http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iioJ0UY4JHM

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

Edit: Updating the embedded video to a link to the video, since I can’t seem to figure out how to make their player not autoplay, and I hate videos that start playing as soon as you enter a site.

http://swtor.com/media/trailers/deceived-cinematic-trailer

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/indiana-jones-and-the-staff-of-kings/indiana-jones-and-the-staff-of-kings-videos/1299470

From Midway Mania

Yes, I like Wii games, but I don’t go to theme parks to play them. When I go to a theme park I want to have that “Mission:Space” or “Soaring” experience, where I get to do experience something, I get to have a rush of emotion and experience I can’t possibly recreate at home. “Midway” just feels like an annoying way to play a video game — what with the spinning and long waiting in lines with sweaty tourists. If I wanted that, I’d wait an hour to play Wii Sports with my air conditioner turned off and a packet of liverwurst open in front of me. And then when I played I’d have my wife spin my recliner in random directions between levels.

Don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for the folks who put together these rides. It’s hard and it’s expensive. There’s no question in my mind that it’s an incredible challenge if you’re trying to make something a game and interactive and entertaining and also make it a big enough experience that people walk out thinking, “I may never do that again in my life. That was incredible.” And maybe Midway isn’t meant to be that kind of experience. But it’s hard for me to accept that you would build anything nowadays in a theme park that wasn’t that for someone at some level of thrill.

My suggestions? For Midway — it needs a better story. The game is fun, but where’s the “Buzz has been stolen by the evil carnival owner and the only way for me to get him back is to score high on these games and win him!” And then where’s the total twist on that, where’s the point where I won Buzz, but the evil carnies realize what I’m up to and I have to throw baseballs and pies to escape the carnival before we’re all caught. Just a blue-sky, not perfect. But I really feel like there needs to be a more emotion-grabbing resonance somewhere. The story that comes first and engages me in the game.

Maybe they’ll give away some liverwurst free with the Wii version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of4u5PMsD0Q&eurl=http://www.roosterteeth.com/archive/&feature=player_embedded

Jeff Green on why he says he sucks at gaming.

Grim Fandango Cover

Just the simple number of wacky adjectives you can apply to Tim or the things he worked on are examples of his genius. Give it a look. If you haven’t played his games, you’re missing something!

For those who don’t know, two-factor authentication means you have to provide two items to prove who you are to, for instance, the Internet site you are trying to log in to. In the case of an authenticator like this one, you provide both your password, chosen by you, and the random code provided by the authenticator, to log in. Since each code generated by the authenticator is unique each time it it used, someone who wanted to sneak into your account would have to actually have the authenticator in their possession AND know your password.

Authenticators like this are a really good idea, when used properly by the companies that implement them. I hope to see a lot more banks and credit card companies offering this kind of authentication in the future.

I know people who have had their accounts hacked, so I think getting one of these is really a great idea.

Bejeweled in WoW. Well, looks like flight time no longer means I can hit the restroom. I’m going to need a bucket….