Most Recent: Etcetera

Videogame History Museum completes first round of fundraising

Posted on September 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

The Videogame History Museum is one step closer to reality as the group behind it has completed their first round of fundraising via Kickstarter. The goal for this initial funding drive was a very modest $30,000, but donors easily surpassed that with a final pledged total of $50,266.

The funds will be used to spread the word that a video game history museum actually exists and to, hopefully, raise more money: “Kickstarter is just the beginning. The money that we raise here will be spent carefully and wisely to promote awareness of the museum collection and generate more revenue,” said John Hardie, Sean Kelly and Joe Santulli, the founders of the Videogame History Museum.

The Videogame History Museum does not currently have a permanent location to house its collection, but the founders hope to eventually settle down in Sunnyvale, California, the heart of Silicon Valley. There are several other institutions around the country that have begun the process of creating a video game museum including the Computer & Video Game Archive at the University of Michigan (which is open to the public) and the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at the Strong Museum in Rochester, NY (which has a very limited public display).

So with all of these competing museums, can we at least come to a consensus on whether its “videogame” or “video game”?

Posted in Etcetera, News |

Find Makarov sequel premieres at Call of Duty XP

Posted on September 3, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision’s two-day Call of Duty event, Call of Duty XP, is just about coming to a close in Los Angeles. During the two-day festival celebrating COD, the publisher unveiled a sequel to the awesome Find Makarov fan film.

Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish was created by We Can Pretend, the same production team behind the first fan film. Although, now that they have Activision’s blessing, it’s not really a fan film anymore, is it? Three other companies assisted on the Soap-centered tale: Meteoric, The Junction VFX, and Stealing Time.

You can check it out above and hopefully we’ll get more of these videos as part of Activision’s new Call of Duty Elite TV initiative.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Get CoD Modern Warfare 3-branded stuff this fall including an Xbox 360, Jeep, Mountain Dew

Posted on September 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

Sure, you’re planning to pick up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 this November. But do you plan to make your life revolve around the shooter franchise? Well, Activision is hoping that you do.

First up, they’ve got a special Modern Warfare 3-themed Xbox 360 system. The system will be priced at $399.99 and include a 320GB hard drive, two controllers, a Bluetooth headset, special startup and shutdown sounds and a copy of the game. The controller and the headset will both be available separately as well.

So you’ve got the game and you’ve got the system, but how do you plan to get to the store? Jeep is hoping you drive there in a 2012 Call of Duty Special Edition Wrangler. The custom four-wheeler was designed with input from Modern Warfare 3 developers. The development team also helped out with the creation of the new Mountain Dew Game Fuel Tropical flavor. Finally, every package of Doritos you purchase in October will include an offer for Double XP in Modern Warfare 3.

All of these products will be available after the game’s November 8th launch. But I gotta wonder, where’s the Call of Duty-branded guns?

Posted in Etcetera, News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Rock out with Johnson and the Shadows of the Damned soundtrack

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Chris Urie

Shadows of the Damned was a unique game to say the least. It was chock full of memorable characters and weapons. I quite enjoyed the demon harmonica player. But the most striking thing about the game was that it eschewed the expected heavy metal soundtrack in favor of a more haunting and melodic blend of nylon string guitar, horns, and reverberating drums.

Now you can experience the music of Shadows of the Damned in a brand new way with the release of its stellar soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka. He set out to do something a little bit different with the release of this album.

“I wanted to craft a soundtrack that was more than just a collection of the most popular songs from Damned. I set out to create an experience that would take players back to the game, as if they were ‘watching’ a movie,” Yamaoka said.

The music certainly does bring back the macabre atmosphere of the game. All you have to do is close your eyes and you can watch the whole story unfold once again. The famous rock band The Damned even make an appearance on the album. How appropriate.

You can purcahse the Shadows of the Damned soundtrack now at the Grasshopper Manufacture WebStore. But you better hurry, it’s limited to 1,000 copies.

Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Daily Scoop: September 2, 2011 – Holiday weekend!

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Yay! The holiday weekend is upon us! I’m looking forward to doing a lot of reading and gaming and sleeping, as well as cuddling with my kitties. Oh, and of course, obsessively playing all the NES games I just got on my 3DS! Ambassador status FTW!

Today’s Deal of the Day in video games over at Amazon is the Sharkoon X-Tatic SR Gaming Headset with Dolby Headphone Technology for XBox 360/PS3/PC. Amazon’s also got some more lightning deals up again:

  • 11 AM PDT: Take to the rooftops of Italy with this limited edition
  • 11 AM PDT: Ryu vs. Thor
  • 1 PM PDT: Wage war from the remains of Russia and the ruins of Berlin
  • 1 PM PDT: Hear the Call of Duty
  • 3 PM PDT: Solve puzzles using your mind and body
  • 3 PM PDT: Hit the lanes with your Kinect

Oh, and speaking of Call of Duty, it’s Double XP weekend in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Nuketown 24/7 = <3.

On the t-shirt tip, “Barrel Chucker” over at Ript is pretty cool: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, Xbox 360 |

Daily Scoop: September 1, 2011 – Summer is coming to a close (I hope)

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Nicole Kline

That’s right, summer. Get the heck out of here! We’re not sad to see you go. And we’re even less sad because the fall lineup is blowing our minds. Literally. My head just exploded everywhere. It’s pretty gross. Somebody better come clean this up…

Anywho, today’s Deal of the Day in video games over at Amazon is EA’s Need for Speed: Shift for the PS3 for just $9.99. Amazon’s also got some lightning deals up:

  • 11 AM PST: This robust RPG comes to the next-gen console
  • 11 AM PST: High-octane speed
  • 1 PM PST: The Man of Steel always gets the babes
  • 1 PM PST: This Collector’s Edition comes straight from Vault Tec
  • 3 PM PST:Battle your way across this limited edition’s heat-blasted wasteland
  • 3 PM PST: Get ready for the sequel by playing this original role playing shooter

We’ll update them as they’re available!

Today’s Ript, just called “Beam Me Up,” is totally adorable: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PS3 |

Daily Scoop: August 30, 2011 – Back to the grind

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Another day, another dollar, amirite kids? PAX is over and so is all the fun. It’s time to get back to work. And by work, I mean digging up deals!

Today’s Deal of the Day in video games over at Amazon is Activision’s PS3 Tony Hawk: Ride Skateboard Bundle for the PS3 (obviously). It’s $19.99 down from $39.99, and lets you grind like Tony Hawk, YEAH! Well, just, you know. Without the wheels, or the talent, or the fame.

There’s a fantastic shirt over at Qwertee today called “I Love Science:” (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PS3 |

Daily Scoop: August 29, 2011 – Bye, PAX

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Ah, PAX – we hardly knew ye. There was a plethora of news (and the Penny Arcade game is getting a third episode, for real!). I watched from afar (when the hurricane wasn’t knocking out all my power) and missed you. Hopefully some friends grabbed me some swag!

Anyway, onto the deals! Today’s Deal of the Day in video games over at Amazon is Konami’s Karaoke Revolution Glee Bundle for the Wii. It’s $30.99 down from $49.99, and has 35 songs from season one of the hit show. Scoop it up!

Amazon’s also got new weekly deals up – and there are a lot of them!

To round it all out, there’s an awesome t-shirt called “The Battle of Nintendor” over at Ript, and I want it: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 |