Coffee Talk #255: Your First Videogame Console

I hope everyone had a fun, relaxing, and food-filled Thanksgiving. Let’s ease back into things by talking about the first videogame console you owned. My videogame friends span a broad age range; some of them started off with the…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the RPad.tv Cyber Monday sale, your favorite turkey leftover dish, or Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I hope everyone had a fun, relaxing, and food-filled Thanksgiving. Let’s ease back into things by talking about the first videogame console you owned. My videogame friends span a broad age range; some of them started off with the Atari 2600, while others kicked off their game lives with the Nintendo Entertainment System. How about you?

As for me, I started off with the Fairchild Channel F (and chucked a controller at my friend’s face days after opening the box). My dad brought it back home one day as a surprise. I was so young that I had no concept of videogame consoles. Being able to control what was happening on the family television was pure magic to me — just completely fascinating. For the record, I had nothing to do with my father’s purchase, so it’s really his fault that I love videogames so much. Ha!

Now it’s your turn! What was your first videogame console?

Updated Xbox Live Black Friday Deals

Here’s an updated list of Xbox Live Black Friday deals. They’re good until November 29, 2010. Kindly check out the list and let me know if any of the goods interest you!

Here’s an updated list of Xbox Live Black Friday deals. They’re good until November 29, 2010. Kindly check out the list and let me know if any of the goods interest you!

Games Add-Ons
Splinter Cell Conviction Deniable Ops: Insurgency Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%
Alan Wake The Signal Regular Price: 560 Discount Price: 320 Savings: 43%
Trials HD The Big Pack Regular Price: 400 Discount Price: 240 Savings: 40%
Rock Band 3 – Lady Gaga Pack 01 Regular Price: 560 Discount Price: 280 Savings: 50%
Rock Band 3 – Nirvana Pack 01 Regular Price: 880 Discount Price: 640 Savings: 27%
Rock Band 3 – Nirvana Pack 02 Regular Price: 440 Discount Price: 240 Savings: 45%

Games
Monkey Island: Special Edition Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%
Monkey Island 2 Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%
Puzzle Quest 2 Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 800 Savings: 33%
Serious Sam TSE Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 600 Savings: 50%
Zombie Apocalypse Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%
Portal: Still Alive Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 67%
VooDoo Dice Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%
Mega Man 10 Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%
Magic the Gathering Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%
Madden NFL Arcade Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 400 Savings: 50%

Dolly Avatar Clothes
Secret of Monkey Island – Cotton Swab Regular Price: 160 Discount Price: 80 Savings: 50%
Fantasy Pets – Red Dragon Regular Price: 240 Discount Price: 120 Savings: 50%
Lara Croft – Xolotl Mask Regular Price: 160 Discount Price: 80 Savings: 50%
Modern Warfare 2 – Gas Mask Regular Price: 240 Discount Price: 120 Savings: 50%
Gears 3 – COG ArmorRegular Price: 320 Discount Price: 160 Savings: 50%
Street Fighter – Dudley Outfit Regular Price: 320 Discount Price: 160 Savings: 50%
Street Fighter – Chun Li Outfit Regular Price: 320 Discount Price: 160 Savings: 50%
Diesel Matic 8B3 Jeans Regular Price: 160 Discount Price: 80 Savings: 50%
Diesel Viker 8A7 Jeans Regular Price: 160 Discount Price: 80 Savings: 50%
Quicksilver Fuze Flannel Shirt Regular Price: 160 Discount Price: 80 Savings: 50%
Roxy Enough Said Woven Shirt Regular Price: 160 Discount Price: 80 Savings: 50%

Video Content (US Only)
Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 720 Savings: 40%
Clash of the Titans Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 720 Savings: 40%
Cop Out Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 720 Savings: 40%
The Losers Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 720 Savings: 40%
Sex and the City 2 Regular Price: 1200 Discount Price: 720 Savings: 40%
300 Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%
Batman: Gotham Knight Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%
Goodfellas Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%
Michael Clayton Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%
P.S. I Love You Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%
RocknRolla Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%
Twister Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%
Unforgiven Regular Price: 800 Discount Price: 380 Savings: 53%

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Axl Rose Sues Activision Because He Hates Slash

Guns N’ Roses frontman W. Axl Rose is suing Activision…pretty much because he hates former bandmate Slash. Rose was under the impression that Slash and his new band Velvet Revolver would not be  in Guitar Hero III. He was under the impression that Slash imagery would be used for a tradeshow and not in the actual game. Here’s the skinny from The Hollywood Reporter:

The Guns N’ Roses frontman has just filed a $20 million lawsuit against Guitar Hero maker Activision claiming its use of the GNR song “Welcome to the Jungle” violated a deal not to include any imagery of ex-guitarist Saul Hudson (aka Slash) in the popular game.

In an amusing lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rose and his Black Frog Music claim that Activision Blizzard fraudulently induced Rose into authorizing “Jungle” for use in Guitar Hero III by telling him during negotiations that it wouldn’t feature any reference to the former GNR member or his subsequent band, Velvet Revolver.

As much as I loved GNR back in the day, I always thought Axl was a dick. This confirms it.

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Coffee Talk #254: Your Black Friday Plans and Reports

Today’s Coffee Talk is a double bonus edition…which means you have to treat it like a double rainbow. I expect you to cry with glee and ask, “What does it mean?” Seriously though, today I want to hear about your Black Friday wishes.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, SAP being fined $1.3-billion for stealing Oracle software, trying out Coava coffee, or the magic of cranberries, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today’s Coffee Talk is a double bonus edition…which means you have to treat it like a double rainbow. I expect you to cry with glee and ask, “What does it mean?” Seriously though, today I want to hear about your Black Friday wishes. Are you looking for games, computer stuff, new televisions, an iPad, or other goodies?!? Will you brave the crazy crowds or surf the Internet for specials (like this lovely Amazon list!)?

After you’ve grabbed your Black Friday loot, kindly post your purchases here. As for me, my Black Friday plans have been killed by a lack of income. Ha! I’d love to grab an iPad when Apple slashes prices on Friday, but I’m way too poor. Instead, I’ll draw on a piece of cardboard and pretend it’s an iPad. Ha!

Now get with your Black Friday wish list (please)!

What Are You Playing Over Thanksgiving Weekend?

It’s Thanksgiving weekend — a great time to catch up on gaming and/or try out new games! What are you playing this weekend now that you have two extra days? As for me, I have an ambitious lineup of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw, Splatterhouse, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom (if it arrives in time), Enslaved, and WordFeud for Android.

How about you? What’s on your Thanksgiving weekend playlist?

Pokemon Black/White Starters English Names Revealed

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have revealed the names of the Pokemon Black and Pokemon White starters! The grass starter is Snivy, the fire starter (not “Firestarter“) is Tepig, and the water starter is Oshawott. I can’t wait to meet them!

How about you? What do you think of the English names for the starters? Which one are you digging?

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Xbox Live Black Friday Sale

Microsoft has revealed some of its Xbox Live Black Friday specials. Check ’em out…

Microsoft has revealed some of its Xbox Live Black Friday specials. Check ’em out:

Xbox 360 Games
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games) – 400 Microsoft Points
Halo: Combat Evolved (Microsoft Game Studios) – 400 Microsoft Points

Xbox Live Arcade
Trials HD (Microsoft Game Studios) – 400 Microsoft Points
‘Splosion Man (Microsoft Game Studios) – 160 Microsoft Points
Monkey Island: Special Edition (Microsoft Game Studios) – 400 Microsoft Points
Madden NFL Arcade (Electronic Arts) – 400 Microsoft Points
Portal: Still Alive (Microsoft Game Studios) – 400 Microsoft Points

Zune Movies
Clash of the Titans – 720 Microsoft Points
Sex and the City 2 – 720 Microsoft Points
Cats and Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore – 720 Microsoft Points
300 – 380 Microsoft Points

I never got around to Monkey Island. Perhaps I’ll pick that up. If you haven’t played Portal then I suggest you buy it this week. It’s excellent. If you even think about buying Clash of the Titans, I’ll fly to your house and smack you. Any of this stuff interest you?

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Coffee Talk #252: What’s Your Favorite “Name” Game?

A lot of videogames have a famous name attached to them. Some have athletes (Frank Thomas: Big Hurt Baseball). Others have game designers (American McGee’s Alice). And some have…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Verve’s Panama Elida Estate Natural, Derek Jeter’s contract negotiations, or Sergio Martinez vicious knockout of Paul Williams, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

A lot of videogames have a famous name attached to them. Some have athletes (Frank Thomas: Big Hurt Baseball). Others have game designers (American McGee’s Alice). And some have musical groups (The Beatles: Rock Band). Today I want to hear about your favorite “name” games.

As for me…well, it’s a little embarrassing. I should say that it’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, but I’ll admit that it’s Britney’s Dance Beat. It has the same gameplay as the excellent Bust-a-Groove and was released before Britney lost her mind.

Now it’s your turn! Lay your favorite “name” game on me and enjoy these Britney Spears photos.

 

 

This Week’s Videogame Releases

After 72 years of delays (not really), Sony is finally releasing Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation 3. Whether or not the game is worth the wait, it’s sure to sell millions. The games I’m looking forward to this week are from Namco Bandai: Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom and Splatterhouse. Need some pop in your life? Then check out Michael Jackson: The Experience. Last, but not least, is Raving Rabbids Travel in Time.

Random note: as of this writing, GT5 is #2 and Michael Jackson: The Experience is #11 on Amazon’s videogame best seller list.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

Kingdom Hearts 3DS Details

Tetsuya Nomura dropped some details on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3D for Nintendo 3DS. Andriasang translated a recent issue of Famitsu and discovered the following:

Past screenshots showed Sora and Riku as they looked in the original Kingdom Hearts timeframe. They reason they appear like this is currently a secret. Nomura would only say that it was a necessity for the story.

They’re also currently going through world selection for the game’s Disney areas. The plan is to use all new Disney worlds this time. It appears that Traverse Town and other original creations will carry over into the game, though.

There could be some deeper meaning to the “3” in the title. In addition to indicating the use of 3D visual output, the game will be connected to Kingdom Hearts III both in terms of gameplay systems and story. It’s possible that the ending of 3D will lead into the story of KHIII.

As a Kingdom Hearts mark, I’m super excited for this game (especially the new areas!). I’m sure it will be a system seller for the Nintendo 3DS. Are you psyched for this game? Would you buy a 3DS for it?

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