Want to Smell Like Mega Man? Here’s Your Chance (I’m Not Kidding Either!)

“Fragrance Company Aims to Capture the Scent of Videogames”  – That is the title that jumped out at me as I scanned Google News today.  After clicking the article to reveal the sentence, “Mega Man is the first game character to receive a personalized aroma,” I thought there was no possible way it could be a real news article.   No, clearly something out of The Onion or some other sat... more.

It is not solely the storytelling, graphics, and gameplay that make or break a game, and it is not always the collaboration of each of these elements that makes a game better than one that only incorporates one or two of these elements.  Although gameplay sets video games apart from other mediums (just as images set films apart from novels), I contend that it is not merely the gameplay that turns... more.

I recently wrote an article titled “The Future of Prestigious Awards for Video Games – Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, Etc.” that I reposted on Gamasutra and was cited as a feature post.  I wrote about the possibility of the video game industry to someday gain credibility in the form of prestigious award ceremonies similar to the Pulitzer and Noble Prizes. Upon beginning to write responses ... more.

In a recent article, we noted the popularity that video games gained in the UK, surpassing dolls on the wish lists of young girls.  Experts cite this as a beneficial trend, given the importance of technology in modern life. An US-based video game lab is taking this one step further, using video games to gauge the technological capabilities of students.  According to the press release on Marke... more.

When will video games be taken seriously?  When video games (or their creators, rather) take themselves seriously… The basic guideline for a Nobel Prize in Literature is that the work signifies, “the greatest benefit on mankind in an ideal direction.”  While you certainly cannot encapsulate the full impact of this definition in one short paragraph, the general spirit of this guideline ... more.

Games are pushing the limits in ways the creators couldn’t have anticipated – helping children learn, aiding people in their quests for weight loss, etc.  Now there is a conference dedicated specifically to the games intended to make a difference. Games for Change was created to discuss and showcase games for social change.  In addition to a wide variety of presentations (including a keyn... more.

While it is widely known that Japanese and American cultures are integral to modern video games, the influence of Norse mythology is often taken for granted. After all, what fantasy game doesn’t include references to some Norse deity or creatures derived from the ancestors of the Vikings?  Scandinavia is what I like to call “the forgotten Europe,” since people without ties to the region ... more.

Before we had iPods, cds, cassettes, 8-tracks, records, TV’s, Blu-ray players, DVD players, VHS tapes, etc…we had stories.  Storytelling was the earliest form of entertainment, and while a select percentage of the world still engages in traditional storytelling around the campfire, storytelling still drives the world. Storytelling propels ads on TV, emotionally-wrought individuals on the r... more.

“In some ways, video games have saved my life.”  It’s nearly impossible to imagine what would prompt someone to say that line and be completely serious. Video games are a new fad in Somalia, as the country just recently gained access to this form of entertainment.  It was just last year when those in power (the al-Shabab militants) banned movies and video games, so Somalis are being acq... more.

It’s no secret that California (and more specifically Silicon Valley) is home to some of the most influential companies in the world…Google, Yahoo, eBay, Netflix – each play a significant role in shaping global business, and Californian manpower is equally as prominent within the video game industry. Many prominent game studios are headquartered in California, such as Blizzard, EA, and Lu... more.