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Video games have a therapeutic value?
I found our discussion last week with respect to gamer vulnerabilities fascinating. In line with that, I’ve recently been interested in how the digital world can affect, or eek into the physical. For example, I have a room in my house dedicated solely to gaming and my gaming peripherals. I’ve enabled video games to transform […]
Gatcha games: a form of virtual gambling?
Gatcha games, are video games that implement the gacha machine mechanic. The term ‘gatcha’ comes from the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound a capsule toy machine makes. In gatcha games, players spend in-game currency to “pull” a reward, often in the form of collectable characters, cards, or other items. Although in-game currency can generally be […]
Video games could trigger life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias in children with undiagnosed heart conditions
A study has found that video games can trigger heart attacks in children with arrhythmic conditions. Head researcher Claire M. Lawley said, “Video games may represent a serious risk to some children with arrhythmic conditions; they might be lethal in patients with predisposing, but often previously unrecognised arrhythmic conditions.” Researchers studied 22 cases of children […]
Nvidia’s 40 Series GPUs and NBA 2k: Is Gaming becoming too expensive?
Two years ago was a strange time. We were in a pandemic, I started my first year of law school and Nvidia had just announced their new 30 series graphics cards of which I had the fortunate success of purchasing before the price increase, the supply shortage, and the crypto-mining surge. Nvidia is set to […]
Blizzard’s Phone Number Requirement
I came across a news article a few days ago regarding Overwatch 2 that seemed somewhat odd. According to Kotaku “every single Overwatch 2 player, including those who had previously purchased Overwatch, need to provide a phone number that fits certain requirements [numbers cannot be attached to a prepaid phone plan, landline, or use VOIP] […]
NHL23 Release Week: A Move Towards Gender Equality, Diversity, & Inclusivity
It is officially NHL23 release week! The 2023 instalment of EA’s annual NHL series is set to launch globally on October 14, 2022, and, for the first time, includes female hockey players. Specifically, IIHF Women’s National Team members are included in the game for the first time in EA’s 30+ year production of its NHL […]
Kyler Murray & Call of Duty: Unprecedented “Independent Study” Contract Addendum
Our discussion last class about the Vancouver Canucks’ leadership banning video games while on the road in 2018 reminded me of a similar development: Kyler Murray’s new NFL contract with the Arizona Cardinals. Murray’s contract, which pays him $230,500,000 over the next five years, contained an unprecedented “independent study” addendum. Specifically, the independent study addendum […]
Overwatch 2 DDoS
As of Tuesday (October 4, 2022), players of the popular game “Overwatch 2” have been unable to access the games online servers (see https://kotaku.com/overwatch-2-queue-times-ddos-connection-failed-launch-1849616598). The issue has been attributed to a mass distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. The attack is executed by maliciously flooding servers with traffic to prevent others from connecting. I was […]
Dance Emotes in Fortnite Stir Up Controversy (Again….)
Our discussion today regarding the ability to copyright certain “signature” moves in games reminded me of Fortnite and some recent controversy that I’d like to share. Fortnite, like many multiplayer games, allows users to “emote” (i.e. the player’s avatar or character will project certain actions like a thumbs-up or dance for other players to see). […]
“Am I playing a character, or am I being me?”
Hi everyone, The question posed in class reminded me of a hot debate that happened last summer in one of my Facebook groups. The group consists of players, 25 years and older, who play the video game “Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH)” (the group name: Animal Crossing for 25+). For those of you who don’t […]