THE DAILY SHOW - Have You Heard the Good News About Jesus?

The Daily Show

with Trevor Noah

“I Am Jesus Christ,” a Ridiculous New Video Game

SPORTS - eSports vs Traditional Sports

"ESports mesmerize as traditional sports worry about decline" PBS NewsHour 6/21/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  It's drawn millions of fans, its competitors get paid big money, and the Olympics are considering adding it.  As an industry, eSports -- professionals playing video games for spectators -- is set to gross nearly $1 billion by the end of 2018.  Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports from DreamHack Austin.

GAMER FILES - Prey, from Bethesda

Coming 2017


Prey Official Website

GAMES - New 'Legend of Zelda'

"The Coolest Thing About The New 'Legend of Zelda' For Wii U" by Erik Kain, Forbes

Nintendo had a good showing at the Game Awards Friday night.

The company won Developer of the Year, took Best Fighting Game for Super Smash Bros. and Best Racing Game and Best Family Game for Mario Kart 8.

But perhaps the very best moment for Nintendo at the award show was the extended gameplay footage of the upcoming video game, The Legend of Zelda—the first new game in the franchise to hit Wii U.

You can watch that footage yourself right here:

The game looks lovely, and the big open world is full of promise.  I can’t wait to how the designers of the carefully designed Zelda franchise handle a truly open-world.

But the coolest thing we saw—to me at least—was the way the game handles horseback-riding.

As Link rides about Hyrule on the back of his longtime equine companion, Epona, he can do so “hands-free.”  Link, and by extension the gamers who play Link, can trust in the horse to keep riding without having to steer.

Epona will ride around trees because “real horses don’t run into trees very often” producer Eiji Aounuma remarks to Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto.  It’s one of those funny, obvious observations that makes so much sense but isn’t really evoked in game design at all.  In some games it’s hard not to run your horse into trees and other obstacles.  In Nintendo’s hands, horses don’t just run into trees because gamers can’t steer.  Horses, thinking beasts that they are, run around them.

This frees up Link to fight—with sword and bow—and so forth.

The other neat thing about horseback riding in the new Zelda game is Link’s ability to leap off of Epona and slow down time midair.  We saw a CGI animation of this in the game’s reveal trailer.  Now we see that it’s an actual gameplay mechanic, not just a flashy, cinematic CGI moment.

If the care going into Link and Epona’s traversal options is any indication, we’re looking at something very special in the Wii U’s first new Zelda title.  It must be getting harder and harder to not own this console.

MENTAL HEALTH - Do Memory Video Games Help With Alzheimer's?

NOTE:  I use Lumosity.  As to the statement that their claims are exaggerated, that's true, but that is what ALL advertizing does.

"Can memory video games deliver on brain-boosting claims?" PBS Newshour 12/20/2013

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  This weekend, the crossword puzzle marks its hundredth birthday.  First published in a New York newspaper, it's become a daily ritual for many and even been rumored to help stave off dementia.  But there isn't much evidence to back up that claim.

On the other hand, special correspondent Jake Schoneker reports on new research using video games to sharpen an aging mind.

JAKE SCHONEKER:  Fifty-seven-year-old Ashley Wolff has been a self-employed children's author and illustrator for 25 years, working out of her small home studio in San Francisco.  She says she loves being her own boss, but that working from home can be a challenge.

ASHLEY WOLFF, author and illustrator:  Working from home allows me really to just let my attention deficit problem fly.

JAKE SCHONEKER:  Like many people her age, she's recently found herself forgetting things more often, and getting easily distracted from work.  She was worried about these problems getting worse as she got older, especially because her mother, at age 85, was beginning to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's disease.

ASHLEY WOLFF:  My sister and I are watching our mother kind of lose her memory.  And we thought, gee, wow, she always did the New York times crossword puzzle, and always seemed so sharp, and here she is, none of that helped her.  And we thought, we should try something.

JAKE SCHONEKER:  So she decided so try cognitive training, a new breed of video game designed to exercise the brain.  She now gets a daily reminder to log on to her laptop for a 15-minute mental workout.

TECHNOLOGY - Financing 'Oculus Rift' Gaming Goggles

"Tricking the brain with transformative virtual reality" PBS Newshour 12/18/2013

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  Correspondent Paul Solman takes a look at a technology that allows adventurous users to explore the latest developments in the world of video gaming.

It's part of his ongoing coverage Making Sense of financial news.

PAUL SOLMAN (Newshour):  It was a 20-year-old named Palmer Luckey who would finally make science fiction dreams come true.

Working in his parents garage, he cobbled together a headset out of ski goggles, smartphone and tablet parts to create a just-like-real-life gaming experience.  Then, hoping to raise $250,000 to take his invention to market, he turned to the crowd-funding Web site Kickstarter.

PALMER LUCKEY, Oculus Rift:  So join the revolution.  Make a pledge.  And help up change gaming forever.

PAUL SOLMAN:  Within days, he had 10 times what he needed, as gamers went gaga over the goggles.

GUN CONTROL - Role of Violent Video Games

"Can Violent Video Games Play a Role in Violent Behavior?" PBS Newshour 2/19/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In our continuing look at the gun debate for PBS's week-long special "After Newtown," Jeffrey Brown explores whether there is any connection between violent video games and violent behavior.

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  And we turn to our series on the national conversation surrounding guns, violence, and mental health in the wake of the Connecticut shootings.  Public officials and other critics have raised concerns about the role of media and culture, particularly violent video games.

Jeffrey Brown explores some of those questions in this report, all part of the week-long PBS effort "After Newtown."

And a note:  The story contains graphic violence.

"The Gun Debate" PBS Newshour

IMHO:  Violent video games do not CAUSE violence, but they ARE A REFLECTION of U.S. culture.

Having said that, there are really violent (high levels of violence and stereotyping) games like Postal 2 which is part of an 1997 series.


IN ADDITION:

"Raising Adam Lanza" 2-Parts
After Newtown, PBS Frontline 2/19/2013
(54:47)