Tag Archives: video game

Now a break from trip posts for something nerdy.

I’d try to explain BlizzCon, but I really don’t understand the culture behind video games. The line for soft serve was doubled back, and there was no line for beer. Like I said, I don’t get it.

Pixel Pushers

On the same night we went to check out the Sanrio Small Gift event, we decided to check out the opening of another exhibit around the corner from our place. Giant Robot and SCION put together an event called Pixel Pushers. It was centered around a SCION that Giant Robot modeled after the Famicom.

Pachinko machines were available for people to play with at the exhibit.

They had a Giant Robot created video game there called Return of the Quack.

Here are some of the super high definition characters from the game.

The plans for designing the Famicom car.

The Giant Robot Famicom car. If you look at the from left headlight, it’s lit up because it’s a projector pushing Return of Quack to a wall in the exhibit.

The car is designed with controllers in place. Did you notice the ignition and the outer door handles are designed after the buttons on the original controllers?

There was some interesting 8-bit art there as well.

I don’t know what the actual name of this piece was, but I like to call it, “Long Live 8-Bit!”

Dissection charts of some of our favorite 8-bit characters.

It was a great way for dads to share their love of video games with their kids.

The back of the car flipped down too with a Wii and second projector, where the exhaust pipe would normally be located.

With all the great new technology coming out surrounding video games, I don’t think 8-bit will ever die. People love the original games and will always create new games in the 8-bit fashion to honor them. I am behind that mentality all the way.

Like tennis, marriage is good when you have a good partner.

And I have the best partner ever.

Our pastor that married us said I was the most calm groom he’s ever seen. That’s not because I had accepted my fate and was ready to die. It’s because I picked an awesome wife. We had store credit after returning some wedding gifts that got duplicated, so we got this.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to crack open a beer, play a few games of Starcraft 2, and think about how much more awesome my wife is than yours. Okay, maybe no beer since it’s 7AM.

Summa Cum Laude = sk00L 1337

I almost flunked out of college freshman year. I won’t completely blame Quake 2, because if I didn’t have that I would have found something else to do instead of going to class. Still, if I had someone to kick my ass and tell me that I was heading for trouble, I would have been much better off. Actually if they just gave me grades for playing Quake 2, I would have been excellent.

That’s what they’re doing now at UC Berkeley. They have a lot of programs, where you can create your own curriculum. Personally I believe the intentions are good, but this is bullshit. They want to create a broad spectrum, where you can learn the things that interest you and hopefully apply them to make the real world better. Instead you probably get mostly jackasses earning credits off of goof off time.

I’d love to take a class on maintaining a planted aquarium or playing the ukulele. A unicycle riding course would be awesome. They could make it a two course series and add juggling to the second class. I’m pretty sure if these were courses, I would still find something else I would rather do and fail these too.

Desktop Tower Defense

I posted last week about some games that got their start from Desktop Tower Defense. Little did I know that the original game was updated by the creators. I love this game. I currently have the game open in a separate browser tab. When I think no one is looking, I play for twenty seconds at a time. I think I should be able to finish a game by the end of the day. Start a game for yourself.

It’s About the Whole Package

I’ve been playing a lot of Rock Band 2 recently. Michelle‘s favorite part of the game is shopping for new outfits after earning money from playing shows. “This is better than that whole guitar playing part! Look at these boots! That top is cute.” I should let her play games with shopping built into it. Maybe it will curb her desire to shop in real life.

She is right, though. Creating the character in the game is a lot of fun. It’s not just about the music. It’s about the style, but it’s about style in and out of the game.

I play most of my songs at difficulty level medium, because I’m so used the real instruments that the oversimplification of the controllers confuses me. Okay, it’s because my self esteem can’t take the crowd booing me. There is another, better reason to play on easier difficulty levels in the game. You can rock out better. There’s no greater feeling than dancing and jumping around the family room with a tiny plastic guitar. It makes me feel like a true rock star.

Groupies, please form a line to the left to get your boobs signed.

I Got Worms. No Wait, Hedgehogs.

It’s Friday, so I’ll start you guys off with some early weekend content. Anyone ever remember playing a game called Worms 2? It’s a turn based game, where you move your cute worm characters in position to blow up your enemies. I wasted half of my senior year in high school playing this game.  It was worth every penny, but if you are too cheap to spend money, check out Hedge Wars (Sorry, Windows only). It’s a free version that some guys have coded, using hedgehogs instead of worms. For those of you that are still confused about the concept, check out Territory War. It’s a Flash-based version of the game using stick figures. The game is quite limited since it’s playable in the browser, but it gets the concept across.

Have a great weekend guys!

I’m Thankful for Short Work Weeks

It’s Friday! Actually, it’s better than Friday. It’s a day that ushers in the long weekend. Even though we’re alloted two extra weekend days, you should start the weekend even earlier. Since a lot of your are facing slow days with people already taking off for vacation, let’s have some fun playing games.

No matter how state of the art your gaming system may be at home, nothing beats the addictiveness of Flash games. Plus they can be played on just about any computer. Whiteboard Tower Defense is a game that has consumed probably more than a full day of my life in total. It was inspired by the original Desktop Tower Defense, a brilliant concept that has inspired many different games. For a different style of game, check out Bubble Tanks. It’s a fun game, but I haven’t played long enough to see where the game goes, only long enough to realize I was wasting my life away and not even on company time.

For those of you not sitting at a computer at work, hopefully you have an iPhone at least. Check out iKick. It’s probably one of the simplest concepts you can have in a game application for the iPhone, but it’s more addictive than Brick Breaker on the Blackberry.

I need some new games to play. What else do you guys play while on the clock?

Maximizing the Weekend

I’ve heard it time and time again. Where did the weekend go? There are just so many things that suck up time during the oh so valuable weekend. Fortunately, preparing meals will no longer get in the way of my busy weekend schedule of watching full seasons of The Office. My TiVo will take care of my nutritional sustinence provisions. Now if only I could get my PS3 to answer the door and my Wii to tip the delivery guy.

Too Tired from Playing to Go to Work

You think that excuse would ever work for getting out of work? It’s the honest truth. This weekend has been so full of activities. I am just beat.

Friday night was designed to cross of one of the items off of Michelle’s to do list. We had a drink or three out on the town. Actually it was four each. Things really come into perspective when you’ve had a few drinks. It was good to relax and get in the mood for the long weekend.

The weekend went on from there to include a birthday dinner, two BBQs, many hours of Wii Fit, bowling at Randall’s, and Rock Band. Here are some of the recaps.

If you don’t see it this week, remind me to tell you about our bowling league with the coveted trophy and the reason why my bowling nickname is Hula Hump.

Is it Friday yet?