Samit Sarkar, Polygon:

I went through a few Skills Trainer exercises during an EA press event in New York yesterday, with Doeberling explaining the setup. We started out with the Cover 2, a key scheme for defending the pass. I thought Courtney’s voice-over, augmented by on-screen visuals, did a terrific job of explaining how to identify the Cover 2 on the field: two deep safeties, with cornerbacks giving your wide receivers five yards of space.

The game then displays the gaps in the Cover 2 — the areas on the field in which you’ll be more likely to find open receivers — and finally, tells you the offensive plays that are best suited to exploiting those spots (Flood, Smash and Verticals). After the tutorial, Skills Trainer moves into drills, and awards medals based on how often you succeed.

Later…

Skills Trainer is now part of the onboarding process for Madden 15; the first time you boot up the game, it’ll encourage you to check out the mode. This is a step in the right direction. It’s not enough to include these tutorials in sports games, because hardcore players will ignore them and newcomers may not be able to find them. And unlike the start of an action title or shooter, it’s tough to make a tutorial out of a default exhibition game in a sports title. What’s even more encouraging is that with Madden 15’s Skills Trainer and Gauntlet, Tiburon may have found a way to make studying fun.

I haven’t played a sports game since NHL 10(?), but I can attest that I’d love to see more effective sports education built in. I have always wanted to join the greater sports conversation but have never found a way to engage with it. My best attempt was stat tracking my brother as he played World Series Baseball for the Sega Genesis; though, I chalked it up as an excuse to play with my dad’s new laptop…

I have a suspicious inkling that this doubles as an attempt to increase viewer and passerby engagement in NFL games. Either way, it’s a nice piggyback on yesterday’s post about alternative (e)sports commentary. File under edTech?

Vlad Savov, The Verge:

Valve is trying to tear down this barrier of entry to what is already its most popular game ever with the introduction of a new round of Newcomer’s Broadcasts at TI4. These video streams offer alternative commentary on the tournament’s matches, where the game’s jargon is either filtered out or explained so as to improve the spectating experience for the uninitiated. Alas, though the goal is noble, the execution has so far been uneven. The commentators come from the same roster that does the regular game broadcasts and they struggle between being overly simplistic — “the green bars above their heads” represent each hero’s health and LAN means Local Area Network — and utterly impenetrable with discussions of “ganking,” “popping the Aegis,” and being “blown up by the Dagon.”

I have yet to plunge myself into the MOBA craze but this seems like a novel idea, and not just for eSports. While watching a recent San Francisco Giants game, I joked with friends about substitute commentators that continually get sidetracked. What I didn’t suggest (but began pondering) was the inclusion of commentating for the novice viewer, breaking down different stats and rules. It would certainly be interesting to see commentary track choices rated by depth not only built into eSports broadcasts but services such as MLB.tv and NFL Network too.

Jessica Chobot on The Nerdist Podcast:

Jessica Chobot: This is not a kids (necessarily) hobby anymore. When you’re selling game consoles at like 600 bucks a pop and games at 60 bucks a piece (or AAA titles because you’ve got your indies and they’re a little cheaper, but you get my point), that’s not just a child’s hobby.

Chris Hardwick: And not only that, but I think the inherent value of [video games], just like you said with your dad, is how you guys bonded. That’s how Chloe [Dyskra] and her dad bonded.

JC: Totally. But you always hear the shit stories about, “Oh, kids are shooting up because they play too much Call of Duty.” Well, what about the father and daughter relationship that grew…

CH: It all boils down to your responsibility as a parent. And video games can be amazing if you’re a responsible parent, if you’re engaged. If you’re not a responsible parent, video games are not the thing that fucked your kid up. Something was going to get that kid sooner or later; (joking) whether it was backward masking on record albums or Devil worship…

JC: Elvis dancing in front of the television…

I will stick with this until the day that I die: There is no excuse for parents to complain about games giving their children bad ideas to go do awful things because there are parental controls on the consoles, there are parental controls built into your TVs now, there are warning labels on all of your games, you have to have a license to even purchase them.

Yes, if they really wanted to go out there and get it [they’ll] find it. But if they are trying that hard to get on something you’ve told them “no” to multiple times and you have no idea what the hell is going on, then that lies in your lap, nobody else’s.

CH: I also feel like “things,” like games, “things” are inherently neutral. They don’t have any value except for the value people place on them. If someone has the right value system going into something, they’re not going to interpret that thing as, “this is what I should go do.” They need the right system in place in order to process those things.

My parents let me watch all kinds of stuff when I was a kid. The reason I became obsessed with stand-up was because my parents didn’t censor, I mean I couldn’t watch porn … but the idea that if you have good values going into something you’re probably going to take it in a better direction than if you didn’t.

But I’m talking out of the side of my face because I don’t have kids.

JC: Just to play Devil’s advocate, I’ve only had one time where I’ve played a game that I walked out and the first thing I saw were targets. That would be Grand Theft Auto.

…

That’s when I was like, “Whoa. Now I can kind of see the angle of that argument.” But still, you have the morals in check because you were raised properly, and also the fact that I’m thirty-something-years-old and I can play a game like that and know the difference between right and wrong.

I’ve had similar feelings after long sessions with GTA. I’ve also had similarly profound feelings after watching movies, if not more so. A good adventure movie can make me want to adventure. A good motivational movie can pump me up. A good action movie can give me fantasies about speeding around traffic or doing impossibly dangerous stunts. Nevertheless, I don’t engage in dangerous or immoral behavior because I know the difference between right and wrong.

Is it possible that movies offer heightened emotive states due to their passive nature versus the participatory nature of video games? Does being able to participate in virtual acts of running, jumping, and shooting allow us to vent those fantasies rather than creating curiosity after simply watching?

On the note of parental controls, willingness to learn new technology is a huge factor in parenting. That said, tech developers also have a responsibility to provide clear and accessible controls for their audience. Not because older generations may struggle with implementation (heads up, many millennials are now parents), but because consumer UI should not be difficult to use.

Last bit: ET scared me. The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is dark. Gremlins appeared to be a children’s movie but felt creepy and disturbing. I look at movies like Super 8, Transformers, and the new TMNT reboot and have to wonder if “children’s” movies are slowly harkening back to the darker tones established in the ’80s and early ’90s.

I spent a lot of my early childhood watching movies like Alien, Predator, Fire In The Sky, Conan the Barbarian, and Mad Max. I’d like to say that I turned out to be a pretty decent human being.

Alas, I too am talking out of the side of my face.

The newest version of Dungeons & Dragons launched on July 3, 2015.

Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition: Basic Rules v0.1:

You can play a male or female character without gaining any special benefits or hindrances. Think about how your character does or does not conform to the broader culture’s expectations of sex, gender, and sexual behavior. For example, a male drow cleric defies the traditional gender divisions of drow society, which could be a reason for your character to leave that society and come to the surface.

You don’t need to be confined to binary notions of sex and gender. The elf god Corellon Larethian is often seen as androgynous or hermaphroditic, for example, and some elves in the multiverse are made in Corellon’s image. You could also play a female character who presents herself as a man, a man who feels trapped in a female body, or a bearded female dwarf who hates being mistaken for a male. Likewise, your character’s sexual orientation is for you to decide.

Andrew House, Sony Computer Entertainment president, as quoted by IGN:

Then the third one is virtual reality. There’s just a sense that we have that the technology is again reaching that tipping point, it’s on the cusp of being something that really delivers you true presence, of feeling like you’re in another world. When that’s delivered it’s really magical and I think that how far, how large, how quickly that’s going to become a major part of what we do remains to be seen, but we definitely think the magic of that experience leads you wanting to pursue it.

Admittedly, I have not tried Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus. Call me a naysayer but I just don’t see something as isolating as VR taking off. I don’t think the audience will be as small as to call it niche, but I think the mainstream will find that strapping goggles to one’s face in a group setting is a bit sickening. We are already seeing a slight backlash to smartphone usage in group settings.

This statement comes on the heels of a Samsung’s ‘Gear VR’ headset leak. Three major companies are now investing in VR without a crystal clear vision of the future of this tech. At least not a vision we’ve been shown. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think abundant ’80s dreams of wearables and VR are an indication of “where the puck is headed.” At least not in any capacity advertised thus far.

Update: I should point out that I speak solely from the perspective of gaming; though, I have been reminded that PC gaming is primarily enjoyed in solitary environments. This is likely to be the heaviest hitting market for gaming VR. To add, the implications on accessibly experience (be it gaming, simulation, or otherwise) and real world simulations seem promising. Take a look at Chris Kluwe’s TED Talk on augmented reality and empathy.