Cascade Arcade: We often play games to be our ideal selves
In a new Psychological Science issue, an article discusses a recent study that hypothesizes that we’re drawn to games that allow us to role-play as those with our “ideal self characteristics.” The study, run by Andrew Przbylski, asked gamers about their personalities types, not just as themselves but also as their ideal-selves and as the characters they play as in games. The results backed up the claim, and Przbylski noted how the phenomenon is most common in those with a great difference between their personalities and the personality of what they perceive to be ideal.
Cascade Arcade: SSX attempts to raise extreme sports genre from the dead
The amount of extreme sports games being released has dwindled to almost nothing in the last couple years. A classic extreme sports series, SSX, is hoping to buck the trend with its first sequel in five years.
Cascade Arcade: Games of the Year
After keeping a close eye on the industry, and doing my best to try out a variety of different games on different platforms, I’ve concocted this list in an effort to best represent my understanding of the year’s best.
Cascade Arcade: The give and take of game prices
Last week Jools Watsham, creative director for game development company Renegade Kid, wrote a column for Gamasutra that took an opposing stance. For Watsham, the $1 price tag found on many iPhone games appeals to those who are looking simply to waste time, rather than those who want a game that will entertain, challenge and inspire them.
Cascade Arcade: The problem with downloadable games
The benefit of an online distribution method for gamers is the long-term availability. Even years after a game is released, it can be found and downloaded without much trouble off of the online store. In real life this is rarely the case, as retail outlets need to get rid of older products in order to make room for new content.
Cascade Arcade: From cloud saving to cloud gaming
OnLive uses the cloud (internet) to stream games directly to computers, TVs and mobile devices, all without requiring hard drive space to save the game. It functions like an on-demand movie service, but for full-sized, mainstream games.
Cascade Arcade: the changing face of game saves
Few things are more important to a gamer than their saved game data. With this generation’s introduction of cloud saving, not only is that data now more secure, it also opens the doors for developers to bring about innovative new ways to play.
Cascade Arcade: Classic toys find new level with video game integration
Children can use their various Skylanders action figure “heroes” and, using a special stand, transport them into the game as playable characters. These characters then develop experience-points and game-related info as they are played with in-game. What makes it interesting is that if a gamer takes the toy to a friend’s house to play, it remembers what they’ve done.
Cascade Arcade: The downside of downloadable content
It’s easy to see the positives when a game you love releases some exciting new downloadable content (DLC). However, the heavy focus on such extras has its share of detractors as well. Charging players of the game exorbitant amounts of money for new stuff—characters, levels, and even horse armour—is not the least of these downsides. Just recently, a DLC pack for the popular third-person-shooter Gears of War 3 (GoW3) created all kinds of controversy for the way it was charging players for content that was already included on the disk.
Cascade Arcade: Omni-directional treadmills and simulated gravity take gaming to new levels
For a whopping £500,000 ($650,000), Jason Bradbury and Suzi Perry, of the UK television program The Gadget Show, created the ultimate game simulator for first-person-shooter (FPS) Battlefield 3.
The glory of Rome or: why Mario is ruining your life
But the real problem I have with Super Mario (especially Super Mario 64) is that Mario can do pretty much whatever he wants and there aren’t any consequences. He jumps off cliffs, he sets himself on fire, he is constantly trespassing in Bowser’s castle and jumping in pipes which apparently lead to alternate dimensions, and yet the absolutely worst thing that happens to him is he has to restart the level. The under-30 crowd has totally absorbed this lesson, and they are now busy applying it. They’re out there right now, building powerful and possibly sociopathic supercomputers, letting Michael Bay direct movies about children’s toys, even wearing sweater vests in public. “Hang the consequence!” they say, “There’s not even a level to restart!”
Cascade Arcade: You can finally play carnival games with your pee
This is general premise behind Toylets (Toy-Let’s) or “playground toilets” as one roughly-translated Japanese website called them. Toylets, an invention of Sega Games, are urinals that let you play games as you pee… with… your pee.
Cascade Arcade: Waiting in Line the game
The Artist is Present challenges the idea of what constitutes a game in just the way the original piece challenged the boundaries of art. Its artfulness is in the dialogue it opens up about art itself.
Cascade Arcade: Time to leave that fanboy mentality behind
Investors love a loyal fan base. Yet, overall, this approach hurts gamers. It causes companies to pay exorbitant amounts of money to keep games off of other systems, while reducing the amount of fair competition that would actually improve the way games are made and played.
Cascade Arcade: one small step for DLC, one great leap for Movekind
Putting the tools to create motion-controlled levels into the hands of gamers is a revolutionary move. It has not been done before, especially in a game with such a robust editor and innovative level-sharing system (which allows you to easily find new, innovative, and high quality levels amongst the more-than-four-million levels). What it means is that choosing to invest in a Move controller now gives PS3 owners an infinite number of opportunities to use it.
Cascade Arcade: Unlikely remake gives gamers second chance
Most games focus on being fun or challenging, and as a result, many feel that video games are not art. However a handful of games have led the way into defining gaming as an artistic medium, among them Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. For good reason then, video game aficionados would be seriously missing out if they failed to pick up the re-mastered versions in the just-released Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection for PS3.
Cascade Arcade: 3DS gamers latest victim of catch-up
The recently announced unsightly slidepad accessory add-on device has gamers talking (or should I say grumbling) about the handheld.
An interview with NHL 12 producer Sean Ramjagsingh
Sean “Rammer” Ramjagsingh, a producer on NHL 12, spoke with The Cascade about the new game and some of the features.
Cascade Arcade: Addressing the rampant sexism in games
Gender inequality became a surprise controversy during a panel discussion in mid-August at the Melbourne Freeplay games festival. The panel discussion included, most notably, Zero Punctuation’s Ben “Yahtzee” Crosshaw, as well as literary and theatre critic Alison Croggon and the owner of JumpButton game magazine, Drew Taylor.
Cascade Arcade: Most players never make it to the end
Growing distractions and the increased age of most gamers has led to reports that only one player in every 10 ever makes it to the final credits in an average video game.
The debate rages on: is Starcraft a sport or not?
Paul and Dessa attempt to answer the age old question.
Cascade Arcade: Bill 978 to make sharing videos of video games illegal
Just when the Supreme Court finally shot down a California law that would restrict underage gamers from buying violent video games, a new bill sprung up to strike even more fear in the hearts of gamers everywhere. United States Senate Bill 978 aims to make the “performance” of copyright material a jailable offence. That would make uploading a replay of yourself playing a video game a felony, not to mention simply embedding a YouTube video of someone else playing a copyright video game. Because each viewing of the video would constitute a performance, embedding the video would make you liable for the activity as well.
Sony and Nintendo unveil cool devices with silly names
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is by far the biggest show of the year for the video game industry. At this year’s E3, both Nintendo and Sony unveiled sequels to the game machines that have paid their bills for several years. Nintendo announced the Wii U, sequel to the incredibly popular Wii. The new device comes with an iPad-like tablet as a controller, which allows a portable screen to add to the possibilities of a game. Sony announced a portable device called the PlayStation Vita, which becomes the official sequel to the popular PlayStation Portable (PSP). The device has two sticks, touch pads, and cameras. Both devices promise to offer a ton of new software and many new ways to play.
Cascade Arcade: Another lego game
By now, the Lego console games have become a staple of fun, addictive, and easy group gaming. However, turning movies into video games does not always make for fun and varied game play. After all, every movie has slow, boring parts.
