I think Luigi is beginning to win gaming's most famous sibling rivalry award. Not only can he jump higher, but his place serves pizzas, burgers, and kebabs [via Geekologie]:
I would never have figured Mario for a baker. Actually, this finally explains Yoshi's Cookie.
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Bizarre Creations developers Geb Talbot and Garreth Wilson join Dan Hsu, Demian Linn, and Brett Bates on this week's show, which kicks off Bitmob's "3 Great Prizes, 3 Ways to Win" giveaway.
The group recalls their favorite racing games, pit Bad Company 2 against Modern Warfare 2, suggest N64 games that need to be re-released, and discuss just how aware game reviewers need to be about other forms of media.
Have a question you want answered? Want to share some important insight with the world? E-mail the crew at letters@bitmob.com.
Click here to find out how you can get in on the "3 Great Prizes, 3 Ways to Win" giveaway.
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At the risk of being publicly flogged for making an outdated Xzibit reference, I'm happy to announce that all you folks who (I've heard) like Bitmob can now have "Bitmob in your Bitmob," as it were, on your browser.
Simply click on the links below to install a Bitmob theme on your preferred browser. Note that you'll need to be on Firefox 3.6+ to install Personas (fancy Firefox lingo for "themes") and on Chrome 3.0+ to install the theme.
Enjoy -- and I would love any feedback or suggestions for future Bitmob-related stuff!
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I can't believe we made it all the way to 30! This week's special edition features instrumental arrangements of classic video game numbers. Not surprisingly, the community picked a ton of favorites from old Square, Sega, and Nintendo titles. But hey, it goes without saying that these publishers created some of the most memorable games of all time.
Jukebox archivist Evan Killham, site moderator Lance Darnell, and contributor Bryan Glynn all chose different tunes from The Legend of Zelda series. Bitmobbers Ryan Conway and Mark Whitney keep the 16-bit era alive with two great selections from Square games. Finally, Bitmob intern Jasmine Maleficent Rea and the inimitable Alex Cronk-Young do what Nintendon't with a couple jams from Sega's salad days. And of course, a certain mustachioed plumber sneaked his way in there somewhere....
Want to wow the community with your amazing taste in music? Hit the jump to find out how to join in the fun!
Read more >>If you've ever been to a gathering of nerds, you know that they aren't necessarily the freshest-smelling types at times. Not to say that nerds don't wash at all, since I know I do and enjoy a variety of odor-eliminating products, but all it takes is one guy not showering for a while to cement a group with a weird stereotype of "unwashedness."
Well, here's an incentive to wash for the game-obsessed, convention-goer man: Atari 2600 joystick soaps, now in the refreshing scent of grape [via Technabob]:
I've never used grape soap before, so I am tempted to spend the $3 just to see if it's one of those noxious, artificial-fruit smells or if it's actually appealing. If you know someone who could use the gift of nerdy soap -- or want some for yourself -- you can place your order at eatsleepshop's Etsy store.
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This week on Hit or Miss: The industry goes flippin' nuts. Seriously, you know it was an interesting week when the word "apocalypse" was bandied and it was only slightly an exaggeration. Add to the Great Global PS3 Fail the insanity that went down at Infinity Ward, and it was as though the Great Reckoning of Our Time was finally upon us. Luckily for me, I love reckonings.
Oh, also this week: Portal 2 was announced and people were allowed to be gay on Xbox Live.
Read more >>Taco Bell is not usually known for grand and big-name toys that you might find in a McDonald's Happy Meal. All of that is about to change this week when the Bell offers these retro Atari 2600 games in their kids meals. Packaged in the style of the original 1980s boxes, the games work on PC or Mac. Alone, they'll set you back roughly $1.50 each [via Offworld]:
I think offering these blasts from the past is a conspiracy to make me feel old -- my parents paid upwards of $50 for them when I was a kid. I now imagine my daughter taking her children to the drive-thru in 20 years for a kids meal and a free 20 gig iPod.
Read more >>Being a lover of all things technological, I am never happy with the level we humans have achieved. Most of us carry little portable computers that let us do almost anything we could want in the comfort of our own home, but where is the virtual reality that was promised us since the 1990s? The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface might bring us one step closer. With this goofy-looking device strapped to your head, all you have to do is imagine hitting right and left flippers in your head, and you're playing a game of pinball [via Techeblog]:
It may not be a pair of sunglasses that transports our consciousness to a place our body can't go, but it's a start. If only it didn't involve putting on a bald cap with Christmas lights on it.
Read more >>Quick show of hands: How many Bitmob community members will be able to make the nerd comedy show/Bitmob Meet-Up tonight in San Francisco, CA? Please let us know in the comments below.
I need to know how many free gifts I should attempt to bring to hand out to you guys. But I have a feeling we won't have as good of a turnout due to timing, spring break, and lighter-than-usual wallets (don't forget our discount Bitmob promo code, though) -- which means those that do show up will have a better chance at getting something cool!
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Editor's Note: Frank again reminds us that video games can have a positive influence on the world. I agree with him, and I hope he continues this series. - Jay
If you asked most people to write down their opinions of the average gamer, the word charitable would probably not be on that list. However, this perception may soon change. Video-game charities pop up every day, and the amount of money they donate is far from insignificant.
For an idea of how widespread video-game charities are becoming, all you need to do is head towards Google. A search for the phrase 'video game charity' currently shows 19,100,000 results. While many of these hits point to articles such as this one, you don't need to look much further than this very site to see solid evidence that game charities have become pervasive.
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Anyone with any geek cred can quote the Aliens and Predator films (but not Aliens vs. Predator -- that'd be embarrassing). But it takes a special kind of nerd to answer our alien-related questions. Can Rebellion's Tim Jones, project lead on the recently released shooter Aliens vs. Predator, tackle our 5 Hit Points quiz -- and survive?
(Edit: Forgot to mention...special thanks to our own Michael Donahoe for coming up with the questions for this edition of 5HP!)
1. Bill Paxton is no stranger to Aliens or Predators -- and fan-made arcade games. What type of arcade game did a fan build to celebrate the actor's cinematic career?
Read more >>Editor's note: Daniel's walk down memory lane is a brilliant beginning to a new meme on Bitmob. To join in the fun, write about your own gaming decade and tag it "My Gaming Decade." I'll collect them all in a future post. -Brett
If you’ll forgive me for saying so, I had a great decade. Each year of the 2000s ended better than the last. I was reminded of this when I read Stephen Totilo’s brief recap of his “gaming decade” on Kotaku. Inspired, I present to you a summary of my gaming decade:
2000: I discovered the magic of console modding. My modded NeoGeo was largely a novelty, allowing me to access the DIP switches and uncensor certain fighting games, but my modded Dreamcast became my gateway to imported games from Japan. I’m certain this prolonged exposure to a language I couldn’t understand piqued my interest in Japanese, convincing me to take a night class that fall.
2001: Those lessons inspired me to visit Japan for the first time, where I fell in love with...a Golgo 13 sniper arcade game. Whereas most gun games cast you as a cop, giving you an implicit mandate that your on-screen targets are dangerous criminals, Golgo 13 -- Japan’s favorite professional hitman -- has no such ethical considerations. When the game asked me to snipe a woman’s high-heeled shoe so she’d fall down a stairway to her death, I didn’t even blink. I had never played such an amoral game before.
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