Posts in “Gaming Life”
Shadows in Flight – A Book Review
Back in 1977, Orson Scott Card wrote a gem of a short story called Ender’s Game which he expanded into a full length novel in 1985. This tale captured the minds of readers around the world. Telling the story of Andrew Wiggin, Ender’s Game presents the life of the third child in a family living in an overpopulated world that is under siege by an alien race. These Buggers invaded Earth twice before and humanity barely managed to fend them off. Enlisted at an early age, Ender (Andrew’s nickname earned from his sister’s inability to pronounce Andrew properly) is to train with the best and brightest children from around the globe in the arts of war and tactics. Their sole goal: defeat the aliens, the greatest threat humanity has ever known. While Ender trains at the Battle School space station, readers are introduced to several other key characters in the Ender saga, one of whom is Bean: a brilliant but tiny child who becomes almost a confidant to Ender throughout his story. Read On »
State of California Teams Up With Konami To Fight Obesity
The California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (CAHPERD) and game publisher Konami announced yesterday that they would be partnering up in a program to fight childhood obesity; a problem that now afflicts 32% of children in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control. Read On »
Book Report – The Thirteen Hallows
In Britain, there are thirteen powerful, magical artifacts, called the Hallows, that are solely responsible for keeping a race of hungry demonic beings at bay. Poised on the borders of the Otherworld and itching for a chance to devour the unsuspecting, apathetic denizens of modern Britain, these beings are simply biding their time while other forces maneuver to let them in. It certainly doesn’t help that the Keepers of the artifacts are pensioners nearing the edge of their lives.
Things are looking grim in Britain these days. Read On »
Mass Effect: Deception Set On Fire By Fans Due To Mass Errors
William C. Dietz, a sci-fi author who has penned numerous books including The Drifter Series, Halo: The Flood, and a number of Star Wars: Dark Forces books is in the hot seat with fans today over Mass Effect: Deception. Read On »
Attending the Dark Ascension Pre-release Party
For many Magic: The Gathering fans, the wait for the Dark Ascension block is almost over. Wondering what’s coming in this new set? Worry not, as I attended one of the pre-release events in London, Ontario, at a local card shop called Fresher’s, to give you the lowdown on what to expect.
The Internet Protests SOPA – And Gamers Should Too
We here at Wanderson75.net firmly believe the SOPA/PIPA bills that are currently being considered by our government will not only damage the security of our public internet, but will also hurt small groups and businesses in favor of large corporations. Furthermore, bills already passed such as the Digital Millenium Copyright Act already protect the intellectual properties and interests of content creators. While we agree that protection of intellectual property is necessary, SOPA/PIPA is simply not.
Wikipedia.org, N4G.com (News for Gamers), Google and other popular sites are banding together and protesting these bills by going dark for 24 hours in order to raise awareness and get their readers engaged in the conversation regarding the controversial bills. As a result, former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, Democrat and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America had this to say:
“Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.”
We have seen in the past how the residents of the internet can band together to make real world changes. Today, as millions of people use Google, they’ll be greeted by a black censorship bar covering their logo. Wikipedia will not be accessible to those who are looking for information contained within its servers. Gamers will not be able to get all of their news on a single dashboard from N4G. All of these sites have a shared purpose, and urge people to do the same thing – contact your Congressperson, and tell them you want them to vote NO on SOPA/PIPA.
The steps are easy. Simply go here, fill out the form, and hit submit. Or you can call your congressperson’s office. Enough calls and emails, and they will either listen to us now…or they can listen to us in the next election.
CES 2012 Day Three Wrap
Day three of the CES adventure has wrapped up. The doors to the showroom floor have opened and we had the opportunity to take a look at some of the products that may change the way we game in the coming months and years. We also took a few minutes to have a look at some additional devices that caught our eyes. Here’s a recap:
SteelSeries Unveils New Lineup At 2012 CES
SteelSeries, makers of great peripherals and accessories such as the 7XB Headset for Xbox 360 and the phenomenal Sensei mouse have unveiled their lineup for 2012 at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Let’s take a look!
Microsoft’s CES 2012 Keynote – All Good Things
CES has officially begun for 2012! Yesterday’s media day gave us a sneak peek into the future of technology and how it will change life as we know it. Press conferences, behind the door meetings, and keynotes from industry notables have journalists moving furiously across the city of Las Vegas, taking notes, knocking back energy drinks and posting the latest news of the day.
Book Review – Halo: Glasslands
Being an avid (make that rabid) fan of the Halo universe, I am constantly scouring the internet for every scrap of information relating to the next release of the hit franchise. In between game releases, I spend my time reading the expanded mythologies in the many books and graphic novels – the latest of these being Halo: Glasslands, by Karen Traviss. Read On »