Insert Credit caught my eye today. It seems like the arstechnica of the gamer world, catching off-beat stories and written in a casual and clever way. They include small screenshots near the article (something Ars and I like to do), things you wouldn’t find elsewhere although sometimes the same rehash of popular stories.

The number of MSX and SNK articles makes the site a bit unfamiliar to me but at the same time is vailidating of the off-beat nature of the coverage. For example:

You might remember the popular sdmkun, a little program that helped teach players how to dodge classic bullet patterns from various popular manic shooters. Now, thanks this nice clone called BulletGBA, anyone can practice their skills at Guwange, G-Darius or Dodonpachi in the restrooms or public transports. Thanks to forum member Quick Shot II Turbo for the tip.

I hate to repost but a simple bookmark or link wouldn’t have me remember this site.

I seriously missed something on the interweb. Some meme on the PA forums where you take a pic and put an animated pixel moustache on.

The Internet gives you … *drum roll* … seizure exhibits!

(… pictures after the more link here, causing problems)

(more…)

E3 is this week. Go mega-happy-event tasty!

No doubt, we’ll see some serious B.S. being pushed around the show floor. This year is a bit different, they are enforcing full names on the E3 badges this year (as painfully witnessed on gamespot’s On the Spot video) and the whole booth babe restriction (fine by me, came for the tech not the tits).

From that same theinquirer link:

ACCORDING TO the new E3 2006 exhibitor’s handbook, “nudity, partial nudity and bathing suit bottoms” are this year banned from the annual gaming fest in Los Angeles.

And any babes wandering about in anything less than regulation kit will earn their sponsor a $5000 on the spot fine…

Reposting some pics of Sony’s presence at E3. Personally, I think “PS3″ would work better than “Play Beyond”. Everyone knows what this is, especially at E3. Just like how people are adapting to Wii vs Revolution, something is lost when you change gears. You lose at little bit of traction and hype. Even after the Wii is in my hands, part of me will still be waiting for the Revolution.

So here’s Play Beyond. Expect major counter-fire from Microsoft and their X360.

Time to kill the joke. They show OSX features in video on top of a Microsoft Vista presentation (audio). Relates very closely to a previous post I made comparing Vista UI elements and layouts to existing OSX UI elements and layouts.

I hear the flaming. “Everyone copies everyone!” Please see my previous post:

I know people are always stealing ideas from other people. Apple has stolen ideas in the past (see: Dashboard vs Konfabulator). But this is a major OS release! Microsoft has the resources right? Shouldn’t they be the market leader? Not the market follower?

Serious arguments aside, the video is still hilarious. See also: not killing the joke.

Vintage computing had a couple of posts that were very interesting. First, an interview with a very serious game collector.

Crazy. I won’t accept critique on my gaming habits anymore after seeing that.

Then … on another article, a link to someone’s emulator PC hooked up to their TV. It’s exactly what I envisioned. They went out and did it.

Excellent setup.

Actually the two are somewhat related. You could fit all of picture #1 into picture #2 with emulation. lol.

NPR ran a story about the new MMO Dungeons and Dragons online. I especially liked the summary that the speaker gave. He said (something to the effect of):

If you’ve never played DnD, play WoW. If you’ve only played DnD, play DDO. If you’ve played WoW, wait a year for DDO to mature.

What a great summary that is. I certainly wish other reviews could be this matter-of-fact. Perhaps its exactly what I needed to hear or maybe it was unusually short and to the point. I felt his summary was all I needed to know and spoken the way I would want to hear it, as if I have already played it and I am giving advice to myself.

Anyway, the NPR story had a few sound bites. “You see a ladder, it had worn down like many hands have used it”, says the in-game commentary. DDO apparently has a voice DM narrating along. Robert Holt, the NPR reporter, did a good job of expressing his enthusiasm and nostalgia for his intense geek fests of fast food, cola and adventures in DnD. He was apologetic for his geekery and most NPR listeners were probably changing the title by now.

It was a driveway moment until the story was over and I went inside.

This site has an amazing amount of hi-res apple shots. Must have grabbed them from marketing handouts because I don’t think this stuff is out on the web.