Guitar Hero is Back
Guitar Hero is coming back! This rhythm game that you play with guitar replicas has been a long-time favorite for family gaming, and the announcement four years ago that Activision would stop production saddened many hearts. The new Guitar Hero will be released sometime in the next year, Activision says.
Kanye West is Making His Own Video Game
Kanye West is making a video game as a tribute to his late mother. The game will include an imagined conversation between West’s mother and his daughter. “The idea is, it’s my mother going through the gates of heaven and you have to bring her to the highest gates of heaven by holding her to the light,” West told WWPR-FM of New York.
Monument Valley Is Gorgeous, But We Already Knew That
Monument Valley has been nominated for Design of the Year by the Design Museum. Also nominated were various architectural feats, digital creations, fashion designs, and graphic designs.
Golden Mario? Already Gone
The exclusive golden Mario Amiibo sold out within minutes of release. Now the smart toy can only be found on eBay at extravagant prices.
The First TwitchCon is Happening
Twitch, the online streaming service, is getting its own convention this year! TwitchCon will take place in San Francisco from September 25th to 26th.
Fable Legends Will Be Free
Fable Legends, the online game based in the popular Fable universe, will be free to play on Xbox One and Windows 10.
Control a Frog With Your Own Heart
A Dutch company has invented a game that uses your heartbeat as a controller. Since iPhones have the capability to monitor heart rates, Happitech decided to take advantage of the feature in their new game. Players will have to be be cognizant of their heart rates and try to stay within a certain range in order to guide a frog to rescue a princess. The game is called Skip a Beat.
Everybody Needs to Learn How to Code, Says Obama
President Obama wants us all to learn how to code! “It’s got to be everybody. Everybody’s got to learn to code early,” the President said at a White House summit on cyber security. He emphasized closing the gender and race gap in STEM, and mentioned that games could be a positive tool for making education more engaging for students.
New Release: The Order 1886
The highly anticipated Order 1886 was released this week. Reviewers gave the M-rated game mixed reviews, with most citing the game’s great graphics but unimpressive gameplay and story.
Our Kids’ Best Friends Will Soon Be Robots
A company called Elemental Path is developing the first toys that will be powered by the IBM Watson supercomputer. These (very) smart toys will hopefully be able to answer kids’ questions and guide them in learning processes—but not to worry, if your kid asks where babies come from, the answer will be to ask Mommy or Daddy.
New YouTube Series for Teachers, All About Games
Educator David Mullich is starting a new series on YouTube for teachers. The series will detail how to introduce games learning to the classroom environment.
The ESA Announces Its Grantees
The Entertainment Software Association has announced eight organizations that will be awarded grants by its foundation. The ESA Foundation was begun by the American games industry to support programs that use video games to make a difference in the lives of kids, whether it’s teaching game design or leveraging games as a learning tool.
The grantees are the Boys & Girls Club of America, the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Drexel University (a leader in collegiate game design programs—they will be offering game development workshops for girls in the Philadelphia area in an effort to reduce the gender gap in computer science fields), HopeLab Foundation, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Museum of the American Indian, ThanksUSA (for military families—the ESA funds Treasure Hunt, a game that aims to reinforce American history and values), and VisionQuest 20/20.
