collector's edition yaaaaay

No, I don't have it yet, obvs. Sims 3 will be released in February but until then I am pretty psyched! I got a preview package thing from GameStop for having reserved a copy of the collector's edition and it came with a map of the new neighborhood Sunset Valley, some previews of families and some of the new features that will come with the upgrade. It also came with some sweet plumbbob logo stickers and an exclusive car download for the game once it's out. I'm super psyched for this game's release and also for the 2 GB keychain USB flash drive shaped like a plumbbob :D My Sims collectorhood will be official! And officially ridiculous. Sooo, if you're like me and you reserved the Sims 3 Collector's Edition, go to your GameStop and get the preview package thingy.

quantum of solace game = meh

I am a longtime fan of the 007 shooter games and have logged many hours in multiplayer mode with pals although I haven't done much campaign mode as I kind of suck at accurately aiming and prefer to just go running about with a grenade launcher or an automatic rifle or something blazin' up the place. Anyway, Quantum of Solace opens in theaters today and of course there is already a game title for it. Unfortunately it looks like the Bond games of the past are, well, the past, and this one is a pretty typical (mediocre) movie game. IGN says:

The explosions don't look good. At all. They almost look cartoony at parts which is a real shame because there are explosive canisters everywhere. Even where they don't make sense, like on the inside of a museum or at a construction site, there will be a bevy of explosive options.

Hmm.. Sounds like the multiplayer is still probably pretty fun but you can beat the game in about 5 hours which is kind of dreadful. But IGN does say that Daniel Craig's voice work is dreamy so at least that's something!

IGN: Quantum of Solace Review

tom clancy's endwar looks kinda cool

The latest installment of Tom Clancy war games features optional voice control of your troops and tactics. Endwar dropped on Tuesday and already appears to be cementing itself as the next great war simulation game. Taking place in the same 'universe' as the previous Clancy games (Ghost Recon, H.A.W.X., Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell), players can opt to use a headset to direct troops with voice commands and can even use these controls for complete gameplay. While I am not a huge fan of war sims I do admire Tom Clancy's work and love that he made the leap into game development with his subsidiary of Ubisoft called Red Storm Entertainment. People I work with have been psyched for this game for weeks and anyone who didn't reserve a copy may find him or herself looking far and wide, at least for the next week or so.

employment is a good thing

Well, I went from having no job to having two of them and my free time has become a precious commodity so I will no longer have all day to post about games. Sad face! I have no intentions of letting this blog die a sad death though so I will still be attempting to post at least once a day or at least as many posts in a month as there are days in a month. Yeah. Oh, one of my jobs is totally with a certain vendor of video games (you might say you would Stop there to buy a Game) so hopefully I'll have tons of new material to write about. Until then I will leave this post with a query: did anyone out there know that there is an Ed, Edd & Eddy game? Because there totally is.

horror shorts on xbox live? glee!

GameSpot has a cool article out about the premiere on Xbox Live of several short films made to promote the HD video capabilities of the Xbox. The first film to make an appearance was "Janitor", which has brought some newfound fame to its relatively unknown director, John Clisham. Perhaps his problem is that his name is only two letters different from someone already really famous, but I digress. Clisham is totally making it though, as he is currently working on what will surely be a blockbuster, James Cameron's Avatar, which is also in development as a 3D game title. Anyway, there will be five more short films debuting on Xbox Live later this month and will feature some bigger names including James Wan and Leigh Whannell of Saw infamy. I may actually have to plug our Xbox into the internet to check these films out; "Janitor" sounds totally cool:

...the 9.5-minute horror-thriller is a throwback to the gore-spattered slasher films of the 1980s. It profiles a young student who finds her very soul in peril after the custodial engineer at her school undergoes a "paranormal transformation."

Horror filmmaker spooks Xbox Live

fallout 3 is ridiculously huge

Nerds over here! Many hours this weekend were spent "co-gaming" as we call it with me playing Oblivion on the Xbox and the boy finishing Dead Space for PC. He totally beat it and immediately wanted to go get Fallout 3, so we did! He's logged quite a lot of time already and seems to be rapidly sliding down the "good" scale, hehe. It's impressive but not surprising how similar to Oblivion it is in some RPG aspects, but of course it has a very different feel to it and a much bleaker landscape and general storyline. It seems to have a lot more emphasis on your conversations with people than Oblivion does, which is intriguing. Also I love all the Atomic Cafe style music and Big Boy-esque logos, all the ruined American monuments and the beautiful graphics, which are super smooth and amazing to look at on my sweet 22" widescreen monitor. Still, it's fun playing my fairy-tale like game, riding around on my black steed and slaying goblins, while the boy blasts Radroaches and fiends with a double-barrel shotgun and deals in bottle caps and cigarettes. Also, the official strategy guide to Fallout (which we did not buy) is YOOGE, apparently because there are literally 500 possible endings to this game! Craziness. I may eventually make a character but I'm not sure, because I really do like my games more cute than terrifying. Anyway, check out IGN's awesome Fallout 3 section for reviews, screenshots and more about this cool new game.