Look, my chums, it’s Raya Systems! They’re the ones who brought us Packy & Marlon and Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon; everyone’s ?favorite health-related eduta??inment games.

This time, I’m finally sticking a finger into Captain Novolin to check the temperature. Back in the youthful days of the internet, when making fun of bad video games was still considered a thing done by cool people, Captain Novolin was often a target of ridicule. I’ll admit that the concept is definitely a weird one, but I’d argue that Rex Ronan was much more fertile ground for jokes. Unless?? you like making fun? of diabetics.

If you don’t know, Novolin is a brand of insulin. Captain Novolin is an edutainment game meant to teach diabetic children how to balance their diet, teach them about diabetes, a??nd it also suggests exercise. T??his is back when people could actually afford insulin, obviously.

Doctor codes

I personally don’t know a whole lot about diabetes, so definitely don’t take any medical or dietary advice from me. Most of what I know comes from Packy & Marlon and my first-aid training. As I’m sure is common, I know people ??with diabetes, but not in my immediate family. I have my own health-related issues, but nothing chronic that I know of. Unless you count my depression, anxiety, and debt.

But that’s what Captain Novolin is for: education. Except, it’s probably fo??r people who have actually been diagnosed with diabetes. The first screen prompted me to “Enter the code your doctor said is best for you.�I don’t even know what that means. I didn’t realize that diabetic people use secret codes. Thankfully, it provides the helpful tip that “If you don’t know yo??ur code, use 000.�I was tempted to use the code 007, but I always listen to my doctor.

I think ??the number you put in might relate to the amount of insulin that the eponymous superhero administers to himself.

You play as the super-hero Captain Novolin, who has the superpower of�diabetes. I’m not saying someone with diabetes can’t be a super-hero, that’s ridiculous, but that’s literally all Captain Novolin has going for him aside from a speedboat and comfortable socks. He can’t even throw a punch, though that would be admittedly off-message here. I’m just finding out ??that he can stomp on enemies, which would have been good to know before I spent two hours just avoiding them.

World domination

The narrative has Mayor Gooden being captured by aliens and taken to the peak of Mt. Wayupthar. The aliens are disguised as junk food. I don’t have confidence in my own plans for municipal domination, but I’m not sure that dressing up as a sundae would improve my chances. They’re not even trying to tempt Captain Novolin to eat them and throw off his blood glucose level. They mostly just try to bump into him. Maybe they’re trying to taunt him, but I don’t think the pharmaceutical company?-sponsored superhero is self-conscious of his cond?ition.

The Mayor is also diabetic and only has enough insulin to last for 48 hours. With this knowledge in mind, your job is to walk briskly (because, remember, Captain Novolin has no superpowers) to the mayor’s rescue. I suppose it doesn’t matter if the mayor is undergoing some kind of alien brainwashing or intense probing during those 48 hours. ??The Captain is just going to take his time and make sure he eats a balanced diet along the way.

That’s literally the goal of the game. You start out in the morning and are given breakfast advice from a doctor. You have to balan??ce your blood glucose levels by grabbing food in the correct amounts. If you overeat, your blood glucose will rise, and if you don’t eat, it will drop. 

While the doctor gives you very specific things to eat, that’s really all that appears within the level. That’s a good thing because he only tells you at the beginning of the level, and I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast, let alone what I need to collect and avoid based on a short message. I found that, as long as you only collect one of each item, you can generally keep your glucose levels in the ideal range?. However, I think the best strategy is more about pacing your eating, bu??t I’m really not interested in experimenting. On my successful run through the game, my glucose level only went too high or low a few times, so I was obviously doing something correctly.

Hyperglycemia

Surprisingly, the fluctuating glucose levels supposedly affect how the Captain performs. He’ll slow down if it gets too high or low, which isn’t something I real??ly experience because I’m amazing at playing bad games. That’s actually kind of neat.

However, the real risk here is death. The aliens ?are playing for keeps, and Captain Novolin can only stand to be touched by anthropomorphic cereal boxes so often. You can take four hits before the super-hero will take a d??irt nap. You start with three lives (more can be gained through points), and if you lose them all, it’s back to the start for you.

It’s pretty brutal, actually. A lot of the aliens have movement patterns that are designed to throw you off. There’s a cookie, for example, that has a low bounce that it uses to move, but the moment you jump, it takes a high bounce ?to deliberately block you. In order to get past them without being? hurt, you need to leap at the last moment so you’ve already cleared them by the time they take their big bound.

Of course, I can do that just fine with my seaso?ned, meaty thumbs. I’d expect that a child would have more trouble.

It still took my beef thumbs a few attempts ??before I reached the final boss, Blubberman (heh). The cookies, for example, would sometimes travel in pairs, and I never found a good strategy to avoid both. It doesn’t help that the hit detection enthusiastically sucks. There was one part in the mountain stages where a hole in the ground extended far past its boundaries, so I kept jumping to??o late and falling to my death.

Hello, Ranger

To be fair to Captain Novolin, it a??t least seems like a decent way of framing diabetes for children. There’s advice from giant doctor heads, it makes all the care required for the disease seem normal and cheerful, and, as is law in edutainment games, there are quizzes to help you learn more.

It is a pretty funny way of presenting a super-hero, however. I had to laugh whe?n he walked up to a park ranger, and the first thing out of his mouth was, “Hello, ranger. I have diabetes.�I mean, sure, it’s a good idea to let people who might soon be rescuing your ass know that you have certain needs, but I’m not sure it will do much good when they’re pulling your alien-mangled corpse out of a ravine.

It may seem like containing all this information in a bad game would seem ineffective, but let me tell you something about the �0s: we’d play whatever we had. You couldn’t buy 50 games for $5 on a digital marketplace at the time, so if your well-meaning mom bought you something educational from the store, you’d play it because it was that or running through Super Mario World for the 80th time. It gave games like Captain Novolin a chance to be a fond memory instead o?f just a bad game. That’s something that might not happen in today’s content-glutted world.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post Captain Novolin on SNES has one real??ly unfortunate superpower appeared first on Destructoid.

How did you miss the name Packy & Don?

When I wrote my article for Rex Ronan, I earmarked the edutainment games by Raya Systems. Captain Novolin is perhaps their most notorious title, but when I read the synopsis of Packy and Marlon, it shot up my list of priorities. You play as a young elephant with juvenile diabetes who must both scroll sides and eat a balanced diet. I don’t remember the last time a game asked me to eat a balanced diet. Surely, Yume Penguin Monogatari pulled a fast one by having me completely avoid food, but normally I’m just packing away every floating pretzel like I’ve just accepted the failure of my New Ye?ar's resolution.

Going in, I admittedly didn’t know a whole lot about diabetes. I’ve known people whose lives have been affected by it, but never close enough that I’ve had to learn about it to assist. So, I would never make fun of the disorder, but thankfully, Packy and Marlon has no shortage of other things to make fun of.

Unimaginable evil

Get this, the plot of Packy and Marlon has a group of rats raiding a summer camp of all its food and its insulin supply. In my wildest imaginings, I could not conjure a villain so malicious. This is something that would give the villains of Captain Planet pause. The best I could do to compare this is a plot to demolish a cute puppy rescue and replace it with a toxic waste dump, but that seems mild compared to stealing medication from children. Were ??their parents killed in an alleyway by a dietician? What drives this kind of evil?

Actually, given the price of a bottle of insulin in America, I guess it’s not so far-fetched. Rats have a high rate of diabetes, and if they don’t have insurance, I suppose they may resort to desperate measures like stealing from another vulnerable group. Wow, Packy and Marlon inadvertently s??cored a direct hit on my cynicism with its unintentional criticism of the pharmaceutical ind??ustry. I’m both impressed and sickened.

A balanced breakfast

Here we have a pretty typical sidescroller. You can shoot stuff out of your trunk to kill rats, and you need to not lose all your life before reaching the end of the stage. Each stage caps off with a boss battle against enemies who have already lost the will to live. There are about a bazillion levels, which is probably my biggest complaint about Packy and Marlon. There??’s a password system, however, so it’s maybe not so bad if you don’t try t?o cram the whole game into a Monday morning.

What isn’t so standard about Packy and Marlon is that not only do you need to occasionally take i?ns??ulin, but you have to eat a balanced diet. This is also something I don’t have experience in because my idea of three square meals is a Pop-tart, instant ramen, and cured meat. Thankfully, you’re told what foods your body needs at the start of a level, which it expects you to memorize because it won’t tell you a second time.

The first time I was dropped into a level, I ignored this and ate everything. I said it before, bu?t eating every floating snack in a side-scroller is something I’ve been carefully conditioned to do, and it would probably take a power drill to make me unlearn something like that. If you do this, you lose a life, and the game tells you to try the stage again, which I guess is bett??er than the hyperglycemic reaction that such gluttony would probably actually cause.

Side-scrolling survival

Let’s be real for a moment; while it’s not handled all that well, having to eat specific food in a stage is actually a satisfying mechanic. You’re either rewarded for your memory or simply because you’re really good at using food to make the number green. Either way, there’s enough skill involved that pulling it off feels unironically good. It makes me think of all the open-world games that have gotten “survival�modes, and it makes me think of how that could be improved if?? you had to survive with a disease. It doesn’t have to be diabetes. I’m mostly just saying ??that we don’t have enough werewolf/vampire survival games.

The level design isn’t all that bad, either. It feels somewhat thrown together and r??elies heavily on having lots of health pick-ups lying around, but they’re at least visually varied and aren’t too demanding. There’s a certain amou??nt of exploration to be done, as each stage has a key item you need to pick up to unlock the boss room. The items are either placed near the exit or in a really obvious spot, so a lot of backtracking is avoided.

Like in Rex Ronan, there are qui?zzes that you come across;?? three in each level. These are optional, but you might learn something if you’re as clueless as I am.

Deep themes

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I enjoyed Packy and Marlon, but it’s really not egregious. Well, except for the sinfully terrible soundtrack. No child deserves that. If I was a child stuck with this disease, and my parents bought this game for me, I’d probably appreciate it. Earthworm Jim might be more entertaining, but it doesn’t help me make sense of something like managing a disorder like diabetes. It’s nice when a game does that w?hile also not being excruciating to play.

I’ve always looked at edutainment games with a mix of respect and irreverence. For example, the Sega Master System version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is an okay teacher of geography, but then the? bosses are all dudes who don’t have any qualms against shooting inquisitive children. Fantastic entertainment value, right there.

Packy and Marlon is simultaneously a tolerable game about managing diabetes and a hilariously pointed critique of the predatory practices of the pharmaceutical industry. Where else can you find that sort of subtext? That’s not a rhetorical question. The only other game that comes to mind is Theme Hospital.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post Pa??cky and Marlon shows us who the real villains are appeared first on Destructoid.

The time-space continuum

Education is extremely important, but I hated school. I was never very good at it. I’m not very book smart. The??n again, I’m not very street smart. What I’m getting at is: I’m not very smart in general, so school wasn’t right for me.

Self-deprecation aside, I think it’s just the academic system I don’t like. I don’t care about grades. How do you even make a child care about aptitude scores? Do you know what children do care about? Defeating Bowser. So in the early �0s, Nintendo loosened its grip on the Mario franchise long enough for a smattering of edutainment games to be produced. They’re not fondly remembered, which is funny because many adults still cling to the edutainment games of their youth.

Mario’s Time Machine on SNES is one that I? didn’t play back in 1993 when it was released, so I’ve got no horse in this race. Aside from the fact that I own a copy, I mean. Which is reason enough for me to play it.

Bowser is really just interested in Western history

I did play Mario is Missing when I was a kid, but I was too young to understand geography. I played it mainly on the novelty that Luigi was the hero. Mario’s Time Machine is similar, but it focuses on history, making it impossible not to compare the two games to the Carmen Sandiego series. When you c?ompare a game built around a license against one that comes from a love of teaching, it will never be favorable.

The story here is that Bowser has stolen im??portant objects from across time for a museum or something. I don’t get the end goal here, but the result is that he’s disrupted time. Oh gosh, I’m thinking way too hard on this storyline. Narratives ge??????????????????????????t pretty mucky when you bring time travel into them, but when the story isn’t the focus of your game, it just gets weirder. Wouldn’t disrupting time work out poorly for Bowser, too? He lives in the same continuum. Right? I don’t think the Mushroom Kingdom is even supposed to exist on Earth.

In any case, Mario decides Bowser doesn’t deserve nice things and steals them all for the p?urpose of returning them?? to their owners.

1.21 Gigawatts

There are three floors with five items on each. You grab whatever item you want, which then allows you to view a document on your subject. It contains two pages of their history, as well as a date and place. The pages are perforated with blank spaces, and the goal of each stage of Mario’s Time Machine is t??o fill them all out with the correct ??information.

So, you punch the date and place it into your time machine, and go surfing through time. You have to grab ten mushrooms to generate the 1.21 Gigawatts needed to power Mario’s flux cap?acitor. Then you dive into a whirlpool, and if you got your date wrong, it spits you right back to the museum. But if y?ou got everything right, you travel back in time.

Once you’re there, it’s time to have conversations with people who are very enthusiastic about the topic at hand. Looking for Plato? The guy’s got a whole neighborhood of fans who are primed to spill the smallest detail about them. Hobbies, birthday, social security number? Someone on the ??block has that information. Sometimes they won’t tell you until you find them a cup?? of tea. There are usually four-ish people to talk to, but they’re at least straight to the point.

Treason!

That’s about the only thing straight to the point in Mario’s Time Machine. Everything else in its? clown funeral of a user interface is slow and clunky.

I have a demonstration for this. There’s actually a bad ending to the game if you “take too long.�I got it because you can’t pause, and I took a break to shower. So, I decided to start over. It would be quick, right? I already had all the details. I just needed to fill the pages out. It took me over an hour to get through the 15 levels. All I did w?as grab an item, fill in the blanks, punch the date into my time machine, then talk to the historical figure.

It took so long because every blank required me to wait for a menu to load up with the possible answers. The list of answers is usually ridiculously long, but the good news is that they’re alphabetized. The bad news is you can’t skip fro?m A-Z. You can only scroll through the list sequentially and very slowly. Doing this for every blank is pai??nful.

Even setting the date and place is a slow process. The locations are not alphabetized. There’s no way of knowing which way you should scroll. To make matters worse, flipping through the??m ??is fingernail-pullingly slow. Then you pray that you didn’t forget to swap it from AD to BC because if you did, you’ll be doing the surfing section twice.

Ms. Of Arc, I have some bad news

Mario’s Time Machine plays better when you’re actually investigating your victim. It still has its p??roblems; for example, doors aren’t always obvious in the background. Sometimes it just looks like a wall, and you are somehow supposed to know that it’s where you’re supposed to enter someone’s home.

You also can’t get people to repeat the things they tell you. So if someone mentions something that seems, at the time, unimportant, and you later f?ind that it’s one of the blanks, you can’t go back ??and have them run it by you again. This sometimes leaves you with no other option than to guess. You only get so many wrong answers before you’re kicked back to the museum. Oof.

This all goes on beneath a soundtrack that is simply head-scratching. It’s mostly songs from Super Mario World, but they’re remixed. You might think that they’d be remixed t??o sound like they’re played in a style similar to the time period you’re visiting, but if that was the intention, it definitely doesn’t come across th?at way. It sounds more like SNES Muzak. It’s what the hold music sounds like when you call the Mushroom Kingdom’s most prominent internet provider.

You're better off on the Oregon Trail

But how does it work as an educational game? To put it charitably, it’s not Oregon Trail. It scores you based on how quickly you complete the challenges, but why would you ever need to play it twice (?arbitrary good/bad ending aside)? The answers are always the same. Nothing changes. T?here is absolutely no replay value. One playthrough is all you need to suck the educational nutrients from it.

It’s also not fun. I can easily replay Oregon Trail. Even Carmen Sandiego has some enjoyable entries. Mario’s Time Machine is borderline painful. I guess if you were a kid in 1993 and had no other way ??to convince your parents to buy you a game unless it? threatened to teach you something, it would�be something.

It also became more of a goal of mine to try and answer as much as po?ssible without talking to anyone. Apparently, I know more about Queen Elizabeth I than I thought! It’s a bad sign when my solution to making my own fun with a game is seeing how much of it I can skip.

But did I learn anything? Nothing o??f substance. It’s obviously aimed below my antiquity, but a lot of the questions seem insubstantial. Thomas Jefferson, among many other things, was a farmer! Cool! Beethoven gave his first piano concerto at some dumb young age. Wow! I’m not going to ever use this knowledge. Sort of like most of the things I learned in school.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

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This means war

Nintendo's lighthearted yet fiercely competitive "think fast!" puzzle series Big Brain Academy was deemed fit for duty again, and it's back with a new game on Nintendo Switch. It's a trend we've seen a bunch on this system. As someone who missed the DS original and its Wii sequel, I had zero expectations for Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain.

With that said, I'm as surpris??ed as anyone to say that I kind of... love this game??

Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: December 3, 2021
MSRP: $29.99

The main hurdle for most mini-game collections is longevity �whether or not they can keep you coming back regardless of how fun or fleeting they might initially feel in the honeymoon period. While I can't make any bold predictions, after a long weekend with Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain, I'll say this much: I'm already more invested than I ever was in WarioWare: Get It Together, and I thought tha?t game was a pretty good shakeup.

This is particularly surprising as someone who, again, doesn't have prior experience with Big Brain Academy during its prime and has only really messed with the more "serious" Brain Age. So while I can't personally speak to how Brain vs. Brain evolves these kinda-sorta educational challenges, I can at least speak to what it?'s been like as a new player.

If you're a returning champ, one look at the trailer (or the demo) should conjure up fond memories. You're going to recognize many of these puzzle concepts. Brain vs. Brain is once again dealing with logic, memory, math, and visualizatio?n, where the goal is to choose the right answer as quickly as possible until the timer runs out. Then you'll get a score, and some coins (that add up to dole out silly random outfits), and immediately try to do better.

For me, it comes down to the games �are they fun to master? �and the rewar??ds �are they enough of an extra nudge to keep me playing for weeks if not months? The first answer is a clear yes, and while the second remains to be seen, I like the odds so far.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIKi_DUJwPY

One game might show you a heavily pixelated or zoomed-in giraffe �or is it a deer? �and give you four choices to weigh as fast as your mind and fingers can go. Another game could show you a series ?of numbers for a split second, then ask you to repeat it back.

Others include a frantic whack-a-mole challenge with objects to hit (and avoid), a shuffling memory game with Too Many obscured birds in cages, and shadowy objects made of deceptive bits for you to piece together. There are 20 mini-games, only a couple of which I could do without. As rudimentary as they might seem, the time pre??ssure �and rising difficulty when you get enough correct answers in a row �ratches up the excitement.

To loosely sum them all up, it's a battle of reflexes, knowledge, intuition, and nerves. I couldn't help but laugh at some of my personal peaks and valleys as I learned the tricks only to suddenly start playing worse by inadvertently overthinking things ??and psyching myself out. There's also the "good night's sleep" factor �don't underestimate it!

Part of the fun of Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is trying to top your high scores for medals (up to platinum). There's also real-time multiplayer with up to three other local players, ??and a one-on-one clash with "ghosts." The ghosts ca?n be based on random online players (if you have Nintendo Switch Online) or your actual friends and family. In both cases, the effect is human-ish enough to feel competitive �you'll see very natural-looking imperfect cursor movements, for instance. I also love the customization options.

You can really deck your chara?cter out with goofy clothing and even otherworldly skin tones, and there's an extra bit of flair with your chosen "catchphrase" and "occupation." Going down the lineup?? of random ghosts one by one, watching my global rank climb, and consistently earning coins for more cosmetics has been a powerful draw. It's addicting.

One of the most commendable aspects of Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain that hasn't applied to my situation yet but will absolutely be a game-changer for a lot of people is the ability to customize everyone's initial difficulty level on a player-by-player basis. As in, parents and children can genuinely compete, as can gamers and novices. The end result feels fair and exciting, not watered down??. This is above and beyond what I've seen in other competitive multiplayer games. It'll be fantastic for families with a wide age range.

In terms?? of real-time multiplayer, you can "spin the wheel" to land on anything or choose to focus on your favorite categories with local ?players; you can use gamepads or the Switch touch screen, though the latter is bound to be preferable for most games due to speed and accuracy. If you're rolling with four players, you'll need Joy-Con and/or Pro Controllers. If you're sticking with touch controls, only two players can go head-to-head.

Worth adding: in the "solo" mode �where you're either taking a test to measure your Big Brain Brawn and earn a grade, you're facing players' ghosts, or you're tryi?ng to earn medals for each game in Practice or Super Practice �you have your own hand-made character. So two users on one Switch can earn their own headwear, accessory, and clothing unlocks for their avatars, and also have different completion data, which is ideal.

While I think the price is spot-on, I do wish some of the old game types returned in Brain vs. Brain (I'm skeptical we'll see any DLC), and it's a shame you need a Nintendo Switch Online account to compete against strang??ers' online ghosts (though you can at least face your "family's ghosts" without one). At this point, I prefer brooding asynchronous skirmishes over loud real-time battles. There's joy in silently one-upping each other.

For as simple as the challenges seem, the stakes sure feel high when you're racing to get the most points and every wrong answer feels like a tragedy. I didn't expect to get this swept up in Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain, but it has become an honest-to-goodness c?ompetition in our household. These are the bragging rights to end? all bragging rights.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain appeared first on Destructoid.

It's going to take more than a tiny surgeon to remove all this kusoge

I think most people my age have a certain fondness for edutainment games. Back when Mortal Kombat was corrupting our youth and turning them into spine-ripping savages, a lot of parents and schools decided that video games could, perhaps, be harnessed for the power of good. There are some decent examples of this: Oregon Trail, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Cross Country USA (or Cross Country Canada, as it was? where I g??rew up). Then there are those we make fun of.

Raya Systems came out with a series of games on the SNES, and out of them, Captain Novolin is the one you most likely heard of. It was a ga??me about juvenile diabetes starring a superhero with adult diabetes, and it was ??made to punish children with diabetes.

Raya commissioned three other lesser-known games for the SNES. They all sound hilarious, so I’m on board for any of them, but today I’ve got for you Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon.

Rex Ronan is the story of the titular experimental surgeon. Today on the operating table is a t??obacco CEO, Jake Westboro, who is dying from diseases brought about by a lifetime of smoking. A surgeon can’t play God by deciding who lives or dies, but children can. So to sweeten the deal, if Rex can save his life, Jake will talk about how smoking kills. This was 1994. I had already learned three things in school: Blue whales are absolute units, greenhouse gasses are heating up the Earth, and smoking kills. I’m not sure what Jake can contribute to that argument, but whatever, as long as he has insurance.

So, it’s the Fantastic Voyage setup, where the surgeon shrinks himself down to save the patient at a microscopic level. That’s the last time I’m going to bring up Fantastic Voyage, because I haven’t seen it. Most of my knowledge of it comes from that episode of The Venture Bros.

Rex’s jo??b is to clean up all the crap that has been built up in Jake from his years of being an executive. Actually, scratch that, because I quickly learned that you can do less than a token effort and still win. Jake’s teeth are now the cleanest part of his body because I didn’t touch any of those pre-cancerous cells or plaque. I don’t get paid enough for this. Nor do I have any work ethic. Or ethics in general.

Especially because the tobacco company tossed a bunch of nano-bots into J??ake to prevent Rex Ronan from saving him, which is an absolutely amazing narrative detail. So, you’re telling me the tobacco company developed nanomachines. And you’re also telling me that they don’t just use them to lobotomize Jake. I shouldn’t have to tell a tobacco company how to be more evil, especially since I’m merely chaotic neutral.

So, if you don’t actually have to remove karmic build-up from the lungs of an evil or ridiculously naive executive, what’s the point? Just to get to the end of the level. Cleaning stuff up just gets you points, and you’ll forgive me if I don’t want the title of Highest Score in Rex Ronan. There’s ??no bad ending, so you can mostly just go throu??gh the game letting your patient fester.

Maybe I haven’t made Rex Ronan sound bad enough, but just try playing it. It controls like a shopping cart that just hit its rebellious teen years. You have two kicks and good luck hitting anything with them. The camera manages to stomp all over one of my biggest pet peeves: It lets you get too close to the edge of the screen. Rather than keeping the camera focused on Rex, like any sane product would, you quickly scooch towards the edge, a??llowing you to run into enemies before you even know they're there. If you have enough runway, you can actually push yourself halfway off the screen, and I don't know why the universe do?esn't just intervene at the point.

There are also two wea?pons that you mystifyingly can’t switch between at will. No, you pick up purple capsules to change weapons, and since one of them is only good for cleaning, juggling them is�impossible. But remember, you don’t have to clean, so grab a capsule to switch your gun to combat mode, and focus on the robots.

Some missions have you flying through the body in a little ship, and while I would compare these sections to Star Fox, that would be painting too flattering a picture. they’re more like Sewer Shark on Sega CD. Thankfu?lly, you once again d??on’t have to clean up all the crap clogging Jake’s arteries, so you can just avoid obstacles to the end.

The whole educational element of Rex Ronan comes in through the use of these little quiz bombs throughout the game. They’re true and false, and if the question is true, the bomb wil?l clear the screen of enemies. If they’re false, you’re supposed to ignore them, which means they don’t do?? anything.

They’re dead simple, though. If the game asks a question that makes smoking sound horrible like, “If you smoke, we are going to have to remove your jaw,�you know it’s true. If it says something less severe like, “Smoking after sex helps you reduce your e?rection after taking Viagra,�you know it’s false.

But then, you can also just go into the options and turn? off these “smart bombs,�because what better way to play an edutainment game than to skip the whole educational?? part of it?

Mercifully, the game is about an hour long, which I assume is so children can finish it before their nicotine habit kicks in. You can play again if you wan??t to try for the high score, but I already gave that possibility the finger.

If?? the intention of the game was to teach me how bad smoking is for you,?? the numerous PSA’s that got sandwiched in between my Saturday Morning Cartoons already did that. For that matter, I’m pretty sure most of my Saturday Morning Cartoons covered that fact at least once per season.

I also would affix it with the word “entertainment�without including the ironic quotation marks. Most of my enjoyment of Rex Ronan came from making fun o?f it. I had more fun writing this article than I did actually playing the game. So, it has that going for it. And really, that’s enough to get me interested ?in the rest of the Raya games.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

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Submissions now open for game design competition

Google Play, in association with the Girls Make Games group, has opened submissions for this year's annual Change the Game Design Challenge. The initiative en??courages girls and young women to put forward their ow??n original game ideas, with the possibility of earning a spot in a series of upcoming game design workshops.

"Though women are playing mobile games at record numbers and make up 45% of gamers, they are heavily underrepresented in the gaming industry and as protagonists in video games." reads the initiative's website. "At Google Play, we have a mission to make mobile gaming truly for everyone by enabling women to be celebrated and empowered as both players and creators. We’re calling on teens to become Game Changers by sharing an original game idea and ?a unique vision for the future of the gaming industry."

The Change the Game Design Challenge is open to girls and young women in the United States and Canada. Interested applicants should fill out an entry form on the official website, briefly describing the concept for their video game. ??Participants selected by a panel of judges will then receive access to a series of ?? workshops - to be held this summer in an online capacity for social distancing reasons. No previous experience is necessary.

The four-session course will offer its students a taster in all aspects of game design, with an eye to having coded a fully playable game by the end of the p?rogram. Each participant attending the workshop will receive some celebratory swag once the course ends, including a certificate of completion and a brand new Chromebook. The Change the Game program aims to provide young coders with encouragement, experience, and technical know-how, setting them on course to a brighter, more inclusive future in the gaming industry.

For more information on the Change the Game Design Challenge, please visit the official website. For further initiatives, workshops, and contests, check out Girls Make Games.com.

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Zynga teams with GWC for International Women's Day

Mobile game giant Zynga has pledged $100,000 from its Social Impact Fund in a new partnership with Girls Who Code (GWC), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and tutoring girls and young women in computer scienc??es, with an aim?? to close the gender gap in technological industries.

"Zynga is honored to team up with Girls Who Code to help forge a more inclusive industry in tech and games by expanding opportunities for girls and women across the globe,?" said Zynga's Chief Legal O??fficer Phuong Phillips. "Through their virtual workshops, school clubs, mentorship programs, networking and more, we are hoping to build the next generation of women in STEAM to help them to prepare and thrive in the tech workforce."

The support from Zynga will go towards the operation of c??omputing clubs across the United States, Canada, the UK, and India. These free-to-attend events offer training and education for girls and young women interested in coding, design, and other computing-based roles. The clubs offer tutelage and information from a professional body of mentors, helping to train and inspire students while providing access to technology and resources unavailable to those from low-income communities.

"We know that passionate, diverse, ambitious young women are the key to transforming our workplace and our world," said Dr. Tarika Barrett, Girls Who Code's incoming CEO. "We’re excited to partner with Zynga this International Women’s Day to send a loud signal to young women everywhere that they belong in technology and that they have support in their journey from school into the workforce. Zynga and Girls Who Code share a vision o??f a more fair and equitable workforce, where women of all backgrounds rise to the top."

To date, GWC has reached over 300,000 women worldwide, with 80,000 college-aged alumni now majoring in Computer Science or other related fields. GWC hopes to have closed the gender gap for entry-level jobs in the computing industry by the year 2030, utilizing and expanding its ??club program - as well as its ??global network of mentors and industry professionals - in order to offer more young women the opportunity to achieve their goals.

For more information about Girls Who Code, please visit the organization's official website.

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Imagine. Build. Create.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has committed $1 million to a partnership with the Black Girls CODE initiative, a mentoring program which offers education, support, and tuition for Black girls and young women with an interest in computer scienc??es and technology.

Via its scholarship arm, The ESA Foundation, this new collaboration will see The ESA support Black Girls CODE on its mission to teach coding and other skills to over a million students by the year 2040. The capital will be used for the fundi??ng of workshops, investment in volunteer work, and to purchases resources used for training and educational purposes.

"We are excited to work with the ESA ?Foundation and video game industry on increasing access and opportunities for girls and young women interested in exploring technology as educational and career options," said BGC of the partnership. "By cultivating the next generation of developers, we hope to grow the number of women of color in the technology sector who will ultimately become the future leaders in this space."

Initially based out of the tech hub of San Francisco, the Black Girls CODE initiative hopes to utilize its ESA collaboration to expand into other major cities such as New York, Washington D.C., Houston, and Los Angeles. BGC's ultimate goal is to shrink "the digital divide": the gap between those w?ho have regular and convenient access to modern technology, tech education, and resources, and those who do not. The BGC offers Black girls and young women the opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills, and supp?ort needed in order to find roles and career paths within the computing industry.

For more information on the Black Girls CODE venture - along with its goals, programs, events, and fundraisers - check out the group's official website.

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Publisher scheme offers tuition fees and internship

This weekend saw Ubisoft UK hold its first UK Black Game Pros Mixer event, in ??which an extensive panel of some of the UK gaming industry's most successful Black professionals held a video forum to discuss opportunities and share advice for those looking to get started in the gaming industry, be it as a cod??er, designer, artist, or even an esports specialist.

As part of the event, Ubisoft announced a new initiative: the Ubisoft Scholarship for Black Game Students. This program will offer two Black students currently studying for roles within the gaming industry financial and educational support in their schooling. The chosen candidates will each receive £11,250 toward tuition fees, as well as ??living expenses at Newcastle University's School of Computing.

"A lack of diverse workforces in the science and technology sectors is a challenge," said School of Computing head Prof. John Fitzgerald. "This Ubisoft scholarship is another step forward in attracting the best students from?? underrepresented backgrounds to Newcastle and we commend our partners at Ubisoft for taking action. In the School of Computing we are all committed to making this i??nitiative a huge success, and ensuring it has a wide-ranging impact on the lives of the students who will benefit from it."

While studying, the chosen candidates will receive external help and advice from Ubisoft developers and, upon completion of the course, will receive a three-month paid internship at UK studio Ubisoft Reflections, also based in Newcastle. Interested parties can find full details - alongside eligibility requirements - over on the Newcastle University School of Computing website.

Ubisoft unveils scholarship for Black UK students to s??upport?? games career [GamesIndustry.biz]

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Landmark moment for 11-bit studios

In a particularly groundbreaking moment for the medium of gaming, 11 bit studios' acclaimed release This War of Mine has been designated "recommended reading" by the Polish Educational System. Originally released back in 2014, This War of Mine deals with the besieged city of Pogoren, Graznavia, tasking players with the survival of a handful of citizens, huddled together beneath the chaos with m??eager food and supplies.

This new motion is the result of a campaign by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the country's Ministry of Education, who have determined that the award-winning game has brought significant value to Poland's cultural heritage. This War of Mine will now feature in a variety of school and colleg??e programs, and will feature in classes rela?ted to the human sciences: sociology, ethics, philosophy and history.

"Games are a work of culture. Modern ones, natural and attractive for the young generation. Games speak a language instincti?vely understandable by them - the language of interaction," said 11-bit studios CEO Grzegorz Miechowski in a press statement. "Using this language, games can talk about everything - emotions, truth, the fight between good and evil, humanity, suffering. They are similar to literature in that regard, ho?wever, they use the aforementioned language of interaction... I’m proud to say 11 bit studios' work can add to the development of education and culture in our country. This can be a breakthrough moment for all artists creating games all around the world."

This War of Mine is available now on ??PS4, PC, Xbox One, Switch, and m??obile platforms.

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War Remains is a trip to hell from your home

Last year, famed podcaster and amateur historian Dan Carlin, along with MWM Interactive, released War Remains, a virtual reality experience that put guests in the shoes of a soldier on the western front of World War I. It was only available at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019 and later that year in Austin; during a time where you could put a headset on your face that someone else had just worn and not care about contracting an incurable diseas?e.

But this is 2020, and we need our horrific experiences of human atrocities coming into lethal efficiency thanks to the wonders of the industrial expansion in our homes! For the s??mall price of five dollars, you too can experience what some would call the most brutal war of all time while Dan Carlin narrates your ever-impending doom. Doesn't that sound like a romp?!

The publishers and developers have made it abundantly clear that this isn't a game so much as an experience, so don't go in expecting to pop out of the trenches and pull off no-scopes. After reviewing Attentat 1942 a few years ago, I began to feel that we needed more museum-like experiences at home. While this is basically that, unless you have a VR headset, you're st??ill stuck in no man's ?land.

War Remains is available now on Oculus, Viveport, and Steam.

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A sharp brain is the sharpest blade

Assassin's Creed Origins had a staggeringly big recreation of Ancient Egypt, a sandbox that was absolutely overwhelming in size. The same goes for Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Ancient Greece but to an even more extreme degree. Odyssey was so incredibly large.

These worlds can feel tough to explore in-game, as the Assassin's Creed formula ke?eps pulling you in all directions to tick off menial objectives of all types. Sometimes you just wanna breathe and take in the sights, maybe?? learn a thing or two.

That's why Ubisoft created no-combat Discovery Tour modes for both Origins and Odyssey. Discovery Tour is all about being leisurely and educational. For anyone who wants to learn, this mode has a vast mu??seum-like guided tour component that delves into all aspects of the Greeks and Egyptians. For those who just want to be immersed in the worlds without any pressure, there's the freedom to roam about free of any traditional video game challenges.

Discovery Tour is usually a $20 standalone product (or free for those who already own the base Origins and/or Odyssey games), but Ubisoft is giving them away for free for the next week on PC through Uplay. It's a part of Ubisoft's COVID-19 "learn while staying home"-type initiative, so that students have access to some more educational materials while schools are closed down. Also, this is a permanent thing. Claim one or both Discovery Tours before May 21, and you get to keep them forever. While you're at it, claim Rabbids Coding for free and learn some basic-level programming skills.

Ubisoft Free Events [Ubisoft]

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The next best thing to a potential Endless Ocean 3

E-Line Media's oceanic adventure Beyond Blue launched last week on Apple Arcade, and while I adore the premise of an educational-focused diving game produced in collaboration with BBC Studios, I can't exactly say that's something I want to experience on a cramped phone screen. I'd much rathe?r soak up the soothing ambiance on a TV. Thankfully, the Apple exclusivity window won't last for too long.

Revealed on an Earth Day live stream, Beyond Blue is coming?? to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on June 11, 2020 – the same week as World Oceans Day. In the game, you'll go on eight dives and use near??-future technologies to "see, hear, and interact with the ocean in a meaningful way."

"We have taken care to craft a visual and audio experience that immerses players in the beauty of the ocean and the amazing creatures that inhabit it, while hopefully doing so with some interpretation and artistry," said creative director Michael Angst. "Players will explore diverse environments ranging from a sun-dappled, oasis-like atoll down through the gauzy blue 'twilight' zone where only the faintest amount of light reaches to the midnight of the abyssal zone, where rarely seen creatures produce their own light in an environment otherwise devoid of light." There's an eerie beauty, for sure.

It's not going to be the most thrilling game, but I appreciate a calm approach. I also love that the soundtrack is a mix of Miles Davis, The Flaming Lips, and original compositions. Making the most of the BBC partnership, Beyond Blue has 16 "Ocean In??sights" mini-documentaries with real-world foota??ge.

Basically, if you dug Blue Planet and need more of those vibes in your life, you've got to check this game out. The Apple Arcade version is certainly one option – especially if you can play on Apple TV – but I'll be holding out for the wider release. Beyond Blue will cost $19.99 when it launches June 11.

Now if we can just get Endless Ocean on Switch.

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Time to get smart

Not long ago, we informed you Dr. Kawashima is coming back for another round of brain training, this time on Nintendo Switch. While that announcement only gave word on the Japanese release, we now know when European Switch owners will be able to start flexing their hippocampus. Nintendo of UK and Nintendo of Europe announced today Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch will be available on the continent starti?ng January 3, 2020. This is just a few days after the Japanese launch?.

DKBTFNS will include a variety of challenges designed to build your br??ain, including Finger Calculations that uses the Joy-Con IR Motion Camera, Word S??cramble, Sudoku, and Photographic Memory. There will also be a two-player mode with its own games and Nintendo will be hosting World Brain Training Championships with Nintendo Switch Online.

Unfor??tunately, Nintendo of America has yet to announce its release date for the title. Getting it out here around the first of the year would work well for those people who resolve ?every year to improve themselves. No better way to improve yourself than starting with your brain.

D?r. Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch [Nintendo.UK]

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We've come a long way since Fun School 3

Nintendo UK has announced that it is now the lead partner in UKie's Digital Schoolho??use? programme (DSH), an educational endeavor that encourages learning through play.

Digital Schoolhouse is a not-for-profit organisation that tours UK primary schools offering classes and workshops, helping young schoolchildren get a foothold in the use of computers and technology, teaching skills so prevalent and important in the modern age. Almost 60,000 pupils and 55 schools have taken part in DSH workshops to date. Nintendo will support Digital Schoolhouse in all of its educational efforts moving forward, and is even planning a nationwide Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Team Battle tournament! Man, we didn't have something so cool when I was in class. Board Game Day was our limit.

"Nintendo UK is extremely excited to be working together with Ukie’s Digital Schoolhouse as lead partner," said Nintendo UK's Kalpesh Ta?ilor. "The Digital Schoolhouse programme uniquely combines computing, fun, crea??tivity and innovation, all of which are synonymous and at the heart of Nintendo’s values."

DSH director Shahneila Saeed was similarly enthused. "We’re delighted Nintendo UK has agreed to throw its support behind Digital Schoolhouse." Saeed said in a press statement. "DSH has evolved enormously in just three years and their support means we can reach more pupils a??nd teachers than ever with our transformative and inspiring programme."

To find out more about the Digital Schoolhouse, you can visit its official website right here.

Nintendo is the new lead partner for Digital Schoolho??use [GamesIndustry.biz]

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Reggie in Back 2 Skool

Reggie Fils-Aimé may have left the corporate world behind, but "The Regginator" isn't done just yet. In fact, the former Nintendo of America President announced this past weekend that he is returning to his former place of learning, Cornell University in New York, where?? he will lectu?re students as the campus' first Leader in Residence.

Reggie attended The Cornell University's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management back in the early '80s, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics, and was even the President of the school's Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity chapter. I like to think he got up to Animal House style shenanigans too - and pulled pranks on the cru??sty old Dean - but that's probably just the movies talking.

On October 21, Reggie will host his first lecture, where he will "share principles for you to master so you can cultivate your own leadership capability". Given that Fils-Aimé eventually went on to preside over one of the most instantly recognisable brands in the history of business, some of his advice is probably worth taking. You can find out more about the event over at the official Cornell University website.

Regginator is going back to school! @CornellDyson just announced that I will be their inaugural Leader in Residence. Looking forward to teaching and mentoring during this upcoming academic year. Great way for me to give back to @Cornell and @CALS.

— Reggie Fils-Aime (@Reggie) August 29, 2019

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Zachademics, coming to a school near you

Programming has come a long way from when I was dragged kicking and screaming through my C++ course in college. There are more languages to choose from and more ways to learn than by just reading a book. With so many STEM jobs now requiring at ??least some programming expertise, there was a gap that needed to be filled in the Edutainment realm.

The team at Zachtronics has taken that need and carved out a nice little niche with their puzzle games that all focus around programming and efficiency in some way. Now they are giving their games away to public and non-profit schools for free to help any latent programmers latch onto the trade at an early age. Included in the offer are TIS-100, Infinifactory, Exapunks, Shenzen I/O, and Opus Magnum.

Schools that are interested may get more information at Zachademics. Th?e process seems simple enough with some small information needed before approval. This type of altruism is always nice to see coming out of the gaming industry as educational games are few and far between at this point, so when those rare developers make it as easy as possible for schools to get their games, it's a great thing.

For those of you not in school, all Zachtronic games are available currently for PC, with Infinifactory available for PlayStation 4 as well.

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Introducing The Endless Mission

Back in late 2014, E-Line Media released Never Alone -- a gorgeous platformer with the ambitious goal of teaching players about an indigenous Alaskan people. It wasn't perfect, but it did what it hoped to. Never Alone used video games to educate us about a world culture that most people didn't know much about. It was fascinating to imagine a whole line of these games that raise cultural awar?eness.

For its follow-up project, E-Line Media isn't doing that. While E-Line still aims to educate, it's shifting the exact intent. Its next title is called The Endless Mission, and it tries to teach people how to ??make games through increasingly difficult means of creation -- from asset placement all the way down to writing code.

The Endless Mission is initially presented as a hub of sorts, a h??ome base with branches to all kinds of different activities. Playing is just as much a part of this game as ??the development aspects. Developer Endless Interactive has made a number of smaller experiences that semi-tutorialize how different genres should look.

For instance, our GDC demo showed off an adventure platformer with a pirate cat mascot, a futuristic-seeming racer, and some sort of real-time strategy campaign. On their own, they appear to be decent enough little things that introduce people to the nuts and bo??lts of those particular types of games. However, by actually playing them, you'll unlock those assets for use in your own creations.

That's where The Endless Mission starts to show its potential. In our meeting, E-Line took that pirate ca??t and put it inside the racer. Cats aren't as fast as cars, so beating them to the finish line required platforming outside the racetrack to find shortcuts. That seems like the most rudimentary level of learning Endless Interactive has to offer.

From there, it gets more complicated in ways that were tough to show off in a 30-minute demo. E-Line assures us that The Endless Mission's, uhh, mission is to teach game development. It'll have tutorials for more advanced development tools but it's unclear how that'll work. The bit about players eventually learning how to code for themselves makes it seem as if The Endless Mission&n?bsp;will go so far as to teach all the mechanics of ??developing a game. We'll see.

E-Line was adamant about The Endless Mission being positioned as a consumer/entertainment product rather than being licensed out to schools as an educational tool. Honestly, after this first look, it seems like a Roblox that doesn't have a decade's worth of experience and tens of millions of active users. The onus is on The Endless Mission to set itself apa?rt. That begins this s?ummer when it's planned to release on Steam Early Access.

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Try it for free on Windows and Mac

I feel like a jerk for hearing about Rhino Stew's David Lynch Teaches Typing and letting it ??slip off my mind before pas??sing the word along to you fine folks. We can all thank our dear Holmes for the reminder.

The game is pretty much what the?? name implies: an off-kilter take on those old educational typing games you might've played as a kid. It's an amusing parody that, uh, goes?? places.

Above all, I'm obses??sed with its pixel-art rendition of Lynch. (And ?the voice-over isn't half bad either!)

You'll probably get a kick out of this if you're familiar with Lync?h's work and man??nerisms.

Look??ing ahead, I'd like to see someone ?tackle a Mitchum Brothers game. Maybe a casino sim?

David Lynch Teaches Typing [Itch.io]

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Dolla dolla bill y'all!

While not everyone is keen on the idea of Nintendo Labo, that isn't stopping Nintendo from going all in on the concept. My biggest concern was the price of the whol??e thing, which does seem a bit steep for cardboard accessories (putting aside that it comes with a game). Not doing itself any favors, Nintendo ?is going to be releasing some official "Labo" themed masking tape in Japan for when the product launches.

Coming in at 540 yen (or roughly $5) each, this isn't the most exorbitant ??pricing I've seen for masking tape. Then again, with only two rolls per box, that could end up getting pricey if you intend to only use Nintendo's branded adhesive. I do like some of those designs, though.

Japanese Nintendo [Twitter]

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Learn all about Egypt without having to kill Cleopatra

Assassin's Creed Origins will be getting an educational mode in early 2018. The combat and action will be removed so players can learn about life in Ptolemaic Egyp?t.

The mode is titled "Discovery T??our" and players who own the base game, set to release on October ??27, can expect the free update in early 2018.

In Discovery Tour, you'll have access to the entirety of Origin's open world. You'll see NPCs going about their day as well as animals. There will also be guided tours of things like the Great Pyramids provided by Historians and Egyptologi?sts.

If you would prefer to get learned over getting stabbed, this mode seems right up your alley. Hopefully, this mode becomes a regular thing for future Assassin's Creed titles. Fully rendered 3D worlds of historical locations could be a pretty cool way to teach kids. If it were up to me I'd let them in o?n a bit of the stabbing as well.

Assassin's Creed Origins – Disco?very T??our Shows a Different Side of Ancient Egypt [Ubisoft]

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Promoted from our Community Blogs!

[Whomever started the whole trend of 'making learning fun' did the world a huge favor - just like Michael Giff has done in writing about everyone's favorite scarlet-clad rogue, Carmen Sandiego. If you make it through this whole blog without getting the legendary theme song from the TV show stuck in your head, you're not human. Join Michael in getting your work promoted to the Front Page by participating in our Bloggers Wanted prompt! There's nothing we love more than getting your work in front of the world, so get to work, gumshoes! - Wes]

How do you inspire kids to learn? Sadly, it seems the consensus would be to stick a kid in a seat for a 90-minute lecture, force said kid to read an additional 60 minutes of material in their free time, and finally complete a 30-minute questionnaire for homework. The poor child will have to do this four to five more times depending on how many classes they're taking. Also, he or she better pray that they excel at this form of learning because they will ??have to devote twelve years of their life to this monotony. Heaven help you if you fail because the standard solution for under-achievers is to hire a tutor, who will just force you to go through this exact routine over again but longer. Talk about torture! Is there no other way? Thankfully a couple of prog??rammers asked this same question during the early 1980s, and proceeded to combine the latest in graphical user interfaces and a trusty almanac to create not only video games greatest thief, but quite possibly the world's greatest teacher.

2019 can't come soon enough!

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego really is an ingenious creation. It tasks players in solving a bevy of crimes by deciphering riddles and clues that can only be solved by reading the included World Almanac. Now why on earth would a kid read a text book to complete a game you may ask? Simple: We really, really wanted to capture the alluring and ultimate en?igma, Carmen Sandiego!

By engaging our imaginations and showing us a world that we never knew existed, kids wanted to read. By linking geography and culture into a crime serial, kids everywhere were ready to learn. This formula would end up being a smash hit for the elusive Latina; Carmen Sandiego would go on to appear in countless games, teaching not only?? geography but also math, astrology, vocabulary, and history. The woman was a one-lady wrecking ball to ignorance, and all because of that sassy attitude and badass hat and trench coat.

Of course she drives a red convertible.

After becoming the undisputed queen of interactive education, Carmen set her sights on stealing our hearts outside the realm of video games. She was on our cereal boxes and our Monopoly boxes, but more impressively stormed our idiot boxes to turn them into something smarter. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, the game show was a big deal in my household. Nobody cared about Alex Trebek and Jeopardy; we were all in on Lynn Thigpen's Chief, canned animations, countles??s puns, and of course that immortal theme song. Carmen would repeat this succe?ssful formula with Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, along with? the?? animated Daytime Emmy-winning, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego. Education may have always been the first orde?r of business in her TV offerings, but by splicing it with the competition of a game show or the musings of a Saturday morning cartoon, she had every boy and girl wrapped around her finger and we were learning, whether we realized it or not.

In an era before the internet, Carmen Sa??ndiego was our window to the outside world. Sure our social studies and history professors desperately wanted to teach us the same material, but Carmen enticed us all with a sly smile and a dare to give chase. I myself have never captured the crimson garbed cat-burglar, but our adventures were epic and numerous, and I must thank her for being my favorite teacher.

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OF ALL TIME!

Since 1988, each sitting US president has declared the month of March as Women&rsqu?o;s History Month, honoring the achievements and advancements of women throughout history. At Destructoid, we love women, a fact quite evident by the vast array of female writers we have on staff, and I’m celebrating this awesome month by getting my fellow contributors to talk about the best women in gami??ng. Actually, the other writers will all be competing for second best, because there isn’t a female character better than Carmen Sandiego.

I was first introduced to The World’s Greatest Thief by way of an elementary school computer. Most of the other students played The Oregon Trail to see how quickly they could get their family to die of dysentery, but I was much more interested in huntin?g do?wn Miss Sandiego.

The more games I played, the more fascinated I became by her. She stole simply for the thrill of it, something that blew my nine-year-old mind. She was cunning, using her henchmen in V.I.L.E. as pawns in a grand scheme that I had figure out. As the series went on, she became quite ruthless and downright evil. In Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego? she traveled to the past to steal medicine, potentially resulting in the deaths of ?millions of people. ??Carmen Sandiego simply doesn't give a fuck and it brought me great satisfaction every time I brought her to justice.

She was the first video game character to test the skills I had learned in the classroom: reading, researching, geography, and problem-solving. I was one of those nerds who loved going to school to learn instead of socializi?ng, so to find a series gave me the opportunity to use my br??ain to succeed instead of my twitchy hand-eye coordination was momentous.

I’ve long outgrown the ?“edutainment” genre and have seen villains far more diabolical than her, bu?t Carmen Sandiego remains the blueprint for bad-ass women in gaming.

Chris Carter

To say nothing of the style and grace that Final Fantasy VI brought to the RPG world and the people it impacted, Terra Branford was a standout member of its ensemble cast. Despite the fact that the game supposedly doesn't have a main character, she's st??ill emblazoned on just a??bout every piece of marketing for the game and is the first person you have direct control of at the start.

Terra brings a human element to the series in a way that only Cecil came close to before her. She anchors the story as the middle-ground between humans and Espers (magic beings) and rises up against those who have enslaved her, adding more nuance to the typical "Heroes [Journey] of Light" concept Final Fantasy previously relied upon.

ShadeOfLight

It's easy to lump Zelda in the same "chronically kidnapped" box as Princess Peach, especially when you contrast her to Samus or Bayonetta. But if you look more closely, you'll find that Zelda has always played a huge role in keeping Hyrule safe from Ganon??.

As far back as the original The Legend of Zelda, where she split the Triforce of Wisdom to prevent Ganon from getting his hands on it, she has been a thorn in the Great King of Evil's side. In Ocarina of Time, she interfered even more directly. As Sheik, she managed to aid Link on his quest and even save the Sage of Water from beneath the ice. In the very end, she also ???;leads the Six Sages in imprisoning Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm. "Curse you...Zelda!" indeed.

As the series progressed, Zelda went on to play increasingly bigger roles in the legend. From reviving and empowering Midna in Twilight Princess, to being Link's ghost-buddy in Spirit Tracks, and from her pirating days of The Wind Waker to her personal quest with Impa in Skyward Sword, Zelda has always b?een the pro??minent figure in the series. And of course, she personally took part in the final fight against Ganon on several occasions.

There's a reason this series is named The Legend of Zelda. In one way or another, most of the games revolve around her. And her role in the backstory of Breath of the Wild may be her biggest yet.

Mike Cosimano

I think Persona 4 might be my favorite video game -- at the very least, it hangs in a perpetual tie with Gunpoint and Mass Effect 2. Between the original PS2 release and Persona 4 Golden, I've spent a good 400-odd hours in Inaba. So when you play one game over and over, you? start to appreciate the little things; like how ace detective Naoto Shirogane is easily the most competent member of the Investigation Team. She's the best! After hours of your supporting ??cast grasping blindly in the dark and constantly being two steps behind the player, here comes a lady with some good ideas.

I've been on record as a big fan of proactive main characters, and they just don't come as proactive as Naoto Shirogane. You go from idiots like Yosuke throwing out random theories to Naoto bringing in new evidence and using her police connections to help out the Team. Charlie Tunoku's friends each change over the course of the game, but their stories are mostly relegated to problems you could see your average high schooler struggling with. Since Naoto's complexities don't quite fit the rest of the gang's small-town issues, her arc is all the more compelling as a result. She's also got a super aesthetically pleasing dungeon and one of the best Personae. A Kamen Rider-esque fairy with a lightsaber and a peacoat??? C'mon, that's too good!

Striderhoang

Originally I was going to go with Zelda. But Shade beat me to it, plus I wanted to talk specifically of Zelda's incarnation in Breath of the Wild. But since the reveal of her development is tantamount to spoilers since you gradually learn about her through a questline involving yo??ur lost memories, that discussion might be best left for another day.

So instead here's the only person who qualifies in my heart as bes??t girl: Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy.

Ordinarily, people like to look back on the Mass Effect series with a bit of sarcasm. It was a great series of games with a few unfulfilled promises and wacky missteps. But a Bioware game is always about the enduring characters and Tali is just that. When you first meet her, she's just a girl wandering the big city like some space Mormon, on her rite of passage to become an adult. Through the time you spend together in the first Mass Effect, you reunite with her in Mass Effect 2 after she gains her own ??posit?ion of leadership and squad.

In addition to her personal growth, it doesn't hurt that she has a sexy accent, plus I'm attracted to the fashion of?? leaving it to the imagination. Make no mistake, her face may be completely covered but she's wearing a skin-tight space suit and she's essential??ly a space gypsy, but damn it I love her.

Josh Tolentino

Two Persona 4 girls in one best girl list? You'd better believe it! But celebrating the high-kicking queen of Inaba isn't just about appreciating the bubbliest anime girl-next-door ever, but also about celebrating the exceptional work done by the three voic??e actresses that brought her to life. 

Chie's original (English) voice came courtesy of Tracey Rooney, who broke with dubbing tradition and rendered Chie without much anime-girl squeak, resulting in a distinctly more mature, but still bubbly-sounding first impression. Subsequent releases of Persona 4, including Arena, Golden, and Dancing All Night gave the role to Erin Fitzgerald, whose take on Chie coul??d best be described as somewhat "Velma-esque". Her Chie was still lively and enthusiastic but kept a bit more of the martial-arts-nerd personality of the chara??cter.

Lastly, her Japanese rendition came courtesy of Yui Horie, a personal favorite of mine. A longtime veteran of the anime voice talent scene, Hocchan's been around since the nineties, when she broke out playing lead girl Naru in Love Hina. She's been in more anime than I can count, but game folks may know her best as Hitomi from Dead or Alive.

Three talented women played one?? best girl. What better way to celebrate Women'??s History?

Jonathan Holmes

Most of my favorite vid??eo game characters are women, so it would be pretty hard for me to pick just one all-time favorite. So instead, I'll pick a recent woman in games who I still think about pretty often, despite the fact that she has a pretty small role in the one game she appears ?in. 

Donna from Rhythm Heaven Megamix is cute, funny, and easy to relate with. She loves donuts in the same way that a lot of us around here love video games, and she shows that love all the time, in ways big and small. For instance, she doesn't wear regular human clothes, presumably because regular human clothes are not donuts. Instead, she wears a one piece jumpsuit that may ??or may not be made of donut frosting. Normally I wouldn't make those kinds of assumptions about a person's jumpsuit, but her suggestive headgear begs the possibility. 

Also, I think she may want to fuck a donut.

What an interesting video game character! 

Pixie The Fairy

I could talk about an old favorite, but since everyone aside from Holmes is beating me to them I'm going to talk about a recent favorite instead -- Lady Urbosa from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I won't say much in the way of story spoilers, but where other?? people were impressed by shark boys, I was awed by this awesome Gerudo warrior. She was not only known as a heroic and fearsome com??batant among her people, but she has a very gentle, perceptive and wise nature about her as well. She also has a mischievous side, possibly from the fact she can command lightning.

She looks and sounds like an amazonian Mitsuru Kirijo (the true best Persona girl), but with a bigger nose and lots of muscle. I?? can't blame Zelda for wanting to hang with her when Link is not around. Her presence is quite comforting.

In short, I will be marrying her.

*****

Hot damn there are a lot of great women in gaming. Be sure to look out for a future feature about the greatest men in video gaming that will consist only of Destructoid writers talking about the various ch?aracters played by Willem Dafoe.

The post Imma let ?you fi?nish, but Carmen Sandiego is the greatest female video game character of all time appeared first on Destructoid.

What the hell?

Frog Fractions 2 is a game that recently launched after being shrouded in mystery for years. Along with some crazy ARG that revealed the existence of the title, the game also has some outlandish secrets for players to solve. One of the less-hidden extras is the ability to import your Mass Effect 2 save into Frog Fractions 2. I'm sure Commander Shepard has to solve some arithmetic problems while making the jump to warp ??drive, or something.

While many initially thought this was a joke placed in the game for idiosyncratic purposes, it turns out that isn't the case. Polygon asked developer Jim Crawford and he responded by saying that a certain puzzle later in the game requires the use of multiple Mass Effect 2 save files. While that sounds really cool, I'm wondering why he chose to go for the sequel instead of the original or even 3. I also wonder if the console v?ers??ions can somehow import their saves, though I doubt that.

There are also a bunch of other mini-games included in Frog Fractions 2, like a text-based adventure title that takes place with Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, a Flappy Bird-style clicker game, and a shaving simulator featuring President Barack Obama. That certa??inly sounds off-kilter.

Frog Fractions 2 wants you to import your Mass Effect 2 save file into the game [Polygon]

The post Frog Fractions 2 holds a Mass Effect easter egg appeared first on Destructoid.

Educational version of Civilisation set to land next year

History ??lessons are about to get a whole lot more interesting.  

Eurogamer reports Civilization V developer Firaxis is working with GlassLabGames.org to bring CivilizationEDU &?mdash; an educational version of Civilisation V — to high schools by Q3 2017. 

The modified game, said to boast a new engine to capture progress, will bring "the opportunity to think critically and create hi??storical events, consider and evaluate the geographical ramifications of their economic and technological decisions, and engage in systems thinking and experiment with the ca??usal/correlative relationships between military, technology, political and socioeconomic development". 

Creator Sid Meier said: "For the past 25 years, we've found that one of the fun secrets of Civilization is learning while you play. Civilization players find fun in discovering new civilizations, running into famous historical leaders, and charting their own version of h?uman history.

"Along the way, players learn valuable lessons from their success and failures and are able to try again, employing different choices and strategies. We're absolutely thrilled to be partnering with GlassLab and I am excited to see CivilizationEDU in classrooms next year."

For ?the final time… HAPPY FRIDAY! <3 (Yes, I'm devastated. Thanks for your overwhelming support and kind messages - g?onna miss you guys).

The post This history lesson needs more video games appeared first on Destructoid.

Striving to make more diverse games

For the first time in the history of the University of Southern?? California -- the top video game design school in the United States, as ranked by The Princeto??n Review -- women outnumber men in its game design graduate program. 

In 2011, USC had 15 men and 5 women in its gra?duate program. That changed in 2015 when there were 12 women and 7 men. This trend also carries over to the undergraduate program, as more and more women are entering the field. 

The LA Times spoke with many of the female students, and it seems one sentiment rings true among them: they want to make diverse characters they can relate to. "I'm here to make games that show women -- or d??ifferent people -- in a better light," said graduate student Allison Comrie.

Martzi Campos, a master's student of the program, predicted that video games will show films how to be diverse. "Games h??ave the change to lead the way and be like, 'Hey films, check us out. Look how diverse and widespr?ead we are.' This is our chance for our medium to really shine."

I've personally seen the sentiment ti??me and time again online that "if people want diverse games and characters, the?y should make them themselves." That is just what these ladies plan to do. You go, girls!

Sup??er Mario Sisters? At USC, women now outnumber m??en in video game design graduate program [Los Angeles Times]

The post Women outnumber men in the top game design school’s graduate program appeared first on Destructoid.

You're darn tootin'!

In the late '80s the Carmen Sandiego series was immensely popular and over 20 states were looking to get in on that red hot edutainment action. Details are sketchy on exactly what happened, but Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego was the ?only state-specific entry Brøderbund ever produced.

The game was developed in conjunction with the North Dakota Department of Education. It came with a full lesson plan, comprising of the double-sided Carmen Sandiego floppy, a North Dakota state almanac on floppy, a binder w??ith info on the game, a printed version of the almanac, and a teacher's guide. Another binder comprising 18 floppies and printed exercises completed the pack??age. 

According to the in-game copyright date, it was released in 1989, the state's centennial. Gameplay followed the same pattern as the others in the Carmen Sandiego series, albeit with a North Dakotan theme. Around 5,000 copies were produced excl?usively for schools, but due to computer upgrades over the years, many of the Apple IIs and their floppies have been lost to landfills. 

Recently Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego was located and preserved on Asimov's Apple II FTP along with many other obscure edutainment titles. They've even got Math Blaster!

Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego? Gam??e?? Review [YouTube]

The post Rare North Dakota-themed Carmen Sandiego game has surf?aced appeared first on Destructoid.

Okay, I'm just going to make the joke, 'Typingfall'

When people say “educational game” I instinctively clench up. I was raised in the heyday of Canadian educational software, with all the impenetrable geography-teaching trucking simulators and embarrassingly stilted STD/drug awareness adventure games you could ever stand to play. But Mecha Trigger, ??developed by the game design and development specialization at Michigan State University is a different b??reed of learning-game.

It glides in stealth bomber style, undetected by ?the alarm systems and internal klaxons that normally weed out Mavis Beacon and her ilk by dressing up its lesson-work under the guise of giant robots blowing the shit out of each other.

As far as disguises go, it's hard to do better.

Mecha Trigger delivers an insidious two-stage payload of knowledge. At first it may seem like another typing-trainer-by-way-of-game kind of a deal, a Typing of the Mech if you will. While the threat of being skewered by a railgun the size of a city bus is a pretty good motivator to learn how to type quickly and accurately, the real core of what Mecha Triggeris teac??hing is actually the rock-bottom basics of coding and scripting.

There are no such things as joysticks or control pads in the world of Mecha Trigger. And while you use a keyboard to control your TypeFighter mech, the secrets of WASD have never been revealed to the engineers who made these giant robots. Instead, every single action your mech makes needs to be typed into a DOS st?yle com??mand line.

Want to walk forward? You need to specifically type out (with proper spelling and format) the code to move your legs and the distance you want to travel. “legs move -d 10” for a few short lurching steps. An enemy to your right is pelting you with a mech-sized shotgun? Better type in “legs turn -a 90” to face right and look at him (you'd type in “legs turn -a -90” to look to the left), and so on.

If this already seems like a huge pain in the ass, you have no idea how bad it really is. I only got to play with Steel Battalion’s infamous twin-stick, 40-plus button control surface once at a kiosk that was displaying it like some novelty act, and it was infinitely easier to grok. Even with that massive layout, there was the comforting familiarity of triggers and peddles, and when you pushed a button, while the mech might not have done what you wanted it to do, it did something. The command line prompt gives you nothing. Mistype a?? line, use the wrong format, whatever, and the mech remains stubbornly, perfectly, inert. Incredibly frustrating, especially when you're being picked apart by enemy fire.

Even after reviewing the tutorial, I still managed to forget important commands -- like say the ones for controlling your guns and laser cannons -- in the heat of battle. The first time I actually managed to shoot something, my machine gun farted out a sin?gle impotent shot. Clearly there was room for improvement.

Fortunately, you can create your own custom macros in the? game that can activate a command with much fewer button presses, or even carry out multiple actions. This quickly reveals itself as the holy guts of the game. After a bit of fussing around I wrote scripts that would fire my laser beam for a nice controlled 2 second burn, or one that would empty my machine gun clip and automatically reload it. I destroyed an A.I mech or two, thing??s start to click.

For the first time in a long while, I go and grab a pen and jot down some notes. Any time a game makes me break out the ol' yellow legal pad, it's a s?ure sign of a burgeoning obsession, or at least a brief but intense infatuation. Soon I have a page full of abbreviate command?s and reminders. I have my weapons figured out, I even come up with (what I think was) a fairly clever script to automatically switch to the cloaking device and activate it for emergencies.

I'm no ballerina, but I've wrangled the controls enough to generally trundle my mech where I want to go. I can scan the enemy, get within optimal range, and unleash a holy rain of – oh wait, he activated his jump jets. How the fuck do I look up again?

More notes, more macros. Over an evenin??g of play, I slowly stumble my way towards something resembling competency. I create a slew of macros -- basic controls, weapon systems, responses to every typical situation I can think of. I try them out in the field, find holes in my battle-vocabulary and fill them. I streamline the commands that work by trimming down unnecessary keystrokes, shortening command lines to as few button presses as possible.

I experiment and find out I can string more than two commands together in a single macro, instantly obsoleting more than half of the commands I've already written. I toss them out, rewrite them into tighter, more efficient, little bunches of code. My mech? stops trudging about with a noticeable stutter-pause between every action, and soon I'm moving around about as smoothly as a multistory death-robot can. The process of writing macros and the logic of the game becomes so familiar that I start writing the occasional script in the middle of a fight whenever I notice something I'm missing or have an idea that would speed things up.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, because I know writing macros is the most basic kind of scripting imaginable, but a thought occurs to me. “Is this how developers feel when they really understand the tools they work with? When instead of doing some menial task by hand they hack ?in a clever little line of code that does it for them?”

I remember how Rock Band, with its simplified five button plastic guitar, gave you that little glimmer of understanding of what it's like to actually play an instrument when you got into the zone. Mecha Trigger is opening up the same conduits in m??y brain, but instead of a more nuanced appreciation of bass-lines and chord structure, its giving me a peek into the world of development. Just a tiny bit, a crack in the door with a weak beam of light spilling through. Thi?s is the most surface-level simple stuff, but for me, a guy who has never even considered writing a line of code in his life, it's like learning the first few words of a new language.

It left me wanting more. What if I could write a script that could respond appropriately to different contexts? What if I instead of having to build my mechs around my scripts, my scripts could work with my mechs, allowing me to change up the equipment without having to write up an entirely new group of macros? These are questions the developers probably hoped people would have after playing. Sneaky bastards, teaching me things.

Even if you don't feel Mecha Trigger will inspire some new-found interest in scripting for you, it's still worth checking out. It's free, offers a very di?fferent way to play than conventional shooters, and there are always worse ways to spend a lazy evening than turning giant robots into scrap.

The post Mecha Trigger made me feel real dumb b?efore it made me feel (kind of) smart appeared first on Destructoid.

Draw them like your French girls

Educational games that impart knowledge while remaining entertaining are certified rarities. Too often you're left with staggering amounts of informative material and meager side portions of "game" that contribute to a rather lopsided produc??t.

Pokémon Art Academy is an interesting blend of both, with useful tips and tricks, drawing instruction, and helpful guidance for fledgling artists or those who simply want to learn how to draw their favorite Pocket Monsters. It's just ??like the learn-to-draw books you could pick up at the store, but with real-time feedback.

Pokémon Art Academy (3DS)
Developer:  Headstrong Games
Publisher: Nintendo
MSRP: $29.99
Released: October 24, 2014 

You enter the titular Pokémon Art Academy ?as a brand new student who's in training to become an illustrator of Pokémon trading cards. You're not alone, however, as you find yourself learning alongside another artist who's ??just getting started -- and somehow is far worse off than you, no matter your skill level. You're ushered along through various stages of illustrating Pokémon after being given your very first task: drawing Pikachu's face.

In the begin?ning, your tools, techniques, and even your medium are severely limited. You're given free rein over markers and what look like oil pastels to create simple portraits while still learning the basics. I?n a matter of hours, you'll learn to sketch, flesh out, shade, and highlight intricate images of Pokémon from Eevee to Oshawott.

The fact that most players wil?l progress in such a manner is a testament to how fluid and responsive the 3DS is when it comes to sketching and painting. The touch screen works beautifully as an input tool, with spot-on responses to each brush stroke or pencil sketch. You truly feel as though you're using a miniaturized version of a professional tablet, and with the staggering amount of techniques at your disposal, the possibilities are nearly endless.

You're given a one-button "undo" to erase mistakes, layers a la Photoshop that allow you to work comfortably with linework and adding colors that pop, ??and plenty of reasons to revisit old pieces of art to rework them. What's more, there's no hurry. You simply create each work of art in as much time as you need, lending a relaxing lilt to the game. This allows for an environment that promotes learning and patience rather than the gamification of picking up a new skill.

Once yo??u've risen through the ranks, you can check out Free Paint mode to improve upon that photo of Meowth that you wish the whiskers were longer on, or Q??uick Sketches, which offer plenty of opportunities to practice your speed drawing. The main "campaign" mode is basically a set of tutorials meant to help improve your artistic skills, so approaching the entire product as if it were a course you'd take in the real world is the best attitude to take. You won't "complete" it, because you can always improve your art.

Unfortunately, that's one pitfall Pokémon Art Academy does fall into: There's a real lack of feedback when it comes to your artwork. The game doesn't grade you on how close you came to the example artwork, and instead simply praises you for doing your best, like you?? might treat a child. I understand the importance of positive reinforcement, but a grading scale or some sort of input on the game's part would have been appreciated.

There's a very specific sort of audience that will gleefully devour Pokémon Art Academy, however, and I surmise that these players will only be interested in learning more about the craft, with elements that attract "regular" Pokémon fans acting as icing on the cake. Sharing your creati??ons is a good time, and watching yourself improve just plain makes you feel good. And when a videogame can easily accomplish that, I think we can pronounce it a success. Now excuse me while I attempt to improve on this rough sketch of Pansear.

The post Review: Pokemon Art Academy appeared first on Destructoid.

Promoted from our Community Blogs!

_{[Dtoid community blogger RedHeadPeak shares another of his adventures of being a gamer-teacher. For more on this topic, be sure to check out his blog! Want to see your own writing appear on the front page? Go write something! --Mr Andy Dixon]}

Legionary: a professional soldier in the Roman Army.

Those were the words that appeared on my whiteboard above a picture of a Roman soldier wielding the iconic Gladius and Scutum. But before the lesson could begin, one student pulled an inquisitive face and asked, "Isn't that what the bad guys are called in Destiny?"

For a moment, several students in the class were distracted. Of course, they were right. In Destiny, Mars is inhabited by the "Cabal??", and the bulk of their forces are named "Legionary". Regardless,? this distraction could have briefly derailed the lesson had I not played the game myself.

Thankfully, I was able to turn this ??query into the lesson starter.

I asked the student i??f he could remember the names of any of the other "bad guys." As they d??id so, I wrote the words on the board. I then added a sentence next to each one explaining what the word meant. Those key words stayed on the board for the rest of the lesson as a reminder:

Legionary: a regular Roman soldier

Centurion: a soldier in charge of 80 men (not quite 100)

Phalanx: a group of soldiers fighting close together

Colossus: a really big statue of the emperor

Despite all the praise we may throw at videogames, they can be very distracting. As a teacher, I will sometimes use vide??ogame references to facilitate learning, but it's not a tacti??c I could use all the time. Whether I l??ike it or not, videogames have altered how we use certain words and phrases, and even the most arbitrary use of gaming vocabulary can trigger unwanted thoughts of videogames. Even if you are not a teacher, there are words to avoid using in conversation if you want to keep your audience concentrating.

Below is a list of words that you need to watch out for. This isn't a warning as such; there's nothing wrong wi??th using any of these words. It just helps to be aware that when you use these terms when talking to gamer friends or talking to a group with gamers in it,? their minds are bound to wander.

Assassin

You'll notice that a lot of these words are historic terms. That's partly because I teach history, but also because historic words and phrases have, for a long time, been reworked? into fiction of all kinds. Games are no exception.

To a historian unaffiliated with videogames, the Order ?of Assassins (originally known as "Hashashins") were a brutal and radical group which originated in Persia. The ruins of the fortress that their leader once occupied can still be found in Alumut. The fall of the order took place in the mid-1200s. In the minds of young gamers however, the Order of Assassins ??conjures up a different image.

The Assassin's Creed games do contain a great number of accurate historic references. Yet for each pinch of accuracy, a dollop of inaccuracy is applied. The original assassins did favor daggers to carry out their sinister task, but I imagine they would hav??e found the retractable weapons entirely ludicrous. The "Leap of Faith" was also practiced by the Hashashins, to prove their devotion. However, the outcome of the real "Leap" is much more gruesome.

Even when you refer to more modern assassins such as Gavrilo Princip -- the man who assassinated Franz Ferdinand and sparked World War One -- the students will be distracted by the term "assassin". Make sure you show a picture of the man before using the word, or else the gamers in the class will have already pictured him where the most inconspicuous hood and cloak, walking d?own the streets of Bosnia, throwing smoke bombs at the faces of passers-by.

Combination

You should always use this word as shown above. Never try to save time or simplify things by shortening it??.

The term "combo" will have gamers momentarily distracted. I once witnessed another teacher chastise two younger students for being immature in the school corridor. The teacher insisted that they stand apart whilst waiting for their lesson, because the two made a "bad combo". The comment clearly triggered thoughts of Street Fighter in the two boys, because seconds later they were being? told?? off again for "mock fighting" in the hallway.

It's very hard to ??keep a straight f??ace when a student mimes a textbook Hadouken...

Critical

Sometimes students accidentally swear. Young minds absorb a great deal from what they see and experience, hence why they make such great learners. Children can be inspired and educated, but they also tak??e on bad habits that they witness. Two years ago I was eemphasizing to a GCSE class that they needed to be critical of source material (is the author reliable? How useful is the information? Etc.). I pointed to several students and asked them to repeat what I'd said, in that corny way game show hosts carry on:

ME: What do you have to be when you use a source?
STUDENT #1: Be critical.
ME: And what do you have to do when you use a source?
STUDENT #2: Be critical!
ME: What do you need to do when you use a source?
STUDENT #3: Be critical, biatch!

The student was mortified. They cupped their hands around their mouth, trying to push the sound of the word back in, as twenty-nine pairs of eyes turned to stare. Luckily for that student, I am a g??amer:

ME: You've been playing a lot of Borderlands recently, haven't you?
STUDENT #3: [ashamed] ...y-yes sir.

You see, "critical, biatch" is a stock phrase spouted by one of the main characters of the first Borderlands game (Roland). It's hardly the snappiest catchp??hrase, but after hearing the line for the fiftieth time, even I found mys?elf repeating it after scoring a critical hit.

Escort

Sometimes older students show new students to their classroom or to the front office. Sometimes a teacher might ask a student to guide an ailing peer to first aid. Just be aware that, when you ask someone to "escort" someone to their destination, they may instead hear "escort mission." They'll still do what you asked, and act as guide, but they will take the task way too seriously.

Half Life

This is a pretty obvious one, when you think about it. This can be a big pitfall for science teachers. The phrase "half life" is ingrained into ever gamers psyche. You might?? think that you're having a conversation about the exponential decay of nuclear materials (I can sense science teachers ready to tell me I've got that wrong) but in the minds of your students, head crabs and aliens are at the forefront.

And whatever you do, avoid using the phrase three times during a lesson. Some people will go to extraordinary lengths for a "Half Life 3 confirmed" gag.

Unity

I wasn't planning to begin and end this little list with Assassin's Creed, but here we are. This is another very recent "trigger?? word" that will have gamer-students mentally drifting.

Whether or not you're a teacher, I'm sure you remember assemblies or talks from the Head Master/Mistress promoting the well being of students and positive ethos around the school. School is a community, in which you were a valued member. Students and teachers should always work together towards an outstanding environment for learning. There is always strength in unity... unity... that new Assassin's Creed game looks like fun.

I'll be honest; I've not seen a student distracted by this one. Not yet anyway. No, this time it was me who was recently distracted when this word wa??s used on multiple occasions during a staff meeting. But? only briefly, I assure you...

----------

There are lots of other examples; this is ju??st a cross section of words can set a gamer off on a tangent. I've no doubt that you can also think?? of times when someone has used a term or phrase that you linked back to video games. Why not add a comment below!

The post Adventures of the Gamer-Teacher: ‘trigger words’ for gamer distraction appeared first on Destructoid.