Study: Men that harass women online suck at games (and life)

Researchers think that they’ve worked out why certain men abuse women over the internet: because they suck… at games. According to a study by Michael Kasumovic and Jeff Kuznekoff, the most vocal abusers of women online are the ones most threatened by their presence in the digital sphere. The short explanation for this is because less-skilled men have the most to lose playing games against a woman, thanks to the perceived social stigma of “losing to a girl.” Rather than risk this supposed humiliation, they’d much rather create a toxic environment that’s outright hostile to newcomers.

Now, like any scientific study with an eye-catching conclusion, there are some caveats to consider before you send us some angry emails. For a start, the journal that the piece was published to, PLOS One, is an open access service that operates under a pay to publish model. That means that only the method used by the team would have been peer-reviewed, so nobody can claim this as an immutable fact. In addition, the test uses recorded audio from anonymous gamers with only presumed consent, so there’s a potential ethical issue that has been glossed over. Still, this is one of those instances where the conclusion at least makes some sense, but there’s plenty more research to be done yet, folks.

The researchers broke down their findings in an editorial on The Conversation, saying that “bullying is more common in the presence of strong hierarchies.” There can’t be many more obvious hierarchies than the online leaderboard of a video game, so the team applied evolutionary logic to the multiplayer arenas of Halo 3. It’s believed that the alpha males of yore can now be equated with the highest-scoring players in the game, and you the relationship with the less-skilled players follows the same principles.

In the experiment, Miami University’s Jeff Kuznekoff played Halo 3 online using a (pre-recorded) male voice for responses. As he rose to the top of the leaderboard, he found that the lower-ranked males behaved more subserviently and offered comments of praise over the in-game chat. Then, he repeated the experiment using a female voice, and the responses from the lower-ranked players grew increasingly negative. By comparison, equally successful male players at the top of the tree were also positive and encouraging to their female teammates.

“The take-home seems to be that, just like bullies, the men most likely to have their position in a hierarchy usurped by a woman turned out to be meaner.”

All of this, it seems, is down to the fact that our brains are still hard-wired to want to look good in front of others so that we can attract a mate. Even though you’re hardly going to be hooking-up with your online Halo 3 teammates, it seems that humans can’t resist the urge to showboat in the hope of asserting dominance over others.

As such, men are so terrified of being emasculated that they’d rather create a hostile environment for women than let them join the field of play. In addition, higher-status male players who see the successful female as an equal are more supportive because they feel a sense of equality with them. The team feels that this sort of hostile behavior will continue as long as there’s a cultural belief that “losing to a girl” is a notable failure.

Filed under: Gaming, Internet

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Via: Washington Post

Source: PLOS One, The Conversation, Kasumovic Lab

‘The Last of Us’ soundtrack is getting a gorgeous vinyl release

Somehow The Last of Us didn’t make it onto our list of favorite video game soundtracks, but fret not because it is getting an extremely pretty vinyl release. This Wednesday, Mondo will drop the four 180-gram LP boxed set featuring art by Jay Shaw and the inimitable Olly Moss at a random time. Modern Vinyl says that it’ll contain not only Gustavo Santaolalla’s score, but also ambient cues from the game in addition to music from the Ellie-focused Left Behind expansion episode. The pricing will likely make thrift-minded folks choke a bit — $75, all said — but given the quality of Mondo’s work in general, this is probably going to be a really nice release. It’ll almost assuredly sell out incredibly quickly and hit collector’s item status in short order, too. Should you want in, your best bet is to keep an eye on the art-minded reseller’s Twitter feed come hump day.

THE LAST OF US 4XLP with artwork by @ollymoss & @ironjaiden will go on sale this Wednesday! http://t.co/3FfDUbOqYw pic.twitter.com/O0SHzdDT2g

– MONDO (@MondoNews) July 20, 2015

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Via: Modern Vinyl

Source: Mondo News

EA puts women on the cover of ‘FIFA 16’ for the first time

Back in May, EA announced that FIFA 16 would feature 12 national women’s soccer teams, making it the first major sports franchise to focus on women’s sports. Today marks another milestone: FIFA 16 is now also the company’s first major sports title to feature a female athlete on its cover. Three of them, actually — depending on where you live.

It’s a step forward for women’s representation in gaming, but we kind of knew it was coming: When EA announced that Lionel Messi would grace the game’s cover, it said it would be adding additional players to regional covers — and some of the candidates were women. Now we know the final lineup: US buyers will see Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan running alongside Messi; in Canada, Morgan will be replaced by local favorite Christine Sinclair and Stephanie Catley will grace the cover in Australia.

These three women aren’t just some of the most recognizable players in their league; they’re also teammates — they all currently play for the Portland Thorns, professionally. Now if only EA could make its star players look a little less awkwardly photoshopped on its cover art, we’d be living in a better world.

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Via: USA Today

You’ll soon be able to turn your sofa into a 4D theme park ride

Buzz Lightyear is tearing around on his jetpack in Toy Story 2, but I’m not watching passively. Every time he banks left, my chair banks left. When he accelerates and climbs, I tilt back. When he finally touches down on a strange planet, my seat drops with a bump. No, I’m not at a theme park or “4D”-equipped theater — I’m sitting on a couch. Specifically, I’m at the Paris headquarters of Immersit, a company that wants to turn your trusty sofa into an honest-to-Dieu ride simulator. I got to take a spin on its latest prototype, and spoiler: It was pretty cool. But would anybody be willing to pay the price of a decent laptop to get 4D at home?

Company CEO Valentin Fage certainly hopes so, and told me that there’s nobody out there trying to sell affordable motion sims. “We wanted to build a product that appeals to a wide variety of users … families who want to watch Disney movies with their kids, cinema lovers and gamers who want an enhanced experience.”

Immersit CEO Valentin Fage

Conceptually, Immersit’s product is similar to theater systems like the 4DX. The third-generation prototype (arriving in August) consists of four pneumatic, air-pump activated “feet” that sit under the legs or corners of your sofa or love seat. They’re capable of moving independently up to 10cm (four inches), creating pitch (back and forth), roll (side to side) and heave (up and down) motion, along with vibration. The final system will support up to 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds), easily handling the weight of a couch with four people seated.

A central control module receives “motion code” commands from a laptop or tablet via WiFi to operate the feet in sync with a movie or game, either actively or passively. As with a 4DX-style ride sim, motion-control artists must pre-program any Blu-ray or DVD movie for it to actively sync up with Immersit. For my demo, the company had pre-encoded action sequences from Jurassic Park and Toy Story 2, making the couch move in time with the action. If a movie isn’t actively encoded, Immersit can still move your chair passively by matching movement with the audio soundtrack.

As for games, it’s simple. The system is synced up with your controller, so that when you turn or move forward in, say, a driving game, your chair will pitch and bank to match. If the controller vibrates, the chair will buzz. I tried it with EA’s Xbox 360 F1 game, and the couch pitched back and forth during acceleration and braking, while banking along with turns.

So how was it? Surprisingly good. I know that 4D theaters are gimmicky as hell, but I’ve always loved ride sims like the Back to the Future and Simpsons 3D rides at Universal’s theme park. You can dial up Immersit’s travel and speed, or turn it down for a milder experience. The maximum amount of motion during the roller-coaster ride, Buzz Lightyear sequence and gaming demos was too weak for my taste. But Fage told me that the next prototype would not only respond more quickly than the second-generation version, but also have a greater range of travel as well. (Hopefully it won’t be so powerful that it’ll break your couch, which is definitely not designed for that.) In addition, it will supposedly operate silently, unlike the prototype I tried.

I did enjoy the movie sequences with 4D motion enhancement, but the quality of the active programming varied. It was best during swooping chase or flying scenes with lots of banking, turning and acceleration. At other times, the experience was uneven and occasionally distracting. However, Fage again assured me that the programming would improve before it goes on sale.

I liked Immersit for gaming. If you’re playing a driving game like Forza Horizon or F1, why not make it more dynamic? It made me want to try it in flying sims, FPS games and anything else where more immersion is better. Marry it with an Oculus-type virtual reality (VR) device? Why not! Full VR realism combined with dynamic motion sounds like a natural match, assuming motion sickness isn’t an issue.

Immersit will launch its 4D motion sim to the public on Kickstarter in September. So far, the company hasn’t locked down the price, but Fage figures it’ll be the same as a good laptop, around $800 to $1,200. A home theater or VR buff with means probably wouldn’t think twice about dropping such a sum on their setup. But what if you’re not rich?

Immersit has the most potential for gaming, but that’s a heck of a lot of money for a gaming accessory. On the plus side, there’s no other product that can do what it does for anything close to that amount. But will enough people want one to make it a success? That’s certainly very debatable. I doubt that there are tons of people who are crazy about 4D, so a lot will depend on the price and how well the final product works. We’ll get a lot better idea about that when the third-generation prototype is unveiled next month.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Peripherals

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Engadget UK giveaway: win a gaming gear bundle courtesy of SteelSeries

Bingeing on Vitamin D, footy in the park and lazy afternoons whiled away in pub beer gardens are what summer’s all about. But sometimes, retreating to a cool, darkened room for a guilty gaming fix is just the ticket. And because we don’t want your third-degree sunburns on our conscience, we’ve giving away a raft of gaming gear that should keep you glued to a screen and safely sheltered from those dastardly UV rays. Thanks to our friends at SteelSeries, we’ve got no less than three gaming goodybags up for grabs, which each include one of the company’s Apex M800 programmable, mechanical keyboards, Rival optical mice, Siberia V3 LED-laden headsets and Stratus XL wireless controllers (compatible with iOS/OS X). Basically, every peripheral you might need to wait out the summer in gaming heaven. As always, UK readers can enter the competition up to three times via the Rafflecopter widget below, but before you inevitably start clicking, just breeze through the rules real quick, would ya?

• Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
• Contest is open to all residents of the UK, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winners will be chosen randomly. Three (3) winners will receive one (1) gaming bundle.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
• This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. SteelSeries and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
• The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
• Entries can be submitted until July 24th at 11:59PM GMT. Good luck!

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

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Source: SteelSeries

‘Street Fighter V’ will give you free extras if you earn them

For most of the Street Fighter series’ history, you’ve had to pay for significant new content. Want to get those sweet new characters? Buy the Super Ultra EX Plus Alpha Turbo Championship edition. You won’t have to go through that rigamarole with Street Fighter V, though. Capcom is promising that any post-launch SFV material will be earnable for free, in-game — accrue enough “Fight Money” and that brawler will be yours. You can still use real cash if you want more content without putting in additional play time, but you’re no longer forced to splurge.

This economic aspect won’t show up until later in SFV‘s beta testing, and it’s not clear just how much effort you’ll have to put in to unlock content at no charge. Here’s hoping that it isn’t a grind, like you often see in free-to-play games. Either way, this could be a refreshing change from the fighting game world’s recent tendency to charge for extras. You won’t have to purchase whole ‘new’ titles just to compete at tournaments, and you only have to get the content that interests you. Ideally, this will keep the SFV community intact for as long as the core game remains current — and that’s good for both Capcom (which doesn’t split its fan base) as well as casual and cost-conscious players.

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Source: PlayStation Blog