October 8, 2008
Play N Trade stores commenting on female gamers
I got this release from Play N Trade today about girls who game, citing some data from the Entertainment Software Association. Just so you guys know, there are Play N Trades in Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana and Pomona. Check it out:
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Ontario, CA (Grassroots Newswire) October 8, 2008 -- There was once a time
when video games were dominated and mastered by the male gender, with only the occasional token female joining the club. But evolution has led the virtual world into uncharted territory as a new generation of "geeks" has emerged.
According to the Entertainment Software Association's 2008 report, over 40
percent of "gamers" are women, and today, women 18 years or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent).
The multitude of games with themes that women are more interested in may be fueling the trend, says Tom McMahon, CEO of Play N Trade, one of the largest video game franchises.
"Games such as American Idol, Guitar Hero, The Sims and even Tomb Raider are appealing to females and so the market is changing. We've seen firsthand how both girls and women are gaining interest in video games and making up a big part of our customer base," McMahon said.
Play N Trade is meeting the demands of those new customers by increasing their inventory in stores to accommodate the female gamers' selection. Store employees and staff are also educating them on what types of games they may like that are new to the market and they can try that in the store before they buy. Some of the company's tournaments are now being geared towards the females.
And with the trend comes more video game blogs and Web sites dominated by girl gamers, as well as marketing campaigns directed specifically to females - something that was once an anomaly in the industry.
In addition to being consumers, as the number of "female gamers" grows and
widely accepted games develop, the motivation for women to become more dominant in career fields such as video game development and programming becomes a possibility, McMahon said.
"It's very exciting to see women getting involved and becoming gamers. It opens up a whole new world of concepts: they are force driving and reshaping the gaming industry," McMahon said. "It'll be interesting to see how things unfold with this new trend."
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Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)
October 6, 2008
Review: Lego Batman
Forget the critical accolades, fan worship and commercial success -- if you have a Lego game made after your franchise, you can officially call it a cultural icon. It happened with Star Wars, it happened with Indiana Jones -- and now it's happening with Batman.
Lego Batman, developed by Traveller's Tales, deftly feeds off the momentum created by the recent Christopher Nolan films while paying cute, comical homage to the entire mythos surrounding the Caped Crusader. What you get is a romp fit for Batman fans of all degrees.
While the Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones games were essentially goofy-but-faithful remakes of the movies, the story of Lego Batman is entirely original. All of the inmates of Arkham Asylum -- Joker, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Scarecrow -- have managed to escape, and it's up to Batman and Robin to round them all up.
The highlight of any Lego game is the simple, user-friendly gameplay, and that still hasn't changed. Batman and Robin use their supreme hand-to-hand fighting skills to bash their enemies into scattered pieces most of the time, but players also get to use Batarangs and grappling hooks to traverse the multitude of creative obstacles they come across.
The Batarang mechanic is especially cool, functioning a little like a Robotech missile-lock system, where you can "trace" the path of the Batarang to strike multiple targets. You can also "build" a variety of funny items like ice cream trucks, balloon cannons and mini-areas where you can change costume.
One of the more enjoyable aspects of the game is the gadgetry, where our heroes can don different "tech suits" equipped with different abilities. For instance, Robin can wear a suit which lets him walk on walls, while Bats can get a suit which lets him set bombs, or a "sonic" suit which lets him shatter glass.
Of course, you're also get command of the various Batman vehicles, such as the Batmobile (the one from the Tim Burton movies, not the tumbler), which comes equipped with machine guns and a tow cable.
Another cool twist in the game is the ability to play as villains, complete with their own missions of treachery. While one of Batman's missions might be to protect Commissioner Gordon, the mission for the Joker and Harley Quinn would be to kidnap him. Each of the villains has their own unique attacks, like the Joker's joy buzzer of death.
Other parts of the Batman universe that are in the game are the Batcave, which serves as your mission hub level, and Arkham Asylum, which serves as the hub level for the villains.
The only small gripes I have with this game deal with rare spells of tediousness, where I feel live I've been doing nothing but bashing enemies for hours. You'll also get the occasional moment where you're not quite sure where to go or what to do with a puzzle. You never really "die" in the game, which is good, considering there's a lot of platforming here.
Other than being the best-looking Lego game out there, Lego Batman might be also the most complete. There's more than enough action and subtle comedy to be enjoyed by multiple players, and it should be more than enough to satisfy even the darkest of the Dark Knight's followers.
Score: 8.5/10
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 3:14 PM | Comments (0)
October 3, 2008
E for All starts today ...
Just for kicks, here's the list of exhibitors there at the L.A. Convention Center. If you've never heard of this before (and judging from what I saw last year, that's possible), learn more about it here.
Here's who's there:
Academy of Art University Booth #735
Beijing Fontelysee Film & TV Co, Ltd. Booth #1142
Beyond Protocol Booth #643
BoomChair Booth #940
Boston America Corp Booth #1434
CH Products Booth #1235
DDR Game Booth #1335
DeVry University Booth #937
Dude Thing Creations Booth #841
EA Arcade Booth #1000
Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) Booth #1601
Fatal1ty Booth #301
Fusion-io Booth #345
Fusion-io Booth #635
Game Arts Booth #1534
Gamer Grub Booth #935
Gameskulls Entertainment Inc. Booth #1334
Girls Entertainment Network Booth #1040
Intel Dell Extreme Gaming Tour Booth #313
Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge Booth #1211
LapWorks, Inc Booth #941
Mad-Gear Booth #1436
Mana Energy Potion Booth #1034
Mayflash Limited Booth #1603
Mindark / Entropia Universe Booth #434
Music Wizard Group Booth #440
NOVA Gaming Booth #1043
National University Booth #1036
Nexon America, Inc Booth #601
NoS Energy Drink Booth #1605
PlayHut, Inc Booth #835
Signature Devices, Inc. Booth #1609
TN Games Booth #428
Target Corporation Booth #723
Target Corporation Booth #835
Tritton Technologies Booth #742
Ubisoft Booth #743
Westwood College Booth #1435
World Cyber Games Booth #649
Xbox 360 Games for Windows Pavilion Booth #1012
YNK Interactive Booth #335
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I'll be checking this out on Saturday, but I'm not really expecting any big highlights like last year, where people got to play Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Konami's not there this year. Neither is Sony. Or Nintendo. Or a lot of other companies.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)
October 1, 2008
Behold ... an eco friendly clock from Bedol
Thought I'd change things up a bit with some non-gaming stuff. Here's a release on a "green" clock from Mark Bedol, an inventor who has a store in Claremont.
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The Bedol Water-Powered Clock is the first item in the company's "Green"
product line. The invention company, known for its modern and practical
designs, presents a new approach to traditional water clock technology.
Los Angeles, CA- The Bedol Water-Powered Clock, with its stylish
circular design and bright attractive colors, makes it a fun, versatile
and environmentally friendly product for everyday use. Filling the
clock's tank with tap water and a dash of plain table salt in the water
is all that's needed for the clock to harvest energy and operate.
Bedol products have been sold at selected retailers nationwide such as
Saks Fifth Ave, Neiman Marcus and Macy's.
Bedol is committed to do their part for the environment by offering
eco-friendly alternatives to everyday products. The Bedol Water-Powered
Clock presents customers with a digital clock that eliminates the need
for batteries.
A great feature for holiday gift ideas, this stylish desktop clock will
please the eco-conscious and gadget-savvy person on everyone's gift list.
Bedol features the latest in innovative products that gives a fun and
edgy spin to traditional household and office items.
Mark Bedol, company founder, established the Bedol brand with popular
inventions and designs such as: Checkmaster, a checkbook calculator that
simultaneously balances three different accounts, the sleek looking
spider clock and the SuperSmart line of children's school supplies.
Bedol products are also available at the company store: Bedol What's
Next, located at 456 W. First St. in Claremont, California 91711 (in
Southern California outside of Los Angeles) or www.bedolwhatsnext.com
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Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2008
'Fracture' arrives in the mail
While others are ensnared in the beta for LBP, I'm getting an ahead look on Fracture, another game from LucasArts. I'm actually a little timid about LucasArts these days, given the life-shortening experience that was "The Force Unleashed."
While embargo rules prevent me from formally reviewing Fracture until early October, I can at least take solace in the fact that the game works. Instant plus. No random freezing, glitches or anything else that would make the think the game wasn't finished. The terraforming mechanics take some getting used to, and I get the feeling that playing with dirt is going to get old, no matter how cool the weapons are. We'll see when I plunge further into the game. One thing that's making an impact are the physics. I like seeing how stuff falls here.
I still owe you guys some stuff about Resistance 2. I'll get that up when I carve out a little more time over the weekend. I'm also waiting on approval to check out E for All.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 8:05 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2008
Review: Star Wars - The Force Unleashed
Some people want to fly like Superman. Others want to climb walls like Spidey.
But me? I wanted the Force.
You can move stuff with your mind, shoot lightning from your fingers and carry a light saber. What's not to love?
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was supposed to represent the apex of that fantasy, and for chunks of the journey, it did. But a funny thing happened while I was living this dream -- this game made me want to punch holes in the wall.
While the Force is strong in this piece of work from LucasArts, so is its penchant for frustration. Whatever greatness it has is neutered by glitches and other problems that would require a Jedi-like mindset to even tolerate, much less ignore.
Continue reading "Review: Star Wars - The Force Unleashed"
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2008
Checking out 'Resistance 2' this week, too
I'm going to get some hands-on time with Sony and Resistance 2 in Los Angeles later this week, which is good considering I spent much of my E3 visit staring at Killzone 2 and LBP. I'll be sure to take pics, share thoughts, etc. when I get back. You'll see it Thursday night or Friday morning.
EDIT: Because I can't read, I didn't notice the embargo note at the bottom of the invite I got. So, I really can't talk about Resistance 2 until next week. My apologies.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)