Bradley Metrock
President, Score Holdings LLC
GM, The Score of Cool Springs (4091 Mallory Lane, Suite 124, Franklin, TN 37067)
December 2008
Today’s generation of young professionals grew up with exposure to gaming simulations from an early age. These future leaders managed precious resources in Oregon Trail, negotiated down prices with the cartel in Dope Wars, and conquered the planet in Civilization, all before they navigated the many complexities of today’s professional world.
Educational researchers have long believed in the value of gaming simulations. Studies done in the United Kingdom by TEEM (Teachers Evaluating Educational Multimedia) have concluded that “sims” – games where players actively formulate big-picture strategy along with “in the weeds” tactics contribute significantly to development of strategic thinking and planning skills.
A young person that builds a sprawling metropolis in EA’s SimCity game, only to watch it fail after a surprise series of floods left the city’s coffers empty and unable to recover, takes away a valuable lesson in the importance of working capital to the sustainability of any enterprise. Another young person that raises a massive army to attack the neighboring aggressor in Microsoft’s Age of Empires, only to be thwarted when that neighboring aggressor partners with three other factions and crushes that army, gets a tutorial in the importance of friends, politics, and deal-making.
Even games less “academic” in nature, such as first-person-shooters like Halo or Left 4 Dead, build teamwork skills and underscore the importance of constant communication to solve problems. Fighting games like SoulCalibur or Super Smash Brothers teach participants that knowledge of self is never enough – you have to know your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses well in order to win.
Anyone can read a book, or watch a film, and walk away from the experience without grasping the author’s underlying message. A book doesn’t turn its own pages back to Chapter 1 when it realizes the reader, now in Chapter 10, missed a key concept. A film doesn't rewind itself to make sure the audience understood the latest plot twist. The video game, on the other hand, punishes its participant severely for failure to comprehend, and adapt, to changing conditions. The interactivity is the key - the participant is engaged, not just entertained.
As video games continue to soar in popularity, they will do so not only because they are superior at entertaining to other media, but also because they superior at educating.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Top 10 Video Games of 2008
Bradley Metrock
President, Score Holdings LLC
General Manager, The Score of Cool Springs (4091 Mallory Lane, Suite 124, Franklin, TN 37067)
December 2008
Industry watchers will look back at 2008 as one of the biggest years in video gaming history, in terms of both the quantity and quality of new video games released to the marketplace.
Not only did the Apple iPhone emerge as a brand-new gaming platform all its own (which would’ve had two entries, Fieldrunners and Rolando, on this list if it were the Top 15 Games of the year), but Sony’s PlayStation 3 bounced back from a difficult 2007 with a strong lineup in 2008.
The Nintendo Wii continued its market dominance, thanks mainly to a software title that’s not even a game – Wii Fit – while the Nintendo DS distanced itself considerably from the Sony PSP as the must-have handheld system.
And last, but certainly not least, the Xbox 360 surged in 2008, thanks to a barrage of blockbusters and a successful upgrade of its already best-in-class online system, Xbox Live.
Without further ado, let’s get to the Top 10 video games of 2008!
10. Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360): One of several brand-new franchises to surface on the Xbox 360 this year, this survival-horror game forces four-player teams to work together to move from building to building as they attempt to flee the city from hordes of zombies.
9. MLB ’08: The Show (PS3): Simply the best baseball video game ever made.
8. Braid (Xbox Live Arcade): In a year where indie video game development exploded, Braid stood tall as the best indie game released on any system this year. Forget guns and gore - this brilliant platformer arms the gamer with time itself as the weapon of choice against the forces of evil. Bring your brain, not brawn, to advance through what some might call the smartest game of the year.
7. Dead Space (Xbox 360/PS3): Like the #10 game above, Dead Space is another new video game franchise that gamers should expect to spawn sequels for years to come. Stranded aboard the USS Ishimura, Dr. Isaac Clarke battles all kinds of nightmares out in space as he unravels an ancient mystery, giving gamers an engrossing experience they won’t soon forget.
6. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360/PS3): The latest installment in this controversial franchise is the greatest selling product in entertainment history, selling 3.6 million copies in one day, and grossing more than $500 million in revenue in its first week on sale.
5. The World Ends With You (DS): In an incredibly strong year for the Nintendo DS handheld system in terms of quality titles released, The World Ends With You crushed the competition. This deep role-playing game, inspired by elements of Japanese youth culture, features one-of-a-kind gameplay centered around “psych pins” which have a variety of attributes in battle. A must-play for DS owners.
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii): No franchise has a more loyal fan following than Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers series, guaranteeing that Brawl would be an immediate best-seller. What no one expected was the depth of the gameplay, from the plethora of unlockables buried in the game to a brand-new Adventure mode added to the mix. This is the most replayable game released in 2008.
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3): Some critics have decried the final installment of the heralded Metal Gear Solid franchise as more movie than game. All that really means is that the same critics simply wish, like all the rest of us, that the game never would have ended.
2. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360): Gears of War 2’s gritty, epic campaign, combined with its action-packed, precision-tuned multiplayer, creates an undeniably strong package that would have coasted to Game of the Year honors in most other years.
1. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360/PS3): Gamers have been waiting for this one for almost a decade since Fallout 2 was released, and developer Bethesda Softworks certainly did not disappoint. This may be the largest game ever created, dwarfing the massive Grand Theft Auto IV in scope, and every one of the game’s hundreds of locations beg to be discovered. The combat system is superbly conceived, the story is imaginative and remarkably well presented, and the game’s world truly feels alive. An artistic masterpiece as much as a video game masterpiece.
President, Score Holdings LLC
General Manager, The Score of Cool Springs (4091 Mallory Lane, Suite 124, Franklin, TN 37067)
December 2008
Industry watchers will look back at 2008 as one of the biggest years in video gaming history, in terms of both the quantity and quality of new video games released to the marketplace.
Not only did the Apple iPhone emerge as a brand-new gaming platform all its own (which would’ve had two entries, Fieldrunners and Rolando, on this list if it were the Top 15 Games of the year), but Sony’s PlayStation 3 bounced back from a difficult 2007 with a strong lineup in 2008.
The Nintendo Wii continued its market dominance, thanks mainly to a software title that’s not even a game – Wii Fit – while the Nintendo DS distanced itself considerably from the Sony PSP as the must-have handheld system.
And last, but certainly not least, the Xbox 360 surged in 2008, thanks to a barrage of blockbusters and a successful upgrade of its already best-in-class online system, Xbox Live.
Without further ado, let’s get to the Top 10 video games of 2008!
10. Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360): One of several brand-new franchises to surface on the Xbox 360 this year, this survival-horror game forces four-player teams to work together to move from building to building as they attempt to flee the city from hordes of zombies.
9. MLB ’08: The Show (PS3): Simply the best baseball video game ever made.
8. Braid (Xbox Live Arcade): In a year where indie video game development exploded, Braid stood tall as the best indie game released on any system this year. Forget guns and gore - this brilliant platformer arms the gamer with time itself as the weapon of choice against the forces of evil. Bring your brain, not brawn, to advance through what some might call the smartest game of the year.
7. Dead Space (Xbox 360/PS3): Like the #10 game above, Dead Space is another new video game franchise that gamers should expect to spawn sequels for years to come. Stranded aboard the USS Ishimura, Dr. Isaac Clarke battles all kinds of nightmares out in space as he unravels an ancient mystery, giving gamers an engrossing experience they won’t soon forget.
6. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360/PS3): The latest installment in this controversial franchise is the greatest selling product in entertainment history, selling 3.6 million copies in one day, and grossing more than $500 million in revenue in its first week on sale.
5. The World Ends With You (DS): In an incredibly strong year for the Nintendo DS handheld system in terms of quality titles released, The World Ends With You crushed the competition. This deep role-playing game, inspired by elements of Japanese youth culture, features one-of-a-kind gameplay centered around “psych pins” which have a variety of attributes in battle. A must-play for DS owners.
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii): No franchise has a more loyal fan following than Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers series, guaranteeing that Brawl would be an immediate best-seller. What no one expected was the depth of the gameplay, from the plethora of unlockables buried in the game to a brand-new Adventure mode added to the mix. This is the most replayable game released in 2008.
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3): Some critics have decried the final installment of the heralded Metal Gear Solid franchise as more movie than game. All that really means is that the same critics simply wish, like all the rest of us, that the game never would have ended.
2. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360): Gears of War 2’s gritty, epic campaign, combined with its action-packed, precision-tuned multiplayer, creates an undeniably strong package that would have coasted to Game of the Year honors in most other years.
1. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360/PS3): Gamers have been waiting for this one for almost a decade since Fallout 2 was released, and developer Bethesda Softworks certainly did not disappoint. This may be the largest game ever created, dwarfing the massive Grand Theft Auto IV in scope, and every one of the game’s hundreds of locations beg to be discovered. The combat system is superbly conceived, the story is imaginative and remarkably well presented, and the game’s world truly feels alive. An artistic masterpiece as much as a video game masterpiece.
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