Mom's Minute

Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City release date is March 20, 2012

This mature rated game, playable on the Xbox 360 and PS 3 is a third person shooter.  The action centers around zombies and bio-organic weapons as you compete against the other team's squad to tackle a third, unpredictable element that exists only in the Resident Evil universe.

Even though Resident Evil Operation Racoon City release date is March 20, 2012, you can pre-order the game now and get bonuses.

Here are the  bonuses you will receive if you pre-order the game.

Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City pre-order bonuses:

--Power Weapon Pack which consists of the anti-material rifle, and the combat shotgun weapons.

--USS Costume Pack which includes alternative costumes for Vector, Lupo, Bertha, Four Eyes, Spectre and  Beltway for a total of 6 costumes.

If you purchase the Limited Edition Resident Evil Operation Racoon City from Best Buy, you will receive the above bonus content.  The code will be in the package.

The Limited Edition video game comes in a steelbook case with exclusive art, a stylized foil sleeve, umbrella security service patch and eight bonus weapons.

The specific rating for the Resident Evil Operation Racoon City video game is Mature 17+.

Contestants usually bring their sleeping bag to the event.

Time is of essence as the contest begins to create the most interesting and exciting video game in 48 hours.

Starting this weekend, over two dozen tech savy video game players will participate in the Global Game Jam. The competition takes place in Rockville, Maryland and began at 6 p.m.  Friday, January 27, 2012 and will run until 6 p.m. Sunday, January 29, 2012.  The location is Camille Kendall Academic Center at the Universities of Shady Grove.

Here is a graphic for the contest.

The contestants are divided into design teams and told the secret theme when the contest starts --  to ensure no one is working on the game beforehand.

The participants will get a pep talk from Bruce Nesmith of Bethesda Softworks who is the lead designer of the award winning video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Attendance is free and open to the public.

Global Game Jam is an annual event with last year's theme being extinction.

Soulcalibur V will be released on January 31, 2012

Soulcalibur V, published by Namco Bandai, is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on January 31, 2012 and in Europe on February 3, 2012.

Soulcalibur V is the sixth installment of the fighting video game developed by Project Soul and is playable on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.

The first Downloadable Code (DLC) will be available during the European launch  on February 3, 2012 and will consist of custom outfits, face paints and wigs.

Soucalibur V Scene

The next DLC is to be released on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2012. With this DLC you will be able to get kiminos, face paint and wigs.

The third set of DLC is scheduled for February 28, 2012 where face paint and camouflage will be available.

Along with the DLC, Soulcalibur V will also feature music tracks from the video game's back catalogues.

Change in strategy for Netflix on video game rentals

On October 10, 2011, less than a month after its announcement to begin renting video games under the name of Qwikster, Netflix nixed the idea in order to keep both its DVD and streaming business together. At that time the idea of video game rentals was still "up in the air."

However, during Netflix's fourth quarter earnings call on January 26, 2012, CEO Reed Hasting announced the company has no plans to enter the video game rental market.

Netflix would have faced stiff competition from other video game rental companies including Blockbusters, Gamefly, Redbox and others.

Video game rental market is open for new business entrants/competitors

Source:  WSJ Market Data Group

With a substantial decrease in its stock amidst customer complaints, it is no surprise that Netflix would abandon the idea of video game rentals.

With most video game rental customers seemingly unsatisfied with the current services available --  the field is left wide open for upstarts or other companies to enter and compete in what could be a lucrative video game rental market. 

Scholarships for women interested in video game design are available

Many companies offer scholarships for women interested in video game design.  Such companies include Sony Online Entertainment and Scholarship America as well as  the Vancouver Film School.

Sony's scholarship is called Gamers in Real Life (G.I.R. L.).  

The Vancouver Film School scholarship is in its fourth year and is offered during the Video Game Design Expo.

The head  of  Video Game Design  at the  Vancouver Film School, Dave Warfield, stated women adds a new perspective, creativity and their passion to video game design reflective of how gaming has changed and expanded.

The VFS scholarship lasts one year and is worth approximately $49,000.

Past graduates of the program have worked on such games as Deus Ex.  Human Revolution, Dead Rising 2, Prototype 2 and Star Wars:  The Old Republic.