Top 10 Video Game Picks of 2020 đŽ
LISTEN + SUBSCRIBE HERE
Description
Let's answer these questions: đ¤Ļđģââī¸ The election is over, right? So what happens next in the presidential election process? đĸ What does country music superstar Dolly Parton have to do with a COVID-19 vaccine?𤊠Check out our favorite video games of 2020 âī¸ Can you answer the Trivia Question of the Day? đšī¸ In what year was the very first video game introduced?
Links
đĨ See all our lists of Favorites of the Year 2020 on the Ten News website: TheTenNews.com
đ Watch this video of Dolly Parton explaining her Imagination Library
đšī¸ Special thanks to listener Elliott! Read more history about The First Video Game
đ Email us your ideas, jokes, and compliments: hello@thetennews.com
Transcript
Bethany Van Delft: [00:00:00] What happens next in the Presidential election process? What does a country music legend have to do with the COVID vaccine? And what were our favorite video games of 2020? I'm Bethany Van Delft and we'll get into all this and more on today's The Ten News. The show where in the time it takes to write your holiday wishlist and check it twice, we find out what's up in the world. Okay, let's get into The Ten News.
[00:00:29] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, four, three, two one.
[00:00:38] Election Day may be behind us, but there are a few more steps involved when it comes to finalizing the election. Our correspondent, Pamela Kirkland has an update.
Pamela Kirkland: [00:00:49] Are you wondering why people are still talking about the winner of the presidential election, the election that happened last month? Usually [00:01:00] when a winner of the race is predicted on Election Night, the process and the stuff that happens next, we don't hear much about.
[00:01:08] Because we assume we know who the next president will be using math and statistics compiled by some very smart people. But this is not a normal election year, so let's talk about what some States are in the process of doing now. Something that's called certifying election results. What's all the hubbub?
[00:01:29] Certification begins after the election is over. Local officials in each state count the ballots again, to make sure the number of people that they say voted is correct. Those numbers are then sent to a State Board of Elections where they make sure there aren't any problems with the vote that might change the results.
[00:01:50] Usually the State Board of Elections is bi-partisan meaning an equal number of Democrats and Republicans are represented to make sure one [00:02:00] party doesn't have an advantage over another. Every state has a different process for certifying results that involves different kinds of officials. But what happens in the end is the same.
[00:02:12] Once the certification is final, it goes to the governor of the state where their office makes a special certificate to report the popular vote or the vote of the people in their state, to the government. And viola, the election results are officially certified. Most places have already finished the process, but we're still waiting for a couple states to finish certifying their results, including Illinois, Maryland, California, and New York.
[00:02:42] Come on. What made 2020 different? Well, there had been an effort this year to stop some States from certifying their results. By saying the vote count was wrong. It was done in hopes of changing the results of the presidential election, or at least [00:03:00] delaying the result. But each state that has certified their election has said their count is correct.
[00:03:07] The process worked the way it's supposed to, and there's no reason not to certify these results.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:03:19] Hey grown-ups are you and the family enjoying The Ten News? If so, could you please do us a big, big favor? All you have to do is go to Apple Podcasts and give us a rating and a review, hopefully five stars, but no pressure. You don't even have to stop listening. You can do it right now. Don't worry. I'll wait.
[00:03:39] Just kidding, take your time. Do it though. It may not seem like a big deal, but it really helps other listeners find The Ten News so our community can grow. Thanks again for listening. We really appreciate it.
[00:03:58] 2020 has [00:04:00] been a crazy year for people all over the world, but some cool things happen too. So as we close out this year, let's take a look back at some of our favorite things from 2020, because who doesn't love ending things on a positive note? This week, we're sharing our favorite video games of 2020.
[00:04:23] It's The Ten News Top 10.
[00:04:26] Dreams. Unlike any game before it, Dreams, lets gamers test the limits of their own imagination by allowing them to animate design and make music. Not to mention you can uncover all sorts of incredible creations from other games around the world. Super cool.
[00:04:44] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, One and Two. Long-time fans of the best skateboarding game in history rejoice. This is everything you loved about the first two games and they look way better.
[00:04:57] Animal Crossing, New Horizons [00:05:00] for gamers of all ages. Animal crossing allows players to explore, create and build their own personal paradises. Best of all, your friends and family can visit too. Paper Mario, The Origami King, this fun Mario RPG is a must play for longtime fans of the franchise.
[00:05:18] As the Verge said, this latest paper, Mario is anything but flat.
[00:05:25] Minecraft Dungeons. Set in the Minecraft universe, this dungeon crawlers got everything you already love about the franchise. The only choice the user has is whether to go at it alone or join friends.
[00:05:38] Stick around to the end of The Ten to hear the rest of our list.
[00:05:44] Sometimes help comes from the most unexpected places. Let's go to our correspondent Anya Schultz for the story of how the friendship between a scientist and the country music, legends led to an impactful outcome.
Anya Schultz: [00:06:02] What do country music superstar Dolly Parton, and the COVID-19 vaccine have in common? Actually quite a lot.
[00:06:12] Let me start from the beginning. If you don't know Dolly Parton, she's an iconic country music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress. She's a tiny woman, only five feet tall with big blonde hair and even bigger personality. And a decades long career spanning music, television, and the movies. Oh, you liked that one.
[00:06:37] You're still thinking about it.
[00:06:41] She even has her own theme park called Dollywood in her beloved home state of Tennessee. And she happens to be pop star Miley Cyrus's godmother. Dolly Parton is famous for her music, but she's also well known for giving back, [00:07:00] especially to communities in Tennessee. One of her charity projects called the Imagination Library gives 1 million free books to children around the world each month.
[00:07:11] Back in 2013, Dolly Parton was in a small car accident. She was okay, but she went to the hospital at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee to get checked out. She saw a doctor named Naji Abumrad. Dolly Parton and Dr. Abumrad got along really well, despite their different lives. They actually became really good friends and stayed in touch.
[00:07:37] Fast forward to this year, back in April, Dr. Abumrad told Dolly Parton about the work that his university was doing on developing a vaccine and Dolly Parton decided to donate $1 million to support the research. Now there's exciting news about the vaccine that Dolly helps support. It's nearly [00:08:00] 95% effective.
[00:08:02] When Dolly Parton heard the news about the vaccine she tweeted, "when I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good." And evidently it is, let's just hope we can find a cure real soon. Thanks in part to Dolly, we are closer than ever.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:08:26] Earlier in this episode, we started counting down our top 10 video games of 2020. Here are the final five.
[00:08:34] Among Us. This is an online multiplayer social deduction game that came out in 2018, but really only rose to fame in 2020 and the new Twitter account dedicated to the game recently teased an upcoming map that users can look out for during the game awards on December 10th.
[00:08:51] Spiderman Miles Morales. An action packed game where Miles Morales learns all the things that separate them from Peter [00:09:00] Parker, like his bio-electric venom blast that gamers will love.
[00:09:04] Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. A platform battle royalel that puts bunches of online players together and ass who will be the last player standing?
[00:09:14] Final Fantasy VII Remake. Many would argue that your original Final Fantasy 7 of 1997 is the best RPG ever released. And for it to still be relevant some 23 years later, it tells you everything you need to know.
[00:09:31] Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Finally, the highly anticipated crossover of Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors is here.
[00:09:40] Y'all have a blast trying to save the kingdom from thousands of monsters while attempting to avoid the apocalypse that begins Breath of the Wild.
[00:09:48] Do you have a favorite game from 2020 that didn't make our list? Email us at hello@thetennews.com. Tell us what it is and why you love it.
[00:10:04] [00:10:00] Hi, my name is Elliotte Camille. It's time for your trivia question of the day.
[00:10:10] In what year was the very first video game introduced? Was it A) 1980 B) 1972 or C) 1958. Did you guess it? The answer is C.
[00:10:32] Nuclear physicist named William Higinbotham created an electronic tennis game. He called tennis for two way back in 1958, it was introduced to visitors at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton New York during the labs annual visitors day.
[00:10:48] Some argue that because Higinbotham's game technically uses a oscilloscopes, a kind of electronic test instrument and not video, it should not be considered the [00:11:00] first video game. But you got to hand it to him for creating a game that led to players control a movable ball on a screen. This was something no one had ever done before.
[00:11:14] And time's up. That's the end of The Ten for today. You can catch new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small, But Mighty Media in collaboration with Next Chapter Podcasts and distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News writing team is led by Editorial Director, Tracey Crooks, with contributions from Anya Schultz, Steven Tompkins and Pamela Kirkland. The creative producer is Jenner Pascua. Marketing is led by Jacob Bronstein with social media and web support by Steven Tompkins and Adam Pharr. Editing and sound designed by Pete Musto under the Production Direction of Jeremiah Tittle. Executive producer, Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan round out the team. If you have any questions about the show, a story [00:12:00] idea, or a fun fact you want to share? Email us at hello@thetennews.com. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to The Ten News. Now go Google oscilloscope. You'll be even more impressed that someone turned one into a gaming console.
