Mom's Minute

Art from the Assassin's Creed Art Exhibit 

You may have heard about the Smithsonian Museum's Art of Video Games traveing tour.  But did you know that the video game Assassins Creed is touring with its own art show?  Ubisoft's Art of the Assassins exhibit is currently in New York after a nation's spanning tour.

Art displayed at the Art of the Assassins Video Game Exhibit

The exhibit is showcasing the highly anticipated release of Assassin's Creed III video game, and  debuted October 10, 2012 at The Hole in New York's SoHo neighborhood.

The traveling exhibit premiered in Los Angeles in August 2012, and will conclude at the end of October, 2012 in New York.  There will be an auction at the conclusion of the exhibit to give interested buyers a chance to bid on and own some of these original works of art.

Scene from Assassin's Creed III

If you are in the New York area, you may also want to experience the Assassisn's Creed III video game at the Comic Con, October 11-14, 2012 at Manhattan's Jacob Javits Center.

Ubisoft's Assassin Creed III video game, itself, will be released on November 18, 2012 and will be playable on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 as well as the WII U and will launch November 20, 2012 for the PC.

Assassin's Creed DLC Schedule Read more.

Assassin's Creed Trilogy Read More

Assassin's Creed one of Top 5 Video Games Read More

James Bond 007 for the Atari - 1983

If you saw the trailer for or heard about  the latest upcoming James Bond 007 movie, Skyfall,  you may be curious as to what the video game industry has to offer.   It probably comes as no surprise to you that James Bond video games have been around for some time now.  However, the first one of note may be James Bond 007  for the Atari 1983 which was basically a side scrolling game.

GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64 -  1997

Jump ahead a few years  to 1997 and you have the James Bond Nintendo 64 video game (GoldenEye 007)  that revolutionized the first person shooter genre by pioneering how sniper weapons work. Some say that GoldenEye 007 set the standard for multiplayer matches long before Halo and Call of Duty.

Some other James Bond video games worth a shout out are  007: Everything or Nothing released in 2003 and 007: From Russia with Love in 2005.   Electronic Arts went retro in this game which  followed the actions in the 1957 novel and 1963 film of the same name.  In fact, in order to show a touch of realism, the video game used Sean Connery's voice as well as his likeness.

007: Legends for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - 2012

Fast forward to the present, and you have the current pending release of 007:  Legends.  Interesting enough, 007: Legends will take you back to some of the past James Bond movies where you will have six different missions to accomplish.

 If you compare the latest rendering of the James Bond video game by Activision, it's clear that the James Bond video game franchise is evolving and getting better with time.

007 Legends by Activision has a release date of October 16, 2012, and will be playable on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

James Bond 007 Legends Release Date Read More

Ohio State University's band Pac Man formation

Ohio State University's creative 10/6/2012 video game inspired halftime show has gone viral  on youtube with over 6 million hits as of this printing.  The marching band with its intricate formations of video games was a crowd pleaser. The 225 brass and percussion players created images of video game characters  such as Super Mario Bros. and Pokemon.  Of course the half time show would not be complete without a formation showing the popular classic video game, Pac Man.

Ohio State University's Super Mario Bros. formation

The nine-minute show also included impressive moving formations for Halo, Space Invaders and Tetris.

Moving horse representing the noble steed in the Legend of Zelda video game

 The horse formation was a sight to behold with the large horse moving not only its legs, but also  changing its position on the field.

The grand finale involved a formation showing Pac Man being captured by a ghost and the band forming the words, "Game Over."

in addition to this amazing video game performance of the band at half time, the Ohio State University football team itself went on to win against Nebraska with a score of  63 - 38.

Tekken Tag Tournament

Did your favorite new release video game make the top ten? From the bottom, here's the list of the top ten selling recently released video games as reported by VGChartz in the Washington Post.  The time frame is from the week ending September 1, 2012 and runs through the week ending September 22, 2012.  The list is categorized by gaming systems, so some video game titles may appear more than once.

10.  NHL 13 (PS3) -- Hit a franchise record sales worldwide, with 33,000 units sold during its release week

9.  Tekken Tag Tournament (PS3) (Pictured above) - 52,000 units sold first week of release.

8.  NHL 13 (Xbox 360) - 76,000 units sold since release date.

Borderlands 2

7.  Borderlands 2 (PC) - 110,000 units sold during its launch week.

6.  Borderlands 2 (PS3) - 287,000 units sold throughout its release week

5.  New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS) - 400,000 copies sold since its July Release 

4.  Guild Wars 2 (PC) - More than 393,000 sold during its debut week

3. Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360) - 613,000 units sold during release week

Madden NFL 13

2.  Madden NFL 13 (PS3) - Set record during its launch week and sold 724,000 since its release

1.  Madden NFL 13  (Xbox 360) - 877,000 units sold since its release date of August 28, 2012

As shown above and according to VGChartz, Madden NFL 13 for the Xbox 360 was the top seller for the period -- coming in at No. 1.

The points currency system will stay for Xbox 360  Live for now.

If you are accustomed to using Microsoft points, now is as good a time as any to get used to not having them available.  Microsoft is phasing out its points currency system used for the Xbox 360.  Currently, there is no change to Xbox 360 Live; however, that change may be coming soon as well.

Points  system to be phased out for the Xbox 360

With the launch  of  Windows 8 on October 26, 2012, Microsoft will be phasing out its propriatory points currency  system and will replace it with the standard monetary transaction system for the Xbox 360.  It is expected that the change will take place later for Xbox 360 Live accounts.

Microsoft Points Currency System

The points system has been around since the Xbox 360 video game system was introduced in 2005. The reason for the change is Microsoft is streamlining its new operating system across all its properties including the Xbox 360, PC and windows phone to offer you seamless service.

The good news is when the monetary system replaces the points system, you will not have to contend with left-over points that may have been useless until you purchased another block of points.