Day of Cease Fire planned for Dec. 21 to support Sandy Hook families

By Anthony John Agnello December 18, 2012

Image used with permission by copyright holder

There is no good way to pause and share support with those who lost life and loved ones during the Friday shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Everything, whether it’s a moment of silence or a promise of solidarity in the face of violence, is not enough. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, though. The health and fitness-centric Gamer Fit Nation and its CEO Antwand Pearman are trying to do something for the victims of the massacre with the Day of Cease Fire for Online Shooters event scheduled for Friday. It’s an unusual moment of silence, and a laudable one.

“We ask for gamers to show their support for the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy that took place in Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday, December 14, 2012,” reads a statement from Pearman on Facebook, “We are simply making a statement that we as gamers are not going to sit back and ignore the lives that were lost. Instead we will embrace the families with our love and support.”

“So if you are an owner of a website I ask that you post to your readers that you will join us in our Day of Cease Fire for Online Shooters. I ask you all to please share and I thank you for reading. This starts Thursday night, Friday morning at 12am and will end Friday night, Saturday morning at 12am.”

Pearman’s request is a tall order just days before Christmas, a period when online gaming populations spike thanks to students and others going on vacation. It’s also the time of year when the newest online shooters like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Halo 4 see peak saturation. The statement that people stand together and refuse to engage in even an entertaining facsimile of violence in the face of real brutality should be all the more powerful as a result.

Video games have shared an ignoble link with school shootings in the past. The Columbine massacre in 1999 was marked by reports of the shooters’ playing early first-person shooters like Doom. The mainstream press has abstained from blaming games or game communities on the mindless actions of shooter Adam Lanza, though tabloids like Britain’s The Sun have made dubious claims that he was obsessed with Call of Duty.

Please do take Friday off from shooters to show your support, even if that’s all you can do.

Editors' Recommendations

Anthony John Agnello

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…

Gaming

Hades 2 shows the Steam Deck’s biggest advantage over the Nintendo Switch

A Steam Deck sits next to a Switch OLED.

It's always an exciting week when the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time surprise releases on a Monday. That's what happened on May 6 when Hades 2 surprise launched into early access. Players are already diving into the surprisingly robust roguelike, testing their might in its new biomes. I've been enjoying it myself from the comfort of my couch -- and not on my Nintendo Switch, where I played the first Hades. Instead, I'm curled up with my Steam Deck.

The PC-only launch means that Hades 2 is a Steam Deck "exclusive" for the time being (or at least exclusive to portable PCs like it and the Asus ROG Ally). It'll likely come to Nintendo's system -- or its predecessor -- once it hits 1.0, but developer Supergiant doesn't expect its game to leave early access until at least the end of 2024. Until then, you'll need a device like the Steam Deck to play it on the go. That's a reminder that Valve has beaten the Switch at its own game, and Nintendo will have to get creative again with its next system to regain its throne.
Early access on the go
Based on my time with it so far, Hades 2 is a phenomenal match for the Steam Deck. It's already Verified for the platform, and for good reason. It looks fantastic (especially on an OLED screen) and runs smoothly. I've already taken it on the go and found that it's not a huge drain on the Steam Deck's battery. At this point, I don't imagine I'll need to play it any other way.

Gaming

Before you play Homeworld 3, try this VR game as a primer

Two fleets fight in Homeworld: Vast Reaches.

Homeworld 3 launches next week, but there's a game Homeworld fans who own a Meta Quest 2 or 3 should check out right now. Homeworld: Vast Reaches, which came to Meta's VR headsets on May 2, is a prequel set between the events of the first two Homeworld games. This VR game offers up the core Homeworld experience in a novel niche of the video game medium.

It's not as deep or complex as Homeworld 3 looks, but it doesn't need to be. Vast Reaches immerses players in the franchise's universe once again and reacquaints them with the basics of its real-time strategy combat ahead of a highly anticipated new entry on PC. As such, checking out Vast Reaches should make this last week of waiting for Homeworld 3 a little less painful.
Homeworld, but in VR
Homeworld: Vast Reaches was developed by FarBridge, who has previously worked on VR games like Walkabout Mini Golf, Dragon Fight VR, and Jar Wars. Made with Gearbox Entertainment's support and blessing, it boils Homeworld down to its core elements and rebuilds it in VR. Players control a new Fleet Command connected to Karan S'jet's Mothership, which is the conceit behind how players view battles.

Gaming

Nintendo confirms that Switch 2 and a June Direct are coming

A Nintendo Switch Red and Blue system.

Nintendo has finally confirmed two important things that people were speculating about. First off, we learned that another Nintendo Direct showcase will be taking place this June. More importantly, Nintendo finally confirmed that it is working on a Nintendo Switch successor and said we'd learn more about it within this fiscal year.

This all came from a statement by President Shuntaro Furukawa on Nintendo's corporate X (formerly Twitter) account. "We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015," the post confirms. "We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation."