As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, prediction. Don't get a life just yet.
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SickNic
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accepted: Jul 21, 2006
Clips: Super Mario 3 Commercial
This commercial from Nintendo, circa early 90's, was used not only to promote Super Mario Bros. 3, but they figured they might as well throw the other ones on there too and really push the then quickly growing Mario franchise. I'm amazed at the fervor with which the different colored factions of Mario fans go at their chant, fists punching the air like they are at some sort of fascist political rally.The only Super Mario Brothers commercial I ever needed was when I watched the Wizard...
We're Sending Two to the Tokyo Game Show
What. A. Contest. You want to go to Japan? With a friend? And not *just* Japan, but the Tokyo Game Show. Here's the deal: Today, we're kicking off a contest that will run through the end of March. We're going to run three (count 'em) trivia questions over this period in the form of sponsored polls. Today's is brought to you by Old Spice thank-you-very-much.I'd love to go to Japan again, but I'd be more content on letting someone else who hasn't been to Japan go. I'll sit this one out.
Nintendo: We Dominated December
The thing about numbers is that there are tons of ways to look at them. Take for instance The NPD Group's official numbers for video game console sales in the U.S. You could say that Microsoft is winning, you could say Nintendo is winning, or you could say Sony is winning.Wii and the DS were the trojan horses I needed to get my girlfriend into gaming.
and the results?
Success! Thanks nintendo!
Msoft: We Dominated December
The thing about numbers is that there are tons of ways to look at them. Take for instance The NPD Group's official numbers for video game console sales in the U.S. You could say that Microsoft is winning, you could say Nintendo is winning, or you could say Sony is winning.It's fun watching these guys trying to convince us they've won. Sony, MS, soon Nintendo. I espeically enjoyed the blu-ray association saying they won the format war because they outsold HD-DVD for one week.
I think I am going to go make some popcorn and sit back a watch...
Kaz Talks Next-Gen, Busts Wii's Balls
He's baaaack! We knew something was missing in our lives, and that is Kaz Hirai. At CES, the Sony brass talked PS3, Blu-ray and blah-blah-blah-who-cares — It's Kaz! Choice quote: I have heard many people say our competitors' systems are just as powerful as the PS3. That simply is not true. No other next generation entertainment system pushes the envelope on advanced technology like PS3. ...not to mention... A worldwide launch for any console is quite ambitious.Blah Blah Blah Advanced technology. How come Sony can never talk about games? It's always about the technology. Screw that crap. I'm a gamer. I want games, and so far, Sony isn't doing that great of a job keeping 3rd party exclusives, nor are they providing any kind of game experience that would convince me to buy a PS3 right now...
Sony was right about one thing, you are paying for potential. Thats why they keep refering to the PS3 as a next gen console, because even though we already are in the next gen, you wont feel that experience from sony for another few years...
Ode To An Arcade
Dick McVengance over at Destructoid has written a great article lamenting the decline of the old school arcade. With the rise of home consoles, the existence of actual arcades have become fewer and fewer. More often than not, arcades are now relegated to Chuck E. Cheeses, Mini-Golf courses and the occasional movie theater lobby. I remember the arcade I used to frequent near my house and how much I used to love it.I used to love going to the mall when I was a kid because they had an awesome arcade there. Thats where I prefected mortal kombat, played turtles in time and the simpsons. It was awesome because you could become instant friends with anyone there, even if it was just for 20 minutes. There was no internet, so you had to learn fatalities or cheats by talking with the kid who just dumped $20 in quarters into the machine. It was just more fun.
When I went to Japan, I was in awe at the 4-8 story arcades they have there. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I wish we had some arcades nowadays. It's something much more special and social than home consoles.
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
With the Consumer Electronics Show going down next week in Las Vegas, I'm just about to make my trip east to score a little Kotaku coverage. That means I won't be playing much in the way of games this weekend. Outside of pulling a few slot machine arms and a handful of games of blackjack at the cheap tables, I'll probably play nothing but a few quick rounds of Bit Generations games on my Game Boy micro. Scratch that.Well, I got a Wii this holiday... For my girlfriend. She's away at college so I don't get to play it this weekend. I guess I am going to settle in with my DS and get caught up with FFIII and Castlevania Potrait. Maybe I'll play some Gears if I can get XBL working on my xbox again...
Amazon Customer's Vote: Special Edition
Apparently having learned their lesson after the fiasco with the $100 Xbox, Amazon.com is taking a different route when selling their next batch of consoles. You go to the site and vote on which console you would like from the choice of a 20G PS3, a 60G PS3 or a Wii. Amazon will then randomly select people for an opportunity to purchase the console they chose.Wii is only at 14 to 1 right now. Not too bad.
Rumor: Best Buy Holding Wii Shipments Until Dec.17
GoNintendo has managed to get their hands on a Best Buy employee missive that states all Wii shipments are to be held until Dec. 17th. The reasoning behind this, according to the bulletin, is three fold: This is the last competitive weekend for holiday shopping which encourages a large amount of traffic to our retail stores once customers realize the system is available.Customers shopping for other products will have the ability and be encouraged to purchase the gaming...Info was completely false. My local best buy only had 20 units, and they went to the people who had camped over night. Remind me to never take "employee insider information" seriously.
This Day in Gaming, December 2nd
1999: Activision releases Quake 3 Arena. Unreal Tournament is way better. UT 4 LIFE! Ummm...and....[fill in random fact]. [fill in lame joke about random fact, hoping no one will notice that it's lame and will instead applaud the wit in the comments]. 2004: Nintendo releases WarioWare: Touched! for DS in Japan. Games like these work really well for a portable platform. I wish that the PSP had more quick play titles...uh! I loved Quake 3 Arena!
[Walks away insluted by witty but lame joke about random fact]