Video Games Added to Museum of Modern Art

The argument for video games as works of art just received some major support. This Friday, February 29, fourteen video games will be added to New York’s Museum of Modern Art.  The collection will include classics such as Pac-Man and Tetris, recent hits such as Portal and Canabalt, as well as uniqye fan favorites Myst and Katamari Damacy. Apparently, over half of the games will be playable within the museum displayed on screens mounted on the gallery walls. The intention is not to have people continuously playing the games, but to give them a brief chance to experience them. The Museum of Modern Art plans to eventually have a total of forty games available to view and play. Many critics are adamant against the idea of video games being accepted as an art form, but with this new addition, as well as recent well-received “art games” such as Journey and The Unfinished Swan, it will soon be a hard side to argue.

http://mashable.com/2013/02/27/moma-video-games-exhibit/
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Story War: A New Party Game

Brad O’Farrell, Tom McLean, and Vondell Swain have created a new card party game called “Story War.” The game, which seems to take inspiration from popular games Apples to Apples and Dungeons and Dragons, is all about using creativity and story-telling ability to defeat opponents. The game requires at least three players, with one player serving as the judge and the others as opponents (similar to Apples to Apples). A battlefield is randomly selected and each person or team is given certain cards with short descriptions. These cards are a combination of different items and warriors. The goal is for each player to convince the judge that their side would win in a head-on battle by creating a story. The game is being produced through Cantrip Games and Breadpig, and is currently raising money through a Kickstarter in order to create expansion packs. The basic game can essentially be bought via the Kickstarter for $25.

http://laughingsquid.com/story-war-a-combative-card-based-storytelling-party-game/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29
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Sony Announced Playstation 4

Last night, Sony Computer Entertainment finally announced the long-rumored Playstation 4. This upcoming system will follow the Playstation 3, released in 2003, and will be the second home console in the eight generation of video game systems, after 2012’s WiiU. The system comes with a brand new controller which contains the greatest control changes in Playstation’s history, adding a touchscreen, a share button, updated analog sticks, and a light bar linked to the system’s built-in 3D camera. The system itself features an X86 processor and 8GB of RAM. For those not familiar with technical specifications, this basically means the PS4 will be by far the most powerful system to date, with specs able to compete with those of modern computers. It will also have a remote play feature, which allows PS4 games to be connected to the PS Vita. Critics of the upcoming system have argued against its strong focus on social media, calling it anything from unnecessary to annoying or intrusive. The system is also taking criticism for once again not maintaining backward compatibility.

http://mashable.com/2013/02/20/playstation-4-announcement/
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Google working to shut down piracy

Google recently began working with Visa and Microsoft to attempt to find a stop to online piracy. Piracy is an issue that is difficult to deal with by law, due to lawmakers not wanting to censor online freedom or infringe on anybody’s rights to share their work via online media.  Google’s plan is different from recent laws against piracy as it is not attempting to shut down piracy immediately. It plans to instead track and remove the sources of funding to piracy sites, making it difficult and cost-inefficient to provide links to pirated material. How effective this action will be is unclear. Similar actions have been attempted in 2010 by Visa and MasterCard to shut down WikiLeaks. However, the actions were ultimately ineffective. Piracy has survived a lot over the years, including the shutdown of popular sites Megaupload and Limewire and 2009’s unsuccessful Stop Online Piracy Act. No specific action has yet been taken by Google.

Lay's Announces 3 New Flavor Finalists

Chips manufacturer Lay’s created a contest in 2012 called “Do Us a Flavor.” The contest was run on Facebook, and allowed users everywhere to create a new flavor out of a list of many different ingredients, name the chips, and design their bag. People were then encouraged to vote on other people’s flavors in order to determine the most popular one. Today, Lay’s finally announced the three finalists: Cheesy Garlic Bread flavored, Chicken & Waffles flavored, and Sriracha Flavored. Though the results weren’t officially announced until today, some people got to try the flavors early as certain stores put the new flavors on shelves early. The three new flavors will be voted on to determine which flavor becomes permanent, similar to Mountain Dew’s two highly successful “Dewmocracy” campaigns. However, a similar contest has been previously done by Doritos which faced off new flavors Wild White Nacho and Smokin’ Cheddar BBQ. The latter won by a significant margin, but soon disappeared regardless. Hopefully Lay’s will follow through better than their competitor.  

OUYA to be released in June

The OUYA is a Kickstarted-funded Android-based gaming console that will be arriving this year. Last year, the console set records by raising over eight million dollars on Kickstarter. The OUYA distinguishes itself from most gaming consoles as it is a modifiable console on which anyone would be develop their own software. The console itself has the potential to revolutionize gaming if implemented successfully, as it offers an experience separate from major game developers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Just recently, the release date for the OUYA was announced. Unless the date is for some reason pushed back, consumers may now pre-order and will be able to buy the OUYA from Target, Best Buy, GameStop and Amazon this June. As of now, there is no word as to whether or not Wal-Mart will be selling the game, but given the significant popularity, it is pretty likely. Learn more or preorder the OUYA by visiting its site: www.ouya.tv.

http://mashable.com/2013/02/05/ouya-retail/

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