Phil Harrison is no Peter Moore. He’s the quiet type who prefers to stay behind the scenes rather than show off his GTA 4 tattoo to thousands of attendees at gaming expos. Although, lately he’s been at the top of gaming news as the man who left Sony for the sinking ship known as Atari and left behind the platform he helped to succeed.

Though no specific reasons behind his departure have been indicated Harrison was very vocal at GDC recently publicly criticizing Sony Japan for not taking advantage of the booming casual games market. “It’s a very interesting and frustrating thing for me to experience because I have been banging the drum about social gaming for a long time, with SingStar, EyeToy and Buzz,” stated Harrison. “And our Japanese colleagues said that there is no such thing as social gaming in Japan — people do not play games on the same sofa together in each other’s homes. It will never happen. And then out comes the Wii.” (more…)

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While it is certainly easy to pick apart games and gaming culture, it is just as easy to note the things done right by games. If you have a friend who just can’t wrap their mind around the idea that gaming can be good, let them settle in for five points on why gaming is not all bad for you.

They bring people together.

Say what you will about video games keeping kids indoors and away from outdoor sports and activities, it’s hard to argue that playing video games is not a group activity. Classic multiplayer titles such as Contra to modern multiplayer legends like Super Smash Bros. show that gaming is something best done with others. While the recent push into online gaming may have made many worry that gaming was soon headed back under the rock of isolation, it also welcomed new party games such as Rock Band and Buzz: The Trivia Game.

Madden Football is a party game with its own unique atmosphere surrounding it. Step foot into any college dormitory across the nation and you are likely to find a group of young men playing Madden tournaments. Just like real sports, it even invites onlookers and fans who root for either team. While real football games are in no danger of being replaced, many other social activities such as playing cards seem like relics of the past to many young people. (more…)

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Just in time for your Oscar party, Sony has announced Buzz!: The Hollywood Quiz for the Playstation 2. Following up on the success of it’s successor, The Hollywood quiz looks to help the PS2 cash in on the current trend of casual gaming with over 5,000 questions and three new modes of play it looks like those nifty new controllers will be put to use for quite a while.

There are plenty of nods to Hollywood including characters from Creature of the Black Lagoon, an Arnold/Stallone look alike, a pirate, and even the presentation is reminiscent of the Oscars with a red carpet and a Oscar-esque statue in the shape of the game’s host.

Scheduled for a March 11th release, The Hollywood Quiz doesn’t seem to be straying from the same formula that worked for the other titles in the Buzz! series by keeping the same modes from the other games like Final Countdown and Top rank but they are including three new modes called True or False, Hollywood Stars, and Rollover. (more…)

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