Feedback Loop: How Halo Could Improve Democracy Forever

It turns out that the characters we play and the stories they’re in can change our patterns of behavior and our attitude towards others. Armed with better stories, game developers can change the world.

Imagine the latest Halo game with an all new DLC. As Master Chief during election season, it’s your civic duty to get to a voting booth, no matter how many Grunts get in your way. This could be the near future if game writers decide to embrace the responsibilities that come along with the latest research from Tiltfactor’s Geoff Kaufman.

Kaufman’s recent study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, examines the phenomenon of ‘experience-taking.’ The principle is that certain types of fiction, specifically those where the participant can take on the identity of the protagonist, push the participant to merge the character with their selves, “feeling the emotions, thoughts, beliefs and internal responses of one of the characters as if they were their own.”

One particular part of the study shows promise to provide a solution to the political conflict arising from Halo 4’s scheduled release date.

Taking Another Stab at Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Warning: This review contains detailed mechanical spoilers but only moderate narrative spoilers. Fern already wrote on Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and though people have probably already moved on to Revelations (the newest installment in the franchise as of the time of

A Game For Your Every (and Darkest) Desires: The Rise of Long Tale

This article is about niches. Why? It all started when I wrote this. Basically, all it said was that DLC should be all-pervasive, for although it is not the most inclusive distribution model there is, it certainly makes more sense than

October Omnitopic Roundup: DLC

Hello friends! Another month concluded, this month with a massive snowstorm that wiped out a week of Western Massachusetts time and left me sitting cold and alone in my room, pondering my fate as a human being. Would I freeze

From Avatar Clothes to 1-UPs: Why Everything Should Be DLC

  Value. Everything has value. Or rather, everything has the potential to hold value (or Utility, if you want the proper term) for someone. Not every value can be easily translated into currency, however. Putting a monetary value on human

The Value of Games: Why You Really Can't Put a Price on Art

Price (n) – The quantity of one thing that is exchanged or demanded in barter or sale for another; the cost at which something is obtained. Value (n) – A fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for

My Kingdom for a Horse Armor Pack: What Was Lost With the Rise of DLC

Note: Minor spoilers for Deus Ex: Human Revolution follow. On April 3, 2006, Bethesda released the first piece of new content for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The “Horse Armor Pack” allowed the player to acquire barding for their horses

Preorder Dungeon Defenders for a discount and TF2 and Portal DLC

Dungeon Defenders, the upcoming action-RPG tower defense game by Trendy Entertainment, is now open for preorders on Steam. Trust me, there’s plenty of incentive to preorder, too. Not only will a preorder net you the typical 10% discount Steam games

Final Fantasy XIII-2 To Have DLC Enemies, Starting With Omega Weapon [Updated]

Fresh off the press, Square has finally revealed the first pieces of post-launch DLC intended for Final Fantasy XIII-2, starting with Omega. Known more commonly as Omega Weapon, fans of the Final Fantasy series should have no problems recognizing this

October Omnitopic: Downloadable Content

Hey guys! Remember this old running feature, the Omnitopic? Of course you don’t—it’s been a couple months and you’re a busy person. Well, it’s back, with a new topic for all of us to debate until our fingers bleed from