It's been a while. Let's talk video games, shall we?

There's a ton of stuff I want to update about, but I've been bogged down by school and work and trying to catch up on sleep. But my bookmarks folder is getting pretty insane, and I'm tired of not updating. So I'm thinking I'm just going to knock everything out in one whopper of a post, seeing as most of this stuff is pretty old news, and my night class got canceled so I have three extra hours to bum around ^_^ Sorry, this is going to be pretty unorganized and to the point!

ONLINE TIMEWASTERS
To start things off, here are the two main reasons why I'm doing terribly this semester - Scrabulous (online Scrabble) and Warbook (a strategy, level-up type game), two of the most popular applications on Facebook. Be forewarned - these games are incredibly addicting.

DiggKiller is a simple shooter game where you kill recent top stories on Digg.com. I like how when the stories explode, you can collect all the comments, heh. Pretty clever.

Even though it's not really a game, the treehugger in me has to plug Consumer Consequences, a flash application that calculates how many Earths it would take to sustain life if everyone lived like you did. It takes 4 Earths for me, but there's little I change while I live in an apartment complex :(

Lastly, some of the best time wasters on the net - Grow Games. I've mentioned these before, but they're still fun and challenging, and very cute, of course. ^_^

SO YOU WANT KAWAII...
Wan! Entertainment Music Channel

Angel Love Online

MUSICAL GAMES
To the makers of the fully functional Lego and Kiss Guitar Hero controllers - you're insane! But good work.

Anna has introduced me to Anime Song Generator, and while I'm not sure this is a game, it's closely related enough. It's a computer program that lets you create sickeningly poppy anime songs, and the results are pretty impressive. It's like GarageBand for otakus, yikes.

I haven't said anything about Rock Band yet. Wired has covered it pretty extensively, so I say just go check out their articles. But basically, it's like Guitar Hero but with the whole band, the setlist is killer, and since this game is produced by MTV, the game includes the actual songs rather than covers like in Guitar Hero and all the other Konami games (like the RATM cover in GH3 :shudder:). The only kicker? it's $200. Sigh.

SMAAAAASH BROS.
Let's see. This game will have Wi-Fi capabilities. Lucas from Mother 3 will be in the game. Watch Snake kick everyone's ass. Think that about covers everything new that interested me. Check Smash Bros. DOJO!! for daily updates.

BECAUSE YOU LIKE TO READ
The Next 25 Years of Video Games - Man I can't wait for Spore!

57 Things We Know Because We Game - Killing people makes you stronger!

101 Things You Didn't Know About Games - No list should be longer than 50. But this still includes a lot of interesting trivia to, you know, impress the stranger in the elevator with.

UP AND COMING WII GAMES
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is coming to the Wii, PS2 and PSP this holiday season in a Phoenix Wright-like crime solving game.

Be prepared to use the force as you swing your light saber Wiimote in the upcoming Star Wars game.

Read everything you ever wondered about the new Wii title, MySims, which is high on my to-buy list.

This beautiful 2D platformer, Eternity's Child, is making the move from XBox's Live Arcade to the Wii and DS. I don't know much about this game, but it looks gorgeous, and the plot sounds intriguing.

I don't know what the heck Miburi and Teburi is about, but it's coming out for the Wii, so I guess it fits in this section. Basic description: "It's not just a crossword game, but a crossword game based on charades and cosplay." Perhaps this photo will suffice?

RELIVING THE LEGENDS
Chrono Trigger, one of my favorite games of all freakin' time, has been lovingly retranslated into clearer English! It's available in HTML, Excel files, text files, and as a playable patch. I'm excited, I'll happily replay this game.

I thought I had more for this section, but I guess Chrono Trigger is it. Whoops.

ARTSY FARTSY
The Most Stunning Gaming Fan Artwork of Zelda - Well, the title says it all. Much better than, oh say, the Zelda cosplay event that went down this Sunday to promote Phantom Hourglass. Heh.

A fabulous papercraft of Master Chief!

Wowzers. That's all I have to say.

And one of the most beautiful games of all time - Okami - now has a book completely dedicated to the art from the game. Really, it's more a study of Japanese art rather than video game art. I'd really, really like this for Christmas, thanks. ^_^

And finally, I leave you with this:

Hopefully I'll be updating again soon!

South Park's Make Love, Not Warcraft episode from the 10th season has won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. I apologize if you haven't heard this news and were planning on finding out on tonight's coverage, but I despise award shows, so I don't feel that bad. It's one of their best episodes, and certainly the most memorable. If you haven't seen this episode, the 10th season DVD is already on sale.

So, I don't know if YOU know, but there's going to be an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie coming out this holiday season. Why, I have no idea, but I'm sure it's for the same reason they're remaking Underdog. :shakes head: Anyway, in conjuction with the movie, Brash Entertainment is making a rhythm game where the Chipmunks rap their way from small venues to sold-out stadiums, and eventually, to Rockathonapalooza (very original, guys).

The game will have about 40 songs from acts like Run DMC, Blink 182, REM, but in those annoying high-pitched chipmunk voices. You have to be really masochistic if you decide to get this game, or a terrible person if you get this as a gift. The game comes out this holiday season on all the consoles.

And speaking of fun episodic adventure games for the PC, it seems that Sam and Max are returning for a second season of crime-solving nonsense. Above is the first screen from the season's first episode, and it looks... crazy. Two headed Buddha? Lion head? Traffic light? Blue-haired lady?? This next season looks like a winner! Press release after the jump. Also, did you know that this year is also Sam and Max's 20th anniversary? Wow, all my posts today are somewhat related!

This is the new trailer for the Penny Arcade game On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, debuted at this year's Comic Con. It looks like a really fun adventure game; it's exciting to see Tycho and Game come to life! I also like the setting and characters. Hopefully this game lives up to the hype! That rhymed, a little.

My name is Mona De Lafitte, and I want to be an opera singer! Bill Tiller, the artist behind The Curse of Monkey Island has revealed screenshots of his current work in progress, A Vampyre Story. The game follows newly-vampired Mona on the road to the Paris Opera House, and will also be a point-and-click adventure game (score!). The game comes out at the end of this year. Let's hope it plays as well as it looks!

The New York Times has done a spot on comparing people with their online avatars. It includes real life photos, their avatars, and a profile.

It's interesting to see everyone's ideal person (at least that's what I think avatars are). However, the amount of hours spent in-game per week is kind of frightening.

After being put on hold for a while (or something), it seems that American McGee's Grimm is actually in the works. It's being published by GameTap, and will be released in 24 installments during the first half of 2008. This is :really: exciting, seeing as I loved American McGee's Alice, and I love dark twists on fairy tales (proof: I'm currently reading Wicked, and my ultimate photography show will be about fairy tales, for reals). The only problem is... I have to get a subscription to GameTap? And have to wait for each episode to come out? I'm not sure I'm liking the way PC games are being released now, I think Sam and Max was released over 6 episodes, and you had to purchase each one. I dunno... depending on the reviews for this game, I might have to give in and do it. Because not only will the game kick ass I'm sure, but just looking at the art will be well worth the money.

For more info about this game, the newest issue of PC Gamer has the very first preview of it with excluuuusive details.

I'm not sure why I haven't covered this game, but here it is. In Spore, you play God by taking a single-celled organism and evolving it into different species. It comes out for the PC sometime this summer, and I think I really really really want it.

It has just been announced that the flash game Samorost 2 has won the Webby for Best Web Game. If you haven't taken the time to play this breathtaking game, then WHAT are you doing with your life. I played the game back in January, and not only is the game fun and at times a little tricky, the art is so beautiful that really, I wouldn't mind just watching the opening sequence over and over. It's free to play and $6.90 to buy. Play it now!

Hothead and the creators of the webcomic Penny Arcade have teamed together to make a Penny Arcade game for the PC. You know, as much as I enjoy reading the latest video game news on sites like Kotaku and Destructoid (happy birthday, by the way!), I'm always more excited when it comes time for comics like Penny Arcade and VG Cats to be updated. It's nice to keep up with the ridiculous amount of news that pops up what seems like every hour, but really. Artistic, comical commentary will always win me over. Especially since I like their art styles the best - bold illustration, not too sketchy or angular. Which explains why I am drawn to almost every cartoon that Cartoon Network churns out... Anyway.

This game looks interesting. The 3-D style for the gameplay is different, takes a little getting used to, but I'm sure I won't even notice it after a while. And they just can't seem to ignore the little Fruit Fucker, can't they? I just wonder, what could "On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness" possibly be about?

There's been a lot of hype for this PC game called "The City of Metronome." First unveiled at E3 2005, the game combines a beautiful art style similar to American McGee's Alice (a game I really need to get my hands on) with innovative gameplay where sound is your guide.

From the website: "In the game, you take on the role of a young train conductor. You get to venture into the city of Metronome, a sprawling mass of haphazardly built houses and huge steam engines where the outlandish inhabitants are carrying out their chores day and night. A city where the life of every citizen is dictated by the Corporation, a single bureaucratic entity that owns all the land, the entire infrastructure and all the industries.

"Explore winding alleys, skewed rooftops and crowded apartment buildings as you search for proof of the Corporations secret agenda, all while listening for sounds to record. Sounds that can be used for a variety of tasks: fight enemies with loud and destructive sounds, solve problems and confuse citizens by clever usage of the right sound at the right moment, use seductive and melodious sounds to change the mood and behaviour of listeners."

I suppose because I'm an art major, games to me aren't just about shooting and jumping. They are (or at least SHOULD be) works of art. My favorite video games have not only been fun to play, but were visually appealing and fun to listen to. Sure, there are the quick and easy games that provide fast entertainment, but it's games like these with the whole sensory package that I'll be urging everyone to experience. Unfortunately they're still looking for someone to publish the game, so let's hope for the best.

So I've been shredding the crap out of my Guitar Hero II. I've moved onto expert on a few songs ^_^ But never fear! If you can't shell out the $80 for the game, there's a free open-source game that's pretty similar to it online. It's called Frets on Fire, and it's available for Windows, Mac (yay!), and Linux, which is pretty ambitious, if you ask me.

I don't think there are a lot of songs yet, but the songs that are on it have three difficulty modes. Oh, and don't forget to take the tutorial with Jurgen. ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBBbM2iFQ1g (new link!)

The new(ish) South Park parody of the World of Warcraft. And I guess MMORPG playing people in general, heh heh. I loves me some RPGs, but having to pay every month to play? I don't think I'm that invested in games... yet. :waits for a raise at work: One of their best episodes, EVAR.

I just keep this picture on my desktop and then I spend less time on the computer. =P