Video Games

Bungie’s Top Story of the Day is the release of the Halo 3 Teaser wallpapers, which look cool but don’t say much about the game to come:

Sony’s Jack Tretton famously said in an interview with EGM:

If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that’s been on shelves for more than five minutes, I’ll give you 1,200 bucks for it. I can get any retail buyer on the phone with you and get them to verify that there’s not a single retail location in America where there’s a PlayStation 3 on the shelf for sale. They’ve all been sold in a matter of minutes.

Now our friends at Penny Arcade want their $13,200–to go buy Nintendo Wii Consoles!

Researchers at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY have released findings from their studies on video-games recently, making some interesting conclusions.  First of all, they surveyed 1,000 gamers, and found that the “real reason games are so widely played is because achievement, explorative freedom, and connection with others (be it human or in-game characters) trump the “shallow sense of fun” which the study believes doesn’t keep players as interested.”  From the source: “‘It’s our contention that the psychological ‘pull’ of games is largely due to their capacity to engender feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness,” and playing video-games not only induces a positive motivation to play more games, but also “can be experienced as enhancing psychological wellness, at least short-term.”

A second study held at the University of Rochester found that playing action video-games actually improved visual processing by 20%.  They had one group of students play Unreal Tournament, and a second group play Tetris, which was chosen for its “motor complexity but visual simplicity.”  “After regular training with the respective games, the UT players more easily identified the orientation of a letter ‘T’ among a jumble of other shapes in a crowding test. The Tetris group’s responses didn’t change.  The study suggests that action games alter the way our minds process information even after playing; the researchers think that games could help combat certain visual disorders.”

EA Games and Namco Bandai have officially stated that their online RPG Hellgate: London will be released this summer.  The graphics look amazing.  I hope they release a demo soon.  Here’s the press release:

EA and Namco Bandai Games America Announce Summer 2007 Ship Window for Hellgate: London

Hotly-Anticipated Action-RPG From Flagship Studios Set to Heat up PCs This Summer
LAS VEGAS –(Business Wire)– Jan. 8, 2007 Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced a summer 2007 worldwide ship window for the highly-anticipated online action RPG Hellgate: London(TM), the first original PC title from premier developer Flagship Studios.

“We are all committed to making Hellgate: London absolutely the best game possible,” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “The anticipation surrounding the game is immense and we are looking forward to its launch being a truly worldwide event.”

Hellgate: London combines the depth of role-playing games and the action of first-person shooter titles, while offering infinite playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies and events. The player creates a heroic character, completes quests, and battles through innumerable hordes of demons to advance through experience levels and branching skill paths. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow players to create their own unique hero.

Here are some more exclusive screenshots of Hellgate: London:

While it’s impossible to get the PS3 for free, at least EBGamestop is trying to make us feel better about shelling out the big bucks by offering $100 off the price of either model of the PS3 if you trade in all of the following:

1. A working PS2 with power cord, AV cable, & Sony controller
2. A 2nd Sony brand PS2 controller
3. Any brand 8MB PS2 memory card

The offer expires 2/18/2007.