Video gaming is perhaps one of the fastest paced industries today. Much like many other industries that are dependent on technology, the video game sector continuously experiences changes – for the better, hopefully.

This December, gamers have something new to look forward to: the launch of Gakai’s cloud gaming service. At the head of Gakai is David Perry, who is known for creating Earthworm Jim and is one of the most known names in the video game industry. The concept behind cloud gaming services is quite simple: gamers do not have to have their own hardware to play games. Instead, all the necessary equipment – from the games to the hardware – is stored in data service centers. In this setup, the games are streamed to the gamer’s computer instantaneously.

Given that processors and graphics cards can be quite costly (at least the ones necessary for high-end games), this setup is definitely beneficial to gamers. Even better, with Gakai’s plan, games are going to be available for a variety of platforms. When the service launches, gamers are not going to be limited to the use of the PCs. Games will also be available for iPhones and other devices.

The target date for Gakai’s launch is some time in December, when it will be open for everyone. Meanwhile, gamers who want to get a taste of what they have to offer will just have to cross their fingers and hope that they get one of the private invites that the company is giving out over the next two months.

Tags: cloud gaming, data centers, data service centers, Gakai

I know a lot of people who would double up in laughter just from reading that question. I totally understand. Who said that either thing is “bad” in the first place? Of course, it really depends on where you’re coming from and how you think.

Anyhow, I came across this question in the Christian Science Monitor web site. (Yeah I know, what was I doing there? I like reading different points of view.) The article presented the case of the Entertainment Software Association, which sued the Chicago Transit Authority for banning advertisements about video game releases with mature content.

The supporting argument of the ESA is that while laws have been continuously implemented that target video games – especially those that are labeled mature and violent – movies and books (and other media) that have the same kind of content have remained untouched. The organization feels that the government is being selective in implementing bans and similar action.

David Horowitz, the executive director of Media Coalition, an organization which is backing ESA’s case, says that “Ex-[Illinois] Governor Blagojevich spent hundreds of thousands of dollars unsuccessfully to defend a law that barred minors from buy or renting similar video games before it was struck down as unconstitutional. The Chicago Transit Authority should repeal this ill-conceived ordinance rather than using scarce resources to fight this in court and get the same result.”

I would have to agree with him.

So going back to my original question: which is the lesser of two evils, assuming that they are both evil? Would you rather have your children exposed to mature video games or to rated R movies?

Tags: adult content, R-rated

I am sure that you have been wracking your brains for Christmas gift ideas for some time now. And with the big day looming ever nearer, you might be running out of time and funds for gifts. Here’s a good idea that I got from 8bitjoystick over at Seattle PI – trade in old games:

Two weeks ago I bit the bullet and packaged up a lot of old game systems and games that I have had in storage and not played in years and traded them in at Pink Godzilla games. I would rather pass them on to a new home than to move them to my new place and then let them collect dust in a storage in the back of my closet. That and the back of my HDTV looks like a basket of snakes when I have my old game systems hooked up. I had to run some older 3d game systems through a video filter to even get them to display correctly on my rather fickle HDTV.

I think that this is a brilliant idea – something that everyone should have thought of. He is right, those old games would probably end up in storage and gather dust anyway.

Another thing that I think I might do is take a look at my collection and see which games I can actually give away. I have countless little cousins and nephews who would appreciate playing some games. Naturally, I am not parting with my special edition games but I am more than willing to pass on some others. Would you give away or trade in old games?

Tags: old games, trade-in

I like any kind of game. I play those casual games on the PC. I play flash games online. I play on PS3 and the Wii. That’s why when my sister – yeah my baby sister! – told me about Ikariam, I was keen on trying it. And I was not disappointed. To be honest, I have only been playing it for about 2 months (rough estimate this is). So far, I have been enjoying it. In fact, the longer I have been playing it, the more I have found myself enjoying the game. So what is Ikariam?

It reminds me of the old PC game Zeus – I don’t know if you remember it – except that it is online and takes place in real time. You log in to a world and create a city from scratch. You have to build buildings, harvest wood (building material) and some other prime resource. Each island has its own special resource – wine, marble, sulfur, crystal, and so on. Each resource has a special purpose which you need to develop a certain aspect of your town. There are many buildings which you can build and when you reach a certain town level and have a certain number of resources, you can go to sea and found a colony. You also have to upgrade your buildings in order to expand and be able to build more.

Ikariam’s strength lies in the ability of players to trade with other real players and to form alliances with each other. It is the part which makes you look forward to logging in several times a day and checking on your towns and colonies to see how they are faring.

You should try it. It is fun and it is free.

Photo courtesy of http://www.thatvideogameblog.com

Tags: Ikariam, strategy, web-based games

Contrary to common belief, video games teach players empathy and not aggression. At least that is what a new study is saying. Got Game’s feature states:

Dr. Kourosh Dini, a Chicago-based psychiatrist and self-declared gamer recently published Video Game Addiction: A Guide for Parents, which includes a study that reveals video games to be a beneficial teacher of understanding the way others think. Dini reached such a conclusion after much observation–and even participation–in gameplay. In his studies, he analyzed from three different perspectives: the psychiatrist, the first-person player, and the third-person play observer. According to the book’s website, such analysis led Dini to conclude that “age appropriate multi-player video games can allow children to learn how other people think – a key aspect of empathy.”

I really like his point of view – it makes total sense. However, we cannot discount the fact that other studies – and there are more of them, I think – have results that are quite different from that of Dr. Dini’s. So which is which?

I am no expert in the matter but I suppose that this study will be enough for other researchers to take a second look at their studies. Perhaps there are other factors that should be taken into consideration. Perhaps it is not a simple matter of stating that video games make children (or even adults) into so and so people. As for me – and other gamers like, I am sure – a study like this is a good start in forcing people NOT to immediately pinpoint video games as the “evil” they are supposed to be.

Tags: Psychology, video games