A Less Awesome But Still Fun Guitar Hero

Cool?

Yeah, you can play Guitar Hero via widget now. But don't mind me. I'll be over here playing Free Tetris.

Prince William Beats an 18 Year Old at Wii Sports

P'WNED. (Photo from The Telegraph in London.)

That Royal Family just loves Nintendo. So much, in fact, that Prince William was challenged to a game of Wii Sports by an 18-year-old kid during an official visit. The best part? The prince won. Come on, kid, you're 18. You have nothing better to do than play Wii. What's the problem?

I never thought I would be playing Wii on an official engagement.

Translation: "Bloody right I beat you at Wii Tennis! Who wants some? Who's next? I'm going to be the king one day! Ha! What, are you crying?"

Actually, it sounds like he was a pretty good sport about it and good natured, at that. During the game, he turned to the boy and said, "You know you are not allowed to beat me."

What a guy.

New "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" Screenshots!

Get him, Winston! Yes! New "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" screenshots here! I'm having a fit!

The Indie Rocker Guide to Video Games

So you can go to Pitchforkmedia.com and look at the "Guest List" section and find this information, but I decided to compile it for you anyway. P4K's "Guest List" feature is where they sit down with the artist and ask them a specific set of questions: what's your favorite new band, what's your favorite old song, what's your favorite record store, radio station, etc. In essence, it's a way to get to know the people who make the music you love and, as a plus, you find more music this way. One of the questions on the survey is, "Favorite Video Game at the Moment." Here are some of my favorite artists and their favorite games.

Del tha Funkee Homosapien: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Meric Long of The Dodos: Call of Duty 4
John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats: Super Mario Galaxy, Red Dead Revolver
Joe Goddard of Hot Chip: Mario Party, Pro Evolution Soccer
Jared Phillips of Times New Viking: Halo 3 (but otherwise apathetic)
White Williams: Paper Boy
Thurston Moore: Guitar Hero (but he'd rather read a book)
Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age: none
Kevin Drew: The NHL games
Ian Parton of The Go! Team: none
Aesop Rock: Gears of War, God of War 2, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav: Wii Sports
Patton Oswalt: currently sworn off video games
Eddie Argos of Art Brut: Halo (because he writes funny songs about it)
Dan Deacon: Tetris
James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem: Goldeneye 007
Ted Leo: Tetris
Panda Bear: Ape Escape
Greg Saunier of Deerhoof: Qix
Girl Talk: NBA Jam
Josh Grier of Tapes 'n Tapes: Sonic Pinball Party
Colin Meloy of The Decemberists: Dark Castle, Snood

Now here's the challenge: pick an artist who you like and play their favorite game or pick your favorite game and listen to the artist who likes that game. Discovery time!

The Post About Why I Won't Be Updating Every Day

Hey there, reader. You may be wondering why the posting is getting sparse. I'll give you a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) It's getting closer to finals for classes, which means that I've got a heavy load of homework on the horizon.
Reason 2) I'm getting sort of tired of my RSS feeds telling me everything about GTAIV and nothing else. I understand why the game is important/good/cool/controversial/etc., but enough is enough.
Reason 3) I really want a copy of Mario Kart Wii, but alas, rent comes first.

I thank you for checking in and updating, and please, feel free to comment and let me know what you'd like to read about. OK? Thanks.

PlayStation Nostalgia

In 1995, the PlayStation was released. In 1996 sometime, my family got one. It was amazing. Before we got copies of Twisted Metal or the totally-radical Revolution X, however, we only had the developer demo that came with it. The developer demo really didn't have any games to test out. It was just an excuse for the developers of the PlayStation to show off their mad designing skills. Here's a YouTube video - I suggest skipping around frequently so you can get the full gist of the demo.

And here's the tragedy - my brother and I loved it. I mean, we would fight over who got to walk around as the tyrannosaurus rex and who got to make the 3D cone turn into a brick 3D cone. And that music! Why did we love it? Because the graphics were revolutionary, awesome, and lest we forget, tubular.

That was 12 years ago. How I long for the days of playing Final Fantasy VIII while listening to my brother's live Metallica album. Come on, otherwise I couldn't get pumped enough and when I'd summon Ifrit, he'd would only do half damage. And if I didn't have enthusiasm, there would be no chance of Odin showing up just in time to save me.

Obama Gets Pokémon Endorsement

I don't know how people decide which candidate to vote for in today's Pennsylvania primary, but I hope it goes something like this:

Just so you know, this doesn't necessarily reflect my political views.

Chicago's Video Game Advertisement Conundrum

I was born and raised in Huntington, but I currently live in Chicago. Here's what's going on on this side.

This is a Chicago Transit Authority bus in Chicago, Ill. It's how I get to school every day. When I look at an advertisement on the bus, I tend to think that I'm not too easily sold on the sandwich they're waving in my face while I try not to fall onto the little old lady standing next to me. However, some Chicago officials believe that these ads are WAY more persuasive than you'd think.

According to Chicago's local Fox News affiliate, the CTA is going to take down all of their Grand Theft Auto IV ads - an ad campaign that can't be cheap. Why? Because the governor and the president of the CTA believe that it's a negative influence on children.

I see these ads every day. I see stickers on newspaper boxes down the street that say GTA IV. I have never been compelled to run out and buy it immediately. Yes, kids may be more influenced by an advertisement than I am, but is this really necessary? Isn't it up to the parents as to what the kid is playing? Are these advertisements worse than subjecting kids to the violent nature of being on the train during rush hour?

It's noble, but is it really necessary?

Microsoft: Don't Buy GTAIV for the PS3

When Grand Theft Auto IV is released, it's heading out for the 360 and the PS3. Apparently, the PS3 version has a 5-minute install time before you can initially play the game. How do I know that? Microsoft told me so.

In an e-mail to users, the Xbox Team points out that in the time you could take to install the game, you could have all ready boosted a dozen cars on the Xbox. That's cold as ice, Microsoft. Let's keep it clean, shall we?

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

So far, the confirmed line-up includes Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Batman, and Superman. The game will probably play along the lines of a better version of Marvel vs. Capcom. There are no fatalities this time around - I doubt DC Comics was cool with the idea of The Martian Manhunter having his heart ripped out (in other news, I just had Plastic Man-related nerdy fits).

Anybody else looking forward to Kano vs. Hal Jordan? Oooooh boy this is going to be fun. It's coming out this fall for the PS3 and 360.

Will The Sims Ever Learn How to Cook?

You'd think by now it'd be a science to these guys. Put the food in, start the timer, let the timer go off, and promptly remove the food from the oven. No lollygagging. Don't fall asleep while you're cooking, don't watch TV, don't dance, and no hanky panky with your neighbor. Just wait by the oven, maybe do the dishes, and get the food out of the oven. End of story.

But they won't learn. Otherwise, the lives of The Sims would be as boring as ever. You need fires and spicy romances to keep things interesting.

EA announced today that 100 million copies of The Sims have sold worldwide. Or, in Sim speak, "Huh buh, huh buh ruh buh buh huuuh (word balloon above my head with The Sims box)."

Does that plus sign above your head mean that you're excited about this news are that you're happy to see me? Wait, you want to talk about soccer? That's a total minus sign. No! I don't want to dance!

The Fab Four Debut a Song on "Rock Band!"

That's right - Mick, Vince, Nikki and Tommy are releasing a brand new song exclusively on Rock Band. Mötley Crüe, baby!

If you were wondering, I really don't care much for them. Really, the only hair metal band song that I ever really, legitimately got into was "Photograph" by Def Leppard. "Saints of Los Angeles" released yesterday on the Xbox Live Arcade and will release tomorrow on the PLAYSTATIONStore. The song will join the likes of "Simple Man" by Skynyrd, "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, and "Call Me" by Blondie. "Saints of Los Angeles" marks the first song to be debuted on Rock Band.

I'd make a "Kickstart My Heart" pun, but it's way too early for that.

Iron Man: PS3 and 360 Exclusive Suits

That's the PS3 version.


And that's the 360 version.

And I'm still excited.

The Xbox 360 Wiimote (i.e. the "Newton")

In an attempt to get little girls and the elderly to play the 360, Microsoft is developing their own Wiimote. That's right, not just some third-party Wiimote like device, but a Wiimote to be developed by Microsoft.

To get us to stop calling it the "360 Wiimote," the codename of the thing is the "Newton," named after Sir Isaac. There are no set dates or plans or photos of the thing yet, but we'll see how it turns out. Because as we all know, it only turns out for the best when somebody capitalizes on somebody else's awesome idea.

A Video Game Story that the Media Keeps Forgetting About and Remembering

"Hey boss, I've got a story idea."
"What is it, Johnson?"
"There's this game that helps kids lose weight. There's a local kid that lost a bunch of weight by playing this game."
"You're lying. I don't have time for this."
"No, really boss! It's a video game and it's good for kids."
"You've lost your mind!"
"I haven't boss, it's called (insert game title here)!"
"That's brilliant! Why didn't they think of this before?! Run that story immediately, son! We're breaking the story of ages!"

Aaaaaand scene.

I don't mean to be a cynic, but if there's anything that I've learned, it's that video games + anything that doesn't lead to adolescent violence = a miraculous news story of ages. USA Today did a story about Dance Dance Revolution in 2004 about the weight loss opportunities the game provides for younger kids (six years after the game initially came out). Today, The Clarion Ledger came out with an extremely similar story about the game.

Have any of you guys heard about Wii Fit? It's new, it's timely, and it still helps kids lose weight. Why don't you start playing that story before ten years pass?

Again, I apologize for being the neighborhood cynic.