Endangered Gamer

from this Joystiq post.....

don't have time for a full post, but here's a cool event for anyone in the chicago area this weekend. I might go, it's 50-50 right now......thanks Serg!! The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs presents the Summer 2007 line-up for the Ohm Multimedia Series, which incorporates new media in electronic music, performance and visual art. Ohm invites professionals from the art and music scenes, including live DJs and visual artists, to create multimedia artworks in front of an audience. This summer, Ohm will a four-part series focusing on music and visuals influenced by video games. The events will feature live performances on 8-bit computer programs, hacked Gameboys and added gear, laptop music battles, DJs playing original, remixed or music influenced by video games. Visuals will be provided by guest video jockeys or VJs. "Video games have influenced popular culture since they were introduced to the masses in the early 1980s," said Ohm curator Br...

Sorry if it wasn't clear, but this is a massive maze that DOES have a solution. to see it in it's entirety, here's a link to the source file ...... here's the solution

holy shit, i just found something that i've been dreaming about for a loooong time. after playing some of the Darkness's ADD multiplayer matches, i was monkeying around the menu, and found a achievement list. but this one was a bit different. in addition to the normal list, like what you would get if you hit the guide button, picked the game and chose to see the achievements, the game gives you a percentage number to how close you are to gaining achievements that you haven't gotten yet!!!!!! finally, a way to tell exactly how much time you need to put into getting those damn things!!!! i hope that MORE; nay, ALL developers would take the time to do shit like this. YAY!!!!!!

I just picked up The Darkness. No, not the rawk band with the falsetto-voiced singer . After trading in some outdated games at gamestop , i came home and popped in the most intriguing game I've played so far this year. I hesitate to give it too much praise, since i haven't tried the multiplayer yet, or even finished the second mission. but from what i can tell so far, the game rocks hard. so far i've seen about 7 of the "execution" moves, and let me tell you, they don't get old. unabashedly adult, the game packs swear words and gore without seeming forced or contrived. (unlike some other games) the aiming is strange, lacking the precision that usually defines FPS games, but since the game seems to lean more on the Darkness powers than traditional run-and-gun gameplay , I'll be forgiving. to be totally honest, I've had about 20 minutes of experience with the Darkess powers, but they're fucking awesome so far. even those darklings you ...

my pal Gil has apparently thrown in the proverbial towel, and curb-stomped his blog, The Archer Bus. I guess he can't dedicate enough time now that the Cubbies are actually winning, so today he laid it to rest. Here's to hoping that someone revieves it before it bleeds out....

So i finally got all the best pics from the vacation up at flickr , so mosey on over and check them out.....here are some of my personal favorites.....

i remember waaay back when Gamestop was just starting out as a brand, and that they began to buy all the FunCoLand stores and assimilate them, like the Borg. back then they weren't the bad guys, i actually went there because i really wanted a videogame store to be successful . ( considering how they've become the bundle-bullies, i guess i should have stuck to Electronics Boutique....oh, wait.....ummm..) anyways, here's one of the 3 gaming related posts from my vacation. back then, when Gamestop began buying out all the FunCoLand stores (2000), they had some fruity company logos. I guess nobody in Puerto Rico got the memo to change the STYLE of the sign in addition to the NAME. it was pretty weird when i drove by, and i had to turn around to get this pic.

I just spent the best week ever in Puerto Rico. internet free, and phone free, it was an awesome vacation spent in rainforests, beaches and wandering down 500 year old streets. i'll post some of the best pics later, when i get a chance. some might go up on flickr tonight, so if you're interested, head on over to check them out . I've been trying to catch up on the recent news, so if i seem excited about something that's a week old, have patience. it's good to be back.......

Remember how fast you could run with Sonic? Man you were blazing! Doing loops, doing sweet jumps, doing.. aw crap I just hit a spike and ALL MY MONIES just spilled everywhere and caused the last 15 minutes of careful saving to be all for naught. Well, now you can relive that on public transportation with the DS version of Sonic. Its actually and RPG, but none the less, the face remains the same.

Contra 4 on the DS FTW! Coming very soon .

still got time for one.....more.....post!!!! badass leather pixel jewelry ......

i'm offically signing off for my honeymoon/vacation. we're going to Puerto Rico for a week, so there won't be any updates for the next 10 days. (unless Gil posts something) i really really needed a vacation, so i'm stoked..... here's a pic of where my fat ass will be relaxing.

a kid stabbed a would-be Playstation 3 robber in the chest with a sword and some mad ninja skillz.

wow. she's loading the gun, saying "papa said it won't hurt us."

like this video suggests, i'm anticipating a flood of Gamestop Crackdown trade-in's tomorrow.

so the Halo 3 beta is over tonight, and another wait begins .... i won't miss it too much, since i was on the 360 almost the entire day. this next week will probably see very little activity on this blog, for personal reasons. and the week after is vacation, so any posts that make it in the next 2 weeks will be few and far between. my total Halo 3 Beta stats have been skewed due to the custom Games i played in the last week. here's a summary. let's see..... i just started playing Super Smash Bros. Melee again today, in anticipation of SSB: Brawl's use of the Gamecube controller . Great move by Nintendo, i was dreading waving the wiimote and nunchuck like a spaz. not that I'm any good at the game. i could probably beat gil , but that's about it. playing through God of War II, and i've gotten past the guy you kill in GoW, the dude on the horse that gives you the big ass goofy hammer . it's hands down the best action game franchise of the last gen, ...

do you really need more incentive to click play????

i don't have an egghead explanation of HOW it's done, ( this guy does) but i do know it roxors my boxors.

stick around till the end to see the frank 'n beans......

All-Pro Football 2k7's roster has been released, and it included a who's who of pro football players. of course, none of them are playing now, but shit, it's like playing in a league of all-madden teams. here's the full roster list.... a few of the more famouse r names. Troy Aikman QB, Marcus Allen HB , Steve Bartkowski QB, Leroy Butler FS ,Dave Butz DT Mark Carrier WR , Dwight Clark WR , Roger Craig HB , Al Del Greco K, Mike Ditka TE (FUCK YEAH!!!!!) Art Donovan DT , John Elway QB, Chuck Foreman HB , Barry Foster HB , Irving Fryar WR , Willie Gault WR , Ernest Givins WR , Mike Golic DT , Otto Graham QB, Eric Green TE, Dan Hampton DT , Alvin Harper WR , Cliff Harris FS , Jim Hart QB, Lester Hayes CB,Dalton Hilliard HB , Raghib Ismail WR , Pepper Johnson ILB , Daryl Johnston FB ,Too Tall Jones DE, Bernie Kosar QB, Greg Kragen DT ,Dave Krieg QB, Jim Lachey T, Night Train Lane CB, Jim Langer G, Ronnie Lott FS , Tom Mack G, Archie Manning QB, Dan Marino Q...

When my wife asked me if I'd heard about the new Pac Man game and Championship event, I casually mentioned that i HAD heard about it, but it was not really that big of a deal. Microsoft had been teasing some big announcement for a few days , and when it was made, i was less than impressed. widescreen Pac-Man. big fucking deal. what was more interesting was the fact that a Mexican dude had won the event . since i was in the process of booting my 360 up, i decided to check out the free trial. Now i have played Pac-Man a few times, mostly for beers when i was in the army. i was never obsessed with it, since after starting it becomes an endurance race. I started the demo up, and holy shit if it isn't one of the FASTEST XBLA purchases I've ever made. 30 seconds into it i had already decided to buy. it's such a huge change from the static eat-em-all original, they should have named it Pac-Man 2. it's hard to describe the gameplay, so i'll just post a video s...

i lol'd.

Holy crap, i just got off XBL after a marathon session in the Halo 3 beta. after getting together with a few other players, we managed to start a custom game lobby, and go through the options. first off, the menu for the game settings is shit. SHIT. it took me a while to get universal changes like gravity and movement speed. it's just not designed intuitively, so i hope they make some changes to the game setting screens. shit, at least make it like halo 1 or 2. On to the only 2 weapons not officially in the beta, the Plasma Sword and the Magnum Pistol. the Sword feels the same, although it discharges now like in Halo 2 campaign. the lunge distance seems shorter, and the switch to other weapons has a bit of a delay. nothing major. it was funny to see everyone swinging the sword like maniacs like the night Halo 2 came out. it takes awhile to learn the proper lock-on distance. the pistol was a huge letdown. i was expecting some kind of return to the Halo 1 pistol, but no, it...

someone must be bored at work......

i have to admit, the thought of a hyper-detailed paintjob in Forza Motorsport 2 makes me think long about buying the game, but it's not enough. after seeing what's possible, i might just think about it some more. although sitting around painting virtual cars is exactly the type of thing that could make me an obsessive freak. (like I'm not a freak already) anyways, check out some of the better ones.......