"FAMILY and Christian groups have drawn on evidence they claim shows links between violent video games and increased violence among players as part of a broader debate over whether the games should be legally sold in Australia.

It had, after all, been a trying day already. Mere moments before, a supercilious lord asked for her hand in marriage—a wonderful compliment, to be sure. But Alice doesn't love the man (who has a cantankerous digestive system besides). And then there was the well-dressed white rabbit to consider, scurrying through the gardens and brandishing a charming pocket watch.

Naturally, Alice did what any normal 19-year-old girl would do under similar circumstances: She left her hopeful suitor to chase the white rabbit and—again, quite naturally—fell down a rabbit hole.

The focus is on mini-games and leveling your character. The story is supposed to be allegorical in its format although some of the videos I've seen showing quests appear to be directly tied to the Bible, so I'm guessing the allegory will be in the overall story of the game world.

Their legacies have resonated throughout history and have found a new home in video game characters. Now, you might think that the Bible would be the last thing to inspire an industry that largely revolves around shooting people in the face and tea-bagging one another Halo, but you would be wrong. Here's five examples why.

To cut to the chase, we recently had the opportunity to rebuild G basically from the ground up to take up (most of) the input we got from players and we're re-releasing the game with a big contest March 3-16. With everything that's been added or changed it's really a totally new game and is finally the game we were hoping to make all along...but frankly didn't know how.

Engage! Star Trek Online is the highly anticipated entry of the Star Trek franchise into the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game genre. The game has been in a state of development flux for many years. The game was first announced back in 2004, to be developed by Perpetual Entertainment. However, in 2008, Perpetual filed for bankruptcy, and the license and art assets were sold to Cryptic Studios. The first closed beta began in late 2009, and the open beta began on January 12, 2010. The open beta closed on January 26, 2010, and all those who pre-ordered had the ability to get a head start in the game, beginning on January 29. The game launched February 2, 2010. This is a preview, so all details may have changed between the time of writing (January 28) and the release, and will certainly change after release.

People questioned the need for more after the original story had done such a fantastic job of introducing the world and characters of Rapture while both starting and finishing the story. Like it or not, more Bioshock is here and you’ve been thrown back into Rapture. Does this much maligned sequel manage to silence the critics? Or does it sink under all the pressure?

Heroes from the anime powerhouse Tatsunoku and legendary Capcom franchises clash for the first time in the ultimate tag-team fighting game!

Alpha here and it's been a long time since I was on the site. Now that I got my novel done, onto video games and books. Anyways, this game has been a game I've been waiting for to be ported here in the United States. It was actually thought to never be here because of all the licensing issues when it comes to the United States viewership of Tatsunoku franchises but thanks to both Capcom and Tatsunoku, this game was able to be ported here and I am enjoying it to the point that this game is so far my first perfect star game for the year. So if you like the VS. Series like I do, my review will be shown right after the jump.

]]> the_alpha_jan@icepowered.com (The Alpha Jan) frontpage Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:20:58 +0000 http://www.icepowered.com/Games/Indie/Review-Torchlight-PC.html http://www.icepowered.com/Games/Indie/Review-Torchlight-PC.html A little Diablo, a little steampunk in a cel shaded world makes a knock-out hit!

The Story

Just to recap a little, Torchlight is a hack-n-slash dungeon crawler by Runic games, the same masterminds behind the first two Diablo games and the Fate series, and it builds upon the elements started by those monumental titles.  The player picks one of three classes, a Destroyer, a Vanquisher or an Alchemist.   It takes place in the mining town of the same name, where mining of Ember has corrupted people and brought a Blight upon the land.  As a new traveler coming to Torchlight, you initially begin helping a female character by the name of Syl, whose companion has chased some of the foul blight monsters back to the depths of Torchlight’s mines.  Taking that first step draws you in to not only helping vanquish the monsters and attempt to save Brink, but solve the bigger problem of stopping the Blight, containing the Dark Ember threat, and even cleansing yourself from the taint of Ember.

Tim's parents, Bob and Pam Tebow, moved to the Philippines in 1985 to conduct a Christian missionary outreach. While pregnant with Tim, Pam contracted amoebic dysentery through contaminated drinking water. Her doctor told her that the medications she needed to recover would result in irreversible damage to the child she was carrying. She was advised to have an abortion.

She refused.

But GameSpy's Julian Murdoch went in search of truth on the subject, despite the stonewalling and no-commentary this effort was certain to receive. Some luminaries in the field are eager to take up the subject - notably Peter Molyneux, creator of the god-sim Populous, and Ken Levine, whose Irrational Games made BioShock, whose dystopic objectivist society is introduced with the memorable banner "No Gods or Kings, Only Man."

News Of the Day - Ladies first

The Times of London tells us that the New Zealand police found "no laws were broken" when a 19 year old girl auctioned off her virginity to pay for college.

That obviously means prostitution is legal in the smaller of the two islands formerly owned by the Crown.  My opinion is that pornography should be legal but not prostitution.  What is your opinion?

In 2005, the Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed 2032 children from grades 3 through 12. This survey is just a minuet part of the on going research trying to find a link between media violence and more aggressive behavior.

At school, she recognizes Judas, another popular boy, as a demon hell-bent on destroying her and everyone she loves. As Judas spreads horrible rumors and overdoses two of her classmates at a rave, Megan realizes the enormity of his power. While classmates die, Megan, with the help of an angel, Johnny, and a team of friends will face the fight of their lives as they battle Judas. Megan thinks God hasn't given her any "special" powers, but discovers she has what she needs as she confronts Judas and his seemingly unconquerable power.

Testament is not a standard educational game in the sense that it focuses heavily on the educational component. The idea is that it should be fun to play and that the knowledge of the Old Testament will be gained in a subtle way.

Erik Schreuder, CEO of Iceberg Interactive says: “With Solomon’s Secret we have signed a great second installment to the Adam’s Venture franchise. We’re convinced that developer Vertigo Games will step up to the plate by keeping successful ingredients such as the tremendous ‘Unreal 3’ graphics and non-violent nature, while satisfying market demand by expanding the hours of gameplay and the variety in difficulty of puzzles. The story will also certainly see some unexpected twists and turns, and the already stunning environments will be beefed up a notch as well with more atmospheric outdoor locations. Adventure Gamers should definitely look forward to this one.”

As Gamers, we use these labels all the time. First we divide people into two camps: the gamer and the non-gamer. Then we take the gamers and start to segment that group even more: RPG fans, JRPG fans, First Person Shooter players, MMO fans, strategy gamers, puzzle gamers…. The labels just keep coming. There are two labels that get thrown around a lot, however: Casual and Core.

If you read gaming blogs, you may notice a growing rift between these two groups. Core gamers have started  to see Casual gamers as the enemy, taking valuable attention and money from the major game publishers. Casual gamers cannot understand the amount of time, energy and money Core players put into this fun but ultimately meaningless hobby.

What both sides seem to miss is that the differences between them may not be as great as they think…

And the war between them hurts gamers as a whole.

So just what is the difference between a Casual gamer and a Core gamer. Well, since you are reading a blog on a gaming website, there is a decent chance you fall into the latter category, so let’s take a look at what defines them first.

Our biggest need will be to bring in cash into country so as soon as I know, please be generous and quick, knowing any amount will help. The conditions are beyond harsh and there is still no reliable source of water, food or anything else. Security is breaking down as men and women begin to get desperate.

I will need people in my church to step up to a new level for this new season as we will need help with church, skate church, caring for families and helping Wendy and Alysia.

Checks can be made out to Elysium and sent to:

ELYSIUM
410 Freeman Rd NW
Palm Bay, Fl 32907

You can also go to our website: http://www.elysiumchurch.com and donate through PayPal.

12 hours from now I should be on the ground in Port Au Prince. Love to all and keep your eyes on FB for updates when I have computer access! if this water purifier arrives at Morning Star you will have helped 1000's with clean drinking water! Other than this, prepare the church for teams to go in in the coming months and consider giving to Fishers of Men. Freedom Christian, Elysium, COTR Melbourne and Fire Dweller raised almost $10,000 in the past 3 days but that is a drop in the bucket...

This email came to us yesterday from the church in Haiti:

Legendary: The Box

Release Date: Nov 4, 2008
ESRB Rating: Mature, for Blood, Gore and intense violence.
Available On: PC, Xbox 360 and PS3
Genre: FPS

Developer/Publisher: Tripwire Interactive / Tripwire Interactive
Release Date: May 14, 2009
Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
Available On: PC
Genre: FPS
Number of Players: 1 (Offline); 1-6 (Online)
Strong Points: Perk system adds plenty of variety; realistic combat; fantastic weapon sound effects; easy to jump in; great level design
Weak Points: Passable graphics; weak and sometimes grating voice acting; some animations can be stiff
Moral Warnings: Violent action involving dismemberment and heavy gore; blood sprays and environments are littered with bodies; some swearing, blaspheming, and crude dialog; one female specimen has exposed breasts, another wearing close to nothing

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

C. S. Lewis wrote in his journal, after the passing of his wife Joy Davidman Gresham from cancer, “Sooner or later I must face the question in plain language. What reason have we, except our own desperate wishes, to believe that God is, by any standard we can conceive, ‘good’?” The journal entries written during his mourning were later to become the book A Grief Observed, which he initially published under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk.

The publisher believes that the above quote from Lewis is the central question throughout the book: Is God’s goodness apparent to us?  They believe it is also a question central to mankind. “If it is true that God is good,” they ask, “is it obvious to us in life?” “And if we can recognize it, what does it look like? What impact it would have on Christians if they were made aware of hundreds or even thousands of testimonies that offer objective and subjective observations of God’s goodness?” Well, they want to find out.