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An analysis of all the food and drink in WoW
Not long ago, a friend of mine from college asked me to resurrect his WoW account so he could get back into the game before Cataclysm comes out. The first week that he was back, he messaged me quite frequently with various questions about trends in raiding and PvP at level 80. I answered his questions without much thought until one afternoon, he sent me a different type of message. "Did you notice there is nothing but meat in WoW?" My thoughts stumbled over the question for a moment before he continued. "There is meat, fish and fruit, but no vegetables." (My friend became vegan since the last time he played WoW -- thus his sudden epiphany.) He then proceeded to tell me about a quest in Teldrassil where you gather spider meat for a kabob recipe. He said something along the lines of, "They're on a big freakin' tree, full of plants and they're eating spiders! Spiders!" I'll admit, he had a good point. Curious, I decided to start looking over the types of food in WoW to see just exactly what Azerothians eat.
More WoW-themed cakes
Thanksgiving seems like an excellent time to update our gallery of WoW-related confectionary masterpieces, also known as WoW cakes. This dragon and Alliance-themed cake above was made for Valaar of Kargath by his girlfriend Erelia for his 30th birthday. She also made the Cake of the Lich King that we posted a while back. Talented lady! And elsewhere in the updated gallery, you'll find this Moonkin cake, made for Mark by his mother, sister, and girlfriend. Yes, those do appear to be real feathers on the cake. Probably not the most appetizing topping, but maybe they were just making it to show off. It does add a very Moonkin feel, that's for sure. If you have pictures of an awesome WoW-related cake, feel free to send them along on our tipline, and you may see them right here in the future! %Gallery-31459%
Kami Kami bite counter keeps your kid masticating
We've no clue what kind of sick, demented parent would ever put their child through this, but for those with offspring who like to, say, swallow their hamburgers whole, we suppose it may come in handy. From the wide, wacky and utterly bizarre world that is Japanese gadgetry comes this: a bite counter from Nitto Kagaku. As you'd expect, the headgear keeps track of how many bites your kid takes, and it even plays a little jingle every 1,000 chews in order to celebrate the occasion. 'Course, there is the proven side effect of obesity, but at least they'll be making mincemeat out of everything they can get their hands on while gradually growing to 385 pounds.[Via Engadget German]
New bear animations for eating and fishing discovered
Everyone knows that bears are actually pretty good fishermen, but for some reason Ferals have to shift back out of form and use a pole like everyone else. That may be changing, however. Andrige, the same person who bought us the new data-mined Hairstyles, has discovered the animations showcased in the above video, which point to the possibility of more life injected into the old Druid Feral forms. One animation called EmoteEat shows the bear bracing a piece of food against the ground with his paw while tearing off a chunk with his teeth, while another is a fishing animation where the bear looks to be pawing at the water, waiting to slap out a fish. The other exciting thing in the video is the possibility of a closed mouth on my bear! Do you know how many flies he's caught with that constantly open mouth of his? I logged onto my Druid on the Beta servers to check on the status of the animations. While you can now eat, drink and use potions in Feral forms on Beta, there are still no animations associated with the act (You simply sit down while eating). In addition, you can't fish at all in Feral forms (Trying to cast my line put me back in Night Elf form). Unfortunately, the fact that these animations haven't been implemented yet does lead me to a bit of pessimistic thought: They simply be meant for bear mobs, and not for Feral bears at all. Blizzard's been adding a lot of cool little idle animations to mobs, such as mama beasts who flush out critters for their cubs to chase and eat, so this may simply be one more set. Still, since they exist, they could easily be added on to the Feral bear's animation list in a future patch even if they aren't originally meant for Ferals. Here's hoping we see them there!
Major League Eaters become major gamers
The competitive eaters out there are a true inspiration for the children. Everyone felt sick (except the eaters) after the original press event for Major League Eating: The Game, but this time the food is ditched entirely. It's still a tough competition, but the pros are trying their hand at the game itself, munching the Wiimote as if it were made of sweet, sweet candy.In hindsight, the professionals down their food faster than lighting, so it probably wouldn't make much difference if they were eating hot dogs or Wiimotes. They won't be gorging on Nintendo accessories anytime soon, but it's the funniest display of fake eating since, well, this.%Gallery-20043%
Do you trust Major League Eating to feed you?
We'd be afraid to accept food from Major League Eating. We'd worry they'd want to time us while we ate it, or televise it. But if your constitution is bold enough to accept the possibility of such a challenge, then check out the official website for the WiiWare Major League Eating game. Each week for the next 12 weeks, Mastiff will give away eight $15 gift certificates good for a "Food of the Week" as selected by the publisher. This week: pizza!The website doesn't just appeal to your gluttony, either: it appeals to your e-gluttony as well, with new screens (in our gallery!), video and information about the sustenance simulator. Yes, Takeru Kobayashi, the single star of Major League Eating, is in it.Warning: one screenshot contains simulated vomit.%Gallery-20043%[Via press release]
Major League Eating to take a bite out of Wii Ware
Well, not so much a "bite" in the traditional sense. To be accurate to the source material, we should say that Major League Eating will dip Wii Ware in a cup of water, and cram it directly into its mouth, two-fisted. Mastiff announced that their Major League Eating: The Game will be released as a Wii Ware launch title on May 12th. Score one for Wii Ware. The game uses a series of Wiimote motions to simulate, uh, "a variety of eating techniques including the cram, toss, and 'typewriter.'"We were ready to write this game off completely (and we still kind of are) but then we saw that this game supports online play. It also has leaderboards, though it remains to be seen whether outstanding performance in the field of fake gorging constitutes leadership.[Via press release]
Stand up for Blade's Edge bugs
This is the best bug I've heard about in the game yet so far-- Drysc has confirmed that there is a known bug in the Blade's Edge plateau area which will cause everyone, when someone starts up the Bombing Run quest, to stop eating and drinking and stand up. It's a respect thing, you know? Stand up for the cause!No, it's just a really, really weird bug, and a fix is on the way in an upcoming patch (I'm a little surprised they don't aim to fix it earlier, but apparently all that will be lost is the food anyone sits down to eat at the wrong time in Blade's Edge). Once again, I am dumbfounded at trying to figure out just how Blizzard's code works-- seems like they have the absolute weirdest bugs happen to them sometimes.
Harvest food for everyone
Mania's got another good tip for Hunters (man, she's just got tons, doesn't she?). This one's specifically about the Harvest Festival, which went live with patch 2.2 today, and lasts through the week.. The best part of Harvest Festival is, of course, the free food, and so Mania reminds you that Harvest Boar, Harvest Fruit, and Harvest Fish are free, most pets will eat at least one of them, and they're sitting around tables all over Azeroth for you to pick up right now. They stack unique only up to 20 each, apparently, but free food is free food, and considering all the stuff Hunters have to pay for, you Hunters probably want to make at least one stop to grab chow sometime this week.And while we're talking about Harvest food, I'll remind you about Bounty of the Harvest, a "hidden" quest reward from the Harvest Festival. Blizzard's page only lists the two books as the rewards of the Hero Tribute quests (outside Ironforge and Ogrimmar, for Alliance and Horde), but after finishing those quests, you'll get another reward in the mail-- a horn that conjures four Harvest bread every 12 hours, even after the festival is over. The food grats 2% healing per second while eating, so if you're a Warrior who needs to eat, or a Hunter who has a pet who can eat bread, it's good stuff.Supposedly the Bread even used to stack with other food, but I just tried it in game, and I had no such luck-- I only had one food buff, and it was the last thing I ate (either the 2% or whatever the other food was). Still, being able to conjure 4 bread in a pinch is always a plus. Harvest food for everyone!
Playing more and eating less
Staying active with Wii Sports and Dance Dance Revolution isn't the only way video games can help you lose weight. Sometimes, all you need is a distraction to keep you from overindulging your appetite. According to Cynthia Sass, RD, a nutritionist and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, playing with a portable can help you forget about food: "When you start to visualize your craving, you've already lost half the battle ... A video game occupies your eyes, your hands, and your mind." Of course, if you insist on playing games like Cooking Mama or Cheeseburger Town, you're probably not going to get the desired effect. Sitting in front of a chocolate cake while an oscillating fan blows its saccharine aroma towards you isn't going to be too helpful either. But if you can manage to avoid food-based games and afternoon desserts, and if you'd like to try something new to make you stop thinking about eating, grab your DS the next time your stomach starts asking for a snack. Maybe that'll do the trick. [Via Infendo]
