Kotaku just released a tidbit about an upcoming book about children and violent video games. It's noted that this book details studies that contradicts what Jack Thompson and many others try to claim: that violent video games turn children in violent, killing machines. As quoted:

Until now, the most-publicized studies came from a small group of experimental psychologists, studying college students playing nonviolent or violent games for 15 minutes. It's debatable whether those studies are relevant to real children, playing self-selected games for their own reasons (not for cash or extra credit!), in social settings, over many years. But media reports and political rhetoric often ignore that distinction.

 It's going to be interesting to see if this gets any publicity and how those with opposing views are going to react to this. and how they respond.

The Violent Gaming Book to Buy Your Parents [kotaku.com]

Tags: thoughts, news, links

So I finally beat Uncharted last night. The game was nothing short of amazing, I'd have to put it as one of the best games of 2007 and one of the best games I've ever played. It brings a lot to the table, it has great gameplay, the controls are pretty intuitive and easy to control, graphics are top-notch, and it has one of the best storylines I've seen in a while. The story is one of the biggest appeals of the game as it keeps you wanting to see what happens next. The ending was pretty good and leaves it wide open for a sequel should Naughty Dog choose to.

So, if you have a PS3 and DON'T have Uncharted, get it, its worth it.

Tags: uncharted, ps3, life

GTA IV just recently got its release date of April 29 and a lot of people are a buzz about it. To me though, I can't say I'm that excited about it. I've played GTA 3, Vice City, and Liberty City Stories, as well as GTA2, and none of them really held my attention and interest. Each game that came out, the same thing would happen. I would get the game, play for maybe 2 hours then uninstall it. The first 45 minutes or so I would actually play the game normally and try and complete the missions. After that, I would do what most people do, wreck havoc in the city doing exactly what Jack Thompson hates about the game, kill everything that moves. That holds my attention for maybe 30 minutes, and then the game is dead to me. So why should I spend $60 on a game that just interests me for about 2 hours?

GTA IV's graphics do look good, and it has nothing to do with the game in itself. The game does what its supposed to do well. It does fit the game's style and some people can play those games for hours or days on end, but to me the game just gets boring after a short while.

I'm normally always about replay value when I buy games. If a game will only get me a couple hours of fun, its just not worth it to me, especially with today's prices of $50-60 a pop. I'm not completely against the game so much that I won't buy it no matter what, but I won't be looking at reviews to decide on my purchase. With this one, it will be friends' experience that will pretty much be the deciding factor. If I'm going to get this game, it will have to add A LOT to the game in itself to the point that I will be completely convinced they added enough to get more gameplay in to be worth it.

Are you gonna get it on relase?

Tags: thoughts, gta, overhype

In what is probably one of my most anticipated games of 2008, Ubisoft has now released another teaser trailer for Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. While it is all CG, it still looks sweer and I'm anxious to see some in-game footage.

Tags: rainbowsix, vegas2, teaser

So a little under a month ago, I decided to get back into World of Warcraft as I had a lot of fun with it previously. Tonight I think after dinner and when I finish my laundry, I think I'm gonna be getting on my level 70 mage and see what havoc I can bring on. I played a bit on my level 39 warrior last night and I haven't really done much with my mage as of late so I figure get some playing time in there. I still need to figure out what I exactly need to do for Kara as it seems to be a pretty popular thing for 70s.

Work is going slow today, hope it speeds up a bit.

Tags: wow, worldofwarcraft, pc, mmo