Reporters and reviewers write about Minecraft as if it's just like any other videogame. Even this highly readable piece about its creator (Markus Persson, aka "Notch") and its parent company (Mojang) by Harry McCracken in Time magazine doesn't cover what makes it different from other games specifically for its kid (and parent) players. But he does bring out this extraordinary differentiating … [Read more...] about Minecraft & the shared, creative safety of gaming, social media
Xbox 360
Today’s engine of innovation: Videogames, not military
Remember the military-industrial complex? Now it's the entertainment-industrial complex. For centuries the military drove tech innovation; now videogaming does, according to a Wall Street Journal commentary by author and former hedge-fund manager Andy Kessler. "That's right – every time someone fires up a videogame like Call of Duty or World of Warcraft, the state of the art in technology … [Read more...] about Today’s engine of innovation: Videogames, not military
Kinect for Xbox 360: Signs it’s a holiday hit
Looks like Kinect for the Xbox 360 videogame console is one of the hot items of this year's holiday shopping season. The maker of the motion-sending, controller-free gaming product (where the gamer's the controller), Microsoft, says it's scrambling to keep up with demand, having sold 2.5 million units worldwide in Kinect's first 25 days, the Christian Science Monitor reports. To see if this makes … [Read more...] about Kinect for Xbox 360: Signs it’s a holiday hit
Kid & family ‘Kinect-ing’ from Microsoft
We all saw it coming last summer: videogaming getting even more physical. Used to be, waving around a Nintendo Wii controller was the ultimate in physical videogame play. But with Microsoft's Kinect – which entered the marketplace last week – gamers now don't even need a controller. This is both very cool and, at least in this first iteration of the Kinect technology, a bit problematic, <a … [Read more...] about Kid & family ‘Kinect-ing’ from Microsoft
Tragic end to Canada’s search for a boy
In a deeply sad follow-up to last week's feature, hunters this week stumbled upon the body of a boy believed to be 15-year-old Brandon Crisp of Barrie, Ontario, the Toronto Globe & Mail reported. An autopsy is being performed today (Friday), but police said they believed the cause of death to be hypothermia. Brandon had left home weeks ago on his bike, angry after a family argument about videogame … [Read more...] about Tragic end to Canada’s search for a boy