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There’s an Far Side cartoon from the 1980s which shows two parents looking hopefully at their video game-playing teenager. They fantasize about his future career as a professional gamer. The joke is, of course, that this is an absurd hope for their indolent son who is developing no practical skills.
Larson’s prediction was too pessimistic. There are now people who, for money, serve as bodyguards, tutors, guides, or just plain meatshields for other online gamers. Brian Crecente hired the services of one for half an hour at the price of £5:
“Essentially,” Smith tells me, “I become the client’s buddy in the game. I won’t go for kills of my own, only when necessary to stop the client’s ‘life’ being cut short.”
And Smith was good to his word. Earlier this month I hired the teen to escort me through 30 minutes of Battlefield 3 online matches on the Xbox 360. We met up online and appeared together on the battlefield.
Smith took plenty of bullets for me, becoming a sort of human shield during the many times I wasn’t observant enough to notice an enemy drawing a bead on me. He was even more useful as an in-game guide. He was a sort of Battlefield 3 golf pro, suggesting weapons, equipment and play styles to me over headphones as we played.
One of the wonderful things about the World Wide Web is that it greatly reduces geographic barriers for building communities or businesses. If you have a specialized skill that doesn’t require physical interaction, you can stretch across the world and sell it. In fact, I’m doing that right now.
Link | Image: Electronic Arts
The DC Universe is going through some major changes, both in the comics and now online, so there’s never been a better time to dive in and see what the buzz is all about. And if you haven’t played DC Universe online yet, wait until October when it all becomes free to play. The proposed change will make it free to download and play, with different subscription levels for more die-hard players, so you can check out the game without spending all your hard earned cash!
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Dino D-Day wants to show you what the hype is all about by letting you play for free until July 31st on Steam. The indie game has received lots of buzz over the last few months, not only because of its humorous subject matter (Nazi controlled dinosaurs), but also because the gameplay is fast paced and fun, and the graphics are quite good for such a low budget game. Now you have a chance to check it out for yourself and see if slaying Nazi dinosaurs satisfies your craving for virtual blood.
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You may have to lose once to figure out how the game Drench works, but then it’s a lot of fun! Select your next color to make your paint splotch bigger, and try to cover the entire floor in paint. You only have a certain number of moves for each level. Link -via Metafilter
Scientists have finally proven parents wrong … surfing the Internet is actually good for teenagers! Kids, print this out before the vast parents conspiracy shuts this down …
Surfing the internet, playing games and hanging out on social networks are important for teen development, a large study of online use has revealed. The report counters the stereotypical view held by many parents and teachers that such activity is a waste of time.
More than 800 teenagers and parents took part in the three-year US project.
"They are learning the technological skills and literacy needed for the contemporary world," said the report’s author, Dr Mimi Ito. "They are learning how to communicate online, craft a public identity, create a home page, post links. "All these things were regarded as sophisticated 10 years ago but young people today take them for granted," Dr Ito told the BBC.
The report calls teens learnin’ on the Web as "geeking out": Link
Previously on Neatorama:
