April 2018’s Free PlayStation Plus Games for PS4, PS3, Vita

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April 2018’s selection of free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers includes Avalanche Studios’s Mad Max and more wild racing with Ubisoft’s TrackMania Turbo. “Witness!” the announcement on the PlayStation Blog…

First stop: Mad Max for PS4! Developed by Avalanche Studios, you star as the iconic lone warrior surviving a hostile Wasteland. Max Rockatansky’s dangerous journey begins after a gang steals his legendary Interceptor. Combining open-world vehicle combat with bone-crunching battles, Mad Max will keep you fully immersed as you fight to get your Interceptor back and make it to the Plains of Silence.

Racing fans will appreciate TrackMania Turbo, a polished PS4 arcade racing game where your goal is to achieve the perfect racing time. You can hone your skills with 200 pre-built tracks, then create and share your own custom tracks to make the competition last forever.

This month’s other free downloads available with a PlayStation Plus subscription are…

  • In Space We Brawl (PS4, PS3)
  • 99 Vidas (PS4, PS3, PS Vita)
  • Q*Bert Rebooted (PS4, PS3, PS Vita)
  • Toy Home (PS3)

April 2018’s Free Games With Gold for Xbox One/Xbox 360

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Microsoft has announced April 2018’s additions to the Games With Gold service on the Xbox Wire blog, and Xbox Live Gold subscribers will once again be able to download four more free games during the month. Xbox One owners will be able to pick up the 2016’s The Witness and 2015’s Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. And if you’ve still got an Xbox 360, you’ll be able to download survival horror classic Dead Space 2 and the family-friendly Cars 2.

Click here for more information about all four selections from the Games With Gold program this month…

The Witness
Available April 1 to April 30 on Xbox One
You awake on an island with no idea where or who you are. Over 500 puzzles lay before you as you slowly regain your memories piece by piece in the hopes of finding your way off this mysterious, gorgeous island in this challenging open-world puzzler that has been described by admirers as beautiful, challenging, and a puzzler’s paradise.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
Available April 16 to May 15 on Xbox One
The Industrial Revolution in London provides the backdrop in this epic chapter of the Assassin’s Creed series, as you play as siblings endeavoring to retake the city back from the Templars. With new fighting mechanics, extraordinary tools, and new modes of transport, build your gang and fight to bring justice and the rule of law back to your home city.

Cars 2
Available April 1 to April 15 on Xbox One and Xbox 360
Become the fastest racecar in the world. Play as Mater, Lightning McQueen, or other favorites as you take on dangerous missions, action-packed challenges, and race against friends in this high-speed adventure inspired by the film Cars 2.

Dead Space 2
Available April 16 to April 30 on Xbox One and Xbox 360
Return as Isaac Clarke in the terrifying sequel to the classic Dead Space. This time you’ll find yourself on The Sprawl, an epic space city that has fallen under attack. Fight mysterious government operators and the deadly Necromorph with a variety of tools and customized weapons, trying to piece together what has transpired from the first game while recovering from the ill effects of your recent coma.

The Art of Ready Player One to be Released on April 3

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Entertainment Weekly has a sneak peek at The Art of Ready Player One, which will be published on April 3 by Insight Editions.

The Art of Ready Player One is a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the OASIS, a game-like virtual world where most of the film’s action takes place. It also includes essays from Steven Spielberg, the film’s director, and Ernest Cline, who wrote the original book. The magazine has a nice hot of the cover, as well as a few interior pages from the artbook:

The new book The Art of Ready Player One (published April 3), details the creation of the film’s world, showing how Spielberg realized novelist Ernest Cline‘s vision and populated the big screen version of the OASIS with a vast array of pop culture characters and references. The book, published by Insight Editions, is written by veteran entertainment journalist (and former EW news director) Gina McIntyre with a foreword from Spielberg and introduction by Cline.

Ready Player One will open in theaters this Friday, March 30.

Share Your Knowledge About Games in Libraries During a Sharing Session at ALA 2018

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The Games and Gaming Round Table (GameRT) is looking for librarians who use “games, design, and play” to share their stories at the upcoming American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans on Sunday, June 24.

Ten slots are available as part of the “Sharing Sessions” panel, and librarians are encouraged to make their pitch to be included at the Games In Libraries blog:

The GameRT Sharing Session is an hour-long session for you to not only share your ideas with your peers but help educate and excite librarians new to games and gaming in libraries. We have slots for 10 librarians/teams. Now is your chance to shine!

“Exploring Gaming in LIS Curricula” Survey Now Available

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Have you ever wondered how How do ALA-accredited Library and Information Science programs address gaming? A new survey of educators aims to find out…

We are Aaron J. Elkins, PhD, Assistant Professor at Texas Woman’s University, and Jonathan M. Hollister, PhD, Assistant Professor at Pusan National University. We hope to better understand the current status, use, and discussion of games and gaming within American Library Association (ALA) accredited Library and Information Science (LIS) degree programs in the United States.

Games and gaming, in either digital or analog formats, can help librarians and information professionals facilitate learning and 21st Century Skills such as problem solving and critical thinking. It is unclear how pre-service librarians are being prepared to successfully incorporate games and gaming into the collections, programming, and services their libraries or other information organizations provide.

If you are an LIS educator (this includes tenured/tenure-track faculty members, adjunct instructors, teaching faculty members, graduate lead instructors or graduate assistants, etc.) who have taught, are currently teaching, or developed curricular materials addressing gaming for an ALA-accredited degree program, then we’d like to hear from you!

So head over to Survey Monkey if you’d like to participate in the data collection.

March 2018’s Free PlayStation Plus Games for PS4, PS3, Vita

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Fans of ultra-difficult action RPGs will be pleased to learn that Sony will offer PlayStation Plus subscribers a free download of Bloodborne during the month of March. This month’s selection of free PlayStation Plus games also includes Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank and several other titles, as revealed on the PlayStation Blog:

First up, we have the award-winning action RPG Bloodborne. Hunt your nightmares as you search for answers in the ancient city of Yharnam, now cursed with a strange endemic illness spreading through the streets like wildfire. Danger, death and madness lurk around every corner of this dark and horrific world, and you must discover its darkest secrets in order to survive.

Next, we have Ratchet & Clank. Get acquainted (or reacquainted) with some of the greatest heroes in PlayStation history. Based on elements from the original Ratchet & Clank (PS2), Ratchet & Clank brings Insomniac’s classic, out-of-this-world-gameplay to the PS4. Join Ratchet, Clank, Captain Qwark, and their new friends as they battle to save the Solana Galaxy. Armed with an arsenal of original weapons the franchise is renowned for, including the new Pixelizer and fan-favorites like the dance-party-inducing Groovitron, you’ll explore the galaxy and get a deeper look at the origin story of these two beloved characters.

This month’s PlayStation Plus lineup also includes:

  • Bombing Busters (PS4)
  • Claire: Extended Cut (PS4)
  • Mighty No. 9 (PS4)
  • Legend of Kay (PS3)
  • Mighty No. 9 (PS3)
  • Bombing Busters (PS Vita)
  • Claire: Extended Cut (PS Vita)

A trailer showcasing the selections for March 2018 has been embedded above.

ESRB to Add “In-Game Purchases” Descriptor to Games With Loot Boxes and DLC

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In response to the growing furor over loot boxes, especially their similarity to gambling, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board has announced plans to create a new ratings descriptor for “In-Game Purchases.”

According to the ESRB, the “In-Game Purchases” label will be affixed to any game that gives players the chance to purchase loot boxes, in-game currency, subscriptions/season passes, and other downloadable content (such as bonus levels, skins, upgrades, and music) with real money.

“The video game industry is evolving and innovating continually, as is the ESRB rating system. ESRB’s goal is to ensure that parents have the most up-to-date and comprehensive tools at their disposal to help them decide which games are appropriate for their children,” said Patricia Vance, the ESRB’s President. “With the new ‘In-Game Purchases’ interactive element coming to physical games, parents will know when a game contains offers for players to purchase additional content. Moreover, we will be expanding our efforts to educate parents about the controls currently at their disposal to manage in-game spending before their kids press Start.”

As part of their push to educate parents on loot boxes and other digital purchases, the ESRB will also launch ParentalTools.org, a new online resource that includes…

  • A detailed introduction to the new “In-Game Purchases” and other interactive elements;
  • Links to step-by-step guides for setting parental controls to help manage different aspects of video game use in the home, including money and time spent playing; and
  • A link to the ESRB Ratings Guide that provides an explanation of ESRB’s three-part rating system.

The public should begin to see games with the “In-Game Purchases” descriptor in stores soon.

Ready Player One Programming Ideas @ Programming Librarian

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Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One will open in theaters next month, and many librarians are looking for ways to create programming that ties in with the virtual adventure.

But don’t worry, Jennifer Massa, the Program Librarian at Mount Prospect Public Library in Illinois, has a few ideas. She recently shared “Is Your Library ‘Ready Player One’ Ready?” with Programming Librarian, and offered up a few ideas:

The science fiction novel follows 18-year-old Wade as he tries to find an Easter egg of riches hidden by a billionare in OASIS, a virtual reality game. On his journey, Wade makes friends, falls in love, plays Pac-Man and listens to Rush. Between the ’80s references and the major plot point surrounding a scavenger hunt, readers of all genres were drawn to this futuristic book.

The film adaptation will come out March 29, and fans are buzzing with excitement. Here are a few program ideas to bring the adventure to life for its fans.

Some of Massa’s good ideas include a scavenger hunt, a Ready Player One Party (with 80s-appropriate retro gaming), and a themed display (these Read-Alikes might help with that last one).