Torment: Tides of Numenera, the sequel to popular Planetscape: Torment, set a record for video games earlier this week, raising nearly $4.2 million on Kickstarter.

The sum was more than quadruple the funding goal by developer inXile Entertainment. Of course, this pales in comparison to the more than $8.5 million raised for new “console” system OUYA, another a Kickstarter success story.

Still, the Torment crowd-funding record is sure to be short lived, especially if the game is a commercial success. In that case, both developers and crowd-funders are likely to jump in with even deeper commitments to other large-scale games in development.

Follow

HopeLabs developed a video game designed for teenagers and young adults with cancer. In the game, players navigate within the human body — using violent video game tactics — to target cancer cells, infections, and side-effects of treatment.

http://www.hopelab.org/innovative-solutions/re-mission%E2%84%A2/

The game is touted as one of a number of uses of video game violence with positive outcomes, contrasted sharply to other concerns often heard in the media. Discussed in one article that was part of a 2010 American Psychological Association journal special edition on the effects of video game violence, Re-Mission was reported to have increased self-efficacy, treatment adherence, and knowledge of cancer by those who played the game.

http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/gpr-14-2-68.pdf (see p 77)

The APA special edition was overall quite critical of research that suggests an otherwise direct link between video game violence and real-world violence. A discussion of the special edition’s findings, and public links to all the articles in it, can be found here:

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2010/06/violent-video-games.aspx

Follow

Nancy Pelosi: Video Games are Not the Reason for Violence in America (Huffington Post): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/10/nancy-pelosi-video-games_n_2657169.html

Follow