The modern world can be a stressful place. Sometimes you just need to step back, take a break from it all, move to the country and start farming pumpkins on your grandfather’s old farm.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury of a secluded family estate to retire to when things get rough, but Stardew Valley might give you the next best thing to living out that fantasy.

Stardew Valley – a spiritual successor to the classic Harvest Moon series – was created entirely by a single developer, Eric Barone, and published by Chucklefish Games. Since its release for PC on Feb. 26, the game has sold more than half a million copies and has been one of the first games since Minecraft to gain such a tremendous following in such a short amount of time. The game’s sudden success has prompted Barone to rethink his plans for how he will continue developing the game after release. It has already prompted him to make major changes to the pacing and story elements within the game. The biggest addition that has been announced so far is an upcoming four-player co-op mode.

The game’s base mechanics borrow directly from the Harvest Moon series. You’ll spend much of your time growing seasonal crops, raising a variety of animals, fishing, foraging and fostering relationships with the various townsfolk. There is also a combat system where you can fight monsters in the local mine and a large amount of customization for both the player character and the farm itself. The game also has a much better user interface than Harvest Moon and isn’t bogged down by many of the other small things that turned people away from the series.

There are two main goals to work towards while playing. The first is to make your farm a success by earning large amounts of money and cleaning up the farm from its unruly state. The second is to restore the town’s ramshackle community center by collecting sets of items, like one of each crop from a specific season or each species of fish you can catch from a particular body of water. Alternatively, you can sell the building to the game’s main antagonist JojaMart, who will turn it into a warehouse instead.

The overall aesthetic is fairly cheerful with upbeat music and colorful artwork. The story also has a profoundly modern feel to it. For example, you can marry any of the ten potential marriage candidates, regardless of your gender or theirs, and many of the game’s subplots deal with surprisingly real-world issues, like the father of a family leaving to fight in a war.

One of the best parts of this game is the amazing amount of community support it has received. A huge variety of modifications are available already, including additional music, better character portraits and even a mod that turns all the animals in the game into Pokemon.

While the base game is very strong on its own, the best part of Stardew Valley might be what comes next.

Electronic Arts to shut down Darkspore servers, but some gamers fight the decision.

Video game publisher Electronic Arts will be officially shutting down its 2011 action RPG Darkspore next Monday, March 1. At some point since its release, the game was removed from all digital sales platforms, though owners of the game could still install and play the game without interference. The game requires an online connection to play, and without support from EA to host the servers it will become completely unplayable.

EA has developed a reputation in recent years for creating online-only games and then shutting them down only a few years afterwards (Battleforge, Battlefield Heroes). Along with its controversial practice of buying smaller game studios only to shut them down, this has caused much animosity towards EA among the gaming community.

Popular YouTuber Ross Scott has started an online movement to increase awareness of the game’s death and is attempting to reach out to EA’s upper management about the issue. Though Scott has no particular affinity for the game in question, he is upset over its loss as part of gaming culture. You can check out his video on the issue here.

Riot’s New League of Legends App

League of Legends developer Riot has released a free social app that allows players to stay connected with in-game friends on the go. So far the app only allows players to monitor their friends list, add new people to it, and talk one on one. But Riot has stated it wishes to add a variety of new features in the future, though no specific additions were mentioned. You can get the app for free on Android and iOS.

WoW guild Paragon quits raiding.

Finland’s longtime hardcore World of Warcraft raid team Paragon has decided to stop raiding and quit the running for the World First Kills in the game’s upcoming expansion, Legion, due to its dwindling roster of exclusively Finnish players. The guild has been a major competitor in many World First Kill races since the release of the game’s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

Paragon has often been considered an underdog because of its ability to stay competitive even given its small size, raiding with a 1o-man team instead of the more common 20- to 25-man teams. When faced with the choice to either play suboptimally or to open its ranks to international players, the guild decided it would not be worth the effort to continue.

The Star Wars franchise has spawned many thrilling sci-fi novels – Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy, James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis novel – but with the release of The Force Awakens, most of the pre-existing expanded universe media is no longer part of the canon storyline. To fill the void, several new Star Wars novels have premiered in the months before and after the release of the seventh movie.

These new novels manage to adapt contemporary issues to fit into the Star Wars universe. If you’ve ever wondered how the Galactic Empire feels about gay marriage, how rebel pilots deal with PTSD or how imperial soldiers rationalized the use of the Death Star to destroy an entire world, then these novels are for you. They also serve to identify some aspects of the Star Wars Legends media that can still be considered canon.Here are three of the biggest Star Wars New Canon novels and what they do for the series:

Courtesy of Wookiepedia

Star Wars: Aftermath, by Chuck Wendig

After the destruction of the second Death Star, many expected the Empire to fall apart, but things are rarely that simple. The death of The Emperor and Darth Vader has created a massive power vacuum within the Empire’s political structure and everyone from the most ambitious to the most incompetent is vying for a place at the top. Many of the Empire’s remaining heads, from Grand Moffs to the Emperor’s personal advisors, meet to discuss their next plan of action. Meanwhile, members of the Rebel Alliance try to piece their lives back together while still trying to fight the good fight.

The book makes several references to people and places in the Star Wars universe, many of which previously resided in an awkward state of limbo as part of the Star Wars Legends media. From casually mentioning the Nightsisters of Dathomir to tongue-in-cheek references to blue milk, the book manages to let fans of the old canon know they haven’t been forgotten about.

Courtesy of Wookiepedia

Star Wars: Lost Stars

Every child in the newly formed Galactic Empire wants to grow up to join the imperial navy to fly starships, fight terrorists, and bring peace to the galaxy. But eventually, they must face the grim truth that their Empire is a cruel illusion. Some remain loyal while others choose to fight for freedom. In the end, they’re all forced to fight their former friends, family, and lovers, with the fate of the entire galaxy on the line.

Lost Stars is like the Romeo and Juliet of Star Wars. Two children grow up to join the Imperial Academy, but when the horrors of the Empire come to light they end up on opposite sides of a great conflict. A major theme is how those who have been indoctrinated into the Empire try to justify war crimes like the destruction of Alderaan.

The book presents the events of the original movie trilogy from the Empire’s point of view and continues on until the Empire’s alleged destruction at the battle of Jakku, which will be explored in greater detail during the conclusion of the Aftermath trilogy.

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith, by Paul S. Kemp

Courtesy of Wookiepedia

Darth Vader is known throughout the galaxy as the Emperor’s unshakable enforcer, bringing the fist of the Empire down on any who would challenge his authority. Imperials officers hate him, storm troopers worship him and rebels fear him, and some just wonder what’s underneath that mask.

Lords of the Sith gives insight into the character of Darth Vader while he is still having doubts about the path that led him to the Dark Side. It explores the strange relationship shared by a Sith master and apprentice, one that will inevitably end with one destroying the other. It also explores the roots of the rebellion and how regular people stand up against the power of Dark Side. It goes a long way in helping understand how easy it was for the Empire to erase the Jedi and the Force from history.

The University of Oregon is rife with students sharing their work – whether they’re publishing original comics, highlighting the best of students’ creative writing, checking out campus’s most fashionable people or listening to narrated tales on KWVA.

Here are places you can submit the latest creative project you’ve been working on or get some inspiration from one of your peers.

Art Ducko magazine

How to submit: Email uocomics@gmail.com.
What to send: Student-drawn comics, essays and interviews with professionals in the comics industry.

Art Ducko is celebrating its fourth issue release from 6-8 p.m. this Friday at the Mills International Center.

Each issue’s cover art depicts an iconic pop culture image that’s been duck-ified. The most recent issue features Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, in which Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian have been redrawn as duck-billed humanoids. Art Ducko’s latest also contains an interview with comics publishing company Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, Inc. writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, managing editor Lauren Sankovitch and executive assistant Kit Cox about how to break into and land a job within the comics industry.

Alex Milshtein, Art Ducko’s founder and Editor in Chief, said the magazine aims to support the UO comics culture and offer a platform where students can publish original content.

The magazine was first published two years ago, and releases a new issue every term except for summers. It’s supported by ASUO, the UO English Department and the comics and cartoon studies minor.

Every issue is distributed for free in various locations around campus and online via the magazine’s official website, artduckomagazine.wordpress.com. The magazine is developing a subscription service for readers who live off-campus.

Specific formatting guidelines for a submission can be found on the English department’s website, in the “EUO” section of the undergraduate menu.

Dressed-Up Ducks website and Instagram
How to submit: Tweet your outfit to @dressedupducks on Twitter, or tag @dressedupducks on Instagram.
What to send: Photos of your outfits

Kelsey Bradshaw, a journalism and public relations graduate, created Dressed Up Ducks in February 2014.

Bradshaw had a penchant for recognizing the fashionable students around the UO campus, and her fixation soon evolved into Dressed Up Ducks. The online publication at dressedupducks.com is a self-described “street-style blog focusing on student fashion at the University of Oregon.”

“I saw a plethora of great style on campus, and wanted some way to capture it,” Bradshaw said.

Stories feature students who share their personal style, where they shop, how they dress for Eugene weather and who inspires their aesthetic. On Feb. 21, the site profiled local vintage thrift store Eugene Jeans, which recently celebrated its 19th year in business.

The publication is hiring new contributors like freshman Kate Morgan, who learned about the site when current editor Elinor Manoogian-O’Dell visited her media professions class to recruit.

“I had been fantasizing about working for Dressed Up Ducks since fall term,” said Morgan, who has followed the site on Instagram since IntroDUCKtion. ”I thought it was a super cool concept and I loved seeing the people and outfits at my future university.”

New content is released about twice a week online and on the Dressed Up Ducks Instagram and Twitter. The website, dressedupducks.com, includes longer articles and interviews with the people it spotlights.

Unbound literary arts magazine
What to submit: poems, art prints and short fiction stories
How to submit: Send work to unboundlitstaff@gmail.com. Submission guidelines can be found at the Unbound website. The deadline to submit for the next edition is March 4.

Founded in 2008 as part of a Robert D. Clark Honors College thesis project, Unbound started as an online publication before it expanded into print issue that’s released once every term. Since its inception, it has expanded both in size of staff and number of submissions from students. It can be found at the Unbound magazine box at the East 13th Avenue and University Street intersection, between Columbia and Friendly Halls, or online at unboundjournal.wordpress.com.

“Five minutes would get you a good look at the amazing student art submissions we have received this term,” said Unbound’s Editor in Chief Daryen Playford. “It might also give you a chance to read through some of the many short stories or poems.”

Unbound is hiring staff for the 2016-17 school year for editor positions for art, poetry and prose. Visit the Unbound website for more information on how to get involved with the staff.

You can find Unbound on Facebook and Instagram (@unboundlitmag).

In the Volume 9, Issue 1 edition of Unbound, Sarah Hovet’s poem “Two’s a Crowd” focuses on two people who meet to get tea; it defies the norm that student poetry needs to be depressing or pretentious to be profound. “Two’s a Crowd” is simple and bitingly clever: “Leaning forward she does confide; she could die for a cup of chai. And she’ll never tell you that you’re wrong, just not to steep the oolong overlong.”

Oregon Voice magazine
How to submit: For students looking for the best way to get involved, there are meetings every Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Peterson 107. They do accept rolling submissions from any enrolled UO student, which can be sent to oregonvoice@gmail.com.
What to send: Accepts both art and written work

Oregon Voice is a student-run humor arts and culture magazine open to submissions. It’s published once or twice a term. The description on its Facebook page says, “It represents the student voice in all its glorious whimsy. Womp.”

The magazine accepts submitted student work from art to opinion pieces. Issues usually center around themes like “Jam,” “Mean/Nice,” “Porn” and its most recent: “Ballistic.”

Oregon Voice will be tabling in the EMU on Friday, Feb. 26, passing out copies of the porn issue and promoting its current issue. This newest issue will be looking at things that are more eye-catching to readers like neon, Guy Fieri and guns. It will feature a Q&A with Thomas Tullis, who organized the gun raffle last term in the EMU.

“My favorite thing about it is we try to function as a platform for anyone’s creative work that they’re doing on campus, and to write stuff in their own voice,” said Isabel Zacharias, the Voice’s Editor in Chief. “It’s been a really fun publication because of that reason and the diversity of things we can publish.”

The porn issue featured an opinion-based column, “Girl on Girls: Porn’s Relationship with Feminism,” written from the perspective of a woman who was interested in porn at a young age and found there was hardly any real market for her.
This Oregon Life radio show
How to submit: Students can visit its Facebook page or email the producers at thisoregonlife@gmail.com.
What to submit: Personal anecdotes or stories that center around the program’s theme and can be read on-air

This Oregon Life is a radio show founded in fall 2013 based on the NPR program “This American Life,” hosted by Ira Glass. This Oregon Life tells stories about the local community and region around Eugene, each episode centered on a different theme.

Journalism student Franziska Monahan is the host and lead executive producer of This Oregon Life, but started out as a reporter, like much of the staff. She started in spring 2014 as a younger undergrad who wanted to explore radio but, like many SOJC students, “didn’t have an outlet other than DJing or sports.”

“[Our target audience is] probably the Eugene-Springfield demographic and the journalism school. Podcasting and storytelling is sort of a niche audience, so many of our listeners are probably in the j-school already,” Monahan said. “We’re creating content that we would want to listen to.”

You can tune into KWVA 88.1, or check out the This Oregon Life Soundcloud account to hear the episodes, which are released monthly.

The most recent episode, titled “Uncharted,” has two stories about UO students embarking on very different journeys – one story focuses on a girl who overcomes serious medical issues to continue her studies, and another features a student who spent her summer biking down the Pacific Coast.

XCOM 2 is the latest installment of the classic turn-based tactics series that started with XCOM: UFO Defense. It’s a sequel to the 2012 reboot XCOM: Enemy Unknown and is set 20 years after you lost the first game. That’s right: so many players lost their first playthrough of the game that the canon story of XCOM 2 is that Earth never stood a chance against the alien invaders. Instead of a top secret paramilitary defense force that is supplied and supported by the collective governments of the earth, you play a ragtag band of freedom fighters who can barely scrape together a full set of body armor – not that it would help much.

XCOM 2 is a wholesale improvement over its predecessor, XCOM: Enemy Within. The game is very similar to Enemy Within but is much more thematically engaging. You start with a squad of four soldiers, which can later be upgraded to six, and make your way across a semi-randomly generated map, stumbling upon enemies and desperately scoping out good cover. There are five character classes: Range, Grenadier, Sharpshooter, Specialist and Psi-Operative, the latter of which is unlocked later in the game.

The cautious crawl of the last game has been replaced with an ever-present sense of urgency that makes each mission feel like a desperate struggle to survive. Most missions have some sort of timed objective that incentivizes players to rush into the unknown and face whatever extra-terrestrial dangers lie within. To offset the need to move quickly, most missions will start with your soldiers concealed, meaning enemies will not immediately be on the lookout.

Instead of a secret underground base, XCOM operates out of a stolen alien hover-carrier called The Avenger. The game still has a base-building aspect like most of the previous titles though it is more consolidated. You will end up placing fewer facilities than in previous games, but deciding which facilities to build and where to put them is more important than ever.

An interesting addition to the game is the new loot drop system. Enemies will occasionally drop valuable items, which are usually enhancements for your soldiers’ weapons or components needed to make entirely new ones. Each of your individual soldiers can put a variety of different attachments on their weapons, such as a scope that will enhance the soldier’s aim or a repeater that has a small chance of instantly killing an enemy when hit.

Another highlight of the game is the new soldier customization options. Players can customize a soldier’s gender, appearance, country of origin, voice, demeanor, and even write a short bio about them. Randomly generated characters will now come with a small amount of personality as they each look unique and come with a basic backstory. Players can also import character packs made by others or export their own for others to use. There’s nothing quite like having the casts of your favorite television show team up to fight an alien invasion.

XCOM 2 keeps to its roots by remaining a real challenge. It captures the theme of desperately trying to win a war where you’re outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered at almost every instance. You’ll laugh, you’ll rage, you’ll miss point blank shots, you’ll hit when you know you didn’t deserve to. That’s XCOM, baby.

GameTrailers has shut down after 13 years in business

Video game magazine and website GameTrailers has shut down after more than 13 years. The website posted the announcement on its Twitter account and Facebook page on Monday, Feb. 8.

The majority site’s staff members later hosted a Twitch stream of Grand Theft Auto 3, the first game the website’s staff captured footage of, back in 2002. The stream was mainly a cheerful goodbye to the website’s many fans, and few details were provided about the decision to close. The staff had only been informed of the closure four hours beforehand and were not involved in the decision.

Though nothing was confirmed, many staff members implied they may continue creating content elsewhere in the future.

Riot retires the Dominion game mode from League of Legends.

League of Legends is an immensely popular game and is dominant in the modern MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) genre, but not every aspect of the game sees the same amount of play by gamers. Riot has announced that they will be disabling the Dominion game mode and removing the Crystal Scar map from the game effective Feb. 22.

The game mode is only routinely played by less than 0.5 percent of the game’s active player base, many of which Riot is concerned may be bots. After analyzing the costs and effort required to maintain an additional game mode and map for the game, Riot ultimately decided it was simply not worth the investment.

As a consolation to the minority of players who still actively participate in the Dominion game mode, Riot has created a special icon that will be only given to those who have won 100 or more matches in the mode.

Blizzard considers giving out free copies of World of Warcraft with Warcraft movie tickets.

Duncan Jones’s Warcraft movie has generated a lot of hype from long-time fans of the series and newcomers alike since its initial announcement. With the barrage of new trailers and merchandise already hitting store shelves, it’s no surprise that Blizzard is looking to capitalize on the film’s popularity. What better way than to give out a free copy of the game that made the franchise so popular in the first place, World of Warcraft?

As confirmed by a Blizzard admin on Reddit, Blizzard is considering giving away a free copy of the game and a month of subscription time with every ticket to the movie, roughly a $55 value. Though the final decision has not yet been made, this may be part of a plan to bring the subscriber numbers of World of Warcraft up from the losses that followed its most recent expansion, Warlords of Draenor.

The player base of Blizzard’s powerhouse MMORPG has been steadily declining since its all-time high of 12 million concurrent subscribers in 2012. The game currently rests at about 5.5 million subscribers, the lowest number since the release of the game’s first expansion Burning Crusade. Though this may seem like a substantial loss, Warcraft is still one of the most popular games in the world and firmly holds the title of the most profitable game of all time, with over $10 billion in profits since release.

UO Think.Play hosted the second annual Oregon Games Studies conference on Saturday, Feb. 6, where the group spent the day having serious discussions about video games and the complex culture that has grown around the medium. The conference ran from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and was hosted in Education 176 on the University of Oregon campus.

“It was a huge improvement over last year in a lot of ways,” said UO Think.Play member Dante Douglas of this year’s conference. “Everyone got to talk and was lively. Attendance was also higher.”

The conference’s first panel started at noon and was hosted by Douglas with special guests Kahlief Adams, host of the Spawn on Me podcast, and Austin C. Howe, host of the Critical Switch podcast and creator of a series of academic essays that examine the narratology of video games.

The panel discussed the many effects that gaming has had on our culture and the ways with which our culture is reflected and preserved through gaming. Some specific topics that were discussed include the application of games as a gateway into the tech and science industries, the representation of consumerism and imperialism culture in games and narrative integrity of writing in games.

The second panel examined the way that games are able to represent romance in a unique manner due to their interactive nature. The panel was hosted by UO Think.Play member Ana Lind with guest speakers Sarah Buck, an artist and creator of the upcoming dating sim Space Cat Boyfriend and Nina Freeman, a game developer for Fullbright Studios and creator of the game Cibele. The guest speakers talked about the unique way that video games allow players to experience romantic storytelling, but also criticised games, particularly those in the otome game genre, for not using said potential.

At 2 p.m. the conference broke for a catered lunch and a showcase of local indie games from various guest speakers and attendees. Tegan Valo, a UO computer science major, brought a game he created for a game jam, Sticky Space, a four-player space-shooter that involves shooting random objects onto your opponents to slow them down. Chris Harback of Beardo Games, a Portland-based indie game developer, brought their upcoming kissing simulator game Smooth Operator, which will be released on iOS Thursday, Feb. 11. Cowboy Color Games from Eugene also brought their games Chargeshot and Sumo Puckii. Several other games from speakers and attendees were also available to play over the course of the break.

Austin C. Howe and Aidan Grealish followed this panel discussion; Howe presented one of his academic essays, “Masculinity in Final Fantasy,” which explored the masculine traits of two popular characters from the series – Cloud Strife and Squall Leonheart – and how their stoic demeanor affected their interpersonal relationships and mental health. Grealish then went on to give her presentation, on ruin.life.tactics, which are various methods used by unsavory internet users to effectively ruin the lives of their victims through the exposure of real life information and anonymous threats. She focused particularly on the use of these tactics on women during the #Gamergate controversy.

The final panel of the day was on independent game development, with Nina Freeman, Chris Harbak and Kate Thomas of Beardo Games, and Laura E. Hall, manager of a real space escape game. The discussion focused on the unique way that indie game developers conceive game ideas. The guest speakers highlighted the great opportunities presented during game various game jams and talked about the struggles that one might face trying to create a game while also working a full-time job.

For those that missed the conference but are interested in the content of the discussion, UO Think.Play will post videos of the individual panels and presentations to YouTube within the following week.

UO Think.Play (whom we’ve profiled before) will host the second annual Oregon Games Studies Conference this Saturday, Feb. 6. on the University of Oregon campus. The conference will take place in Education 176 and will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The event will consist of several panels, discussions, and activities regarding video games, game culture, and the role games play in our society.

The conference will start with a meet-and-greet followed by two panels and a lunch break, during which there will be a showcase of games developed by attending speakers. Afterwards, there will be several more panels before the event concludes. Free catering will be provided at certain points throughout the day.

“It’s going to be a day of talk and games,” said Nate Boyd, a computer science major and a member of the Think.Play steering committee. “Hopefully, we’ll have some games from around the area and from students to show off.”

Some notable guests will be Nina Freeman, an independent game developer and a member of Fullbright Studios; CJ Pascoe, a University of Oregon professor and Director of Undergraduate Sociology; and Kahlief Adams, owner and host of the Spawn On Me podcast.

Planned panels include: an independent game development panel, which features game developers from Eugene and Portland talking about their experiences in the game industry; a Games and Multimedia panel, which focuses on streaming, Let’s Play videos, and YouTube gaming culture; and a Games in Society panel, which will explore how games represent systems of power and oppression in our society.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to talk to people from outside of the university about the subject of video games,” said Dante Douglas, another member of the UO Think.Play steering committee.

The conference is free and open to the public provided they adhere to the event’s official code of conduct, which primarily prohibits harassment of any kind at UO Think.Play events. Drugs, alcohol, and weapons of any kind are also strictly prohibited.

Much of the event will be recorded, streamed and archived by the members of UO Think.Play, so that those who are unable to attend will still be able to experience the discussions online.

UO Think.Play is an ASUO-recognized student organization on campus that hosts weekly meetings to discuss games and game culture from an academic perspective. You can learn more about UO Think.Play from our profile coverage here or from their official Facebook page.

Mighty No. 9 delayed until spring 2016

Mighty No. 9, the highly-anticipated spiritual successor to the classic Megaman series, has been delayed for the third time due to difficulties porting the game to various gaming platforms and with in-game bugs. The release date has been moved from Feb. 9th to sometime in spring 2016. The game was originally slated for a September 2015 release.

The game originally raised $4 million in its initial crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter and met the goals of several additional campaigns to add extra content, such as extra stages and an antagonist rival character.

Reactions from the game’s many backers have so far been mixed, with some calling for a refund and others urging the developers to take their time to assure the quality of the game.

GoG.com has started selling in-development games.

Until recently GoG.com did not allow games that were still under development to be sold in their online store. That changed with the release of five early access indie games this week after apparently being handpicked by GoG.com for their good quality and excellence.

The first batch of GoG.com’s new “games in development” titles are Project Zomboid, Starbound, Curious Expedition, Ashes of the Singularity and Terra Tech. To celebrate the launch, each of the aforementioned games is on sale for varying discounts.

For now, GoG.com is only allowing independently developed games that have met their quality standards to be published through their online store. To back up their quality claims, they are offering a full no-questions-asked refund policy for up to 14 days after the game has been purchased.

Heroes of the Dorm 2016 registrations are open.

Blizzard Entertainment has officially opened registration for the second of its collegiate eSports events, “Heroes of the Dorm,” to college students across the United States and Canada. The championship prize will be up to $75,000 for each member of the winning team to assist with their college education. Teams will consist of five players and one substitute, who will compete in Blizzard’s MOBA game, Heroes of the Storm.

The event will be broadcast live on ESPN, Twitch and YouTube. The “Heroic Four” finals event and the Grand Finals will take place in front of a live audience, while all preliminary events will be live-stream only. The top 64 registered teams will be eligible to compete in this year’s event.

Blizzard is also offering a bracket challenge in which fans from all over the world predict which team will ultimately win the competition. To make things more interesting, $10,000 will be rewarded to whoever has the most accurate prediction.

Registration will remain open until Feb. 18th.

Video games have made tremendous strides by becoming a serious medium for storytelling and artistic expression in recent years. But striking up a conversation about how Undertale or The Last of Us is a masterpiece of storytelling with your literature professor might still make for an awkward situation. Luckily, if you’re a local student who is passionate about games or gaming culture, a campus group called UO Think.Play might be just what you’re looking for.

UO Think.Play is an ASUO-recognized student group under University of Oregon’s English department that is devoted to the academic discussion and analysis of games and modern gaming culture. Meetings and events are organized by a steering committee of six students who lead discussions and schedule keynote speakers for the group’s activities.

Each session is usually led by one of the steering committee members or by faculty members like Tara Fickle, a member of the UO English department. The group also occasionally has guest speakers, such as Dr. Todd Harper, a professor from the University of Baltimore who gave a presentation on body representation in video games via Skype.

Discussion topics vary from elements of the games themselves to how games reflect and affect modern culture. From a cultural perspective, a discussion might explore the depiction of romance, women or the LGBT community within games.

“We’re not just here to play Smash Bros.,” said Nate Boyd, a computer science major and member of the Think.Play steering committee. “We’re here to have a thoughtful deep conversation about this medium.”

The format of the meetings generally starts with a focused presentation of the week’s topic, which is then followed by a more casual group-wide discussion. Even though the members of UO Think.Play strive to take an academic look at games, they try to not be too serious about a medium that is based primarily around having fun.

UO Think.Play hopes to one day evolve into a legitimate game studies program on the UO campus, similar to the comic studies program that has already been established. For now, the members of the steering committee are working to create a sturdy infrastructure and make connections with professional authorities on gaming culture.

“A lot of this last year has been building infrastructure,” said Dante Douglas, another member of the UO Think.Play steering committee. “Now we have a charter, rules and people that are part of the faculty that we can talk to.”

UO Think.Play originally started meeting in 2009, though the group only became recognized by the ASUO last year. Although Think.Play primarily focuses its discussions on video games, gamers of all kinds are encouraged to come and participate in the weekly discussions. The group also puts together gaming events like the Think.Play Gaming Triathalon, where attendees compete in several duck-themed games for prizes.

The group currently meets every Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. in Education 176. Meetings are open to the public.