Results tagged “videogames”

As many gamers are probably aware, the New Super Mario Bros. for Wii gets its world-wide release tomorrow, and Nintendo is having at least one big launch shindig in Manhattan today, according to Kotaku (we can't find any word on something similar locally...). Only because we grew up with Mario, and because this time-and-space spanning spec commercial for Super Mario Galaxy inexplicably chokes us up, we thought we'd share. It edits together the many incarnations of the little guy in blue overalls, set to a soundtrack by Sigur Ros.

It's probably not news to anyone who's played an internet-enabled, multi-player video game in the last few years (or anyone who's ever met a teenage boy, for that matter) that LGBT gamers often face name-calling and harassment in the game-o-sphere when they advertise their sexual orientation. The Bay Area Reporter just published this investigative report in which they speak to several people in the industry -- including Flynn DeMarco of gaygamer.net and Caryl Shaw, a senior producer for the Sims and Spore -- who discuss things they've heard and seen. The takeaways: The Sims welcomes all kinds of sexual proclivities, gender identities and whathaveyou, but the multi-player environment of Xbox Live -- which is particularly rife with children and teens -- does not allow players to display their sexual orientation in their profile, gamertag or elsewhere.

The 2009 Video Game Developers Conference kicked off today, and so the city is more filled than usual with the designers and programmers who bring you everything from Grand Theft Auto to iPhone Tetris. The economy is expected to impact travel budgets and bring attendance in perhaps just under last year's, at around 18,000. Workshops on the first day included several related to creating games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The video game industry has seen consistent year-over-year growth ($21 billion in 2008) so expect to see the hotel bars and downtown restaurants chock full of gaming geeks.

As if we didn't already love our local heartfelt-mixtape-in-the-form-of-a-nonprofit-record-shop Aquarius Records enough, they just went a step further. Snipped from their mailing list:

Wednesday, February 11th, at 9:00 pm, a special after hours aQuarius Arcade Party! Tron, Ghosts 'N Goblins, Joust, Rastan and one more surprise game, all set on free play, come challenge the masters!! WOOOHAHAHAA. No really, just come and play games and hang out and have a blast. But, if you do kick ass on the game of your choice... the night's high score holder on each game, will be handsomely rewarded, with a gift certificate or a cd or a record or something cool.

Plus someone will be manning the register, and we'll be jamming tunes, so definitely browse and shop and purchase, and help support aQuarius. Feel free to bring your own snacks and libations, but we'll supply beverages and munchables as well of course. Should be fun, and hopefully this will just be the first of many such get togethers. See you then.

While not all of us are fortunate enough to zip around in swank Aston Martins, or have sleek Tesla waiting for us on the horizon, the "bus of the future" is the next best thing. Well, almost.

First off, we are not gamers. Our Mom decided, at a very young age, that gaming was evil and for the lazy. (Wtf! Right?) We've tried several times to get into it but it seems now that everyone can kick our ass. We hate losing, so we refrain to play but really it's all our Mom's fault. Damn you, parents. Now that we have that out of the way, gaming has become a huge...

Honestly we have no idea what to do with this press release we just received, other than hug it and squeeze it and love it and take it to bed. The damn thing looks like a MySpace or something, and it's about as comprehensible. Something about Cloris Leachman? On a boat? With videogames?

Think back to 1997 - doesn't seem like too long ago on paper, but yeah, a lot has happened since then. Tonight we jump back to 1997 to revisit one of our favorite artists, Abra Moore who is playing Cafe du Nord, tonight at 9:30pm. 1997 was a big year for her: a Grammy nomination for her hit single, "Four Leaf Clover" and her video featured on MTV and VH1. Fast forward to this year, Moore released her extremely beautiful and grown-up folk album, On the Way, and has been on tour ever since. We saw her earlier this summer where we nearly received a private performance. Though absolutely mesmerizing, Moore deserved better.

. Plays start at 9:30, have a lunch break, and start again at 3 and go probably until 9 or so? The performance, at the Project Artaud Theater (450 Florida, x 17th and Mariposa) is free and probably oversubscribed, but you should stop by and see if you can get yourself in.

Who doesn't love a party? Particularly when there are video games involved? Next Tuesday, Square Enix is hosting an anniversary party to celebrate the 20th year of its Final Fantasy series. It will be at the PlayStation Store in the Metreon, and will be fans' first chance to buy FF2 for the PSP

Every Monday, Logler.com presents its "Casual Games Global Top 10," a list ranked by data from major download portals. Just so happens that the number one game this week is called "Big City Adventure: San Francisco," by Jolly Bear Games.

It would be so cool if the conductor replaced his baton with a wiimote at , a concert of video game music. The event features widely known songs from games in the Final Fantasy, Sonic, Zelda, and Mario universes, as well as slightly more dubious selections such as Chronicles of Riddick and Battlefield 1942. We can't say we've ever hummed along to anything from Morrowind, and the omission of Bubble Bobble is UNFORGIVEABLE, but we'll try to control our rage. Curtain goes up May 26, 2007, at 8pm at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

According to Game Informer Online, Nintendo of America may be relocating -- and one of the rumoured destination cities is right here in San Francisco. More employment opportunities are always good, especially establsihed companies that can bring some economic stability -- not to mention fun aspects like more local video-game testing opportunities.

More mysterious criminal events in Fremont! This time, someone dropped a five-foot tall safe off a truck in the middle of the road. The safe had been pried open, revealing...... a collection of about 70 Star Wars action figures, still in their original packaging. Somewhere, a broken-hearted fan weeps.

The latest issue concerning the DPT is sidewalk parking and what to do about it. The issue raised it's head a few months ago when Jake McG asked for a crackdown and now, the DPT has some ideas on what to do about the issue. Mainly shrug their shoulders and tell everyone "whatta you gonna do about it?"

Courtesy of the Bay Guardian's politics blog, we get the latest word from Chris Daly's second favorite organization, the Police Officer's Association. In an online posting to fellow Police Officers, Union President Gary Delagnes discussed the reasons why it's been difficult these past few years recruiting new cops. He lists a bunch of the usual reasons: the coast of living in SF, the occasional danger involved in the job, unappealing working conditions, but then finds the ultimate culprit for the lack of new recruits: Gen X sucks.

We may be crafty, but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy spending hours in front of a TV with some good video games once and a while. We'd love to tell you that we spent most of our childhood knee deep in crayons and paper mache, covered in finger paint, but we grew up in the suburbs of Jersey and in-between trips to the mall we played video games. Zelda, Mario Brothers, Pitfall, Pole Position, X-men, we like to think those pixilated masterpieces influenced our crafty minds. Sure, we can get with some Wii, but when it comes down to it, we prefer 8 bit graphics. So we were thrilled to see this crocheted Atari set on Craft's blog yesterday, and even more giddy when we saw the TV with Pitfall on the screen. We did some digging, and found some more art and crafts inspired by video games we thought you should see. What a wonderful marriage of two things we love. The amazing crocheted Atari above and the TV below were both created by Christine Domanic. As Craft mentions in their post, Christine also has an Etsy shop and starting in May she will be doing custom orders for any Atari game you'd like to have crocheted. Pretty fantastic.

Cold? This?! Quit complaining. It's not so cold out there. At least you're not being chased by pissed-off giant insects on a ruined planet that's colder than ice-cold. Capcom's Lost Planet: Extreme Condition drops today for Xbox 360, bringing its third-person alien-cappin' happy fun time to y'all.

SFist interviews Oliver Chin, author, and Immedium publisher

It's January 1, and here are the best things from the last 365 days.

Last night SFist actually braved leaving their apartment and went out to Capcom's Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions Launch Party. Because whenever somebody offers us free drinks, we're there. Plus, launch parties are pretty fun in that you can play video games without feeling like an anti-social loser. So what does a launch party look like? And how good is the game? Well, after the jump, we got more photos and SFist Christopher has a brief review of the game.

-The rain and all the usual stuff causing havoc on the roads.

Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

They’re superheros, but they never have a chance to do anything super aside from bicker and cuss. This week, Isotope’s turned us on to James Cochalka’s , a cutely-drawn story about a band of mostly-abusive twentysomethings with vague powers. The group is recruiting new heros, but the day is overshadowed by conflict: a time-bubble containing Vortex's childhood is accidentally punctured by Jack Krak's elbow; a mysterious pink tumor lusts after the blonde chick; blue-hair guy mocks Plant Pal for being a friend to plants; and Wilbur accidentally reveals that he's used his computer-fists to abuse himself.

The Susan Polk trial was in recess today, but it was still a pretty busy day for the local courts, which decided:

We in the labs like to make fun of San Francisco, but if there's one good thing about SF, it's that it's not LA. The videogame trade show E3 is going on this week down in the City of Miserable Angels, and we're very happy to be skipping this year and not having to deal with the smog and money and sweat and desperation.

If you think the Ma v. Ja race is content-free, you should try the State Senate District 8 race between Leland Yee and Mike Nevin. Yawn, unless you like trying to figure out the byzantine nature of state politics personal relationships. (i.e., why didn't Gavin Newsom endorse San Franciscan Yee over San Mateo County's Nevin? Does it have something to do with the mysterious feud between Fiona and Leland?)

More nonsense from the world of videogames: the best-selling game of the moment is Bethesda Softworks' epic role-playing game . That popularity has made it a target for modders and, now, opportunistic politicians.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is so close you can almost taste the LA smog and the tangy sweat of desperation. In honor of that, this week's round-up is all videogame-related news.