Yet have you ever thought of having a party where you can play video games? Just imagine how video game enthusiasts will react to that kind of party! Well, if the idea is to your liking and you have some cash to spare, this is a very good idea – and something that can be done as well. Read this:

Scott Novis, 42, founded The Game Truck two years ago in Tempe with idea of bringing arcades to birthday parties. So far, the company has done nearly 1,000 parties. Novis calls it “social video gaming.”

“The kids love it. Hanging out and play(ing) games with your friends has to be one of the greatest, most fun things you can do,” said Novis, a 10-year industry veteran. He had worked as vice president for Fall Line Studio, an interactive entertainment affiliate of the Walt Disney Company.

The 50-foot mobile video game theater, from truck to trailer, is outfitted with four 50-inch flat-screen televisions, sound systems and 15 to 20 game consoles. They’ve got Xbox 360s, Wiis, PlayStations and more than three dozen multiplayer games.

How much will this kind of service set you back? A nice sum of $275 for two hours and $95 for every additional hour. For that many consoles and other equipment, I think that it is not such a bad deal.

Kramer and his wife, Donna, agreed to take part in an experiment: playing a computer game. The software, made by Posit Science, is called an “exercise for the brain.”

“At first I thought, ‘ha-ha, just another game. But it became challenging to where you wanted to do it,” Donna Kramer said.

Allstate Insurance is now offering the game as a free trial to 100,000 Pennsylvania customers whose accident rates will be compared with a group of drivers not playing the games to see if it helps their reflexes and peripheral vision.

“There are a group of people, [ages] 50 to 75, that could benefit from some brain exercise, improve their driving skills, improve their attention, improve their visual skills,” said John Kane, regional distribution leader at Allstate Insurance Co.

There are no results as of yet but the researchers are quite excited about the potential of this study. I am far from elderly but I am also excited about the whole study! How about you?

If you’re seeing things
running through your head
Who can ya call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

I am not sure if the current generation is in awe of this iconic Tv/film series as much as my generation was. Children of my time all clamored for items such as bags, notebooks, and pens that have something to do with the Ghostbusters. Today, it might not be the most popular cartoon but I am sure that it still has a strong following of its own. And if Atari makes good on its promise, I strongly believe that a this franchise will experience a rebirth.

So has Atari promised that has got me all excited? Wired.com has this story:

Though it’s no secret that a Ghostbusters game is on the way, this morning publisher Atari officially announced the “highly anticipated” title as in development for “six game systems.”

“Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a fantastic addition to Atari’s global line-up in 2009,” said Phil Harrison, president of Atari parent company Infogrames Entertainment. “The title has built considerable anticipation and excitement among game fans for its high quality action and all-out mayhem. There’s no more thrilling Ghostbusting experience to be had, short of building your own proton pack.”

Ahh…now that is what I am talking about. I can’t wait to bust some supernatural creatures when this game comes out. I hope that it doesn’t suffer serious delays.

It reminds me of the old PC game Zeus – I don’t know if you remember it - except that it is online and takes place in real time. You log in to a world and create a city from scratch. You have to build buildings, harvest wood (building material) and some other prime resource. Each island has its own special resource – wine, marble, sulfur, crystal, and so on. Each resource has a special purpose which you need to develop a certain aspect of your town. There are many buildings which you can build and when you reach a certain town level and have a certain number of resources, you can go to sea and found a colony. You also have to upgrade your buildings in order to expand and be able to build more.

Ikariam’s strength lies in the ability of players to trade with other real players and to form alliances with each other. It is the part which makes you look forward to logging in several times a day and checking on your towns and colonies to see how they are faring.

You should try it. It is fun and it is free.

Photo courtesy of http://www.thatvideogameblog.com

Got an iPhone? Know someone who owns one? Here’s a good idea for a fun Christmas gift – if not for other people then for yourself. How about the new set of songs that the band Weezer just recorded for an iPhone application?

Weezer, for the uninitiated, is considered to be an alternative rock band hailing from Los Angeles, California. They have been around for quite some time now, having been formed in 1992. This is the first time that the band has created an album specifically for a mobile application.

Now what mobile application am I talking about? It is called Tap Tap Revenge. Developed by Tapulous, this iPhone application became highly popular soon after the release of the free version, which is downloadable from the App Store. A Nine Inch Nails version has also been released previously.

What should you expect if you buy this? Weezer’s own brand of music applied to Christmas classics such as “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “O Holy Night,” “First Noel,” “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” For $5, you get all these plus two bonus tracks and a special message from the band itself.

So on to the game itself…Tap Tap Revenge is the iPhone version of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. You have to tap the colored balls as they hit the bottom of the screen – in sync with the rhythm of the song playing. If you keep in time with the rhythm, you gain points. Otherwise, it is considered a miss.

Now I want an iPhone if only to play this game…

I am sure that you have been wracking your brains for Christmas gift ideas for some time now. And with the big day looming ever nearer, you might be running out of time and funds for gifts. Here’s a good idea that I got from 8bitjoystick over at Seattle PI – trade in old games:

Two weeks ago I bit the bullet and packaged up a lot of old game systems and games that I have had in storage and not played in years and traded them in at Pink Godzilla games. I would rather pass them on to a new home than to move them to my new place and then let them collect dust in a storage in the back of my closet. That and the back of my HDTV looks like a basket of snakes when I have my old game systems hooked up. I had to run some older 3d game systems through a video filter to even get them to display correctly on my rather fickle HDTV.

I think that this is a brilliant idea – something that everyone should have thought of. He is right, those old games would probably end up in storage and gather dust anyway.

Another thing that I think I might do is take a look at my collection and see which games I can actually give away. I have countless little cousins and nephews who would appreciate playing some games. Naturally, I am not parting with my special edition games but I am more than willing to pass on some others. Would you give away or trade in old games?

1. Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst
2. Mortimer Beckett and the Time Paradox
3. Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe
4. Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold
5. Mystery Stories: Berlin Nights
6. Hospital Hustle
7. Fitness Dash
8. Alabama Smith in Escape from Pompeii
9. Forgotten Lands: First Colony
10. Call of Atlantis

Let me see. I am currently playing Build-a lot- 3: Passport to Europe. It really isn’t that much different from the previous versions of the game, except for new places, new types of houses and buildings, and new services. They also added a bit more “trouble” for the player – fire and noisy party incidents. If you know someone who liked the first two games, then it would be a good idea to get the third.

Fitness Dash and Hospital Hustle are looking pretty good. I think they will suit people who liked Flo and her slew of Diner Dash games. I have also looked into Forgotten Lands: First Colony and it might be good for those who like “slow-paced building-worlds” games. The reviews of this last game generally bode well except for the graphics, which are reportedly unsatisfactory.

So there you have it – take your pick and make a casual gamer happy this Christmas!

In order to avoid these potentially disastrous situations, The New York Times published a guide on giving video games this Christmas. It is quite amusing, actually. For us avid gamers, it is a no brainer. You might want to share the article with your friends and family members who may otherwise be less informed.

The list provided covers a lot of ground – good enough to help those who need help. Some of the games that made it to the list include Grand Theft Auto IV (are you even surprised?), Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution, War Hammer Online, Wii Fit (I want one!), Little Big Planet (I want that too!), Fallout 3, and Gears of War 2.

This got me thinking – casual games were not really mentioned. There is a slew of new casual games available. But who would you give a casual game to? Your aunt? Your sister? Don’t make the mistake of overlooking even the hardcore gamer. If you remember, I know a lot of people who would actually play these games every now and then. Let me look up which are the hottest ones and get back to you next time.

I thought of this conversation when I read an article today about just how much electricity video game consoles use. According to a study done by the Natural Resources Defense Council, “consoles in use today consume an estimated 16 billion-kilowatt hours per year, which, the report goes on to translate, is roughly equal to the annual electricity use of the city of San Diego.”

That amount is so incomprehensible that I was left speechless after reading the figure involved! To be honest, I am very keen on conserving whatever natural resources we have and am quite particular about turning electrical equipment off when not in use. Our gaming consoles at home are always turned off when not in use – we make it a point to save the game and then shut the TV and consoles off.

My point is this: let us be responsible gamers. We already receive enough flak as it is. Let us not make ourselves another target for people who do not think highly of us and video games in general. Conserve energy!

I never really thought about Nat Geo testing the video game waters, though, but if you think about it (which, as I said, I didn’t), it makes perfect sense. They have print media, they have TV, they even have films – why not video games? It was really just a matter of time till they forayed into this format.

So now, the people at Nat Geo have come up with National Geographic Games. Don’t be fooled – they are not in it for the money. Their goal is to provide high quality video games that will encourage people – particularly the younger generation – to develop an interest in nature and science. They have actually teamed up with Sony and Namco Bandai to develop games for the existing consoles in the market, including an array of mobile platforms.

The first game released is Herod’s Lost Tomb, which is actually available for downloading for the PC, the Mac, and the iPhone. If you want to try it out, you can visit BigFishGames. I heard that it was free but apparently, the full version sells for about $7. Why don’t you take a look and let us know if you would play Nat Geo games?