Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Assorted Gaming Tomfoolery

Joe Lee e-mailed me about a world record gaming attempt in London on Saturday, and here are the details:
To celebrate the London Games Festival, DS:London in association with the London Games Festival Fringe, will attempt to break the World record for the most number of people playing a DS at the same time. And we'd like you to help and join in.

Budding record-breakers should bring their Nintendo DS, nicely charged up, and their favourite games to the Rocket Center, Holloway Road, on Saturday 25th of October. We need 400 to 500 people to break the record, which stands at a humble 381. This is an official World record attempt with adjudication from Guinness on the day.

The day kicks off at 4pm for registration and pre attempt fun with the record attempt starting at 5pm and All members of the public are welcome. Young or old!

...To break the record, we'll need to play our DS consoles for five minutes non-stop – doesn't matter if it's in a linked game or not. Turn up no later than 5pm if you wish to take part in the record attempt.

...This is a free event. We will have a collection on the day for voluntary cash donations that will go to Children In Need.

After a mysterious hiatus during which I was actively campaigning to put his face on milk cartons, N'Gai Croal has returned, and he has details on the new E3, which is not to be confused with the old new E3. Here's an excerpt:
...the Entertainment Software Association is preparing to announce tomorrow that E3 2009 will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center during the first week of June--and that for the first time, E3 will officially open its doors to the public at large. According to a source close to the process, the convention floor and meeting rooms will open on Tuesday June 2nd to media and industry professionals. On Friday June 5th and Saturday June 6th, however, the show floor will open up to the public.

...while attendance is expected to rise dramatically from the 2008 show, our source informed us that the ESA is aiming to cap next year's attendance at 40,000. That's significantly less than the record 70,000 people that attended E3 in 2005, and it's also less than the nearly 60,000 people who attended this year's Penny Arcade Expo in August in downtown Seattle.

I've mentioned Matthew Sakey many times in the past--he's a terrific writer and the author of the "Culture Clash" column at Gamasutra. He's now co-owner of Four Fat Chicks, which has been a gaming site focused on adventure gaming for as long as I can remember. There's been a site re-design and more frequent daily updates, as well as a broader focus, so if you're interested, head on over and take a look.

Site Meter