Cole Jones

May 9, 2008

Wii Kart Unites Casual and Hardcore

By Cole Jones

Back in the 1980s, games were impossibly difficult. Anyone who has ever tried to make their way through old-school Nintendo Entertainment System mainstays such as Ghosts 'n Goblins, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and...

May 5, 2008

Gaming Communism: Mario Kart Wii Attempts an Equalized Playing Field for Hardcore and Casual Gamers

By Cole Jones

Back in the 1980s, games were impossibly difficult. Anyone who has ever tried to make their way through old-school Nintendo Entertainment System mainstays such as Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and ...

April 24, 2008

The Makings of a Classic: Super Mario Bros.

By Cole Jones

Super Mario Brothers. These three little words helped to completely change and reinvent the entire videogame industry into the behemoth that it is today. No other game even comes close in terms of global recognition, as ...

April 17, 2008

Turning Japanese

By Cole Jones

Here in the United States, we seem to think of ourselves as one of the most prosperous nations in the world. With an impressive GDP, a relatively high standard of living and undoubtedly the most obese people per capita a...

April 11, 2008

Hyperreality Challenges Gaming Future

By Cole Jones

Taking a peek at the current generation of video game consoles is like looking at the realized future of some science fiction novel from 30 years ago - it's hard to believe we're able to control something that looks so r...

March 31, 2008

Exploring the Uncanny Valley

By Cole Jones

Taking a peek at the current generation of videogame consoles is like looking at the realized future of some science fiction novel from 30 years ago – it’s hard to believe that we’re able to control som...

March 3, 2008

Game Conference Concerns

By Cole Jones

Last week marked the end of this year's Game Developers Conference, an annual event held in San Jose, Calif. that focuses on everything relating to videogame development, programming and design.

February 15, 2008

Giddy as a Five-Year-Old for Fresh Videogames

By Cole Jones

As a child, I couldn't wait until I was old enough to make my own decisions and buy whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Looking back, the biggest thrill of the holiday season was wondering what was inside those neatly ...

January 24, 2008

Living in a Gamer’s Paradise

By Cole Jones

It's hard to understate the cultural importance of a new Mario game. The little plumber that could has been unclogging pipes and saving princesses for longer than most people at UCSB have been alive.