I have been busy as hell lately. On top of my normal work, which is writing guides to games for MyCheats, I have been doing more than my fare share of previews for 1up.com and Modojo.com. I just wanted to share them with you because they are about games I think the readers of our site should know about (especially Kane and Lynch). So, click away!

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (PSP, Wii)

Kane and Lynch (360)

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron Hands-on Multiplayer (PSP)

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (PSP)

Jam Sessions (DS)

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness Episodes I (PC, 360, Mac, Linux)

So, as you can see, I have been busy. Lots of meetings, talks, travels to game companies. All in all, it’s been amazing. Either way, just wanted to share, some of these games are looking pretty good.

Chufmoney

Occasionally it’s also fun just to see a game. Whether or not you have seen earlier trailers or videos of Left 4 Dead, the following is going to make you shit yourself out of fear and or anticipation. Zombie enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to with this:

You see what I’m talking about? And if that game proves to have half the random level action that it is claiming, it could be a game that you come back to time and again. Who hasn’t desired to fight off zombies with friends? Sure Resident Evil games are fun as hell, but they have always lacked the cooperate element (note: while I acknowledge that the DS remake of part 1 had co-op, I am speaking here about home consoles).

Thank you for answering my evil prayers, Turtle Rock.

Chufmoney

Everyone has seen that barrel sitting oh so temptingly next to a large group of bad guys; guys who are too stupid to realize that they are standing next to the most volatile substance man has ever created. Never mind the fact that you are probably going through an area that, were it not for monsters or guys with guns, would be trafficked by tons of regular people, these barrels obviously serve some purpose that is just beyond our tiny brains.

That is the glorious part about video games, their cliches. However, rather than rewrite Wired Senior Associate Editor Chris Baker’s piece, it would be better for you to check it, and the relevant screens it has to go along with it.

Chufmoney

Game Politics ran an article about a study from Save the Children which indicates video games and modern culture as a source of socialization problems in children. The good thing about this whole issue is that intelligent people like Hal Hapin, the president of the Entertainment Consumers Association, have come out to speak about it. In an interview with IGN, Halpin states that:

This is another example of real world anecdotal evidence consistently flying in the face of pseudo-research. If that’s the case here, I’ve seen my son play DS with his cousins just as I’ve seen my daughter play hop-scotch with friends. Both sets of kids were having fun and communicating. Both were interacting and being social. One could even argue that the DS group was doing so in multiple channels more than the physical-only crowd.

Hearing about social isolation stories makes me wonder where the parent — or in this case, perhaps the parent and the teacher — has failed the child, not how the technology or media choices that he/she uses to pass their clearly lonely time has made them so…

I’m sure pointing fingers and laying blame elsewhere makes some adults feel better, but it just isn’t reality.

Thank God that there are people who can say things to the public concerning video games that sound reasonable. No elitist remarks, just plain talk from a person who knows games and has children who game.

People will always be on the lookout for the reasons that things change. Times are changing that much is for sure. However is it possible that socialization is not decreasing overall as a result of technology but is just changing in the way it works? The study insinuates that children who spend time at home and on cell phones are damaging their socialization skills. But to counter that one could say they are just adapting their socialization skills to a changing environment. The writers on this website use the internet to communicate more than they do their vocal chords and still some how function in society.

I think Halpin makes a strong case when he says that the problem lies more in the institutions and with the parents. Teachers need to take the extra time to work with children and their social needs. If there are children that have different socialization needs now than they did years ago then the curriculums and the skills of the teachers and parents need to learn how to work within the world the children know. It just seems like there is a paradigm shift in terms of how people are interacting and so much of those who are “the man,” so to speak, are more concerned with how they know it than how it really is.

Chufmoney