There were coordinated “Rock Band” parties last night in New York, Denver and San Francisco, all part of Funde Razor, a three-city charity event for Child’s Play.
This year marked the first time it came to San Francisco. At Funde Razor, people buy tickets to be entered into a raffle for a variety of prizes, from Zunes to signed boxes of "Rock Band 2."
When I walked into the open-to-the-public event, I ran into co-organizer Chris Kohler of Wired, who told me the turnout was phenomenal. They were just hoping to have enough people to keep the bar they rented out happy, but they packed the place all night long.
It was so packed I was barely able to take any decent pictures. Here’s what turned out:
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I called an GameStop near me on two separate days to confirm the Wiis they were advertising as "in-stock" weren't overpriced bundles.
Turns out they weren't. Then, I went to Target and found another batch of Wiis -- none of them were bundles either. What's going on here?!
There aren't stacks and stacks of Wiis at retail, but it does appear you can start randomly walking into stores and having a decent chance of picking one up. Are you guys noticing the same thing happening elsewhere, or is San Francisco just saturated with Wiis?
Maybe this has been happening for a few weeks now -- October hardware sales would indicate that -- and I've just been conditioned to not look for Wiis.
Let me know what you guys are seeing in your neck of the woods.
Hardly a day goes by where I'm not talking about video games with the people I'm around, but that happened on Tuesday evening.
My girlfriend and I hosted a handful of people for an election night watching party. There was plenty of food, drinks, cheering and careful silence -- but no game talk.
This, despite the fact that almost everyone in attendance either worked in the games industry or were, at least, a big fan of games. These are people I talk to on e-mail, AIM and in-person about games on a daily basis.
All of us were focused on the historic moments at hand. The night -- which went on for some time -- had nary a mention of "whatcha been playing?"
There were more important decisions to discuss, it seemed. What happens if "X" gets elected? What happens if "X" doesn't? Is there going to be an issue 30 years from now that our children look at us in bewilderment about because "we just don't get it"? We settled on something potentially robot-related.
We did think about playing "Rock Band," though. What was your election night like?
[Photo Credit: Stan Honda/Getty Images]
After picking up "Guitar Hero: World Tour" earlier this week, the number of plastic instruments littering my apartment is ridiculous.
As of this writing, we're currently up to six guitars, four drum sets -- one not pictured -- and five microphones (thanks, "SingStar"). Mercifully, the cymbals for "Rock Band" just attach to the kit. I don't need a new drum set for it.
The above picture is a nightmare for my girlfriend. We can't put a couch in yet because of this! She makes me stow away most of the instruments in the closet. We're thinking about hanging the guitars on the wall.
...or is that too far?
There aren't a whole lot of video game-related observations to make in my neighborhood. The surrounding blocks aren't the best parts of San Francisco and because I work from home and have no commute, I'm hardly ever seeing what people are doing with their portable time.
But every once in a while my neighborhood surprises me. Last night, I was walking my dog and came across a…"Resident Evil 2" strategy guide?
I owned this same strategy guide years ago, in order to unlock the hidden characters and endings that Capcom had filled the game with. It was a bizarre item to come across, and I half-thought about picking up the strategy guide before realizing the places it could have been before appearing outside my home.
That's my crazy gaming story of the day. Can you top it?
Back in college, several local bars would host "Guitar Hero" competitions.
I haven't noticed anyone in San Francisco doing anything similar. Maybe I've just missed it. But while walking my dog this week, I noticed something…else.
A "Rock Band" competition!
Not only does the bar Vertigo give away prizes to successful "Rock Band" bands, they even hold special rehearsal times for them.
That's dedication. Maybe I'll have to expand the scope of my own virtual "Rock Band" and see if we can't garner some real-life fans. Then again, maybe not. I'd rather just watch.
Do any establishments around you host video game-themed events?
I Am 8-Bit isn't the only place to take in some video game-inspired art.
In fact, if you're going to be in San Francisco this month, there's a new exhibit you'll want to check out.
Entitled "Game Over -- Art Of The Gamer Generation," dozens of artists have contributed some interesting interpretations of our gaming memories. The art is currently on display at Giant Robot (located at 618 Shrader St.), and runs through October 29.
If you're not in San Francisco, the Giant Robot web site has plenty of pictures of the art already online. To see some of the art, keep reading!
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The frantic nature of last week meant I didn't have a chance to share the photographs I took at Nintendo's fall summit here in San Francisco.
Now, though a week later, I have time to show them to you.
The highlight came when Nintendo hired the hotel chef to prepare part of the day's meals with their upcoming "Personal Trailer: Cooking." His food was delicious, and made me wonder if I could cook myself. Probably not!
For more snaps of his handheld-trained cooking and other parts of Nintendo's event -- including a look at the back of Reggie's head -- keep reading.
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The gritty but light-hearted "Saints Row" universe gives THQ some interesting options for their promotional events.
Last night in San Francisco, THQ held a small-ish event to show off the many multiplayer options available in "Saints Row 2" -- more on that tomorrow.
Tonight, I want to give you a look at what the event itself was like. THQ had plenty of interesting things to look at…
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Quieter drums aren't solving my "Rock Band 2" problem.
San Francisco is full of tightly packed, vertically stacked apartment complexes, which means it's not hard to have noise travel quickly from one apartment to another.
In the middle of a song, I'll hear a knock-knock-knock coming from the floor -- the neighbors are hitting their own ceiling! I've tried placing a towel underneath the kick pedal, but I still heard a familiar knocking beneath my feet, a signal they weren't happy with me.
I'm not sure what else to try. Apparently, our rocking out is proving too much. I don't want to have to unplug my subwoofer, and I can't stop jumping around!
Any suggestions for me, readers? I want to rock!
[Image Credit: Wikipedia/ Price Stern Sloan]
