Morning DLC: Video Games News And Rumors 11/6/13
By Nick Tylwalk
"Relatively low “Call of Duty: Ghosts” review scores won’t significantly hit sales of the game, according to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz.The newly released Infinity Ward game’s Metascore currently ranges from 74-78 across all platforms, down from last year’s series entry, Treyarch’s “Black Ops 2” (74-83), and Infinity Ward’s previous game, 2011’s “Modern Warfare 3” (78-88).Review scores for Ghosts rival “Battlefield 4” have generally been higher, with the game’s Metascore ranging from 81 on Xbox 360 to 87 on PS4.But in a research note sent to investors, Creutz said “Call of Duty: Ghosts'” “mediocre” Metacritic ratings are unlikely to seriously dent its sales potential."
"Ultima creator Richard Garriott and developer Portalarium have released a new six-month progress video for their upcoming “ultimate” role-playing game “Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues.” The 25-minute video is narrated by Garriott and shows off the fantasy game’s various zones, abilities, and combat mechanics.“Shroud of the Avatar” came to life through Kickstarter earlier this year. Its month-long campaign raised $1.9 million, with another $702,000 coming in through the game’s website since then.Developed using the Unity game engine, “Shroud of the Avatar” features a classless skill system, crafting, and housing mechanics. The game also supports solo, friends-only, or open multiplayer."
"Those addictive videogames that keep players glued to the screen may actually do the brain some good—or one of them does, anyway. A new study from the German journal Molecular Psychiatry digs into the effect of videogame play on the volume of the brain’s gray matter—the tissue responsible for muscle control, memory, language and sensory perception.Researchers from Berlin’s Max Planck Institute for Human Development and St. Hedwig-Hospital recruited adult subjects to play Mario 64 on Nintendo’s portable DS system for thirty minutes per day for two months. At the end of that time, the gaming subjects showed “significant gray matter increase” in both the bilateral hippocampus and portions of the right prefrontal cortex."