President Trump’s meeting with video game executives and their critics after the latest school shooting is yet another example of complete blindness when it comes to understanding the root causes of violence in the United States. Violent video games have become a predictable scapegoat for politicians and other critics to place blame in the immediate aftermath of mass shootings committed by young people. As early as 1976 and barely two years after Pong’s first rally, the video game industry has been accused of influencing aggression and violent behavior in children and teens. Video games have exploded into the mainstream, from geeky hobby into cultural norm. The United States ranks as the second largest consumer of games in the world. A 2008 report by the Pew Research Center found that over half of American adults played video games, and a whopping 98% of teens did as well, fueling speculation about their negative impact on society. However, a more recent report in 2015 found ...

Since Call of Duty: WWII was released last week, I have spent majority of my gaming time playing it. In September I wrote a piece outlining my thoughts on the beta and how they could improve. After playing some online matches, it became clear that Sledgehammer was not messing around when they said they were “returning COD to its roots .” However, it has not escaped being infected by contemporary gaming trends that have left WWII suffering from an identity crisis.     The campaign certainly feels like a throw back to the heyday of WWII shooters. They even ditched automatic health regeneration that has become a staple for the series and replaced it with heal packs as the only way to heal, something I have not experienced since the Xbox and PS2 days. The story is mediocre, but I was not expecting something new and exciting from a WWII time period that has been sucked dry of any new narrative. The campaign feels like an afterthought, almost like they included it because it...

In April, Activision announced that Call of Duty would be returning their WWII roots. I wrote a brief piece on the announcement and outlined my hopes and fears that I have for their new game. After spending some time in the beta, I have found that some of them have come true. In my first multiplayer match, it quickly became obvious that Sledgehammer Games had brought back the classic Call of Duty experience. No gimmicky jet boosting or wall running in this game, just good old-fashioned boots on the ground shooting. This was the most important change I wanted and I am happy they delivered. Since boosting and wall running was introduced in the games, getting kills and being killed became increasingly more annoying. I had to continuously be alert to my surroundings from all sides, leaving little time to look at my map or figure out how to connect with my teammates. Sure, it was fast paced but I never felt that I had time to plan movements or work together with my team. It was ju...

I started playing BioShock when it first came out in 2007. I just finished it last week and it took me 10 years to do it. I have previously written about why I think it takes me so long to finish a game so I won’t discuss that here. My only regret is that it took me this long to finally beat it. The story of BioShock is both interesting and terrifying. The city of Rapture was designed to be a utopia for the elites, free from the constraints of human government and society. Its creator, Andrew Ryan is a bit of a megalomaniac and this becomes more apparent as the game goes on.       BioShock has one of the most dramatic opening sequences I have experienced in a game. Without giving too much away, you end up in the middle of the ocean, staring at a large tower protruding out of the waves beckoning you to approach. After entering, you start your mysterious journey into the underwater city of Rapture. Upon entry you quickly discover that something has go...

BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda was hit with controversy before its release and even harder after it. A lot was expected from the game and critics were quick to jump on it. MEA took a lot of heat for bugs and bad facial animations and even I jumped on the  band wagon . I have been thinking a lot since it happened and I keep coming back to this question, “Why do we attack some games while we let others get a free pass?” Most games have bugs and glitches when they are first released. Developers usually always deliver new games with a day one patch to address issues that may arise. So what causes us to see the problems of some games and not others? Part of the reason is because we have high expectations for triple A titles. We expect games like Call of Duty , Madden , Mario and Zelda to never have bugs. Their long history of success with sequels should mean that by now the game should be perfected. We tend to give new games with bugs the benefit of the doubt but little to ...