When searching for games to add to your collection, it’s always good to check-in with the five major industry award shows. The following games received “Game of the Year” honors in 2019:
A complete list of all winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading
Every year, Germany’s Digital Gaming Culture Foundation (Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur) supervises the Gamescom Committee, a small group of journalists who choose the best games that were present at the Gamescom expo. The Gamescom expo is held in the Summer, and serves as the European equivalent to the Los Angeles-based E3 Expo.
While most of these titles are still in development, you should keep them in mind when you add games to your collection this Fall and into 2020.
Dreams was named “Best of Gamescom,” and the full list of winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading
Every year, the Game Critics Awards, a collection of editors from more than 60 major publications that cover the video game industry, get together to choose the best games at the E3 Expo.
While all of these titles are still in development, you should keep them in mind when you add games to your collection this Fall and into 2020.
Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake was named “Best of Show,” and the full list of winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading
Many libraries will use “A Universe of Stories” as their Summer Reading theme this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing.
But you might want to check out a new post from School Library Journal by Thomas Knowlton if you’re interested in adding a little outer space to your gaming collection this Summer. He suggests three titles (one tabletop game and two video games) that would be perfect to if you want to take one small step…
Outer space is almost a perfect setting for a game: it suggests the potential for friendly (or hostile) contact with alien life, the physics of gravity, and the mechanics of managing limited resources to survive. One can trace these threads back to Spacewar! (1962) and Asteroids (1979) to modern classics such as Cosmic Encounter (2008) and FTL: Faster Than Light (2012).
Below are three titles which complement this year’s Collaborative Summer Reading theme, “A Universe of Stories,” and also emphasize, through their mechanics, the need for players to work together when faced with galactic danger.
Knowlton focuses on Mole Rats in Space, a cooperative tabletop game for all ages, as well as Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One), and No Man’s Sky (PC, PS4, Xbox One).
Subscribers to Information Today should definitely be on the lookout for the newest issue, as the June 2019 cover story promises an extensive look at “Video Games at the Library.”
The trio of articles looks at how best to spend your gaming budget, what you need to know to develop gaming events and activities, and the positive effects that video games can have on learning:
Everything Librarians Always Wanted to Know About Video Games
(But Were Afraid Wasn’t Job-Related)
by Anthony AycockThe Library as the Modern Arcade
Video Game Events and Programs at the Library
by Justin HoenkeEmbracing the Power of Gaming in Education
Substance, Engagement, and Flow
by Chi Nwogu
All of these articles provide a great foundation for any librarian looking to bring video games into their library. And there’s also a few words of wisdom from your trusty Video Game Librarian in a sidebar on Page 17. So be sure to check it out!
When searching for games to add to your collection, it’s always good to check-in with the five major industry award shows. The following games received “Game of the Year” honors in 2018:
A complete list of all winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading
While Google tried to play it off as a big secret, the search giant finally unveiled their long-awaited game streaming service today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Officially known as Google Stadia, the service won’t require a console of any kind, and will instead offer game streaming through a large number of devices, including laptops, desktops, Chromecast dongles, and select phones and tablets.
According to Stadia’s official website, Google is promising the service will offer 4K resolution gaming with no lag, provided your Internet connection is powerful enough. Stadia will also hook up with the YouTube Gaming livestreaming platform, and players will theoretically be able to jump from watching a stream right into playing that same game “in seconds”:
- Game where you want, when you want – Play across multiple devices, including laptops, desktops, and select phones and tablets. (High speed internet connection required)
- New ways to play through YouTube and beyond – Go from watching a video to playing a game in seconds, with even more innovative experiences to come for select games.
- Up to 4K HDR at 60 FPS – Enjoy gaming the way you love, with beautiful HDR graphics and smooth frame rates. (4K HDR at 60 FPS are dependent on your bandwidth. Gameplay experience may vary based on quality of internet connection.)
- Play instantly – No updates, no downloads. Jump right into the game.
- Always getting better – Stadia’s cloud based infrastructure evolves to meet the demands of players, developers, and YouTube creators.
On the surface, Google Stadia will offer a lot of the same features as Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service, but it’ll have its own unique set of bells and whistles to make it stand out.
Google Stadia will be controllable with compatible third-party controllers on a PC, but players will also have the option of using the official Stadia Controller. Closely resembling a standard Xbox One controller, Google’s gadget will include an Instant Capture button for streaming to YouTube, a Google Assistant button powered by a built-in microphone, and a direct wi-fi connection to whatever device you’re using.
But what games will you be able to play on Google Stadia? That’s a bit of a question mark. So far, only Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and id Software’s Doom Eternal are confirmed to be coming to the platform. Additional games, which will be exclusive to the platform, will be produced by the company’s new Stadia Games & Entertainment division, which will be lead by Jade Raymond.
It’s currently unknown if Google will sell individual games through Stadia or offer a monthly subscription to access the service’s entire library or some combination of both. But we do know that it’s currently scheduled to launch sometime in 2019.
Nintendo absolutely blew up the “Battle Royale” genre with today’s announcement of Tetris 99.
The consolemaker teamed up with The Tetris Company to create a massive 99-player version of the classic puzzle game, and it’s available to download now as a free-to-play title for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Tetris 99 is rather bare-bones at the moment, but Nintendo has plans to support the game down the road with a series of upcoming online events and other updates.