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The Great Girlfriend Grab

While doing research for yesterday's post about Alex Kidd, I noticed something interesting: the intro to Alex Kidd in Shinobi World features Alex's girlfriend being whisked away by a villain who literally appears out of nowhere. Of course, savvy (and old) gamers will remember this little vignette as one of old-school gaming's bigger stereotypes; similar scenes even appeared in the intros to the throwback Haggleman series on Retro Game Challenge. I chuckled when I first saw Haggleman's parody, but after seeing it portrayed sincerely in Shinobi World, I started wondering to myself how many games I could find that actually opened with a girlfriend-abducting scene.

What follows are my results.

Posted Mar 10 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s)

Filed under: feminism, retro, girl gamers, bob mackey, Retro game challenge

Do Girlz REALLY Rock? - Liveblogging Bratz

Our fearless Editor-in-Chief knows a few too many things about me. He knows I love any excuse to turn on my Wii. He knows that I have a soft spot for "girl games". He knows that I spent many a summer at performance art camp. I could see the wicked smile peeking out from behind all of his best attempts to hide it when John handed me a copy of Bratz: Girlz Really Rock for Wii with the simple request of liveblogging my first play session. I resisted, I recoiled, but ultimately I relented. With President's Day off and a lingering Valentine's Day hangover to soothe, the time was ripe for bright colors and vapid pre-teen idols:

Posted Feb 17 2009, 04:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments

Filed under: derrick sanskrit, wii, playstation 2, girl gamers, bratz

The Future of Games Journalism

...is Dan "Shoe" Hsu and a pair of boobs that just won't shut up.

Posted Feb 06 2009, 04:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: yahtzee, cole stryker, girl gamers, dan hsu, the cut scene, raychul

Xbox 360 Parties: The New Tupperware Parties

I am endlessly amused by the industry's attempts to court moms. It's been semi-successful over the last few years, with Wii advertising the DS and Wii Fit in womens magazines and such. Most times it just feels so awkward and contrived. It looks like Microsoft is now trying to get a piece of the pie. USA Today reports that Microsoft is paying women to invite friends over for gaming night:

Posted Dec 23 2008, 05:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: nintendo ds, xbox 360, wii fit, cole stryker, women, girl gamers, scene it?, moms

Behold: The Internet's Effect on Erotica

Like an Abu Ghraib detainee, she stands weakly atop a tangled mess of wires. Tears wet her and wrinkling her mask. While input devices replace electrodes, the victim clearly shows signs of abuse. Behold, the filthy, overflowing trash can, the litter-strewn carpet, the mocking parade of action figures looking down. Thief I and II? Her captor is clearly a man of taste. Perhaps a would be Hannibal Lecter?

Posted Jul 29 2008, 12:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments

Filed under: cole stryker, thief, girl gamers

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.