The presentations from the 2008 Gaming + Learning + Society Conference are now online for your viewing pleasure. The conference was held on July 10th and the 11th and if you work with games in a school or educational setting, the following topics of discussion might be right up your alley:
Jessica Merritt has recently published an article at the Online Education Database entitled Bringing Gaming (and Gamers) to Your Library: 100 Tips and Resources. The list of tips is a fantastic resource for any librarian looking to add games or gaming programs to their library (and not just because links to The Video Game Librarian are paired with five of the tips).
Here's a small taste of the tips and resources available, and be sure to read the whole article, I highly recommend it.
When libraries offer gaming programs, there's often a very favorable response, but how do you go about getting started? You'll need to know which games are the best, how to attract gamers, and so much more. There are many tips, resources, and tools that will help you figure out everything you need to know, and we've profiled them here.
16. Don't forget adults: Library games and gaming events are often directed at teens, but keep in mind that many adults love to game, too.
29. Let your staff play: Break down resistance to gaming by getting your staff involved and having fun with gaming.
31. Be prepared for opposition: Not everyone understands the appeal of gaming, particularly video games, in the library, so you will find that you'll need to defend your actions with academic discussions and statistics.
This post comes from Jennifer Lovchik, the Teen Services Librarian at Bellingham Public Library in Washington. She has recently put on her first Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament and it was a rousing success. After sharing her story with the LibGaming discussion group, I asked if she would be willing to share it here as well.
So with that, take it away Jennifer (and thanks for the great post):
I scheduled the tournament on a Saturday from 1 to 5 and we ended up with over 40 people, 30 of whom registered to play in the tournament. I had the main tournament game play projected on a screen and then had a TV in the back with open play for those not competing. I don't know Brawl well, so I relied heavily on a couple of my regular gamer teens to help me with both logistics and set-up/breakdown. In fact, he brought his Wii and game since I still haven't unlocked [all of the characters/arenas in] the library's version (we used the library's system for open play). What follows is a rather long description of what I hashed out prior to the tournament with notes on how it actually played out. Forgive my longwindedness, but I hope that some of it may be helpful.
I worked out a rough schedule, and surprisingly it was pretty accurate:
I had some general guidelines for the tournament that I shared prior
to the first bout:
1. Register with your real name and an alias or nickname. During the tournament you will be called to play by your alias or nick name. Remember your alias or nickname. (About half the kids used their real first name and half an alias. They remembered. I tended to get confused and use both. By the end of the tournament, I pretty much had their nicknames down.)
2. No registration after 1:30. (This was no problem since I advertised the tournament start time as 1 PM)
3. You will have 3 minutes to respond when called to play. (Also not a problem)
4. We will play at least 2 qualifying rounds. Qualifying round winners will be determined by adding up the points for each round. Winners from each match will have +5 added to their match score. (This worked, but I think I just lucked out that I didn't have more ties since the scores were always so close. Next time I may look at using one of the other totals instead of overall points.)
5. The top 16 in qualifying rounds will move on to finals.
6. Prizes for the top 4 finishers. (A local, independent video game store donated prizes for the tournament. I also advertised there, which I know was helpful in drawing such a nice sized group.)
Game play rules:
1. No objects will be used.
2. One map will be designated for the entire tournament.
3. You may pick your own character to play.
4. The scorekeeper will determine when a match begins.
5. Each match is head to head (2 player)
6. Qualifying rounds are 2 minutes each. Finals rounds are 3 stock (lives) to final 3 matches) top 4 and then 5 stock to finish. (I used a standard single elimination chart for the finals with an additional consolidation round to determine 3rd and 4th place. I had the big chart posted in the front of the room and wrote the winner's name on it after each round. We could have stuck with the two minute rounds for finals and been finished a bit earlier. The tournament wrapped a little before 5 the way we did it.)
Other issues will be resolved as they arise.
Other things I learned:
I never dreamed that everything would go so well. I also can't imagine trying to pull off a Brawl tournament in less than 3 or 4 hours, unless you know for sure that you will only have a small group of kids.
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The question of whether or not it's legal to use video games in a public program has come up in four places over the last several days: The School Library Journal, GamePolitics.com, Joystiq's Law of the Game column and at the LibGaming discussion group.
The general consensus seems to be that while the license agreements that come with most games specifically says the game is for "Home Use Only", the game companies have no interest in enforcing it. The point was also raised that Nintendo has donated Wii systems and games to many libraries for use in programming, making their position on "public performance rights" of their games pretty clear.
The public performance rights associated with music and movies are very clearly established by ASCAP and the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, respectively. The video game industry doesn't have such a licensing group because previous "public performances" of games have been limited to arcade games, which are designed to be used in public.
The Joystiq article suggests two courses of action if a public performance license for games is a concern:
1. Keep going status quo and hope no one notices, but fear the potential legal ramifications if someone does.
2. Contact the rights holder and try to get a license and modified EULA.
I'd have to go with option one myself, as I believe game companies view gaming in libraries as free advertising. Watching a game being played (or only getting one brief turn at the controls) is not the same as playing the game yourself in your home. This is where the free advertising angle comes in. If a library patron enjoys the game, there is an incentive to buy the game to get the full experience. This incentive is not part of movie or music programs, because the experience at home would be the same as a "public performance" at a library.
Lawyerly types will no doubt worry about this until a real solution (like ASCAP or the MPLC) is created by the game publishers. But until then, I wouldn't stress over it as most game publishers seem thrilled about the idea of games in libraries.
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Have you ever wondered if your favorite song or band has ever appeared in a rhythm game? Well wonder no more as back in January MTV.com launched the Rhythm Game Track Finder at trackfinder.mtv.com.
The database currently features 67 games across ten platforms and is searchable by game title, song title, artist or platform. It also indicates whether a track is the original version or a cover and indicates if a song is only available as downloadable content.
Here are the games currently included in the Rhythm Game Track Finder.
The database is by no means complete (it's missing roughly half a dozen Dance Dance Revolution games for starters), but MTV will surely continue to update it in the future.
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I received an email with this question a day ago and I thought it would be better just to post it here as I'm sure many librarians aren't quite sure what to make of the Wii Wheel.
The short answer is no, the Wii Wheel is not required to play Mario Kart Wii. But here's an explanation of just why that is and what you can do in the future ahead of time to know what controller configurations work with which games.
A small graphic is included in the top right corner of the back of every Wii game case. The graphic for Mario Kart Wii looks like this:
Is all of the Grand Theft Auto IV information that is swirling around the Internet overwhelming? Well fear not, Kotaku has put together a Grand Theft Auto IV Information Dump that includes practically everything there is to know about the game including reviews, comparisons between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, reports of the game freezing and crashing and an FAQ titled "Everything You Wanted To Know About GTA IV (So Stop Asking!)".
On the other side of the coin, What They Play has created the Grand Theft Auto IV Parent Resource Center detailing why kids want to play the Mature-rated hit, how they plan to do that without their parents finding out and "11 Things Parents Should Know About Grand Theft Auto IV".
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With Grand Theft Auto IV (and its Mature rating of doom!) rolling onto store shelves today, it might be a good time to point out What They Play: The Parents Guide to Video Games.
What They Play's main offering is a huge database of games that include descriptions that go beyond the ESRB ratings. Each game also has an "age appropriate box" that asks the question "This game is OK for kids over the age of...". For example, while Guitar Hero III is rated Teen, the average user of What They Play believes it is OK for children eight and up.
This invaluable resource is joined by a variety of articles including a mailbag titled "Ask GamerDad" (which has answers from the creator of the fantastic GamerDad blog) and features like "Grand Theft Auto Parent Resource Center" (which includes such sections as "Why kids want to play GTA4" and "How kids will play GTA4 without their parent's knowledge").
There is also the requisite video section and screenshot galleries to get a real crash course in the appropriateness level of some video games.
The site is mainly geared towards parents, but for someone who needs to explain to parents just what's in these video games (like a librarian), What They Play is great.
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When searching for reviews on all the latest games, a meta review site is an invaluable tool that creates a database of reviews (from both print and the web) and averages them to create an overall "composite score" Because so many different opinions are used to create a composite score, it provides, at a quick glance, the overall critical reaction to a title.
In the video game world, there are three major meta review sites, each with their own pros and cons.
MetaCritic: MetaCritic is owned by CNET, the company that also owns GameSpot. MetaCritic is the most exclusive meta review site, currently posting reviews from just over 100 websites and magazines. It has also gathered a reputation among gamers as the most reliable meta review site. Popularity-wise, MetaCritic is considered neck-and-neck with...
Game Rankings: Game Rankings is also owned by CNET. Game Rankings is more open than MetaCritic, posting reviews from about 250 websites and magazines, although they also track reviews from about 25 more sites that don't count towards the final average. Game Rankings was the first meta review site for games and definitely the most complete, tracking more reviews than MetaCritic or our final pick...
Game Stats: Game Stats is owned by IGN Entertainment, the company that also runs the websites IGN.com and GameSpy. Game Stats uses a much wider base of sites from around the world to create their average score for each game. All told, the site tracks reviews from almost 800 websites and magazines. However, not as many reviews have been submitted for each game at Game Stats as you can find at the other two sites. This makes Game Stats feel a bit "incomplete" when compared to Game Rankings and MetaCritic.
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Two new resources for librarians who use games and gaming in their libraries have been launched in the last few days.
The first is the Games in Libraries Podcast which is hosted by Scott Nicholson of Syracuse University's GameLab. The first episode is now available at GamesInLibraries.org with new episodes available every month.
Next, the American Library Association's gaming initiative has a home page at Gaming.ALA.org. The page is a little sparse as of now, but it does lead to the new ALA Gaming Blog and the Gaming Resources Wiki. The Wiki is overseen by the ALA's resident gaming guru, Jenny Levine, while the blog is maintained by Beth Gallaway, the founder of the libgaming blog.
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Choosing what games to buy for your video game collection can sometimes be a tough task. Where do you start? Ideally, it would be great to be able to buy at least one copy of every game, but realistically, that's just not possible. So here are ten highly recommended titles that belong in every Wii collection. They may be critically acclaimed, they may be sitting atop the sales charts or they may be cult classics that have been unjustly overlooked. But all of them are essentials.
The first thing you'll notice about this list is that eight of the ten titles have been published by Nintendo. It may be that other developers don't understand the Wii like Nintendo does just yet, but as of today, if you want a quality Wii game, you want one made by Nintendo.
Here are today's additions to the Wii Core Collection:
Excite Truck
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Everyone
One of the first racing games released for the Wii, Excite Truck pioneered the play style of using a sideways Wii Remote as steering wheel. Steering is smooth, the graphics are good, and the game's emphasis on accomplishments (like getting big air, smashing into other trucks and drifting) as opposed to winning is a welcome change for a racing game. The turbo booster (for awesome speed) and the in-game level deformation are just icing on a delicious mud pie.
Ghost Squad
Publisher: Sega
ESRB Rating: Teen
Ghost Squad is a light gun shooter that uses Nintendo's Wii Zapper cradle to its fullest (it can also be played with just a Wii Remote). The light gun game has been missing in action from the video game scene in recent years and Sega's bargain title ($30 at most retailers) does everything it can to bring it back. Fans of the genre will find plenty to like in Ghost Squad (including a hilariously bad dub), while those that have never played a light gun game will get a thrill out of the quick draw gameplay. The title is also completely bloodless, making it appropriate for all but the youngest players.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Teen
Link's latest adventure was originally built for the GameCube, but the enhanced Wii controls and graphics make this game a must have Wii title as well.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Teen
If you ask around, the general consensus will be that Metroid Prime 3 is the best first person shooter on the Wii. You would also find out that the game is the fantastic capper to the Prime trilogy that started on the GameCube.
Super Mario Galaxy
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Mario's latest 3D adventure was the toast of the town during the holiday season and it's hold on Wii owners was only shaken by Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It currently sits as the best-reviewed game on the Wii on GameRankings.com.
Super Paper Mario
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Eschewing the series' RPG roots for a dimension-hopping platformer, Super Paper Mario zaps players back and forth between the 2D world and the 3D one, creating a different kind of platformer.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Teen
Super Smash Bros. Melee was the best selling game on the GameCube, ultimately moving more than seven million copies. Brawl looks to up the ante with more characters, more stages, a single-player quest mode called Subspace Emissary, online play and the inclusion of third-party characters like Sonic and Solid Snake.
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Everyone
The party game on the Wii, WarioWare: Smooth Moves employs bits of gameplay that can measured in the seconds. In those few seconds players are expected to figure out the game and figure out the Wii Remote motions that will lead them to victory. It's frantic and it has been described as the best Wii game there is for four players.
Wii Sports
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Yes, it ships with every Wii system sold, but that won't always be the case. And Wii Sports is an essential experience for anyone that owns (or is interested in) the Wii. It's simple representation of bowling, baseball, tennis and boxing has made addicts of millions of Wii owners both young and old.
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Zack & Wiki is a return to the point-and-click adventures that were commonly found on the PC in the 80s and 90s. The games used humor and story in ways rarely seen in video games before or since. While the reviews have not painted Zack & Wiki as the best adventure game ever, they have said that this animated tale of pirates and the high seas is a must have for Wii owners looking for something different.
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When planning your game budget for the year, it's a good idea to have a handle on what's coming out in the future. So here's a list of upcoming releases for all of the major platforms. It's not a complete list, but I'll update it as often I can (and at least once a month). More release dates can be found on the Coming Soon page at GameStop.
April 15
April 17
April 27
April 29
May 2
May 6
May 13
May 15
May 19
May 27
May 28
June 3
June 12
June 17
June 24
June 29
July 1
August 26
August 31
TBA August
TBA Summer
September 7
September 16
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Regardless of what some people think, not all video games are appropriate for players of all ages. Some games are actually designed solely for adults and children should most definitely NOT be playing them. So when choosing a video game (or helping a patron choose a game), it’s important to check the ESRB rating of the game to determine if it is age-appropriate for the person who will be playing it.
ESRB ratings work very similar to the MPAA ratings given to movies. In fact, the ESRB originally approached the MPAA about sharing the familiar G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17 ratings, but the MPAA said no.
The rating will appear on the front cover of every game and on the back cover along with additional "Content Descriptors" that describe events that will occur in a game. The rating of any game (along with more information on the ESRB as an organization, the rating process and details of enforcement) can be found online at ESRB.com.
Below, you'll find a quick rundown of all of the ratings you could possibly find on a video game.
Early Childhood
The Early Childhood rating is rarely used when actually talking about "video games." Instead, the ESRB uses the EC rating to tag educational software designed for children between the ages of three and five. The vast majority of the titles that have been awarded an EC rating are only available on the PC and it's almost impossible to find it on a game released for the major consoles and handhelds.
Everyone
Games rated E For Everyone are designed for players 6 years old and up. Content Descriptors commonly found on E-rated games include "Cartoon Violence" and "Comic Mischief." An E-rated game will include content somewhere between a movie-rated G or PG. The E rating was originally known as "Kids-To-Adults", but the ESRB changed it to "Everyone" in 1997.
Everyone 10+
Games rated Everyone 10+ are designed for players 10 years old and up. Content Descriptors commonly found on E10+-rated games include "Mild Language" and "Fantasy Violence." An E10+-rated game will include content equal to a PG movie. The E10+ rating was created in 2005 after a slew of games based on properties popular with children (such as The Incredibles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) received a Teen rating.
Teen
Games rated T For Teen are designed for players 13 years old and up. Content Descriptors commonly found on T-rated games include "Blood," "Language" and "Violence." A T-rated game will include content equal to a PG-13 movie.
Mature
Games rated M For Mature are designed for players 17 years old and up. Content Descriptors commonly found on M-rated games include "Blood and Gore," "Strong Language," "Strong Violence." An M-rated game will include content equal to an R rated movie. According to the ESRB only six percent of all games received an M rating in 2007.
Adults Only
The Adults Only rating is a bit of a non-entity, as it's only been handed out 22 times in the entire history of the ESRB and at least half of those were to pornographic screensaver collections that were released over a decade ago. It's also important to note that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft will not license a game for their systems that receives an AO rating, but then, no console game has ever received an AO rating prior to its release. AO-rated games are designed for players 18 years old and up and feature similar violence, language and sexual situations as an M-rated game, but for an "extended period of time."
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The ESRB announced yesterday that they have partnered with Clearspring Technologies to create an ESRB Rating Search Widget that can be embedded in your personal website or blog or can be downloaded to your desktop as a "Vista Gadget."
The widget is available here and can be customzied for language (English, French or Spanish), color (orange, green, blue, red, yellow or pink) and size (300x250, 160x300 or 400x300). According to the ESRB, over 4 million searches were performed on their database last year, so this widget will just make it easier for parents (and librarians) to find the information they were already looking for.
Hit the "Read Full Post" link to see the widget in action
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If you are in the position where you have to convince the budget makers that video games would be a good investment, remember to reference these numbers and statistics:
Everyone Plays Games
According to the Entertainment Software Association (a group comprised of all of the major game publishers)...
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on December 21, 2007.
The PlayStation 2, the current platform of choice for any library that focuses their game collection on a single console, will turn eight years old in 2008 and is likely at the end of its useful life. Sure, it’ll get a few more years of annual EA Sports updates, various bits of bargain software and games based on Saturday morning cartoons, but the days of games like God of War II coming to the PS2 are over.
So what’s a librarian to do if they want to keep their collection current? Why, move up to the next-generation of course. As a Media Librarian myself, this can be a tough choice, but with this guide we hope we can help any librarians out there make the right choice. The three consoles have been organized from best to worst, with the pros and cons listed for each so that the console that best fills your library’s personal needs can be chosen.
#1: Xbox 360
Pros:
Cons:
More Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in America than either of the other two next-gen systems. For many, this might be reason enough to justify carrying Xbox 360 games. But the types of games the Xbox 360 has also place it squarely in the frontrunner’s spot. The Xbox 360 has games in a much wider variety of genres than the Wii or the PS3. A lack of games from Japanese developers hurt the original Xbox, but Microsoft has remedied this with the Xbox 360 and developers from all over the world put the majority of their best stuff on the Xbox 360.
Speaking of the best stuff, all of the aggregate review sites (including Game Rankings and Metacritic, the two most popular) routinely list more Xbox 360 titles in the top tier of best reviewed games than any other system. And due to the Xbox 360’s one year head start over the competition, many of these well reviewed have dropped to budget prices, allowing you to build a collection of great games very quickly.
#2: Wii
Pros:
Cons:
There is no bigger console in the world right now than the Wii. Between Christmas sellouts and pent up demand from its release last year, everyone wants a piece of the Wii. So building a Wii collection would be beneficial to a lot of your patrons. The Wii is as popular as it is because of its groundbreaking control system and because it is the cheapest next-generation console by far. It also sports the cheapest games and the most exclusive games of any next-generation platform. More “family friendly” games are made for the Wii than any other console as well.
But all of these “mosts” have a dark side. Many of the Wii’s exclusive titles and family friendly games have not been well reviewed. While it’s possible to build a huge collection of Wii games for very little money, they won’t all be classics like Super Mario Galaxy. Instead, most will be forgettable titles that many people have no interest in playing. But Nintendo has made sure all GameCube games work in the Wii, so if you already have a GameCube collection, they can be linked together.
The Wii is also the weakest console from a technical point of view and a Wii 2 will probably be released before the next Xbox or PlayStation system. Nintendo has a history of offering backwards compatibility on their systems and any Wii 2 would almost assuredly work with regular Wii games.
Finally, the Wii has two of the biggest upcoming games in the pipeline for early 2008 (Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii) and requests for those games will no doubt come from all sorts of different gamers.
#3: PlayStation 3
Pros:
Cons:
It pains me to say it, but the PlayStation 3 is not ready for primetime when it comes to building a library collection. The system is too expensive. The games are too expensive. It is owned by less than half the number of people that own an Xbox 360 or a Wii. It has the fewest exclusive games out of the three next-gen consoles and it has the fewest games period. There are also few family friendly games and there are no titles rated Everyone that aren’t sports or racing games.
The PS3 is backwards compatible with all PS2 and PSone games (except for the new 40 GB model), so there is that link. And the power of the PS3 will mean that it will likely outlive the other two next-gen consoles by a considerable margin. It’s time will come, but a PS3 game collection does not make much sense for a library right now.
Choosing a Console For Library Programming
As Library Game Days become more popular, the sweet sounds of Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution and Halo are like a siren song to that hard-to-reach group known as teenagers. But as with collection development, choosing which next-generation console to have available for library programming will go a long way towards determining the success of those programs.
It’s important to note that it’s almost impossible to go wrong with any of the three next-generation systems. All of them have dozens of solid titles that would work well in a group setting with the Wii being designed around the idea of group interaction. But while the PS3 has several great games that big groups would enjoy (most notably Rock Band & Guitar Hero III), the Xbox 360 has those games as well and the PS3 does not yet have a version of Dance Dance Revolution. So while the PS3 will eventually be a good choice for programming, it’s not quite there yet.
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This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on April 13, 2006.
Grand Theft Auto… The Suffering… Manhunt… State of Emergency… Postal… Mortal Kombat…
The number of games that are considered “unacceptable” due to their content grows all the time. Every day some misinformed politician will trot out the latest “murder simulator” and cry out “Won’t someone please think of the children.”
Meanwhile we gamers sit back and shake our heads at people who get all worked up over games that are not designed for children. They are not meant for children, they are not advertised to children and they are not purchased for children by anyone with half a brain.
But sadly, video gaming is still seen as a children’s toy by many. Its this reasoning that has caused the ban of Mature rated games at my library and many other libraries across the country. But eventually, there will come a time when you want to cross that line. When the people in charge realize that their friends and neighbors are playing these M-rated games because they’re adults and because they think the premise is exciting.
So with the recent release of 24: The Game, I started thinking about what games would be best to make the break from the limits of E, E10+ and T. Obviously, Jack Bauer’s digital adventures is near the top, but as I combed through the list of PS2 games, many more popped up as well. Through their connections to other bits of pop culture (and in one case, a piece of Literature with a capital L), these games would be seen as more acceptable than most. And maybe that’s all we can ask for as a first step.
24: The Game
To say 24 requires a time commitment is an understatement. If you miss one episode you could be out of the loop for “hours” at a time. So it’s really no surprise that the show is such a hit on DVD. It gives fans a chance to see everything and in order. It’s also ridiculously popular with library patrons of all ages.
I’m not entirely sure why 24: The Game is rated Mature. Yes, it has all the same killing and shooting and torture the show is known for, but that’s my point. It’s just like the show. A show on American broadcast television. I almost doubt that most people realize the game is rated Mature.
If you need to slip one past someone who wants to censor everything, 24: The Game is your game.
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 is everything that a barrier breaker should be. It won an armful of awards and accolades from critics everywhere. It’s based, loosely, on the world of Romero’s Living Dead series and no one can deny the importance of Romero’s films on the horror genre. It has spawned a series of novels and two movies. While the novels may be harder to find in any given library, any good DVD collection will likely have at least one of the movies.
And did I mention that RE4 is one of the finest games ever created? That alone should be enough to create an M-rated exception.
The Godfather
The Godfather: The Game is based on the Academy Award winning movie, which was in turn based on Mario Puzo's bestselling novel has quite the pedigree behind it. The Godfather is an American story that has been embraced by the public almost completely. Everyone knows about the five families, sleeping with the fishes and making someone an offer they can't refuse.
While it more or less follows the crime story of Grand Theft Auto, the fact that it's based on The Godfather should lend a little weight to its case. To lend further credence to the game, nearly the entire cast reprised their roles for The Godfather: The Game. Marlon Brando is considered one of the greatest actors of his generation and The Godfather is beloved by everyone. The game would be easily accepted.
Evil Dead: Regeneration
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick
Believe it or not, The Evil Dead trilogy has quite the following among librarians. Maybe, it's the anti-censorship bent that some librarians love to exercise but it's a fact that libraries have helped grow the cult of The Evil Dead. Or maybe it's Bruce Campbell's movie star chin. Whatever the reason, DVDs of the Evil Dead trilogy can be found in libraries across the country.
The games have several things going for them that make them ideal candidates to crack the M-Rated barrier. First, they’re budget titles, so if someone complains you’d only be out $20 (or less) per title. Two, Bruce Campbell voices Ash and gives the games the exact feel of the movie. And three, the movies are much more violent than the games could ever dream of being.
While the games haven’t lit up the GameRankings database, they’re solid little actioners that fans of the movies will love.
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4: The Room
When I started this project one of the first things I was told by my manager was "Keep an eye out for games based on new movies because I'd think they'd be popular." And what's coming out in theaters very soon? Silent Hill.
The Silent Hill movie is getting praised from every corner as the movie that finally gets the game-to-movie conversion right. And if it’s even half as good as some people are saying then there’s going to be a lot of folks out there who’ll want to give the games a try. And the games have all been critical favorites as well as bestsellers.
Are the games ridiculously violent? Yes, of course they are. But as soon as it gets turned into a movie something becomes a lot more acceptable.
In Conclusion...
It will be a while before R-Rated movies (which we carry a lot of) and M-Rated games (which we carry none of) are considered equal in the eyes of patrons and parents. And don’t even get me started on some of the depraved violence and graphic sexual situations that appear in many books that populate (and are popular) in the library. It’s a sad double standard, but it requires baby steps to change. Hopefully this handful of games will be a step in the right direction for the continued acceptance of games.
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This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on November 16, 2005.
New formats. They are the bane of media librarians everywhere. Which do you support? Do you support the nwe format and the old format in an attempt to please everybody? When do you drop the old format entirely? When do you start a massive discard project to clear shelf space for the growing collection of the new format?
With the Xbox 360 launching any day now it's time to give a look at how building a game collection from start with this new format would work. Like what are the strongest launch titles? What will be replaced with a more "next-gen" product in the future? And, like any video game launch, which titles will be relegated to the dustbin of history?
You've also got to look at the numbers when it comes to the Xbox 360. Microsoft has confirmed that there will not be enough consoles for everyone who wants one for a very long time (some estimates place it around March for real regular shipments to begin). So you might want to ask yourself, will there by enough patrons walking through my front door to warrant adding 360 games to the collection? There's also the fact that, aside from sports titles, every one of the 360's launch titles will be rated Teen or Mature. There are no family friendly options at this point in the system's life. Although general interest titles, like sport games and racers, are on the launch slate. So let's look at those games.
Sports, Sports, Sports, Sports. Da na na! Sports!
Of the 18 confirmed launch titles, seven fall in the sports category. Madden NFL 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, NBA Live 06 and FIFA 06 from EA Sports and Amped 3, NBA 2K6 and NHL 2K6 from 2K Sports. Except for Amped 3, all seven of these titles have already been released for current-gen consoles to rave reviews. So what's the point to the 360 versions? Prettier graphics mainly. Amped 3 is in because of its uniqueness and FIFA 06 gets a pass because EA has said it is trying to build a different FIFA game for the 360. But if you need prettier sports titles, I guess these games are an important, but by no means must have, of any collection. Pick and choose to your heart's content I say.
The fairest one of them all
Prettier games are not just for the sports arena though as Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and Gun from Activision and King Kong from Ubisoft will also be virtually identical to their PS2, Xbox and GameCube brethren, just with a new coat of paint. All of these titles have a little more appeal and next-generation cred than most of the sports titles, except for Gun, which is said to have almost no differences between the Xbox and Xbox 360 editions. King Kong is said to be a lot prettier (but articles in Nintendo Power show the GameCube version running at a considerably pretty graphical clip) and Tony Hawk is said to get more mileage out of its "no load times" gimmick on the 360. With Activision already talking Gun II, I'd say take Tony Hawk and the mighty Kong and move on to the next one.
Off to the Races
The other half of the general interest genre falls to the racing games with the three must have titles Ridge Racer 6, Need For Speed: Most Wanted and Project Gotham Racing 3. All three are considered required playing by serious race fans everywhere with Project Gotham getting a huge push in the Xbox Live arena. And with only three other racers even on the drawing board for the next year and a half, Test Drive Unlimited, Burnout Revenge and MotoGP 2006, these three would be a good place to start a collection, with Project Gotham being the early standout (if it makes the launch).
Shooting for the big dogs
Here we go, the closest thing to a sure thing the Xbox 360 has. A trio of high class shooters that are at the top of everyone's list: Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4. Call of Duty 2 is looking to be the most realistic World War II shooter ever and the public still can't seem to get enough of WWII shooters. Quake 4 takes the PC series into the next-gen with a game that is already garnering some decent attention on the PC. Some of it is disappointment but a lot of it is excitement for the first new single-player Quake game in a long time.
And then we have Perfect Dark Zero. A game that seems to have been in development for ages and the sequel to one of the great console first person shooters ever. It too has had it's share of early complaints. With a development jump from the GameCube to the Xbox to the 360 it's already being called "not next-gen enough." Also, because of the original's birth on the N64, not many people know what Perfect Dark is all about. Finally, the "it's not Halo" crowd is making itself known and PDZ is their target. But then, what was Halo before it became Halo?
Anyway you slice it, all three are definite additions to any collection.
The dark horses
Of course, what would be a console launch without a few hidden gems. And word around the Mountain Dew cooler is that Kameo and Condemned will fit that bill nicely. Kameo will fit the bright, cheery action RPG mold that you always see Zelda pigeonholed into and even with its T rating will probably be the closest thing to a family title the 360 will have. Condemned on the other hand will fill a completely different niche. A dark and gritty first person game that features a troubled special agent tracking serial killers, it won't be for everybody. But a year from now (if Perfect Dark Zero tanks), it just might be the most talked about Xbox 360 game there is.
So where does that leave us? The breakdown of the eighteen launch titles looks like this:
Essentials
Call of Duty 2
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Kameo: Elements of Power
King Kong
Perfect Dark Zero
Project Gotham Racing 3
Quake 4
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Second Tier
Amped 3
FIFA 06
Gun
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Ridge Racer 6
If Money is No Object
Madden NFL 06
NBA 2K6
NBA Live 2K6
NHL 2K6
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
We got next
After the launch, owners of the 360 might be in for a long famine after gorging on their launch feast. Dead or Alive 4 and Full Auto will be making an appearance in stores by the end of the year. Both should be enough to keep the fighting and vehicle combat fans happy. I'd look to add them both.
Uncertainty litters the rest of the 360's lineup as after this we really don't know when anything is coming. Gears of War? A must-have action game coming out sometime in the spring. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? A must-have RPG coming out sometime in the spring. Saint's Row? A must-have Grand Theft Auto-clone coming out sometime in the summer. Halo 3? If I knew when Halo 3 was coming out and told anyone, mafia goons would kill me in my sleep. The fact is buying the big titles in the Xbox 360 launch will keep your collection up to date for a good long while. But...
(Xbox) One is the loneliest number
There's also the question of backwards compatibility. The PS2 had it and was one of the system's "three component" selling points (playing DVDs and future PS2 games were the others). With Microsoft's decision to go with ATI for the 360's innards, backwards compatibility has always been a sore spot for X-fans. And in this next generation backwards compatibility will be much more important because the 360 is not a quantum leap graphically from it predecessor. Halo 3 will look better than Halo 2, but not the way Mario Sunshine looks better than Mario 64.
With the switch in graphics makers, one hundred percent compatibility was never an option. The Xbox 360 will require "emulation profiles" to be downloaded for every Xbox title you want to play on your 360. And that downloading requires owning a hard drive with your Xbox. This scheme means that even if you want to play your old Xbox games on your 360 you might not be able to if you own a Core System or if you don't have broadband internet access. On top of that, every title will not be supported with an emulation profile to download. We've seen the list of confirmed backwards compatible titles and it isn't pretty. A lot of big name releases (including most of this fall's biggest Xbox titles) are missing. Many of Microsoft's own games are also missing from the list.
What about next year? Well the Xbox will have a surprisingly full lineup in 2006, just no support from Microsoft. They have said they expect third party titles to continue to appear on the console through 2007. These include major titles from EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Midway, THQ, Rockstar and VU Games. So if you're mildly interested in playing Hitman: Blood Money, NFL Head Coach, Bully, The Godfather, Spy Hunter 3 and Splinter Cell 4 or if you think your patrons will be, there's still a lot of life left in ye olde Xbox.
To add or not to add? That is the question
With a handful of great titles ready for launch and a ton more in the pipeline, the Xbox 360 will not be an also-ran in this generation of video games. It'll be a contender in the library ring too, but I would say that right now its just not there yet. Wait a year for more systems to be sold, more games to be released, and prices to drop on both. I'd say it'll be ready right around fall 2006, when we'll be having this conversation all over again about the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution.
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This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on July 20, 2005.
After two articles showing a library adding PS2 games to their collection it’s time to look at another of the library’s main functions. Books! Yes, that’s right. In this age of DVDs, CDs and video games, libraries everywhere still carry books. And some of them are even about video games. But there has never really been one single book that people look at and say “This is what you must read to get the best understanding of video games.”
In fact, go to the Electronic Gaming section at any Barnes and Noble and what will you see? Strategy Guides and their up-and-coming cousin, the Making of Art Book, as far as the eye can see. That’s what people think of when they hear the words “video game books”. And why not? A generation of gamers were raised on Jeff Rovin’s How To Win At Nintendo Games" series after all.
There’s no doubt that they’re real books. Clocking in at several hundred pages each with not a screenshot to be seen. Actually, they may have been the first video game books that most of us were exposed to that were more than just screenshot catalogs. Yes, they were strategy guides, but Rovin brought a personality to these books that most other strategy guides lacked. Even today you’ll find gamers that react fondly when they hear the name Jeff Rovin.
But books about games, gaming and gamers have moved beyond the simple strategy guide. This is by no means a complete list of every video game related book out there, but it’s a good place to start with some of the titles that I have seen that can have an effect on the way people think about gaming.
Killing Monsters is yet another tract about the effects of violence in the media on young impressionable minds. The difference is that the author, Gerard Jones, believes that media violence should be embraced as they help children and later teens, deal with new emotions and the real world. He also puts forth the completely off the wall assertion that children know the difference between fantasy and reality. The horror!
It is a good lesson for the parents of the world who see video games, television and comic books as items that will warp their sensitive little angels if they are not strictly controlled. Through interviews with teachers and students and stories about the adventures Jones had raising his own son, he shows that parents need to listen to their children help them understand what these new feelings are all about. He is also one of the few people that understands that if you give a boy anything (anything!), they can pretend it's a gun. An author with true insight indeed.
When it comes to violence in video games, Henry Jenkins is one of the world’s experts. And he’s not a Jack Thompson self-appointed expert either. Jenkins is an MIT professor and the man that the ESA turns to whenever Jack Thompson decides to blow a gasket about something he doesn’t understand. Jenkins is able to speak eloquently about our hobby and rationally explain how it affects those around us. He has collected many of these thoughts along with Justine Cassell in a book titled From Barbie To Mortal Kombat that attempts to explain the differences in the sexes and how they game. It’s a bit older (the last reprint was released in 2000), but a lot of it still makes sense with today’s games.
For a more current look at the world of video games, there’s no better source than G4’s X-Play. And allow me this tangent to say that they are the only people on G4 you should be listening to. I question whether anyone at the channel even plays video games regularly. Anyway, last year The X-Play Crew put The X-Play Insider’s Guide To Gaming, a huge 480 page bible of reviews of the newest games and interviews with some of gaming’s most influential developers. The style of the book matches the style of the show perfectly. You’ll even hear the reviews in your mind read aloud in Adam Sessler’s unique vocal styling. Depending upon your feelings towards Mr. Sessler, this is either a gift or a curse.
If you want to move beyond reviews and commentaries on the violence debate there’s always Blue Wizard is About to Die by Seth “Fingers” Flynn Barkan. Fingers bills Blue Wizard as the first book of video game poetry and I think he might just be right. Many different styles are represented including prose poetry, couplets, haiku and maybe even a sonnet or two. Blue Wizard includes a references section in the back of the book so that in case you missed something you could find out what a peculiar turn of phrase was referring to. And any book that features poetry about obscure NES classics The Legend of Kage and Karnov (two of the greatest games ever!) is going to baffle a lot of people.
I know I said you couldn't choose one book to that encompasses all of video gaming, but I think the closest might be Masters of Doom by David Kushner. A book that dotted nearly every gamer's reading list in 2003, the subtitle alone should explain the appeal of Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. Those two guys are the wild eyed pioneers of id Software and the first person shooter movement. Their humble beginnings, the beginnings of id and finally, the creation of two of the biggest "names" in all of gaming: John Romero and John Carmack. No one had any idea how big the first person shooter would become and this is the story of its genesis. The genre has almost become synonymous with gaming and the story has been optioned by Showtime for a movie. After The Wizard, probably only the second video game movie actually about gamers.
Another look at the creation of one of video game's magical moments is in Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and EnslavedYour Children. While it almost sounds like an attack on the Japanese giant, it's actually a very thorough look at Nintendo's rise from video game nobody in 1980 to video game juggernaut in 1993 (the date the book was published). While it is very outdated (a revised edition titled Game Over: Press Start to Continue was released in 1999, it tells a great story about Nintendo's history and the golden age of video games. Anyone interested in video gaming's roots would do well to track down a copy (I found mine at a library book sale for 50 cents).
Scanning back over this list I'm sure you notice the lack of fiction titles. I'm not really sure why that is, but fiction relating to games seems to be limited to "Expanded Universe" stuff for some of the more narrative heavy games. Probably the best example of this is the Halo trilogy of books that form the basis for the game's backstory. The first of these is Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund. Fall of Reach is the first part of the Halo story and includes the beginnings of the SPARTAN program and humanity's first meeting with The Covenant. It also tells how the Master Chief found his way to Halo.
The series continues through two more books. Halo: The Flood by William Dietz, which tells the story of the events during the first Halo game and Halo: First Strike by Eric Nylund, which bridges the stories of Halo and Halo 2. While I have not read any of the Halo novels, I'm amazed at the number of people that tell me they're no t just good video game adaptations, but fairly good sci-fi novels as well. Maybe that seems like a backhanded compliment, but these books look to be the perfect jumping off point for anyone interested in the deep storyline and wide open universe of Halo.
And with that, I think we've reached our circulation limit for the day. As I said, this is by no means a comprehensive video game library, but it's a good place to start for anyone wanting to learn more about the world of gamers. I know there are a lot of other great books pertaining to gaming out there and if anyone wants to drop me a line at johnfsclazo@gmail.com I'd be glad to listen to your suggestions. I know I'm falling a little behind as lots of people have told me good things about books from Steven Kent, Chris Kohler and Brad King. So much reading to do, so little time.
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