What To Get The Person Who Plays Everything December 9, 2008

There are only two shopping weeks left in this year’s official Hallowgivingchristyear’s gift-giving corridor, and like any good video game corridor, this one is full of pitfalls. Maybe not spiked abysses or bottomless holes, but ugly-ass sweaters and NeoPets can seem just as painful. As a service to you, the Weiner fans, here is a list of our Top 5 gift lists from the Geekosphere. As a bonus, we’re including a few tips to make it blatantly obvious to your gift-buyer that they need to check these lists out before buying you something inane.

 

5. Joystiq’s Holidaze 2008 – Joystiq’s guide is simple and to the point. Not a lot of frills here, but you can check around the side for details but checking for any links tagged “Holidaze 2008”.

Weiner Tip: This is an easy one. Joystiq is part of a media network that includes sites like Fanhouse.com Backporch, Totally Unofficial Apple Rumors, and WoW Insider. Just find the one that interests your giftgiver and bookmark away!

4. Amazon’s Gifts and Wish Lists Section – This one rocks because Amazon has everything. Seriously, raise your hand with me if you remember when Amazon just sold books.

Weiner Tip: If you make a wishlist on Amazon.com you can ask for it to be send to your friends and family with an Amazon-written in-no-way-begging note.

3. The ThinkGeek Gift Guide – Not entirely game-related, this one is great for all stripes of nerds in your life, from caffeine junkies to do-it-your-selfers.

Weiner Tip: Have your husband “check out a link to this awesome X I saw” on their front page. The Gift Guide is a really obvious tab off the homepage.

2. The 1Up.com Holiday Gift Guide – standard gamer holiday fare, but with an incredibly useful “games to avoid” section.
Weiner Tip: Let your buddy know about this list by sending him over to 1Up.com to read a review that just *happens* to have a link to the Guide.

 

1. Kotaku’s 2008 Gift Guide of Obscene Nicety and Sublime Naughtiness – This one wins for sheer volume. Almost a wall of text with everything from plush chocobos to fanboy pr0n, if you can’t find something you like here, you’re doin’ it rong.
Weiner Tip: Just share the link – this list is almost as much fun to read as it is to shop.

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Weinercast Wednesday! December 3, 2008

The Weinercast is go! This week: Into Naxxramas, and a Little Comment on civility.

As always, the Weinercast is available on

Please leave us a review or a comment/question, and we’ll address it on air next week!

A non-iTunes link if you need it.

No Peter Venkman In Next Gen Ghostbusters?

[Ed. note]: As of about 9:00 EST, Kotaku has corrected their error. 

 

I ain't afraid of no mic.

According to Kotaku’s story today on Ghostbusters DS, the next-gen versions of the game will not feature Bill Murray’s classic wisecracker Peter Venkman.  It seems that the DS version will have him though, because there is no voice-acting in that version. This stands in stark contrast to Kotaku’s earlier story about Bill Murray enjoying recording his game dialogue so much he would actually consider a third movie.

 

 

In fact, Murray himself has appeared on Conan O’Brien and the Today Show talking about the voice work that he has already put in the can. I’m thinking this is a blown call by the big K, and we can expect to see and hear Dr. Venkman in due course.

 

[Edit: Check out this trailer that clearly features Bill Murray.]

Oh Boy, More Sonic Crap December 1, 2008

Continuing their cavalcade of “We Don’t Care If You Like It, We’re Just Going To Put Out A New Game Every Month Instead of Doing What The Fans Want And Doing An Actual Retro Game”, Sonic Team has released new screenshots from the upcoming Wii game Sonic and the Black Knight. You can check those shots out over at Kotaku if you like, I’m not wasting space with them here.

 

In the last few years Sonic has gone to Pseudo-Arabia to make it with a human chick, spun off a gun-toting Shadow, searched deep into his RPG roots, and become a freakin’ werewolf – excuse me, werehog. In fact, he’s done everything but run around really damn fast for 4 hours and collect rings while freeing cute bunnies and saving Chaos Emeralds! For the love of Ceiling Cat and all that is HOLY, Team Sonic, make a damned SONIC game!

 

Thank you. That is all.

Congratulations, Bashcraft! November 18, 2008

Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft and his family welcomed their second child into the world today. Three cheers for MicroBash! Now is it a boy or a girl?

Beatles Announcement a Bust? October 30, 2008

 

AppleCorps

It looks like yesterday’s OMGs may have been a bit premature. Yes, there will be a Beatles music game. Yes, it will use Rock Band instruments. But it is NOT a Rock Band expansion pack ala’ Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. It is also at least a year away.

You can check out the full text of the press release over at Kotaku.

Who Ya Gonna Play? Ghostbusters!

Obligatory logo is obligatory.

Maybe there will be a third movie, maybe there won’t, but there will definitely be a new Ghostbusters game.

 

Kotaku is confirming that Atari has officially announced that they have picked up the Ghostbusters game. The game has been in limbo ever since the Blactivizzion merger, but is now on target for an early summer 2009 release. This release will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original movie, and also with me and most of my readers feeling old.

OMG OMG OMG Beatles! October 29, 2008

 

Not THAT Apple.

As per Kotaku, MTV Games and Apple Corps, who holds the right to the Beatles’ catalog, are holding a press conference tomorrow to announce “an exclusive agreement to develop a global music project.”

 

 

Rock Band Beatles, anyone?

Peter Molyneux, Part VII October 23, 2008

From http://realbadgegames.com/blog1.php/2008/10/04/molyneux-get-fable-ii-right

As per Kotaku, Peter Molyneux is all verklempt at the Fable II reviews he’s read. He believes that Fable II is “one of the hardest games to review”, and thanked the critical community for their “patience and belief”. Not me, Petey-boy. I have no more patience in you, and I don’t believe in your game. That’s why I am making Araan review Fable II this weekend.

Fable II “CE”: Are you KIDDING me? October 4, 2008

As per Kotaku, the increasingly inaptly-named Fable II Collector’s Edition may be trimmed down even more than we thought.

 

Apparently now the developer’s diary and soundtrack are no longer going to be on the “bonus” DVD. No further price cuts, though. Enjoy paying $70 for a making of featurette an extra dungeon of indeterminate length, and some completely out of place (if cool) Spartan armor and energy sword. Or so they tell us this week. We’ve still got seventeen days till the North American release. I’m sure they can trim some more of that fat before then.