This Is Creepy....Really, Really Creepy

Think happy thoughts! Second star to the right, and straight on till morning!

Finally, Something You Can Do With a PS3 That Doesn't Cost $80

I'm always skeptical of these programs, but evidently they're popular with do-gooder nerds.

Second Life - Home to Z-List Celebrities

CNN.com has an article about the Penn brother who isn't a) dead, or b) a self-righteous, humourless tool.

The Madden Curse

For those of you who don't want to READ about the Madden Curse, here's a convenient video.

Blech, Business Journalism

Despite the unpleasantness of business journalism, CNN Money has a very good article about the Wii and its continuing success. Also of value are the links within the story to other articles.

What If Your Pimp Hand Is Also Your Gaming Hand?

Can you get carpal tunnel trying to keep your pimp hand strong?

Try this new game to find out.

Madden 08 Cover Revealed

Vince Young, second year quarterback for the Tennessee Titans has been named the coverboy for this year's installment of Madden NFL. Seriously, Madden gamers follow this stuff. There's all kinds of stories about the curse already.

You Don't Have To Hear Bruce Willis' Voice In Your Head If You Don't Want To

Gamers Get Together To Combat Negative Perceptions...Hopefully They Shower First

Sticking with the Virginia Tech theme, it seems that everyone's favorite nuisance took advantage of the deaths of 33 people to promote his own political agenda.

Using this as a rallying point (literally), some NY gamers are getting together to demonstrate about gaming culture.

Other stories can be found here.

And here.

And there is a MySpace page here.

There is also a Facebook page. But you have to login and such. Do a search for Empire Arcadia on Facebook, and look under events.

If It's On The Internet, It MUST Be True

For those of you not in the know, the Madden NFL series has a certain amount of cultural capital. By which I mean, the game has achieved a certain folk legend status, revolving around what is called the Madden Curse. Basically, it is believed that the player who appears on the cover of Madden Football will suffer in the coming season. Sports Illustrated has now provided a photo gallery outlining the Curse and its victims.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Madden Curse is very similar to the SI Cover Jinx (which I believe was once discussed on the woefully underappreciated sitcom, Coach, starring Craig T. Nelson.)

And for the truly superstitious, don't forget about the Chunky Soup Curse.

Of course, all this is leading up to EA's announcement of who will be on the cover of Madden NFL 08. That's right, people are waiting with barely contained excitement over who will be on the cover of a video game. Okay, maybe not people. But Madden nerds are.

[EDIT] April 19, 2007. Just so it can't be said that I am favouring CNNSI.com over ESPN.com (which I do, but that's a different kettle of fish...mmm, fish) here is ESPN.com's story about the Madden curse.

This story doesn't actually use the words "Virgina Tech," but the timing of this story's release is interesting.

For Those Who Can't Wait Until November

So evidently there's some popular game called Halo. Which I guess spawned a somewhat successful sequel. And evidently there's a third iteration coming out in November.

Beta testing begins May 16th.

And don't forget to pre-order the Legendary Edition now. Just so you don't miss out.

The Ubiquity of Sports Video Games

I probably read SI.com too much. Hell, my entire thesis was based on one sentence from a Peter King column. But it's probably healthier than spending my Internet time surfing for porn, and more entertaining than half the YouTube videos.

Anyway, SI.com's Lang Whitaker has written a very good article talking about why he plays sports video games. He talks about issues of control, particularly within the sometimes fanatic, often obsessive world of sports fans. Good read.

Tank McNamara Is Underrated

Can I Create A Second Life Avatar That Looks Like Kevin Costner?

Oooh, ooh, even better, Sean Connery.

"You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Second Life way! And that's how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?"

Coming Soon: Grand Theft Enron

Remember that stuff Michael was saying about the people in charge at Take-Two/Rockstar?

I think thats been taken care of.

The Champ Is Here!

The Madden/NFL relationship isn't the only one to explore the increasingly intertwined world of virtual-actual-virtual. But what happens when you add a dash of kayfabe to the mix? You get this.

Still Better Than Starbucks Music

Because the only industry less problematic than the Video Game Industry is the Music Industry.

The End Times Are Upon Us

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria.

World of Warcraft Boot to the head!

So I was procrastinating, er, I mean researching, and found this.

Top Ten Video Game Weapons

This Just In...Free Month of WoW for One Pound of Flesh

Special thanks to Derek for letting me know about this new deal in China for players of Cabal.

Have you ever had one of those moments where the world stopped making sense?

Be It Ever So Humble

10 Home
20 Sweet
30 Goto 10

But Will It Support Radar Rat Race?

For some reason, Commodore is coming back.

So, What You're Saying Is That Gitmo Is For WoW Addicts?

A friend of mine posted this on his own blog, so I stole it and posted it here.

[EDIT] April 18, 2007

Evidently the above link is now dead. But have no fear, I have found some other links that provide some of the same information. In fact, one could even say they are better.

Here's one link.

Here's another.

Basically, these stories are about treating "video game addiction," using rather extreme methods in some cases.

Dammit Nurse, I Said Left Right Left Right Up Down Up Down A B A B Start!

The healing power of video games is finally proven. Does this mean they'll be playing golf on the Wii now?

Running the world - Jarvis Cocker

I apologize for Mr. Cocker's use of the term cunt. Shit, now I've used it.

Speaking of Old Games...

Derek, I'm going to break into your house and steal your Dreamcast so I can play this game. Just so you know.

I'm Not Sure How Many Zombies This Post Would Kill

I was having a conversation with myself yesterday, and Typing of the Dead came up. Motivated to procrastinate, I did some research and found some links about it. Clearly this game needs to be brought back.

Maybe This Will Mean I Can Find One In The Store

Steve Tilley from Wham! Gaming has an interesting piece about the potential for a Wii backlash. Shocking. Consumers growing tired of a gimmick.

Is It Irony...

...when a story on the deleterious effects of video games features advertising for video games? From that bastion of investigative journalism, Yahoo! News*, a story on the addictiveness of video games.






* The exclamation point is an underappreciated punctuation mark in the realm of journalism.

Jesus Saves...Because He Hates Losing His Game Progress

A church here in London is holding an Xbox tournament as an outreach program. Some guy from the Freeps wrote about it.

NCAA Playbour

One thing I neglected to mention in my presentation is the underground economy that has sprung up, catering to those players who want player names, but don't have the time, energy, or gumption to edit the players themselves. That's where these guys come in.

Eeeeeeee!

Yeah, I'm only posting this because I'm a big nerd.

The Ceremonies Were Temporarily Halted When One Of The Presenters Froze Up

People won stuff. Other people lost. No word on whether there was a tearful Mario/Wario reunion backstage.

Yeah, Rendering It In A 3-D Virtual Environment Makes It Look Better

Even in a virtual world, the backseat is too small to do anything.

Stop Escalation

Yeah, this has nothing to do with games...or does it?

I'm Sure Some Politician Will Try To Capitalize On This

If you cheer for things based solely on country of origin, this is the story for you.

PS3 & Wii Games Suggestions

As per Trent's suggestion, feel free to use this post as a place to suggest games to purchase for the PS3 and Wii in the games lab. Just go to comments to add your suggestions.

Really...Suzanne Vega?

Does Suzanne Vega count as a celebrity?

This Is What I Was Looking For

Not that this product is any better than the other stuff.

Totally By Accident

Okay, so I was looking for something completely different. Well, not completely different, but this isn't what I was looking for when I found this. But its interesting. And only slightly very creepy.

Someone Using Photoshop Could Totally Take This Picture Out of Context

Oh yeah, and the article has some interesting stuff to say about the Wii.

Marxist Mario

Thought this might be amusing, given the reference to Mario as populist hero in the D-W reading this week:



This video is based on the following site: Is Mario a Communist?

Beware: this site is not terribly sympathetic to communism...

Honestly, Anything Clever and Witty That I Put Here Could Probably Be Used Against Me Later

I cannot bear to watch, yet I cannot look away.

Be warned, this site could be construed as offensive. And yet, from a purely academic perspective, it's quite interesting.

They're also on MySpace!

But then again, who isn't?

Wookin' Pa Nub In All Da Wong Paces, Wookin Pa Nub

It should be noted that the Toronto Star has a generally bad video game section.

This article is indicative of that.

Guitar Hero 2 Rush YYZ on Expert

Honestly, I really only posted this because it's one of my favorite songs. But the ending is classic.

Why All The Smurf Hate? At Least They're Not Snorks

Here is one of the pages dedicated to Castle Smurfenstein.

Spacewar!

Just in case you wanted to try out the one that started it all, you can go here.




* Military research funding not included

Are Those Pants Figures Accurate?

Here's the story.

Here's the actual site.

For Wii News, I'm Princess Toadstool

Wii News Channel will feature stories and photos from AP

You've Seen the Video, Now You Can Play the Game!!!

You can download Frets on Fire here.

Go NOW!!!

Thank you to Trent for the links, which evil Blogger won't let him post.

Frets on Fire Gameplay

If you want to download the game, you can go here.

You can thank Trent for the links, but because Blogger is evil, it won't let him post stuff.

Stupid Blogger.

From CNN

EU takes aim at violent video games

Or, Roughly the Same Amount Embezzled By Federal Parties

Canadians spent a record $933 million on video gaming in 2006, up 22 per cent from the previous year.

Leeroy Jenkins

Need I say more?

Why Madden 2007 SUCKS for xbox 360!

The convergence of social networking sites and video game criticism.

A review of the new Left Behind game.

Video game playing may fulfill innate human need