If you were one of the ones that waited patiently for a crack at a PS3 a few years ago, chastising your easily swayed friends who opted for an XBox 360 or Wii — suckers. If you only held out until yesterday’s news from GamesCom, you would have know there’s a new generation with more storage and a nice slim physique. (And theoretically, if you hold out for another few years, you won’t kick yourself for buying this generation of Sony hardware.) The price is also down about $100 to $299 and these new units should be available starting in September. I’ve probably owned every video game system that came to market (yes, including Neo-Geo and a Dreamcast). And while having a Blu-ray player built into my gaming console is nice, for the price of two $60 Blu-ray discs, I can buy an external terabyte hard drive. Sony may be trying to drum up sales with this repackaging, but does anyone else have the feeling we’re nearing the end of a CD/DVD world?
No one at Pompeii expected to have their civilization snuffed out in a hail of lava and ash, but when their remnants were finally excavated some 1700 years later archaeologists found of wealth of material that told the story of how they had lived. Even though our superior scientific technology does a much better job of preparing us for disasters, there’s really no telling when the big one will come and “preserve” us all. When future generations discover us, what sort of life instruments will they find to tell our tale? Artist Christopher Locke has somewhat of an idea, his modern fossils preserve our video game loving, boom box blasting heritage in stone. While future generations may not actually be able to play kickin’ cassette tapes on a ghetto blaster or witness Mario putting the pedal to the metal in his “Kart” they can at least take comfort in finding we were courteous enough preserve the form of our favorite gadgets in a nice stone package all the while still continuing our wave of electronic innovation and waiting for mother nature’s other shoe to drop.
With the smashing success of music based video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, many people are looking for the next logical step in instrumental gaming. Though we’ve been holding out hope for “Marching Band” and some sort of woodwind musical adventure , preferably “Oboe Master”; we think the folks at Activision have probably taken the more advisable route with their plan to focus on club music via DJ Hero. Come Fall ‘09 you’ll be able to bring the dance party to your living room, whilst spinning some hype beats from the comfort of your own couch. So forget those pumped up cover charges and invest in some serious surround sound, because you’re going to have a big beat blowout and we presume everyone’s invited as long as they don’t block the TV. Fricka, fricka, fricka fresh.
Do you find that tune from Tetris twisting and turning in your brain all day? Does the music of Metroid make you want to move your feet? Sure you’re probably a video game addict, but there’s nothing wrong with getting those sweet sounds of Super Street Fighter stuck in your head. The only issue you face is trying to find a place that will let you relive the soundtrack of your gaming life. Luckily, there’s now 8bitFM, an internet radio station dedicated to devotees of Double Dragon ditties and Super Mario melodies. In addition to giving you the catchiest tunes ever released by Konami, listeners can also affix their ears for ample doses of nerdcore, chiptunes, and a fresh array of remixes. The best part is, you don’t need to remember any cheat codes just a URL.
We have to admit to being pretty smitten with both the LEGO Indiana Jones and Star Wars titles for our video game console of choice, but our Fanboy aspirations extend further than the world of cinematic nostalgia. Rock Band has allowed us to live out our Rock ‘n’ Roll fantasies during it’s relatively brief life span, but we’ve had the misfortune of having to settle on avatars that aren’t representative in the least of our desired rock god persona. The new family friendly LEGO Rock Band is the best of both worlds, allowing users to craft their own LEGO self as well as fellow bandmates, roadies, managers and crew. Even with the new features users will still possess the power to pretend to be masters of the LEGO telecaster even though they’re not actually strumming anything except maybe their rock star-sized ego.
Dion Briggs does not want you to run through his site willy-nilly, looking through hundreds of possible T-shirt designs to fit your frame. Instead, he presents each new design (seven in all) on its own website, so you can ooh and ahh without distraction. He first got attention with the iSteamPhone shirt that featured a DaVinci-like drawing of a dissected iPhone by Kevin Tong.
He’s now following this up with four new designs that include another DaVinci/Tong piece. This time it’s Super Mario curled up in the fetal position within a plant, surrounded by sketches of stars and piranha plants. There’s also a dissected Atari 2600 for those gamers for whom the Nintendo isn’t quite retro enough, dismembered Star Wars action figures sketched by Cloxboy, and Gary Gao’s image of the ghosts of old Macs.
We have to give serious props to the guy behind the I Heart Chaos site for creating this. Not only is it an entertaining way to see if your friends really are as knowledgeable about games as they claim, but since it’s based on the Periodic Table of Elements, it totally makes our geek heart melt. In fact, we might purchase a print of it at Redbubble.
In place of elements like Aluminum and Boron are a mix of classic characters like Mario, Pac-Man, and Little Nemo, and popular new ones from Hitman and Gears of War. While some people are getting all worked up about Master Chief being left off — and some elements being in the wrong places — we can look past these goofs. Can you name them all the games referenced in the table? We can.
As the 16-bit skirmish raged on in the late 80’s/early 90’s you either remained a tried and true Nintendo devotee or swore by your Sega Genesis. Sure there were precious few TurboGrafix 16 mercenaries, but they eventually had to choose between the big boys. Whether Sonic The Hedgehog was your homeboy or you’ve always been a Super Mario fan, you’ll want to make your allegiance official with the latest pins from the Supermandolini Console Wars Collection. The third and fourth installments feature the controllers of that bygone era. Place them in the correct spot — just above your heart.
This summer sneakerheads will undoubtedly be lining up at their favorite store awaiting the the first drop of the “Nintendo Wii” pack. Kicking things off is the Blazer, which was designed by the team at Beaverton to resemble, what else, the Nintendo Wii gaming console. I have to admit, Nike did the best they could given their model. Let’s face it, the Wii does not really have many distinctive features that can be captured in a sneaker. What they came up with was the blue gum shoes to match the power light, laces to match the nunchuck wrist strap, and metallic (more like gray) details to match those of the Wii. There’s no word on pricing, but you can expect these sleek hi-tops to drop Summer 2009.
There are plenty games from the 70s and 80s that we all remember: Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros… But there are also plenty you don’t. And for good reason. If you want to take a trip down reject lane, cruise on over to indie game designer Jason Cirillo’s blog and check out Bit Museum, an online show where this resident dork shares his knowledge on forgotten game systems, games, and other useless trivia. If the 70s feel like they were yesterday you’ll get a kick out of remembering these relics. If they don’t, you’ll wonder why the graphics were so awful and go back to playing Call of Duty.
We miss arcades. Mainly because they were a great place for scoping hot guys and eating massive amounts of sugar. But now, we can relive those moments — home decor style — with Surface Tension’s HangUP Arcade Coat Hooks. The wall-mountable organizer comes on the sneaker-clad heels of their modern arcade table and allows you to show off your geekiness without looking like a total nerd. Though the standard designs feature four sticks and the 3-player or 4-player button, but you can choose from a variety of colors and 1 and 2-player buttons are available options as are a variety of backdrops if black walnut is just not your thing.
If you feel the same about video games as us, you miss Space Invaders terribly. Back when game play was simple, so were these characters’ charm. Even your enemies, who robotically descended upon you in formation, had endearing qualities. While reconnecting your Atari would be living in the past, you can now be reminded of the good days every time your pull out your keys with these Space Invaders.
Supermandolini has repeatedly indulged our inner geek with their adornments that recall our heyday as gamers and computer enthusiasts. Their latest creations recall both our formative years at the Bad Dudes machine in the mall and the formidable hours we’ve spent toiling on basic applications like Photoshop, Paint and Word. Having the limited edition collection of hand-pressed Arcade Badges on your backpack will help ward off any attackers for fear that the push of a button you might unleash a stunning roundhouse or invite a second player to come to your aid. Sporting their new collection of limited run metallic Toolbar Badges on your person will probably make you more attractive to any present computer-illiterate types in search of a quick lesson. Frankly, l’d rather the former, but both certainly have their merits.
Attention serious nerds, get out your Google calendar and mark it down with the following information: On December 4 – 7, the Blip Festival 2008 comes to New York to recycle your Commodore 64, Atari 2800, NES … possibly even a Neo Geo or two … into musical instruments and artistic displays. While most gaming relics look like plastic-injection toasters and sound like a berzerk B9 robot, in the hands of talented musicians (like 8-Bit Operators), skilled artisans, and a handful of components from Radio Shack, they can become a bleeping good time.
If you’re a gamer you’re probably looking forward to the next installment of Motorstorm, Pacific Rift. If you’re a stuntman for their Dutch ad campaign “Air Raid,” all you’re looking to do is land safely on the ground. To create the ads, skydivers jumped from airplanes and dirt bikes and cars were digitally created in the post-production stage by the firm EightVX. Because, skydiving out of a plane is insane, but skydiving out of a plane inside a car is just stupid.
Dion Briggs does not want you to run through his site willy-nilly, looking through hundreds of possible T-shirt designs to fit your frame. Instead, he presents each new design (seven in all) on its own website, so you can ooh and ahh without distraction. He first got attention with the iSteamPhone shirt that featured a DaVinci-like drawing of a dissected iPhone by Kevin Tong.
If you feel the same about video games as us, you miss 
