There are a lot of good things on the internet, but the comments often aren't one of them.  A bunch of people, many of whom I assume are middle-school boys, feel the need to viciously attack anything they don't like in the most violent and sexist ways.  There are sites that make comments actually work, where discussion can happen constructively.  But there are a lot of boys who see anyone, especially women as a threat that needs to be harassed, objectified and silenced.  Insane children think that only boys play games and that women should be excluded, when in fact almost half of all video game players are female.
I'm a straight white man.  I don't ever get rape or death threats online, no matter how much anyone disagrees with me.  Women, LGBT people and minorities do every day.  The only solution I've got is I'm going to teach my 2 sons that that behavior is unacceptable. I hope other people have good ideas for broader solutions.  I think some of them are in these articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/15/technology/web-trolls-winning-as-incivility-increases.html?_r=0

http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/29/5947661/the-nightmare-is-over-theyre-not-coming-for-your-games

http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/22/5926193/women-gaming-harassment

http://leighalexander.net/but-what-can-be-done-dos-and-donts-to-combat-online-sexism/

Another game for science

There's a game called Phylo you can play where you try to match colored blocks.  These blocks are actually DNA proteins, and you're sorting DNA sequences.

"Why should I do that?" you think to yourself.  Because humans are way better at doing this job than computers.

Farmville is a casino

Well, Farmville is like a casino in that they make most of their money off a very small number of customers.  The difference is that in Farmville you can never win.

2% of Farmville players pay real cash money for virtual crap.  And of that 2%, 1 in 5 pay over $1000 a year to Zynga.  For virtual cows and barns and stuff.

Damn.

Video games ARE making us smarter

Good news for Stephen Johnson: video games are in fact making us smarter.

Studies show that IQ scores have been steadily increasing over the last few decades. Part of this increase can be attributed to better schools and nutrition, but even well-educated and well-fed people do better solving puzzles than they did 50 years ago.

One likely reason? Video games. Lots and lots of people spend leisure time solving 3D mazes, intricate puzzles and logic problems, and doing other things that IQ tests challenge you to do.

Not that increases in IQ scores are necessarily good. But video games are changing our brains.

NEA says video games can be art

Not that they've declared existing commercial video games are art, but in their latest grant proposal solicitation, the National Endowment for the Arts has included "interactive games" in their list of possible media.

If Roger Ebert were dead, he'd turn over in his grave. His narrow-minded, lack of historical perspective, grave.

Gaming as philosophical fad?

I think there's a lot to learn from how we learn in games. James Gee and others are developing critical ideas about games - game studies growing to the same level of analysis that film studies has achieved. I think there's a lot of insight being developed into how games work, why we find them engaging and enjoyable, and even how that can play out in the rest of our lives - how we can understand motivation and economics using game mechanics.

However, I realized that people who see everything as a game (which includes me) are probably historically myopic. This new technology has opened our eyes to a facet of the world, and it's exciting and will help us understand our minds better. But I predict that 200 years from now my obsession with games and learning will look similar to Descartes' obsession with the circulatory system. When he was working, the circulation of blood was a brand new discovery. And it does help us understand not only our biology but other systems as well (water cycle, nutrient cycles, etc). But it's not the one model to explain everything. And neither are games. Sigh. I guess life will still be complicated and challenging 200 years from now.

"Board Game" music video

A guy I know edited this. I like the video anyway, but I'm really impressed with the editing.

Board Game Remix Kit

The Boardgame Remix Kit looks awesome. I hope to have one soon. They give you new rules to play old, lame board games by. And mix together bits from various games to make new games - like using Scrabble letters and a Clue board together.

Want.

Games and crafting

I really like Sprite Stitch. It's a blog of crafts and video games. Lots of amazing Nintendo themed crafts. My favorite today is the amigurumi Mega Man. Although there are several amazing crocheted blankets.

I have only begun to browse this blog, but it looks similarly impressive.

Why Monopoly used to be fun

Buried in an article about why Settlers of Catan is a great board game that everyone loves, I read a sentence that helps me understand why anyone ever played Monopoly, the most boring game in the universe.

"Idleness may not have been an acute problem in 1935, but in 2010, it's a fatal flaw."

See, when Monopoly was invented, no one had a job or anything else to do, so sitting for 4 hours to wait for your friend to finish you off in Monopoly was better entertainment than just sitting.

But game technology has gotten much better now. Heck, even Mah Jongg, not exactly new, does a better job of maintaining suspense and strategy than Monopoly.

Maybe you just can't underestimate the power of pretend money.

Worst. Game. Ever.

Have you played one of the worst video games in existence? I think I have.

I just spent time at Defense Acquisition University's games page. It's part of training military personnel and civilian staff about the military procurement process.

Imagine, you can play the exciting role of supply procurement specialist!

Although Fraud Investigator is slightly interesting, and Acquisition Proposition isn't very different from Diner Dash. Just way less charming.

Upgrade Complete ironic game

Following on the footsteps of "Achievement Unlocked", (parodying how video games now try to get you to replay it lots by giving you awards for stupid stuff) comes the game "Upgrade Complete".

It's a parody of all the little flash games where you unlock upgrades as you play the game.

Game design evolution

Some have noted recently that what passes for good game design has changed lately. At least, the stuff I mostly play now is lots of little short games, with mini-rewards every 5 minutes. Of course, that can be taken too far.

I'm glad that back in the day, games were designed with a different aesthetic, rather than giving you a little congratulations every 5 minutes for doing stupid stuff. But there are different audiences with different desires. A 5-minute payoff is great if you only have 5 minutes to play. Still, I think a vision of Super Mario designed in 2010 is disturbingly accurate.

Passage Game

Yet another point for the "games can be art" side.

Passage is a very simple game, but it tells a very beautiful story. You do have some control over what happens, but the author kept enough control to make some powerful points.

(He's come out with a new "game" that's a storytelling platform for 2 players to interact. I'm tempted to learn more about Sleep is Death. When I actually have time for it.

Oiligarchy

Another vote for games being a form of expression: Oiligarchy.

You play the role of CEO of a major oil company, drilling and exploiting resources all around the world. Pretty funny, and dark and interesting. (Although I was annoyed when I had an oil spill in Alaska despite only drilling on land. But I guess tankers carry oil gathered from on land as well as at sea.)

Makes me curious to play other games by the same team like the McDonalds game.

Portal is free!

Did I mention that for a few more days, Portal is free!

It's one of the best computer games of the last few years. Devilishly clever. And for a couple days - free.

It's a promotional gimmick to get people to sign up for the online game service Steam. And I know it's worked for me. Hopefully I didn't agree to give them my firstborn in the terms of service that I clicked through.

Super Mario Crossover

Wow. This game is amazing. You play Super Mario Bros., but you can play as Mega Man, Samus, Link or 3 other 8 bit characters. With their interfaces and powers. It's a mashup that comments on the nature of video game design. So cool.

8-bit Jesus

From the maker of the 8-bit Dr. Horrible, behold 8-bit Jesus, an album of Christmas music that's simultaneously an album of video game music.

With songs like Ryu, the Red-Nosed Ninja, Super Jingle Bros. and Deck The Kremlin, it's got something for everyone from your 40 year old nerd to your 25 year old nerd.

Nintendo game of Dr. Horrible

Well, it's just a video, but the Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Game is spectacularly awesome. An artist in Philly who specializes in 8-bit music made a spot-on spoof of what the 8-bit game of Dr. Horrible would be like.

Lego Sudoku Robot

Sure, some Lego robots can solve Rubik's Cubes. But Sudoku is much harder for a robot.

And much slower.