The ALA’s Games and Gaming Round Table is hosting a Board Meeting on Monday, September 26, at 11:00 AM (Eastern Time). The meeting is open to everyone and you can virtually attend using the Adobe Connect software.
More information can be found at ALA Connect, and an agenda will be available soon.
The Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is expanding this week thanks to the beginning of the “Fall Gaming Season.” With more than a dozen new titles this week, there’s something to recommend for everybody.
The NFL season kicked off two Sundays ago, so let’s start with some new sports games. EA Sports released Madden NFL 17 a month ago, but the publisher was back this week with NHL 17 for the PS4 and Xbox One. If you’re more of a basketball fan, 2K Games released NBA 2K17 this week for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Soccer supporters will also get a new simulation this week with the release of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 on the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. And the checkered flag goes to NASCAR Heat: Evolution, which was released for the PS4 and Xbox One this week. All four games always score very well with gamers and would make a good addition to any collection.
Far away from Earth’s athletic fields is the planet of Far Eden, an interstellar colony that’s been overrun by villainous robots in Microsoft’s ReCore. Developed by Armature Studio, with additional idea work by Keiji Inafune, ReCore lets players fight back as Joule Adams, a resourceful woman who has her own team of robotic helpers. ReCore is available for the Xbox One.
Finally this week, a trio of re-releases will reintroduce gamers to a few beloved franchises. BioShock: The Collection will bring BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite together in a single package for the PS4 and Xbox One with improved graphics and exclusive commentary by Ken Levine and other developers from Irrational. Meanwhile, Capcom’s Dead Rising also makes the leap to the PS4 and Xbox One with improved graphics. And Square Enix and Nintendo collaborated on a brand new localization for the 3DS release of Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, an absolutely massive RPG that was originally released in 2001.
All Links in “This Week’s New Releases + Game News” are Provided by Warp Zoned.
If the traditional Smash Bros/Mario Kart/Minecraft rotation has your gaming group in a funk, you might want to try something different and check out Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, a two-person bomb defusal game from Steel Crate Games. The developer explains how it all works pretty well on the game’s official website:
One player is trapped in a virtual room with a ticking time bomb they must defuse. The other players are the “Experts” who must give the instructions to defuse the bomb by deciphering the information found in the bomb defusal manual. But there’s a catch: the experts can’t see the bomb, so everyone will need to talk it out – fast!
Writing a review for School Library Journal’s Teen Librarian Toolbox, Teen Librarian Alanna Graves was also happy with the chaotic camaraderie created by Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes:
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, created by Steel Crate Games, was recommended to me from a colleague when I asked our staff if they knew of a fun game where players work together to defuse a bomb. I was not disappointed with this recommendation.
The game can get really dramatic as the timer ticks closer to zero, and voices tend to get louder as anxiety increases!
I’ve played a few rounds of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes and I’ve got to agree, it’s a great game for any group of players.
The Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, a turn-based RPG for the PS3 and Vita.
Published by XSEED and developed by Falcom, Trails of Cold Steel II is a tactical turn-based title where the fate of the kingdom is at stake and only a plucky band of outsiders can save the day. Players interested in obscure Japanese RPGs will definitely be interested in this one.
Also of note this week is Just Sing, Ubisoft’s singing spinoff of the Just Dance franchise. Available for the PS4 and Xbox One, players will be able to sing (or lip sync) along with songs from Britney Spears, Sia, Justin Bieber, and others. Best of all, Just Sing can easily be used during an open gaming program because it doesn’t require a microphone peripheral. Ubisoft has released a companion app that’ll turn any smartphone into a microphone.
All Links in “This Week’s New Releases + Game News” are Provided by Warp Zoned.
With complaints of broken promises and missing features flooding its online reviews, No Man’s Sky has become one of the most divisive games in recent memory. That said, many PC and PS4 players are absolutely amazed by its massive universe, and have gladly spent hours upon hours exploring strange new worlds and boldly going where no one has gone before (different franchise, but you get the idea).
Unfortunately, Teen Librarian Alanna Graves falls in the former camp. In a review on School Library Journal’s Teen Librarian Toolbox, she had this to say:
After a few days, I grew tired of No Man’s Sky. The game is too repetitive and overwhelming for my taste. All you do is find a new planet, land on it, explore, gather materials, maybe learn a few alien words if you’re lucky, rinse and repeat. This game is great for gamers out there who love to grind in video games, but I think those gamers are the type who will go out and purchase the game for themselves.
The Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is a tie between two monster-hunting titles… Bandai Namco’s God Eater 2: Rage Burst and Koei Tecmo’s Attack On Titan.
Japanese developers love pitting a single player (or a small co-op team) against a giant monster. Ever since the success of Monster Hunter back in the PS2 days, “monster hunting” games have almost become their own genre. And this week, players might be interested in trying out God Eater 2: Rage Burst, a PS4 game where players use “God Arcs” to battle demonic entities known as Aragami. The Aragami like to chow down on lowly humans, much like the Titans at the center of Koei Tecmo’s Attack On Titan, which is another adaptation of the popular anime for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Also of note this week is a trio of re-releases. Let’s start things off with Assetto Corsa, a racing simulation that was originally released for the PC and is now available for the PS4 and Xbox One. Your patrons might also be interested in slaying more giant monsters in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition, which collects all of the game’s downloadable expansions in a single package for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Finally, Capcom added improved graphics to Resident Evil 4, which is a bona fide classic, and re-released it for the PS4 and Xbox One.
All Links in “This Week’s New Releases + Game News” are Provided by Warp Zoned.
The Video Game Release Calendar is about to start picking up any minute now, especially after all the big games set to be revealed at this weekend’s PAX West expo.
But a (very small) number of new games were also released in the last five weeks, so if you missed any Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week selections during the month of August, I’ve collected them below. Continue reading
The Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is a tie between Madden NFL 17 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
The release of Madden NFL 17 on the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360 means that it’s time for FOOTBALL, and for this year’s entry in their annual sports franchise, EA Sports focused on improving Madden’s famed Franchise Mode. That should make the hardcore statheads very happy, but Madden appeals to almost everybody, so most patrons will be happy to see it on the shelves.
Many gamers are excited for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided as well, though it’s a very different kind of game… a science fiction story that has many parallels to our world including civil rights, terrorism, and government surveillance. Its heady themes make it one of the smarter games out there, and one that many PC, PS4, and Xbox One owners are very interested in.
Also of note this week is The King of Fighters XIV, a one-on-one fighter for the PS4. Players familiar with the long-running King of Fighters franchise will want to check it out, as will fans of one-on-one fighting games like Street Fighter V and Mortal Kombat X.
All Links in “This Week’s New Releases + Game News” are Provided by Warp Zoned.