While I wait for Grand Theft Auto V to re-download, why don’t we take a look back at the world of gaming? These are the things that you might have overlooked, In Case You Missed It!
In Case You Needed More Ammo for the “Games Make People Violent” Debates…
Score another point for pro-gamers! Last week, an article was posted in Frontiers that found that there is “no link between the long-term playing of violent video games and changes in empathetic neural responses.” German researchers used some MRI machines to find that gamers are the same as non-gamers when it comes to “emotionally provocative images.” While the science behind gaming and aggression is difficult to break down easily, it’s nice to know that it isn’t the game that’s making the Genji throw a fit.
In Case You Wanted Some D&D News…
There’s an app for that. On Sunday, Wizards of the Coast announced D&D Beyond. This companion app will allow players to keep track of their characters and build new ones, easily look up different spells, and help look up that one oddball rule that would normally take an hour of digging through the Player’s Handbook to find. You can sign up for the beta version here.
In Case You Play Hearthstone and Don’t Live in the US or Canada…
Prepare thy wallets. According to Blizzard, prices for card packs, adventures, and arena tickets are all going up a small bit around the globe. Thankfully, the price increase does not affect pre-orders for the upcoming Un’Goro expansion and will not go into effect until March 22. My guess is that Blizzard wants the prices to be the same for everyone, so some price adjustments are expected as currencies rise and fall in value.
In Case You Want to Trust Steam Reviews a Little More…
You’ll be happy to know that Steam will no longer count reviews made by people who obtained the game for free. Considering that some games and developers are prone to solicit reviews in exchange for game codes, this change will help gamers make more informed choices. This does not stop people from posting reviews; instead, those reviews will be removed from a game’s review score. Expect some games to go from “Overwhelmingly positive” to “Mixed” pretty soon.
In Case You Were Looking for Jobs in Gaming…
You might want to double check where your resume is going. Fortune just released their 100 best places to work in America last week. Of those, Google is number one, Nvidia is #39, and Activision/Blizzard landed at #66 as the only games developer on the list. In fact, Activision/Blizzard was also the only entertainment company listed. Curious…
I’ve still got another hour to go on my GTA V download, but I’m all out of stories to tell! You’ll just have to swing by again next week for another In Case You Missed It!
