Moving Day

Today we began the process of moving the CVGA to its new location. For a fond farewell, here is the now empty old CVGA room:









And here are the equipment and games in their temporary location, awaiting deployment into the new space:

Last Day in the Old CVGA

Here are a few pictures from Friday, the final day of the CVGA in its old location:

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes!

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed at the end of Val's last Top Games post she mentions that the CVGA will be moving.

It's true! The last day of the archive for the year will be this Friday, after which we will be closed while we move to our new location. In January we will re-open in room B474 of the Duderstadt Center (that's in the Lower Level—i.e. the Basement).

Our new location will have about 2.5 times the space that we have now, many more game stations, and an enclosed room with a door that closes for games that tend to be noisy (e.g. whapping on the drums in Rock Band!)

We are also adding a selection of board and card games to the CVGA; about 40 in all to start, including Settlers of Catan, Small World, Carcassonne, Power Grid, Race for the Galaxy, Axis & Allies, Agricola, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, Dominion, and more. As with the video games the board games will be for in-house use only, but with our extra space we will have tables set up for game play.

In addition, we will be making changes to the way that games are accessed. We will be keeping the game discs behind the desk, while continuing to display the game boxes on the shelf. You will need to check out the game disc from the desk before playing, and return the disc to the desk when you are done. This will help us to reduce loss and reduce wear on the games.

Stay tuned to this blog for an announcement as to the exact date of our re-opening, which if all goes well should be sometime during the first week in January...

Top Games - Week of December 6th

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

1. Fifa Soccer 11
2. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
3. NBA 2K11
4. (tie) Starcraft II
4. (tie) Fallout: New Vegas
6. (tie) Ace Combat 5
6. (tie) Super Smash Bros. Brawl
8. Halo: Reach
9. Super Smash Bros. Melee
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Not ours)

Don't forget to stop by this week and play away your end of semester blues! The archive will be open through Friday night, and then will be closed until next semester, where we'll open in our new location.

Top Games - Week of November 29th

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

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee
2. (tie) Starcraft II
2. (tie) Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
4. Fifa Soccer 11
5. (tie) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PlayStation 3)
5. (tie) Call of Duty: Black Ops (Not ours)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
8. (tie) Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo 64)
8. (tie) Final Fantasy XIII
8. (tie) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)

Call of Duty is beginning to take the stage, perhaps in anticipation of the archive getting its copy of Black Ops. It's not in yet, but it will almost certainly make the list again when we do get it.

The Adventure of Links: December 2, 2010

BBC News Europe: "Spain outrage over migrant bombing game"

Spain's main opposition party has provoked howls of outrage for producing a video game which invites players to bomb illegal immigrants.

Wired Threat Level: "Xbox-Modding Judge Berates Prosecution, Puts Trial on Hold"

Opening statements in the first-of-its kind Xbox 360 criminal hacking trial were delayed here Wednesday after a federal judge unleashed a 30-minute tirade at prosecutors in open court, saying he had “serious concerns about the government’s case.”

University of Colorado Denver Newsroom: "Study shows employees learn best from video games"

Long derided as mere entertainment, new research now shows that organizations using video games to train employees end up with smarter, more motivated workers who learn more and forget less.

cnet Crave: "Does playing video games help reduce pain?"

According to a study from the American Pain Society, a multidisciplinary community of scientists and clinicians who work to reduce pain-related suffering, video games, and more specifically those that incorporate 3D virtual reality, could help reduce physical pain.