Do games offer a valuable resource to engage with dark taboo topics? I suggest that video games can provide a safe play-space in which we can explore our responses to potentially frightful and scary topics - abandonment, loss, death, abuse and war.
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z top
Which WarioWare Are You?
Why E3 2008 Matters for Parents
iPhone 3G Brings Casual Games
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3DS Does More than Expected
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A
A Choice to Compute
Accessible Gameplay
Anyone Can Publish Now
Are You Fit Enough to Lose Weight?
Art is Everywhere
Art is Everywhere in Games
Art is Work
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B
Bayonetta Revisited
Being Grown Up
Best iPhone Poker Apps
Bingo for Beginners
British Board Games
Broadband Key for Gaming
Buying Best Fitness Game
Buying Multiplayer
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C
Cheap Game Generator
Cheaper than the Gym
Choosing Multiplayer
Committing to Play
Controlling Your eMotions
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D
Dad Edition for Father's Day
Death of the Author
Do What You Love
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E
East meets West Fitness
Escape from Metal Gear Solid
Ex-Rental vs Used Games
Exercsie For Fun?
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F
Fake Plastic Trees
Family Retail
Finish the Wait for Halo 3
Fit Family
Fitness on PS3 Move and 360 Kinect
Fitness vs. Gaming Divide
Fitting Games In
Future of Exergaming
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G
GTA for the Soul
Game Church
Game People Calling
Game Tattoos I Love
Games Like Me
Games as Dark Stories
Gaming Habits
Gestation Gaming
Get Start Gaming with a Free Laptop
Greg Edmonson Firefly and Uncharted
Guide to Building R/C Cars
Guide to Buying an R/C Cars
Guide to R/C Motors
Guide to R/C Speed Controllers
Guide to Upgrading R/C Cars
Guitar Hero
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H
Hand Held Heritage
Hearing Voices
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I
I Heart Animal Crossing
In Praise of Something Old
Interview with EA's Music Man
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L
Little Big Planet 2 Preview
Losing Multiplayer
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M
Marching Samba DS's
Mini iPod Games
Misguided Cover Art
Modern Company or Bad Warfare?
Motion Controls
My First Game
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Not Finishing Games
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Parent's Rough Guides to Games
People Like Me
Photo Realism
Play Less, Enjoy More
Playing Away
Pocket Money Games
Pocket iPod Games
Protecting the Children
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S
Setting Up Multiplayer
Small Hands
Sounding Scared
Stealth Exercise
Strobist Car Photography
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T
Technological Thrift
The Importance of being People
The Phat Controller
The Price of Early Adoption
The best Xbox 360 titles of 2009
Thing a Day
This Is Living
To Have and to Hold
Top 5 Wii-Fit Fallacies
Top 5 Wii-Fit Tips
Top Family Games for Winter 08
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V
Vertigo Again
Violence is Video Gaming's Laughter Track
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W
What Day One DLC is For
What Not to Play
What Parents Want
Who Would Want a Casual Player?
Why Dark Games Are Good
Wii-Fitness Round Up
Wii-Sports Tips
Our editorials are the inside track on the community. Here, we can go to town on a particular subject, where there isn't space in a review or guide. We have a chance to expand upon and mull over themes that have arrisen as we've played our games.
Do games offer a valuable resource to engage with dark taboo topics? I suggest that video games can provide a safe play-space in which we can explore our responses to potentially frightful and scary topics - abandonment, loss, death, abuse and war.
Kinect and Move join the Wii in motion gaming. As with Nintendo, it will be the games that make all the difference to both the success and popularity of this new technology.
3DS impresses with a fleet of 3D features, more power and wide range of first the third party games.
Little Big Planet was a monumental achievement. Technically, artistically, socially unlike anything that had gone before. But with great power comes great complexity and not as many people spent the time they should with the game. Little Big Planet 2 promises to put this right with its simpler design tools and more varied style of play.
I dreamt of a marching samba band drumming their way through the streets - not with real drums, but with customised drumming DS's. I need your help to make this happen. And here's why.
If we are honest, we want to play games with people like ourselves and with people we know - our unspoken tribe. Parents aren't keen at playing with anonymous teenagers. Kids don't want to play with students. And students don't want to play with seniors. Communities like GamerDads is a great example of how we can play more games with people we want to play with.
With so much gaming culture imported from overseas these days, it's nice to find some experiences that are quintessentially British. Long the bed of invention, there are still a few good men and women creating interesting board games that tackle historic themes from our little island.
In Box DLC is all about the publishers of videogames trying to encourage you, the customer, to buy new games rather than renting or buying second-hand copies. Games such as Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 have both released with codes inside the box to redeem and download additional content.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 is multiplayer fantastic, but for totally different reasons than Modern Warfare 2. There is definitely room for both games in my co-operative collection.
There's no greater cynic when it comes to motion controls than me. Though I admire the way the Wii has brought gaming to a completely new demographic of gamers thanks to its accessible Wii remote and Nunchuk, I still find the practical usage of such a system flawed for the enthusiast gamer more interested in the Xbox 360 and PS3. Both of these popular systems will have their own brand of motion controls come the autumn so lets take a look at both of them and what it means for the future of gaming.
Recently some games have included codes to download or unlock additional content within the game. This day-one DLC isn't an accident, it's an attempt to encourage us to buy new rather than rent or buy pre-owned. But with this content usually offering only cursory additions it's so far unlikely to make a big difference in our purchasing decisions.
Even though the number of platform-specific exclusives was on the low side in 2009 for the Xbox 360, it certainly didn't disappoint in terms of quality. Check out the three listed below for some modern classics that are still worth renting or buying today. Not least because they are now great quality cheap 360 games.
Getting into gaming can be an expensive business. Whether you are looking at a console, handheld or PC you need a good few hundred pounds before you can even get started.
Even after upgrading, my PC still struggled to deliver the gaming experience I had expected. I should have guessed it was my connection rather than my hardware. Changing my mobile broadband package solved the lag.
Greg Edmonson loves what he does, maybe a little too much. Talking over a crackly long distant line, he quickly put me at ease as we both enthused over his recent Firefly and Uncharted projects.
Music has always played an important part of our videogame experience. From the earliest 8-bit days when chip-tune composers eked out distinct melodies and sounds to convey atmosphere in a game, soundtracks have always added that layer of immersion if done correctly. In recent years as the bleeps and bloops of yesteryear faded out to more orchestral and modern soundtracks the rise of EA Artwerk label has played an important part in adding to the experience of modern videogames.
Sometimes it takes our kids to remind us what we enjoy. Watching my son play New Super Mario Brothers inspired me to pick it up again and have a go. I'd played it when it first came out but had got distracted by the next new game on my PS3, Uncharted 2 I think.
Choosing the right game is an important decision, they are not cheap after all. Once you have identified the games you set-up supports, you then need to choose what style of game best suites the people you play with.
A few months ago I wrote a review of the Japanese release of Bayonetta. But reading back recently I'm now having second thoughts. The game had left me uninspired so I wrote the review out of a desire to produce some early reactions. But along the way my discussion took me away from what was really important - that Bayonetta left me cold. It was a situation where I could see what the game was doing, but only more recently started to appreciate it.
Programming doesn't happen by mistake, it take people. People that know it exists, people that know they can do it, ultimately people who have managed to catch the bug. In a world where computing is ever more commodified, I take great joy in introducing schools and young students to the simple accessible wonders of programming outside the box.
More posts:
Vertigo Again Article
In Praise of Something Old Article
Bingo for Beginners Article
Sounding Scared Article
Sounding Scared Article
Escape from Metal Gear Solid Article
Game People Calling Article
Buying Multiplayer Article
Strobist Car Photography Article
Best iPhone Poker Apps Article
Game Church Article
The Importance of being People Article
Guitar Hero Article
The Price of Early Adoption Article
Setting Up Multiplayer Article
Anyone Can Publish Now Article
Why Dark Games Are Good Article
Technological Thrift Article
Art is Work Article
Losing Multiplayer Article
Buying Best Fitness Game Article
Fake Plastic Trees Article
Game Tattoos I Love Article
Death of the Author Article
Art is Everywhere in Games Article
Cheap Game Generator Buying Guide
Misguided Cover Art Article
What Not to Play Article
Hearing Voices Article
Art is Everywhere Article
Who Would Want a Casual Player? Article
Committing to Play Article
Protecting the Children Article
To Have and to Hold Article
Do What You Love Article
Violence is Video Gaming's Laughter Track Article
Playing Away Article
Wii-Fitness Round Up Article
Games Like Me Article
Being Grown Up Article
Future of Exergaming Article
Cheaper than the Gym Article
Top Family Games for Winter 08 Article
East meets West Fitness Article
Top 5 Wii-Fit Fallacies Article
Fit Family Article
I Heart Animal Crossing Article
Thing a Day Article
Are You Fit Enough to Lose Weight? Article
Guide to Building R/C Cars Article
Guide to Buying an R/C Cars Article
Guide to R/C Motors Article
Guide to R/C Speed Controllers Article
Guide to Upgrading R/C Cars Article
What Parents Want Article
Play Less, Enjoy More Article
GTA for the Soul Article
Mini iPod Games Article
Gaming Habits Article
Dad Edition for Father's Day Article
Controlling Your eMotions Article
This Is Living Article
Photo Realism Article
Pocket Money Games Article
My First Game Article
Family Retail Article
Fitting Games In Article
Finish the Wait for Halo 3 Article
Not Finishing Games Article
The Phat Controller Article
Gestation Gaming Article
Parent's Rough Guides to Games Article
Why E3 2008 Matters for Parents Article
iPhone 3G Brings Casual Games Article
Which WarioWare Are You? Article
Small Hands Article
Hand Held Heritage Article
Pocket iPod Games Article
Wii-Sports Tips Article
Top 5 Wii-Fit Tips Article
Fitness vs. Gaming Divide Article
Stealth Exercise Article
Exercsie For Fun? Article
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