video games

Oct 30, 2009 8:07 AM CDT

Slumping Wii Surprises Nintendo

Lack of hit games hits sales

(Newser) - With hit games few and far between, consumers aren’t exactly fighting in the aisles to get their hands on a Wii anymore. Nintendo slashed its full year sales forecast for Wii hardware 23% yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reports, and offered little hope of a swift turnaround. “Right...

Gaming Causes Joint Pain in Kids: Study

Oct 19, 2009 4:04 PM CDT

Gaming Causes Joint Pain in Kids: Study

Child scientist finds 60+ minutes of daily play may cause trouble

(Newser) - The repetitive motions involved in playing video games cause joint pain in children, according to a new study by a true expert—an 11-year-old gamer. Deniz Ince, with the help of his rheumatologist dad, studied joint pain among his fellow video game enthusiasts, aged 7 to 12. More than an...

Rock Band Hits the iPhone

Oct 19, 2009 12:01 PM CDT

Rock Band Hits the iPhone

The New Video Gamer Is a Chick

Females now constitute 40% of players

(Newser) - In 2001, women and girls constituted just 12% of video gamers; now, fully 40% of game players are female, and the gaming industry has taken notice. EA, Sony, Nintendo, and several other companies are rolling out new products catering to girls, from a dancing game to a Hannah Montana adventure...

War Games
Help Vets
Cope With
PTSD

Sep 29, 2009 9:02 AM CDT

War Games Help Vets Cope With PTSD

Psychologists say virtual reality allows vets to confront and overcome trauma

(Newser) - Using realistic war games to re-create the sights, sounds, and even smells of combat is helping veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder in several clinical trials. Games like Virtual Iraq—modeled on Full Spectrum Warrior—help psychologists bring patients back to traumatic events and break down mental barriers. Researchers say the...

Nintendo Cuts Wii to $200
in Price War With Sony

Sep 24, 2009 8:24 AM CDT

Nintendo Cuts Wii to $200 in Price War With Sony

Console maker slashes price at opening of Tokyo Game Show

(Newser) - Nintendo is slashing the price of its Wii console by 20% worldwide, bringing the US price to $200—a cut announced just as Sony was beginning its presentation at the annual Tokyo Game Show. The prices of Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox were both dropped to $300 lately as the...

Army Recruiters'
Video Arcade
Draws Fire

Sep 11, 2009 5:26 PM CDT

Army Recruiters' Video Arcade Draws Fire

Simulations ignore 'reality of war itself:' Pulitzer winner Chris Hedges

(Newser) - The Army Experience Center in Philadelphia—a sort of video arcade/recruiting center—has numerous detractors, and those opponents have an influential ally. “This is just a new version of an old attempt” at recruiting, Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges tells dscriber. The...

Guitar Hero 5
Uses Cobain's
Image Illegally: Love

Sep 10, 2009 4:58 PM CDT

Guitar Hero 5 Uses Cobain's Image Illegally: Love

Nirvana frontman's widow threatens to sue Activision

(Newser) - Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, says she plans to sue Activision for allegedly including the Nirvana frontman’s image in its Guitar Hero 5 without permission, MTV reports. “For the record this Guitar Hero shit is breach of contract on a Bullys part and there will be a proper...

Stones Legend
Bashes Guitar Hero

Sep 9, 2009 4:54 AM CDT

Stones Legend Bashes Guitar Hero

Real instruments gathering moss, Wyman complains

(Newser) - The growth of video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band means fewer real guitar heros in the future, complains former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. Playing the games "encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and...

Rock Band Matures
With Beatles Edition

TECH REVIEW

Sep 7, 2009 5:06 PM CDT

Rock Band Matures With Beatles Edition

Game is good, clean cross-generational fun

(Newser) - The Beatles: Rock Band successfully brings the winning music-game formula to one of rock’s biggest names, writes Elizabeth Landau for CNN. Designed to be played by as many as six, the game "does make for a great time and will probably be a hit at parties." Meanwhile,...

Playing Tetris
Boosts Brain
Power

Sep 2, 2009 6:15 AM CDT

Playing Tetris Boosts Brain Power

Study claims game has building blocks for better grey matter

(Newser) - Playing Tetris leaves people's brains better-equipped to deal with more than just an onslaught of falling blocks, according to a new study. Researchers—funded by the video game's makers—took brain scans of adolescent girls before and after three months of daily Tetris playing and found that some parts of...

Iran Launches Islamic
Video Games

Aug 21, 2009 5:54 AM CDT

Iran Launches Islamic Video Games

(Newser) - Video game developers are in Cologne for one of Europe's biggest gaming conventions, and one booth is standing out: the Iranian National Foundation for Computer Games, which is trying to get a foothold in the West. The games have a decidedly nationalist slant, reports the BBC. One game is a...

Video Games: The New Prozac

Aug 18, 2009 10:26 AM CDT

Video Games: The New Prozac

Classic time-wasters seem to ease the symptoms of depression in studies

(Newser) - If depression's got you down, it might be time to turn to your Wii over your wee blue pills, reports the Washington Post in a look at how video games might ease the disease. For one depression sufferer, Bejeweled was "a big help in getting through to the next...

The 10 Best iPhone Games

Aug 11, 2009 6:06 PM CDT

The 10 Best iPhone Games

PC World finds the best shooters, puzzle and sports games

(Newser) - The App Store has thousands programs for sale. Which are worth your time and money? PC World sifts through the junk to give you the best games:

Real Soccer 2009. A superb game with intuitive controls.
Strategery. A single and multi-player “board” game in the vein of Risk, Strategery

...

Upgraded Remote Gives Wii New Spark

Tech Review

Aug 5, 2009 11:12 AM CDT

Upgraded Remote Gives Wii New Spark

MotionPlus yields more accurate control, heralds things to come

(Newser) - With sales slowing, the Wii needs a shot in the arm, and Nintendo thinks it’s found one with Wii MotionPlus, a little accessory that plugs into the bottom of the controller, giving it a gyroscope that can detect more subtle motions. The results are nice, writes Katherine Boehret for...

Wii Bowling a
Strike With Seniors

Jul 22, 2009 3:33 PM CDT

Wii Bowling a Strike With Seniors

(Newser) - Seniors are wholeheartedly embracing Wii Bowling as a fun social activity mercifully devoid of the weight of an actual ball, the Chicago Tribune reports. “Can you think of anything better to do?” says the president of a league at a Chicago-area retirement community. “It's the piece de resistance ...

iPhone App Offers
School Shooter Game

Jul 20, 2009 11:45 AM CDT

iPhone App Offers School Shooter Game

Critics wonder how, why Apple approved

(Newser) - A new iPhone game that glorifies school shootings somehow got through the Apple screeners, PC World reports. “Zombie School,” from the just-as-politically-incorrect company Retarded Arts, lets players pick off “zombie” cheerleaders, principals, and quarterbacks from atop a “zombie shooting tower.” Worse, adds TechCrunch, is the...

Video Games May
Stave Off Mental Decline

glossies

Jul 11, 2009 7:23 PM CDT

Video Games May Stave Off Mental Decline

(Newser) - Shelling goblins and building medieval empires may be perfect ways to stave off cognitive decline, Anita Hamilton writes in Time. Research already shows that challenging tasks can keep brains sharp in old age, but now multi-million-dollar studies are getting the elderly to play video games—not puzzle or math games,...

The Top Arcade Classics

OPINION

Jul 7, 2009 7:15 PM CDT

The Top Arcade Classics

Star Wars impressed, but Donkey Kong was barrels of fun

(Newser) - They may seem primitive alongside your Wii, but lest we forget the glory days of arcade games, Peter Hartlaub counts down the best in the San Francisco Chronicle. The top five:

Donkey Kong: 30 years on, “they’re making documentaries about this incredible video game,” whose barrel-throwing gorilla

...

Universal Turning
Atari's '70s Asteroids
Game Into Movie

Jul 3, 2009 6:30 AM CDT

Universal Turning Atari's '70s Asteroids Game Into Movie

Crudely drawn '70s arcade classic to become full-length film

(Newser) - Universal Studios has shot down three rivals to win the movie rights to the classic '70s Atari game Asteroids, reports the Hollywood Reporter. Matt Lopez, writer of Disney's Bedtime Stories, has been tasked with turning the game's story of a spaceship firing at crudely drawn rocks and the occasional flying...