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Thursday, February 08, 2007 |
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What If Not E3?
With the E3 trade show being minimized into what is expected to be a smaller event in Santa Monica, the question has been, what will take its place? More importantly, what public events will exist for gamers to check out new products?
While there will be plenty of them, one potential venue that came to mind today was when I saw a story about Ozzfest. It seems that the music festival has been fighting increasing costs—higher prices to rent stadiums and arenas, as well as incredible costs to lock down the large number of bands that play—and to fight it, the Osbournes have decided to make the festival free in 2007.
No, you didn't read that wrong...it'll be free to attend. Now if you're wondering how you can get in to one of these freebies, that's apparently yet to be determined. However, one of the statements I read today was how, in place of the tattoo and artsy/crafty booths that have been the norm, the "new" Ozzfest is hoping to have sponsored booths and kiosks from technology and game companies. Going with sponsors like this will surely help offset the operating costs and enable the "freeness."
Wrapping back around the opening questions, I believe that E3's decline will give way to other public game-related events, but probably more instances of the game industry getting involved in non-game events—places where there's a captive audience to which they can show and demo their products. And when you'll be able to attend concerts for free as a result, you can see how this will be a win-win for gamers.
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Tuesday, February 06, 2007 |
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GTA Clone of a Different Kind
In the annual talk about what Super Bowl ad was the best, if you're into video games you can't help but have the Grand Theft Auto-ish Coca-Cola commercial on your list. I don't think it was close to the best one of the day, but the tweak on Rockstar's GTA series was obvious and funny.
If you haven't seen it, you can check it out through AOL Video (along with all the other Super Bowl ads). It only takes a couple of seconds to pick up on the GTA references—and then how they're twisted into niceness: The hero careens through traffic, gets out, walks up to another car, rips open the door and pulls the driver out like he's going to carjack the ride...only to hand the driver a Coke and clink bottles in a toast. He pulls a bundle of money out of his jacket, then throws it into the guitar case of a street musician. He passes a burning barrel, then pulls out a fire extinguisher and puts it out.
I think it gets way too schmaltzy at the end (hey, it is titled "Love"...), but the coolest thing to think about is how the commercial demonstrates that gaming is acceptable as a pop-culture reference. While you could watch the ad without knowing about GTA and its ilk, the clear "inside jokes" made it that much more entertaining. I may be a Pepsi guy, but kudos to Coke (and its ad agency) for its inventive ad.
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Speaking of Rockstar, today it announced a summer release of Manhunt II for PS2, PSP and Wii. Oh, man...having such a violent game on the Wii (assuming Rockstar doesn't soften it) should certainly get fewer people saying the game system is only for kiddie games. Also, I can hardly wait to see what you're going to have to do to control the character—and what controller actions you'll need to make to initiate what will likely be a large variety of killing moves.
R.I.P.
This entry is definitely not a game-oriented one...
I just got back from a memorial service for my mother, who died earlier this week at the age of 92. A not-unexpected departure on her part, but still an emotional one, especially after I got together with family and friends at the funeral home in Vermont. There was extensive recounting of our lives with her and the effect she had on us.
She was a much bigger woman than her five-feet-tall stature, with lots of projects undertaken and completed, six children born and raised, and countless memories to relive in our minds. It's especially sad that Alzheimer's took the joie de vivre from her and took her from us a few years before her body wore out, but after today, it's impossible to forget her place in our worlds. As I said in an e-mail between family members earlier this week, I hope I don't ever forget her laugh, which I haven't heard from her in a while, but I can thankfully replay from within my own mind.
As corny as it may sound, much of what I am today I owe to the guidance of my mother and father. Rest in peace, Mom and Dad...
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007 |
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Contest Gone Wrong...
Check this out if you haven't heard about it already, here's an interesting, but sad story.
Long story short: A Sacramento radio station has a contest—"Hold your Wee for a Wii"—that has listeners competing for a Wii system by drinking as much water as possible without going to the bathroom. The second-place contestant dies the next day from "water intoxication," a condition that causes the organs and brain of a person who drinks too much water to swell and which can be (as this case shows) fatal.
You can bet there'll be some in the anti-game community who will jump on this as an irresponsible stunt initiated by the game industry. Of course, it was irresponsible—surely, the radio-station staff didn't know you can die of drinking too much water—but the only connection to the game industry is that this radio-station contest was giving away a Wii...and was able to work in a funny in the contest's title.
It's always unfortunate when something that was meant to be fun goes wrong, and sympathies go out to the girl's family and friends.
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007 |
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Hue Must Be Kidding...
I got an early copy of Warioware: Smooth Moves for Wii this weekend. When I took it out of the delivery box, this is what I saw...
Seriously, I'm not much for stereotypes, but you just don't see a game box this pink unless it has the word "Barbie" (or some similar "girl game" name) on the front.
The thing is, when I do finally pull the game out to play, I'm sure it'll be a great addition to the Wii catalog.
'Nuff said...
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