Author: gala5931

As a gamer, when you hear the term “home-brew“, you likely think of people developing software.  But there is another world out there, a world of people who make actual, real-life things.  And sometimes our world overlap.

Enter 8-Bit Vintners. 

My wine is for anyone who spent time trying to save a princess or fit odd shaped blocks together. We may have never met, but we have more in common than we ever knew. So blow out that old Contra cartridge, give the NES a good dust off, and pour yourself a glass.

Excellent!  For reasons completely unknown to me, wine says “class” to Americans more than anything.  So why not pull out a bottle for your next dinner party?  Before Rock Band, I mean.

No, I’ve never written a fan-fic based in the Joust universe.  Who would do that?  I mean, that would just be crazy, right?  Heh heh.

Get the shirt here.

Could a video game change the world for the better?  Let’s find out.

The concept of EVOKE — the browser/RL mmorpg which calls itself “a ten-week crash course in changing the world” — is to take all of the highly addictive and social aspects of online gaming and use them to turn the click-happy into engineers of social change.  Curious?  A slick online presence, with a well-made comic and  hip grunge graphics, will seal the deal. 

Naturally, I signed up for an account.  Mission #1 came today, and instead of pondering which flash game to try on jayisgames.com I found myself deciding exactly what my social agenda will be.  Do I care about the greening of the world?  Access to education? 

Each piece of Evidence (e.g. following a social innovator on twitter, reading an article and posting about it on an EVOKE blog) yields character points which you allocate to your powers.  Yes, powers.  Not Ranged Weapons or Mana Recovery, though:  Collaboration, Sustainability, Local Insight, etc.  Each action you log is reviewed, and if found suitable awarded points.  And as other users check out your stuff, they can give you points for it as well.  Forget grinding in a dungeon — grind on the web looking for examples of urban farms.

So far it’s a great concept carried out with flair.  I’m concerned about scalability, though; if it gets huge, how many staff will be needed to review the Evidence?  Either way, being a “certified EVOKE innovator” is sure to be more fulfilling than making Commodore Emeritus on Super Star Trek.  Not by much, but still.

Yes, the DSi is the apex of gamer lifestyle hardware.  And yes, bigger might just be better.  So much marketing has gone into selling this little guy as the magic keep-your-brain-active tool that the pressure to make the screens legible to people over the age of ten has presumably been rained down upon the R&D folks in a torrent of directives and memoranda.  While the ‘nets are all hoping/assuming the DSi XL is meant to compete in the burgeoning e-reader market, perhaps it’s meant for something else.

The list of included software pretty much clinches it:

• Brain Age™ Express: Arts & Letters
• Brain Age™ Express Math
• Photo Clock

What in Helsinki?  Where’s the Classic Book Collection?  How about a little PDF reader action?  HEAR MY PLEA!

G4 has the info you need, apparently:

    “Do you like your DS? Would you like a bigger DS? Would you like this bigger DS to be called the DSi XL and be released on March 28 for $190? Well, such a prediction would lend credence to the theory that you’re a psychic freak, but I’m going to let that pass for now. You got off lucky, dude.

    Nintendo of America announced the March 28 release date this morning at their media summit in San Francisco. G4 is on-hand at the event to check out Nintendo’s lineup — stay tuned.”

Thanks to TRB for the heads.

I have yet to see any photos of MW2 ink anywhere, and that’s a good thing.  This game, while certainly well-made, should raise the eyebrow of any participant.  Do you really want this much realism in a war game?  This is fun for you?  Killing Nazi zombies — good times.  Killing people whose concepts of a virtuous life differ from yours — worth a pause. 

Seems the most eligible image for a tattoo would be the insignia of Task Force 141.

Seriously, though.  Think about it.  Do you really want some vet stopping you and commenting on this? 

“Never seen that insignia before.  What division you in?” 
“Me?  Oh I just pretend to be a soldier on my PS3.”  
“…. You mock everything that makes America great.”

(Note — I had no idea joystiq had posted this Nazi zombie MW2 article mere hours before I posted.  Yes, it’s an archetype.)