AFTERSHOCK:
The Feb. 27 earthquake in Chile topped the seismic charts with a recorded magnitude of 8.8, but the initial devastation and rising death toll weren’t its only consequences. On a far less tragic but slightly more unbelievable note, the earthquake moved nearby cities:
“Concepción, the closest city to the epicentre of the recent quake, moved around 3 metres to the west, while Santiago moved about 20 centimetres to the west-south-west.”
And if relocating cities doesn’t impress upon you the quake’s strength, get this: the events of Feb. 27 actually shifted the Earth’s axis by approximately 8 centimeters, enough to shorten the length of a day. Granted you likely won’t notice the difference, but microseconds add up.
INFINITY WARD:
A lot of crazy shit went down at the Infinity Ward office last week, when parent company Activision fired two former Call of Duty head developers allova sudden. Lawsuits! Security officers! Gossip! I still don’t really understand this, it’s like Watergate, and I probably never will. Devour the Juicy Details over at Game Informer. Also nothing could ever pry this game from my cold, dead hands, so don’t even fucking TRY Activision!
GAGA ON ROCKBAND:
Lady Gaga will be joining the Rock Band ranks this holiday season. YES IT’S TRUE! Go on and pre-order, you Gaga-loonies! Go!
BSG MMO:
Apparently THERE’S GONNA BE A BATTLESTAR GALACTICA MMORPG THIS FALL, and it’s gonna be playable in YOUR BROWSER! What!! I am nervous and excited and just so very full of feelings about this!
TWO’S COMPANY:
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 just hit stores, and based on a lot of good press, the game sounds like it could give Modern Warfare 2 a run for its money. Bad Company 2 boasts a solid solo-campaign and the multiplayer, with its large strategic maps and vehicular combat, might actually improve on what’s often said to be the quintessential multiplayer gaming experience.
STEAM FOR MAC:
Steam, the PC gaming distribition service and all-around lifeboat for non-console gamers, just announced that many of its beloved franchises, like Portal, Half-Life and Left for Dead will be hitting a Mac near you! Rejoice all ye Mac-lovin,’ non-PC gamers- the future looks bright. This is an exciting step toward expanding Macs as a legitimate gaming platform, because seriously, why hasn’t that happened already? Hooray!
RANDOMHOUSE:
Publishing giant Randomhouse will soon be shacking up with video game developers. The company’s new entertainment division will team up to tackle gaming storytelling and development, and while It’s not yet clear what exactly this kind of power-consulting will yield, a publishing company could definitely do some good for flimsy plots in otherwise awesome titles. Like if we could go back and rework the end of Assassin’s Creed II, I’d be down for that. Again, the future is so bright! It blinds!
IPAD’S RED CARPET:
The first iPad commercial fittingly debuted during the prime-time Oscar adspace this weekend. And while I know most things there are to know about the damn thing, the Apple commercials never cease to intoxicate me. The iPad will wreak havoc on April 3rd, but you can pre-order starting on March 12th.
FACEBOOK-LIKE:
Oh, online etiquette gets weirder and twistier by the minute. The New York Times asks: can you “Facebook like” a tragedy? What about a natural disaster? A human rights violation?
“I recently “liked” a story about five people dying in an explosion in Connecticut.
I didn’t actually “like” the fact that five people had died in a terrible accident. Technically, I didn’t even “like” the story — I found the reporting and writing informative and the narrative engrossing, but not the contents of the piece. On Facebook, however, the only option I had to tell people I had read the article was to either add a comment or press the little “like” button that appears at the bottom of everyone’s status update.”
GOD OF SEX?:
Er, this is weird and made me cringe, but God of War III stays true to its lusty traditions and offers a goofy interactive sex scene, which is probably exactly like real sex, right? The “minigame” begins with Aphrodite getting it on with a few disproportionately-endowed ladies before your homeboy Kratos stomps up to the scene. Check Kratos’ sexymoves out for yourself, and see if you find the scene appropriate for the series, offensive to thine eyes or something else entirely.
SXSW DLC:
Want to download about 5.5 gigs of free legal music from Austin’s SXSW? Yeah, me too. The legal tunes are rolled up into a big ball of torrent and can be downloaded here.
BLEEDING GLACIERS:
This super bizarre scientific phenomenon is kinda like what happens when people claim to see freaky shit like statues of the Virgin Mary crying blood. Seriously, a bleeding glacier? Ancient microbes? Science is wacky.
MUGSHOT:
These sweet Canon lens travel mugs were given to some media people at the Olympics, and it sounds like they won’t be available again. And that’s totally not fair, and I deserve one because I want it.
UNDO:
If only we could Ctrl+Z our mistakes away! Tap into your inner typographer, and get these cards to say you’re sorry to the geeks in your life in a language they can comprehend. You should probably start by apologizing for pushing them into their lockers and stealing their (okay — my) milk money.
FOR KICKS:
If you’re in kind of a shitty mood or kind of pissed off at a dude in your life why not indulge in this delightfully sadistic yet lighthearted collection of cartoon panels depicting guys getting kicked in the balls? This has to be one of the most random comics montages ever, and it’s pretty hilarious, tongue-in-cheek headline and all.
MOUSETRAP:
OK Go’s new music video executes a large-scale version of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOARD GAME Mousetrap! And I didn’t think they could top the joyful geekiness of that whole treadmill ordeal. Brilliant!
HEAVY RAIN:
A creepy/fortuitous glitch in the ultra-realist game Heavy Rain makes hottie female character Madison Page playable in the nude. This was apparently discovered by accident, and it’s not clear if it’s replicable, but if I had the game, I can’t say I wouldn’t be tempted to test it out. I mean, yeah this is exploitative for a game like this if it’s an intentional easter egg of some kind, but assuming it isn’t, I wouldn’t mind taking her nude character model for a test drive — alternative lifestyle haircut and all.
K. I know its all shits and giggles and we are women and most of you all are lesbians but seriously that whole kickin in the nuts thing is NOT COOL! I have heard that it is the worst pain. And having been kicked in my crotch, and not still not having a penis, i can assure you it is a pain you should not inflict. In the words of two amazing ppl, ‘ITS NOT FUN DON’T DO IT!’
Yeah I agree. I got boob-punched, and kneed in the crotch on the same night (I totally deserved it though, I was a top-notch arsehole). ITS NOT FUN DON’T DO IT.
Wow! I just remembered that I have actually done this before! I think I was like 17 and at a concert and this dude called me a dyke and then called my best friend (who had mega-body image issues) fat. And it just happened. It was like an involuntary reaction. BUT I PROMISE I AM A NICE PERSON and violence is not the answer!
It was at a Mates of State concert, which is kind of weird/incongruous.
How does such a thing happen at a Mates of State concert? I concur that was weird/incongruous. He must have wandered into the concert not knowing arseholes like him don’t normally attend their shows.
the only thing sweeter than rocking out to a lady gaga song will be the sound of crystal’s tears as i rock out to a lady gaga song. DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN, OZ
Ohh I haven’t forgotten, kicking your ass is the first thing on my To Do list for when I get to New York in June. I’ll pick you up some tissues duty free.
can i also just say that i’m so glad “netiquette” never took off.
1- I need to finish watching BSG before fall.
2- I WISH I HAD A PS3 OR XBOX OR WIIIII but all I have is a PS2 and I CANNOT DOWNLOAD LADY GAGA TRACKS. AHem. So sad.
OMG ONLY-HAVING-A-PS2 HIGH FIVE ^5
I have a DS as well. I’m just a baby gamer. Usually not being able to DL tracks doesn’t bother me. But my soul died a little today.
SOUL DYING HIGH FIVE ^5
seriously though, my soul dies everytime Technostraddle has better consoles than me. Which is often :(
DUDE I ONLY HAD A PS2 UNTIL DECEMBER. and a gamecube. IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!
FINGERS CROSSED
Firstly, I’m filled with joy/dread about the BSG MMO, because the concept is just perfect but I really don’t want to lose any more of my life to MMOs…
Secondly, I’ve been thinking about getting an Xbox/PS3 for a while now, and the news of gaga on rockband has finally swung it for me. I’ve played and hugely enjoyed the game at friends’ houses and am still haunted by happy/nightmarish recollections of learning the intro to gimme shelter on hard.
But ADVICE NEEDED – which one to get? It seems like all the games I’d be interested in are released on both consoles anyway, so should I just go for whichever most of my friends have, for PSN/XBL purposes?
Or whichever one looks prettier, that’s how I decide :P
Neither of them are as sexy as my SNES, but I opted for the PS3 due to abundance of blue LEDs and proximity of people whose games I can pilfer.
This is the first non-nintendo I have ever bought. I feel really weird/slightly traitorous.
I would have said Xbox but I am biased because most of my friends have xboxes and I think the game selection is better. On another topic BSG MMO what is the point? i already know what is going to happen am i going to level up my skin job so she is ultra sexxy? Or give harass Baltar? I just do not see the appeal.
I’d have to assume it would take the existing world/race dynamics/technology and employ them in an expansive MMO fashion. Which would be sweet, especially if they didn’t make it fit into the existing story. If not then I will probably be horrified.
it is going to be playable via web browser. ie free and thus probably production value of -20.
LET BSG GO. The show was excellent, the movies were pretty good except for ‘the plan’ which was awful. Caprica is probably my favorite hour of tv right now, That being said for the love of pete let BSG RIP.
you’re preachin to the choir. i don’t like neverending franchises. things inevitably take a bad turn.
The facebook thing is extra awkward if you’re using the japanese interface because the japanese version of “like” translates roughly as “isn’t that nice!”. So you get hilarious inappropriate situations like
“3 dead, 2 wounded in fire”
2 people are saying, “isn’t that nice!”
HAH. Going to try that right now. *cough* srsly inappropriate though, too true.
“like.”
God of War III: Where having sex sounds a lot like slicing lunchmeat, and where watching makes you ravage the woman next to you. Hopefully, not for lunchmeat.
Ew omg! Does it really sound like that? I can’t bear to listen! Real sex, I mean…
Bad Company 2 multiplayer is good but I am finding it harder than MW2, the single player is pretty boring. But I am playing a sniper mostly in multiplayer which is odd for me because I am much more of a runner and gunner.
STEAM FOR MAC!!! and not having to re buy games i bought for pc !!!!!!
you failed to mention that the bleeding glacier is called the “Taylor Glacier.”
…
I predict The GaGa Rock Band Pack will be the highest selling Rock Band DLC EVER.
i havent picked up rockband in months yet I will probably buy this.
The concept used in the OK Go video is called a Rube Goldberg device (or machine). I never get tired of watching RG style videos or displays. I few years ago at an art museum I got the chance to see Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s famous film “The Way Things Go”, which is a giant RGD. The original is almost 30 minutes long and it feels never-ending, but I couldn’t peel myself away.
If you’re curious, here’s the film, set at a faster pace (only 7 minutes!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tv-JbAurcg
Thumbs up for the SXSW, bleeding glaciers (ew and cool!), and Gaga links today!
I love RG machines, I’ve always wanted to make one.
Me too, though I wonder about my patience. It would be fun to use a football field and have an RG competition, with the goal of having to get a football through the uprights. Maybe the prize could be a box of dominoes, lol.
more importantly:
this card from the same artist is the winner:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40852229
That’s hilarious and I love it! I know a few friends that need that card.