tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81075907551961677452011-11-27T16:38:43.067-08:00Random writings and ramblings from Shawn Struck on geek culture like video games, technology, web design, tabletop games and more.Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.comBlogger1021100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-23647874216761403562010-06-09T18:25:00.000-07:002010-06-09T18:28:35.067-07:00

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-12859071657424572902010-06-08T12:54:00.000-07:002010-06-08T14:00:51.876-07:00

Steve Spohn has from muscular dystrophy. He is also an avid gamer. With a bag of rice, some duct tape and Xbox 360 controller parts, he is working with a video game accessory company to keep himself in the game. Arizona-based Evil Controllers specializes in modding video game controllers to make them accessible to gamers that have special needs. Steve's prototype X-box controller is modular.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-91968386385607563332010-06-07T11:21:00.000-07:002010-06-07T11:25:49.241-07:00

From Nick Mahatmas' blog:"I noticed that the Readercon programming schedule is up and that there is to be a panel on racial diversity and cover art. Further james_nicoll has collected a couple of links about the malaise in science fiction—either there is no science, or the science is just a magical Singularity of nanotech and bad manners and rudeness toward sexbots or something.To all of which I

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-91057224938840558202010-06-07T05:13:00.001-07:002010-06-07T05:17:26.459-07:00

I have a new Retro Review up, this time giving an in-depth look at one of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance's swan-song RPGs... Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-70194072488063126182010-06-07T03:19:00.000-07:002010-06-07T03:57:17.279-07:00

... metaphorically.Sara Haghdoosti is a 22-year-old Iranian-Australian feminist writer, active with GetUp! Australia, and has been a lifelong fan of the the Prince of Persia video game series, ever since the very first game for the PC.So she was very excited when the Prince of Persia movie was first announced... and then very disappointed when the movie was first released.Why does she feel the

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-36166880508502890452009-03-26T11:48:00.001-07:002009-03-26T11:49:40.432-07:00

New addition to the blog-- to the right colomn, under about me is a simple text entry form where you can suggest topics or submit requests for me to blog about. Go to it!

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-14209569208206677402009-03-26T11:28:00.000-07:002009-03-26T11:39:09.960-07:00

Blogger yeloson talks about some of his personal frustrations regarding fandom and racial cluelessness. An excerpt:A few years back, I went to GenCon, the largest tabletop roleplaying convention in the US. I arrived excited and eager to play, and a little sad my friends whom I had attended ComiCon weren't with me. I had just gotten out of the registration line and saw a person dressed up in

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-36782313789376192752009-03-24T11:46:00.000-07:002009-03-24T11:53:18.880-07:00

coffeeandink asked people to recommend books by people of color. She got a response from Cindy Pon:i've got a YA asian fantasy coming out inmay : Silver Phoenixwhen i met with a [sci fi/ fantasy] publisherat a writing conference last year, he had read the first12 pages and said to me : "why is this fantasy?this is amy tan meets crouching tiger."like it was a BAD thing.also : "asian fantasy does

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-58899217864261793522009-03-24T11:39:00.000-07:002009-03-24T11:45:25.412-07:00

What is RaceFail '09? daedala provided the shortest summary of RaceFail '09 here and it is as followed:1. Elizabeth Bear writes a post about "how to write the Other"2. Avalon's Willow critiques one of her books on racial tropes3. Bear agrees unequivocally in writing4. Commenters defend Bear in increasingly racist language.5. Massive fail all over the internet.6. Bear says that she was lying in 3

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-19661536607499169262009-03-24T11:02:00.000-07:002009-03-24T11:11:07.944-07:00

From TaoJeannes in the rpg.net forums, comes a great set of guidelines for both players and game masters that work for any system you decide to play with:The GM Agrees That...1. I will say "No" only when absolutely necessary to preserve the overall fun of the game for everyone. I will make it a goal not to say it even once.3. I will provide each player with individual spotlight time as well as no

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-55276405598867171072008-05-28T17:09:00.000-07:002008-05-28T17:44:36.516-07:00

The Regia Anglorum, is an English re-enactment society. The society maintains a wealth of information about life in medieval England using the virtual village of Wichamstow and its surroundings. They have in-depth articles on many of the crafts and trades that the villagers would have undertaken, and about the places they would live and work.They have also created a real live medieval village and

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-15698832415981664332008-05-28T16:26:00.000-07:002008-05-28T16:58:36.659-07:00

Subscribers to the TOKYOPOP e-newsletter recently saw the following announcement: Manga Pilots: You Read and Review -- You Help Decide What We Publish!TOKYOPOP is launching an exciting new stage in our manga development program -- and we need your help.We want you to read, review, and tell us which TOKYOPOP Manga Pilots should be made into a full-length manga.Click here to help TOKYOPOP develop

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-78283391919155023272008-05-28T16:13:00.000-07:002008-05-30T20:41:38.223-07:00

UPDATE: Kevin Siembieda has apologized; you can read his apology in the comments section. Thank you, Kevin.In my recent Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Review & First Impressions, I basically said the book looks good, the new art looks good, the rules have some welcome tweaks on one hand but don’t come close to genre emulation on the other, briefly discuss the “G.I. Joe rule change” and conclude

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-73909154635959799262008-05-28T16:07:00.000-07:002008-05-28T16:12:55.664-07:00

Just a reminder—you can meet members of the RPGX crew at the A-Kon anime convention in Dallas from May 31 to June 1st.I’ll be wandering the convention on Saturday and Sunday in-between interviewing people, or setting up interviews, or taking notes at a panel. I’ll be waering a plain-white T shirt with the RPGX logo on the front.Fellow RPGX member (and former roomie) Wraith should be haunting the

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-49373734116940652322008-05-24T20:03:00.000-07:002008-05-24T20:16:30.983-07:00

So, my character, Par Vaartal The Dark, is a barbarian originally from the frozen north. The current campaign has the group of barbarian PCs plucked from around the world and dumped in a strange, almost tropical forest and plains. So, in addition to initial communication difficulties, there is also the geographical unfamiliarities.Michelle's character, Dru, is a fierce warrior as well. The group

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-70405928598291347102008-05-21T21:32:00.000-07:002008-05-21T22:01:20.946-07:00

With the permission of her writer, I am pleased to share with you the write-up our gaming group uses for the Faerie Dragon as a PC Race. Enjoy.Faerie Dragon (As a Player Character Race)by the Awe-Inspiring Snowflake F. DragonHuman Legend: A chaotic offshoot of the pseudo-dragon (though we all know this is not true), the Faerie Dragon lives in peaceful, tangled forests and thrives on pranks,

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-54342215270333402012008-05-14T18:40:00.000-07:002008-05-14T18:48:21.492-07:00

Wanted to give a little link-love to a site I discovered last week. It's called Gnome Stew.It's a game mastering blog, written by GMs, for GMs. With 10 authors, Gnome Stew delivers system-neutral and system-specific content for game masters.Here's a bit from a great recent article, 12 Ways To Use Google Apps at the Game Table:Personally, I think Google Docs is one of the most

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-59411221868315171802008-05-14T18:30:00.000-07:002008-05-14T18:40:28.498-07:00

Boing Boing Gadgets has come across and AWESOME photo-set on flicker; it's a side by side comparisons of Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City landmarks with their real-life counterparts in New York City. Some of them are amazing. Here, check out this example at right.On the left hand side, you have the actual Hearst building. On the right you have the GTA IV's analogue.You can view the entire

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-78218758703804876582008-05-14T08:05:00.000-07:002008-05-14T08:11:07.350-07:00

According to the latest issue of Science News, many research institutions are leveraging the simple simulation tools of the 3-D sandbox Second Life to create immersible science learning experiences. From Science News: “Early on, when SL really got going, it looked like it was going to be a huge playground,” says Amme. “I thought... who needs a second life unless you don’t have a first one?”

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-34117667305089663672008-05-14T08:00:00.000-07:002008-05-14T08:05:03.447-07:00

From the blog Say It Backwards: Thomas Denton of comic blog Say It Backwards has a nephew who was diagnosed with cancer. A charity called Candlelighters helped his family out. Thomas decided to use his connections in the comics world to organize some charitable auctions featuring original artwork by various artists to give something back to the organization. Apparently Time

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-10085296526656378172008-05-12T15:37:00.000-07:002008-05-12T18:14:11.243-07:00

I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of Palladium's new RPG source book for the Robotech setting: Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. Here are my first impressions of the book, based on a few read-throughs and comparison with the previous Palladium Robotech books.The VilliansWhile this source book is billed as "The Shadow Chronicles", the content seems heavier on the New Generation Secondary

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-32493138449435879382008-05-12T15:09:00.000-07:002008-05-12T15:37:22.250-07:00

In an update to my previous post, Mass Effect For PC Treats Legitimate Customers Like Thieves , EA recently made an announcement on its forums: they have reworked the anti-piracy detection for Mass Effect, and will no longer require online re-authorization every 10 days. From the Mass Effect forum: There has been a lot of discussion in the past few days on how the security requirements for Mass

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-4642654515831577922008-05-09T08:04:00.000-07:002008-05-09T08:17:20.175-07:00

Shawn Fanning, best known for founding Napster, has a new job. He will be working at Electronic Arts, which is about to buy his social-network-gaming startup Rupture for $30 million, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. His co-founder Jon Baudanza will also join Electronic Arts. Rumors of a possible deal for just such a buy-out offer began swirling in early February when TechCrunch

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-50074882615406253482008-05-08T19:16:00.000-07:002008-05-08T20:20:54.494-07:00

Do you own a PC? Would you like to play MAss Effect on your PC since you've heard how great a game it is on a console? Well, according to the Mass Effect forums, if you'd like to play the PC version of Bioware/EA's hit XBOX 360 title "Mass Effect," you have to have an an internet connection.Well, in order for the game you have already bought and paid for to order to remain "activated" the game

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-35778147563395706492008-05-08T17:50:00.000-07:002008-05-08T17:53:27.510-07:00

Via Kotaku, an incredible 10 minute video of a Super Mario World level that not only plays itself, but plays MUSIC.Go. Watch it now. NOW.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-24663129544840351902008-05-08T16:49:00.000-07:002008-05-08T17:48:07.645-07:00

Partially as a reminder for tomorrow night's D&D game my wife is co-running, and partially so I can gauge interest in more homebrewed stuff, here is a quick and dirty info sheet on the character I'll be playing this Friday: a Faerie Dragon Mage.Character: Jareth Q(uincy) F(aerie) Dragon Class: Mage Level: 5 Align: CGRacial Advantages: As per Faerie Dragon PC write-up Racial Disadvantages: As

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-35104243450142080582008-05-07T20:18:00.000-07:002008-05-07T21:21:58.550-07:00

No, the above headline isn't some rejected headline from parody news outlet The Onion. It's true.For the past decade or so, Dave Sim, Cerebus creator and publisher of one of the longest running independent comics in history, has been dogged by criticism of misogyny in his work. It started first after publication of an essay in Cerebus #186, "Reads" in which he attacked Oprah, the intelligence of

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-48150923999628403382008-04-28T11:42:00.000-07:002008-04-28T12:12:17.043-07:00

... that those I that argued the Open Source Boob Project I blogged about previously was a tempest in a teacup and that no way would it spread further than PenguinCon...... there are guys planning on attending Dragon*Con that are, in their male-privileged, socially clueless, vaguely Asperberg's Syndrome-y way talking about how they will implement the project.Not IF.But HOW.Thankfully, there is

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-63600972457776263602008-04-22T22:19:00.000-07:002008-04-22T23:51:47.691-07:00

This past week, at the noted science-fiction convention Penguincon, Star City Games employee and erstwhile livejournal blogger theferrett spontaneously launched something that he demurely called the "Open Source Boobs Project". What was that all about? Here, I'll let theferrett explain himself. Take it away, mr. mustelid!"This should be a better world," a friend of mine said. "A more honest one,

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-83693724965401475122008-04-17T21:26:00.000-07:002008-04-17T21:31:41.757-07:00

Last year, I linked to a cool project-- dedicated arcade gamer nerds took the urban-legend game "Polybius", and made it a reality, sort of.A few days ago, a user named POLYBIUS left a comment linking to the site www.polybiuslives.com .They're been around a few other sites, doing pretty much the same thing, sometimes adding a "Have you forgotten?".Is this for a game? An ARG? An art project? A

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-23422069588828745672008-04-17T21:18:00.000-07:002008-04-17T21:21:19.111-07:00

Los Angeles libraries offer video games to kids -- Over half of the LA public libraries are offering video game nights to encourage kids to visit libraries:"It makes the library a fun place," said Ponce, a 13-year-old eighth-grader who says he now goes to the library every day even when there are no games.Libraries are turning to video games to connect with teenagers who have outgrown story time.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-74144318827871816432008-04-17T21:01:00.000-07:002008-04-17T21:08:23.309-07:00

From DS Fanboy comes a tale of trading one habit for another, and how a gamer pulled it off-- he traded cigarette smoking for playing Pokemon on the DS:How did you come up with the idea of using Pokémon to help you quit smoking?I can't really say for sure what made me choose Pokémon to help me quit. Back when Pokémon Red and Blue first came out, I was addicted to those games. I caught them all,

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-2368512273986487902008-04-17T20:54:00.000-07:002008-04-17T20:59:49.614-07:00

Second Life investor Mitch Kapor has a new project in his lab: creating hands-free, 3D navigation for Second Life using a 3D camera that tracks your body geometry, allowing you to fly around in-world in much the same way you'd ride a Segway: by leaning back and forth. Why? From his site:For the moment, our objective is to explore the possibilities for these new types of devices. We believe that

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-35770422202530280802008-04-17T20:47:00.000-07:002008-04-17T20:53:25.306-07:00

This video shows one enterprising programmer managing to squeeze a session of Second Life, an experience that can tax the most demanding of today's PC rigs depending on where you visit through a system with a 1 mHz processor with 128 k of system RAM.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-64808826659212767562008-04-11T20:41:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:57:38.682-08:00

The above concept art by Strong bad.Yes, your dreams of a Homestar Runner video game have now come true!The WiiWare/PC game "Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People" is a joint collaboration between Mike and Matt Champman (the creators of Homestar Runner) and Telltale Games (the brains behind the Sam and Max adventure game series).From the official site:These are story games, with weird

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-74107565388872489122008-04-08T18:02:00.000-07:002008-04-08T18:09:09.509-07:00

The World Cyber Games (WCG) today announced Chengdu, China as the WCG 2009 Grand Final host city for the world's largest and most prestigious video game tournament and festival. The formal announcement will be made in China on April 23rd when Chengdu city officials and World Cyber Games organizers join together for the official signing ceremony in Chengdu, China.The World Cyber Games Committee

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-15169993543567163002008-04-07T20:07:00.001-07:002008-04-07T20:15:28.869-07:00

It looks simple:A child's crayon scribblings on a piece of graph paper.The goal sounds simple:You play the game by moving the red ball so that it collects the floating stars. You can cause the red ball to move by drawing physical objects, like ramps, or shapes, like squares. You draw with the left mouse button and erase with the right mouse button.Even the game engine sounds simple:It was

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-48042845415071628592008-04-07T19:44:00.000-07:002008-04-07T20:04:20.232-07:00

Danny "Sardius" Cowan compiles a weekly feature for gaming industry news site Gamasutra called "Release This!" which compiles worldwide video game releases. As you can imagine, this feature takes him quite a bit of time and effort.So when GamePro began syndicating this feature across all of the IDG family of sites without permission of Gamasutra, and without crediting Danny, he could have gotten

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-82547043098294494702008-04-07T19:00:00.000-07:002008-04-07T19:12:06.038-07:00

Strong Bad's favorite glam metal band, Limozeen, played a club in Atlanta for reals over the weekend.Here's a taste of "Because It's Midnite":You can see the rest of the show up on YouTube.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-25019789393512922762008-04-07T18:11:00.000-07:002008-04-07T18:19:42.668-07:00

"One question I'm asked all the time is: What do I have to do to become a game writer? Well, at last I'm going to tell you. Are you ready for it? You're sure? Okay! To become a game writer you must be good at writing for games. I'm glad that's settled. Oh ... were you looking for a little more than that? I guess you're persistent and curious -- that's a start. I'll tell you what I know."

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-52239423014330930192008-04-07T17:43:00.000-07:002008-04-07T17:54:12.261-07:00

Libr'ul commie puppy eating cartoonist and weblogger August Pollak is pretty hot under the collar about EA's recent plan to charge gamers for upgraded weaponry in what is supposed to be a complete game at purchase:The short version: You have to buy a video game. Then you have to pay to play it against other people over the internet. You have to pay to download extra levels or maps for the game.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-44834106163050629782008-04-07T17:35:00.001-07:002008-04-07T17:43:33.644-07:00

A recent issues of Popular Mechanics tackled an interesting video game question: Just how "realistic" is the weaponry in so-caled "realistic" military first-person shooters like America's Army and Rainbow Six?"[M]ilitary shooters have a tradition of so-called realism. Most of the in-game weapons are available now—or at least loosely based on designs that could eventually reach the likes of Iraq

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-82158717548314014512008-04-07T17:22:00.000-07:002008-04-07T17:33:57.293-07:00

Bill Fulton, a former Microsoft developer writes about the need for instituting features into games that discourage players from acting like jerks."[W]hy do I care? Because the online behavior of our customers is dramatically reducing our sales, and continues to stunt the growth of our industry. Non-gamers simply don’t love games enough to put up with the crap they get online. The reason

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-82112831511697616332008-04-07T16:17:00.000-07:002008-04-07T17:22:18.284-07:00

"Inevitably, after I finish speaking, the strong opinions come. It happens the same way every time: People listen and then they say what they've been feeling. 'Videogames are not good for you'. 'Videogames are a waste of time. They isolate children. Kids never go outside to play. They just sit there and stare at the TV all day'."This choice is from an enlightening, and at times, sobering look at

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-53989313331798127342008-03-25T20:41:00.000-07:002008-03-25T20:54:04.804-07:00

The ever-irascible CinnamonPirate brings us another import bootleg review, this time of an NES game based on the popular flick Titanic.Yes, THAT Titanic.From the review:I have a hard time imagining what possessed anyone to make this game. The board meeting probably went something like this: President: OK guys, we have this terrible RPG engine for the Famicom. How can we squeeze more money out

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-57161605258444270242008-03-17T18:54:00.000-07:002008-03-17T18:56:18.184-07:00

Pontiac cashes in on arcade classic Spy Hunter nostalgia with this awesome new ad:

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-2310003466587251382008-03-17T18:32:00.000-07:002008-03-17T18:45:40.873-07:00

A few months ago, I linked to this totally frickin' sweet preview video of the remake of the NES classic Bionic Commando for X-box Live Arcade titled Bionic Commando: Re-Armed. Capcom held a poll to determine the price it should sell for, and the gaming masses have spoken; the overwhelming choice to price the game at was $10.Capcom's Ben Judd posted the official reasoning behind the pricing and

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-16240130530229787492008-03-17T15:47:00.000-07:002008-03-17T15:51:39.470-07:00

The game lineup has been announced, along with the match=up type, and iut certainly looks interesting. From the ESA's press release the games this year will be:Counter-Strike 1.6 (5v5) - (PC)StarCraft: Brood War (1v1) - (PC)Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (1v1) - (PC)FIFA 08 (1v1) - (PC)Need for Speed: ProStreet (1v1) - (PC)Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (1v1) - (PC)Age of Empires III: The

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-10370496851132045992008-03-17T11:58:00.000-07:002008-03-17T12:05:44.740-07:00

K-Project, the beta version of Rez for the Dreamcast. The file is a self-booting image that will fit on a standard 80-Minute CD-R.Here are the details from the .NFO file:K-Project, the beta version of Rez for the Dreamcast. The file is a self-booting image that will fit on a standard 80-Minute CD-R.Here are the details from the .NFO file==== K-Project ====(Rez beta version)Date: March 3, 2008# of

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-68229904882208389542008-03-16T22:21:00.000-07:002008-03-16T22:34:30.239-07:00

From Kevin S himself, on the Palladium Message boards:Please Note: We’ve forgotten to remind people in our last few Press Releases that, currently, Palladium can only sell the RPG in the USA and Canada. I know that must disappoint a great many of our friends and fans overseas. Each additional country costs an additional licensing fee (and a substantial one at that), so it just wasn’t cost

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-66055203464584859722008-03-16T22:04:00.000-07:002008-03-16T22:21:16.167-07:00

Hey, you!You read The Code, so you obviously like video games.You probably like art. You've maybe even read a comic or two in your lifetime, I'd wager.Then you will love the happy mutants over at LifeMeter.Edited by Zack Giallongo, Dave Roman, and Stephanie Yue, Life Meter is a collection of comics and cartoon art inspired by the artists' collective appreciation and love of video games. The site

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-530936727081432572008-03-11T19:05:00.000-07:002008-03-11T19:12:39.890-07:00

There are two more great articles released in the wake of Gary Gyx's death that I wanted to call your attention to:Jeremy Parish and the 1UP.com editorial staff compiled a wonderful article entitled Five Things Games Have Learned from Dungeons & Dragons that shows just what sort of far-reaching effects on video games and computer games Gary Gygax has wrought.From the 1Up article:It's taken three

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-18178901481916360722008-03-10T22:59:00.000-07:002008-03-10T23:08:11.362-07:00

Remember my previous post detailing spell poems I wrote for my 2nd Edition D&D Bard?Reader R^2 has contributed a few more! here they are:Time Stop--For this spell all the Mythal is beckonedAnd the power of aracnists reckonedAll reality twistsWhile this spell exists,But it's Time Stop, so I've got second.Prismatic Sphere--If you're as dangerous as you appear,I'll defend with a Prismatic

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-7839171342846886632008-03-10T22:43:00.000-07:002008-03-11T20:36:34.212-07:00

In the aforementioned houseruled 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons games my gaming group runs, players are continually encouraged to come up with new or unique ways of doing things with one's character. One of my characters, a half-dragon thief/martial artist, has a few maneuvers I've created that may be of interest to anyone that used martial arts in either 2nd AD&D or the Oriental

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-68855389348923873472008-03-10T22:34:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:57:39.074-08:00

Retro Sabotage, at first blush, seems to be a collection of mini-versions of classic arcade games like Space Invaders, Pong, Pac-Man or Tetris... but there is more than meets the eye.Some of the games, like "pong 2.0" are pure parody. Others, like "Compromise", have some very interesting nuggets of gameplay.They update every Thursday, and if you have a single pixel's worth of gaming nostalgia, or

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-57195658299976378262008-03-10T21:30:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:57:39.139-08:00

Last week, Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, the grandfather of tabletop roleplaying games, passed away at the age of 69.On a personal level, news of his passing made me very sad. I had hoped to meet him at GenCon some day, shake his hand, and thank him for creating a product that had such a profound impact on not just the person I am today, but the writer I strove to become. The

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-70377768041789626562008-02-20T19:12:00.000-08:002008-02-20T19:14:53.708-08:00

My wife was given WoW and a bit of World of Warcraft time by a friend of hers.She just started her first character.Pray for me! ;_;

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-43097286165760142472008-02-20T18:37:00.000-08:002008-02-20T19:09:31.803-08:00

Okay, so it's probably no big surprise that I am Dorky McNerdpants, and thus play D&D once a week with a bunch of friends (and it's house-ruled 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons, to boot!).One of my characters is a Celtic-flavored bard by the Name of Daffyd ApOwen, and one quirk I gave him are the fact that along with whatever requirment he has for casting spells, he has to end it with some sort

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-89593804634380771492008-02-19T10:11:00.000-08:002008-02-20T14:18:17.360-08:00

Raph Koster, the lead designer of Ultima Online and creative director of Star Wars Galaxies kicked off the Worlds in Motion summit with a keynote address. The address was nominally about "...why virtual worlds and online spaces are more than a fad-and why you absolutely should care."It turned into something that has echoed across the game development blogosphere, touching off a firestorm of

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-8750404171279143412008-02-18T21:51:00.000-08:002008-02-18T21:58:48.426-08:00

Lord British, the in-game alter-ego of Ultima series creator Richard Garriot is essentially immortal and nearly impossible to kill.That doesn't mean that it's completely impossible, nor that gamers haven't tried.Computer & Videogames has a feature article that covers all the ways Lord British can or has died.Bonus video: How to kill Lord British in Ultima IX:

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-60583846353349727272008-02-18T21:29:00.000-08:002008-02-18T21:44:54.259-08:00

I loves me some pro wrestling. I obviously loves me some old-school NES games.John Cena, a pro wrestler for WWE has combined both in what is the only T-shirt related to pro wrestling I've ever wanted to a)buy and b) wear in public:OH HELL YES.At the risk of losing my "wrestling smart internet guy indie cred", I will say that John Cena is one of my favorite wrestlers, and him coming up with a

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-16709060843659310662008-02-18T21:21:00.000-08:002008-02-18T21:57:23.124-08:00

No, really.Look, the article even says so:Patrons were invited to make good on unpaid fines by donating canned and packaged foods for the local soup kitchen or by entering a dance competition, “Dance Dance Revolution.” To sweeten the pot, during most of the day the library served coffee, bagels, pastries and ice cream, donated by area businesses. By midafternoon, the cans and packages were piling

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-86678435058852461382008-02-18T21:11:00.000-08:002008-02-18T21:20:26.700-08:00

The Mechanically Separated Meat blog took the youtube video of merged games played against "Kaizo Mario World" (which I first blogged about in this entry) and used the resulting video as the starting point for an illuminating and very accessible discussion of the Many Worlds hypothesis in quantum physics.From the essay in question:tiny quantum events can create ripples that have big effects on

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-30133609409473200822008-02-07T07:24:00.000-08:002008-02-07T07:34:59.568-08:00

Prolific fanatasy author and role-playing game designer Robin D. Laws ( he designed Feng Shui, Over the Edge, Hero Wars, and Jack Vance's The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game) has an interesting and amusing analysis of the recent US primaries:On the Repub side, John McCain takes the award for most skillful power-gamer. His team saw a process with a clump of winner-take-all states at the beginning and

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-32736057248303708512008-02-05T08:41:00.000-08:002008-02-05T08:56:21.884-08:00

In a recent press release from Palladium, it was announced that the Robotech RPG re-launch is almost a done deal:"We are working hard to get the Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® role-playing game done and to the printer by next Friday."An since Palladium did announce a release date of February '08, this looks like it's shaping up to hit its release target! Further details include:We estimate 70%

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-46465522200048440552008-02-04T20:46:00.000-08:002008-02-04T20:48:06.743-08:00

Remember Super Mario Frustration? Kaizo Mario World is another of those super-hard Mario level hacks, this one of Super Mario World. Someone played through its first level 134 times, with save states, recording all his deaths, then digitally composited them into one trip through the level. The result was Many-Worlds Mario. (For those interested, here's a video of a tool-assisted perfect run of

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-5480261596261605942008-02-04T20:23:00.000-08:002008-02-04T20:34:57.493-08:00

Now that Super Smash Brother Brawl for the Wii is out in Japan, everything that the Brawl PR team endeavored to keep secret has been released to the public by enthusiastic Internet fans. In what is making me giddier than a schoolboy is that a SSBB fan is ripping music out of the game and dumping it into a directory for everyone on the 'net to enjoy. I'm guessing that it won't stop until all

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-324242955748287282008-01-29T15:46:00.001-08:002008-01-29T15:48:27.586-08:00

Sorry for the radio silence-- my home computer recently suffered a loss of BOTH hard drives. While you're waiting, check out this awesome preview video from Capcom:This alone would almost make me want an Xbox.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-47599551079867688532008-01-24T14:09:00.000-08:002008-01-24T14:22:26.799-08:00

While PC games like Crysis make your video card cry and beg for its motherboard, there is a revival of appreciation for ASCII games rippling its way through the gaming community.Here are some gems I've found recently: ASCII Sector, a remake of the classic Wing Commander Privateer The surprisingly action-packed Doom RL; Legerdemain (And the hardest strategy game ever, Dwarf Fortress (now with a

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-60843209210850816642008-01-24T07:46:00.000-08:002008-01-24T08:05:28.559-08:00

Hey! If you read this blog, chances are you like tabletop games. And unless you're some kind of mutant commie Bolshevik space alien, you probably like board games, too.Have the RPGX crew got something for you!X-Craft: Fast Food Table Top Strategy!X-Craft is a 2 player, hex map board game that can be played with loose change and a drinking straw. The game was originally created to be played on the

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-45058270723931709962008-01-23T14:35:00.000-08:002008-01-23T14:44:15.413-08:00

This series is a bit of an oldie, but a goodie.I've written feature articles for 1UP.com and been published in PC Magazine, I have written for 411Mania Games, and I blog for RPGX.org. What insight can I offer to those wishing to become a Games Journalist?Hell if I know.Seriously, I'm not some big special person, I just had the right ideas at the right time, and was a little bit lucky. As

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-27872831313870973662008-01-16T21:39:00.000-08:002008-01-16T21:49:55.108-08:00

In what I think is a great move by Capcom, they have recreated a bit of the first level of the soon-to-be-released Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney game for the Nintendo DS that you can play right now. BEHOLD!Isn't the ending for the demo clever? I loved the 2nd Phoenix Wright game and what I saw of the third... now I can't wait for this game to be released!

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-83058135704359992902008-01-16T21:28:00.000-08:002008-01-16T21:34:18.105-08:00

Yes, that video is real. A real person really wrote the dialogue, animated that cut scene, and designed a game where you turn into animals and then race on a track while the voice of God Himself does announcing duty.The game? Zoo RaceThe website to download a demo of The Zoo Race is here; it gives you useful advice such as:"... If playing on the “Hannah’s Heights” or when running on the “Moon”

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-30583574651077204242008-01-14T12:31:00.000-08:002008-01-14T12:37:58.210-08:00

See that cat? That was painted.. with a DS.If that has you intrigued, check out this amazing gallery of images created using Colors! A Nintendo DS homebrew app that makes use of the machines little-known pressure sensitive capabilities.Sure, you need a flash card to paint yourself, but as the gallery shows, it is SO totally worth it.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-48338347658943374212008-01-10T08:17:00.000-08:002008-01-10T08:19:23.714-08:00

While many PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC owners are excited about the forthcoming update of Capcom's classic Bionic Commando, many Wii owners are sitting around pouting about how great it would be to control a robotic swinging arm with their Wiimote. Well don't just sit there, do something about it! Let Capcom know you want it, and who knows? In an interview with Videogamer.com, Capcom's Ben

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-31992436316511581722008-01-09T13:24:00.001-08:002008-01-09T13:27:06.126-08:00

This Galaga quilt from Carolina Patchworks is, according to the etsy listing, it "is fully compatible with the XBox 360, Wii, PlayStation III, all high-definition televisions, most models of fireplace, and a wide variety of good books."It is also 100% AWESOME.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-45082375768494531692008-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:002008-01-09T11:09:54.898-08:00

So, great, the only reason for me to get a PSP now is the re-release of Final Fantasy Tactics?

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-39751271173384711242008-01-09T10:46:00.000-08:002008-01-09T10:52:38.339-08:00

Wizards of the Coast recently announced its plans for the 4th edition version of the Open Gaming License for the up-and-cming Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. Noticeable differences include earlier access to 4th ed OGL content and an exclusive "head start" sort of publishing window to companies forking over 5 grand.Notable game designer Robin D. Laws had this to say in his livejournal recently:

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-15127647271114210882008-01-09T08:37:00.000-08:002008-01-09T10:53:26.795-08:00

Todd Levin, best known for his monthly comedy reading series, How To Kick People, began a retrospective on the various home video game console systems he has known and loved. From the article:In 1979, my father brought home a beige-colored box made of industrial plastic. There were a few metal toggles and dials on the face, and a tangle of black electrical cords hanging from it, attached to a

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-76500728743370872092008-01-09T07:55:00.000-08:002008-01-09T10:54:14.189-08:00

A Dutch ceramicist by trade and a gamer by passion is selling a pretty cool combination of both these passions: a line of clay bricks cast in a mold taken from an original Nintendo Game Boy-- y'know, the grey, fat, won't-fit-in-your-pocket, green and beige color display Game Boy.They're 20 Euros each, putting them firmly out of MY budget... but the idea is just so COOL. Check 'em out here!

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-81089375316529254212008-01-09T07:52:00.000-08:002008-01-09T10:55:08.681-08:00

A college student is attempting to level two pacifist characters up to the highest level of World of Warcraft's character progression, characters he's playing without attacking anything.Why is he doing it?As he explains to WoW Insider, t's partly to try out the philosophy of pacifism in a decidedly violent virtual world, and partly to see if he can do it. From the interview: Show us your kung fu:

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-34829184186986172782008-01-02T14:33:00.000-08:002008-01-09T10:56:08.182-08:00

I don't know which has left me laughing harder whilst on-hold with vendors for work today:Supporters for Presidential candidate Ron Paul decided an effective use of their time and energy to garner support for their candidate of choice was to lead a campaign rally march... in the middle of WORLD OF WARCRAFT, orthis RPG.net thread devoted to brainstorming a new game setting, "Weaboo Fantasy"Either

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-2885321210148294092007-12-26T19:44:00.000-08:002008-01-09T10:57:19.482-08:00

Hope everyone had a festive holiday. Here's some geeky youtubery related to the season:First off, this video short was animated in the space of about 6 months-- two guys, adobe photoshop and adobe premiere and after effects. The premise: 3 LARPer nerds end up interrupting a nativity scene. Hilarity ensues.They also animated two youtube responses:Heh, of course, technically, I think if you're a

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-64229361039756888682007-12-19T14:41:00.001-08:002008-01-09T10:58:13.547-08:00

From livejournal user belladonalin:Hey, ya'll.So those of you who are on my regular friendslist know that I work at a homeless shelter with street-dependent and homeless teenagers. I have a handful of kids there who are gamers. Unfortunately, when they had to move out of their respective homes, they lost all their gaming stuff.I know that there are some people on my friendstlist who used to be D&

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-36381299175143402252007-12-18T19:45:00.001-08:002008-01-09T10:58:53.600-08:00

Straight from George Broussard's mouth: "Tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th, around noon CST, we will release the first teaser trailer from Duke Nukem Forever. To tide you over until then, here is a screen shot taken from the teaser."Tell my wife I love her!

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-18089825988570188702007-12-11T21:29:00.000-08:002007-12-11T21:33:46.886-08:00

An Urban Legend Comes To Life....As the story goes, whispered in back alleys of arcades in the US, an unheard-of new arcade game appeared in several suburbs of Portland, Oregon in 1981. The game was called Polybius, and was supposed to be incredibly popular... to the point of addiction! It was said that obsessed video game wizzes lined up to play the arcade game constantly.Soon after, rumors

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-42183763183889441052007-12-11T10:11:00.000-08:002007-12-11T10:19:10.806-08:00

RPGX.org's own King R@t weighs in with a pretty good breakdown.The Mind's Eye Theatre book for Mage: the Awakening isn't here? But where...only being released in .PDF format? [cries]Well, it looks like you won't be toting THAT one around in your Jansport anytime soon. But is it really such a bad deal? He goes over the pros, cons, and how Amazon.com's new e-book reader might affect the playing

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-24101748089770444862007-12-11T10:02:00.000-08:002007-12-11T10:11:02.447-08:00

First, the bad news.The new Robotech RPG release date has been bumped again, with a release date set for February 2008, as announced in the Palladium Forums by Kevin S.The good news? Palladium seems to be pretty optimistic about its future, and a recent press release teased some interesting details, like...Downloadable adventures, source material and G.M. aids; therifter.com, and a second podcast

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-85110499156483116992007-12-05T21:50:00.000-08:002007-12-05T21:54:26.593-08:00

Well, actually, a lot of pro wrestlers are also big video game geeks (returning WWE wrestler Chris "Y2j" Jericho once waxed nostalgic on his website about all the fun he was having with MAME, for example).But how many pro-wrasslers have done ads for local video game stores?How about... Stevie Richards?WAY!Check it:

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-25235147328236873732007-12-05T08:00:00.000-08:002007-12-05T08:08:38.221-08:00

From the consumer blog The Consumerist comes a rather bizzarre but true policy desicion regarding the next Time Crisis gun light game for home consoles:Some non-game playing exec at Namco Bandai has decided that the gun controller that ships with Time Crisis 4 for the Playstation 3 cannot and will not be sold separately, even though there's a 2-player mode in the game. Their CSR's helpful

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-37893389407418095192007-12-04T11:22:00.001-08:002007-12-04T11:33:32.892-08:00

Next Tuesday, Dec. 11, marks a historic moment in consumer e-activism: a one-hour call-in podcast, streaming live from ComcastMustDie.com . That's where you'll here the podcast theme I wrote and rapped under the stage name "Shawn Who" (with a slick chiptune beat from fellow nerdcore hip-hop artist antisoc).Guests Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine.com, Mona "The Hammer Lady" Shaw, Ralph Nader and

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-2700639629565107962007-12-03T14:57:00.000-08:002007-12-03T15:02:33.626-08:00

Nov 13 - Jeff's review of Kane & Lynch goes up. The score is a 6.0 and the review, as well as the video review, are rather scathing in tone. It's worth noting at this point Eidos had been running full page front page ads for Kane & Lynch for a while. These ads would remain up until Nov 29th.Nov 28 - Jeff is fired.Nov 29 - The story is broken by Penny Arcade with a comic alledging that GS fired

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-82530616772414319502007-12-03T14:51:00.001-08:002007-12-03T14:56:46.944-08:00

Fellow gamer geek and word nerd August J. Pollak is doing something pretty awesome to raise money for "Child's Play": A few of you hopefully remember the strip I did back in April called Internet Argument. I guess it hit home for a lot of Intarweb people because it got linked to on MetaFilter, Slashdot, Fark, and a whole bunch of other places. In terms of internet traffic, it's the most popular

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-90484775647621026432007-11-28T11:30:00.001-08:002007-11-28T12:06:59.828-08:00

So, now that Hasbro has directed Wizards of the Coast to re-launch its Dragon Magazine in an all-digital format, writers interested in penning something for the newest incarnation of this venerable institution have been waiting for the submission guidelines, wondering if these new terms were worth the wait.The verdict: not a chance.Says sci-fi author John Scalzi:The pay is on the low side of

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-55351081917045773492007-11-27T08:40:00.001-08:002007-11-27T11:19:10.816-08:00

"Okay, I work for GameStop, and in one of the local stores, someone returned Spanish for Everyone claiming it was exceedingly stereotypical."Spanish for Everyone is a game for the Nintendo DS, where the framework involves an accidentally stolen DS which is taken by a kid whose father is in a limo, being chased by the police, going back across the border to Ensenada.His aunt, pictured at the left,

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-79528417582661840732007-11-26T11:16:00.000-08:002007-11-26T11:27:52.069-08:00

Via the ever-entertaining political cartoonist and fellow NJ-expat gamer geek August Pollak, I bring you a web site devoted to chronicling the major accomplishments achieved during the development time of Duke Nukem Forever. As August says, "Either you're laughing your ass off or you don't understand this at all. That's just the way it has to be."A sample:"When Duke Nukem Forever was announced,

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-3568290849291848142007-11-19T15:38:00.000-08:002007-11-19T15:43:05.666-08:00

I'm going to be away for the rest of the week; my wife and I are visiting family out of state. If you're celebrating Thanksgiving, here's hoping your celebration is a happy one!

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-36581703914849228712007-11-19T08:05:00.000-08:002007-11-19T08:08:42.086-08:00

Presented without comment.Presented without comment.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-64084799848762782202007-11-16T13:55:00.000-08:002007-11-16T14:01:20.573-08:00

In an offering from a segment run on the AT&T channel, nerd-folk-rock gawd Jonathan Coulton was visited at his home studio in Brooklyn, where he performed "Still Alive", the ending song he wrote and composed from the critically acclaimed game Portal.Be warned, the end song does contain a spoiler or two for the game. But after the song, cake IS served.

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8107590755196167745.post-10050858450246218122007-11-15T12:15:00.000-08:002007-11-15T12:19:46.192-08:00

WOW!Talk about dedication: A Warhammer4k enthusiast going by the handle "oimorrigan," has built this incredible "Apoca- lyptic Manhattan" terrain for his Warhammer game.He even decked out a room in his apartment with custom wallpaper that looks like ashen-gray clouds and nuclear fallout!The construction is "UltraCal (construction plaster) +

Shawn_Struckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13454598454512062919noreply@blogger.com2