PECULIAR THINGS ABOUT VIDEO GAMES

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DIDN’T KNOW THIS, SOUTH KOREA

HAD PUT AN EMBARGO ON JAPANESE IMPORTS AFTER

WORLD WAR II. SO, BACK IN THE AWESOME 1990’S,

HYUNDAI ELECTRONICS DISTRIBUTED NINTENDO 64 IN

THE COUNTRY AFTER RENAMING IT COMBOY 64.

IN CASE YOU’VE WONDERED, YES, THE REZNOR ENEMIES

IN SUPER MARIO WORLD ARE INDEED NAMED AFTER

TRENT REZNOR OF THE AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL ROCK

BAND NINE INCH NAILS.

THE NECROMORPHS IN DEAD SPACE WERE DESIGNED

AFTER THE DEVELOPERS OF THE GAME STUDIED MANY

PICTURES OF CAR-WRECK VICTIMS.

TOTALLY SICK, I KNOW!

NINTENDO WAS FORCED TO SHIP SUPER NINTENDO

CONSOLES DURING THE NIGHT BECAUSE THE

COMPANY’S OWNERS WERE SCARED OF BEING ROBBED

BY THE YAKUZA, JAPAN’S MAFIA, ONE OF THE

MOST VIOLENT IN THE WORLD.

A RECENT STUDY BY THE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

AND THE US CONGRESS–SUPPORTED READY TO LEARN (RTL)

INITIATIVE FOUND THAT A CURRICULUM THAT INVOLVED DIGITAL

MEDIA SUCH AS VIDEO GAMES COULD IMPROVE EARLY LITERACY

SKILLS WHEN COUPLED WITH STRONG PARENTAL AND TEACHER

INVOLVEMENT. MAYBE IT’S FINALLY TIME TO OFFICIALLY

INTRODUCE VIDEO GAMES IN SCHOOLS?

THE DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST DAPHNE MAURER

MADE HEADLINES IN 2012 WITH AWESOME RESEARCH

THAT PRETTY MUCH SUGGESTED PEOPLE BORN WITH

CATARACTS COULD IMPROVE THEIR EYESIGHT BY PLAYING

MEDAL OF HONOR. HOW COOL IS THAT?

SPLINTER CELL: CHAOS THEORY WAS BANNED IN

SOUTH KOREA BECAUSE, AS MOST FANS PROBABLY

REMEMBER, THE GAME SHOWS THE DESTRUCTION OF SEOUL,

THE COUNTRY’S CAPITAL. THE BAN WAS LIFTED AT THE

END OF 2006, NO DOUBT MAKING THE

KOREAN GAMERS HAPPY.

WE’RE SURE YOU’VE SEEN IT PLENTY OF TIMES BUT NOT

SO SURE THAT YOU KNOW WHAT IT STANDS FOR:

CAPCOM IS SHORT FOR CAPSULE COMPUTERS.

IN LATE 2005, SONY HIRED GRAFFITI ARTISTS TO

PROMOTE PSP ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IT PROVED TO BE

A BAD IDEA SINCE THE COMPANY RECEIVED A COUPLE OF

LAWSUITS FROM ANGRY MAYORS.