Doctor Who Theme in Mario Paint

“This video is bigger on the inside.”

I used to love Mario Paint. (via)

IBM and the Jeopardy Challenge

IBM and the Jeopardy Challenge (via)

Mr. Frogger

I was touring Steve’s Retro Room, and I leafed through his newly acquired collection of arcade cabinet marquees. I pulled this one out and felt a million guns of empathy shoot a million bullets of sadness and guilt right through my cerebro-arterial core.

Frogger was a regular guy on his way to work. Dear god.

—Neven Mrgan

Click through for the picture and the full story.

God's Number is 20

With about 35 CPU-years of idle computer time donated by Google, a team of researchers has essentially solved every position of the Rubik’s Cube, and shown that no position requires more than twenty moves.

Cube20

Scrabble Rule Change

BBC:

The rules of word game Scrabble are being changed for the first time in its history to allow the use of proper nouns, games company Mattel has said.

(emphasis/outrage mine)

Robot Playing Rock Band

“Rock Band has been released on the iPhone, and even though its a lot of fun, I would rather have something play it for me. Preferably a robot!”—Joe Bowers

Watch the video. I love how the sounds of the robot operating are like an accompaniment to the song.

Ian Bogost - A Television Simulator

Neat look at building an Atari game simulator looking at not just recreating the games but also at how they looked on 1970s TVs.

World of Warcraft - Cataclysm

MMO Champion publishes leaked information about the next World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm. With the presumed the defeat of Arthas coming at the end of the Wratch of the Lich King expansion, Blizzard has played out most of the plot threads left over from Warcraft III. Cataclysm will let them move on to newer storylines that (more or less) started in WoW.

Onyxia raid in 3.2

My World of Warcraft account is inactive, but this news makes me want back in!

This permanent update to Onyxia will convert the dungeon into 10- and 25-player modes. We will be adding new items to Onyxia’s loot table that have the same model as some of the classic loot from this dungeon, like Tier 2 helms, with stats updated to match the current level of content. There will be a special new item too: a normal drake-sized 310% speed flying mount modeled after Onyxia herself called an Onyxia Broodling. We will also be updating the encounter mechanics to be more fitting for modern raiding, but we can guarantee players will get to experience the frightening horror of deep breaths once again.

Then for a limited time, after the 5-year anniversary event officially begins in November, anybody who logs in will receive an Onyxia Brood Whelpling pet.

Really cool. Onyxia is a great looking dragon. I’m assuming the 310% speed mount will be from an achievement.

Time to bone up on strategy.

Update: A Q&A MMO Champion reprints says the mount will be a rare drop. They also have photos of the new stuff.

N00b Boyfriend - CollegeHumor video

What I like about this video, n00b Boyfriend, is how attractive the daughter and family are vs. the boyfriend. It would have been easy to make the gamer characters look like dorks, but the joke works way better making them look normal.

Kotaku - New Nintendo Release Exacerbates Lefty Gamers' Lament - Art style: base 10

New Nintendo Release Exacerbates Lefty Gamers’ Lament

DS game Base 10 is reportedly unplayable by lefties.

Innovative Nintendo game help system to debut this year

Innovative Nintendo game help system to debut this year

I actually really like this idea. I hate giving up on a game I paid good money for, but no matter how hard they try, there will be frustrating levels that you just want to skip.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Video Game, E3 09: Jedi Vs Sith Cinematic HD

Star Wars: The Old Republic Video Game, E3 09: Jedi Vs Sith Cinematic HD

It’s got me wanting to know more. Specifically, will it run on my MacBook in Windows mode?

The Art of Warbringer - Warriors - TankingTips.com

The Art of Warbringer

Useful Charge/Intercept/Intervene advice.

Watchmen: the game

Watchmen: the game

Real life Mario Kart

Real life Mario Kart

Diction Choices when Discussing Interactive Media

Here’s a headline from GameSpot yesterday: Beatles rocking original IP in Q4 2009. It’s a story about a game from Harmonix (who make Rock Band) that will feature Beatles music. So why does the headline read like a stock ticker? Games “journalism” has a lot of these bad habits. I guess the writers use “IP in Q4” instead of “new game late next year” because they want to make their writing sound smarter? Instead, it reads like they’re eating out of the patent lawyers’ hands. Game companies don’t make “games”, they make “intellectual property”, a term designed to keep focus on the author of the work and not on the owner. I can own a book, and when I’m done reading it I can sell it to a friend. But if a book is “content” that’s the “intellectual property” of its author, it creates an impression that I’m not its owner. Ironically, the gaming community is railing against copy protection like that used in Spore, which prevents people from being able to run a game they’ve bought on too many of their own computers.

See also David Pogue’s Tech Terms to Avoid and Kotaku’s Note to Internet: Stop Using the Term “SKU”.

Study squashes myth of gamer as antisocial Comic Book Guy

Study squashes myth of gamer as antisocial Comic Book Guy

Now we just need a study quashing the “antisocial Comic Book Guy” myths and I’m home free!

Stan Bush Wants "The Touch" In Guitar Hero, Rock Band

Stan Bush Wants “The Touch” In Guitar Hero, Rock Band

Hear, hear.

The World's Largest Wargaming Table

The World’s Largest Wargaming Table