Image Credit: Carol KaelsonVariety reports that both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have been renewed through the 2013-2014 season. This means two things: 1) I will remain in shape until 2014, since Jeopardy! remains my favorite TV show watch while working out, and 2) We get to watch Alex Trebek’s sheer disgust for underperforming players for four more years. And that, my friends, is the greatest gift of all.
A_E Y_U EX_IT_D, P_PWAT_HE_S?
I am a huge, huge fan of Family Feud. In large part because I love how often “a gun” actually ranks on the list of survey responses. (On one episode, “a gun” was actually the top answer to the question: “Name something you keep on your bed stand.” Shudder.) As a fan of contestants’ scary/bizarre/fascinating answers, I’m mighty peeved that I missed an awesome episode that featured a category about Ellen DeGeneres: “Name something that everybody knows about Ellen DeGeneres.” Not surprisingly, the fact that DeGeneres is a lesbian was the No. 1 answer. But one member of this family highlighted one mighty interesting “fact.” (See the hilarity that ensued in a clip from DeGeneres’ talk show after the jump.) READ FULL STORY »
I’ll admit, for someone who enjoyed the 2007 documentary The King of Kong as much as I did, I’ve done a poor job of keeping up with who holds the high score on Donkey Kong. I’m just now seeing Details‘ interview with the new world champ, Hank Chien, a 35-year-old plastic surgeon in New York City who took up the arcade game after seeing the film. I always wondered if I could’ve been a contender. “I was seriously addicted for the first three months. I was, like, not eating and not doing laundry,” Chien tells Details. Obsessive personality? I totally have that. In the beginning, he played for three hours a day. “It wasn’t a regular training program; there are some days I play zero, and then on some weekend days I play six.” Binge entertainment habits and the desire to say I’m in “training” for something (and since I’m afraid of walking on ice it can’t be curling)? Double check!
Really, the only thing that worries me are Chien’s degrees from Harvard in math and science. Apparently, math comes into play when you’re “point pressing — which is trying to squeeze as many points out of a board as possible.” I do enjoy sports terms like “point pressing” though… This is too close to call.
Anyone else take up Donkey Kong after seeing The King of Kong? How is your quest coming?
Image Credit: SonyHere at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco yesterday, Sony officially teed up some details on their long-rumored motion-sensing controller for the PS3. They’re calling it the PlayStation Move and hoping it’ll make you forget all about the Nintendo Wii. To work with your PS3, the Move needs a PlayStation Eye camera attached to the console and, of course, games that have been designed to take advantage of the new technology. A second wireless controller similar to the Wii’s nunchuk is also part of the Move ecosystem. At the presentation, Sony showed a handful of unfinished titles that will eventually work with the Move, including a version of their SOCOM military shooter, a Wii Sports-like collection of activities, and a party game.
The Move looks like a wireless microphone festooned with the familiar PlayStation square, triangle, circle, and x buttons. It also has couple of other buttons, including a trigger like the one found on the Wii remote. The Move’s distinguishing characteristic is a plastic sphere on top of it. This lighted ping pong ball is what the Eye camera uses to track the controller’s movement and changes color, presumably to make it easier for the Eye camera to follow it (or to just make it look cool).
The Move is a huge step for Sony and will result in an explosion of games that you’ve never seen before, at least on the PS3. Already, dozens of third-party publishers have signed up to develop games for it so when Sony releases it this holiday season for under $100, there should be no shortage of ways to play around with it.
How about it Popwatchers, particular those who don’t already own Sony’s console: does the Move make you want to mothball your Wii and buy a PS3?
For many of us, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are already an interactive experience because we yell at the TV. But come July, it’s official with the release of The Bachelor: The Videogame, hosted by Chris Harrison and using the likenesses of past show participants. What you’re looking at here is Jason Mesnick, one of the five Bachelors and five Bachelorettes you can compete for. We’re just gonna go ahead and quote the press release verbatim: READ FULL STORY »
Massive Playmobil heads in the wild! Why can’t this happen where I live? Brazilian artist Rodrigo Pereiras transformed boring old cement eyesores into adorable reminders of oh-so-fun toys. Best.
Your move, Lego fans! [Via NotCot]
Warning: this post contains a serious time-suck, and you might not get anything else done. Robot Unicorn Attack [makes noise] is my new obsession because it combines things I love into their most addictive format: robots, unicorns, catchy jams (in this case, Erasure) in a Flash game! Do you take this game to be your lawfully wedded game husband? I DO.
What’s particularly fun and different about RUA is that it’s a totally no-frills side-scroller — think Canabalt, except designed by sugar plum fairies and their mechabrethren. And instead of “lives” you get “wishes.”
What’s your top score, PopWatchers?
Dish Network is unveiling “Tetris TV,” a $2.99-per-month service that will “allow viewers to play game classic Tetris with a few clicks of their remote controls,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. Finally, a way to play Tetris on your TV! It’s tough to believe, but TVs are now as advanced as the calculator I had in high school. If only Nibbles TV were next.
If this were free, I’d give it a go. But the idea of paying a monthly fee to play a game that’s so widely available on such a variety of platforms is 14 kinds of crazy.
Would you play Tetris TV, PopWatchers, or just stick with, you know, regular Tetris?
Image credit: David Kraftsow
