Fight for Good.

By Marc Saltzman, Special for USA TODAY Tue Aug 15, 7:10 AM ET

Video games are not just about reaching high scores or blowing off steam after a long day at work or school. The $10 billion interactive entertainment industry is also finding that games can be a tool for good - from healing your mind and body to solving world problems.

The latest positive pursuits in games range from burning calories and fighting cancer to tackling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We've known for a while that games can sharpen memory and improve hand-eye coordination, but they can also be used to teach problem-solving skills, increase our awareness of world issues, help with social phobias and can even treat those with serious illnesses," says Ben Sawyer, co-founder and director of the Games for Health Project, an organization that brings together medical professionals, researchers and gamemakers to explore new ways to improve health care practice and policy. "What we're realizing now is that gaming, as a medium, has become more than just entertainment."

Among the two dozen or more games scheduled to be on display at the Games for Health Conference, scheduled for Sept. 28-29 in Baltimore, are Re-Mission, a game that gives cancer patients a chance to blast malignant cells; Food Force, about the

United Nations' struggles in delivering food to needy parts of the world; and Peacemaker, a game about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Gaming has the capacity to teach us that problems are multifaceted," Sawyer says. "This is a clear case of learning by doing. The U.N. game, for example, can show you what an organization is all about - and let's face it, it's far more effective than a pamphlet."

Video games clearly have a powerful effect on gamers, says David Walsh, president of the National Institute for Media and the Family.

"The really good ones tend to be very, very addictive. But these games can be good teachers. We just have to pay attention to what they are teaching," he says. "As the industry becomes more mature, hopefully the creative possibilities will be applied to more positive themes."

On popular video systems, games that exercise the mind and body have become big hits. Konami has sold more than four million Dance Dance Revolution games in North America since 2001. (Players connect a dance mat to a video game console, choose a song and step on the correct arrows according to the on-screen instructions.)

Nintendo has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day since its 2005 launch and more than 250,000 copies of Big Brain Academy in the two months it has been available in the USA.

These two games ($20 each) for the portable Nintendo DS system offer brain-sharpening activities that range from reading and counting exercises to word games and drawing challenges to Sudoku puzzles.

Their appeal? "Video games serve as relaxing getaways as you become temporarily entranced by them, melting away the days' stressors," says Dr. Carl Arinoldo, a Long Island, N.Y.-based psychologist.

Gary's Take: This plus news recently about ADD children finding focus from video games, and where do you hear about it? Not on the local news...

RUMOR CENTRAL:

There was a huge rumor going around that MS was going to force people to buy a HD-DVD add on to play certain games.

"Microsoft hasn’t determined whether to do Xbox 360 games in blue-laser HD DVD, but has ruled it out for "this holiday" when it ships its HD DVD drive for movie playback through the Xbox 360, said Dave Luehmann, gen. mgr.- Microsoft Game Studios."

Although MS quickly said no to this, it didn't stop fan boys from frothing at the mouth and making photoshops to their little hearts content in the effort to appear humorous.

UPDATE: Looks like we can put the issue to rest. Microsoft has, once again, officially denied they will be releasing games on the upcoming HD-DVD format, confirming the add-on will be movie-exclusive. The statement released from the company this afternoon makes that pretty clear, and they don't appear to be leaving room to budge:

We're seeing lots of speculation about our upcoming HD DVD Player, and whether we have plans to publish HD DVD games. The answer is no.

XBOX Live to allow user created games

August 14, 2006

BREAKING: Microsoft To Enable User-Created Xbox 360 Games

BREAKING: Microsoft To Enable User-Created Xbox 360 Games Talking on the eve of its Gamefest event in Seattle, Microsoft has revealed XNA Game Studio Express, a new product which will allow indie developers and students to develop simultaneously on Xbox 360 and PC, and share their games to others in a new Xbox 360 'Creators Club'.

The details of the new tech are as follows: XNA Game Studio Express will be available for free to anyone with a Windows XP-based PC, and will provide them with what's described as "Microsoft's next-generation platform for game development." In addition, by joining a "creators club" for an annual subscription fee of $99, users will be able to build, test and share their games on Xbox 360, as well as access a wealth of materials to help speed the game development progress.

[UPDATE - Further information on the new XNA product has been released by Microsoft as part of an official XNA FAQ, including plenty of specific details on how and when the service will debut, and what pre-requisites to game sharing and collaboration are included.]

In an official statement related to this major announcement, Microsoft suggested that the new product "...will democratize game development by delivering the necessary tools to hobbyists, students, indie developers and studios alike to help them bring their creative game ideas to life while nurturing game development talent, collaboration and sharing that will benefit the entire industry."

The games created with XNA Game Studio Express will not initially be available to regular Xbox 360 users, but a longer-term goal is to create a less restricted distribution market using Xbox Live - the company has commented that "Eventually, you’ll be able to distribute that code to other Xbox 360s, opening up a unique publishing avenue which will democratize game development on consoles."

In the meantime, a second XNA toolset named Game Studio Professional, originally scheduled tentatively for an early 2006 release, is now due in spring 2007, and is intended to cater more directly to professionals aiming for Windows and XBLA game releases.

ALSO

Genesis collection revealed

Sega reveals full list of games from 16-bit system to be included in upcoming retro compilation for PS2, PSP.

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot

Posted Aug 17, 2006 2:39 pm PT

Last week, Sega announced that it was bringing a retro compilation of Genesis games to the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable later this year. The publisher confirmed that Golden Axe, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shinobi III, Altered Beast, and a Phantasy Star game would be among the included titles.

After a week of speculation, Sega has provided gamers with a full list of 28 Genesis titles that will be included in the collection. The rest of the originally promised "more than 30" games should be accounted for by unlockable arcade games.

It turns out each of the previously confirmed franchises (except Altered Beast) will be represented by multiple games, with Phantasy Star and Golden Axe each seeing installments included in the compilation. Joining that list of Sega luminaries will be a number of lesser-known (but still fondly remembered) games like Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Ecco the Dolphin, Kid Chamelon, and Vectorman.

The full list of Genesis titles included in the collection follows:

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

Altered Beast

Bonanza Bros.

Columns

Comix Zone

Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head

Ecco the Dolphin

Ecco II: The Tides of Time

Ecco Jr.

Kid Chameleon

Flicky

Gain Ground

Golden Axe

Golden Axe II

Golden Axe III

Phantasy Star II

Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom

Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium

Ristar

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Super Thunder Blade

Sword of Vermilion

Vectorman

Vectorman 2

Virtua Fighter 2

Bully being bullied

By K.C. Jones

TechWeb Mon Aug 14, 8:11 PM ET

A Florida lawyer said Monday that he is on a mission to stop the release of Bully, a video game scheduled to come out in October.

Developer Rockstar claims the game will teach young people how to navigate through the tricky and sometimes brutal social pitfalls of high school. Bully puts the player in the position of a new kid who has to confront bullies, deal with teachers, get the girl and avoid detention at a corrupt boarding school. Though it has not been released yet, a sneak peek reveals that the main character, Jimmy Hopkins kicks and wields a baseball bat during his journey.

Attorney Jack Thompson, who has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN and ABC World News Tonight, has crusaded against violent lyrics and video games for years. He called the yet-to-be-released game a "Columbine simulator."

Thompson represented the parents of three children killed in Paducah, Ky. in 1997, when one of their classmates went on a shooting rampage. He and investigators said that 14-year-old Michael Carneal had spent hours playing video games that simulate violence.

Thompson tried unsuccessfully to obtain damages from game creators, claiming they were negligent in distributing games that spawned violent behaviors in children. The case was dismissed, but Thompson said his interactions with the family launched a lifelong commitment.

"These people changed my life, broke my heart," he said. "I believe people are going to be harmed because of these games. This is not just some effort by some 55-year-old guy dictating entertainment taste for other people's children. I've got a dog in this hunt and I know where their skeletons are. I think this is the most ridiculous game anyone has come up with."

Thompson, who has also targeted rappers like N.W.A., is seeking a congressional subpoena for an early copy. He said he is prepared to file suit Friday in Miami if he does not gain help from U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns (news, bio, voting record), a Florida Republican.

His ultimate goal is to prevent the release of the video. He said that once the video is out, "the horse will be out of the barn and it will be too late to do anything about it." He said he plans to argue that it violates Florida's public nuisance laws, which prohibit activities that can injure the health of the community.

What I've been playing:

Dead Rising!!!!

Uno

Anime News:

No Anime Explosion this month, taking time off after AFO.

Con Corner:

Comic Con this weekend!

Caribe Royal
8101 World Center Drive
Orlando, Fl.