=VG= SemlerPDX

Exactly what school needs: More Video Games "Those games will rot your Brainz!" I've played through every one of these games since the dawn of Civilization, circa 1991. Sid Meier's series is responsible for teaching me the basics of a number of global concepts I glossed over while in school: types of governments & why they exist, social policies, infrastructure, civil defense, and even the wealth of nations - particularly because I learned about the existence of that famous treatise, "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith (1776) from one of the informational pop-ups or some section of the Civilopedia inside the game. So many seemingly dull, dry bits of history and world knowledge are magically made digestible and actually entertaining at times by the Civilization series that it felt like a properly playable educational game already. It only makes sense that they'd take it one step further. "For the past 25 years, we've found that one of the fun secrets of Civilization is learning while you play. We've always focused on entertainment first, but we believe that our players—young and old—enjoy learning, even if they don't always enjoy education." -Sid Meier, Creator of Civilization Working with GlassLab, Firaxis will be creating CivilizationEDU as a playable educational platform version of their ever popular turn based strategy games. Among several edu-games, Glasslab already has an educational version of SimCity geared at students from 6th through 8th grade, called 'SimCityEDU: Pollution Challenge!' and according to the description by Glasslab, the game "not only teaches students about the factors affecting the environment in a modern city, but the game also provides formative assessment information about students’ ability to problem solve and explain the relationships in complex systems." They also have a game "Developed in collaboration with PopCap/Electronic Arts and researchers at Florida State University" according to it's description, called Use Your Brainz EDU - an apparent rework of Plants vs Zombies that includes an assessment tool for teachers to gauge problem solving skills of students from 2nd grade through 7th, and the game falls under the mathematics subject header. Quite the quantum leap from the Number Munchers and Oregon Trail crapfest that filled the school computer labs when I was a tot, and I gotta admit just a smidgeon of jealousy. Plants vs Homework? It's about time the "adults" are recognizing the potential for more entertaining ways to educate students by using the video game platform, and it's even more relevant to modern students who can tell the difference between some dull, low quality edu-game and a popular title they've already heard of or have even already played. I could imagine a host of games that could become classroom ready with a little rework by these guys - I've told the story a few times about how the knowledge I gained from Gran Tourismo 1 and 2 saved my bacon during a near collision involving a spin counter-spin with near total loss of traction, and my pre-knowledge of how to regain control of my old used car allowed me to recover and avoid destruction of the car and potential hospitalization (or death!). And while we're on the subject, I wouldn't be so good at simple and quick addition were it not for countless games of Cribbage and Dominos. I doubt we'll see some kind of BattlefieldEDU any time soon, and I cannot imagine much educational value could be crammed into Batman: Arkham Knight unless the goal was to teach people how to recover from the repeated crashes and glitches which got that terrible PC port pulled from Steam shortly after it released, but I am absolutely ecstatic that they are actually making an educational version of my favorite strategy game of the past 25 years. Civilization seems to be the most appropriate conversion to an edu-game out of the GlassLab library, with the possible exception of the SimCityEDU which I must say is equally appropriate and covers the in-depth city level concepts that students would not get from the larger picture the Civilization world gives to the player. There is nothing that compares to the scope of a Civilization game, forging a path through the technology tree, particularly when you choose the Epic and Marathon speeds on a Massive or Huge world map. I've had plenty of fun racing through time as well on the Fast and Tiny worlds, too - and the online gameplay is very fun, sapping 6 hours of your life in the blink of an eye. But even though I'm no student, I almost want to find a way to get a copy of the CivilizationEDU when they finish it just to give it a play through as it's always fun to learn something new from these games. Sid Meier had this to say on the subject: "Civilization players find fun in discovering new civilizations, running into famous historical leaders, and charting their own version of human history. "Along the way, players learn valuable lessons from their success and failures and are able to try again, employing different choices and strategies. We're absolutely thrilled to be partnering with GlassLab and I am excited to see CivilizationEDU in classrooms next year." "Would you be interested in a trade agreement with England?" CivilizationEDU should be hitting North American High Schools in 2017, but there are no current plans to bring the game to the UK at present. I assume such an international release would need to be based off of success in North America, and only time will tell. I don't understand why they would disregard the UK for release - perhaps edu-games are not yet considered helpful to the curriculum at schools in the UK, or perhaps it is just a budget issue for a new company with a new field of games. Either way, I wish I had been a student these days. by Aaron Semler

Bohemia Interactive celebrates 15 years of Arma Over 10 million sold copies, special Arma sale today Prague, Czech Republic, June 22nd 2016 With the release of Arma 3 Apex on the horizon, Bohemia Interactive celebrates the 15th anniversary of the Arma series, which saw its first release on June 22nd 2001 in the form of Arma Cold War Assault (originally titled Operation Flashpoint*: Cold War Crisis). Since then, several Arma installments, alongside expansions and downloadable content, have followed. To date, the Arma series has sold over 10 million copies of games (DLCs not included). Marek Spanel, CEO and co-founder of Bohemia Interactive: “When we released our first Arma game in 2001, little could we know that it would start a successful line up of games and spin-off serious simulators. Fifteen years later, Bohemia Interactive continues to provide unique games to our creative communities. A special thanks goes out to all Arma players and content creators. We look forward to the Arma 3 Apex release and everything else that lies ahead in Arma’s future!” To further celebrate Arma’s 15th birthday, Bohemia Interactive has bundled 15 years of Arma for 15% of their current price (i.e. 85% discount, best deal ever), today only, exclusively on the Bohemia Store. This special package includes: Arma: Cold War Assault Arma: Gold Edition Arma 2 Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead Arma 2: British Armed Forces Arma 2: Private Military Company Arma 2: Army of the Czech Republic Arma 3 Arma 3 Karts DLC Arma 3 Helicopters DLC Arma 3 Marksmen DLC The regular price for this bundle of games is 114.39 EUR / 94.59 GBP / 141.89 USD, while today’s exclusive deal massively lowers the price to 17.16 EUR / 14.19 GBP / 21.28 USD. Known for its authentic combined arms gameplay, stunning large open terrains, as well as its support for content creation and modding, the Arma series has developed into one of the most popular military game franchises on PC. After the hit success of the first Arma in 2001, the studio took on various ambitious new projects, and was involved in establishing a successful spin-off business in serious gaming and simulations with its first game for training: VBS1. In 2005, Bohemia Interactive released its first console game Operation Flashpoint: Elite* for Xbox – followed by Arma in 2007, which marked the studio’s first full independent release without support from a major publisher. Arma 2 released in 2009, and remained a priority for several years after release, resulting in several DLC packs and the Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead expansion. This also lead into the mod sensation DayZ, created by Dean Hall, which took the entire gaming industry by surprise in 2012 and established a new game category. About half a year later, in 2013, Arma 3 paved the way for Bohemia Interactive’s open method of development, becoming one of the first titles to enter and graduate from the Steam Early Access program and selling 2.5 million copies to date. Arma 3 still continues to enjoy full support in the form of free platform updates and premium downloadable content, including the much-anticipated Arma 3 Apex expansion, which is scheduled for release on July 11th this year. For more information about Bohemia Interactive and the studio’s portfolio of games, please visit www.bistudio.com – and keep track of all the latest news by following Bohemia Interactive on Facebook and Twitter. *Operation Flashpoint® is a registered trademark of Codemasters

Arma 3 Apex releases on July 11th Prague, Czech Republic, June 13th 2016 Alongside a brand new trailer, which premiered during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2016, Bohemia Interactive today announced the release date for the much-anticipated Arma 3 Apex expansion. Launching worldwide on July 11th this year, Arma 3 Apex will bring players to the 100 km² South Pacific archipelago Tanoa, with a new arsenal of weapons and vehicles at their disposal, as well as additional armed forces, a co-op campaign, and more. Calling all troops to the front lines, Bohemia Interactive also announced that, as of today (almost one month before release), everyone who pre-ordered Arma 3 Apex has Sneak Preview Access to all of the expansion’s content, except for the co-op campaign. To install the Apex Sneak Preview build, you simply need to right-click on Arma 3 in your Steam Library, go to 'Properties', visit the 'BETAS' tab, and use the drop-down menu to select and install the Apex Sneak Preview build. This build represents a work-in-progress version and is not yet fully representative of the final Arma 3 Apex release. With its distinct geographical features and varied locations, Apex's South Pacific island archipelago of Tanoa introduces fresh opportunities for all types of combat operations. Making use of 13 new weapons (providing a mix of classic and near-future firearms), and 10 new vehicles (including new vehicle classes such as VTOL aircraft and LSVs), players can engage in authentic combat on a massive scale, where movement, shooting, and teamwork truly matter. The new 1-4 player co-op campaign sees players take on the role of NATO CTRG special operators, who are sent to Tanoa in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster, but quickly find themselves facing a far bigger threat than they bargained for. Arma 3 Apex is now available for pre-order with a 20% discount for 23.99 EUR / 19.99 GBP / 27.99 USD (regular price: 29.99 EUR / 24.99 GBP / 34.99 USD) on Steam and the Bohemia Store. Those who are new to Arma 3, but want to enlist for the complete experience at the best price, can choose to pick up the Arma 3 Apex Edition for 59.99 EUR / 44.99 GBP / 69.99 USD. For more information about the Apex expansion, please visit the official web page at www.arma3.com/apex – where you find a complete overview of its content and features – and take a look at the latest developer diary video.