Library Blogs

Coming soon to a UM Computer & Video Game Archive near you... The CAVE EVIL Limited Edition board game!

The Great Wikipedia Protest Blackout of 2012 did not result in any particularly significant increase in site searching at the University of Michigan Library. While traffic was up on January 18, 2012, over the same day the previous week (January 11), the increase was about the same as for the day before and the day after -- reflecting the increasing workload of the academic semester more than any Wikipedia-inspired bump.

Our friends at The University of Michigan Press have released Silent Hill: The Terror Engine, the latest volume in their Landmark Video Game series.

Wolverine Soft is hosting a game development contest this weekend in which a group of participants design a game within 48 hours. Game themes are announced at the beginning of the event. Participants don't need to be game programmers - musicians, artists, and people with design ideas are welcome as well. Registration is open to current students of any university in Michigan or alumni who have graduated in the past 6 years (except those currently involved in the video game industry). Pre-registration is encouraged.

Ann Arbor District Library is holding finals for the Arcade Master Series this Friday from 6-8:30pm at the downtown library, so don't forget to check it out! Food and musical Chiptunes entertainment will also be included.Participate for a chance to win an iPad 2 with iCade mini arcade cabinet! Hope to see you there.More about the event here.

Here are the top 10 games played in the archive during the month of December. A few new games quickly rise to the top, and FIFA makes an appearance on both Xbox 360 and PS3. We also have a board game on the list, showing the slow rise in popularity of our non-electronic collection.

We will be closed for the rest of the holidays and plan on resuming our normal hours on the first day of classes next year, January 4th.Have a great break!

A recent Wired article highlights the use of the Kinect as a terrain imaging tool, to capture data for anything from glaciers to asteroids. According to Tedesco, one of the scientists mentioned in the article, the Kinect works as a much more affordable way to capture the kind of data they need. It also helps inspire students to do related research because the Kinect is a tool that they're likely already familiar with, and doesn't seem as imposing as more complicated imaging equipment.

The Fourth International Games Innovation Conference is accepting submissions for their next conference taking place in September 2012.

Yes, we finally have the CVGA copy of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (for Xbox 360).