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Category: Case Of The Mondays Cure

July 27, 2009

Case of the Mondays Cure – DJ’s, Obama, and Neon

by Frank — Categories: Case Of The Mondays Cure — Tags: , , , — Leave a comment
scared of the thunder
Image by jypsygen via Flickr

Dog days of summer getting you down? Feeling like this is the start to another brutal week of the work grind? Not to worry, folks, because we’re here to give you a pick-me-up with some neato geekery news articles:

DJ Jazzy Jeff Joins Up With DJ Hero Cast (via Destructoid): With Guitar Hero and Rock Band currently on top of the rhythm game genre, you’d think there wasn’t room for anything more. But new entry DJ Hero is poised to carve its own niche into people burned out over being in a band with Fisher-Price instruments. The latest has Will Smith sidekick DJ Jazzy Jeff joining up with the list of contributors – so hey, it’s nice to see the guy can find more work and not feel like Alex Winter to Will Smith’s Keanu Reeves.

TOR’s Official Event Schedule Released (via the TOR Official site): Everyone out there looking forward to Bioware‘s new MMO would do well to check the schedule of where you can stalk meet the folks behind Star Wars: The Old Republic. From all impressions, the game appears to be progressing fairly well, so be sure to check out where they’ll be at and roll on over.

The ECA Wants You To Educate the President on Video Games (via Game Politics): US President Barack Obama has been known to offhand refer to games as a pasttime that is not particularly worthwhile. Well, the Entertainment Consumers Association is looking to change that impression by lobbying for a movement to tell the president about the value of gaming. This will be great for an industry much maligned for the worst of addiction and violence stories, and it’s nice to have such an organized effort behind it.

Tron Teaser Hits Comic-Con (via The Escapist): Yep, even though there are some franchises some people look upon with dread when it comes to getting to the big screen (they’re looking at you, GIJoe), Tron is one of those nuggets from the 80′s that people look at with fondness. The remake is apparently in the works, and a teaser hit Comic-Con this weekend. Break out the Neon, folks – it’s gonna be a wild ride.

That’s if for this Monday – enjoy!

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July 20, 2009

Case of the Mondays Cure – Moon Games, Harry Potter’s Magic, and DRM Death

by Frank — Categories: Case Of The Mondays Cure, Gaming, Internet — Leave a comment
Harvest Moon
Image by SugaShane via Flickr

Summer’s clearly past its halfway point, but that doesn’t mean you should feel down about yet another Monday working its way into your soul and beating it down with a blunt and sometimes spiky object. As always, Overly Positive is here to lift up your spirits with a bit of good news:

-Forty Years After the First Moon Landing, and the Games That Love it (the Toronto Star, via Kotaku): “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. Those were the words uttered by those that first set foot on lunar land four decades ago. Kotaku’s dug up something written by a newspaper that talks about games that have moon references, or in some cases, whole levels. Yep, forty years ago, geek fantasies of traveling in space just gota little bit more feasible, so don’t give up hope – wet dreams about being a Jedi could be just around the corner.

-New Harry Potter Movie Launches, Sets New Opening Record of $396.7 Million (via MSN): Some people might think that Harry’s lost a bit of his magic over the years, but the new movie, “The Half-Blood Prince”, seemed to cut into that little notion just a touch – to the tune of nearly four hundred million, that is. The movie had the sixth biggest opening for a five day period in the US and Canada, and the previous record holder, Spider-Man 3, ended up making over nine hundred big ones. Will Harry Potter break a billion? We’ll see, but all indications look good.

-Star Fox Sequel on the way – Developed by Fans (via The Escapist): Those of you who yearn for the days of third-person space shooters will be happy to know that fans of the Star Fox series have decided to develop their own sequel to the series. It’s unclear whether this is going to be legally blocked in any way, but the game, titled Shadows of Lylat, will feature different Arwing types as well as “familiar faces” from the previous games. Sure, Star Fox is no Halo, but it has its own niche of fans and is firmly planted in a genre that could use more entries.

-DRM is Officially Dead, Says the RIAA (Torrentfreak, via Digg): The Recording Industry Association of America, the enemy of free-wheeling, music-downloading people everywhere since they took on Napster, appears to have come out to say “my bad”. Digital Rights Management, or DRM, has been a  constant pain point for consumers both legitimate and illegitimate, and segments of the industry who agree, most notably Apple, have provided DRM-free alternatives that have paid in dividends. So I suppose it’s no surprise when Jonathan Lamy, chief spokesperson for the RIAA, has to back down and declare DRM “dead” in the face of, well, empirical evidence and cold, hard cash. A victory for DRM fighters everywhere, indeed.

That’s all for now – now go forth, and enjoy your DRM-free, magic wand-less, non-Arwing commute – and don’t forget to buy up some of that lunar land if you can!

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July 13, 2009

Case of the Mondays Cure – Mechs, Not Being Homeless, and Contests

by Frank — Categories: Case Of The Mondays Cure, Gaming — Tags: — Leave a comment
Breakfast - with Flickr notes!
Image by Earl – What I Saw 2.0 via Flickr

Having trouble getting to that 9 to 5 job of yours, only to realize that you forgot something at home? Wish that it was Friday so you could go back to before you got that weekend hangover and you were anticipating the bar? Never fear, because even though the Mondays are here, there’s great things happening in the geek world:

Mechwarrior is Back (via Sarcastic Gamer): If there’s anything that warms the dark corners of even the most jaded gamer’s heart, it’s giant robots and mechs. Fortunately, an old franchise is coming back, and Mechwarrior is receiving a much needed reboot. Go check the trailer if you haven’t.

In Japan, Games Making More Money Than Electronics (via Kotaku): Even though the recession has hit the US and therefore everywhere else with the brutality of a UFC submission hold, there are some bright spots in the economy. Video games have taken a bit of a hit, with layoffs and lack of sales giving the industry a decisive body blow, but it’s worthwhile to note that at least in one country, games are alive and well. Japan’s long been a bastion of games development, and it’s nice to see that at least from their perspective, they’ll still be working.

Simulating the Homeless in Sims 3 (via Game Politics): Rolling along on the same lines, if you’re reading this blog, it’s probably a safe bet that you have a roof over your head and you’re at least getting by without being kicked out onto the street. Just remember – it could be worse. This report on how simulated homelessness via the Alice and Kev project opens eyes to how people might deal with the impoverished experience. Just be glad it isn’t you collapsing in a heap in the middle of suburbia with all your bars empty.

The Escapist and ScifiGenre.com $500 giveaway (via The Escapist): As I wrote yesterday, The Escapist is celebrating turning 4, and what better way to do that than with a few contests! Scifigenre.com is a one-stop show for games, toys, sci-fi merch, and more and they’re giving away $500 gift certificates to their store. This contest is only around for a day, so you’d better go check out the page to sign up!

There you go, a heaping helping of sun for your dark day.

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July 6, 2009

Case of the Mondays Cure – Zombie Crossplay, Twitter Givers, and Game Politics

by Frank — Categories: Case Of The Mondays Cure, Gaming — Tags: , , , , — Leave a comment

Perhaps you’re looking to get a pick-me-up after that long holiday weekend, or you drank too much and have to deal with a hangover at work. Maybe you just had to see what would happen if you put your hand around that bottle rocket, and you’re paying for it.

Well, Overly Positive is here to cure your Monday blues with another set of sunny goodness and a cup of coffee to jolt you into awareness. Let’s see what’s going on today:

Valve Trying to Allow for L4D1 and 2 Crossplay (via Destructoid): In spite of online revolutionaries still looking to storm the Valve castle over the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2, Valve continues to release tiny details about the game that show the players they get it. Today has a report that crossplay between the first and second Left 4 Dead is trying to be enabled, perhaps allowing everything from choosing from a bigger pool of survivors and sharing maps and sweet melee weaponry. A merging of this nature might take the sting off of those who are feeling a little put off by Valve’s uncharacteristic quick turnaround on a sequel, so keep an eye out, folks.

Twitter Potential for Charities (via TechCrunch): Twitter has become the darling for social media enthusiasts everywhere this past year, but practical use has always been a point of skepticism for some. Reports of non-profits using Twitter for fundraising purposes, however, show that the viral microblogging service might be getting an increase in usefulness. With amounts of $250,000, $10,000, and more being credited to initiatives started on Twitter, the future can only get brighter for everyone’s favorite blue birds.

Sesame Street Thinks Games are Good (via The Escapist): Sure, we’ve heard the video gaming industry take hits from some pretty visible and popular figures, but once in a while, they get some back. A report released by the Joan Ganz Clooney center, the minds behind Sesame Street, shows that video games can be “a force for good”, and that games such as Dance Dance Revolution promote valuable ideas such as physical fitness and perceptive understanding. Who knew that watching all those arrows would be Big Bird‘s cup of tea? Anyway, the full report, detailing several examples of games as well as a call to parents to play with their children, is in the link, but it’s good news for the industry when friends can be found in interesting places.

And finally, speaking of the perception of the video games industry…

Jack Thompson Puts Best Foot Forward at SGC09 (via Game Politics): Even if I weren’t giving my thimble-full of regular readers a shout-out to Game Politics for linking Overly Positive in their article (thanks to reader and friend Slurm for pointing it out to me), the Jack Thompson show rolling onward in a constructive direction is worthy news. Thompson has been no friend to the games industry these past couple of years, but even if this was only for a day, we had a meaningful, rational debate on violence in video games at a gaming convention. If that isn’t progress, I don’t know what is.

Have a good one folks – and remember – Mondays are just a reminder that the weekend will eventually come by to rescue you.

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June 29, 2009

“Case of the Mondays” Cure – A Good Day for 2′s and More

by Frank — Categories: Case Of The Mondays Cure, Gaming, Internet — Tags: , , , — 1 Comment

It’s the start of another week, and for those of you down in the dumps, don’t despair that the weekend is far, far away. For Americans, July 4th makes this week a short week, but aside from that, there’s tons going on in the world to bring a smile to your face:

Preview – Starcraft 2 Multiplayer (Destructoid): Be jealous of Destructoid’s Jonathan Ross, because he got an invite to Blizzard’s studios to check out the first hands-on demo of Starcraft 2′s Multiplayer. Apparently, there is much in the way of sexy in Blizzard’s upcoming hotly anticipated sequel. If the press is starting to get their hands on this stuff, it definitely means that release is definitely looking to be set in stone.

SEGA Comments on Michael Jackson (Kotaku): Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few days, then you obviously know Michael Jackson died of a heart attack, leading to a broad range of speculation from everyone from no-name bloggers to major news media outlets. Sega joins the commenting circus in the linked article, so with the developer of the only Michael Jackson game in the books, perhaps we’ll see less of Michael and more talk about actual games. Take heart!

Loyalty to Google Keeps Users From Bing (Digg): If you’ve been freaking out over the advertising blitz that new search engine Bing has been doing, don’t worry – people are attached to the “Don’t Be Evil” appeal of Google and its growing empire of open source applications. No one’s going to be uprooted any time soon for new hotness, so Bing’s got a lot to prove.

Despite Terrible Reviews, Transformers 2 Makes $200 Million (The Escapist): So if you despaired at some of the worst reviews given to a movie ever, then you haven’t looked at the numbers for Transformers 2, the Michael Bay sequel featuring more robot fights upstaged by more tiny humans. Even though the movie was set to flop worse than a politician running for office, the movie made back its costs and more in 5 days, pulling in a cool $200 million. Guess that goes to show that reviewers sometimes don’t know everything about a title – or that giant fucking robots sell seats.

There you go – feel better? I know you would.

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