Reset Episode 4: A New Show

"Reset hits the road in the fourth installment of the show. The crew heads to Austin and Chicago to check out games from Atari and Midway. The lineup is exhilarating, with the latest game based on The Matrix, a Mortal Kombat action-adventure, a brand new take on Blitz, and more. Reset also has a special treat for you, as Raymond videotapes his own adventures to give you a taste of what life on the road is really like."

[via: Yahoo Gamesdomain]

Frag Doll Friday

One of the new programs we are working on with the FDs is called Frag Doll Friday. Usually once or twice a month, we play either Halo or whatever Ubi is pushing at the current time with people who sent in their gamertag.

"Xbox Live® received more than a thousand requests from Frag Doll fans eager to test their mettle against some of the best in the business, and we randomly selected 200 Gamertags"

Anyway, the page on the Xbox site is so girrly, had to share it. I was not so sure how it would work at first, but everytime has been a total blast. My team may not win everytime, but I at least entertain them ;)

Fantastic is the only word

I am in a freaking fantastic mood today. This is a large contrast to the last 2 weeks where I have sat in bed crying, eating crappy food and feeling sorry for myself. I think the peak of this sob fest was two nights ago was when Kathleen had to bang on my window to let her in.

Today, I feel fucking fantastic. You know the day after the day after the day after a hangover, or the flu, or whatever. That feeling. I walked down to the little torta place by my old apartment, bought a mexican coke, talked anime with the cashier dude who is totally into One Piece, and walked very very slowly home in the fantastic Mission sunshine.

I think my pity party is finally over. It's nice to be back.

xoxo

In other news, I am flying to Seattle in a few hourstomorrow morning for PAX where I will Fragdoll it up for a few days. A bunch of the formers are flying up for the event, and can't wait to meet everyone! See you guys Friday.

Reset Episode 3: Revenge of the Kat

"Reset goes from Hell to Hollywood and beyond in episode three. Kat drops by Flagship Studios to check out its debut title, Hellgate. She's joined by Raymond in Hollywood as the dynamic duo discovers one of the coolest video game stores on the planet. To cap things off, the team heads to EA campus to learn about three of the company's upcoming games and ask some of the top journalists in the business what they think of them"

[via: Yahoo! Games Domain]

Dear god someone actually paid 800mil for IGN

" Another day and news of yet another internet purchase by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. In recent months Mr Murdoch has embarked on an internet buying spree worthy of the dot.com gold rush. Admire or despise him, Mr Murdoch is one of the world's canniest media tycoons, so what's he up to?

The latest object of News Corp's attentions is IGN Entertainment, which specialises in video games news and male lifestyle sites and would cost north of $800m to buy. Earlier this week it emerged that News Corp was also in talks to buy Blinkx, a video search engine, to add to a string of internet acquisitions which have included Intermix, operator of the social networking site MySpace.com, Scout Media, a sports internet company, and an online real estate listing company in Australia."

[via: ActionTrip]

Ashes-to-Fireworks Send-Off for an 'Outlaw' Writer

"WOODY CREEK, Colo., Aug. 21 - Hunter S. Thompson indulged in numerous hallucinogenic fantasies over the years, but this weekend, one of them morphed into reality: his ashes were blasted into the sky over his farm here, carried by red, blue and silver fireworks in front of a 153-foot monument that Mr. Thompson, the writer and avatar of 'gonzo' journalism, designed himself almost 30 years ago."

[via: New York Times]

Variety.com - 'Halo' makes a date

"Fox and Universal have closed their deal to make a movie based on Microsoft's hit vidgame 'Halo,' with plans for a tentpole in two years. Studios will pay the tech giant $5 million against 10% of the gross.

Universal will oversee the production and is handling domestic distribution, while Fox will take foreign distribdistrib. Studios will split revenues 50/50 out of a shared pot."

[via: Variety]

EBgames.com - Xbox 360 Game Systems - It is official

EBgames.com - Xbox 360 Game Systems: "Xbox 360 Ultimate Bundle
$699.92
Limit 1 per customer.
If you're a serious gamer looking for the ultimate console, the search ends here. Fully loaded, the Xbox 360 Ultimate Bundle is the unsurpassed gaming and entertainment experience right out of the box, with a selection of games and accessories hand-picked for power gaming."

Late night phone convertion with Brian

Guilt is an early warning system in our lives. It means your actions and your values are not aligned. So if you are feeling guilty you need to either change your actions or change your values. However, the act of feeling guilty gets in the way of changing either.

Konami Gamer Day

Today, Raymond and I headed out to Fort Mason to check out all the upcoming Konami titles as well as freeze our ass off and eat some BBQ. I had the chance to hang out with the DCD for the first time which was a treat. My favorite news from the day was the online play in MGS3.

"This special release of MGS3 sounds like a very packed game, but the thing that’s really going to drive the sales is the online mode. For the first time ever gamers will be able to take Snake online to battle with up to seven friends. The online modes are Sneaking Mission, Capture Mission, Rescue Mission, Death Match and Team Death Match. The online play will take place on a variety of MGS3 stages as well as some new maps created just for this release. The new maps include Small Forest, Kill House, Downtown and Abolition Factory."

[via: Kotaku

World's all male game clan launched

WORLD'S 245,238th ALL-MALE GAMING CLAN LAUNCHED
"We'll be pretty much just playing Halo 2 and Pro Evo all day" said clan founder Damien Dvorjees, aka AMBASSADOR_KOSH on Xbox Live, aka COMMANDER SINCLAIR on Starcraft, aka ZATHRUS on World of Warcraft and aka LONDO MOLARI on Guild Wars.

[thanks Chris]

Comment of the day

"perhaps shutting off the switch isnt what you need, but rather to change the bulb"

-- maddogtannen316

where is the switch?

does anyone know how to shut your head off?

More trips and "all good things"

Quakecon was really fantastic even though I had to leave early because someone decided that the first few days were when all the action happened... Anyway, seeing a 3000 computer LAN for the first time brought tears to my eyes. Quake 4 mulitplayer is beautifully fast, we saw the first person sequence from the upcoming Doom movie, and John Carmack's keynote was a 2 hour synopsis of everything going on with the technology of gaming. Fascinating.

After Dallas, I hopped a flight for LA to see Sean after a long time away which was a very mixed bag. It seems that after a year, this road has come to an end and I am single again. It was a wonderful run. Thank you for everything. I am sorry for the the things I can't change. I finally understand more than I did. I love you deeply and will miss you.

Lipstick gamers

Remind me to comment on this later today.

Schwarzenegger's conflicts

Just when I had conceded, everything that could possibly been written about a video game had been written, the state of freakin awesome California came to the rescue.

Some got a little pissed when they found out Arnie was making a million and change from this pill company who he had just helped out with a little veto. I could really care less about finding a way to tell the public to stay away from vitamins in the Dollar bin at Big Lots, but if the doctors disagree then fine. However, now the media is yappin about profits he banks from the PS2 title, T3:The Redemption.

Please, someone explain to them how silly this sounds. If my Governor is getting rich from the game that EB paid me $.45 for, then maybe he should be asking for a raise.

"Supporters of a bill targeting violent video games are questioning whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger potentially signing it would be a conflict of interest.
San Francisco assemblyman Leland Yee sponsored a bill that would ban the sale of the most graphic games to children.
Some question whether a ban like that could make young gamers more likely to choose games such as Atari's "Terminator 3" video game, from which the governor profits.
The governor's office says it's not an issue and his financial interests are kept in a blind trust so he can make decisions without knowing how it might affect his own finances. >> read more here.

As a side note: has no one mentioned that young teens can spend their study time shooting the gov in the chest?

Comments continue

Debate continues here and here on who plays Sam Fisher.

You sure there is a higher...

"NEW YORK (CNN) -- Dana Reeve, the widow of actor Christopher Reeve, announced on Tuesday that she has lung cancer."

(RvB press) The Xbox Auteurs

"They gathered around the Xbox at Burns's apartment, manipulating their soldiers like tiny virtual actors, bobbing their heads to look as if they were deep in conversation. Burns wrote sharp, sardonic scripts for them to perform. He created a comedy series called ''Red vs. Blue,'' a sort of sci-fi version of ''M*A*S*H.'' In ''Red vs. Blue,'' the soldiers rarely do any fighting; they just stand around insulting one another and musing over the absurdities of war, sounding less like patriotic warriors than like bored, clever video-store clerks. "

[via: The New York Times]

Two new shows posted

Well turns out I have got two game shows now. GameTrailers has finally put together their weekly show called GT Weekly. I am not doing a ton for them (please write them at geoff over at gametrailers.com and tell them how terrible that is) but enough to keep things interesting. Next on the table is QuakeCon.

GT Weekly Episode 1 can be viewed here. Check out the CPL coverage for my little bit.

Episode 2 of Yahoo's "Reset" is finally live. Stream it, download it or watch it on your PSP (a new feature!). With your support and patronage, you'll be helping three lovely people pay rent.

Enjoy, but please send feedback as well. There are a ton of things we can do better, but I really value any and all opinions.

Delta Sky pro-gamer article

" About 39 percent of all gamers are women, and some compete internationally. Most female pro gamers are based in Europe, but the United States has a growing number of female “clans,” as gaming groups are called.

Kat Hunter is a San Francisco–based professional gamer for the Frag Dolls, which is sponsored by game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment. “While there may not be as many females earning a living through gaming as the guys,” she says, “every year we see more girl clans at LAN [local-area network] events as well as the major tournaments.”

Female gamers typically compete directly with the guys for cash and prizes at events like World Cyber Games and in the CPL. Some events, like QuakeCon and Cyber X Games, hold separate female-only competitions, but that’s an exception to the rule."

[via: Delta Sky Magazine]

Email of the day

Stop leaving and you will arrive.
Stop searching and you will see.
Stop running away and you will be found.