Okay, so I have problems. Number one: I’m a nerd. Number two: I collect things. Number three: I try to do my best to be creative when combining the first two things. Case in point: when the opportunity arises for me to have a few minutes with the creator of one of my all-time favorite video games, I seize it and then go the extra mile.
Continue reading "Pac-Man Marquee + Creator = Awesomeness" »
Speaking of Pac-Man, today we headed over to the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championships. In a nutshell, gamers qualified to be in the finals by having the highest Pac-Man score in their region (on Xbox LIVE Arcade, of course). The finalists then headed to New York City to participate in the World Championships. After four intense rounds during the wee hours of the morning, the ten finalists were whittled down to two: Austria's Robert Glashuettner and Mexico's Carlos Romero. But the biggest surprise of all was not who were in the finals, but what they were playing....
Yep, that's right. A brand new rendition of Pac-Man -- the Pac-Man Championship Edition, which had creator Toru Iwatani working on new mazes for the lovable, pellet-muncher (the first in over 26 years!). Our own Jaded Cynic got a chance to play the game for five minutes. Click here to read his initial impressions (and how he got his butt whupped), then hit the jump to see more photos of the event...
Continue reading "Pac-Man World Championships: We Came, We Saw, We Didn't Conquer..." »
Let me get this out there now: I am girl who grew up in the '80s. Therefore, I have seen the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing no
less than 58,932,075,207 times. In fact, I've watched it so many times
that the VHS tape actually broke (and was quickly replaced). Why did I
love it? I have no idea. It could've been the mature themes (being an
unwed pregnant woman in the '60s) or just Patrick Swayze's sweet, sweet
abs (but wait, I was six years-old, and hence should not have been
interested in old man stomach muscles. Grody!). Regardless of why I was
compelled to it, I watched the movie over and over again, dancing
around the living room with my sister and cousins as if we were all the
naive, nubile, and nasally-endowed Jennifer Grey (a.k.a. "Baby"). But
alas, as soon as I discovered the true men in my life -- Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles, Super Mario Bros. and Metallica -- those days became
gone forever.
I collect a lot of things -- mostly NES games -- but a variety of other systems' games as well, in addition to DVDs, CDs, video game-related toys, some comic books, and so on and so forth. Because of these collections, I have a certain affinity for shelf space. However, as awesome as these DIY Tetris shelves above are, they just aren’t functional enough for today’s modern-day collector. But they're still pretty cool. Find out how to build them yourself (if you’re into that kind of thing).
I always thought Lara Croft and Hitman would make a cute couple, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Famed MTV video games journalist Stephen Totilo is in need of a bit of help putting a gaming twist on his upcoming wedding reception. At the suggestion of his future wife, they have decided to name all their tables after locations in video games. Hit the jump for the list as it stands right now, but they need about six more. Any suggestions are completely welcome.
The most amazing thing I’ve seen today… at least until the Smash Bros. site goes live. If Pac-Man were real, this is what his skeleton would look like:
The sculpture was done by artist Le Gentil Garçon in 2004. One more step towards my dream of making Pac-Man a reality...
While we were walking around the city, we visited a "PC bang," or a South Korean internet cafe. There are over 20,000 PC bangs in South Korea; compare that with around 12,000 Starbucks or 31,000 McDonald's worldwide. PC bangs provide a place for young Koreans to socialize and play online games on computers with high speed internet connection. It costs 1,000 Won ($1) per hour and players can just check out the games they want to play. Although there were only a few people there during the daytime, PC bangs get really packed in the evenings.
On the heels of the announcement for the upcoming Simpsons game for every console available, Microsoft one-ups the competition with the yellow, limited edition Simpsons Xbox 360. Limited to 100 and only available at upcoming promotions for the movie, one can only ponder which limb fans would be willing to sacrifice to get one (personally, I’m pretty sure I can go with my left leg, and throw a kidney in for good measure). This may be the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I’m secretly hoping that someone might at least make the face plates available, and it will be the first time I would ever consider defacing (get it?) my wonderfully sleek 360. Wait… picture this: a brand spanking new Xbox Elite, with a yellow Simpsons faceplate, and the yellow wireless controllers – like an awesome gaming bumblebee.
Fact: Electronic Arts is making a Simpsons game. Fact: Electronic Arts is parodying Rockstar's countdown to the Grand Theft Auto IV trailer. Fact: This may be the 22nd Simpsons game ever made...scienticians are baffled whether to count arcade versions of Simpsons games or titles such as The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield...
