Super Flappy Bird Brothers

Super Flappy Bird Brothers

I enjoyed this article chronicling the path to FlappyBird's success and "fall"...
28 Days of Fame: The Strange, True Story of 'Flappy Bird'

XBox One Reveal

The XBOX One was revealed today.

Angry Birds

I was wondering if a cheat sheet like this existed...

Behold, The Winning Swipe For Every Level Of Angry Birds

Behold the winning swipe for every level of Angry Birds

Little Nemo

Not the fish...

Seeing the Google Doodle today with an animation/illustration of Little Nemo inspired by Winsor McCay's comic, I was reminded of the Little Nemo Nintendo game I used to rent from the local video store.

The Last of Us (Gameplay)

The Last of Us (PS3) Best looking game I've seen at E3 so far... Naughty Dog studios, makers of the Uncharted series, are incredible.

I've read in articles the studio pushes themselves to do the most complicated effects to push the console to its limits, including fire, water, and sand dynamics. Their storylines, attention to details, and gameplay are amazing.

5th Avenue Frogger

Frogger parodies could easily be justified as designs we've seen a lot, but this is a clever, imaginative take on the franchise. The arcade box uses real-time web-cam traffic feeds (and some clever coding) of New York's 5th Avenue to simulate the car obstacles in the Frogger universe.

8-Bit NES Google Maps

Google Maps is exploring a brand new frontier with its next expansion: the Nintendo Entertainment System. Go to http://maps.google.com/ and map out your destination in QUEST mode!

A view of the United States in Google Maps using "Quest" view. Google

Are video games art? Draw your own conclusions

From USA Today

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, which houses such masters as Georgia O'Keeffe and John Singer Sargent, steps right into the middle of the argument with a new exhibit, The Art of Video Games. It begins a six-month stay at the Washington museum Friday before going on a national tour.


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Video Games in the Smithsonian

We were having this discussion a couple of weeks ago at work. I definitely think video games are art. One of my "top-secret," under development gallery exhibitions focuses more in-depth on this concept. However, our topic was regarding a game a co-worker has been playing called "Skyrim." Every screen capture he took from the actual gameplay was worthy of being a framed piece of art. So, he took his high-res screen captures, blew them up, and did exactly that.

Happy Little Trees?

Only Missing Two Figures  :)

Uncharted 3

Uncharted 3

A screenshot from Uncharted 3 by IGN.com

I can't say I am an avid video game player, but I respect the art. I wanted to be a video game artist when I was younger.

I own a Wii and a PS3. I used the Wii for a little while playing Wii Sports when friends came over. Besides that, I've probably only played a couple games for it. I mainly use the PS3 to watch DVDs and access Netflix. However, there is one game franchise that has me hooked--Uncharted.

I was impressed by the movie-like storytelling (say Indiana Jones), the compelling digital renderings, and the action-puzzle gameplay. Uncharted 1 and 2 were fantastic, so I am looking forward to 3 which releases November 1, 2011.

If ratings are any indication, IGN has given it a perfect score of "10" which equates to a masterpiece.

Then and Now: Game Characters Evolved

from Yahoo! Games

photo by Yahoo! Games/Y! Games Staff - July 14, 2011

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wii U (E3)

At the E3 Expo, Nintendo has announced its new controller/console/peripheral–the Wii U. Sony showcased their new handheld device--the Playstation Vita.

wii U from Gametrailers.com

E3 Starts Tomorrow

E3 Expo: June 7-9, 2011

Electronic Entertainment Expo. The annual video game conference and show at the Los Angeles Convention center.

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The Death of Arcades

The Death of Arcades

by William D. SIEMER II

Finish Him! Ms. Pac-Man wins an ugly custody battle of the pac-kids and pellet support.

Do arcades still exist? Now that home entertainment technology has finally caught up to the electronics that once only existed inside an arcade machine, does anyone really need to leave their home to play the latest and greatest? Today's consoles have movement-capture technology, high-definition graphics, 3-D capabilities, and provide access to streaming movies, internet, music, photos, and more.

When I was young we had several arcades, or we could go to bowling alleys or malls. My friends and I would save our quarters and ride our bikes to the arcade to play Cruisin' USA, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, or Mortal Kombat. We would try to learn the joystick and button combinations all the moves and Fatalities. It's a fun, nostalgic memory thinking back on it.

However, arcades are a dying art. Most of them are gone, and the bowling alleys and restaurants have quit updating their machines. You can still play some of the classics like Pac-Man and Galaga. I prefer pinball machines. There are a few places you can still enjoy an occasional game while drinking adult beverages. In the Cincinnati Tri-State area, we have Dave & Busters and Newport on the Levee's GameWorks to name a couple.

I have always had an arcade in my house in the Atari 2600. After all the technology comes and goes, it's the simplicity of classics like Asteroids, Joust, Frogger and Pitfall that continually stand the test of time.

Pac-Man: 1 quarter
Wii: 600 quarters
PS3/XBox 360: 1,196 quarters
iPad: 2,396 quarters
Typical Computer: 3,600 quarters