Posts by Val Waldron

We recently had the opportunity to host a social event for the A2 GeekTour, whose aim is to create "a chance for geeks to get together and explore a physical space that has some claim to geekdom." Highlights included the group experiencing moments of nostalgia as they checked out our Atari games and some of the older equipment, as well as an opportunity for them to rock out with a few Rock Band songs, complete with the string guitar controller.

For those who are interested in working at the archive, now is the time to apply! Go to the Student Employment website and apply using the online system (Job ID 21972).

Here are our top games from last month. A class project involving Okami and a fan of the Jak & Daxter series have brought some new names to the list.

The Hand Eye Society will be running two game incubators in Toronto over the next several months, both of which focus on making it easier for women to get involved in creating video games. The group aims to get more underrepresented groups involved in game creation, and is working to dispel certain myths about game development that prevent people from trying it out, such as the assumption that developers have to be experienced in programming and mathematics. According to their article in the Torontoist, anyone who has "completed a project in a creative medium" is eligible to participate.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series, our colleague Joe Dresch has put together an informative display for the archive that celebrates its legacy. Each smaller section shares a piece of the Legend of Zelda story.

The Supreme Court decision is out, but the issue still lingers. Many people feel strongly either way regarding the issue of whether minors should be able to buy violent video games, and their voices have carried long after the decision came out.

Here are our top played games for the month of June. The usual suspects are in the lead.

Another game of old has arrived still in the wrapping, this time from 1983. Oink! is for the Atari and explores the Three Little Piggies fairy tale from the wolf's point of view. Fortunately, we got another copy of the game as well, so this one will probably stay in the wrapping and be shown off in our display case. Sometimes you just have to blow the house down.

Video games have received a lot of attention lately from politicians like Obama and Gore, and their messages don't always agree. Gore was quoted at the 2011 Games for Change Festival today, praising the video game industry as a "very large, extremely significant industry with a wildly diverse and rapidly growing audience of players on all kinds of platforms," and gave several examples of games that "integrate social good and efforts to make the world a better place into games." Obama, on the other hand, though not expressly against video games, has warned people of the dangers they present in distracting kids from family time, as well as their education.

The Supreme Court is reportedly finishing up their assessment of an issue presented through a California court case back in November, which questions whether it should be legal to sell violent video games to minors. Video games are currently regulated via the ESRB rating system, and certain ratings may be deemed illegal to sell to people who are underage.