Reindeer
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What Apple gear do you buy a reindeer for Christmas?
Maybe we're tipplin' the 'nog a bit too much here at TUAW Central, but we thought you'd enjoy joining in our poll on the best Apple-themed presents for Rangifer tarandus volans. These animals are responsible for an awful lot of hard work, distributing presents, defying physics (something with a lot of "quantum" appears to be involved in collapsing gift waves simultaneously), waiting on rooftops as a big fat man makes his way down ventilation ducts and other rooftop access points, and racking up frequent flyer miles. While most of the coverage today seems to focus on the big fellow, our hearts go out to the overlooked heroes of the Christmas distribution process: the reindeer. What would you buy Rudolph and his pals in gratitude for their service? %Poll-79740%
Google serves up reindeer games with Santa Tracker, lets St. Nick message your besties
Sure, Google's not in the Santa Tracking NORAD cabal anymore, but that's not stopping it from rolling out St. Nicholas-related goodies. It just launched a series of new games, including a chimney / gift dropping challenge, a rocket-powered elf race and a Santa chat that lets you send a droll holiday greeting to your "hoodlum besties." You can even play Rudolph for a lark and drag Santa around in his sleigh -- badly, in our case -- so check the source (hint: click the red box at the bottom left) for some holiday cheer, Mountain View-style.
What does Santa want for Christmas? World of Tanks!
Boom boom boom. Boom boom boom. Boom boom boom ba-boom. Dashing through the shells, waging war today. O'er the fields we drive, blowing tanks away! HEY! It just wouldn't be Christmas without a little panzer turret action, right? Well, never fear. Christmas is finally here. Wargaming.net has given us a Yuletide trailer to fill your life with holiday cheer -- and canon fire, of course. Today, the company released a new World of Tanks teaser to whet your warring appetite. Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi knows that Kris Kringle likes a little ka-boom with his jingle-jangle. "The first present I got from Santa was a tiny plastic T-34, so I'm pretty sure that he just loves tanks. In fact, we've got a letter from Lapland recently with him asking to film a Christmas of his dream. We didn't hesitate for long and have come up with something he will surely like," explains the gaming executive. To catch this explosive video, follow after the cut. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from World of Tanks!
'Tis the season for gifts and goodies in Vanguard
Tell us the truth, gentle reader: Have you been a good little boy or girl this year? And have you dutifully paid your monthly subscription to SOE? If you said "Yes!" on both counts, then Vanguard invites you to party it up with the Festival of Gloriann. The major cities have been dressed up in their wintry finest, and gifts have been sprinkled around for all to find. If you really want to get into the festival, you can learn more about Atnas Claws, meet Randolf the flying reindeer (and perhaps get a lift), and beat up on freaky-looking snowmen. Any similarities to real-world copyrights is just a coincidence. There are also special housing decorations and fun costumes to enjoy. The Festival of Gloriann is currently lighting up Vanguard, so check it out and give Atnas a high-five for us!
SoBe's 3D Super Bowl commercial available now on YouTube HD
Yeah, today's big game is but hours away, but if you're itching to put those newfangled 3D goggles to use beforehand, you're in luck. Reindeer has hosted up tonight's 3D SoBe ad on YouTube in high-def, and folks with those glasses -- which can supposedly still be picked up at hard-to-miss kiosks in grocery outlets and retail stores if any stock remains -- can tap the read link to have a look right now. Obviously we wouldn't do so if you're not much on spoilers, but we're betting your curiosity is going to get the best of you. Once you've watched, chime in below with your thoughts on the quality. Fair? Great? Just plain gimmicky?
Around Azeroth: Christmas in July, take 2
Oh, sure. You may think that July's an unfavorable time of year for reindeer, but I argue that this screenshot proves otherwise. Unfortunately, these festive mounts can only be acquired once a year -- at December's Winter's Veil celebration. Says Spencer, who sent us this shot, "Who says we can't be festive all year round!"Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Phat Loot Phriday: Preserved Holly
Come the Feast of Winter Veil, Smokeywood Pastures descends on Azeroth and offers up all sorts of neat seasonal loot. But of the fun things they can give you, this is probably the best.Name: Preserved HollyType: Quest RewardDamage / Speed: N/AAbilities: Use: Transforms your mount into "something more festive." AKA a freakin' reindeer! Yes, your mount turns into Metzen the Reindeer, complete with a shiny nose. Some would even say it glows. How to Get It: As you might guess, yes, it is a quest reward. If you want this mount, you'll have to join in on Blizzard's reindeer games. In the capital cities of each faction (Org and Ironforge), there is a Christm-- err, sorry, Feast of Winter Veil tree with a few goblins standing by it. One of them will be giving out quests this holiday season, and you want the one called Metzen the Reindeer. Now, all the research I've found says the quest is level 60, but on my 51 rogue I was able to obtain it. Your mileage may vary on lower levels-- post in the comments if you have trouble. Since it is a mount, I'd assume you need at least level 40.Anyway, get the quest, and you'll find it requires you to seek out one Metzen the Reindeer (named, yes, after Blizzard's "Head Architect" of World of Warcraft). Read the notes given you to, and it'll be pretty obvious that you'll find him in Tanaris, in south part of the pirate camp along the coast (in among the buildings south of the big bonfire). Talk to Metzen, sprinkle the fairy dust on him that you're given, and boom, it is a Christmas Miracle! Your mount is a reindeer! Wait, I mean it's a Feast of Winter Veil miracle. Never mind.There's one more way to get this item, but it's not nearly as much fun as finding Metzen. Near the goblins, there is a machine called a "Holly Preserver"-- just stick some Deeprock Salt and 5 gold in there, and voila, Preserved Holly. But why do that when you can save a reindeer?And I can't resist telling you: this item first appeared as an exclusive last year right here on this very website. Go us!Getting Rid of It: You want to get rid of the reindeer? You grinch! Preserved Holly doesn't expire, but the buff does-- you get 5 charges for completing the quest, so use them wisely. Also, there's a bug in the game right now, where if you have buffed your mount to look like a reindeer, and then try to dismount, you'll get an error that says "You are mounted." Well no duh. To get off the reindeer, you have to right click and remove the buff.
WoW Blog Roundup: Holiday edition
What brings holiday cheer all year round? How about the WoW community? For sure! The Escapist brings us an excellent article by Michael Zenke in which he describes his disappointment upon returning to World of Warcraft for the holidays. His sad tale is complete with a lack of holiday spirit as well as a guild that has been blown to pieces. Merry Christmas! Mommy, what is that tiger doing to that reindeer? Maybe you don't want to know. AgentMichi from WoW_Ladies has some amusing screenshots of some great World of Warcraft graphical bugs. Not Addicted has some shopping tips for those of us looking for a last-second present. No, not from Target or Macy's, rather, from the fine stores inside Azeroth. How about some goggles for dear Aunt Trudy? Finally, Tobold gives us an early gift with his outlook on World of Warcraft in 2007. Not really so much from a gameplay standpoint, but rather from a business and subscriber point of view. As usual, Tobold makes some good points, and contends that 2007 will be WoW's peak year, and while it will still be millions of members strong, 2007 might be the summit of Warcraft's popularity. If you see an interesting blog post, let us know!
Canadian billboard gets pedal-powered, shows off LED efficiency
Considering our everyone's infatuation with everything LED is fairly evident, we couldn't help but stop and stare at a Canadian billboard sporting no fewer than 1,500 LED lights, all brightly shining to spread some holiday cheer. But the method to the madness is what's important here, as this particular poster had no direct contact with an AC outlet, and reverted to getting its juice from some 120 pedal-pushing volunteers instead. The DDB/Vancouver project was lit for five consecutive days on behalf of BC Hydro, and was setup to display just how efficient LED lighting really is. According to BC Hydro, the same amount of wheel-turning energy would've only lit up 120 incandescent bulbs, which would've left Rudolph a bit dimmer than expected. The only thing missing, however, was a government-employed robot to crank out a few more miles once the humans went home for the holidays.[Via OhGizmo]
