A giant thank you to everyone who supported Britt and I during our quest to play video games for 24 hours straight. Whether you donated, played along, visited us, or chatted with us on our livestream, all of the support we received was amazing and an excellent motivation to keep on playing. Especially at 5am when things started getting rough.
(A bit of our livestream when Michael Robles was over teaching us Magic)
And now: My recap of some of my favorite happenings. Probably not in correct time order, as the whole 24 hours is one jolly sleepy blur in my mind.
-I played L4D for the first time. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m still getting the hang of FPS, but I don’t think I was too awful! Zombies are scary, man. And the witch totally killed me. Twice.
-Michael Robles of WOTC visited, and showed Britt and I how to play Magic: The Gathering, thanks to the Xbox Live game, Duels of the Planeswalkers. Their tutorial was really good and I’m excited to try an actual card game! A bunch of my guy friends (Forest, Zach, Alexander, and one of Zach’s friends) hung out and played some Magic cards while Britt and I got back to more video games. We also chatted a bit about all of our new fave thing: Gamma World. Be on the lookout for a review in the next day or so!
-Jim from Kirby Krackle visited with goodies in hand. We played some Guitar Hero. Apologies to those watching while I stumbled through my first couple tries with the game. I’m good at finding beats and rhythm in songs, but something about music-based games freak me out. Those dots coming up… I just get flustered. Which is why I hadn’t played much of Guitar Hero, DDR, or Rock Band before. But let me just say: By the time 7:30am came along, I was slowly getting the hang of it. I’m still not ready to go off “Easy”, but I at least know what I’m doing and how to hit the notes!
-Seattle Geekly stopped by and brought along Brunswick Bowling for PS3 Move. They were pros! Bowling was a nice, calm yet active break from our other gaming. We also did a bit of “Just Dance”, as neither of them had tried it before. Matt didn’t want to have anything to do with it, but ended up rocking with the high score!
-Fire Alarm. While Seattle Geekly was over, the fire alarm in my building went off. We all evacuated. Britt started grabbing all of her consoles and throwing them in a box so she could take them with her. I grabbed my DS so we could continue gaming while we were outside. I didn’t want our 24 hours of gaming to not count due to a fire-related technicality! It turned out a baby on the 2nd floor grabbed the alarm, and there was no fire. Or as the chatters on our Ustream said, we were “pwned by a baby”.
-Just Dance: Happy Feet Style. My friend Lisa stopped by, dressed as a penguin. Apparently she just finished shopping for her Halloween costume and got cold, so she put it on. Ustreamers were loving this, so we had her “Just Dance” as a penguin. Gifs were made. Lisa is now internet famous.
As the night went on, our energy declined. We tried a couple fun things to stay awake, including playing Resident Evil while blasting pop songs. We beat a giant snake while listening to Britney Spear’s “Toxic”, and listened to songs like “Backstreet’s Back”, “Bye Bye Bye” and “Genie in a Bottle” while blasting the heads off of zombies.
We kept playing Just Dance, Guitar Hero, and even a bit of Wii Yoga near the very end of the night to keep moving. Even though Britt looked like she was gonna kill me if I didn’t let her get some sleep.
If you wanted to donate but didn’t get the chance, you still can. Extra Life will be accepting donations until November 15, 2010. They’ve already earned over $430,000…. I’d love to see what us geeks can do in the next couple weeks!
Seattle had the world record for largest zombie gathering, but some music festival in England narrowly stole it from us. We’re going to take it back, and we’re hoping to get 10,000 zombies to be in one place at one time!
Brittney and I will be hanging out, decked out in zombie garb. We’ll be playing Dead Rising 2, watching zombie fashion shows (I didn’t know zombies cared so much about their looks!), dancing to Thriller, and just rocking out, undead style.
Come join us! We’ll be tweeting/vlogging throughout the event, and would love to hang with you.
You can register online for only $3 here (and skip the huge line tomorrow) or you can register for $5 at the door. By registering, your name will be sent to the Guinness World Records as part of the largest zombie event!
Zombies not your thing? Then go see Kristina sing some Harry Potter rock in Bellevue! Details: July 3 – 6:30pm Lewis Creek Park Visitors Center 5808 Lakemont Blvd. Bellevue, WA 98009 $10 – ALL AGES
We hope to see you this weekend, and wish you all a fun (and safe) 4th of July! Seriously, don’t blow yourself up with modded fireworks. I know how you guys are…
Man, forget about what IS there to say about E3, what ISN’T there to say about E3? I’ve rounded up five things that stood out the most to me and made E3 the experience that it was. Yeah, I know, the actual games aren’t a part of this list. While the games *obviously* are what make up 99.9% of E3, I just went with the one game I enjoyed the most!
The Industry Bigwigs
As soon as I heard I was in the same room as Hideo Kojima, I nearly ate shit HARD as I attempted to climb and stand atop a chair. When Shigeru Miyamoto appeared on stage at the Nokia Theatre wielding a Wii Remote and Nunchuck I squealed. When I saw Keiji Inafune—I think you get it. I mean, here are all of these gaming GODS appearing before your eyes, the same guys and gals you’ve been admiring and reading about in magazines, books and the internet for years, and…here they are! It was like I was in 5th grade at a Backstreet Boys concert all over again.
The Press Conferences
If you’re not physically at E3 and are anything like me, moments before the E3 Press Conferences you’ll find yourself huddled around your computer monitor, anxiously awaiting for the conferences to begin while anticipating juicy revelations, and most importantly, praying for no LAG.
But for me, this year was different. To actually plop my butt in a seat at the Nintendo and Sony Press Conference was an indescribable feeling. Actually being there and witnessing the first gameplay footage of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the revelation of the 3DS, the unveiling of Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn (just to name a few) was incredible. And that’s just from Nintendo. While I was at Sony’s Conference, albeit a tad dull at times, I saw Kevin Butler, Twisted Metal, and GT5 finally got a release date. That’s enough win for me.
The New Twisted Metal
As soon as Sweet Tooth rolled up and David Jaffe took stage near the end of the Sony Press Conference, I knew right then and there that Twisted Metal would be my game of the show. Some of the first PlayStation games I owned were Twisted Metal 1 and 2, and to this day I’ll randomly pop in Twisted Metal 2 to get my automobile destruction fix. I’m extremely thankful that Jaffe is heading this one. Even though I didn’t HATE the direction 989 studios took Twisted Metal 3 and 4, it definitely didn’t feel the same, and unfortunately after Twisted Metal 4 I never returned to the series. But even after the TV on which I was demoing the new Twisted Metal burned out on the show floor, I just told the lovely guys of Eat Sleep Play that it was no biggie; after the first few minutes I knew I was buying the game anyway.
The Hardware
Yep, this is one of the obvious ones. The push of this year’s E3 was motion control and 3D technology. Folks were flailing their bodies about with Microsoft’s Kinect, those in the Sony booth were waving their arms around with Move and eyes were going wide at the Nintendo booth with the 3DS. This is definitely an interesting time for the industry, as more and more developers are arching their brows, rubbing their chin and considering implementing this technology into their products. While some are more adamant than others in their belief that motion control and 3D are the next steps for the industry, others are more cautious and are waiting to see how things pan out and checking the install base before jumping on the bandwagon. Obviously, reading about something and actually going hands on with it are completely different. Having dinked around with the 3DS, Move and Kinect, I still can’t say where exactly I stand with motion control and 3D gaming; however, without a doubt, I have a clearer perspective on what it can deliver. And let’s face it, the fact that I can TELL people I’ve experienced all three is a perk too!
The Atmosphere
Most if not all of my friends don’t contain an iota of knowledge when it comes to the gaming realm (but I still love them dearly). So when Gabe Newell showed up on stage during the Sony Press Conference announcing that Portal 2 was coming to the PlayStation 3, and went so far as to declare that it would be the best platform to experience Portal 2 on, I knew it would only end in fail if I tried explaining it to them. But people at E3 get it. To be contained in a convention center with thousands and thousands of people, as unpleasant as that sounds, whether they be developers, publishers, members of the media, or retail employees—who share equal amounts of passion and excitement for the same industry as you do, is really what makes E3 what it is.
Idea factory is creating a game for Japanese Xbox 360 owners where you’ll create and design your very own virtual wife. In the game, My Wife: A Bride Just For You, you’ll be able to customize your wife by choosing her looks, voice & personality and then start playing as virtual newlyweds. Weeird.
I don’t know how I feel about this idea seeing as how in Fable, I always cheated or got sick of my wives. I’d take them to the Hobbe Caves & let the Hobbes have at her so my purity level wouldn’t go down! Amiright or amiright or AMIRIGHT?!?! I just see this game getting boring, very fast, OR, I see extremely weird people playing it and ending up with unrealistic standards of women or some ridiculous ass relationship guidelines. Either way, I think those games are best left to the imagination and not on Xbox.
Aside from being the most awesome customization I’ve ever seen on an Xbox 360, this console marks the one millionth Xbox sold in Australia and New Zealand. Richard Taylor from Weta Workshop sold the one-of-a-kind Master Chief Xbox on Ebay for charity. Microsoft being the nice ol’ lads they are, matched the final bid and donated an extra $10,000 to Cure Kids. Awe, how sweet.
Everyone has a place in their home where they like to watch TV, go on the computer, watch movies and play video games. The greatest way to arrange your house is so you can have all those activities in one room, “The Gamer Room.” Whether it’s your living room, bedroom, den or playroom, the gamer room is the sanctuary of your house. Your personal kingdom! Here are some cool things that would make anyone jealous (me especially) of your beloved gaming haven!
Is it just me, or are video game trailers becoming more intriguing than most movie trailers?
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction Coming April 13, 2010
Maybe it’s because video games are just generally appealing, OR maybe it’s because video games have started to feel more and more like interactive movies..
Metaphorically speaking, GTA4 would be considered one of the best movies I’ve ever watched for 3 days, 12 hours a day, when my brother and his friends played it during the summer a couple years ago.
Splinter Cell: Conviction looks pretty neat. I got to see the game at PAX East but unfortunately didn’t get a chance to play it. From what I DO know, it looked clean, interesting and people were really enjoying themselves during multiplayer. I say its worth the time to at least try it out, guess I’ll be downloading the demo tonight on XBL!
Gears of War 3 is rumored to be coming April 2011 with the first teaser trailer to be released as early as next month. Do we believe our ears? This information comes from a “trusted US publishing source” from Edge. The game also is rumored to have a full reveal at E3 in June.
“Microsoft’s keen to avoid a clash with Halo: Reach and wants Natal to own Christmas. That’s why we won’t be seeing Gears of War 3 until next year, but expect a major marketing push ahead of its release,” the source said. Via IGN
The wait for Gears of War 3 might be a lot shorter than we thought! But it depends if this source is legitimate and not lying to us. They should know that I’ve killed people for less! DONT TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS YOU FOOL! YOU EVIL SOURCE-…RER! Hah! See what I did there?! ehhh? EHH? I’m so cool…. *worried smile*
Thanks to you readers and all the amazing feedback, Zaxy.com is fortunate enough to have it’s first two sponsors! Not only that, but they are some amazing companies to have bestowed upon our grateful hearts.
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Our first sponsor, CLEAR™ is the amazing 4G WiMAX mobile internet service. I will be at SXSW hanging out at CLEAR’s video game & music booth. I’ll hopefully be PWNing some SXSW band asses at MW2 through the dates of March 16th – 20th! So stay posted for my twitter updates!
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We also have the courtesy of going to Boston with PlayOn for PAX East! PlayOn is a digital media server that streams internet media from your PC to your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 so that you can watch all of your favorite shows online, on your TV! Tara and I will be at their booth March 26th – 28th and we couldn’t be more excited!
Are you going to be at SXSW or PAX East? Let us know! Tell us!
