femalegamer

Some interesting statistics were put out by the Pew Internet and American Life Project recently, when it comes to gamers. Turns out those with children are more likely to partake in gaming than those that are childless. To some degree, this goes against the stereotype of the adult gamer… the one that has no social skills and is a ghastly pale while from never leaving the computer screen. Sixty-six percent of parents with children under the age of 17 play games, compared to 47 percent of childless adults.

If anything these statistics also prove that maybe parents are taking an interest in their children’s gaming, and are hopefully monitoring the games and time spent playing.

Not surprisingly, teenagers make up the largest gaming population however with a massive 97 percent playing some form of video game. And, when it comes to those 18 and over, including both parents and the childless, 53 percent play some form of game with an impressive 21 percent playing almost every day.

When broken down by gender, the vast disparity seen in the past is quickly filling in. While 55 percent of men are likely to play games, 50 percent of women are.

Well, it’s official! Did you get WotLK? My better half and I did the midnight release on Nov. 13 and took several days off of work to hit 80. Lo and behold, six days later we had our first Level 80s. Since that time we’ve familiarized ourselves with all of the instances, heroic and regular, as well as begun raiding. Our guild has completed Naxx (and can now do the entire dungeon in 3.5 hours (regular, not heroic - we’re a small guild) and the Obsidian Sanctum. We’re making progress on Myalgos, but have a little ways to go (and some gearing up needed) before we complete it I’m guessing.

All in all, it’s been a fun experience, but if anything, I’m disappointed that we’ve basically run out of raid content so quickly. We had Naxx figured out in two days… I would have preferred a few weeks of bashing our heads on content… just to prolong the experience and make it feel more of a challenge. Maybe I’m odd in wanting that, who knows. At least we still have the challenge of doing the Obsidian Sanctum and leaving the three dragons up… that should be fun. I love me a good challenge!

Anyway - now that my major writing challenges are out of the way, I’m freed up to focus more on pleasure writing, and what is going on in the rest of the gaming world!

All the best-
S

With Wrath of the Lich King coming out a month from today, I thought I’d give a little bit of an update on what I’ve experienced in Beta so far. I’ve leveled a Death Knight up to 65 and my Hunter is at 76-and-a -half and is making the push for 80 before they take the Beta servers down.

This truly has been an unbelievable expansion to the game, and is well beyond anything they have done yet. Many of the quests have a much more immersive feel. One of the threads, which takes place in Dragonblight is absolutely epic, featuring an awesome cut scene, a changing town and some trials you never imagined taking part in.

All the zones are quite well laid out and feature more flight paths than in the past, making travel a bit easier. They’ve all been quite breath-taking in their scope; some a vast wasteland of ice and snow, others a nordic playground, and Sholazar Basin - a much more attractive Un’Goro Crater. Now, I’m just looking forward to learning Cold-Weather Flying at 77 so I can get around a little quicker.

Profession-wise, I’ve only really explored Leatherworking, but they’ve added some extremely nice features and gear opportunities. Now, instead of just making patches, Leatherworkers have the ability to emboss some of their own gear. The embossing recipes give you the ability to add ridiculously strong buffs to your bracers (141 AP, etc.) - a very fine addition indeed!

All in all, it looks as though Blizzard has outdone themselves this time! Be sure to preorder your copy!

Nintendo has announced it will launch a new version of the popular DS handheld console. The new version, the DSi, will add a camera, SD card slot for music and downloads and a larger screen than the original DS.

The console will also feature a game download service, along the lines of the Wii and the Xbox 360. While this isn’t anything new these days… as noted by the Wii and the Xbox 360, analysts have noted that the download service could have an effect on video game sales by media sales giants Best Buy, Circuit City and GameStop.

Matthew J. Fassler of Goldman Sachs told investors in a research note that the DSI could be perceived as a “tangible early threat” to portable systems that rely upon cartridge reliant consoles. Although there are only 10 games currently available for download, Fassler noted that more will become available.

With portable games accounting for nearly one quarter of new game sales, this could be a significant dent in the retail store’s sales. On the news, Best Buy’s stock shares fell by $2.

Electronic Arts is definitely looking at the bigger picture when it comes to games these days, more of an art-form perhaps? On top of their work with Steven Spielberg (Boom Blox for the Wii), they recently have come to an agreement with Zack Snyder in which he will help create three video games for the company.

Although Snyder doesn’t have the name power of Spielberg, he was the director behind the vivid and amazingly artistic 300, as well as The Dawn of the Dead, and is currently working on The Watchmen movie.

Financial details were not announced but EA will own the intellectual properties stemming from the alliance.

In a release, Snyder said: “I think video games are cool because they offer an opportunity to tell a story in an entirely unique way. Being a long time fan of the games EA creates, I look forward to collaborating with them.”

There is indeed a game for everyone out there. Today’s example is “The Political Machine,” for all you politicos out there.

“The Political Machine” is a PC strategy game that allows its players to run for president. You can choose from existing candidates or create your own. Hrm, want to play out this year’s election with no surprises and no disappointments? Here’s your chance! If history is more your thing, you can pit famous presidents of the past against one another: JFK vs. Bill Clinton? You got it!

Once you have your candidate chosen, you choose your map/scenario and start to tackle the issues and battle against your opponent with the election day looming over your head.

While “TPM” is just a game meant for some educational fun, its creators note that it is also “one of the most advanced political simulations that exists.  For example, in 2004, the The Political Machine 2004 edition accurately predicted the election in June. Stardock’s Brad Wardell was asked live on CNBC in June 2004 how the game predicted the outcome. The game correctly predicted that Ohio — not Florida — would be the state to watch and whoever won that state would win the election.  It also correctly predicted the winner of 48 of the 50 states.”

For a free demo of the game, or to download it in its entirety, click here: http://www.politicalmachine.com/.

Blizz is doing their best to combat losing any subscribers to Warhammer Online lately with all the concessions and tidbits they’re releasing lately.

Long gone are the days that realm transfers are limited to PvP -> PvP, PvE -> PvE and PvP -> PvE. In order to appeal to those stuck on PvE realms that may be swayed by the heavy focus on PvP in Warhammer, Blizz has announced the ability for people to transfer from PvE realms to PvP realms. As a full-fledged PvE realmer, I’m kind of disappointed by this decision (but I can fully understand why they’re doing it). Unfortunately we will be losing several of our friends to the glitz and glitter of the PvE world.

The upcoming patch will introduce the Inscription profession in advance of the game. Once the patch strikes, players will be able to level up Inscription to 375 and once the Expansion is out, continue further.

And, speaking of the expansion, there’s a date! November 13th… get ready to take days off and expect midnight release parties at most major game stores. Preorder your copy today!

Happy gaming!

Aardman Studios, which brought us the wonderful Wallace and Gromit, has lent one of its other stars, Shaun the Sheep, to the video game world.

Shaun, a Disney Channel staple, is now starring on the Nintendo DS system as well.

The basic premise behind the game is that Shaun must find the rest of the flock before the farmer comes home. Featuring locations from the stop-motion animated series as well as original content, the game also has three play modes and several mini and “micro” games.

D3Publisher worked with Aardman Studios to ensure the game’s style, sound effects and music are true to the show.

Now, call me old school, but I have always loved Wallace and Gromit and Aardman’s wonderfully simple and endearing stop motion animations. Seeing Shaun translated to a game is sure to be a treat!

My husband and I always joke that we will be introducing our children to gaming early on. By the age of two or three we’ll have taught them to do the daily quests in Warcraft so they can be our little “gold farmers.” Fortunately it’s just our little joke and it will be much longer than that before we allow them to get sucked into any game of that magnitude.

The question is raised though, in a gamer family, when do you introduce your children to gaming? It is obviously happening earlier and earlier thanks to the advent of youth game platforms like Leapfrog and the sort. And yes, it can be a fun way to get children to learn things thanks to the educational nature of many of the games, but I fully believe that relying upon those methods can be damaging.

Attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter, thanks to the plethora of options and the total media sensory overload of this generation. Gone are the days of children spending day upon day playing outdoors, reading books and playing good old pretend.

It needs to be a fine line. Yes, the games can be useful, but they shouldn’t be the sole method by which children grow up.

I look back at the many hours I spent in the car as a little one, reading a book or staring out the window daydreaming. Nowadays, built-in DVD players keep children occupied. It saddens me that parents have to rely upon a television screen to get through a two-hour trip.

And yes, this is coming from someone who could find no better way than to spend an entire weekend playing a game, interspersed only with eating and sleeping.

I don’t think I would hesitate starting our children off young, as long as it is educational and is not the sole source of their entertainment/education. But, I will try my hardest to combine it with a healthy dose of old fashioned fun.

It’s hard when the biggest titles expected out all have numbers after their names: Rock Band 2, Gears of War 2, GTA 4, Resistance 2.

While they were all stand out titles, its sad that the concept of new games has fallen by the wayside of just rehashing and redoing the old. But, that’s what we’re looking at as far as releases this year.

At the same time, there are several non “numbered” sequels: Destroy All Humans, Viva Pinata and in a sense Warhammer Online. Destroy All Humans was a fresh and inventive idea the first time around, will that continue through its second incarnation. And Warhammer, which started out as a pen and paper RPG is now stepping into the MMORPG world. MMOPRG players have definitely be abuzz about WO, but, will it be able to hold their attention?

Looking at the initial excitement that comes with any title, the month or two of pretty highly focused game time, and the following trickle as people leave to go back to their preferred game of choice… it will be interesting to see if it, as I’m sure Mythic Entertainment is hoping, can be “the New WoW.”

So, it’s not surprising that the original titles stand out like shining beacons of originality in a world of reruns. And, that is something that Spore did (of course, Spore’s buzz has been growing for nearly 3 years now). Now that it’s finally out, will it live up to its hype.

Time and units sold will tell, but as of now, I’m not feeling completely confident it will. Considering one of my good friends, who has faithfully been playing around with the Spore Creature Creator for a few weeks now, texted me yesterday, “Spore is a piece of crap on Vista.” Yeah, it doesn’t bode well.