Video games may teach players many useful things, including better hand-eye coordination and how to save the world with just one clip, but they also teach plenty of useless things. Sure, how to manage your own NFL franchise is pretty useless, but there’s even more useless trivia being inflicted upon gamers ever day. For this reason, gamers owe it to themselves to be aware of this misinformation.

Barrels contain valuables
There are only two kinds of barrels in this world that contain valuables. One is a whiskey or wine barrel, and the other is the candy barrel by the cash register at some old-time candy shop. Otherwise, barrels are where people store things they can’t possibly imagine touching themselves. Yes, oil is quite valuable, but no one wants to burst open a barrel of the black goo to get at it. Plus, there’s always the risk that toxic waste might be stored inside. Such realities should be portrayed in games more often. (more…)

Posted by Justin | 8 Comments »

In The Great Games column we look back at titles that have defined video games over the years and earned a special place in the history of the medium.

Sixteen years passed between the original Ninja Gaiden’s release on the NES in 1988 and the franchise relaunch on the Xbox in 2004. In those 16 years a lot of things changed in gaming, including the passage of three console generations and the arrival of 3D graphics as the norm. The one thing that did not change is Ninja Gaiden’s name standing for hardcore action.

Younger gamers may not be able to fully appreciate the way the gaming market used to work. Games arrived with little or no fanfare and were seemingly dumped onto the market. Yes, there were advertisements in magazines, but hardly the full media blitzes gamers are so used to today for even the most modest of releases. Amidst all this, a little game called Ninja Gaiden found a market. It probably didn’t hurt that it was very loosely based off a semi-popular arcade game (best remembered today for its Jason Voorhees look-a-like villains). (more…)

Posted by Justin | 1 Comment »

Ninjas are cool. They’re even cooler if you’re a self-referential hipster living your better days on the Internet. How things become “trendy” on the Internet is not the focus here, but suffice it to say the Chuck Norris games are likely not far off. Ninjas have been a huge part of the gaming environment for decades and with good reason. They make both great heroes and great villains. They can also be adapted into a variety of gameplay styles. Below is a look at some of the more memorable incarnation of the ninja in video games, with a look toward the future and where gaming ninjas might be headed next.

The Adventurer - Ninja Gaiden (NES)

While not the first incarnation of the ninja in gaming form, Ninja Gaiden for the arcade and NES are two of the most famous. Plus, they encapsulate the same style that previous titles such as The Last Ninja employed. Ninjas began as adventurers. In Ninja Gaiden you must guide Ryu through several stages around the world as he tries to avenge the death of his father. Along the way he meets a variety of characters who try to help him; though in the end most betray him.

It’s important that most will betray Ryu in the end. While Ryu is personally played up as a respectable character, the ninjas generally are not. Oddly, the actually heroic samurai are rarely featured in games (with the Samurai Warriors series being an exception). This idea that the ninja is alone, even among friends, is carried on throughout the history of the gaming ninja. (more…)

Posted by Justin | 2 Comments »