HotmailGaming 101: A cheat sheet for parents
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Now before I give you a bit of a heads-up on the hottest games this coming season, you may be thinking, well, why should I worry? All video games are for boys anyway. The things are played by disgruntled, anti-social teenagers who have nothing better to do but blow things up on their computer screen. Here are a couple of surprising stats from the ESA: Forty percent of all gamers are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a larger portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent). And, according to Nintendo, women represent more than half of all Nintendo Wii and DS users. So, your daughters need your guidance, too.
The hottest games this coming season
Word has it that the Activision company, which makes “Guitar Hero,” will be tops on gamers’ lists. They have two new “Guitar Hero” offerings. One is actually for the portable, hand-held Nintendo DS, called “Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.” A small attachment called a “Guitar Grip” lets you “play” the guitar on your portable DS, no matter where you are, and share the game with others.
Another Activision title, “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” now comes with a drum set and a microphone (no more being limited to the guitar), and this cool little add-on software called “Guitar Hero Studio,” which allows you to compose your own rock anthems and upload them for others to play along with.
Then, for Nintendo Wii fans, one of the coolest games out there will be de “Blob,” made by a company called THQ. The game is distinguished by what so many other video games aren’t: creativity. The mission of every player (up to four can play at once on one screen) is to add color, life and music back to a city that has been sucked dry of it by the evil INKT corporation. Building things up instead of blowing them up? Who knew?
And finally, for those M folks out there (17 and up), a game publisher called Ubisoft has created “Far Cry 2,” which has something known as a “dynamic” storyline, meaning the story changes depending on the choices you make as a character. Word has it that the game’s creators played it for almost a year straight and never had the same story twice.
Playing video games for a living? Now there’s a great job in a tough economy.
Paul Hochman is the gear and technology editor for the TODAY Show and a Fast Company magazine contributor. He covered the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Athens and Torino, Italy, for TODAY. He was also a three-year letter winner on the Dartmouth ski team and has a black belt in karate. Paul’s blog can be found at: Paulhochman.blogspot.com
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