What We’re Playing is an occasional post from the Center for Games & Impact Innovation Lab highlighting fun and interesting games we’ve played recently, whether work-related or not. This month we will highlight games that our players thought might made good holiday gift ideas. In this first post check out game gift ideas for teens through adults who play on the PC or console systems. In our next few posts we will also make recommendations for younger players and mobile gamers.
**Note: Each game’s image is linked to the game or developer website where you can find more information about the game and purchasing.
A 2014 Favorite: Transistor (Steam, Mac, PS4)
Adam Ingram-Goble, CGI Director of Innovations, played the action roleplaying game, Transistor, this year and really enjoyed the experience. “Transistor is a sci-fi action game from Supergiant Games, the same studio that brought us Bastion (also a great game),” he says. “One of the things I love about Transistor is how it creates a playful narrative around programming and operating system concepts, such as processes, interrupts, and scheduling. As a result it is a beautiful role-playing game that leverages computational-thinking skills and knowledge to drive the action-strategy game mechanics. It is also relatively short, has a cute narrative, but it’s worth noting that it does include a traumatic ending.”
Recently Released: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox, PlayStation, PC)
Michael Garcia, CGI Innovation Lab Designer, recommends the new generation, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare (CoD: AW), saying this edition added some new features that weren’t mind bending, but adds refreshing new dynamics for fans of the old Call of Duty formula. “The exoskeleton robotic system designed to make soldiers stronger, faster and heighten their reflexes on the battlefield allowed them to jump dash and sprint faster and higher then previous games,” he said. “This makes the game play a much quicker and an intense experience.”
Serious Gamer: Civilization 5 (PC, Mac)
Doug Woolsey, CGI Lead Game Designer, says Civilization 5 is the gift for new and experienced gamers, alike. He adds, “If the gamer in your life does not have Civ 5, they haven’t earned their gamer wings. It is an excellent strategy game with tremendous replayability and provides opportunities for players interested in exploring strategies not restricted to warfare. With excellent community support and a lot of extra content, Civ V is an experience into which a gamer can sink hundreds of hours.”
An Older Game for a Newer Gamer: Journey (PS3)
Graduate Student Fellow, Earl Aguilera, recommends Journey and recommends it for those that might be new to the world of gaming. He says, “My mind can’t help but go back to my first experience with Journey (Playstation 3) back in 2012. The game’s intriguing presentation, intuitive controls, and subtle, yet compelling storytelling blend beautifully to create a memorable experience for both experienced and first-time gamers alike.”
Revisiting a “Classic”: Portal2 (PC/Mac, Xbox 360, PS3)
Michael Springer, Contributing Blogger, also recommends a game that’s been around for a bit. He says, “for anyone who missed it when it was new, Portal2 is certainly worth tracking down. You wake up in the distant future, unsure of your past, and must make your way through an old research facility, solving puzzles to continue moving forward. While fun in single-player mode, Portal 2 includes a cooperative 2-player mode with a different set of puzzles from the single-player game. With recent console games, multiplayer often means playing with others online, but Portal 2 allows you to actually play with someone else in the same room as you. There is also very little violence, although the difficulty of the puzzles might not make this appropriate for very young.”
What games are you giving?
What did we miss that belongs on this list? Do you have a favorite game gift that you’re giving this year for the teen through adult audience? Please share the titles and a sentence or two about why you’re choosing to gift the game.
What We’re Playing is a twice-a-month series from the Center for Games & Impact Innovation Lab highlighting some of the interesting games we have played, whether work-related or not. Please join in and comment with your takes on the games mentioned, or to share what you’ve recently played that has left an impression on you. Check out our last post here.
In this edition of What We’re Playing – setting the mood for Halloween! It should be no surprise that a group of gamers is excited for Halloween at the end of the month. When I checked in with the team to see what they were playing since the beginning of October, it turned out most of us were playing games that somehow turned up the creep factor, whether in large or small ways. As usual, click the game image to jump right to its section, otherwise scroll down to read our quick takes on Limbo, Papa Sangre, and Don’t Starve.
Limbo: Disturbing… Dark… Beautiful
Kelly Tran, Graduate Student Fellow
Learn more about Limbo: http://playdead.com/
I recently revisited the game Limbo, and found that it is still as haunting as ever. Although it may appear whimsical at first glance, the game has a pervading eeriness that makes it exceptionally creepy. The player assumes the role of a young boy who is traveling through.. a dream? The afterlife? It is up to the player’s imagination to fill in most of the details of the story. The game’s palette is a moody greyscale, and everything is shown in silhouette. The player never sees anything in the game in color or detail.
This makes it even creepier when the looming shadow of a giant spider emerges from a tree to impale the young boy, or an unseen bear trap in the tall grass ensnares him. The death animations here are brutal, and the player is sure to see them many times throughout the course of the game. However, despite the violent and often disturbing nature of this game, there is an undeniable beauty to it as well. The animations are fluid and elegant, and the world itself is rendered in a softly hazy way, reminiscent of a dream. Were it not for the multitude of dangers that the player faces, the game’s setting would seem almost serene. While Limbo is a very dark game, its uniquely haunting atmosphere makes it well worth playing.
Papa Sangre: Seeing with your ears
Juli James, Coordinator, Sr.
Learn more about Papa Sangre: http://www.papasangre.com/
Papa Sangre is an audio-driven horror game that I played on my iPhone. It was really interesting experience because it was the first time I played a game where I had to “see with my ears.” As a horror experience, Papa Sangre offers intense sounds that made the hair on my neck stand straight up. The story is that I am dead, trapped in the afterlife and I have to navigate a series of rooms to save my love and escape together. As an interesting game play experience, Papa Sangre is played with headphones the entire experience is sound – to get through a room I had to move using the top of the iPhone screen to turn toward or away from sounds, and by tapping alternately on the bottom of the screen to simulate walking. In each room there was a sleeping (snoring, snarling) monster that you must navigate around (WITHOUT WAKING), a light to pick up (a chiming sound that gets louder as you approach), and a door to exit (a beeping sound). If you wake the monster by walking too close to it or bumping into something, it would chase you and eat you while you shriek in terror and pain.
I enjoy mobile gaming and different gaming experiences, I came across this title while reading a piece on gaming accessibility and was not disappointed by the mechanics of having to navigate by sounds – which is a pretty interesting experience. It helps to close your eyes to play this game. If you are looking for a different kind of mobile experience full of creep factor and immersion where sound is not just the atmosphere but also the mechanic – I highly recommend checking out Papa Sangre. The sequel, Papa Sangre II, will be released at the end of the month and I am looking forward to playing it, perhaps right on Halloween!
Don’t Starve: Creepy Minecraft on steroids
Sam Robison, Innovation Lab Intern
Learn more about Don’t Starve: http://www.dontstarvegame.com/
I started playing Don’t Starve after scrolling around to find something to play on the Center’s PS4. Don’t Starve caught my eye and I decided to play it.
The game starts out with an creepy cartoonish animation. Your character, Wilson, is in his attic trying to ‘do science’ (and is failing). Then, his radio starts talking to him and claims to have the secret of knowledge and offers to share it with him. Wilson graciously accepts the offer and builds a machine that causes a set of shadowy hands to appear from the floor and drag him into a new world.Once Wilson is in the new world a figure appears and says something like, “You don’t look too good. Find food before night falls.”
At that point, I was then sent loose without any explanation of what to do next. I began to think of the game as a creepy version of Minecraft on steroids. The gameplay consists of exploring the world, dealing with monsters, managing hunger, maintaining sanity, and collecting supplies. The only goal of the game is to stay alive as long as possible. Unlike Minecraft, once you die you cannot respawn, but you can but you can play again and again, and try to get better.
What are you playing?
What are you playing that’s making the hair on the back of your next stand-up? Share your favorite Halloween plays with us in the comments!
What We’re Playing is a twice-a-month series from the Center for Games & Impact Innovation Lab highlighting some of the interesting games we have played, whether work-related or not. Please join in and comment with your takes on the games mentioned, or to share what you’ve recently played that has left an impression on you. Check out our last post on Destiny here.
This week members of our team experimented with music and rhythm, had a hand at keeping up with changing policies and managing immigration documentation, and one of us lead his sons through a journey controlling two brothers… Click on the game image to jump right to its write up, or just scroll down.
Moving to the pulse
Adam Ingram-Goble, Director of Innovations
Pulse is a music and rhythm game available on iPad and Android tablets that I find I just have to keep playing. It is a mechanically simple music game, based on tapping nodes orbiting a central “speaker” as pulses of sound radiate out to the edges of the screen. The combination of music with pacing of pulses and the distribution of orbiting nodes creates an experience that engages my whole body as I play. I find myself grooving in my chair, or getting up and dancing with the rhythm to keep my hands moving to the music…which feels a bit amazing given that I’m playing on an iPad.
Pulse is one of my favorite games to introduce non-gamers to gaming because it simple to learn, and has a well-designed challenge ramp that keeps players engaged. One of the most fascinating aspects to the game is how strongly embodied gameplay is, given it is a tablet game. The musical experience is stronger than I’ve experience with Kinect-based dance games, which is really saying something.
More papers, please
Victoria Janacek, Innovation Lab Intern
When I heard of Papers, Please I assumed I would be playing either as some office worker (do not ask me about that logic) or a as an American police officer forced to stop anyone who was not white. Instead I found myself in the midst of the communist country of Artstotzka who had just ended a war and was intent on creating a border patrol area. And I got picked in their October Labor Lottery. Well lucky me! I would sure love to become the border control for a country due to my name being picked from a jar.
Nevertheless, Papers, Please is a game that should be boring. It should be, but it is not. I am not sure how creator Lucas Pope knew how to make checking passports interesting, but he did so with perfection. As the game progresses, nothing really becomes monotonous. In the first level only passports are required to pass the border checkpoint, however only Artstotzkans can be let in. But then in the second stage foreigners are allowed in provided they have the right information. As each level progresses a new mechanic is added to the mix. If the picture does not match the person you can get their fingerprints. If their documents are forged, you can detain them. In the case of terrorists… well I do not want to spoil too much of it now do I?
Brothers playing Brothers
Lee McIlroy, Researcher Specialist
My two boys and I recently played through Brothers, a unique puzzle game where a single player controls both brothers simultaneously. The story is rich with compelling narrative and beautiful artwork that carries the player through an epic journey.
The game’s narrative positions the two brothers as entirely dependent on each other in order to succeed. As a father, our collaboration on the game offered a meaningful opportunity – a teachable moment if you will – to my boys about the value of family, the importance that brothers have in each other’s life and how the choices they make together impact the world they engage with.
Each of us took turns trying to solve the various problems we encountered in the game. What was powerful was my boys’ ability to take turns, learn in the moment, and listen to each other to problem-solve together, which, as any parent knows well, isn’t always easy for siblings to do. As a father, I noticed my own inclination to step in and offer help too quickly. But, the game afforded me a lesson about the value of patience allowing my children to fail safely. For us, Brothers became a shared family activity rather than simply a game that we played.
What did you play this week? Let us know your thoughts on these games or share your different plays with us in the comments.
What We’re Playing is a twice-a-month series from the Center for Games & Impact Innovation Lab highlighting some of the interesting games we have played, whether work-related or not. Please join in and comment with your takes on the games mentioned, or to share what you’ve recently played that has left an impression on you.
Guardians Moon: Image from http://www.destinythegame.com/
This week’s “What We’re Playing” focuses on BungieStudios and Activision’s recently released game Destiny (2014). Maybe you’ve heard of it? Admittedly, I have not played it, though I was excited to hear Paul McCartney’s video game score. Anyway, this week we have three great players with their early takes on Destiny this week – two from our team in the Innovation Lab, and one from a former graduate student fellow. Have you played Destiny? Leave us your thoughts on Destiny in the comments.
You can skip right to Destiny game impressions from:
- Rebecca Hoffman, guest writer for the Center and former graduate student fellow who moved from the Center to Microsoft Research New England earlier this summer.
- Michael Garcia, Innovation Lab Designer for the Center for Games & Impact.
- Jessie McIntosh, Innovation Lab Intern for the Center for Games & Impact.
- Around the Web, a nowhere-near-comprehensive set of links to other write ups of Destiny from around the web.
Pausing in digital space: A moment to take in the skies
Rebecca Hoffman, Research Assistant, Microsoft Research
There is an overwhelming criticism, one perhaps even encroaching on fear, that we have become too attached to our smartphones and technology. This is something most apparent to me in the moments I’m standing on the subway platform, waiting for the train to arrive, and see faces turned downward, illuminated by the screens in their hands. We look up at the sky only through Instagram, see life in filters of Amaro and Walden.
Living in the city means I am almost unable to see the stars anymore, means that I don’t stop to look up as much as I might have used to when I was a child, but this is something realized instead by Destiny, a recent release from Bungie, the studio behind the well-loved Halo franchise. In the heat of battle, just as in the bustle of life, it is sometimes hard to remember to look around and see, with clarity, the beauty that surrounds us. Sometimes we simply can’t, because of where or how we live. But Destiny stops to pause every once in a while and presents the sweeping vistas of a future Earth rendered in gorgeous, lifelike graphics, of a tropical Venus, of the starry sky on the moon. I have watched the northern lights just as I used to in Skyrim, have watched the sun rise over Russia, have watched satellites and space stations float in the darkness of the cosmos. Even in the digital space, I can marvel over the beauty of our solar system, of our galaxy, of our universe. And though I might not be able to see those things from my own window in real life, I am reminded that they are there, hovering where the city lights can’t obscure them.
Perhaps it isn’t that we no longer stop to look up at the sky, but that we can simply do so in different ways.
Bringing the feeling of new back to the ‘ole first person shooter
Michael Garcia, Innovation Lab Designer
The creators of the popular game Halo – Bungie Studios and Activision – released their new game Destiny last week. Destiny, is a Sci-Fi persistent online first person shooter set in a distant future when the Earth has become a wasteland. The game sets the player on a path as a guardian to restore Earth’s savior and protector, the Traveler (a large planet-like celestial being). My thoughts while playing this week were that Destiny does not reinvent the wheel in first person shooter genre, but it does bring a new sense of teamwork, which has been lost to these games in recent years. I like that players can unite for random world events and join fire teams and complete missions together. By far, this is the most interesting aspect of Destiny. Destiny also caters to players with a more competitive side, but still requires team on opposing sides. My first impressions of Destiny are that it brings a new feeling back to the persistent online first person shooter. So far, new is good, and it seems at this point it can only get better. I plan to continue to invest time in playing Destiny and expect the “good” to change to “great”!
Jesse McIntosh, Innovation Lab Intern
Playing Destiny reminds me of many favorite games wrapped up into one neatly polished package. With the core gameplay revolving around the familiar Halo shooting style, I found myself reliving the days when XBox Live first became popular. Unlike Halo, Destiny contains many more elements that allow for personal customization. Instead of being locked in as Master Chief, I get to create my own guardian, choose his race (which only affects appearance), and his class. Meeting up with two of my friends online we stormed through the story missions and collect gear that is dropped by defeated enemies. As I level up and unlock more abilities and gear – like any good MMO – Destiny becomes more and more challenging and it is hard to put the controller down.
Even after completing the initial story missions my team and I group up to fight other players in the PvP arena, the Crucible. Defeating players in matches sometimes gives the reward of rare or legendary loot drops, and this is all the incentive I need to play the competitive multiplayer modes. Bounties can be taken out for both competitive and cooperative missions that give extra experience and other rewards. I find myself constantly going between Crucible matches and cooperative strikes to complete bounties and get my guardian to the highest level. In order to keep things fresh, the developers at Bungie will continue to add more maps, enemies, quests, and gear for some time to come through new raids and expansion packs. Knowing this keeps me committed, I’m ready to get back to playing so that I can continue my personal quest to “Become Legend”.
A few other takes on Destiny from around the web
- Destiny review: No Fate (via Polygon)
- 8 Things Bungie’s Destiny Does Very Well (via Time)
- In Defense of Destiny, What Bungie Got Right (via Forbes)
- ‘Destiny’ is a Beautiful Mess (via The Verge)
Welcome to the first of our new “What We’re Playing” blog series at the Center for Games & Impact. At the Center, we take the power of video games to bring about positive social impact very seriously. And, we also just enjoy playing new (or, new to us) games, sharing these experiences with you and hearing about what other people enjoy playing. This month a few of us spent time revisiting games for education and health, and one of us is enjoying navigating a world as his favorite DC superheroes.
Here are the games we are playing as we say good-bye to summer 2014 and beginning to dig in to the fall semester (*click on the game art to jump right to that summary):
Thinking with Portals, again, in Portal 2
Angelica Monserrate, Innovation Lab Student
Click to learn more about Portal 2.
Portal 2 has won awarded to numerous awards including winning the title of “Ultimate Game of the Year” in 2011. As a result of its success and fame, I was curious to play and see what the game was about. At each level, the Portal 2 teaches the player new ways to solve puzzles – whether it is getting a laser to point into a certain direction to open a door, or learning to use the different gels in the game – the player learns to manipulate tools and the space around them to advance to the next level. The concept sounds simple, but the puzzles get pretty complex.
I found myself really studying my surroundings in the game to strategize ways to get objects and move lasers around the room. Since this was my first time playing the game, it took me a while to understand what my task was, and find ways to solve the puzzles at a faster pace. The game really challenged me to think about how to use portals to think critically about how to use the space around me in the game. A few levels in I had to move my companion cube from another area of the room I was in, onto a moving platform, while I could not leave the platform… Without spoiling the puzzle, I’ll say that I really had to think beyond the obvious to place portals in the right place to move the cube. I enjoy the feeling of strategizing ways in order to solve the puzzle. Overall, I enjoyed playing this game because of its unique features and concept and I understand why so many people are in awe about the game.
Using Zombies to Rebuild a Running Grove
Juli James, Sr. Initiative Coordinator
Click to learn more about Zombies, Run!.
This week I started replaying Zombies, Run!, a mobile running game that I spent some time playing when I was just starting a new workout program. In Zombies, Run!, the player is a runner who is sent out on missions to collect supplies and weaponry for a survivor camp after, of course, a zombie apocalypse. There is also a bit of mystery built in for the player, trying to figure out what (or, perhaps who) caused the zombie outbreak, and what is happening in rival survivor camps. The game is a neat experience, and keeps your mind engaged in a story while working out, which can help when building up mental stamina for a new distance running program. It can also genuinely creep you out with zombie sound effects and chases, all while running in what looks like your very own neighborhood.
To play the game, I downloaded it to my iPhone, opened the app and made a few choices: 1) Do I feel like sprinting? Then, zombie chases = On. And, 2) How long do I feel like running? The player can set 30 minute or 1 hour workouts.
I noticed a few updates to the game since I first played. I liked discovering that it is now three seasons long (with each run equaling an episode) and includes a lot of new customization features for workouts. The developers added side missions where the player can pick up supplies in the real world by dropping a pin on the map, create unlimited length runs for supplies, customize interval training workouts, and complete races at various lengths (5k, 10k, 20k). There is also a 5k training plan (for an additional cost) for new runners (or those building up to the 5k distance). It is also important to know that this game can be used for a walking program as well, players do not have to include zombie chases to play the game, and, if a player chose to activate that feature for a walking session, the acceleration from casual walking to speed walking might be enough to evade zombies… (Or, maybe not!)
Role Playing as a Favorite DC Superhero
Mike Garcia, Innovation Lab Designer
Find out more about Injustice: Gods Among Us.
I am playing Injustice: Gods Among Us, from the new developers of Mortal Kombat series. Injustice uses the heroes of the Detective Comics (DC) universe, such as Batman and Superman, and pits them against each other in hand-to-hand combat using their powers, abilities, and tools in each match. The game’s story is an alternate universe where Superman is out of control and Batman must use a time warp device to bring other versions (not corrupt) of iconic DC superheroes to work together try and regain control. The game also has a challenge mode, where the player can fight against a series of random characters to climb the ranks of superheroes or villains.
Getting to play as my favorite superheroes and fighting and winning against my least favorites (cough… Superman…) was what drew me to Injustice: Gods Among Us. In comic books these heroes rarely fight each other, but the question of who would win if they did, interests me. Injustice allows for these fights to happen, and levels out the superpower-playing-field, so to speak. Generally, the game is a fun way to pass time, the rounds go quickly, and are a fun test of either your skills or button mashing abilities (depending on your fighting style). If you are a fan of superheroes, and fighting genre of games, I recommend giving Injustice a go. Play with a friend, and go head to head with your favorite superheroes to settle your debates over who is better.
Share your favorite plays this month with us!
Have you played any of these games? Tell us what you thought of Zombies, Run!, Portal 2, or Injustice: Gods Among Us. We are always looking for new games to play as well, share links to what you are playing right now, too.
If you didn’t catch the first post in our Round Up Series, make sure to give it a look. Last week’s post highlighted the exponentially growing world of eSports. This week, I asked the team to share what they have been playing.
Never Enough eSports
To start, some of us are still taking a look at eSports. Being that DOTA 2 is one of the most popular games in that area right now, it was no surprise to hear from Games & Impact Innovation Lab staffer Alex Cope that he just cannot tear himself away from the game. He says he really enjoyed the competition and getting to start new each time he plays:
“Well this is probably MOBA’s generally, the genre that DOTA is in…every game you start from scratch basically,” Cope said. “There’s no RPG leveling, so even if you’ve been playing for thousands of hours you still start level zero every game, no items. The whole point is to try and maximize your potential in each game. Depending on who your opponent is or what lane you’re in or what you’re doing, trying to get the best items is a different process ever time. It’s kind of like playing an actual sport, you don’t level up, you just have to score points all over again. There’s a cool mix between you trying to maximize your potential as a character – and there’s different roles. As a carrier you’re trying to score the most points and do the most damage, whereas the support is trying help that person maximize the damage they can do. So you’re trying to maximize your role as a part of a team but it’s a different process every time.
“There’s a certain competitive element to it that’s really addicting. It’s like an actual sport. It’s really hard to place it because often times my friends and I will be playing and if we lose it just feels so bad, like we’re not having any fun, but we will go back and play two more games afterwards. So yeah something about that competition is just a lot of fun.”
More about DOTA 2
Made by Valve, Dota 2 is becoming one of the most popular games on the Internet right now. “…here’s a quick update on the state of gaming: World of Warcraft (WoW) and MMORPGS are not the most popular games in the world as they once were in the early 2000′s; MOBA games rule the gaming world right now.” Dota 2 is a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game and can be found on Steam.
New News Games on our Playlist
ASU journalism professor Dan Gillmor joined us last week to talk about the ways in which games can play a role in teaching media literacy. In his survey of news games he mentioned:
- NarcoGuerra – “NarcoGuerra is Risk applied to the war on drugs; it’s hard, it’s political, it’s really quite good.” – PCGamesN
- Snowden Run – CBS has an article that describes the game in full here.
- Freedom of Information – A game that looks at the struggles of a journalist trying to get facts.
- Buildcraft – A mod of the all-popular Minecraft.
We put all of these on our to-play list and will share as we take a look at each of them. In the meantime, if you have played one of these, or another interesting news game recently, please comment and let us know what you thought.
Adventures in Interactive Text
Journalism initiative coordinator, Juli James, has been playing interactive narrative games as she researches teaching journalists to design games for news. This week she said she played an interactive text adventure called Shade. The completely text-based game is a horror short story and was made by Andrew Plotkin in 2000. He describes it as “A one-room game set in your apartment.”
“I enjoy interactive narrative games like the Walking Dead Game and Heavy Rain,” James said. “Recently, I began playing interactive text stories (think Zork from the 1980s). Shade is this style of game. Completely text based, it feels strange, uncomfortable, but in a good way. Like reading a Stephen King short story but getting to be the main character myself.”
Playing with Storytelling and Mechanics
Kat Dutchin, creative producer, is playing superbrothers: sword and sworcery on her iPad right now and is enjoying it. She said an interesting mechanic of the game is that you go through the virtual world in a 2D landscape, but when fight scenes occur, the screen rotates to portrait and a sword pops up for you to use. Sword and Sworcery ” is an elegant music-inspired adventure video game created for a broad, literate audience. It tells a short, dreamy story about a lone woman warrior on a tragic quest in a lush, haunted mountain wilderness.” -www.swordandsworcery.com.
Welcome to the Round Up Series
This is the first post for our new weekly round up series for the Center for Games & Impact blog. At the Center we are all dedicated to games and positive social impact but our team members work in a variety of disciplines. I love hearing about what everyone else is reading and playing as we are going along about our separate projects. Recently, it came up that we should share our discoveries with each other and even here on the blog every few weeks or so. Ta da! The Friday Round Up series is born. Every so often we will post interesting games, books, blogs, and articles that we have come across online serendipitously, or perhaps from preliminary research into an area.
We would also like to know what you found interesting this week. Share your own interesting reads and plays with us in the comments.
This Week’s Round Up: An Initial Look at eSports
For the past few weeks some of our team has been looking at sports games, specifically at EA Sports’s Madden series and its newest release, Madden 25. Our sports games writer, Ross Dunham, has a review of the game on deck so be on the lookout for that in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we have also started to look at the growing world of eSports. Here are some interesting reads Ross came across during his research this week:
About eSports
The US Now Recognizes eSports Players as Professional Athletes (Forbes.com)
“To the general public, the idea that those who play video games for a living have much in common with high level professional athletes might be laughable. But those involved with the scene understand the unique talent, skill and determination of the players mirrors that of “real” athletes, even if their physical fitness is different.”
Major League Gaming Looks to ESPN Model to Expand eSports Coverage (Forbes.com)
“Professional gaming continues to grow as a spectator sport, and Major League Gaming has presided over the dramatic expansion of the pastime in North America specifically the last few years. Their tournaments draw online stream viewers in the millions, while their average viewing times continue to rise with each passing event.”
Learning from eSports – 3 Ways to Make TV More Engaging Without the Second Screen (Gamification.co)
“For people who still watch regular broadcast television, it has become very common to actually watch TV while simultaneously using your laptop, phone, or tablet. Savvy networks like USA/NBC have picked up on this and created gamified mobile companion applications to engage with users as they both watch TV and browse on the net. There are compelling case-studies that outline the efficacy of this concept, coined the second screen, but I have not really seen any other kinds of engagement tactics for viewers. However, I found inspiration for new possible ways from the gamer community, and more specifically, the Dota 2 community.”
Popular eSports Games
DOTA 2
“Dota is a competitive game of action and strategy, played both professionally and casually by millions of passionate fans worldwide. Players pick from a pool of over a hundred heroes, forming two teams of five players.” —From Steam.com
League of Legends
“League of Legends (or as it was previously known, League of Legends: Clash of Fates) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre video game developed by Riot Games, to operate on the Microsoft Windows operating system.[5] It was first announced on October 7th, 2008 and released a year later on October 27th, 2009.[6] The game was in beta from April 10th, 2009 [7] to October 26th, 2009.[8] ” —From the League of Legends Wikia
StartCraft II
“StarCraft II is a sequel to the PC based Real Time Strategy game StarCraft: Brood War made by Blizzard Entertainment. It is split into three installments: the base game with the subtitle Wings of Liberty, and two upcoming expansion packs, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. StarCraft II features the return of the three species from the original game: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg.” —From Team Liquid liquidipedia
Ross, and Games & Impact Innovation Lab team members Ben Pincus and Alex Cope are working on a deeper look into eSports and impact – check back for their series in the upcoming months. Until then, where do you go to read about eSports or watch gameplay? Share your links in the comments below.