Library Blogs

Not all of our games in the CVGA can be found on the shelves. We've purchased a handful of downloadable-only games for the PS3 & Xbox 360 that can be played on our systems—no disc required!

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week.

The final results are in, and here are the winners. Congratulations again, and thanks to all who participated!

Authored by Sarah Raezler: I'm a HUGE fan of the DS as a gaming platform, possibly because it hosts my all time favorite game series: Professor Layton. Even beyond Layton and his sidekick Luke there are a whole range of really awesome DS games like Scribblenauts, Hotel Dusk, and Rhythm Heaven (all of which we have at the archive).

Our retro game tournament took place during all of last week, and ended rather dramatically in a tie for 1st as well as 3rd place. Top overall scorers are listed. Congratulations, and thanks to all who participated!

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week.

A paper was recently published in the March 2010 issue of the Psychological Bulletin documenting a study done on the effects of violent video games on children. One of the contributors was Prof. Bushman of UM. Some of the conclusions reached in the paper are as follows: "We believe that debates can and should finally move beyond the simple question of whether violent video game play is a causal risk factor for aggressive behavior..."

Authored by Sarah Raezler: On our shelves we have around 1400 titles available for your gaming pleasure. And having worked at the CVGA since we opened in August 2008 I feel confident enough to say that if we took out Halo, Call of Duty, Smash, Fifa and NCAA Football people would have no idea what to play. I intend to use this space to introduce (and hopefully sell you on) some of the very awesome games we have in our collection that rarely get any play time.

For example, House of the Dead: Overkill, a Wii-exclusive rail shooter, and surprise hit of last year. It’s an over-the-top, gore- fest balanced with humor and style done very much in the spirit of Robert Rodriquez’s Grindhouse. SEGA rebooted the House of the Dead franchise in an attempt to introduce a 'hardcore' gaming title for the Wii and to that end I think they succeeded. The game is hilarious, as in I've honestly never laughed so hard at a game in my life (and I'll tell you that working here I've seen a lot of games). So if you play this game, please, please watch the cut scenes! Recognized both by Yahtzee (of Zero Punctuation fame at http://tinyurl.com/yc9rz5u) as being one of the best games of 2009 and by the Guinness Book of World Records for dubious honor of breaking the record for most swearing in a video game (http://tinyurl.com/ybuna8j) it’s a game you don’t want to miss if you’re a fan of the zombie genre, shooters, or are just looking for something more interesting than Mario or Smash on the Wii.

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week.

Authored by Doug Carmichael: In addition to Val's post, I thought I'd post a more head on of our wall.