A Creamy Battle Of The Rock Bands In Chelsea NYC

This Wednesday I was taking a stroll through the gayboorhood of NYC, and noticed a trio of Rock Banders in the window of the Pinkberry on 18th St and 8th Ave. They noticed me taking their picture and waved me inside to join them on vocals. After rocking out to the luscious emo-riffs of Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf", I took some time to talk with the manager and several patrons about their bi-monthly game night.

The event was devised by shift lead Dionis who is an avid gamer and is on a mission to strum up some business and liven up the rather hum-drum Wednesday nights at the frozen yogurt shop. Said Dionis:

"We are all big gamers on staff. We want the neighborhood to come, have fun, chill and relax."

Well his idea certainly livened the place up. The place was packed with gamers young and old, waiting for their turn at Rock Band. The patrons were aflutter stating:

"Rock Band is their favorite game. Ever! and it is nice to have a place to go and game in their hood"

General manager JC, said they started the game night on Feb. 4th and plan to continue this event every other week on Wednesday nights. Prizes of yogurt will be offered and patrons can challenge the staff at any time. I certainly enjoyed pairing off with a staff member and Pinkberry corporate representative Jan Newton as we took on another team.

I asked if JC if he would consider other multiplayer games besides Rock Band and he said:

"Rock Band inspires that community feel we are looking for as Pinkberry being part of the neighborhood, so we will stick with that."

I know I will most definitely be back next time and will be bringing buddies. There is limited space for handheld gaming while waiting and it would be a perfect venue for you gaymers to meet and get your game on! The next Pinkberry Game Night is scheduled for Wed March 3rd at the Pinkberry yogurt shop between 18th and 19th st and 8th Ave. It will run from 7-10pm. See you there!

First Batch Of Starcraft 2 Closed Beta Keys Passed Out

Much to my own personal devastation, I was not included among the first round of blessed individuals who received access to the closed beta for Starcraft 2 when keys went out yesterday. However, the silver lining to this is that it can hopefully be taken as a sign that everything is on track for a release along Blizzard's stated timeline.

As someone who played Starcraft and Brood Wars so much I wore down both CDs and had to buy a second set, I cannot put into words how excited I am for the game's release after twelve long, long years.

While I figure out who to kill or perform sexual favors for to get a beta key, enjoy these three videos over at 1UP.com taken during their livestream of the beta yesterday. If you picked up a key yourself, show off in the comments. (It makes it easier to narrow down who I need to come after!)

Happy Valentine's Day From Gaygamer!

Hey Gaymers! Here's wishing you all a very happy and safe V-day! I thought I'd share some options for those coupled and those not to insure you are never left hanging on this hot holiday!

For those coupled, there is nothing hotter than braking out those fighting games on Valentine's Day! Nothing heats up the room like two mates working strip Soul Calibur! Adjust the handicap according to style and skill and don't be afraid to make up your own rules when the last threads are shorn!

Those hanging loose today will find strength in numbers. So invite some friends over for some drinks and New Super Mario Bros. Your new beau may be someone you overlooked...

Valentine's Day can get a little predictable with candy and flowers so why not give it a little twist with a game exchange? Don't say it with flowers! Say it with Bioshock 2 and Bayonetta! These gems are sure to last much longer and keep the smiles coming!

Today boasts the highest "hook-up" ratio for the entire year! Even eclipsing the ever popular Cinco de Mayo! For you single Kats and Kittens, heading out solo is the way to go! Check out the major Gay parties in your city for a night of adventure! For those in NYC there is the Valentine's Ball at the opening of Crimson for your single party needs!

Whether your partnered or snuggling with your good gaymer buddies, today is a day about togetherness. Here's wishing you the safest and best this Valentine's Day!

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Game Release Party NYC

The guys at Game Over Entertainment were nice enough to extend an invite to all Gaygamers for thier Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom release party January 26th at Arctica Bar & Grill. There will be an discounted cocktails and full on tournaments in Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom and a plethora of other blockbuster games including:

• Street Fighter IV
• Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Halo 3
• Madden 10
• FIFA 10
• Mario Kart Wii
• Mario Party 8
• New Super Mario Bros.
• Super Smash Bros.

So come on down you NYC guys! It is sure to be a blast this coming Tuesday Night! Come decked out in your best threads, down some cocktails and show off your Gaygamer skills and pride with some of the hottest games this year! Again the information is: Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Release Party: Tues. Jan. 26th @ Arctica Bar & Grill 384 3rd Ave. & 27th St. 6 pm - 4 am. See you there!

Reminder: Last Chance For PAX East Discounts

There's only 10 days left in the year, which means you only have 10 days left to register for PAX East at a discounted price. Until the 31st, you'll be able to register for a $25 two-day pass or a $45 three-day pass, normally $35 and $55 respectively. You can register here. PAX East will be held in Boston from March 26-28 and will be a three day gamer festival.

The specifics, like location and event schedule, are not yet nailed down, but it's safe to assume it'll be a lot like previous PAX events. PAX 09 featured musical performances by Anamanaguchi, Freezepop, Jonathan Coulton and MC Frontalot, and gaming booths set up by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. PAX '09 also featured a minor swine flu outbreak. That probably won't happen again, but you might want to get vaccinated just in case.

Get Your PAX East Early Bird Discounts [via Game|Life]

Yahoo To Bestow Free WiFi in Times Square: DS Party NYers?

Attending PAX this year was a revelation to me. For the first time I was able to link up with other like-minded adults in handheld lobbies designed for multiplayer gaming. I was delighted by the sheer amount of gamers, increasing the chances of gaining that elusive "mingle" xp in games like The World Ends With You. With so many games requiring interconnectivity to unlock some of the best content, situations like this practically demand the hauling of my entire DS library to an event like this. But who has time to wait for a Con? It looks as if the answer is coming from Yahoo, at least in New York City anyways. Starting this week Yahoo has enabled anyone with an Internet ready device to surf the web free from Mayer Bloomberg's city street turned tourist park right on Broadway and 42st street. This means DS/DSi/PSP owners now have an iconic location to inspire you to get out of the house and into the limelight for gaming. The entire street is ladled with red folding chairs smack dab in the middle of the center of the universe. With WiFi capability this makes it a veritable haven for gamers and techies to get together and game. Knowing the scads of fashionable gay gamers in New York love Broadway as much as I do, meet-ups and pre show dinners could coincide perfectly with the restaurants and theatres literally feet away from this hotspot! I will be on the forums this week to try and set up some holiday gay gaming fun!

Metroid Prime Trilogy Demands Motion-Control

Why, Nintendo, why?

As it did with the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo is removing the ability to play with legacy Gamecube controllers from the two Gamecube Metroid Prime games as they appear in the upcoming Metroid Prime Trilogy.

Upgrading the games to work with the Wiimote and nunchuck is, of course, a stellar idea - it will let anyone play the entire trilogy as if all three games had been a part of the Wii catalog all along. That'll definitely sell some additional units.

What isn't a stellar idea - what is, in fact, a pushy and controlling bit of technological dogma - is that Nintendo seems to have removed the ability to play the first two Metroid Prime games as they were designed to be played. Why both control schemes couldn't sit side-by-side seems a bit of a mystery, and would have given players an iota of control over how they wanted to experience games whose value, as part of a retrospective, are tied inherently to their original play experience.

Nintendo, we get it: there are plenty of games on or coming to the Wii to appeal to the core gamer fanbase you've been accused of alienating. You've made your point. But why in the world would you make that point while simultaneously re-alienating that same fanbase, some of whom will be understandably miffed that you won't let them enjoy the games you're selling - at least not as those games were originally designed.

If I'm not mistaken, it's the success of that original design (at least for the first Metroid Prime, if not its sequel) that paved the way for the kind of success that merits releasing all three as a trilogy. Doesn't that at least merit a little room for consideration? What's with the control-scheme control freakishness?

Metroid Prime Trilogy forces motion control on gamers [Ars Technica]

E3 09: Wii Sports Resort

Wii Sports took the world by storm turning non-gamers into gamers and giving long time gamers some much needed physical activities. As simple as it was, Wii Sports changed the what gaming was about and brought it to people who would never even think of picking up a controller. Nintendo knows a good thing when they see it and to capitalize on the popularity of the original, they are releasing Wii Sports Resort (aka Wii Sports 2).

Players take a trip to Wuhu Island where twelve sports await them: Archery, Frisbee, Basketball, Cycling, Canoeing, Power Cruising, Table Tennis, Air Sports, Bowling, Swordplay, Golf and Wakeboarding. As with the original Wii Sports, each sport will make use of the Wii Remote (and sometimes nunchuk) in different ways to simulate the sport being played. The addition of Wii Motion Plus makes the action even more precise that the first game.

I tried out the archery and basketball games and as in life, I was terrible at basketball. The control for it was pretty dead on however. Where I really seemed to shine was on the archery. You use the nunchuck and Wii Remote like a bow, pressing the Z button and drawing the nunchuk towards you to simulate the string. A focus circle appears and once you are done aiming simply let go of the Z button and the arrow goes flying. The shots were surprisingly accurate and as the levels progress, you get further away from the target and must adjust your aim for distance and wind.

Wii Sports Resort is certain to be another big hit for Nintendo when it launches next month on July 26th. It comes bundled with the Wii Motion Plus for $49.99.

German Researchers: Pentagon Behind Violent Games

It seems that conspiracy nut and felon Lyndon LaRouche isn't the only one who thinks video games are part of a deliberate architecture to control the minds of the young and rule the world from a seat of black-hearted anarchy.

A pair of German researchers have one-upped that rather radical notion, appending the theory with an unlikely (or perfectly likely, depending on your level of paranoia) mastermind: the Pentagon. According to the pair, violent video games are a creation of the US military:

During the nineties the killing simulators, employed for hand to hand combat in the US army and police, were released by the Pentagon to be sold for private use on the public markets. As a consequence the computer and video game industry that had co-operated with the Pentagon from the very beginning, boomed. Since then the so-called killer games have wreaked havoc among children and youths.

The US army's electronic training programs for killing people must be taken back to the US barracks, where they came from. They have to disappear from civil society altogether. They may be appropriate for the purpose of national defense or fight against crime; they have no place, however, in children's rooms or in living rooms.

Never mind that Orson Scott Card already did this story over 20 years ago, and won awards for it, or that Ender's video game war machine was chillingly effective, while the US military is often chillingly ineffective, or that the America's Army games aren't that good, or that most violent games are in fact very bad at teaching practical violence (ie, pointing and shooting does not a master criminal make, and the cops don't stop looking for you once you spend a certain number of seconds outside an arbitrary search radius).

One could go on, if one had a mind to. But what about focusing on real guns and how violent-minded individuals acquire them, rather than trying to pin down conspiracy theories about virtual guns, whose style of realism is far too incomplete to silently create an army of super-ninjas, let alone bear the blame for the violent side of human nature. Germany banned war-themed toys after World War II, but it doesn't seem to have stopped war.

Isn't the major force that has "wreaked havoc among children and youths" human nature itself? And can you really blame that on, well, anything but human beings?

German Researchers See Pentagon Link to Violent Games [GamePolitics]

GayGamer Gathering In Orlando Next Week!

Attention all Florida GayGamers! This post is especially for you because next Saturday, GayGamer will be causing trouble in the birthplace of boybands: Orlando!

Come on out and relax at Firkin and Kegler on Saturday, April 18th around 8pm with fellow GayGamers as we kick back, grab some eats, and play a whole lot of games. While there will be plenty of pool tables, bowling, and arcade games to go around (do I hear a DDR challenge?), come prepared for some special DS/PSP handheld fun because yours truly will be in attendance. The vitals are highlighted below. Help us out by RSVPing on the gathering forum thread. Can't wait to see y'all there!

Saturday April 18th, 8:00 p.m., at Firkin and Kegler, at 12850 Waterford Lakes Parkway, Orlando, Fl, 32828

Special thanks for KuuKuso for arranging all the magic!

Chicago GayGamer Meet-up A Resounding Success!

Mikey and I have been in Chicago for the past several days (as a matter of fact I'm still here!) and had the honor of throwing and attending a reader appreciation party. It was a blast and over forty people showed up to Purgatory Pizza for a night of socializing, pizza games and prizes. It was really fantastic meeting everyone who came and I hope you all had as good of a time as we did. Unfortunately my camera crapped out that morning so I only snapped a few pics but I know some other people did so I'll be posting those later. But for now, here are the ones I got including this fantastic group shot. Sadly a lot of the group had left by the time we got this shot but now that I think about it, we might not have gotten everyone in the shot there were so many!

Be sure to keep your eyes open because you never know when a GG party may be happening in a town near you!

Reminder: Official GayGamer.net Chicago Event Tomorrow March 27

So this is my second day at thePyCon conference in Chicago. It's quite possible some of the things that I am learning about will turn into new feature or improvements around here. As Fruit Brute and I have both mentioned, we are having an official reader appreciation party. Fruit Brute is flying in today and should be here any time now! So all your Chi-town gamers, make sure to come out and meet us tomorrow night. Here are the details:

Friday 27 March 2009, 8:00 p.m., at Purgatory Pizza, at 3415 N. Clark St. (Brown line and Red line: Belmont)

GayGamer.net will be buying the pizza, and those of age are welcome to join us afterwards for some drinks. We've got door prizes and will have our DS/PSPs. So come meet the founders of GayGamer.net and have a good time as well.