UMBC GAIM mentioned in Business Gazette

The Business Gazette has an article on serious games today, focusing especially on Maryland companies Will Interactive, Breakaway, and Firaxis. I was interviewed for the article, and it closes with a mention of the new UMBC GAIM programs!

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World series of video games on CBS

This weekend CBS will air the first of four shows on the World Series of Video Games sponsored in part by Intel. The New York Times has an article, Video Game Matches to Be Televised on CBS that has a good overview.

“The magic of television has already transformed everything from motorcycle acrobatics to poker into living-room spectator sports, not to mention turning competitive singing into a national obsession. Next on the list: video games. Tomorrow at noon, CBS, the august home of the Masters and March Madness, will become the first broadcast network in the United States to cover a video game tournament as a sporting event.”

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Fallout 3 features a radioactive, monster-ridden DC

The Washington Post has an interesting article on life as a game reviewer, An Inside Play To Sway Video Gamers. The life sounds pretty good. The story is built around the marketing for Fallout 3, an new title from the Rockville game studio Bethesda Softworks to be release near the end of 2008.

“In the game, which will be available on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the personal computer, players take on the role of a character who has spent his or her life growing up in a large nuclear shelter in the northwest suburbs of Washington. It features the voice of actor Liam Neeson as the main character’s father who mysteriously disappears one day. The player’s mission is to venture out into the radioactive, monster-ridden world and find out where he went and why he left.”

Mike Reilly, “a jovial New York-based reviewer with the Web site Game Revolution” likes his job and is quotes as saying

“I love the junket. I love seeing the herd of nerds, I love seeing the power of geek.”

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GAIM to get 20 Xbox 360s

The UMBC GAIM programs won an award from Microsoft to get 20 Xbox 360s and 20 XNA Creators Club licenses. These will form the foundation of a new GAIM lab in the Engineering building. We have plans to use these new systems in several upcoming classes in both Visual Arts and Computer Science.

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Physician, heal thyself of Acute Wiiitis

The current issue of the distinguished New England Journal of Medicine has a letter describing a new malady, Acute Wiiitis (Volume 356:2431-2432, 7 June 2007, Number 23). The author, Dr. Julio Bonis of Barcelona, diagnosed himself with Wiiitis, which was brought about by Wii Sports.

“The treatment consisted of ibuprofen for one week, as well as complete abstinence from playing Wii video games. The patient recovered fully.”

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