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- Work for Game Retailer? You Might Be Eligible For ScholarshipToday
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The Entertainment Merchants Association, the trade group which represents a large slice of video game retailers, has announced that it is accepting applications for its 2009 Entertainment Merchants Association scholarship.
Grants are awarded to incoming freshman as well as current college students. In order to be eligible, the student, a parent or spouse must work for an EMA-member company. Since 1987, more than 215 students have received over $1 million for college expenses.
EMA CEO Bo Andersen commented on the scholarship program:
The EMA Scholarship Foundation is more important than ever in these tough economic times. We are pleased to be able to assist the employees of EMA member companies and their immediate family members to be able to afford higher education.
Click here for scholarship application details.
- Six-year-old Learned to Drive (Badly) From Video GamesToday
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A six-year-old Virginia boy who tried to drive his family car to school told police that he learned to drive from playing Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam.
As reported by the Associated Press, the boy missed his school bus and took the keys to the family ride, a 2005 Ford Taurus. His mother was sleeping at the time. From the AP report:
He made at least two 90-degree turns, passed several cars and ran off the rural two-lane road several times before hitting an embankment and utility pole about a mile and a half from school.
"He was very intent on getting to school," said Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins. "When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE."
The boy's parents were subsequently charged with child endangerment by police. The boy and his four-year-old brother were placed in protective custody.
GP: Giving GTA to a six-year-old? Unbelievable...
- New Game Is a Protest of Israeli Invasion of GazaToday
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At the Georgia Tech News Games Project, Ian Bogost discusses Raid Gaza!, an editorial game dealing with Israel's offensive against Hamas in Palestine.
Raid Gaza! is hosted at Newgrounds and has an RTS-like interface in which the player, acting as the Israeli side, builds structures and uses them to create military units which are then launched against the Palestinians.
Of the game, Bogost writes:
The game argues against the justification of Israeli attacks on Gaza, representing them as unprovoked and characterizing Israel's response as overt aggression. The game's goal is to kill as many Palestinians as possible in a three minute session...
The game is headstrong, suffering somewhat from its one-sided treatment of the issue at hand. But as an editorial, it is a fairly effective one both as opinion text and as game... It's release on user-contributed animation and games portal Newgrounds came on 30 December 2008, only three days after the Israeli Defense Forces launched airstrikes...
Raid Gaza! was probably not created by a journalist nor a professional game developer (it was submitted to Newgrounds eponymously). Still, the piece was timely, coherent, and exerted commentary that is appreciable, even if it is not profound... - Anti-Israeli Protests in Second LifeToday
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Israel's controversial incursion into Gaza has sparked virtual protests in Second Life, reports scribe Wagner James Au.
On his New World Notes blog, Au describes the protests taking place at SL Israel, a Second Life area which recreates Israeli landmarks and tourist attractions in virtual form:
Last week when Israel began launching guided missiles at Hamas targets in Palestine... SL Israel became a flashpoint of another kind. As the airstrikes pounded Gaza, so did protesters, teleporting into SL Israel, waving flags.
"Lots of people yelling," Beth Odets tells me. "They were going on and on with slurring obscenities about murderous Israeli forces, etc." She gives me a screenshot taken during the incursion, festooned with anti-war or pro-Palestinian signs, some depicting dead Arab children... - UGO Acquires 1UP... Mass Layoffs... EGM DeadToday
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As numerous sources are reporting, Hearst's UGO Entertainment has acquired 1UP from financially-troubled Ziff-Davis. Along with the 1UP sale, ZD is ceasing publication of Entertainment Gaming Monthly. Perhaps the best-known print publication for video game enthusiasts, EGM has been in operation since 1989.
Joystiq has a list of 1UP and EGM staffers who have lost their jobs. Among these are some well-known game journos, including James "Milkman" Mielke and Shane Bettenhausen.
Reactions have come swiftly and many are saddened by the layoffs:
-Kombo has a list of Twitter accounts wherein several former and current 1UP and EGM staffers are tweeting about the situation.
-Former Computer Gaming World (yet another defunct ZD mag) editor Jeff Green blogged:
A sad day for all the folks at 1up.com... my condolences go out to all those now looking for work. The list of people they decided to lay off is just crazy. Don't ask me to make any sense of it, because I don't see any.
R.I.P. 1up.com. They may keep your URL, there, but we all know better.-God of War designer