Kit Guru Games

Either you like the Valkyria Chronicles series, or you don’t.  It’s one of those series that people have trouble classifying: while it’s clearly a strategy-driven series, it also has RPG/JRPG elements.  The first game in the series received nominations and won multiple awards in the RPG category – nominated by GameTrailers for “Best Role-Playing Game,” awarded “Playstation 3 RPG of... more.

In the intro of my second article for KitGuru, I wrote: Every kid (even those aged 40+) wants to build new, unique worlds where they can let their imaginations go wild.  Don’t you remember the days of building forts out of couch cushions, empires out of LEGO’s?  This free play experience has been loosely emulated in games like Age of Empires and The Sims, building up your empire and resource... more.

Newspapers, critics, and scientists can never seem to make up their minds about video games.  Do video games cause obesity, or can they have a positive impact on your health and the health of the elderly? Do video games promote or in fact prevent violent behavior? Is there any educational merit among video games for children, or are they harmful for child development?  As video games are shiftin... more.

What do we really know about the lives of developers who spend thousands of hours, painstakingly developing games for consumers?  You may have a rough idea of what goes on at big developing companies, but do you know anything about the lives and dedication of independent game developers? Indie game developers devote years of their lives to creating games without the advantages of a full develo... more.

If, like me you are in your thirties you might remember the original Choplifter game which was released in 1982 for the Apple II. A few years later it was ported over to other home computers and then in 1985 Sega released an arcade version which proved popular. Choplifter was a simple game, yet incredibly addictive. The premise was to shoot down enemy weaponry in your path and to rescue friendl... more.

I hesitate to post this article since there are already so many horrible stereotypes about Americans, and this piece of news reaches an entirely new level of insanity.  Before long, a new spin will be put on social gaming…The Pentagon itself is spending massive amounts of money ($32 million!) for universities, researchers, and game companies to develop games for casual players to test US weapon... more.

Yes, you read the title correctly.  There are indeed video games that improve mental health for the older generation.  So get out the pocketbook and start buying video games for your grandparents! The study was done by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine to determine the impact of interactive exercise games.  Turns out these games improve brain function, protecting from cognitive imp... more.

Mario eats mushrooms, Yoshi spits out turtle shells, RPG characters consume potions and ethers.  Food has a magical purpose in video games – improving stamina, restoring health and even bringing people back from the dead.  To be honest, I never thought much about the food in video games.  I just took it for granted that mushrooms could make Mario grow bigger and Phoenix Downs could restore li... more.

Long gone are the days when all video games required sitting on the couch for hours upon hours.  Now we have the Wii, PlayStation Move, Xbox Kinect.  Video games are changing, the way we interact with games is changing. Health professionals are looking to video games to determine whether exercise games can be just as beneficial as regular aerobic exercise.  Games like Wii Sports require ... more.

We’ve all been there – fights with your parents/spouse/kids to turn off the video game.  After all, the world at large knows video games are just a waste of time…right?  So what if you had the opportunity to play video games and be able to say, “Yeah Mom, I played Zelda all day long…but I helped a bunch of hospitalized kids because of it.  So what did you do today?”  That’s a pre... more.