July 24, 2008

Gaming issue glossary

By Staff Vox's glossary of gaming terminology.

A new grip on rehab

By Jenna Todoroff

Rated ‘E’ for exercise

By Laura Graham Steadily decreasing grades, falling asleep during class, dropping after-school activities. Spending the majority of free time playing video games and becoming irritable and temperamental when told to stop. As reported by an April 2007 Harris Interactive poll, an estimated 8.5 percent of 8-18 year olds are addicted to video games and exhibit the above symptoms.

It’s my turn to play

By Danae’ stout "Start a family game night” has been a popular slogan for Milton Bradley to promote playing board games at home. With the new computer and video game systems being created and board games put on the back burner, the phrase could become “Start a family video game night.” Today, instead of sitting at the dinner table playing a rousing game of Scrabble, many parents are playing video games with their children as a new means of bonding.

Kings and queens of strategy

By julie terry Not every game of chess is as exciting as the final moments of Searching for Bobby Fischer, but many devotees have just as much passion and drive as the movie’s main characters. There are numerous stereotypes of chess players: the nerdy misfits, the loner savants, the decrepit old men playing in the park. But this game’s fans don’t fit into any mold.

Girls who game

By Rebecca Layne Controllers in hand, Robbie Hill perches on the edge of the couch. Like a skilled assassin, Hill shoots off the heads of slack-jawed zombies and an axe-wielding hermit with ease. Moments later, a scream shatters her cool exterior as a giant armed with a chainsaw lops off her character’s head. She falls back into the folds of the couch, exhales and smiles. Adjusting her rimless glasses, Hill brushes her bangs out of her eyes.

Tabled obsessions

By TONY BROWN A dozen middle-aged men crowd around a large table in the middle of Mark Burton’s gaming store, Valhalla’s Gate. Burton announces: “There are no special rules and no scenarios. This is an all-out bloodbath!” And with an anti-climactic “go,” miniature models of robotic soldiers spill onto the table and are quickly arranged to resemble platoons in an epic battle.

For every age

By Staff Choosing age-appropriate video games for kids can be a challenge. Start with these recommendations from commonsensemedia.org.

Where virtual meets reality

By Lindsay Eanet The Stardust Café is lively tonight and crawling with decked-out groupies, rocker chicks and vampires. A young guy with an acoustic guitar is playing a cover of Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Let Her Cry.” This is all real ­— but only in Second Life, a virtual reality platform simulator launched five years ago. It gives people a chance to meet other users from around the world. Their avatars, personalized virtual characters, live a life away from the 9-to-5 grind as rock stars, models or even private detectives.

Off-screen games

By Staff Many of today’s most popular face-to-face games borrow key components from past trendsetters. Here’s a look at some of the influential ancestors of the gaming world.

What’s next?

By Kayla Schwab Since the first home video game console, Magnavox Odyssey, was introduced in 1972, product developers have been pumping out systems like mad. Visuals are becoming more complex and lifelike with each new system. But the question remains as to what the future will provide in the realm of gaming. Features web exclusive content.

Guess who games?

By Erin J. Bernard Gaming, in a multitude of forms, has long been blamed for a host of social ills. In the 1980s, Dungeons & Dragons was widely associated with Satanism, and Tom Hanks starred in Mazes and Monsters, a made-for-TV movie about a college student who goes insane and then vanishes after participating in an eerily similar role-playing game. In the 1990s, teen violence was regularly blamed on video games, even after juvenile crime dropped and game sales continued to rise. A decade later, that old adage about there being no such thing as bad press seems fitting. According to a 2007 survey by the Entertainment Software Association, sales of U.S. computer and video game software swelled to $7.4 billion in 2006. That’s an impressive 300 percent increase from 1996.

Table-Top Gamer: Patrick Nolan, 38

By Erin J. Bernard (Web Exclusive) During the week, Patrick Nolan works for the Missouri Book Service. But every weekend, he assumes command of a small but vicious militia of warriors, robots and fantastical creatures. Each Saturday, he visits Valhalla’s Gate gaming store with his bag of multi-colored dice and his case of figurines to battle his many adversaries, who also double as friends.

Turning work into play

By Lauren A. Miller (Web Exclusive) Tired of dumbbells and treadmills? Some rehab specialists recommend incorporating the Nintendo Wii into fitness and recuperation programs. The engaging games distract patients from the truth that they are working out — or working at all. Check out the old and new motions for getting into a Wii bit better shape.

Negin Rising

By Kyle Puetz (Web Exclusive) Negin Farsad was more exasperated than excited when her cohort Gaby Alter temporarily interrupted work on The Israeli-Palestinean Conflict: A Romantic Comedy to hear a friend’s interview on the radio. Of course, that was before she heard who the subject was: Damian Hess, aka MC Frontalot, progenitor of nerdcore hip-hop. That interview spawned in Farsad the idea for a new project.

July 17, 2008

Through my eyes

By Abby Callard Somewhere in Columbia’s First Ward lies a small, insignificant glass shard. Through the lens of 10-year-old Aaniyaha Williams, though, it’s not some discarded piece of a long-forgotten bottle. It’s a diamond. She photographed the glass as part of the New Media Network, a program that helps children in Columbia’s First Ward express themselves. The program provides children in the First Ward with media access to counter the negative images of the neighborhood and raise awareness of youth issues in the area. Right now, the program focuses on photography and audio recordings.

July 10, 2008

The little vegetarian

By Alyssa Appelman and Kristen Lepore Asa Pojmann-Ezeonyilo, 8, made the meat-equals-animals connection in 2005, one year after a trip to Africa. Just like she had on most other fast-food excursions, Asa ordered a Happy Meal and was excited to eat her nuggets. But something was different about this particular day. Asa’s older brother, Eze, reminded her about the hundreds of chickens kept in dirty cages that they witnessed on their four-month trip to Nigeria.

Adventures in flexitarianism

By Erin J. Bernard Interested in cutting back on meat, but not willing to completely eliminate it from your diet? Join the growing army of Americans ditching dietary extremes for a more balanced approach to vegetarianism. They’re called flexitarians, and they happily say yes to meat — about 20 percent of the time. Vegetarianism offers a host of health benefits, but it’s easiest to start with small changes and gradually decrease meat consumption, says Jacob Rackers, a vegan employee of the Root Cellar grocery store on Broadway. Weaning yourself off meat is “like breaking a habit,” Rackers says. “You should reduce the amount slowly.” Test drive flexitarianism with these culinary experiments.

Eater's digest

By Staff (Web Exclusive)

July 03, 2008

The hidden hitching post

By Erin J. Bernard Far down a winding gravel road outside of Higbee, a green metal barn at the edge of the woods reverberates with the twang of country guitars and laughter. Anyone chancing upon the unfinished parking lot on a Saturday night might note the rows of cooling trucks and the horse-hitching post near the front door and mistake the place for a rowdy honky-tonk.