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Wii Love Grandparents

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Wii

Nintendo and the Wii are bringing gaming to the masses. From the description on Flickr:

This is a picture of the marquee at the Schaumburg Township District Library advertising a Wii program. The aim of this program is to bring together multiple generations, in this case, through videogames. The library has embraced gaming and has hosted several gaming programs, tournaments, and groups primarily for children and young adults. This new program will be a great way to bring in these kids’ parents and grandparents.

Gaming with grandparents? Sign me up!

Comic Watch – Moderately Confused

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Moderately Confused

It’s been a while since I’ve done a comic watch, but I caught this one this past weekend and figured it was as good a place to start it up again as any. The comic in question is called Moderately Confused, but really should be called Moderately (but not really) Funny. Being that it’s a one-panel “strip” I always read it because it takes such little energy, but I am routinely disappointed. This one is no exception. Going for the easy “when I was a kid things were better” and the “all you kids do is play video games” is a pretty weak attempt. Besides, that kid is way to young to have a Playstation. A Nintendo, sure. He is a kid afterall. Color me unimpressed.

At least he got Playstation right. He probably could have pointed at a sandbox and said “when I was your age, that was my Xbox” but that would just be weird.

Bioshock + start of college football = BUSY

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I just did the unthinkable — I attacked a Big Daddy (an Elite Bouncer, to be exact) with my pipe wrench. I was near a vita-chamber (a respawn point) and decided to pound a Big Daddy to a pulp with my wrench. It actually took a while but I did it. I’m not sure why I did, maybe I was hoping it was one of the secret achievements or something, but I took him down. Down to Chinatown. Sure, I went down a dozen times myself, but that’s beside the point.

So, ya, I’ve been busy playing Bioshock. Absolutely excellent game. If you want to read more about the game, I suggest you read Tom’s piece over at G-pinions.

I’ve also been busy posting at my other blog, Men of the Scarlet and Gray. College Football started tonight and we’ve been in preview mode all week over there getting ready for the 2007 Ohio State Football season to begin.

But I am alive and I believe my co-bloggers are as well. We’re still playing games when we can and regular posting should resume shortly. As far as games go, I think it will be Bioshock with a dash of Everquest 2 until Halo 3 for me, and then copious amounts of Halo 3. I’ve been actively recruiting work-mates to get in on the Halo 3 bandwagon. The more the merry! Hard to believe it’s less than a month away.

New Kids on my Block, Part 5

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license.jpgI hadn’t realized it’s been over six months since my last “New Kids” post, so it’s time for another one. Here’s the drill: I find a new blog, I add it to the NKotB folder in Google Reader. Then I tell you about them. If I find that I’m still reading them after a while in the NKotB folder, they get added to the blogroll. I try to keep up with as many blogs as I can, but it just isn’t possible to read everyone’s stuff. Maybe you’ll find something you like. The list is long, so all I can manage is a one-line blurb for each of these. Check them out!

Bit bytes pixels & sprites – Worst luck with 360s than anyone else.

EBStone – Plays on Xbox Live and has a lot of friends. Will you join him?

Aelon.net – A little bit of everything.

Bush Mackel – You had me at the Bruce Lee header.

A Link to the Future – The future can be found in the previews.

Gamer Babble – Xbox 360 galore. Do you think he gets red rings?

Gamerpunch – Who knew games were so crafty?

Hawty McBloggy – Run! It’s a girl!

Shindakun.net – The interweb, gaming and some other stuff.

I’ve actually been reading (or listening to) these guys for a while, but never linked them here. They’re in the folder I call “The Pros”

MTV Multiplayer Blog – Yes, even MTV has a gaming blog.

N’Gai Croal’s Level Up – Everyone pronounces his name wrong, which is a shame. He seems like a nice guy.

Garnett Lee’s My1UP Page – One of the guys from the 1UP Yours podcast.

John Davison’s My1UP Page – See above. Just add a funny accent.

Action Button – Sure wish I could get a Cliff Notes version of their reviews!

Sexy Videogame Land – Yikes! It’s another girl! Their cooties are everywhere!

When I was going full-bore with Everquest 2, I subscribed to a handful of EQ2 blogs. A few of the goods one:

The Ancient Gaming Noob – Loving his noobness.

Eyes Like Ours – Wii and EQ2. What’s not to like?

MMOQuests – Live the EQ2 life vicariously at MMOQuests.

Cuppy Talk – MMO-Girl in the house.

So check ’em out, see what you like. You never know what you’ll find. I’m always on the look-out for new kids on the block. Let me know of any I’ve missed!

Previous New Kids:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

In my hands

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BioshockI won’t get around to playing this until the little mashers are tucked in bed, but I’m pretty stoked about how I got it for a killer price. You can read the details of what happened in this CAG forum post, but the gist of it is I had to go to Wal-mart since Circuit City had sold out. The CC ad had two prices, one for the 360 version of the game and one was for the PC version, which is ten dollars cheaper. I walked out of Wal-mart with Bioshock costing me $39.99. Not too shabby.

Update: I played Bioshock way too late last night and all I can think about now is getting back to Rapture. Never mind I have a conference tomorrow at 7:00AM! I can survive on four hours of sleep!

So Bioshock, native wide screen or not, is an amazing game thus far. My brother in law was in town last night, so I had a partner in crime for the first few hours in Rapture. Playing with others watching is always more fun. Visually, it’s stunning. The atmosphere feels perfect. The whole steam punk/dystopia motif works very well. Sounds and voices are equally up to the task. So far, so good.

I never really get into the “Are games Art?” debate because I don’t feel anywhere near qualified to say anything of value. But a lot has been made of Bioshock and the choices you’re presented with as a way to evoke emotion. I didn’t think much of it until I was actually presented with the “choice.” For those of you who have played it, you know which one I mean. What did you think of it? It actually made me pause to consider what path I should follow. For a brief moment it stopped being a fun game. That hardly ever happens to me.

So in short, Bioshock (moral choices or not) is a great ride so far. I hope to get a few more hours in tonight.

Bioshock on sale

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I was just perusing the Sunday ads and noticed that Circuit City will be selling Bioshock for $49.99 (10$ off). Even though I haven’t played the demo and am packaging up my dead Xbox 360 as we speak, I will still be picking this up (I’ll be playing it on a borrowed 360).

I think it’s safe to recommend this game to everyone who loves videogames.

Really hot things

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I like to make lists. They’re fun. I decided I’d make a fun little list of “Things I own that Get Hot but don’t Stop Working.” Here are a few I came up with:

  • My water heater. This is an easy one. It’s never stopped working for me. One time the pilot light went out, but the water stayed warm for a while and it was easy to fix. I am ready for when it need replacing, I’ve read the best tankless water heater reviews and know exactly what I want. For now though, that puppy is still working it gets nice and toasty and keeps on chugging!
  • My Easy-Bake Oven. It’s a simple cardboard box with a big ol’ light bulb inside. It’s gets pretty darn hot in there, but it makes me delicious snack-sized brownies with nary a break down. It’s like it was built to handle the heat or something.
  • My Jeep Cherokee Sport. It has an internal combustion engine, meaning it’s powered by high temperature explosions of gasoline mixed with oxygen. The engine is cooled with water and uses oil to reduce friction because it gets so damn hot in there. I know it gets hot in there because I have a little temperature gauge on my dashboard that tells me when it’s getting too hot. You know what else gets hot in my Jeep?
  • Me. Because the air conditioning doesn’t work. So on a nice hot August day, after the Jeep has been cooking in the sun all day, I get to ride in a hot box of stagnant air. I often get real hot. But guess what? I don’t stop working! I’m fricken amazing.

I also thought I’d make another list: “Things I own that Get Hot and Suddenly Stop Working.” It’s a pretty short list:

  • My Xbox 360

Of course, this isn’t the first time my little white heat-sissy died. But it’s dying at the most inopportune time possible. 360 Euphoria is almost upon us. Everyone is already lavishing praise on the Bioshocks demo and hearing the guys on the 1UP Yours podcast give it a lot of love is killing me. I want to play Bioshock! I also have family visiting next month and we were planning on a bunch of NCAA 08. I don’t even have to mention that little game coming out at the end of September. I’ll probably get my 360 back a week before it drops, giving me precious little time with Bioshock. This sucks!

So my 360 box is on its way. Then I’ll be 360-less for a while. The wait will be painful.

DO NOT WANT.