Culture

The lack of updates is due to me moving into college last week. As a freshman at American University I'll have to focus a little more on school work and a little less on gaming. But I was happy to find that the AU's bookstore stocks a modest selection of Xbox 360 games. I've had trouble logging into Xbox Live because the network here requires you to use web browser to login before each session. But hopefully I'll figure that out before too long.

AU also has a club called AU Gamers. I'm pretty sure they have weekly meetings and events. I start classes tomorrow so I'll have a better idea of how much I'll be blogging soon. I hope all the other college freshman readers are enjoying the college life like I am.

GoNintendo did a little detective work and tracked down the Nintendo 64 kid. They found his MySpace and they ended up giving him a call for a pretty long chat with him.

A truly dedicated individual, known as DocCRP on the GameFAQs forums, took the time to create a model of the Wii that is "accurate to within a quarter of a centimeter in every dimension." He posted a ton of comparison pictures of the model sitting next to common (and uncommon) household items, and they are all listed neatly thanks to Joystiq. Now he's gone and done up a PS3 model. They are both quite convincing.

In a recent forum post on gaming site ScrewAttack.com, Handsome Tom promised to blow up his Xbox if the Dallas Mavericks lost to Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Well Miami won, but Tom didn't back down on his word. Here is a video full of smoke, flames, and inspirational music as proof. At least that Xbox was so last generation.

It's disguised as a friendly and innocent FAQ page, created by extremely experienced professionals for helpless consumers. But in reality, the Best Buy Gaming Q&A page on Gamespot it's an advertisement! Don't worry, they fooled everyone. Luckily, the sharp eyes over at Cheap Ass Gamer made a parody of it. The Best Buy execs are probably watching with envy, wishing they could use phrases like, "If by better, you mean "more expensive", then yes, PS3 is better."

[via Kotaku]

The most recent issue Electronic Gaming Monthly features an interview with Kazuro Hirai, President and CEO President and Sony Computer Entertainment of America. Kaz has a whole arsenal of phrases that you may not expect to hear from a top video game executive. Using lines such as, "apples to apples" while talking about how the features of PS3 will compare to those of the Xbox 360 probably doesn't speak directly to gamers. He manages to fire off the phrase, "the proof is in the pudding" twice before nailing the classic, "I have bigger fish to fry" (the smaller fish being the one-year advance the Xbox 360 has on the PS3). Is Kaz is up the creek without a paddle or has he just lost his marbles?

A group of modders is working to create a tribute to one of the greatest games on the Nintendo 64. Mario Kart Source aims to contain the characters, models, and tracks of the Nintendo 64 version, but with updated Half-Life 2 graphics. Unfortunately, it is still in the very early stages of development.

The pre-E3 festivities will begin about 24 hours from now, starting with Sony's press conference. In about 63 hours, the doors of the Los Angeles convention center will spring open, and droves of pale-skinned industry professionals and "industry professionals" will enter on their way to see the latest in all things video games. We'll laugh, we'll cry (tears of joy), and we'll find it hard to continue breathing consistently. Gmrblogs will be providing as much coverage as humanly possible in the form of articles and videos at www.gmrblogs.com/e3.

Want to be in the epicenter of the video game explosion? Pack up and head for Seattle. Microsoft and Sperling's BestPlaces conducted a survey about the geographic location of video gamers. The results, which rank the top 15 cities in the United States, were based on several factors including consoles per household (Xbox, Xbox 360, PC, PS2, and GameCube), number games purchased, and number of games rented. The results are listed below.

1. Seattle
2. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
3. Atlanta
4. Detroit
5. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
6. Washington, D.C.
7. St. Louis
8. Boston
9. San Diego
10. Philadelphia
11. Chicago
12. Dallas
13. Houston
14. San Francisco
15. New York

It's surprising that New York is number 15 and Los Angeles doesn't appear at all.

I got an Xbox 360 from Best Buy today and I'm going to share my discoveries for the benefit of the entire scientific community.

This is the box that allegedly contains the Xbox 360. As you can see, the receipt is still sticking out of the top. I had to show this receipt to a guy at the exit of Best Buy so he could make sure that I was cool enough to have an Xbox. He accepted me (with reservation).

When I got home I took a look around the surface of the box. The first thing I noticed was that it is white--not green. I was successful in not getting the Core system. So far, so good.