OK, so I’m feeling lazy today, so you kids get to watch a movie instead of me telling you a story. Whee! Anyway, lots of fun stuff here to ogle, so I’ll shut up and let you get to the ogling. Got that popcorn and drink handy? Is the dog nearby to get your socks (or the cat to chase and play with them) when they fly off? All comfy now? If you’re wearing shoes, take them off NOW, or else you may hit your pet with them, which isn’t a good thing for either of you. OK…. NOW you’re ready! Enjoy!
Even though the film did poorly when it was initially released in 1955, Alfred Hitchcock’s droll black comedy is still the best “What do we do with the body?” move I’ve ever seen. Forget junk like those Weekend at Bernie’s films (which are definitely stealing from this classic) – this one is the real deal and if you’re in the right mood, about as good as it gets. The tale of a bunch of offbeat residents in a tiny, quirky Vermont village who all think they’re responsible for the titular character is consistently amusing, well acted and never grim (considering its subject matter). The casting is prefect all around, but I’d say it’s Shirley MacLaine and a young Jerry Mathers who steal the show, playing a mother and son who are closest to poor Harry, but his demise doesn’t affect them like you think it would.
Yeah, that’s right… I’ve never been to a QuakeCon, as it’s always been way out of my budget and I’m not the biggest PC gamer out there (unless it’s some vintage vault classic, super fun indie stuff or RPGMaker epic that’s worth raving about), so that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Still, I’ve been to a few East Coast tournaments (that World Cyber Games held here in NYC a bunch of years back and some other fun events), so I know that things get really fun and really crazy in a good way for fans of id Software’s games. Eh, one day I’ll get out west again, so perhaps I’m not a total loser. Hell, I do need a decent vacation. after not having one for ages..
Ladies and gentlemen, commence the drooling, but hey, keep it off the cabinet, please: Dream Arcades new Dreamcade Vision 32 is a wonder machine and the company’s latest all-in-one instant game room hit guaranteed to have your friends over constantly (and you having to nicely kick them out seven days a week). Featuring a 32 inch LCD screen monitor, over 200 classic arcade games, a built-in MP3 music jukebox (!) and plenty of cool options you can add to the unit that will make it even more awesome.
While this is highly recommended as a “man cave” purchase, I can certainly think of a few gamer gals who’d LOVE one of these around the house. Any hubby looking to surprise their favorite gamer chick out there? Here’s a big, fat hint, hint, hint on exactly what’s a great gift you both can use. Anyway, as spectacular as this thing is, I do wish Dream Arcades would finally get around to adding a time machine add-on to their products so I could actually travel back in time on a long loop in order to play all those great games for as long as I wanted to. At $3099, this thing is a total steal, but if you grab one before the day is over, you can get a Vision 32 for $2599. So, grab that credit card or sell a useless body part (you know, you only need ONE kidney to survive, people) and get yours HERE.
Got an urge to play games your parents and more likely, grandparents might have been into? Want to check out some classic board and card games plus toys and other novelties from the UK and other places you haven’t been? Do you happen to love old-time packaging and presentation plus some really funny product descriptions? Well, Perisphere and Trylon, Inc. should be your next stop, I say.
Featuring a nice lineup of classic reproductions (done extremely faithfully, I must say) and even a selection of new dynamo-powered (that means no batteries, kids) toys from Ecotronic, there’s something here to strike nearly every fancy. And hey, if you don’t have a “fancy” to call your very own, a peck, peek and poke around the site will get you one in a hurry. Um, hey! What are you still doing here? That time machine isn’t going to hang around waiting, you know…
So, let’s get this perfectly straight: some kid wins $50,000 (more than the average salary for many entry level to middle class jobs out there) because he’s basically the modern day version of the best hog caller or best auctioneer? Yeesh. Where the hot holy hell is all this money floating around that I can’t get for doing much harder work over a longer period of time? What good is being the fastest texter in rel life unless someone has you rolled up in a rug and is about to toss you into the trunk of a car or you’re hidden in a closet as a burglar is poking through your sock drawer? Hell, give ME that 50K, LG and I’ll put it into this site so I can get more done daily than this kid got done during his few minutes of fame.
Oh well, at least he’s smart enough to be socking away his winnings for his college fund and not boozing it up or buying a car he’ll wreck while boozed up. That said, memo to LG: at this point, he’s a ringer (no pun intended). He’s won this prize more than once, which should disqualify him from future contests, which is only fair. Then again, as this is a yearly thing, I’m sure the next tiny button tapping whiz is pecking away (and raising his or her parent’s data plan bills in the process). $50,000… for texting? Holy crap, do we live in some messed up times or what? Stupid question number two: What does the second place winner get? If it’s nothing, then something’s really wrong there.
Video courtesy PhoneArena.
Fun and funky visuals aside, I’m still trying to figure this game out and I can’t quite put my finger on why I like it despite it trying to be too, er…. something. Well, it’s not a bad thing that quirky still tickles my fancy and Hell No!, I’m NOT one of those mildly angry internet folk clamoring for Sega to make a Sonic game that looks something like this. As usual, some hands-on time will clarify and crush any doubty rumblings I may have, but overall, I like what I see, pushing the crazy vibe overkill and all. Go, Sega!
When you get the co-founder of Apple telling you the cloud sort of stinks as a reliable storage medium, you know it’s kind of important. Of course, the man works at a cloud computing service, so perhaps he’s just doing some PR for that company and scaring up some business in the process.
Anyway, I know the carefree digital hipster rubes out there who think ease of use trumps personal security are pooh-poohing his words away as they stack more files away magically to retrieve them at some later date, but let’s play a game for a minute. Can you imagine the sheer panic when (not if, kids, WHEN) there’s another Dropbox hack or worse, some natural disaster that takes out some servers in an undisclosed location, making retrieving those files next to (or completely) impossible? I’ll be sitting back with my popcorn watching people freak out because no one thought that their precious data would go up in digital smoke.
Of course, if the hit is bad enough (say, a foreign cyber-hack done right that screws us royally), I’ll be barricading myself inside with bottled water snacks and a wall of games from the collection as my last defense against the undead hordes who can’t get their devices to do anything at all.
“Braaaaaaiiiiins…”
As soon as I saw this latest iPhone ad I thought what a whole lot of others who know the director’s work did. When he asks the taxi driver to take another route, it would have been PERFECT to see Robert De Niro as the cabbie. Granted, I’m betting the actor didn’t want to step into Travis Bickle’s shoes again after so long, but still – it would have made the ad even more priceless.
And no, that doesn’t mean I want an iPhone now. Nice try though, Apple.
Between a few parallels with the gaming landscape in the early 80’s and the fact that the tide can’t stay in forever in terms of the constant push toward new tech at the cost of actual meaningful innovation, I think we’re in for a bit of a bumpy fall (and sooner than some think or even want to consider). There are too many divisions in the current business model between mobile, tablet, social, console and portable games, there’s a big pissing contest going on in the industry over which will kill of what first (despite the fact that they ALL can and should thrive together) and then there’s the whole online-only thing that’s 100% useless when you can’t get online. Don’t get me started on “free” to play games (which aren’t really free), the current PC elitism bile directed at consoles and the foolish Ultrabook nonsense where some companies thought making expensive laptops would be a good idea just because Apple has rooked in billions with its overpriced tech. Then there’s the stupidity of “the uncanny valley” or photo-realism in graphics, which, by the Great Green Pickle has NOTHING to do with gameplay or story (two things that are more important at the end of the day).
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 