Motion Gaming Tournament at the CVGA!

Please mark your calendars for March 25th-April 6th and join us as we highlight some of the motion-related consoles and games available at the CVGA by hosting a Motion Gaming Tournament. This tournament will include the following games:

• Sports Champions: Gladiator Duel for the PlayStation 3 Move
• Fruit Ninja Kinect for the Xbox 360 Kinect
• Antigrav for the PlayStation 2 Eyetoy
• Excite Bots for the Wii
• Dance Dance Revolution X for the PlayStation 2 Dance Pad

The event will be a silent tournament that takes place over the course of two weeks (March 25th-April 6th). Participants can come in anytime the archive is open during these two weeks and play the games whenever their schedules allow. Prizes (Amazon gift cards!) will be awarded after points are tallied up at the end.

Anyone affiliated with the university (excluding tournament officials) may can sign up by providing a
valid UMICH ID, name, uniqname and email, and may sign up in person at the archive desk,
via email at video.games@umich.edu, or by phone at 763-6533.

See the full tournament rules here.

We Have The Vita!

The PlayStation Vita has arrived! Here are some pictures of the unboxing...

And a picture of the games that have arrived so far for the game system:

Stop by after Winter break and check it out when you get a chance!

We Like to MOVE It (Move It!)

Last week we added the new PlayStation Move to the archive. The Move is the motion control system for the PS3, basically their answer to the Nintendo Wii, along with the bundled launch game Sports Champions (more Move-compatible games are on the way...)

My initial reactions are mixed. The Move controllers offer a great degree of accuracy and realism in the motion games, but sometimes at the expense of playability. Whereas with the Wii it is very easy to pick up and start playing, the Move requires a lot more practice to use. Of course, the real test of the Move will come as more games become available and developers get used to the new control system.

DLC in the CVGA

Not all of our games in the CVGA can be found on the shelves. We've purchased a handful of downloadable-only games for the PS3 & Xbox 360 that can be played on our systems—no disc required!

PS3 station 1:

• Burn Zombie Burn (shooter, 1 or 2 players)
• echochrome (puzzle, 1 player)
• Everyday Shooter (shooter, 1 player)
• Flower (adventure, 1 player)
• flOw (action, 1 or 2 players)

Xbox 360 station 2:

• Braid (puzzle platformer, 1 player)
• Crystal Quest (arcade, 1 player)
• DOOM (shooter, 1 player)
• Hexic HD (puzzle, 1 player)
• MEGA MAN 9 (platformer, 1 player)
• Rez HD (rail shooter, 1 player)
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (fighting, 1 or 2 players)
• Worms (artillery, 1 player - up to 4 players online)

On the PS3 you'll find the games under the Game menu. On the Xbox 360, go to: My Xbox -> Game Library -> Collections -> Full Games.

We Want Your Videogames!

One of the ways we plan on growing the video game archive is through in-kind donations. How many people have old game consoles taking up space in the basement, looking for a good home? Quite a few, we think, and we can offer that good home to them!

I have a page up on our Website with details on what we're looking for and who to contact.

Here are a few of the things we've received so far:


PlayStation (One) and assorted games, anonymously donated in a large paper bag.


A PlayStation 2 and assorted games. The box underneath has another PS1 & games. Off to the right is a bag full of old Macintosh games.


A Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer, ca. 1981. This is the box...


...and here's the computer. Ooooo. Originally shipped with 4K of memory, but the previous owner upgraded it to a whopping 16K!


An original MicroSoft force-feedback joystick controller. With it's very own power source!

More to come as we get more in...