Stereotypical Games for Girls - The Notable Games Edition

Since we recently had a young girl in the archive that had a lot of trouble finding something she wanted to play, I thought I'd devote a notable games post to showcase several of the 'girly' games that the archive offers for her age group. So be prepared to be pummeled with sugar and spice and everything nice:

1. Barbie: Still popular after all this time...
- Barbie Race & Ride (Playstation)
- Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise (Playstation)
- Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue (Xbox)


2. Horses: Barbie's not the only one who can ride a horse like a pro:
- Lucinda Green's Equestrian Challenge (PC)
- My Horse & Me (Wii)
- Ultimate Games for Girls (PC)

3. Pets/Animals: Raise, groom, care for and compete with a myriad of animals:
- Animal Crossing (Gamecube)
- Calvin Tucker's Redneck Farm Animals Racing Tournament (Wii)
- Petz Sportz (Wii)
- Pet Pals: Animal Doctor (PC)


4. TV Shows, Movies & Other Media:
- Britney's Dance Beat (Playstation 2): Britney Spears. Yes, really.
- Hannah Montana (Nintendo DS)
- Kim Possible: What's the Switch? (Playstation 2)
- The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction (Nintendo 64)

5. Classics: Disney, Princesses, & Pretty Things:
- Disney's Aladdin (Genesis)
- Enchanted Journey (PC)
- The Lion King (Super Nintendo)
- The Little Mermaid (Nintendo)
- Storyhour Fairytales (Wii)

Top Games - Week of August 23rd

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week:

1. Fifa 2010 World Cup South Africa
2. Fifa Soccer 10 (Xbox 360)
3. Starcraft II
4. Armored Core: For Answer
5. (tie) Little Big Planet
5. (tie) Super Smash Bros. Brawl
5. (tie) Virtua Tennis 3
5. (tie) Prince of Persia
9. (tie) Supreme Commander 2
9. (tie) Ace Combat 5

We are beginning to brainstorm ideas for our Fall tournament, so feel free to post any requests here.

Top Games - Week of Aug. 16th

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week:

1. (tie) Starcraft II
1. (tie) Fifa Soccer 10 (Xbox 360)
3. FIFA 2010 World Cup South Africa
4. Supreme Commander 2
5. (tie) Bayonetta
5. (tie) Racquet Sports
5. (tie) Gears of War 2
5. (tie) Halo 3
5. (tie) Super Street Fighter 4
10. Pokemon: Platinum

I don't really get the fascination with Bayonetta, but one guy likes it enough to put it on the top games list all by himself. Also, watching people play Racquet Sports is more amusing than it sounds.

Top Games - Week of Aug. 9th

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week:

1. FIFA 2010 World Cup South Africa
2. Fifa Soccer 10 (Xbox 360)
3. God of War 3
4. Supreme Commander 2
5. Bayonetta
6. Final Fantasy X
6. Starcraft II
8. Ace Combat 5
8. Assassin's Creed 2
8. Cricket 07

Not surprisingly, Fifa stays in the lead. But Final Fantasy X? Awesome.

New World of Warcraft Book from UofM Press

Our colleagues at the University of Michigan Press have released My Life as a Night Elf Priest: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft by Bonnie Nardi. Here's the blurb:

World of Warcraft is currently the most popular online world game on the planet, with more than 12 million subscribers—officially making it an online community of gamers that has more inhabitants than the state of Ohio and is almost twice as populous as Scotland. It's a massively multiplayer online game, or MMO in gamer jargon, where each person controls a single character inside a virtual world, interacting with other people's characters and computer-controlled monsters, quest-givers, and merchants.

In My Life as a Night Elf Priest, Bonnie Nardi, a well-known ethnographer who has published extensively on how theories of what we do intersect with how we adopt and use technology, compiles more than three years of participatory research in Warcraft play and culture in the United States and China into this field study of player behavior and activity. She introduces us to her research strategy and the history, structure, and culture of Warcraft; argues for applying activity theory and theories of aesthetic experience to the study of gaming and play; and educates us on issues of gender, culture, and addiction as part of the play experience. Nardi paints a compelling portrait of what drives gamers online both in this country and in China, where she spent a month studying players in Internet cafés.

Bonnie Nardi has given us a fresh look not only at World of Warcraft but at the field of game studies as a whole. One of the first in-depth studies of a game that has become an icon of digital culture, My Life as a Night Elf Priest will capture the interest of both the gamer and the ethnographer.

You can read the book online for free, or buy a copy of the print version if you prefer atoms to bits.

Medical training through video games

An article on the UMHS website explores how and why video games might help the new generation of medical students to excel in their preparations for becoming doctors - everything from helping them to choose their specialties to helping them learn how to perfect surgical incisions. View it here.

Top Games - Week of August 2nd

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week:

1. Fifa Soccer 10 (Xbox 360)
2. FIFA 2010 World Cup South Africa
3. (tie) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
3. (tie) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
5. (tie) Starcraft II
5. (tie) Supreme Commander 2
7. Assassin's Creed 2
8. (tie) Left 4 Dead 2
8. (tie) Simpson's Game, The
8. (tie) Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Top Games - Week of July 26th

Here are the top ten games played in the archive last week:

1. FIFA 2010 World Cup South Africa
2. (tie) Fifa Soccer 10 (Xbox 360)
2. (tie) Super Smash Bros. Brawl
4. (tie) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
4. (tie) Super Mario Galaxy 2
6. (tie) God of War 3
6. (tie) Super Smash Bros. Melee
6. (tie) Supreme Commander 2
9. (tie) Dante's Inferno
9. (tie) Halo 3: ODST