When she's not busy blowing the heads off of enemies to get to the next level, she's usually playing video games.
Meet Kate —
The Game Dame™
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TheGameDame
Posted on January 30th, 2009 in Video Game Music.
8 Comments so far
Brentalfloss uploaded a new video last week putting lyrics to the moon level in the DuckTales video game from NES.
I spent so many hours playing that game with my little brother back in the day. Looking at the gameplay in the video today is so weird. I mean… rats? ON THE MOON?!?!? Wish I could’ve heard them pitch that level.
Posted on January 28th, 2009 in Random.
14 Comments so far
So on Sunday I was doing my Target shopping and trying to decide if I wanted to pretend like I had enough money to buy Left for Dead instead of trekking across town to try to find some rental shop that actually had a copy available. I decided to check out the game aisle and see the supply situation. I scanned the selection and they were sold out. Blast. If they’d had it, I would’ve bought it. I probably wouldn’t have had enough money in my bank account to eat lunch by mid-week, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted it, and if you’re gaming, you don’t always notice the hunger pains.
As I was seeing what else was available, I heard her. One of THOSE girls. The kind that grew up with a neverending supply of cash from her Daddyton Mutual account. The kind that thinks an overdraft is some kind of German beer. Even her oversized Prada bag was not big enough to hold the vomit threatening to escape from my stomach with every word that squeaked out of her petite, Versace lip gloss-covered mouth. I didn’t hear her name, but I’d be willing to bet it ended with an “i” and that, when she signs it, she turns the dot into some kind of heart, star or smiley face.
She was there with her boyfriend… a mid to late forties man who was part of the “Dude Bra” clan. When talking to other members of the Dude Bra clan, these individuals are incapable of uttering a single statement that doesn’t start with the word “Dude” and end with the word “Braaaaaaa.” I think failure to comply gets you banned from the next five keg parties. He was screaming on his cell phone to a fellow clan member. “DUUUUUDE!!! Did you see James last night??! He was wasted, right, braaaa?!?!” Ok, “dude”… you’re pushing 50. And – despite what the clan might’ve told you – sporting a tattoo of Snoopy on a Harley does not give you permission to talk like that.
Apparently, this lovely couple was looking to buy a Wii. Little Ms. Perky made sure that DudeBra knew she wanted Bowling by saying it about five MILLION FUCKING TIMES. “Bubbie… let’s get BOOOWLING!!!!” “I just LOVE that BOWLING game.” “Make sure that one comes with BOWLING!!!” Between his grunts and her squeals, I gathered that they were buying a belated Christmas present for some kids in the family and they were giving it to them today. There were four kids in the family and they wanted to make sure everyone would be able to play.
DudeBra wanted to make sure the kids had enough games. And yes, BOWWWLING!!! was part of the selection. “Hey babe, you wan get Dancin’ with the Stars, too?”
I didn’t even know they HAD a Dancing With the Stars game. That means that people buy shit like that. Who buys shit like that??!
Oh yeah. They were standing right in front of me.
Perky went to grab a Target employee to unlock the cabinet. While they were waiting for the key keeper, Perky’s phone rang. It was Pink’s “I’m Still a Rock Star.” Perky sang along and danced for everyone between ass grabs from DudeBra. Suddenly I hated a song I’d previously enjoyed.
The Target employee showed up with the keys and asked the couple what they needed. Perky was quick to respond. “We want to get FOUR Wii Machines!!!”
Four?
Wii MACHINES??
God. These people are a boil on the ass of all that gamers stand for.
The employee tilted her head, “You need four??”
“Yeah!!!” Perky jumped. “See… we’ve got four cousins and we want them all to be able to play together!!!!”
Was she serious?
Holy fuck. Of course she was. And that was why I was stifling laughter.
The employee was trying to save her hundreds of dollars, but a big part of me wished she’d kept her mouth shut and let the idiot spend away. “Um… they live in different states or somethin?”
“No! But we think they should all play together, don’t YOOOOU??!?!”
I had to step away to keep from guffawing in Perky’s face. So I moved around the corner and listened as the employee explained that she only needed to buy extra controllers – not consoles.
“OMG!! HAHAHAH! Woooah! That’s so crazy!! I was gonna buy them all!”
On my way out, I fantasized about mugging that idiot in the parking lot. It’d probably be the most interesting thing that ever happened in her dull, pointless life and she’d have something to talk about over tapas and Sangrias with the girls. But instead, I just drove to Blockbuster and rented Tomb Raider: Underworld for my Xbox machine. They were all out of Dancing with the Stars.
Posted on January 20th, 2009 in Techie Tidbits.
4 Comments so far
So did you watch the inauguration this morning? Did it make you feel all warm n’ fuzzy inside? Good times. Now the thing is, no matter who you voted for, one of the biggest things to remember is that paying attention to politics shouldn’t be limited to every four years. You’ve got to stay informed. You’ve got to pay attention to laws being passed, and, when they suck, you’ve got to do what you can to fight them.
I just got an email from the ECA about Rep. Joe Baca’s latest antics who, by the way, was voted one of the 10 worst members of congress Esquire. He’s trying to push through H.R. 231 – a bill, if passed, that would require a warning label be affixed to all games rated T or up by the ESRB, regardless of the content descriptors. The warning would read:
`WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.’
First of all, that statement is bullshit. There are reports that actually prove that violent games do NOT link to aggressive behavior. Secondly, not all games rated T and up even HAVE violent content. Just think of it like a rated R movie. Some get the rating for violence… some get it for showing someone smoking a bowl or having “suggestive” themes.
The ECA has made it easy for us to fight against this bill. You can go to their site, edit a pre-written letter to your liking, sign it and send it out to your member of congress. It takes less than 2 minutes and you’ll feel better about yourself. So DO IT. We should be spending tax dollars on our education system – NOT stupid pointless video game warnings. Maybe if we had a better education system, people like Baca would know the real deal with video game violence.
Posted on January 10th, 2009 in Pre/Reviews.
1 Comment so far
Looking for a spot to find out about all things coin op? Check out CoinOpSpace.com – a new social network created by Jeff Rothe. The site is pretty extensive with free blogs, profile pages, RSS feeds and photo and video galleries. There aren’t a ton of posts yet, but it’s growing into a pretty sweet resource. Over the last 5 days, membership has already increased by over 100 folks and posts are constantly being added. If you’re looking to refurbish, trade or sell a cabinet or pin ball machine, check out the community forums. If you’re not, you should check it out anyway. There are random nuggets of goodness like this collection of game room toys and this kick-ass old school Burger Time commercial. Good stuff.
Posted on January 5th, 2009 in Pre/Reviews.
11 Comments so far
So it’s been awhile since my last post. No worries, I did not get abducted by the Horde or die in some mysterious Rock Band 2 accident. I just needed a bit of laziness and a lot of naps, so I took them and didn’t post shit. Beyond that, here’s what I was up to:
Watching 500,000 movies through the Netflix/Xbox Deal
If you haven’t taken advantage of the Xbox/Netflix feature yet, you are missing out. I’ve only run into a few hangups dealing with quality. When you launch the Netflix app and pick your flick or TV show, the system checks your internet connection and TV settings to determine the quality of video you can get. There have been several times where I know my internet connection is set to Speedy Gonzalez, but for some reason I’ll still get a message that says something about my internet connection running to slowly to play my selection. Typically, I can fix this with a reboot and everything’s good to go.
Having Seizures Playing Rock Band 2
Did you know that Rock Band can cause seizures? I do now. Here’s a little known fact about me: I have photosensitive epilepsy. That means I can have a seizure if I’m in flashy lights or weird light patterns in a darker environment for too long. That means no Pink Floyd laser light shows, romantic flickering candlelight settings, strobe-filled clubs or Rock Band 2 without enough lights on around me. And NO, I wasn’t faking it because I was failing the song. I was failing the song because I was about to drop to the floor. So, kids… be careful playing Rock Band 2 in a dark room.
Being Pissed at the Gears of War 2 Final Boss Battle
I rented GoW2 on Friday and played through the story mode. I started out co-op split screen with my roommate, but after awhile, it got too difficult to see what was going on at that size, so I switched back to full screen. Compared to GoW, the game objectives are the same: get rid of the Locust Horde and don’t die. The graphics are beautiful. The dialogue is pretty funny and seemed less repetitive than GoW. Favorite line: “It’s darker ‘n a rat’s ass down here!” It was good to see Cole again. Love that character. And there’s a plot revolving around Dom’s wife that’s touching. Good story overall.
Just like GoW, GoW2 is short and sweet. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t think a game needs to be long to be good – especially when I rented it to begin with. BUT – the final boss battle pissed me off. It was WAY too easy. Now, granted I played on Casual difficulty, so I’m sure that makes a difference, but STILL – there was no pattern to learn, no hot spots to hit at just the right moment. You just grab the Hammer of Dawn, focus on the enemy’s leg, aim, fire, and then you see the credits.
As the credits were rolling, I was sitting there with my controller in my hand and my mouth open. All I could say was “But…” and “What??!” In GoW, my complaint was also about the final boss battle. The ending fight against RAAM was ridiculously hard and I truly believe that the only way anyone could win it was through a glitch. It was incredibly frustrating. Now in GoW2, the boss battle was ridiculously easy. I can take a guess that the developers heard all the complaints about the final battle in the first game and decided to go easy in the sequel. And chances are, as most people seem interested in playing online these days and are only interested in the story mode for gamer points, I’m sure a lot of players were glad it was so easy so they could move on and start battling friends online. Not me, though. I’ve never been much of an online player. I’d rather play alone. So I thrive on good story mode games.
All in all, it’s a great rent. And if you want to play online, it’s a definite buy. I did a few practice rounds of the multiplayer maps and it was actually really cool.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Hope you all had a great holiday. 
Posted on January 1st, 2009 in Level-Update Podcasts.
No Comments so far
Every Tuesday night, the Level-Update is part of the Jack and Stretch show on CRN Digital Talk Radio. You can hear the full hilariosity of the Jack and Stretch show live weeknights from 8 – 10 PM PST on CRN or you can just check out my segment here.
Gamertag Radio
Interview
—September 2008
Game Heroes
Video podcast appearance
—June 2008
Sweet Flag
Interview
—May 2008
Attack of the Show
“The Loop” panelist
—November 2007
CrotchMail.com
Interview
—June 2007
TiedTheLeader.com
Interview
—April 2007
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