Doctor Who - Ladies' 10th Doctor Jacket

Just some interesting news I thought I'd share for those of you who might be thinking of gearing up a costume for Halloween.

Apparently there has been enough demand that BBC has released an official ladies version of the 10th Doctor's Coat through Thinkgeek.  As I have done a gender swapped Doctor before, I find this news quite great! I also find it refershing that they are listening to demand to create official ladies' appareal too; cause not all of us want to go as companions.

This coat has all the works like the men's version, but has been cut to suit a ladies' figure.  This is a quality made product from the item description on the site as well, so it would be a solid coat investment as well as a costume piece.  This lovely item can be yours for the low price of $329.99, so start saving your pennies now.

Ohio State University Marching Band Games Tribute

While looking around on the internets, I came across this video from a recent half-time performance from the Ohio State University Marching Band.  Being a former band geek and knowing that IrishPride is still a band geek, I thought that him and others would get a kick out of this video.  The band has some amazing timing and choreography along with classic video game tunes (except for one).  Good job guys!

Christmas Gift Giving Ideas

Well, we only got 20 more days till Christmas and sometimes we all can just sort of hit our head against a wall for some Christmas gift ideas, so here's a couple ideas to get you started.  Hopefully I'll have more to come for you!

First off is World of Dice.  These guys usually do the convention circuit, so some of you out there might have seen their stuff.  Others of you maybe not, but they are really great people and have a lot of fun products.  They make jewelry and other fashion accessories out of dice.  They have close to 100 different colors, plus the different sided dice to make a wide range of choice selection.  I have mentioned before that I bought a scarlet d8 phone charm that's still going strong.  These item's a great if you're looking for a stocking stuffer or small gift to give your pen & paper player. 

If playing dice is more what you're looking to get for someone, then I recommend you head over to the guys at Gamescience Dice.  They might seem a little shocking when it comes to the price of their sets, but I can say with experience that the dice they make are some of the nicest ones I have ever rolled.  These dice are not tumbled so they have really sharp angles, making for more even rolls.  You can also by sets that haven't had their numbers painted in and save a few bucks doing it your self.  All you need is a white crayon and some paper to polish up the edges. They also have a wide variety of colors.  I have a set of crystal blue and red myself.  If you have any doubts about these dice and their claims to more random rolls, then I recommend watching the Youtube videos located a bit lower on the front page.

Hopefully these sites give you a couple of ideas to get up and running and I'll be back with some more ideas!

Too Much Pre-Release Info?

With the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword about a month away from release, I wanted to share my thoughts about the pre-release information on the game.  The information has me both excited, but also apprehensive.  In this digital age, I feel like I have too much information available on games that I want to purchase and play, such as Skyward Sword.  With this wealth of information available on future game titles, is it too much of a good thing?

Skyward Sword is the Zelda title I have been most excited about since Ocarina of Time (OoT) was released.  Back at that time, my greatest source of game information was my Nintendo Power subscription.  It would give tidbits about OoT and how the game was progressing.  There would be an article with a few pictures.  At the game’s release there would be a couple of short walk-throughs for the beginning section of the game.  At the time, I didn’t use the Internet much, mostly because it was a pretty new thing and AOL charged by the minute and not by the month yet.  The information I had available at that time was limited.  Sometimes a friend would have a few more tidbits from another gaming magazine or a wild rumor they heard from a friend of a friend of a friend.  Information was limited.  I felt like I had enough to formulate some thoughts about the game and if it was worth going for, even if I didn’t know everything; which is the problem I encounter now in the gaming world: knowing everything.

Even though I didn’t know about every place or mechanic in the game, I knew enough to make a decision on whether to play the game.  However, my knowledge was limited leaving some mystery to the game.  That’s the thing I feel is lacking in today’s coverage, the mystique of the game.  If I know about the game’s every secret before it is released, why should I play it?  To get the sheer joy out of checking those items off on my game progress list?  Currently with Skyward Sword, I can find an over abundance of information: screen shots, articles, videos, music tracks, podcasts, interviews, game play and opinion pieces.  Some of this information I desire, such as release dates, general stats in pre-orders, or interviews, but I don’t want to see every screen shot or video.  I don’t want to know everything about the game, just a convincing summary.  I want some surprise when I play the game.  I want some mystery that has been hidden from my knowledge.  

It’s like avoiding spoilers on that new movie you haven’t seen yet or that book you’ve been meaning to read.  There is so much information being flung around that it’s hard not to know what happens or what it’s all about.  I have purposely started to not read articles or look at videos to avoid what I feel are spoilers for Skyward Sword.  There seems to be something new every single day, even if it’s only a few more screen shots or game play video.  I did demo Skyward Sword at E3, mostly to see how it looked moving.  I was placed into a dungeon but not given a clear goal, just allowed to explore and test out the controls.  That’s the sort of information I want, concise and to the point.  I’m given the general goal of the game and some of its flavor, but the rest remains hidden for me to explore at my leisure when I begin to play.

Assimilator argues that as game reporters we don’t have the luxury on not knowing about upcoming games and what’s happening with them.  People want to know about them.  That’s true, but do they want to know everything?  Does every new screenshot have to convince someone again that they want to purchase and play this game or does it take that extra screen shot, that extra info to make them want the game?  Where do we strike a balance?  I’m not against all information, I’m just against too much information.  Let there be a little mystery and surprise around a title so the player can get to enjoy that experience while participating in the story, not before the game is released.

NDK 2011 Preliminary Review and Pictures

Another NDK has come and gone for us here at the Gameslave.  We are hard at work, ripping our recordings to computers, cleaning up pictures and writing articles about this year's anime convention.  I'm posting just a quick article about my own feelings and experience at this year's NDK as we work on finishing our main articles.

Hoping to find parking we left for the hotel earlier on Friday than we have in past years and still ended up having to park in the overflow parking.  At least they gave deals if you parked over the whole weekend, but man it was still packed.  We ended up having to park ourselves in the hotel lobby for awhile to wait for our room to finish up so we took pictures and took in the beginning Friday madness.  I know that NDK hasn't hit the max level of attendance yet, even with the attendance cap in place, but man was it crazy packed!  It seems that every year it's harder to navigate through the crowds of people.  It's mostly due to some attendees not understanding the meaning of traffic flow and pulling off the main areas to stop and take pictures or chat. 

Panels were extremely popular.  I say this in the fact that I, ZeldaQueen, have been attending since 2000 and remember just being able to walk in on some panels without having to line up and wait to get in.  Now there are so many attendees interested in panels that some will line up an hour or two before it starts to get in, and this is not just for the popular panels such as the AMVs or the Costume Contest.  While the waiting can't be helped due to limited seating in the panel rooms, it's encouraging to see so many people interested in the panels.  These looks behind the industry or discussions of it is what makes me interested in returning every year and we hope to keep covering more and more panels in the conventions to come. 

The number of guests was also great this year.  There were two guests from Japan and about 14 domestic guests.  It's great to see that NDK is one of those conventions that guests want to and like to come.  Some guests were new to NDK and the Denver area and some were coming back for another round.  Their enthusiasm and general appreciation for the attendees was heartwarming.  These were guests who enjoyed what they did and enjoyed sharing it everyone in their panels and just wandering the halls.  Though NDK is reinforcing the whole "you might be from Colorado" bit by introducing many of the guests to Casa Bonita.  Have no idea what this is other than a crazy Colorado tradition it seems, check out the place here.  I apologize on behalf of all Coloradans who think that this is still an appropriate place to take visiting guests.  We have much better food and entertainment than that I swear!

Artist's Alley seemed bigger this year.  Maybe it was the same number of booths, but the configuration was different so it made it seem as if a few more artists were there compared to last year.  Apparently the artists also reported having a better year than some years past, which is also good to hear.  There are some really amazing people there and they need the attendees support to keep creating excellent art!  Trust me I speak from experience.  A friend of mine from art school has been having her own booth in Artist's Alley for a few years now.  She does original artwork, comics and commissions.  It's great to see original art and not just fan art so I'm always glad to see that she was there for another year!  Her original online comic is called Devil's Cake and I recommend everyone to follow that link to give it a read!

I missed another late night show however as I ended up getting a bit worn down due to sleep depravation and not following my own rule of eating properly.  Had my meals, but had them a little too late.  I will do better next year and recommend everyone do the same.  Eat your meals and eat them at proper times and make sure you drink plenty of water.  These will make your convention experience better!

We have also posted our keeper images from this year's NDK.  You can check out the photos under our Photos Tab on the right hand side of the page, or by following this handy link here.  Keep tuned to our page for more information and news from NDK 2011, and until then Game On!