I found this video on /v/ just now and I absolutely had to share it with the Dtoid community. This scene is from a Jackie Chan movie I've never head of before called "City Hunter" and it's pretty badass. I just love how they accurately used a lot of the Street Fighter II sound effects, very refreshing after so many movies have shown modern games like Halo playing with Pac Man sound effects in the background. Be sure to watch all the way to the end so you can see Jackie replicate Chun's finishing pose.

Could a game like this sway your vote in 2012? Bonus points if you know what game this picture is spoofing.

Video Games as a medium are maturing every day, we all know this. Twenty years ago, the idea of a game such as America's Army being used to recruit new soldiers was laughable, now it's a reality. Today I have a question for the fine folks of Destructoid.What is the next step for so called Serious Games? We already see video game's being used as marketing (Yaris, Doritos Dash of Destruction) so what if they were used as a campaign tool to get you to vote for the next President of the United States?

What would such a game look like? Is it even feasible? Would a well designed and fun to play video game sway your vote? Or does it still come down to the issues for you? What if the game was fun to play and talked about the issues, would that seal the deal? For you non-voters, would something like be enough to make you want to vote? Tell me what you think.

It’s time for another blog dealing with one of the issues I am discussing in my Psychological and Social Effects of Games class. This week we’re discussing cheating in video games.

I used to play a lot of Halo 2, like a whole lot. One of the reasons I stopped was because of the massive amount of cheaters I seemed to run into every time I’d play. It was one of those things I never really understood. If I were to join a bowling league, chances are I wouldn’t run into very many cheaters, but playing a video game online for any length of time is impossible without running into cheaters.

So what is it about games that make people feel like it is okay to cheat? I can understand cheating in an offline single player game. Sometimes you have to cheat to get past a particularly tough section. But cheating in online games, such as pressing the standby button on your modem while playing Halo 2, completely robs the game of any meaning. Why is it that people get such satisfaction out of it?

That's all she wrote folks. My relationship with my wonderful girlfriend is over. I've mentioned her in several other blogs (never by name), most notably in my most recent set-up blog. She said numerous times over the last month or so that I don't make her happy anymore and it's gotten to the point where I'm done trying to make her happy and I have to make the decision to move on. We've been on and off for the past while and this time it's official, we're done.

I'm shopping for a new apartment and it's looking like I'll end up in some shitty studio apartment until I can find something nicer. I should have listened to my mother and never moved in with this girl in the first place. Learn from my mistake and don't move in with someone until you're 100% sure it's right. We dated for a year before moving in together and even that wasn't enough time. Don't make the same mistake as me.

It's shameful, but I can't help but imagine how this will affect my gaming life. The HDTVs, PS3 and Wii are hers, so I'll be gaming on my old SDTV setup with only my 360 and older consoles. Not being able to play Boom Blox and Demon Souls is going to suck, but I still own the games, I just need new consoles. The question is, do I save up for a nicer TV first, or the consoles? Whatever I do, I'll have a new setup blog posted as soon as I can.

Sorry if this blog has been hard to read. I wrote it off the cuff and didn't change much while editing it. I'm in a sour mood as you can imagine, hence the lack of pretty pictures. You can expect a much better written and video games related post from me tomorrow. For now though, it's time for me to get back to apartment hunting. =(

Demon's Souls has been hailed as a modern hardcore classic. A game so hard that awaiting it's arrival is akin to sitting on death row. Demon's Souls has already killed thousands of players, possibly millions if you consider the asian release. So besides that, why should you, the gamer who has yet to try Demon Souls, be afraid? Read on as I answer that very question. (minor gameplay spoilers)

1. There is no pause function.

If you need to get up to pee and you're not in the Nexus, you'd better hope that the "safe" spot you think you've found is actually safe. Because if there is a wandering enemy just ahead that you don't know about, you're going to come back from the bathroom and find yourself at the beginning of the level.

Phone ringing in the middle of battle? Pick it up and you're probably dead. Just saying.

2. There are enemies in the very beginning of the game that you cannot beat.

The red knight in 1-1 is already infamous but I see very few people talking about the end of the tutorial, where a giant demon takes you out in one, maybe two hits. I've heard he is as mortal as any demon but I don't think it's possible without new game+, either way, good fucking luck.

3. It has Dragons in it.

And they're big, and in the first level, and they breathe fire. Don't fuck with them unless you have a bow or long range spell of some sort. Unless of course you're trying to trick them into frying up a bunch of enemy soldiers. That's always fun.



So why should you muster up your courage and buy this terrifying piece of software?

Well, besides the amazing art direction and production values, the game is simply fun to play. Yes it's hardcore, yes you're going to die a lot. It took me two hours to beat 1-1. I probably died ten or more times. The going was tough and the going was slow. But I enjoyed every second of it. Learning from your mistakes and developing strategies, not to mention trying new character classes to find the one that suits you best is all very rewarding. Once you find your niche, you'll blow through sections that initially seemed tough to you. In other words, the game is tough, but beatable, go buy it.

Get it?

Today I’m writing this blog post to ask Destructoid what I think is an interesting question. I’ve been pondering lately, mostly because of my Psychological and Social Effects of Games class, what, if any, moral standards do video games impose on their players? Is it even possible for video games to influence a player’s moral compass? Or do players bring their own moral backgrounds with them through the game?

Honestly, if you were to ask me, I’d say it’s a little bit of both. It is impossible and a bit silly to claim that games like Grand Theft Auto and God of War don’t require a certain moral code (or lack thereof) to see them through to completion. However, just because a lack of morality is on display doesn’t mean that the player is automatically picking up on that and is changing as a person as a result. It isn’t necessarily Grand Theft Auto teaching us that if you kill a hooker after sex you get your money back.

For example, I had my mother play Grand Theft Auto once, if only to show her that the game isn’t full of sex, blood and chaos unless you wanted it to be. Her GTA experience was rather short, she drove around for awhile, obeying all the traffic laws and quickly got bored and quit. So you see, my mother didn’t pick up the game and suddenly lose all of her god fearing, Christian values, in fact, she brought those values into the game!

This is why it is my opinion that the moral code that gamers develop for video games is made up of two parts. The first part is their morality in real life and the second part is the moral code that the video game requires for you to complete it. If at any point, the game’s required moral code conflicts too deeply with the gamer’s real life moral code, he or she will likely decide that the game is not for them.

So what are your thoughts on the issue? Can games affect your real life moral compass? Can you think of a specific game where this has happened to you? I’m interested to find out.