A nationwide (even global) magnifying glass was placed on the 2012 election and campaign trail. Most of the attention was put on the presidential race, but Nov. 6 was a day of progress in many states for reasons that had nothing to do with the presidential ballot. Washington and Colorado legalized r
There is a new Far Cry game, and today a new Far Cry trailer, which predictably asks us to consider how much violence we would be willing to commit in order to do… something. This is the latest in a series of games that have become a type: the game that asks players to consider their implication in
The quicksave is pervasive in PC games. It exists on the console as well, but there it is better classified as a frequent-and-laborious-trip-to-the-menu save. G. Christopher Williams at Pixels or Death examines this panacea for challenge and contrasts it with the mechanics found in Jordan Mechner’s
When I was in college, I was excessively concerned with using my time efficiently. If I took a break from studying to watch a movie or play a videogame, I considered it a waste of time. But as I matured, I learned the value of leisure time in keeping my sanity (and also having something interesting
Kids who play videogames can become overwhelmed with positive feedback loops and can’t stop playing. They’ll risk peeing their pants or making parents angry just for one more minute of game time. But all of the time spent playing games isn’t rotting their brains. For 12-year-olds, the amount of time
Watching a movie in 3D is different from watching it in 2D: it’s more likely to fool part of your brain into believe the situation is real. In a study by Brendan Rooney, 3D viewers had a higher heart rate compared to viewers of a 2D film. Christian Jarrett at BPS Research Digest explains that this m
When humans interact with others, they overwhelmingly focus on the face of the person they are communicating with. Alan Kingstone, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, wanted to know if this was because humans seek out the eyes of those they interact with or if they just focus on th
Have you ever had a friend who is just good at every game she or she lays his or her hands on? So have we. Aren’t they annoying? Anyhow, there may be a biological basis for why they are just so damn good. Scientists at the University of Illinois measured electrical activity in the brains of test sub