This is definitely the week of driving. The sites have been insanely quiet today because i have spent over 8 hours cruising down the 101 (the historic El Camino Real - slowly passing many of the california missions) - at no more than 60 mph behind a uhaul towing a car that i spent all day/night packing yesterday... and yesterday between packing (moving the NOTCOT norcal office back to socal - so dan and i are both back in LA for good now), i was also a bit slow yesterday (and sunday and monday) because in between packing i couldn't stop playing MarioKart for the Wii!!! It's terribly addictive, and so adorable, and as silly as it feels to be holding a plastic toddler feeling fake steering wheel, i love it.

So MarioKart for Wii as one extreme... on the other end of the gaming/driving spectrum... getting back to my house after midnight (and the xbox still being in a box in the uhaul somewhere) i was thrilled to be greeted by a large amazon box with the GTA IV Special Edition set for XBOX (also available for PS3)... seriously, no one does schwag like Rockstar - beyond innovative gameplay and gorgeous graphics, their packaging and schwag always manage to blow my mind. So although i haven't played the game yet, the unboxing of the Security Deposit Box, Art Book, Duffle Bag and more is not to be missed... see it all on the next page!

So - MarioKart or GTA? Which will you be driving this week?

TO PAGE 2 of "GTA IV or MarioKart"! ----->

Tags: packaging - reviews - unboxing - video game - wii - xbox

Wow thanksgiving was a bit different this year. Apparently technology = bonding? Was this true for you too? Did your wii, xbox 360, and cell phones change the social dynamic of the feasting?

I haven't done a big family one (or been in the states for it) much the last decade... so it was funny to see everyone all grown up and out of college at my aunts, and we had a new set of young ones (twins 7 and 4) and all of us 20 somethings to entertain them. Just thinking back on what we did as kids at thanksgiving... we probably ran around outside - pool/basketball/tennis/etc, built forts, board games? movies? played lots of mortal kombat, sonic, etc? Well it certainly feels like times have changed... i brought down a plate of cookies and a basket of wii games as my contribution... the cousins had the wii projected on the wall ~ and hours were spent introducing newbies (who quickly got competitive!) to wii golf, tennis, and guitar hero... (fascinating watching how quickly even the 4 year olds would pick up mii making and game playing - not to mention how impressive the 7 year olds were at guitar hero)... the older generation was singing along... and when the little ones got bored early at dinner ~ their instant amusement? Borrowing camera phones and running around taking pictures and asking to keep them (i was slightly surprised they weren't emailing them to themselves)...

Anyhow, i wasn't the only one... Dan flew out to see family in Virginia and brought the wii and everything to go with it... and over at Joystiq, Ross has a great post on bringing Rock Band to his family feast (love checking out the images and the full family review of the new game)... and my old boss was even going to throw a Rock Band Party for Black Friday (momentarily postponed!)... Anyhow, just a quick post to reminisce... and ponder what we did back in the day?!?! So i guess i should have really added Rock Band and Guitar Hero to the Thanksgiving survival gift guide, but at least i had the wii!

Oh and on guitar hero ~ quite possibly the best Will It Blend to date is the one below of the GUITAR being blended. Must watch.

TO PAGE 2 of "Techno-Thanksgiving"! ----->

Tags: gifts - shopping - video game - wii - xbox

The Rabbids have returned! Almost... Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 coming in Nov! They are back and better than ever for wii ~ more mini games ~ and you can even customize not only rayman but the rabbids too with over 110 items! And the theme is world travel (makes sense since they've been launching all of the "around the world" videos on their blog)... also noteworthy and silly exciting thing for this strangely dreary halloween day ~ seeing my Rabbid toy on their faux desktop. And as always their desktops, screensavers, videos, and graphic design are top notch ~ so see below for screenshots, etc.

TO PAGE 2 of "Rabbids are Coming"! ----->

Tags: gifts - shopping - video game - wii - xbox

Freshly launched today for xbox 360 ~ Guitar Hero II has been my between work distraction of the day ~ its far too fun "strumming" to possum kingdom between posts... just discovered one of the gorgeous ad spots over on Stash Media's Feed. "Pete Candeland, the Passion Pictures powerhouse director behind the Gorillaz videos does it again, this time for the Xbox 360's Guitar Hero II. The agency is McCann Worldgroup out of San Francisco." Its a really beautiful spot, view it here.

Tags: advertising - guitar - video - video game - xbox