Sexy Videogameland

This is the worst day ever. All week I've had a serious flu, have fallen behind on work, will miss the weekend's Halloween parties and to make matters worse, I've got to MOVE TO A NEW APARTMENT this Sunday, which means instead of resting I have to get my house packed up.Life is hard...

It's my birthday!Since none of you have any control over whether or not the Yankees get to the World Series, what you can give me is to keep yourselves entertained and talk amongst yourselves until after the weekend, because between the anniversary of my existence and CMJ, I -- now let's be honest...

When making yesterday's "I'm so busy" excuses rationalizations for not posting frequently, I forgot to mention something else cool: I'll also be contributing some reviews to AV Club's Sawbuck Gamer section, where we look at smaller titles, many of them indie or off-the-beaten-path, that can be had...

Thanks for being so patient with the somewhat sparse posting schedule lately. Been so busy -- but hopefully with stuff you'll like.First up: I have fallen into a black hole, my friends -- my waking free time (ha ha) has been devoured lately by Atlus and From Software's Demon's Souls...

At Gamasutra today, I talked to Direct2Drive guy Jamie Berger for a really fascinating look at just how quickly digital distribution has grown up...

"If a player's not having fun, that might mean there's something wrong with the game. But it also might mean the player's simply playing the wrong game...

[lookin' good, hottie]Sometimes I wish "people in the real world" were more interested in video games, so that I could talk about 'em with them...

"I know the line behind us is long. There is an army of bloggers and tweeters ready to step into our roles. No one is questioning their enthusiasm or passion for the medium. But these people still need experience; they need seasoning; they need to grow up...

I've always been fascinated by the gamer community's tendency (need?) to personify games companies, its quickness to vilify what it sees as the "bad" guy (those who prioritize profits, natch), and its preoccupation with the personas of various individuals in our field (even journos)...

"For a story to occur, it has to keep proceeding... challenge is about preventing you from continuing in the game... Story and challenge work against each other...

*Motion Controller, Sony says in its press release, is a tentative name for the orb-topped, glowy camera-sensing wand it just confirmed will release in Spring 2010. Yay, finally a release date! But no name?Hey, let's be fair, though...

Starbucks Coffee is like, four bucks or something like that, insane considering how relatively cheap coffee itself is as a commodity (and considering how Starbucks tastes like crap -- Dunkin' Donuts for life)...

I've already pointed out how much I like Meat Bun's T-shirts...