Let's make happy
Played Things
Kackel Dackel
Jun 8th
As you know, I went to Berlin in April, accompanied by my lovely sister-in-law Jenna. I was mostly there to make art and to see art, and Jenna was mostly there to locate this game:
That’s right, it’s a German game in which you get points for making a dog poop. We actually didn’t find the game in any of the many toy stores we stopped in, but Jenna managed to acquire one later via eBay. It’s pretty much as fun as it looks!
By the way, Jenna, who took gorgeous photos of my cats last year, has just moved next door to us in Brooklyn. If you’re in the area and have a pet and/or a kid, check out her beautiful photography website!
John Set a World Record!
Feb 9th
I just had to share this exciting news: John is in the new “Gamer’s Edition” of the Guinness World Records book!
As you can see, he set a record of the most Gamerscore points achieved on the Xbox 360 in a 24-hour period. His original purpose for playing randomly point-generous games on the Xbox for 24 hours straight wasn’t to set a record per se, but to prove a point about meaningless points for an article for Eurogamer.
This happened in May of last year, smack in the middle of the first heat wave that we had in NYC. (No air conditioning for us.) It was grueling for him, and not easy to watch once he hit hour 18 or so. The whole thing was pretty surreal, and the bizarreness was enhanced by the fact that one of the games he spent the most time with—and I’m not kidding here —was Hannah Montana: The Movie. (It gives you mega points right and left for riding a horse and doin’ your thing on stage.)
I took this picture of him at the end of the 24 hours, which had begun at 10 am the previous morning.
Congrats, John! Please never try this again.
You can keep up with my husband the games writer and TV critic at his blog.
Creepy Gaming, Meaty Gaming
Oct 26th
Now that my show is up (and soon to be down, sadly!), I’ve had a little more time to do stuff with my hands other than knitting. Like gaming! I’ve finally had a chance to play Limbo, which I mentioned here a few months back. I’m really enjoying this game—it’s so beautiful and creepy! Definitely suitable for right around Halloween.
I love the spooky, lonely atmosphere of this game, whose visuals are entirely in shades of gray, with no dialog or even numbers or letters on the screen. It’s basically a puzzle game, with many unsettling twists.
Another little game that got my attention lately is Super Meat Boy, which John recently reviewed for the A.V. Club.
I haven’t played this one myself yet, but it looks like a fantastic platformer, and the art is wacky and superb. You’re a little cube of meat in this game, and that comes with fun splatting sound effects and meaty residue that you leave everywhere you land. Even as a vegetarian, I can appreciate this.
Limbo
Jul 20th
Limbo is a new game for the Xbox 360 that I am eager to play when I find some spare time. Just look at this beautifully moody screenshot:
John just reviewed the game for Eurogamer, so I got some glimpses of him playing it a few days ago. I was happy to hear from him that the game lives up to its prettiness.
Looks like it is officially released tomorrow!
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (get it??)
Jun 16th
That’s right—finally, a video game in which the characters are made out of yarn and use yarn-lassos and stuff!
Looks super-cute and fun!
This game was just announced at E3, and I heard about it by reading my husband’s coverage of the press conferences for the A.V. Club.
