Cars

Any one surprised that Simon Cowell drives the 1001 mean horses of the Bugati Veyron? Two crank shafts, twelve pistons, one $&*!@. But you don't read this blog - and I don't write it - to talk AmerIdol. [edit: I have been told it is "Cowell", not "Crowell." I think I am little proud that I didn't know that.]

I write it to talk about real-life recreations of the fantastic. Witness, the full size HALO warthog ( complete with articulated steering): [ See it all here ]

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Well, Holy Crap.

Crayon Physics for iPhone. Don't see anything on the screen to help achieve your goal? Draw it into existense.

Mirror's Edge

For a long time now, designers have opted for the "hazy twilight" look to help smooth over the rough spots in their graphics. Mirror's edge takes the opposite approach - the bright daylight that animators like Pixar prefer. I think it works and it signals an important shift in the way these games are envisioned. Wii has shown that interface is more important that pretty pictures, but looking at this shows that the pretty pics don't hurt. Wow.

Wizards of the Coast

For more than a few of us who grew up in the nineties, there is a large black hole of time that we can't seem to fill in with memories. That is, until someone mentions Magic, the Gathering. We spent so. many. hours. dealing, drawing, tapping mana, casting spells, summoning creatures. We oohed at Beta decks and ahhed at rare artifacts. We swapped apocryphal stories of tournament shenanigans. "Did you see the guy who tore up that super-rare card that you have to toss across the table? It buries whatever it lands on, so he tore it up into tiny little pieces and wiped the other guy out in two rounds." The lore was somehow enough to compete well into the gameboy/GameGear era. Does it come as a surprise that I went to an all boys school?

If reading this made you tear up or the economic downturn has turned you off to the idea of working as a a socio-economic construct, this link is for you. Wizards of the Coast is giving away Magic Decks. Next up, 8-tracks, snap bracelets, pogs, Furbies, and Tamagachis.

Oh, You Made It Harder? Well Thank God For That

Geeking out for a moment.

E3 is going on right now, which means that there are liveblogs from presentations by Nintendo, MS (XBoX), and Sony (PS3). There isn't a lot of analytic writing in the gaming community. Mostly, it's "Look what's around the corner!" Let's take a quick look back, shall we?

A year ago:
- Wii is greeted with skepticism by competitors. Users, on the other hand, can't get enough of them. That's partly demand, and partly planned scarcity on the part of Nintendo.

- PS3 is derided as a HUGE, EXPENSIVE messianic platform that wasn't. Critics thought it was simply a huge vehicle for Blu Ray and didn't offer much of an advance in the gaming console department.

- XbOX was experiencing the "Ring of Death" debacle, wear three red lights would appear on your xBox - the console's version of "check, please!"

Today:
- Wii is still as hot as the day it hit shelves. It is still hard to get one and the new version isn't making it any easier. Wii fit is even more experimental...and just as popular. Gaming has come back to the masses and gaming during a party (other than a geeks-only LAN party) is born.

- PS3 turns out to be the messiah, but not for games. Blu Ray killed HDTV thanks in large part to the ready-made console market. Sony is laughing all the way to the bank.

- xBox. Hm. The system is not dying any more and there is an external HD. It is the most popular Rock Band and Guitar Hero platform, so that gives you a sense of its market penetration...but that's only because the games weren't released on xBox until recently and xBox gamers either own, or want to own, a Wii.

This Will Make Them Well-Rounded...

That's right boys and girls, Lawsuit! the board game. www.lawsuitgame.com . Don't like your neighbor? Sue em! Don't like the verdict? Appeal! Don't like attorney's fees? Settle! The only thing more ridiculous than the game is the marketing.

Coming soon: Project Manager!, Administrative Assitant!, and you won't want to miss action-packed Actuary!

Digital Takeover.

In related news, I am hearing about GTA IV damn near everywhere. How many copies is thing expected to sell? From the sound of it, it's bigger than Halo.

Rock Band.

Mea Culpa. I have long joked that people who spent a lot of time on Guitar Hero could have used that time to learn to play a real guitar. All the more so Rock Band. That was before I played what turned out to be one of the most immersive and entertaining games I have ever laid hands on. I can't imagine I would buy it, but color me a fan.

Oh, and one more thing: at least for the drums, it is a really valuable tool to learn geography, use of the base pedal, and general beat patterns.

Monomania.

Clearly, at least one of the 6B of us has thought something through all the way to the end. In that spirit, here is Monopoly by the numbers, strategy included.

(Monomania is any fixation on one thing, seriously.)