This Penny Arcade strip really couldn’t be any closer to the truth. I’ve left my World of Warcraft Paladin, Hellioni, in cryo-stasis for the past few months and, like Tycho, have a copy of Burning Crusade sitting on a shelf. I’ll play it one day, I know.
Talking of World of Warcraft, Wonderland’s Alice pointed out this great audio/photo essay introduction to the game on Time magazine’s (of all places) website.
I didn’t know much about Dragon Quest, other than having seen commercials for a crap looking kids shows on TV, until I picked up a copy of the spin-off game Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime for the DS; a great little mini-RPG with cannon fights. Anyway, I decided to look into Dragon Quest a bit more after playing that and discovered this awesome looking RPG for the Nintendo DS due in Japan at the end of the year.
The DS isn’t known for it’s powerful hardware so this video for Dragon Quest IX was a bit of an unexpected treat. From the video it looks like it has a multi-player option planned as well; if it’s wifi enabled I’m sold! Of course, whether the game play matches the visuals remains to be seen, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one. In the mean time I’ll have to check out Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2, which I’d also overlooked until now.
A word from the wise: If you’re going to slack off at work, don’t document everything you’re doing (or, not doing) in a journal and save it on your office computer like Sheraton hotel employee Emmalee Bauer did. (via Gawker)
Remember Orville Redenbacher? Yes, the popcorn guy… the one that died about ten years ago? He’s back! Well, at least a scary rubber-skinned zombie version of him is. For comparison, here’s the real one — can you tell the difference? I’m not sure what’s scarier: the ad itself or that it’s directed by David Fincher.
The Walt Disney Company have just released their latest annual report, containing all sorts of numbers and junk that mean absolutely nothing to me. What is interesting, though, is that there’s a section within it entitled “Dreaming” which contains an array of concept art.
Concepts include “Carland”, a covered “urban entertainment center”, a new theme park, a “Pirate-themed adventure” (I wonder if this is linked to the Tom Sawyer island overhaul), a Monsters Inc. attraction and a new “night-time water spectacular” (a suggested replacement for Fantasmic, perhaps). (via The Disney Blog)
37 Fads That Swept The Nation: Hypercolor, Pac Man, Fallout Shelters, X-Ray Specs, Hula Hoops, Ouija Boards, Wacky Wallwalkers, Rubiks Cubes… (via Kottke)
A 24-minute long tribute to Walt Disney World’s Tomorrowland from 1971 through 1995 and includes many many memorable classics including the Wedway Peoplemover, Flight to the Moon, Mission to Mars, Autopia, Dreamflight, Carousel of Progress, Space Mountain and the Skyway. The film is put together from home video, official Disney film footage and concept art. I remember much of the stuff here and I, like many others, have watched the land struggle to find its footing in this more cynical age. (via BoingBoing)
The Grand List Of Console Role Playing Game Clichés: Including such gems as “All bookshelves contain exactly one book, which only has enough text on it to fill up half a page.” and “The strongest weapons/items/spells in the entire game can only be found by doing things like racing birds.”
Why classic computers and video game consoles turn that yucky yellow-brown colour with age, and what you can do about it. Short answer: not much.
Today marks the 300th anniversary of the 1707 Acts of Union, where Scotland joined England to form The Kingdom of Great Britain. In a true British style we’re celebrating by mostly ignoring it… and releasing a special two pound coin. Happy Birthday Britain!
