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Powerful lasers damage eyesight of some Russian ravers
Here's one straight from the bizarro chapters. Dozens of individuals that attended an all night dance party near Moscow have been "partially blinded after a laser light show burned their retinas," according to Russian health officials. Apparently someone responsible for erecting the equipment decided to aim a few lights powerful enough to brighten the night sky down at the crowd (after rain necessitated a makeshift roof, we're told), with some of those who stared too long losing up to "80%" of their vision. We're not exactly sure what will happen to the promoters of the event, but at least now you have a valid excuse to rock those face-engulfing sunglasses (or a welding mask, if you're really paranoid) in every night club you waltz into.[Via Switched, image courtesy of iGouGo]
Activision's non-E3 party: trendy food in the red light district
Activision might have dropped out of E3, but that didn't stop them from having a huge party, complete with tiny hamburgers, pork buns, sushi, and other things we couldn't pronounce. We liveblogged it, then got some chow on. Head after the jump to find out the kinds of things Activision has been spending their money on, besides Blizzard.%Gallery-27885%
The Who headlining Rock Band 2 party tonight
Rumors have been flying left and right all day that The Who would be gracing the stage at the Rock Band party tonight. Well, we decided to visit the The Who's website to see if we could glean any clues. Yes, there's a huge clue right there in left hand news feed. "According to REUTERS, The Who are playing a private show at a historic theatre in Los Angeles this evening to help promote the "Rock Band" video game..."It makes a lot of sense, because The Who's Rock Band content just dropped this week, so they should just change that to "according to our official website," but hey, The Who. Live in town to promote Rock Band 2. Now you're talkin' bout my generation. Rock on. Maybe Roger Daltrey isn't so bored by the game anymore. Or maybe all it takes to excite him is the smell of a paycheck.We'll have a full report tonight, or tomorrow, depending on how coherent we are later. If we're lucky, it'll even have video and audio goodies in it.
Joystiq E3 impressions: This is Vegas
We'll make a promise to you: not once in this preview will we reference the "Things that occur in Vegas" advertising slogan that seems to pop up every time someone mentions the mecca of mischievousness in the middle of Nevada. Except for that one time. No more.This is Vegas is a game dreamed up by an assistant. Senior Associate Producer Trevor Ellington told us the real story behind the Sin City-based open-world humor game: an executive assistant at Midway came up with the idea of a game that replicated all of the wild fun to be had in Vegas, and thus was born TiV. During the demo we saw here at E3, the game presented four various scenarios: Fight, Party, Game, Drive, but by the time the game is released in 2009, they'll all be melded into what's supposed to be a sandbox of a good time.
DC Universe Online wants to add you as a friend
Stop the presses! Those of you just itching for information about DC Universe Online can now check out its profile on MySpace. That's right, well before there's an official webpage, you can get access to screenshots, wallpapers, icons, and concept art. There's also a dev blog, with interviews and video diaries to come.What's even more exciting for fans is the chance to attend the DCUO party at this year's ComicCon by making the profile your top friend, and printing the page out to show DC as proof. The party will be held July 25th at the Sweetwater Saloon in San Diego. Wow, who knew the Internet was such a great connective service? Gallery: DC Universe Online [Via Big Download]
Wii invited to the WordJong Party
WordJong on the DS is unique among the system's puzzle games: a Scrabble-type game in which you build words onto existing stacks of letters in order to clear stages. It's even got an online mode and Achievement-like trophies. There aren't enough language-based puzzle games, and even fewer good ones.That's why we're thrilled to see a new game listed on GameStop.com called WordJong Party. According to the listing, it'll be out October 21 for $40. If, uh, it's real, a multiplayer, scaled-up WordJong is definitely something to be excited about. Although, of course, it'll have to be particularly feature-rich to avoid the calls of "should be WiiWare" that haunt all 2D, puzzle, or shooting games.
Suggestions for catering a Wii party
A nice side effect of the Wii's expansion of the gaming audience is that people with skills and interests outside of video games have begun applying their expertise to our hobby. In this case, it means good food for once instead of the normal junk that fuels the stereotypical gaming lifestyle.Chow.com has posted a list of delicious-looking recipes that is, in their estimation, ideal for Wii parties in two ways: It can all be eaten one-handed, leaving a free (or at least clean) waggling hand They're organized into nutritional groups designed to sustain lots of energy over time We've got the Wii, and now we've got the menu. Next step: friends![Via GameSetWatch]
Party on Wayne, Party on Tetris
When you can't think of an original name for a new Wii title, simply add "party" to the end and call it a day. The Wii is great for parties, so reminding everyone of their obligation to entertain friends while gaming is standard issue these days. The upcoming Tetris game for WiiWare admirably follows this trend, with the latest information on Hudon's Japanese website displaying a name change and a lamentable delay.Tetris Party is no longer released in July 2008; we're stuck with a "sometime 2008" instead. Well, that's for Japanese Wii owners, but hopefully the localization won't take a decade or something. All joking about the name aside, there's no reason this shouldn't be a great game. Tetris always is!%Gallery-18122%[Via Siliconera]
Pictoimage's boxart is inspiring
It's appropriate that a game about drawing should have some nice art on its cover, in order to get players in an art mood right away. We happen to enjoy Pictoimage's boxart, which was also used in Japan, a lot. The little characters are somewhere between Miis and MySims, and the literal nature of the art (which basically depicts eight friends playing Pictoimage instead of anything that happens in Pictoimage) gives the cover a sort of "board game" feeling. As if Pictoimage were something you brought out during gatherings to help break the ice. We're also fond of the spectating pets, who just seem happy that their human friends are having such a good time drawing. While researching, we found something else about Pictoimage that makes us happy: the game was developed by Skonec, creators of the wacky horror puzzle game Joshikousei Nigeru! When you play Pictoimage, be sure to draw some gaping-mouthed dudes as a tribute.%Gallery-21261%
Babies Party their way onto Wii
The most notorious game in Ubisoft's Imagine series of girl-focused casual games is headed to the Wii -- as a party game, of course. Babies Party combines the babysitting theme of the DS game with 30 minigames including (according to the press release) "memory games, puzzles, coloring and cutting up activities."You can choose to play either as a baby or a babysitter. It's unclear exactly how the gameplay will change, but we imagine that there are different minigames involving taking care of babies as opposed to being babies. As with pretty much every Wii game that gets announced, Babies Party will support the Balance Board in some games.Babies Party enters the exciting genre of baby-based party minigames created by the Korean arcade series Come On Baby, which also made use of innovative controllers.%Gallery-23971%
Rabbids to return to DS, may even get noticed
Despite the fact that the first two games appeared on the DS, the Rayman Raving Rabbids series has always been more closely associated with the Wii, either because the original was a Wii launch game, or because the DS iterations are pretty mediocre.Now, the involvement of the Balance Board is threatening to relegate the DS edition of Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party to an even more insignificant footnote, but we hope the DS game stands on its own. The Rabbids are liked by pretty much everybody we know, and deserve a worthy handheld game. Protip though, Ubisoft: it's probably best to avoid this kind of publicity.[Via press release]
Scrollbar does potion shots with Final Fantasy night
We're quickly becoming big fans of Scrollbar, an excellent pub with an excellent name, located near the IT University of Copenhagen in Denmark. They previously entranced us with their Mario theme night, and have now blown us away with their evening of Final Fantasy, complete with cosplay and custom drinks.What were they serving? A green lemon-lime concoction called a Life Stream, a "virgin" red drink called the Aerith (LOL), and an adorable pink sweet concoction called a Moogle. Shots included a devilish One Winged Angel (aka Sephiroth), and a Phoenix Down, for the hardiest of battles. All ingredients and directions can be found on their site (but please drink responsibly, folks; those Phoenix Downs don't actually work).[Thanks, Mike K.]
The Daily Grind: Does your guild like to party down?
As has become tradition for this blogger, every year on Memorial Day (aka 'the birthday') weekend, lots of people from our guild like to get together and party down. There are friendships in our guild that span many years and almost as many games. Of course, beyond just discussing whatever is going on in MMOGspace, there's lots of good food, beer, and geekery to be had for everyone! Since this is the perfect weekend for getting together with friends and family here in the States, we thought that we'd ask you -- do you ever have guild parties in meatspace? Are there any particular times of the year that you and your guild-mates like to get together, like at a convention or fan faire? Or is your guild a strictly online-only guild?
DS Daily: Peripheral party
The DS might not be a system that can immediately benefit from peripherals, what with it being a portable games machine and all, but that hasn't stopped some from coming up with cool stuff to attach to your beloved. Whether it's something as simple as a stand or a wicked awesome controller, there's been some advancements in the field. So, we figured we'd ask you what you were all rocking. Whether it's just a simple case that protects your DS, or something home-made, let us know what kind of fun stuff you have for your DS. If we covered it on the site, link it in the comments!
Pictoimage draws near, according to ESRB
Following the trademark registration, we now have more strong evidence that Sega will release their drawing-based party game Pictoimage in the U.S. The title is now rated by the ESRB. Despite an apparent "alcohol reference," it was given an E rating.Now we want to talk to someone at the ESRB about how you would even rate a game like that. What criteria do you consider when deciding how to rate the content of a game whose content is almost entirely user-generated? We'll put it another way: what's the first thing your friends are likely to draw in response to any prompt while playing a game like this? Is it suitable for an E-rated game?%Gallery-21261%
Grab some real-life Boom Blox with the game
... if you're in France. Despite much frantic hunting on the internets, we've only been able to locate this neat little piece of Boom Blox merchandise at a French outlet, where it's being given away to those who purchase the game early (Boom Blox launches across Europe tomorrow).Although it lacks a ball to knock your blocks down with once you've finished building, assembling this puzzle is probably the perfect way to pass the time while your family plays on Boom Blox and you stubbornly refuse to admit that you might have been wrong. Bah. Oh, one word of advice, though: handle with care.%Gallery-15446%
Emergency Party Button turns cribs to clubs in seconds flat
Not to be confused with the absolutely worthless (sorry, the truth hurts) Big Red Button of Doom, the Emergency Party Button has a very specific purpose. Designed to take a vanilla home from mundane to spectacular in just seconds, this connected trigger basically flips a boring crib into a bumpin' club whenever you see fit. Just to give you an idea of what goes down when you mash the button, you'll see hallway lights turn off, blinds close, a fog machine come alive, speakers crank up and loads of laser lights turn active. All told, the project cost the builder just north of $600, which seems like a real bargain given what you get. Jump on past the break to have a look on video.[Via Hack N Mod]
When you are the weakest link
Our team tanked 76 points tonight. Despite winning five straight Arena games worth about 3 rating points each, we ran into a team that was pretty well-geared but were clearly playing below par. Unfortunately, our leader disconnected midway through the match, and even though we were outplaying the opposing team, the loss of our primary DPS and tunnel vision (he plays a Rogue) was enough for the opposing team to eventually burn us down for a 27-point loss. Just like that, all our previous wins were nullified and we found ourselves lower than when we started. Familiar with the opposing team's make-up, we counter-comped and proceeded to beat them thrice in a row until the fourth game where, in the middle of the battle, everyone started running in place on my screen and nothing was happening. It was my turn to get disconnected.I restarted my router and modem, waited a minute, and logged on to find we'd dropped another 25 points. Eager to recoup our losses against a team we were certain we could beat, we queued again. Not three minutes into the queue, my Vent went silent and I feared the worst. After making certain I had disconnected, I sent an SMS to our leader to tell him what had happened, went through the motions of connecting again and when I finally got on, I found that our team had tanked a total of 76 insane points. And it was largely my fault.
Connect your Wii and DS, track paranormal activity
Our enthusiasm for Ghostbusters has taken a real beating these past few weeks -- after the initial yaaaay period of retro-tinged excitement wore off, suddenly we started to receive worrying news. Terms such as "casual" and "family-friendly" were bandied about in relation to the Wii edition, and we began to panic and hyperventilate a bit, despite Red Fly's admirable attempts to calm us down.So here's something to lift our spirits (har): according to Sierra studio director John O'Keefe, the Wii version will support both four-way split-screen and the ability to connect your DS to your Wii and deploy the handheld as a PKE meter, a.k.a, the device with the winged arms that the real Ghostbusters used to track spooks. How totally awesome is that?"Very awesome" is the answer.
European dates for Etrian Odyssey, LOL, Pokemon Explorers
News of a European release date for Super Smash Bros. Brawl has dominated coverage of Nintendo's latest European release schedule, but there are a number of tasty morsels on the list for DS owners.For a start, the continent will finally be getting Atlus roguelike Etrian Odyssey, and it's about time -- lest we forget, the title made its U.S. debut last May! Notably, there are also dates (of varying specificity) for Race Driver: GRID (May), the new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games (July 4th), New International Track & Field (Q2 2008), and Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? (June), the European version of Cooking Navi. "ArchimDS" appears on the list as well, though we presume this refers to LOL, or Bakushow as it'll be known in Euroland.Add all of those to this morning's Final Fantasy IV announcement, and Europe has quite the line-up of games to look forward to. Check past the break for the full list!
