DDN: Games are a fun way to spend time with family
From the Dayton Daily News: Jill Kelley
My husband and I finally gave in this year, and our sons got a video game system for Christmas. We fought the good fight, though, and managed to hold off the gaming frenzy for a few years as we have watched their friends get drawn into that multilevel vortex, one by one, since preschool.
It was really my husband who needed the convincing; he was worried that the 6- and 8-year-old would read and run around less if given the opportunity to play video games. I was less worried. I figured if we agreed to limit the time spent with the games and make sure they kept up their other interests, it would work out.
Besides, I thought it might help our competitive tykes have a little more structure as far as the rules of their one-on-one games are concerned. Their “football” and “soccer” endeavors in the living room are much less like recognizable sports and much more like a 21st-century version of Calvinball.
But I can understand my husband’s perspective. He didn’t grow up with video games like I had. My brother and I still talk about the good old days in front of our Atari 6400, swinging on vines in “Pitfall” and blowing up enemy silos in “Missile Command.”
Do you game with your kids?
Do you game with your kids? You bet – On the Level- msnbc.com
I thought my last column – about parents playing video games with their kids — would net at least one negative e-mail from readers. Video games can be a controversial topic. And when you add kids into the mix? The gloves come off.
Turns out, plenty of you out there think playing video games with kids is just fine. Every single piece of e-mail that I received was filled with enthusiasm and anecdotes about game times you’ve had as a parent — or with your parent…
New Mailing List – Sign up for the Latest Info
I set up a New Mailing List for everyone to join – I’m getting so many requests for more information, I needed help collecting all the emails from interested folks. I use Mail Chimp – they’re very good. I’ll send out occasional emails and coupons, so join up if you want to hear what’s going on…and I’ll use the list to announce tournaments, special events, and discounts. Sign up today!
Also, people are looking for my email address to drop me a note – the email is greg AT bigrobotgamecafe.com. (I’m not typing it out here to keep it from being harvested by spiders.) If you’re writing for more information or to find out when we’re opening, the date is still up in the air, so keep checking back here for more information. If you’re writing to complain that you were walking down Main Street at night and were FRIGHTENED BY MY DARTH VADER staring creepily out the window and you fell down and scraped your knee, I don’t want to know.
Lastly, I know folks are curious, so I’ll be posting so photos of the interior to Flikr in a bit. Stay tuned!
And the Best Video Game of the Year is…
From an extensive online survey conducted by MSNBC.com:
The MSNBC readers have spoken, and you’ve told us that you really, really like shooting things. Your favorite new video game? “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.” The super-realistic military shooter developed by Infinity Ward garnered 33 percent of the over 17,000 votes we tallied in our Game of the Year vote between Dec. 19 and Dec 27.
Not too far behind, at 22 percent, was “Bioshock,” 2K Games’ spooky deep-sea title that earned accolades from fans and critics alike in 2007.
We started out this voting process way back before Thanksgiving. We envisioned this Game-of-the-Year thing kind of like the presidential primaries: Every week, we’d roll out our picks as the best of nine genres. We’d let you vote on the best in each genre, which would then advance to compete for Game of the Year.
As a result, we had the likes of “Madden NFL ’08” taking on “LEGO Star Wars.” Unorthodox? Perhaps. But this was an uncommonly good year for games, with killer titles across nearly every category. Why not see if “Guitar Hero III” could beat out “Mass Effect?” (It didn’t.)
First up? Racing and sports
We kicked off the whole project with best sports games and best racing games. “Madden” was the runaway winner in the former category, garnering 48 percent of the popular vote. To be sure, this wasn’t much of a mandate: Less than 1,000 readers voted in this category.
Racing didn’t fare much better: Only 500 or so readers weighed in on our five choices, electing “Project Gotham Racing 4” as the winner. Maybe we all get enough driving in real life?
Casual games got more of an audience, and “Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree” beat out Nintendo sibling “WarioWare” as the best-of-category. Readers in our forum pointed out that the PC had some strong contenders, listing “Snapshot Adventures,” “Sally’s Salon” and “Chain Factor” as some of their favorites.
Which family fare was best?
For family games, we put “Super Mario Galaxy,” one of the year’s most universally beloved titles, up against the likes of “LEGO Star Wars” and “Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure.” To our surprise, “LEGO Star Wars” bested “Galaxy,” nabbing 47 percent of the vote in that category. “Galaxy” would get another shot in the action-adventure category several weeks later.
It was a great year for fans of the music and rhythm game genre, with “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero III” joining “Dance Dance Revolution Universe” and “Hannah Montana: Music Jam” (you read that right) in our best-of breed lineup. Not much of a turnout for this primary election, and “Guitar Hero” ran away with the top prize.
“Top prize” and “Nintendo DS” are like peanut butter and chocolate. The ubiquitous handheld has sold a bazillion units — and that popularity was evident in our best handheld category. Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass” wiped the floor with PSP games “Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow” and “Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.” Here’s hoping next year brings even more good games for the PSP, which is starting to pick up some great momentum.
Die-hard RPG fans sound off
The action stepped up in the best role-playing game category, where nearly 5,000 readers logged votes. Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft” expansion, “The Burning Crusade” was in a virtual dead heat with Bioware’s “Mass Effect” and Red Studio’s “The Witcher.” The talky “Mass Effect” ended up winning the category, but die-hard fans of the genre took issue with our list.
Interactive consoles get kids off the couch
From MSNBC.com:
LONDON – Working up a sweat playing video games on Nintendo’s interactive Wii console is no replacement for real exercise but at least it gets overweight children off the couch, according to British researchers.
Children using a Wii console burned off about 2 percent more energy over a week compared to those using a traditional system, wrote Gareth Stratton, a researcher at Liverpool John Moore’s University, and colleagues, in the British Medical Journal.
The Wii allows users to thrust, wave, swing and twist its one-handed, motion-sensitive controller to direct the on-screen action and simulate real life moves such as bowling, hitting a tennis ball, or shooting a bow and arrow.