You might be a “Sofa Boy” if…

1. Your parents return from work and you’re still in your pajamas…
2. You have to time bathroom breaks with videogame checkpoints…
3. You scream “Bright light! Bright light!” when someone opens the curtains…
4. You hug your Wii controller instead of your teddy bear when you go to bed at night…
5. Your sofa cushion has a permanent depression in the shape of your backside…
6. Your idea of getting some exercise is doing bicep curls with a bowl of chips…
7. Your mother drops you off at school and you announce how many points she scored along the route…
8. Your teacher asks you a question and your response is “sorry, I have no more space on my memory card”…
9. Your new family photo was taken in your living room so you could finish defeating the Evil Warlord…
10. You save all your toys to someday sell to trolls, goblins, and seedy merchants…

Thanks to the PR team working with Scott Langteau for this entertaining list of warning signs for the Sofa Boy Syndrome.

Scott Langteau is a veteran of the game development industry (Medal of Honor, co-founder of Spark Unlimited) and recently released this children’s book titled, which tells the tale of a videogame obsessed kid. What a great concept for a children’s book – teaching kids to balance their gaming time with other activities – and the illustrations in the book look so cute. There’s been a lot of buzz about the the book over the past few weeks and Amazon.com is actually currently “out of stock”. 

Maybe Scott will come up with a book for videogame obsessed adults next. They’re out there!

Read Full Post »

WordPress Deleted My Post – All I Got is Mr. Zelda Pimp

The title pretty much says it all…I’m beyond frustrated right now, considering that I just wasted an hour putting together a blog post that I don’t have time to re-write. Grrrrr!!! Mr. Zelda Pimp has nothing to do with my original post, but he is all I’ve got to offer at the moment.

Read Full Post »

Are video games recession proof?

You wouldn’t think so, but despite the fact that we’re in the midst of a big economic fart, people are still spending money on lots of things including games. Forbes.com recently compiled a list of the ten things we’re still buying despite our skinny wallets.

It is no surprise to me that video games are on the list. Video games actually saw a 14% increase in sales in 2008 (according to the Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group). Games are a way for people to escape and have fun, so when you’ve just lost your job or your house, what better way to forget about those things for an hour than playing a game.

So, how else are we spending our meager moolah? Personal care (shaving cream, hairspray, etc.), other technology (smart phones and netbooks), gym memberships, movie tickets, restaurants, car maintenance, toy building sets (huh?) and dress casual shoes (shoes that can be worn at work and on the weekends).

P.S. – I’ve been involved with the New England Games and Interactive Entertainment Special Interest Group (MIT Enterprise Forum) since the fall and our next event is on March 3rd. The panel will actually discuss how the video game industry is being impacted by the economy. I’m looking forward to it.

Read Full Post »

Buzz Worthy Links

Here are a few links that I’ve come across over the past day or so that I’ve found amusing, informative or interesting and wanted to share

• Middle-school student gets his head stuck in a chair (check out the photo on BuzzFeed.com) - Boys will be boys, I guess. This moment will most likely rank as one of the most embarrassing for this kid, but will also be a story that he’ll laugh about with friends for years to come.
• 10 ways social media improved lives in 2008 (check out the post at TheSocialPath.com)- Social media such as blogs, micromedia sites like Twitter, and social networks like Facebook, are often used to benefit charities and other great causes. David Griner compiled 10 ways social media has been used to improve lives in 2008  including the example of The Domestic Diva , a blogger who through the help of other bloggers spread the word about her daughter’s need for a kidney transplant. Just this week her daughter underwent the life-saving transplant. Unbelievable.
• The joy of video games on Christmas morning - Kids go crazy for Wii (check out the videos at Kotaku.com) - These videos of kids opening their Nintendo Wiis on Christmas morning are great. Slightly annoying, but great. The first kid is INSANE!
• Video games meet conquering, dominating, and annihilating needs of men (check out the news post on CNET) - A study from Stanford has proved that video games “stimulate the parts of men that so many other activities just cannot reach: the need to conquer, stomp on, dominate, crush, destroy, maim, annihilate, and turn to ashes and dust.” Makes sense.
• Photos worth a peek (check out the most viewed photos of 2008 on NationalGeographic.com) - Not necessarily the most beautiful photos I’ve seen, but this slideshow features some eye-catching and interesting images, for sure.

Read Full Post »

Happy New Year! Favorite Posts of 2008

I can’t believe 2008 is already over! It was another crazy, but great, year. Work has been as busy as ever for us. Family and friends were getting married left and right and having babies. Our apartment almost burnt to the ground (well, sort of). I got ambushed and made over on a moving train (still waiting for it to air on TLC!). Then, of course, there were all the extracurricular activities (a trip to Texas, 2 seasons of kickball, etc.).

All of this and so much more sometimes made it difficult to find time to blog, but I’m so glad we did and, to wrap up 2008, I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite posts from the year. It was quite difficult to narrow a list down, but here it is:

• Video game related post: Nintendo Wii - Cha Ching! (Fit Launches, Calls UK Girl Fat?)
• Photography related post: Famous Photos (of the LEGO Variety)
• YouTube/ online video post: Christian the Lion = YouTube Star
• Work related post: Gamers Bill of Rights – PR to Buzz About
• Personal stories: Eaves Dropping on the Train – Boston Marathon Stories
• “List” post (you know I love lists!): Webby Awards – Buzz’ Best Bets 
• Dan Buzz post: Critter (with Au Bon Pain in the Ass finishing a close second) Editor’s Note: Booooo to Dan Buzz posts about the economy and politics! We (meaning I, Elicia, and the Dan Buzz fan club) encourage more posts in 2009 about sports, food, music, and humorous stories.

Again, hard to pick out just a few, but it is New Year’s Eve and, honestly, I’m eager to get off this damn computer, so think it is best to wrap it up for the night We’ll have to wait to see what is in store for us in 2009 – and I’m looking forward to blogging about it.

New Year's Eve Ball, 1978, New York Times

Read Full Post »

Mario Kart Comes to Life

I am particularly fond of the Italian duo that millions call Mario and Luigi. They were never the greatest plumbers, but right along with them, I’ve jumped down my fair share of green pipes and on top of mushrooms. I’ve also slung my fair share of bananas out onto the open road.

If the world of Mario and Luigi were to come to life, I would be ecstatic. Wait…it has. Well, at least, the world of Mario Kart has.

Apparently some French guy put together this live action video based on the popular N64, DS, and Wii game, Mario Kart. Check it out:

Thanks Meat Bun for posting the video!

Read Full Post »

Living Vicariously Through Your Avatar and Video Game Immersion

The New York Times recently posted a video from photojournalist Robbie Cooper’s  Immersion project, which shows kids playing video games. Entertainment is entertainment. I have no problem with the fact that violent video games exist and that many people enjoy them. However, I think its important that young kids aren’t exposed to violent games, like Grand Theft Auto, for example. It is great that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) exists and assigns “Mature” ratings to the most violent titles, but parents, more importantly, have to do their job. All rantings aside, I’m a bit disturbed by Robbie Cooper’s video because the kids are so young…too young for some of the games that I assume they are playing. At the same time, the video is interesting to watch – these kids are definitely immersed. Check it out.   

On the other hand, Robbie Cooper’s “Alter Ego: Avatars and their Creators,” gained a bunch of buzz last year that I took note of. The project/book is a collection of photographs of gamers alongside images of their avatars – a character that gamers design  and use to represent themselves in online virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft and Second Life.

It is fascinating to see how people choose to represent themselves online. Many select characteristics for their avatar that mimic their own in real life, but others seem to rather live vicariously through their avatars and will, for example, choose a female character even though they are male. I pulled out a couple examples from The New York Time’s Alter Ego slideshow below:

From NY Times Slideshow: NAME Choi Seang Rak BORN 1971 OCCUPATION Academic LOCATION Seoul, South Korea AVATAR NAME Uroo Ahs AVATAR CREATED 2004 GAME PLAYED Lineage II HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 8 CHARACTER TYPE Dwarf Warsmith SPECIAL ABILITIES Craft siege weapons, whirlwind in battle

From NY Times Slideshow: NAME Andreas Fischer BORN 1980 OCCUPATION Designer LOCATION Vienna AVATAR NAME Zero Cold AVATAR CREATED 2005 GAME PLAYED City of Heroes HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 17 CHARACTER TYPE Human SPECIAL ABILITIES Controls ice and storms

From NY Times Slideshow: NAME Kimberly Rufer-Bach BORN 1966 OCCUPATION Software developer LOCATION Clarksville, Tenn. AVATAR NAME Kim Anubis AVATAR CREATED 2004 GAME PLAYED Second Life HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 70 CHARACTER TYPE Content creator SPECIAL ABILITIES Building interactive objects

* Credit: Robbie Cooper and The New York Times

Read Full Post »

Saturday Strips

While browsing the comics recently, I discovered the Reality Check strip by Dave Whamond. I’m a fan of single frame comics, so these are right up my alley. While not “laugh out loud” funny, here are a couple that made me smile

Read Full Post »

Gamer’s Bill of Rights – PR to Buzz About

In Public Relations, especially “consumer” PR, the challenge of having no news is a frequent occurrence for many companies. In these cases, the PR department (or agency) has to get creative when figuring out how to attract attention to the company or cause.

A perfect example of this type of creativity is Stardock Games‘ recent creation and announcement of the Gamer’s Bill of Rights. What a catchy concept!

Stardock spotted what they considered an industry-wide issue – that PC games are often not held to the same standards as console games. With The Bill, Stardock not only gained attention for their company, but helped to shed light, for a brief period, on some of the issues in the PC game industry.

Stardock issued a press release just prior to the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), a video game conference held in Seattle each year (some of my clients from 360 were there as well  ). In the release, Stardock promoted their booth # and then, at the show, prominently displayed the Bill of Rights in their booth.

Brad Wardell, the CEO, even penned an article for popular industry website Edge-Online surrounding the Bill. As a result of his article and the press release, the news snowballed and was covered by tons of websites including Boing Boing, Slashdot, Kotaku, CNET, Gamasutra, GameDaily, 1up, and Wired.com.

As a PR initiative the effort was a success, in my opinion. On the other hand, I don’t think the Gamer’s Bill of Rights will become an industry-altering official document that game developers worldwide will adhere to. It doesn’t hurt to try, though!

The Gamer’s Bill of Rights:

1. Gamers shall have the right to return games that don’t work with their computers for a full refund.
2. Gamers shall have the right to demand that games be released in a finished state.
3. Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game’s release.
4. Gamers shall have the right to demand that download managers and updaters not force themselves to run or be forced to load in order to play a game.
5. Gamers shall have the right to expect that the minimum requirements for a game will mean that the game will play adequately on that computer.
6. Gamers shall have the right to expect that games won’t install hidden drivers or other potentially harmful software without their consent.
7. Gamers shall have the right to re-download the latest versions of the games they own at any time.
8. Gamers shall have the right to not be treated as potential criminals by developers or publishers.
9. Gamers shall have the right to demand that a single-player game not force them to be connected to the Internet every time they wish to play.
10. Gamers shall have the right that games which are installed to the hard drive shall not require a CD/DVD to remain in the drive to play.

Read Full Post »

Not Just Another Sunday (Princess Zelda Lives!)

White birds soar freely in the skies above the vast blue ocean. A pirate ship sails along, cutting through the waves. On deck is a crew of pirates and their leader Tetra, a brave and brash girl. Traveling with them is Link, the boy in green…

This is where my very own world-travelling, beast slaying, treasure hunting, puzzle solving adventure began last Christmas. You would have thought that I was a 12-year old kid when I ripped open a very neatly wrapped (I wouldn’t expect anything less from Dan) copy of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS last December.

Well, after spending months in search of Tetra (also known as Princess Zelda), I’ve finally defeated the evil Bellumand saved her. I may, in fact, now have some form of DS carpal tunnel as a result of today’s final epic battle.  

I have to admit that it probably wouldn’t take most “gamers” months to finish this game, but it makes sense for me because I tend to play DS in spurts here and there. Plus, with story driven games like Phantom Hourglass, you have to set aside at least a good 1/2 hour or 1 hour to play – this can be a challenge for a hard-working girl such as myself. Not to mention, this is not a game you can play in the car (the whole game is played via the DS Stylus pen and bumps in the road can mess you up).

The 14th game in Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series, Phantom Hourglass definitely deserves all of the awards it has recieved over the last couple years including being named “Game of the Year” in 2007 by IGN, GameSpy, and GameSpot and many others.

Great game – thanks Nintendo (and Dan)! Next on my list – the highly acclaimed Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

Read Full Post »

Nintendo Wii – Cha Ching! (Fit Launches, Calls UK Girl Fat?)

For anyone even slightly connected to current events or pop culture, you’ve heard of the “Wii.” A video game console controlled by a wireless remote, the Nintendo Wii is a video game marvel recently outselling all other non-portable consoles including Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. According to NPD, Nintendo has sold 714.2 thousand systems in April 2008 – cha ching!

The Wii is unique in that it appeals to an overwhelmingly broad, mainstream audience – kids, teens, men, women, and even the elderly. In fact, the Wii has become quite popular in retirement homes because it is a great way for residents to get up and moving.

Nintendo has taken the “get up and move” concept a step further with last week’s launch of the Wii Fit - a $90 pressure-sensitive “balance board” and game bundle that players can use to do yoga, aerobics, strength training, etc.

Nintendo kicked off the US launch with an event in Central Park, where they set up 38 Wii Fit systems for the public to enjoy and donated $5 to the American Heart Association with every person that tried the game. The event got a lot of attention with gaming/tech bloggers. Being in PR, this “launch event” tactic is very common. And I can tell you from experience, it is no easy feat getting the permits squared away to have an event in Central Park!

Although the game launched in the US last week, it actually had been in the UK for awhile, where Wii Fit has been making some big waves. The game measures your Body Mass Index (BMI) after you enter your age and height. According to a recent story by Mail Online, a ten year old girl was playing the game and it told her she was fat. Her parents were horrified and some experts have been dissing the Wii Fit as a result. I can see both sides of the argument – you don’t want a young girl thinking she is fat if she is not, but IT IS JUST A GAME!!!

Another amusing angle of this story is that the same week the Wii Fit launched, Nintento also released Major League Eating: The Game, which is based off of the concept of competitive speed eating – mmmmm, hot dogs.

All-in-all, the Wii has been a huge success for Nintendo and, although it’s been a year and a half since the Wii hit shelves, it is still hard to come by the console in stores, even with a $200+ price tag!

Read Full Post »

Cartoon of the Day – Gamer’s Hell

Thanks Kotaku!

Read Full Post »

YouTube.com – 2007 Video Awards

Every once and awhile you’ll stumble across a brilliant video on YouTube. Sometimes an ambitious director devised some wonderful visual concept and then carried it out in an elaborate production. Other times some shocking or hilarious person or event was captured on video by chance. 

The winners of the YouTube.com 2007 video awards are a mixture of both produced and spontaneous videos. A few of my favorites include:

For the Harry Potter Fans (“Comedy” category winner)…

You can’t go wrong with a hysterically laughing baby (“Adorable” category winner)…

Lions, buffalo, and crocodiles – oh my! (“Eyewitness” category winner)…

For those familiar with massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), you’ll like “The Guild” series (“Series” category winner)…

Read Full Post »

The Wonder of LEGO

 

One of my favorite toys growing up were LEGOs and just last month LEGO celebrated their 50th anniversary. When I was a kid the LEGO craze was somewhat limited to small plastic bricks. Now there are LEGO theme parks, LEGO conventions, and, of course, LEGO video games.

I’ve heard a lot of buzz about the LEGO video games, in particular, and I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of LEGO Star Wars for my Nintendo DS, but I might just have to hold out because two great new games are coming - LEGO Indiana Jones (for console systems – and hopefully DS) and LEGO Universe (a new online virtual LEGO world).

Additional details about the new LEGO Universe were released last week at the Game Developers Conference. Massively.com has a great post about what they learned at GDC on their blog here.

In LEGO Universe, you have an in-game “avatar” that takes the shape of a traditional LEGO person. As a player, you’ll be able to customize the face and body of your LEGO minifigure as well as gain accessories, weapons, tools, and custom pets that will make your character unique in a virtual world filled with other LEGO people. And when the game launches (not for over a year), players will also be able to purchase traditional real-life LEGO sets of whatever structure they build using virtual blocks in the game. Very cool.

The LEGO Indiana Jones game should be coming out this summer. They haven’t announced what platforms the game will be for, but I anticipate that they will have a DS version. Check out the very cute game trailer here:

I’m looking forward to seeing how these games come out. In the meantime, I’ve pulled together a list of LEGO links that may just blow your mind:

BrickJournal - A magazine spotlighting the LEGO community.

The Brick Testament - A co-worker of mine pointed out this site to me. It is the largest and most comprehensive illustrated bible in the world with thousands of LEGO images depicting stories from the bible.

LegoLand – A theme park dedicated to the world of LEGO in Carlsbad, CA.

Lego Factory - Design, share and buy your own customized LEGO models online.

BrickWorld- An annual LEGO fan convention. This year BrickWorld will be held June 19 – 22 in Weeling, IL.

LUGNET – The International LEGO Users Group.

Flickr LEGO Photo Pool - Tons of LEGO photos.

ILTCO - International LEGO Train Club Organization

Brothers Brick - A blog dedicated to LEGOs. Check out their blogroll for a TON of other LEGO blogs.

Read Full Post »

Thoughts on Business Travel

I have a love-hate relationship with business trips. Working at a PR agency means always having to travel to and from conferences, media events, and new business pitches in different parts of the country. In fact, my colleagues are flying out to San Francisco next week to attend the Game Developers Conference (GDC). Even though I’m not attending, I almost wish I was (or do I?).

Why would I want to go to a busy conference next week when there are so many negatives to business travel? For example:

1) Time out of the office sucks because you have to work even harder before you leave and after you get back to finish other projects.

2) You are never really in your destination location long enough to enjoy the local attractions.

3) Jet lag – need I say more.

4) Yes, you get to expense food and spirits, but often times you end up staying out later than you probably should and, with the jet lag factor, this results in a less than wonderful feeling the next morning.

5) In PR, conferences and media events often mean scrambling to pull everything together at the last minute, running errands and tying up loose ends. No matter what your executive level is sometimes you have to walk 4 or 5 blocks to pick up lunch for the rest of the staff – go team!

With the negatives, comes the positives:

1) There is nothing like staring out the window of a plane looking down on the Grand Canyon. It gives you perspective.

2) Seeing new places, people, sights and sounds (and on the company’s dime) is so valuable. If business travel is not part of your job, you would normally have to pay for these experiences yourself.

3) Those nights where you stay out later than you should – they usually are a blast, especially when you enjoy the people you work with, which I do.

4) Despite all the hustle and bustle (and stress of events and conferences), the adrenaline keeps you going and when you do a good job there is a HUGE sense of accomplishment.

5) The flight home is always longer than the flight out (or so it seems), but the feeling you get when you drop your bags on your doorstep and hug your husband reminds you of all the reasons why you work so hard in the first place.

For those who are travelling to GDC next week – enjoy and maybe I’ll see you next time!

Read Full Post »

Video Games for the Troops

I work at a public relations (PR) agency in Boston and for the past few years the majority of my clients have been gaming companies. One of my first clients was Wizards of the Coast, a division of Hasbro, which produces more traditional pen-and-paper games like Dungeons & Dragons and trading card games like Magic: The Gathering. More recently, however, my primary clients are video game development companies that specialize in massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs).

The video game industry is huge – in the US and around the world. According to NPD, one of the leading analysts in this space, the US game industry posted sales of almost $18 billion in 2007 (and this number doesn’t even include PC game revenues)!

Working in the industry I’ve also learned about how popular video games are among the US troops, which makes a lot of sense. When you’re stationed in a foreign country, away from your family and friends for long periods of time, with significant down time, video games are probably a welcome distraction.

I work with the media on a daily basis. A key indicator of the popularity of games among the military, for me, has been the fact that Stars and Stripes, a daily newspaper published just for the military, actually has a regular section called Stars and Stripes GAMER to deliver video game news/features to the troops – pretty sweet.  

With all of that said, I can finally can get to my point.

At work today while scouring over dozens of new video game news stories on the net, I stumbled across a Kotaku.com post  about a wonderful program from CheapAssGamer.com (CAG). In a nutshell, CAG has kicked off a campaign to encourage people to donate used video games to the troops in Iraq! Once they arrive, soldiers are taking photos of themselves posing with the games. There are already a handful of photos posted on Flickr.com.  

I also just stumbled across a post on the Stars and Stripes GAMER website about how Nintendo donated 10 Wiis to the troops recently (although I think with all of the moolah Nintendo is probably making from the sale of the Wii, they could have spared a few more than 10).

Regardless, giving some entertainment and enjoyment to the soldiers who keep us safe with programs like this from CheapAssGamer.com makes me proud to work in the video game industry and, as they say, proud to be an American!

To the troops – thank you

Read Full Post »