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The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day three
Ironforge's Military Ward is decked out with garlands and wreaths, which can only mean one thing: it's time to celebrate Winter Veil! It's day number ten of our Winter Veil countdown, and we have just three more days of fun to go! There's still time to participate in Winter Veil events in and out of game -- but you'd better hurry, because the holiday season is nearly gone. (Winter Veil officially wraps up tomorrow!) Ideazon and WoW Insider have some great holiday gifts to pass along to you: Zboard Gaming Keyboards, Reaper & Reaper Edge gaming mice, GH-100 gaming headsets, FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork, with some game time cards and t-shirts thrown into the mix. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) -- and check back every day for your chance to enter and win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.) For today's giveaway, we have three prizes lined up: a first-place winner walking away with a GH-100 gaming headset, and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Wednesday, January 2nd). And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back tomorrow -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!
Welcome to 2008 from Wii Fanboy
Welcome to 2008! It's the beginning of a new year and 2007 was arguably the best year for gaming yet, so we're hoping 2008 is even better for you and for us. May it bring you nothing but the best of times and the most fun games you could want. We're getting some great Wii games this year, so we can't wait to see what you all have to say.And, as always, we want to thank you for stopping by our little corner of the internet. We try hard to make sure this is the best place to go for Wii news and fun stuff involving the console and Nintendo. We really love the Nintendo community and thank each and every one of you for your input. You're all great and have helped us grow into a pretty awesome blog over the years. So, here's to 2008 and an even better year for Nintendo's console.
TUAW wishes you a shiny, bright New Year
From all of us at The Unofficial Apple Weblog, we wish you a warm, bright, wonderful 2008.
Five ways you can make life easier for new Mac users
As we close out 2007, there are thousands of new Mac users just beginning to explore the wonderful world found on those shiny computers that were tucked under the tree/menorah/nonsectarian gift deployment venue. If there's one thing we'd recommend that experienced Mac hands could do to make the adjustment easier... well, there isn't just one thing, there's five. Got other suggestions for onboarding the switcher nouveau? Drop them in the comments.1. Don't buy Apple RAM. This should be stenciled on every Mac box, printed on UPS driver caps, and possibly placed on street stickers outside the Apple Stores (I kid! Don't sue me). I recently priced a 512 MB upgrade for a vintage G4 iBook, and while I would have liked the convenience of the Apple Store for quick pickup, I could not possibly justify the 300+% markup over crucial.com's or OWC's price for the exact same part ($150 vs. $38). I doubt that an educated-customer avoidance of Apple memory, either BTO or upgrades, will make much difference to pricing policies, but this situation is so insanely out of whack that something has got to give. Update: Several readers have pointed out that you should hold onto your factory RAM in case you need to troubleshoot problems down the road, a good suggestion -- Apple support or Genius Bar techs will often ask you to return your machine to as-shipped condition. If you want to cross-check that you're getting the same manufacturer as Apple uses, you can always compare RAM prices and part specs in a jiffy at dealram.com. Reader JC did a quick survey of manufacturer markups on RAM and suggests that Apple's pricing may not be so far out of line when compared to other high-end computer vendors like Sony; still, I stand by my statement that buying Apple RAM is too expensive.2. Make a shareware gift basket. You've got the massive downloads folder and the experience with your favorite Mac programs; why not leverage that? Burn a CD full of your top shareware apps, or register a couple of them in your buddy's name. Nothing says "I care" like software.3. Give the gift of bookmarks. Your experience as a Mac veteran has populated your browser bookmarks with a zillion helpful sites; export them and send them on over! If you need a starter list: macfixit, macintouch, macworld, dealmac, macosxhints, versiontracker, iusethis, and of course our humble little blog.4. Provide a personal support gift certificate. An email that says "call me anytime" might give too much license for midnight pleas for help -- maybe a stylized one-sheet saying "This certificate good for three hours of handholding, gentle instruction, wireless troubleshooting & general Mac advice" will set the ground rules.5. Deliver the Kool-Aid. One of the hardest transitions for recovering Windows users to make when adjusting to the Macintosh Way is the attitude: expecting things to "just work" instead of having to tweak registry settings and swap out DLLs, being willing to cooperate with your computer instead of fighting it all the way. Sit with your buddy and watch them work for a bit; if you notice points of friction, try to lubricate. Remind them they can still right-click, allow them to plug in a printer and not go searching for drivers. See the light in their eyes return.
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day four
It's day number nine of our Winter Veil countdown, which means we have just four more days of fun and games to go! There's still time to participate in Winter Veil events in and out of game -- but you'd better hurry, because the holiday season is nearly gone. (Winter Veil will be wrapping up on January 2nd!) Ideazon and WoW Insider have some great holiday gifts to pass along to you: Zboard Gaming Keyboards, Reaper & Reaper Edge gaming mice, GH-100 gaming headsets, FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork, with some game time cards and t-shirts thrown into the mix. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) -- and check back every day for your chance to enter and win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.) For today's giveaway, we have three prizes lined up: a first-place winner walking away with a 60-day World of Warcraft game time card, and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Tuesday, January 1st). And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back tomorrow -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day five
It's day number eight of our Winter Veil countdown, which means we have five more days of fun and games to go! Ideazon and WoW Insider have some great holiday gifts to pass along to you: Zboard Gaming Keyboards, Reaper & Reaper Edge gaming mice, GH-100 gaming headsets, FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork, with some game time cards and t-shirts thrown into the mix. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) -- and check back every day for your chance to enter and win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.)For today's giveaway, we have three prizes lined up: a first-place winner walking away with a Zboard gaming keyboard with one World of Warcraft keyset (the winner will get to chose between an original World of Warcraft keyset and a Burning Crusade keyset), and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Monday, December 31st). And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back tomorrow -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day six
It's day number seven of our Winter Veil countdown, which means we have six more days of fun and games to go! Ideazon and WoW Insider have some great holiday gifts to pass along to you: Zboard Gaming Keyboards, Reaper & Reaper Edge gaming mice, GH-100 gaming headsets, FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork, with some game time cards and t-shirts thrown into the mix. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) -- and check back every day for your chance to enter and win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.)For today's giveaway, we have three prizes lined up: a first-place winner walking away with a GH-100 gaming headset, and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Sunday, December 30th). And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back tomorrow -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!
Friday Video: To the floor with you!
This kid is undeniably excited about receiving a DS and games for Christmas -- you can tell by the frantic gyrations and leaping about -- which is why we can't understand why they are all flung to the floor after a moment of celebration. We can only guess that's what happens when you give a child a "senior edition" DS Lite. Oh well. The mysterious dichotomy of excitement and flinging makes for a fun moment in our weekly video spotlight.[Update: Aww, the video has been removed. What a way to spoil our fun!]
Massively's holiday giveaways, day twelve
Our holiday giveaways are rapidly coming to a close -- we're on our final day of giveaways! But you still have a couple more chances to win! First off, check out our holiday postcard contest, where we're asking for your holiday images in postcard format. Show us how you celebrate your virtual holidays -- and soon! The contest wraps up tomorrow! (For the best images, we've got some nice hardware for you: headsets, G15 keyboards, and laser mice.) For those of you who feel you have limited artistic talent (but how much talent do you need to take a screenshot?), we've got one last random giveaway to offer you. Entering is simple -- just leave a comment on this post between now and 5:00 PM EST tomorrow (that's Saturday, December 29th). To be eligible you must be age 18 or older and a resident of the United States: please read our official rules for full details. You can enter once in each of our contests -- so if you don't win this one, check back tomorrow at 5:00 PM for another chance to win!We'll pick two winners: first place will receive their choice of game-related goodies (your options are: 60 days of WoW, 60 days of any NCsoft game, 30 days of EverQuest/EverQuest II/Planetside, 50 days of EVE Online, 60 days of Lord of the Rings Online, or 7500 Lindens) and second place will receive a caffeine candy sampler (for those late-night gaming sessions!) from ThinkGeek.
WRUP: 2007 ends with a fizzle edition
Not that it wasn't a great year, don't get us wrong, but as far as new games go, the year is ending without a single new release available. This means that we're forced to look to any holiday gifts we may have received or, well, something far worse: no games at all. This is the last weekend of 2007, how are we supposed to end the year without any new games to play?Enough about us, how will you be sending out 2007? What will you be playing? Any new Wii owners ecstatic to have their first weekend with their console?
WRUP: Say goodbye to 2007 edition
Well, this is the last weekend of 2007 and the last WRUP for this year, as well. And, sure enough, there isn't a single new release to discuss for the final WRUP of 2007. So, that means you'll have to resort to your gifts from the holiday to get you through this weekend, that is unless you have already gone through all of them. Knowing our readers and their enthusiasm, that is entirely likely. But, no need to fear, a few of you will be getting a truckload of new games to enjoy soon enough.So, what will you be playing during the last weekend of 2007?
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day seven
It's day number six of our Winter Veil countdown, which means we have seven more days of fun and games to go! Ideazon and WoW Insider have some great holiday gifts to pass along to you: Zboard Gaming Keyboards, Reaper & Reaper Edge gaming mice, GH-100 gaming headsets, FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork, with some game time cards and t-shirts thrown into the mix. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) -- and check back every day for your chance to enter and win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.)For today's giveaway, we have three prizes lined up: a first-place winner walking away with a Reaper gaming mouse, and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Saturday, December 29th). And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back tomorrow -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!
Holiday with Wii
Consoles and games are always a popular gift during the holidays, and as we saw yesterday at DS Fanboy, the reactions are often as good as -- or even better! -- than the gifts themselves. Well, if people got so excited about getting a DS, how must they have felt about the highly elusive, often-unavailable Wii? Thanks to a number of videos uploaded to YouTube this week, we can share in the holiday joy of several lucky new Wii owners.
Massively's holiday giveaways, day eleven
Our holiday giveaways are rapidly coming to a close -- we're already up to day eleven out of twelve! But you still have a couple more chances to win! First off, check out our holiday postcard contest, where we're asking for your holiday images in postcard format. Show us how you celebrate your virtual holidays -- and soon! The contest wraps up tomorrow! (For the best images, we've got some nice hardware for you: headsets, G15 keyboards, and laser mice.) For those of you who feel you have limited artistic talent (but how much talent do you need to take a screenshot?), we're also doing daily giveaways for the duration of the contest. Entering is simple -- just leave a comment on this post between now and 5:00 PM EST tomorrow (that's Friday, December 28th). To be eligible you must be age 18 or older and a resident of the United States: please read our official rules for full details. You can enter once in each of our contests -- so if you don't win this one, check back tomorrow at 5:00 PM for another chance to win!We'll pick two winners: first place will receive their choice of game-related goodies (your options are: 60 days of WoW, 60 days of any NCsoft game, 30 days of EverQuest/EverQuest II/Planetside, 50 days of EVE Online, 60 days of Lord of the Rings Online, or 7500 Lindens) and second place will receive a caffeine candy sampler (for those late-night gaming sessions!) from ThinkGeek.
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day eight
It's day number five of our Winter Veil countdown, which means we have eight more days of fun and games to go! Ideazon and WoW Insider have some great holiday gifts to pass along to you: Zboard Gaming Keyboards, Reaper & Reaper Edge gaming mice, GH-100 gaming headsets, FragMat gaming mousepads with World of Warcraft artwork, with some game time cards and t-shirts thrown into the mix. What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simply leave a comment on today's post (just one, please!) -- and check back every day for your chance to enter and win! (To be eligible to win, you must be age 18+ and a resident of the US, so before you enter, please take a look at the full official rules.)For today's giveaway, we have three prizes lined up: a first-place winner walking away with a 60-day World of Warcraft game time card, and two second place winners who will each receive a FragMat mousepad. And the best part? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment within the next 24 hours (that would be before 9:00 AM on Friday, December 28th). And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back tomorrow -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil!
The DS Life: Unwrapping
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/X_Mas_Unwrappings_Nintendo_DS_Lite'; The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handhelds and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.Provided they were on Santa's "Nice" list, hundreds of thousands of children (and adults, of course) woke up to find a dual-screened handheld under their tree yesterday. We like to imagine that these new DS owners held the system box high over their heads while The Legend of Zelda's "item fanfare" music played. We also like to picture them running to their computers shortly afterwards to load up and bookmark DSFanboy.com, as well.Rather than spend too much time dwelling over what their reactions might have been like, why don't we take a look past the break for photos from ten different post-unwrapping scenes?
Wii helps Amazon reign supreme this holiday season
Nintendo did some good things for popular online retailer Amazon.com this holiday season, as its Wii console sold at a rate of 17 consoles per second. Of course, this only pertains to when the console was actually available for purchase, which wasn't all that often. This all contributed to a very lucrative holiday season for the retailer, which experienced its strongest sales on December 10th. Then, it sold 5.4 million items, which comes to about 62.5 items per second.
Massively's holiday giveaways, day ten
Our holiday giveaways are rapidly coming to a close -- we're already up to day ten out of twelve! But there are still chances to win! First off, check out our holiday postcard contest, where we're asking for your holiday images in postcard format. Show us how you celebrate your virtual holidays! (For the best images, we've got some nice hardware for you: headsets, G15 keyboards, and laser mice.) For those of you who feel you have limited artistic talent (but how much talent do you need to take a screenshot?), we're doing daily giveaways for the duration of the contest. Entering is simple -- just leave a comment on this post between now and 5:00 PM EST tomorrow (that's Thursday, December 27th). To be eligible you must be age 18 or older and a resident of the United States: please read our official rules for full details. You can enter once in each of our contests -- so if you don't win this one, check back tomorrow at 5:00 PM for another chance to win!We'll pick two winners: first place will receive their choice of game-related goodies (your options are: 60 days of WoW, 60 days of any NCsoft game, 30 days of EverQuest/EverQuest II/Planetside, 50 days of EVE Online, 60 days of Lord of the Rings Online, or 7500 Lindens) and second place will receive a caffeine candy sampler (for those late-night gaming sessions!) from ThinkGeek.
Guitar Hero rocks Christmas decorations
It may not be the Wii version of Guitar Hero, but it's certainly something worth recognizing, regardless. Turns out, some savvy folk decided to sync a loose collection of colored Christmas lights to the colored fret buttons in Guitar Hero, allowing for quite the display. It reminds us of those other Christmas lights.[Via Engadget]
A very Mario Christmas
How sad we are to see the holiday come to an end. No more Christmas tunes and hot cocoa just doesn't taste the same to us anymore. If only we had a giant mural like the one above to visit for an instant jolt of that Christmas feeling. It's a HUGE mural, if we may say so, and came out looking fabulous. [Via Go Nintendo]
