eSports: Competitive, coordinated, and strategic true sports When video games became popular in the 1970s, games like Pong and Atari swept the nation by storm. Players everywhere gathered at local arcades to compete on consoles the size of refrigerators that could do little more than render a cluster of bouncing […]
Tag: video games
Linking physical exercise to video games
After another record-breaking year for revenue and involvement in the industry, it is clear that video games are an increasingly large part of North American culture. Despite a wide acceptance of video games across all demographics, the majority of players are still children and young adults. Gaming’s young demographic is […]
McGame Jam highlights video game programming, art, and beavers
Designing an entire video game would be an impressive feat to accomplish within a matter of years. This past weekend, however, the McGame Jam, a development marathon organized by Game Dev McGill, condensed the video game making process into just 48 hours of straight development that took place Jan. 10-12. […]
Honouring the creative process
It’s easy to forget that products of daily life, like video games, are the culmination of countless hours of work and meticulous design undertaken by teams as small as one person and as large as an entire company. Playing Hard – The Game Just Got Real, directed by Jean-Simon Chartier, […]
‘Annihilation’ feels like a video game but hits like Kubrick
Unlike for other escapist genres, it’s been a long time since “taking itself seriously” could be considered enough to validate a science fiction film. While the 2000s saw Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) and Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) transforming traditionally “low genres” into Oscar-winning milestones, filmmakers have used […]
Combating negative representation of Muslims in video games
On Feb. 13, Game Dev McGill, a student-run club for individuals interested in game development, held an open lecture called “The ‘Slims: A how-to guide for Muslim representation in video games,” presented by Osama Dorias. Dorias is a game designer at Warner Brothers Games Montreal, as well as the co-founder […]
Blurring the lines of reality at the Montreal International Game Summit
Every year, thousands of gaming conventions are held around the world to discuss what the future holds. Demonstrators, presenters, and indie developers show up to sell their wares and talk about the “next big thing.” At this year’s Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS), held Nov. 13 to 15 at the […]
Pop Rhetoric: A new battlefield in the fight over video games
There is something oddly familiar about the criticism that was levelled against Battlefield 1, the next installment of Electronic Arts (EA)’s hugely successful military franchise, after the game was revealed in early May 2016. Just as all other once-novel entertainment trends—such as television, rock, and rap music—had to face in […]
Video Games in Education: Turning GPA into EXP
In an era where social media sites are dominated by the likes of Farmville, bars and pubs increasingly entice patrons with the prospect of some drunken Dance Dance Revolution, and even the elderly have been swept by the rush of Candy Crush, video games have successfully expanded beyond their niche […]
Montreal’s 2015 International Game Summit
Whether it’s Candy Crush Saga or Fallout 4, video games are an increasingly integral part of everyday life. The enormous range of developers churning out games means that there is more or less something for everyone on the market. The challenge remains, however, to get noticed and then get published. […]