Shadow Complex Helps Define the Summer Game

The subject matter of summer movies has evolved to attract these families and teens, but this phenomenon affects games differently. With families heading out for vacation or spending weekends at the beach, there hasn’t, traditionally, been a lot of time set aside for videogame-playing during...

The subject matter of summer movies has evolved to attract these families and teens, but this phenomenon affects games differently. With families heading out for vacation or spending weekends at the beach, there hasn’t, traditionally, been a lot of time set aside for videogame-playing during the summer. That’s why we really haven’t seen summer games before — the videogame release schedule is disproportionately loaded towards the holidays.

But this year may be the year that changes everything. With the economy going south, more people are staying home. Nielsen reported that more people than ever are staying home and gaming. And game makers are getting more creative about how and when they sell their games. Summer months are now on the table, but to score a big summer hit, gamemakers need to deliver what gamers want out of a summer game.

I propose that Battlefield: 1943, Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers and Shadow Complex define the summer game. They’re inexpensive. All three are digital downloads. You don’t even need to burn gas to buy them. And they’re familiar.

via Shadow Complex Helps Define the Summer Game | GameLife | Wired.com.

About the Author

Richard Clark (Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief) has spent his entire life writing, reading, listening, and playing. He has a Bachelors in Theology from the Baptist College of Florida and has a Master of Arts in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY where he is the classroom technology manager at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing at Christ and Pop Culture, he is also a staff writer for Kill Screen Magazine's website and has written for various other outlets such as Paste, Gamasutra, and Collide. Email: deadyetliving [at] gmail [dot] com. Twitter: @deadyetliving. Xbox Live: deadyetliving