Ismail Muhammad

Race is an issue that is never too far from the surface of American society. Video games, though, are not an arena in which we normally expect race to raise the passions of people who otherwise view the hobby as a form of escapism. Enter Resident Evil 5—the next iteration of the revered Resident Evil franchise—which has made a huge splash in the gaming world despite being a year from release.

Early last semester, one of my floormates brought his old Nintendo 64 back to the dorm after a trip home. It came with some great old games that the entire floor remembered fondly: Mario Kart 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Snowboard Kids, and Star Fox 64, among others.

Soon after news broke of Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann’s firing from the popular video game website GameSpot, a Penny Arcade comic titled “The New Games Journalism” captured the sentiments of the gaming community with its sardonic tone.

To many Columbia students, the recent growth of the video game industry and the culture surrounding it is not readily apparent. Yet for some, college campuses have always demonstrated the sway that video games hold over young people.

By now, it’s common knowledge in the video game community that Nintendo is aiming squarely for a family-oriented market.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it: Project Gotham Racing 4 is essentially the same game as Project Gotham Racing 3.

The hype for Halo 3 began as soon as the first trailer was shown in 2006, and hasn’t stopped since.