Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Mike Gutierrez
Science says casual games reduce depression and anxiety
A year-long study by East Carolina University suggests casual video games have a strong potency in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. The Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic had 60 subjects play three PopCap games: Bejeweled, Peggle, and Bookworm Adventures. The study found a 57% reduction of depression symptoms in the experiment group, a significant reduction in anxiety, and improvements in all aspects of mood. Dr. Carmen Russoniello, professor in charge of the study, claimed “in my opinion the findings support the possibility of using prescribed casual video games for treating depression and anxiety as an adjunct to, or perhaps even a replacement for, standard therapies including medication.” He also noted that playing the games had both noticeable short-term effects (in as little as 30 minutes) as well as long-term effects (after one month). This reminded me of the “Mapathy” campaign for Modern Warfare 2 DLC. Apparently the chick above was misdiagnosed; all she needed was a little FarmVille.
Take it how you want it, but personally, I’ll be dealing with my anxiety by plunging into Killzone 3 multiplayer next week, while the rest of you bow before your gilded altar of Reason.
LEGO Battles: Ninjago trailer sets up the tale of two brothers
Warner Bros. released a new trailer for their upcoming Nintendo DS title Lego Battles: Ninjago today. The trailer introduces us to the story of two brothers fighting the war between good and evil, rendered in some seriously awesome Lego CG The game also gives us a few glimpses of gameplay footage, as well as a narrator who gets you more and more stoked for what apparently is an unbelievable Lego epic. The Lego series of games lately have all been well received, so it’s really nice to see them working on series’ that aren’t based on other licensed properties. We still don’t have a firm release date but Spring 2011 is still scheduled as the release window.
Posted in DS, News
Tagged Lego Battles: Ninjago
Sega Genesis classics arriving individually on PlayStation Store, free for PlayStation Plus
If you didn’t buy Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, shame on you. Seriously. It’s a beautiful time capsule letting you experience firsthand in high definition and surround sound what things were like in a simpler, arguably better, time for gaming, before the console war was determined by sales numbers. If you held off because you only wanted a few of the games, PlayStation is here to help. Starting March 29, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2, Golden Axe 2, Comix Zone, and Altered Beast will be arriving one after another about every month or so, up to August 16. Each game will cost $4.99 and have its own set of trophies, instead of just having at most one on a disc. Even better news is that all of these games will arrive early for PlayStation Plus subscribers, for free.
It’s getting harder and harder to resist that PSN Plus subscription, and if I didn’t already own the Blu Ray with these games, it might have been enough to push me over the edge. If they announce something crazy like Shining Force III, all episodes, for PSN Plus free and early, I might have to run to my local gamestop, knocking over racks and shelves, completely oblivious to the fact that I could have bought the subscription online… Hit the jump for the full details on the games. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Altered Beast, Comix Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2
Deep Silver brings Dead Island back from the grave
Developer Techland had a lot of interesting projects in the pipeline, but most seemed to be put on hold, seemingly indefinitely after the Call of Juarez series began. Fortunately, one of those projects, Dead Island, is being brought back by independent publisher Deep Silver. IGN had a lengthy preview of the game, which will still be open-world, first-person, and having a heavy focus on melee combat. You play on a resort island, so there’s not really caches of military weapons lying around. You’ll have to rely on everything and anything you can get your hands on, which is certainly reminiscent of Dead Rising. However, Techland sets its game apart with a physics engine that makes every strike you land result in a very specific injury to the undead, taking off a certain piece of skin or breaking bones.
When I first heard of Dead Island, it was billed as a PC/360 title as Techland’s Chrome 4 engine apparently didn’t support PS3 back then. That seems to have been cleared up, as the game’s now on track for release on the three main high definition platforms and slated for a 2011 release. Hit the jump for the new teaser trailer. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dead Island
PlayStation announces first ever PSN Gamers Choice Awards
From February 22 to March 1, you can vote for your picks for best downloadable titles of 2010 on the PSN. By downloading a free XMB theme for the game, you can vote for each of the four categories: Best PS3 Downloadable Game, Best PSP Downloadable Game, Best PS3/PSP Mini and Best PSN Exclusive Game. The winner in each character will go on sale for 30% off for regular PSN users and an ill 50% off for PSN Plus subscribers. It seems they want to keep every category mutually exclusive, or else I have no idea why Dead Nation and Soldner-X2 are not up for Best PS3 Downloadable Game.
While most Game of the Year awards have been done for a long time now, it’s pretty awesome for PSN users to have one with free themes and big discounts all along the way, and for some of the best games at that.
Hit the break for the full list of nominees. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PSP
Tagged Dead Nation, God of War: Ghost of Sparta
George R.R. Martin overseeing A Game of Thrones: Genesis for PC, new screenshots
If you’re a fan of the fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, or one of the inevitable hipsters who is now because there’s an HBO series about it, there’s a Real Time Strategy game based on it coming out for PC this summer (with a story supervised by author George R.R. Martin). A Game of Thrones: Genesis from Cyanide Studio allows players (I love it when games give us permission) to experience 1000 years of Westeros history, from its founding up to Aegon the Conquerer’s invasion and the War of the Usurper, which sound totally awesome.
The game seems to be more in line with Civilization than Age of Empires, as you can use economic and diplomatic tactics to crush your opponents instead of sending a thousand knights on horseback their way. I might have to check this out if my laptop can run it, judging by just how cool the screenshots below are. (more…)
Posted in News, PC
Tagged A Game of Thrones: Genesis
Go Back to the Future with 2/15/11 PlayStation Store update
This week should be pretty special for many different types of gamers on the PSN, especially fans of Telltale Games. Most notable on the PlayStation Store update this week is Back to the Future: The Game, featuring Christopher Lloyd himself as Doc and the best Michael J. Fox impersonation ever. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this game so you couldn’t go wrong with a $19.99 subscription. Also from the folks behind Monkey Island comes four new Sam & Max episodes exclusive to the PSN, for $8.99 a piece.
Acceleration of SUGURI X-Edition and ATV Pure round out the new games list with insane robot combat and quad racing, respectively.
There’s also a few notable entries outside of new games. The demo for the much-anticipated Yakuza 4 is available for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and the Killzone 3 single player demo is available in 3D and normal for all PSN gamers. Definitely check that one out if you haven’t already.
Most importantly for me, as you may tell from our podcasts, is Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. You read that right, Square Enix has released a PSP game on the PSN. No one expected this to land digitally, but Senior Editor Nicole Kline speculated that because the NGP will for the most part use digital media, Square may finally have to get their act together. In any case, be sure to take a look at this masterpiece, as well as more information on the new games on the Store after the break (details on all of this week’s add-ons can be found at the PlayStation.Blog). (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PSP
Tagged Back to the Future, Killzone 3, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Yakuza 4
Breach patched, get 60 minutes free play time
If you’ve been going crazy trying to sample some of Atomic Games’ XBLA military FPS Breach, you might want to hold off on any attempts to steal the game. The demo now offers a full 60 minutes of play in all modes on all maps and Atomic has also reset the clock for all players, so even if you’ve already exhausted your time with the demo you can come back for all the destruction features and cover system you can handle in an hour. If you were turned off by any performance issues of the game, you may want to check back as a new update fixes many issues, with the developers claiming it “shoots lag in the head.” That’s a pretty aggressive way to handle your network problems, but I guess it gets the job done.
Fixes included in this update:
– All known crashes fixed
– Many fixes to reduce lag
– Game connectivity improved by more than 33%
– Bug that caused Sole Survivor games to end in draw fixed
– Bug that caused invisible canister in Retrieval games fixed
– Bug that caused Vendetta icon to appear incorrectly fixed
– Server Browser can now sort by number of players
– Server Browser can now be manipulated with mouse scroll wheel
– Fixed bugs related to Friendly Fire settings
– Better ability for a game with lag to recover when bandwidth improves