That is all.
Archives for February 2007
What I’m playing (this weekend)
Sure, I could be playing any number of games this weekend, but I’m doing something I promised myself I wouldn’t do — attempt the 7-Day Survivor achievement in Dead Rising. I know I poo-poohed it a few months back, but I can’t help myself. Not only am I an achievement whore, I’m a Dead Rising whore. I find myself going back to the zombie smashing more and more. So I’m going to eat crow and attempt the insane, 14-hour Dead Rising marathon.
I’ve got it all worked out. I’ve already okayed it with Mrs. buttonMasher and she’s fine with it. She understands the gravity of the situation and has agreed to help keep the kids away from the 360 (the little one is attracted to the green button) for the weekend. I’m a little nervous for the health of my 360, as I will have to play in chunks of time to achieve the ultimate goal, while my 360 is generating enough heat to warm our living room for a month. I guess I can consider this a stress test on the Xbox. If it can survive 60+ hours of non-stop running, it should be able to handle anything.
I also have a plan for sucess. I’ll immediately seek out the necessary power-up magazines to make my survival easier. I’ll get the ones that increase the potency of my food stuffs, along with the construction magazine, effectively powering up my weapon of choice, the two-by-four. Then I have plans to judiciously ration my food as I go from place to place, keeping myself safe for extended periods of time. Along the way, I plan on cleaning up some of the other achievements, like the Karate Champ (killing zombies sans-armaments), killing 10k and then 53k zombies, and hanging outdoors for 24 hours. It’s going to be an achievements clean sweep!
I don’t know if I have the dedication or fortitude to see the plan through, but if you see me on Live, drop me a message a see how am doing. I may need the moral support. Let me know what you’re playing this weekend.
Virtual Teddy Bears
Coming this Christmas, a Build-A-Bear Workshop DS game. Save yourself the hassle (and shame) of taking your kid to the Build-A-Bear store at the mall and get her the DS version instead. Think of all the money you’ll save! Thank you, The Game Factory, you’re finally giving me a game my four year-old daughter can enjoy on the DS. (via The Game Blog)
For your special Valentine
It’s an oldie, but goodie. Here’s a little tribute to our gaming Valentines:
To EVE or EQ2?
Recently I’ve had the itch to jump back into a MMOG. I’m been thinking of re-upping to play EVE Online, but with all the things going on there, I’m hesitant to jump back in. I’ve got a free copy of Everquest 2 that I could use to try out EQ2. My first MMO experience was with EQ1 and it was a long time ago (and it wasn’t a good one), so I don’t have any allegiance there. I had thought about giving Vanguard a chance, but I think I’ll wait a few months so they can work out the kinks, even though it seems like a decent game already. I thought about giving World of Warcraft a try, but I know how quickly it will consume me and I’m not taking my chances. I’m only playing if I get to play in Foton’s Guild. (No way I’m that hardcore.)
I was also invited to give Dungeon Runners a try, so that’s another possibility. Have any buttonMashers played Dungeon Runners? Looks like a cross between Guild Wars and Diablo 2. What would you guys suggest? I’m not shelving the 360, but my wife has recently discovered the wonderous Xbox Live Arcade, so I have been letting her play her fill of Hexic and Uno for now. Once Crackdown comes out, the 360 is all mine again. For now, I just feel like some good old fashioned MMORPG’ing. I’ve got needs. I’m not desperate yet, but I’ve even considered jumping back into Neocron 2. I know it’s gotten bad if I go that far.
Top 10 “Real-life” Games
Got some time to waste? The Thinking Blog presents the Top 10 “real-life” games. Some are pretty clever, a couple not so much.
Update: What a coincidence! Here are some more “live-action” video games.
Virtual Tours?
This might be a bit old, but I just recently came across it: Synthravels -The 1st online Virtual Travel Agency. They can take you on a tour of the most picturesque places in cyberspace!
Personally, I’d like to go to somewhere real, like Machu Picchu. But that’s just me.
Thirty two years and counting
DJing with the Wiimote
Sometimes, people are just awesomer than you. Check out DJ ! (DJ Shift 1 to his friends) use a pair of Wiimotes to control music on his PC setup. Make sure you watch both videos.
Update: It appears that the site is down. Try again later. Not sure what’s going on there. You can also try this link, has worked for me in the past.
Update 2: Okay, ignore those other links and use this one.
Here are the links to his YouTube videos: Video 1 and video 2.
Gamerzines
I got an email recently about Gamerzines, “next generation magazines for next-gen gamers.” Looked like something I might like, so I took a look at the 360 Gamerzine and was very impressed. I liked how they use Acrobat for a full-screen layout of their mag. It’s extremely well produced with great content. They’ve also got people writing for them that I’ve enjoyed in the past. The embedded videos were a nice touch.
After reading through the e-magazine, I wondered, “Why not just do this as a website instead of a PDF?” The tools to create them should be roughly the same, so why this format? They answer in their About Us page:
People love magazines; we love magazines. We wanted to produce something different to what is already on offer online, something that more closely resembles the experience of a printed magazine, together with the multimedia benefits of emedia.
While I’ve never seen videos in my print magazines, I was very impressed with Gamerzines. Check them out and decide for yourself.