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!

CVGA Closed Over Winter Break

The archive will be closed next week (February 25th - March 3rd) for Winter break. We will be reopening on Monday, March 5th.

Enjoy the week off from classes!

Sid Meier's Game Design Boot Camp

UM is hosting a two-week game design boot camp at the Computer Science Building on North Campus, led by award-winning game designer Sid Meier and UM EECS professor John Laird.

It will be held May 7-18, and is targeted at undergraduates in their junior/senior year or recent graduates, with previous class-related or independent game design experience.

More about the boot camp can be found here.

Smash Tournament 2012

We are planning a Smash tournament for Friday, March 16th from 6-9pm. Up to 32 people can sign up, and it will be a double-elimination bracketed tournament encompassing all three versions of Super Smash Bros.

Anyone affiliated with the university may sign up. You can do so at the CVGA service desk, by emailing video.games@umich.edu, or by calling 734-763-6533.

The rules for the tournament are as follows:

About the tournament:

·         This tournament will consist of 3 versions of Super Smash Bros. from various game consoles. It will be a double-elimination bracketed tournament. There will be four winners, which will receive gift cards to Amazon.com. 1^st place will receive a $40 card, 2^nd place will receive a $30 card, 3^rd place will receive a $20 card, and 4^th place will receive a $10 card.

·         Registration will begin immediately and will continue until just before the tournament, and the tournament will be limited to the first 32 people who sign up.  Participation is limited to those affiliated with the university, and excludes tournament officials. To register, you must provide a valid Umich ID, name, uniqname and email, and you may sign up in person at the archive desk, via email at video.games@umich.edu , or by phone at (734) 763-6533. All requested information must be provided in order to sign up. 

·         The day of the tournament will be Friday, March 16, beginning at 6pm and lasting for approximately 2-3 hours. 

·         The tournament will use a 32-place, 5 round, bracketed double elimination system. Essentially, 2 players will be pitted against each other and one will be eliminated each time. The winner of each match will move on to the next round.  In the final round, the 2 losers from the semi-finals will play to determine 3^rd and 4^th place. 

·         In the event of a tie (both players having the same number of kills at the end of the time period), the player with the lower percentage of health damage will win. If both players have equal health as well, they will play a 1 stock, 3 minute match to determine the winner of that round.

·         The game played will change depending on the round:

Round 1	Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii
Round 2	Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube
Round 3	Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64
Round 4	Random, among the 3 games above
Round 5	Random, not repeated from Round 4

·         During the tournament, the archive will be reserved for Smash, but may be open for others depending on how crowded it gets.

Games :

Note: Staff will be happy to give hands-on demonstrations of any game participants are unfamiliar with.

1.       Super Smash Bros. Brawl

a.       Equipment

                                                               i.      Nintendo Wii

                                                             ii.      2 Gamecube controllers or Wiimotes

b.      Rules:

                                                               i.      4 stock, 8 minute match

                                                             ii.      No items

                                                            iii.      No handicap

                                                           iv.      No stalling, glitching, unsportsmanlike conduct, etc.

                                                             v.      You may bring your own controllers, or use one of ours (Wiimotes fine too)

                                                           vi.      Stages will be chosen randomly from:

1.       Battlefield

2.       Yoshi’s Island

3.       Smashville

4.       Lylat Cruise

5.       Pokemon Stadium (Melee)

6.       Final Destination

7.       Castle Siege

2.       Super Smash Bros. Melee

a.       Equipment

                                                               i.      Nintendo Gamecube or Wii

                                                             ii.      2 Gamecube controllers

b.      General Rules:

                                                               i.      4 Stock, 8 minute match

                                                             ii.      No items

                                                            iii.      No handicap

                                                           iv.      No stalling, glitching, unsportsmanlike conduct, etc.

                                                             v.      You may bring your own controllers, or use one of ours

                                                           vi.      Stages will be chosen randomly from:

1.       Yoshi’s Story

2.       Fountain of Dreams

3.       Battlefield

4.       Dream Land (N64)

5.       Final Destination

3.       Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64

a.       Equipment

                                                               i.      Nintendo 64

                                                             ii.      2 N64 controllers

b.      Rules

                                                               i.      4 Stock Match

                                                             ii.      No items

                                                            iii.      No handicap

                                                           iv.      100% damage ratio

                                                             v.      No stalling, glitching, unsportsmanlike conduct, etc.

                                                           vi.      You may bring your own controllers, or use one of ours

                                                          vii.      Stages will be chosen randomly (coin toss) from:

1.       Hyrule Castle

2.       Dream Land

Play More Smash!

In preparation for our upcoming Smash tournament in March (details to follow), the archive has expanded its Super Smash Bros. hours from Friday evenings to all-day on Fridays.

This change takes effect starting this Friday. So drag your Smash buddies in earlier on Friday and practice for our upcoming tournament!

All We Needed was One Last Cable

Just got the final connection cable we needed to have full-on 4 player Game Boy Advance on GameCube mayhem! So gather your friends and bring them by to play some Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles or Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures!

Retro/Grade Using Guitar Controller

Matt Gilgenbach, an alum of UM as well as the university's game development group Wolverine Soft, has been featured in a guest editorial on Kotaku.

In it, he discusses his soon to be released game Retro/Grade, which is designed to be played with a guitar controller, although a game pad will suffice as well.

In the editorial, he discusses the lack of new game material designed for the guitar controller, which he believes is a major determinant in its gradual decline in popularity over the past few years.

The trailer for Retro/Grade can be found on the game's website and is also below. Though an exact release date hasn't been established, the game is slated to be available "soon."

Top Games - Month of January 2012

Here were our top games played in the archive for the month of January. Once again, a board game makes the list, along with the game that no one can seem to agree on how to pronounce, BlazBlue.

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360)
2. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim (Xbox 360)
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Xbox 360)
4. FIFA Soccer 12 (Xbox 360)
5. Assassin's Creed: Revelations (PS3)
6. BlazBlue (PS3)
7. Dominion (Board game)
8. NBA 2K12 (Xbox 360)
9. (tie) Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)
9. (tie) Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

Alter Echo: A Slice of Ann Arbor History

This week, the archive received a donation that was a special treat, a glimpse into our local video game industry from almost a decade ago: Alter Echo.

Alter Echo was the last game developed by an Ann Arbor-based company called Outrage Entertainment, which developed games in Ann Arbor from about 1997-2004. And the generous donor of said game? None other than one of the testers of Alter Echo, Tod Schlegelmilch.

The game isn't yet available for play, but keep searching Mirlyn to stay up to date on its status. I'm sure it will be a game well worth checking out!