All stories about "Games"

Games Nights in DC

Bars across the District know everything is more fun after a few cocktails, and childhood board games are no exception. In the mood for a little Carmen Sandiego? You're in luck. A number of local watering holes give tipsy patrons the chance to indulge their inner kid with games ranging from Jenga to checkers. Finally, you'll understand how your parents made it through four consecutive games of Monopoly. Check out the following spots if you're looking for some old-school entertainment. Suggestions welcome via the comments or the tip line, and don't forget our round-up of DC pub quizzes. (photo)

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When Wonks Attack: DC Pub Quizzes

In Washington, nothing says you've made it like proving you can out-drink and outsmart your friends. The city is overrun with wonks, all of whom seem to be drawn to DC's favorite beer-swilling, answer-hurling ritual: the pub quiz. As bars across the city cash in on your inner (or outer) nerd, be sure to check out the list below for some prime pub quiz spots. Suggestions welcome via the comments or the tip line. (photo)

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London's Channel 4 has introduced

London's Channel 4 has introduced an ideal method for learning the city's history: Bow Street Runner, a video game set in the 1750s. Specifically, the historically accurate ("and therefore grim, violent and salacious") game takes place in London's Covent Garden, where the Bow Street Runners are attempting to impose law and order. Gamers are guaranteed exposure to "sexual practices, commercial activities and raw criminal acts." [via]

Iranian Propaganda Mural Inspired by Video Game

In a gallery of anti-American/anti-Israeli murals decorating the "U.S. Den of Espionage" in Tehran (i.e. the former American embassy), I noted the clawed hand crushing the Earth appeared similar to the cover art from a sci-fi novel by Scientologist overlord L. Ron Hubbard. But an astute reader points out that the weird, bifurcated fingernail/claws actually point to the cover art for classic 1990 video game Star Control as the mural's real inspiration. Ur-Quan akbar!

Into the Pixel: Game Art

On February 20, the revered Into the Pixel video game art show will hit San Francisco's Hotel des Arts. Now in its fourth year, the juried show will exhibit work from the past two years as well as new material. The exhibition runs through March. [via]

Purdy cool -- Digital Urban

Purdy cool -- Digital Urban is creating a scale virtual model of London using the graphics engine for the video game Crysis. They seem to be making excellent progress; check out the screengrab of their London Eye. [via]

Dying to Lose In Vegas: The $3 Blackjack Death March

"Fuck it, split 'em."
"Split 10's against dealer 9? Are you sure, sir?"
"Look, I am trying to lose all my money. I'm currently failing at it. Split 'em."

I may have the greatest job in the entire world. When I told Chris Mohney that I was in Vegas for vacation (and later, CES coverage) and was interested in doing a piece for Gridskipper, I thought I might get a free show or dinner out of it. I didn't think I'd be doing a mini-marathon of blackjack at a historic but mediocre casino at the far end of the Strip. I went to the Sahara Hotel and Casino with $100 of Gridskipper's money to blow at the $3 tables, and I was joined by another writer, Mike McWhertor, who had $100 from his site, Kotaku. We were pumped.

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NEW YORK

Meatpacking District restaurant Paradou will host a night of dirty bingo Tuesday December 11 at 8p.m. The game will be played like regular bingo but the prizes will be provided by sex shops Kiki de Montparnasse and Babeland. [NYC Agenda]

Wil Wheaton's Geek Guide to LA

Actor, blogger, and author Wil Wheaton was born and raised in Los Angeles and has lived here most of his life. He won our hearts as Gordie Lachance in Rob Reiner's Stand By Me, and he pissed a lot of Trekkies off as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. More recently, Wil has made a name for himself as an author (most recently, with The Happiest Days of Our Lives). I asked Wil, a fellow blogging.la contributor of mine, to put together his own personal guide to LA. In addition to listing popular destinations like Amoeba Records, LACMA, and Dodger Stadium, and lamenting the loss of spots like the Pak Mann Arcade, Wil let us in on some of his more original and admittedly geeky favorites.

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Act Like a Kid in LA

Sometimes the responsibilities of adulthood become too much to bear: setting your own bedtime, drinking, clubbing, spending money, and having sex can just get overwhelming. So every once in awhile, it's good for your mental health too leave the responsibilities behind and engage in activities generally more popular with the under-12 set: go karts, bowling, miniature golf, various forms of skating, etc. Here are some of our favorites for youthful fun. And the very best of them serve liquor.

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Check out the sweetness of

Check out the sweetness of 1982's Airport Panic, a handheld LCD game that involved sneaking past bombs to board a hijacked plane, then a mission to "shoot at the hijacker and rescue the stewardess and the passengers." [via]

Petanque in Paris

Although the popular French game of pétanque has its origins in the south of France, it's become a favorite pastime throughout the country. According to the Fédération Française de Pétanque et de Jeu Provençal, there are nearly 50 pétanque clubs within Paris alone, located in almost every corner of the city. Each club has its own "terrain," or playing area, which may be a specially constructed "boulodrome," or simply open ground in a park or along the center of a boulevard. Many clubs also claim a certain pub or neighborhood bistro as their headquarters (or siège), the perfect place to grab a drink after the game, or for the losers to buy the winners a round. If you're interested in seeing where the boulistes hang out, here are just a few places they're likely to be found.

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Pub Quiz Nights in LA

Pub quizzes never quite caught on in LA the way they did in other places, but there are options around town for those who want a bit of trivia with their beers (or vodka tonics, or Scotch rocks, or lemon drops -- no judgment). Of course, we're not talking about the video screens mounted on bars, but the real kind of pub quiz with the caller and camaraderie and occasional bruised egos and/or heads, if arguments about hockey or Oscar winners get out of hand. Here's a smattering of choices for your pub quiz pleasure.

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Tokyo Game Show 2007

Gamers in the city have only one thing on their mind this week: the Tokyo Game Show. The gaming extravaganza, held every year at the Makuhari Messe convention center, is the place to experience the future of gaming -- you get to try out unreleased games and sneak a peek at where the game industry is heading. Thursday and Friday are business/press only, but doors open to the public on the weekend (September 22-23). Even though lines to try out games are notoriously long (forget about trying out anything Final Fantasy-related if you don't have the patience for a two-hour queue), but don't let this stop you; just taking in the atmosphere is worth the trip, which includes massive screens throughout the center to preview plenty of gameplay action, and of course the cosplay contingent sporting the best game character costumes you'll ever see. Can't make it? Check out full show coverage on sibling site Kotaku, to which I will be contributing.

Tokyo Game Show [Official site]

Taking a Whack at Berlin's Tiny Balls

Humans have been tempting fate by playing dangerous sports since the dawn of recorded time. Emergency room statistics show that sports-related injuries outnumber any other type of unintentional injury. But few sports require the nerves of steel, oxlike strength, catlike reflexes, and sheer daredevilry of that insanity in eighteen holes -- Minigolf! Like its regular-sized brother (at the top of the list when it comes to sports related deaths), Bahnengolf can challenge even the seasoned player's abilities to keep cool under pressure, stay ahead of the competition, and endure the physical torture of carrying the club and ball in one hand and a cold beer in the other, hole after hellish hole. But Berlin's putting population is as adventurous as they come, and the city boasts plenty of opportunities to come face to face with "death on the green carpet." Find out why they call it a handicap at one of these minigolf courses around town.

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Kickin' in Berlin's Foosball Bars

Want to meet some locals in Berlin but lack the necessary communication skills (i.e., you don't speak German)? Try the international language of play. What better way to get notice than by kicking arsch (ass) at kicker -- as tischfußball (or, foosball) is known! A short primer on basic kicker rules and etiquette will help you to show off your foosball prowess (and avoid being a bar-stool warmer), and we've mapped out a few "stadiums" to prove your skills.

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Tokyo Game Bars

A lot of people who come to Tokyo for a visit are big gamers -- and I expect plenty to be in town next month for the Tokyo Game Show, which yours truly will be covering for sister-site Kotaku. Visiting gamers should stop by 8-Bit Cafe and 16 Shots in Shinjuku, a couple of bars that celebrate their love of old-school gaming in a very overt way. Check out the first episode of the newly launched Points series for GameVideos.com, where Jason DeGroot -- a gamer, performer (as 6955), and game company employee -- will guide you through some of the coolest game-related happenings in Japan.

Points [Official site]
8-Bit Cafe [Official site]
16 Shots [Official site]

Skee Ball Bars of New York

Skee ball is serious. What was once a staple of arcades and amusement parks is now a competitive sport, thanks to the advent of "Brewskee-Ball." Relive your childhood memories or practice your underhand serve at one of the following NYC bars that cater to this most cerebral of evening pursuits.

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Trivial Pursuits, with Booze

Trivia and quiz nights are popping up everywhere in New York, attracting the adults who mercilessly beat their siblings at Trivial Pursuit in those formative childhood years. (My older genius sister memorized all the cards when we were little and thus, I never stood a chance.) Whether they used to be math dorks, bookworms, or those kids who actually thought it was cool to read the newspaper instead of watching television, years later they're competing for trivia(l) prizes and more importantly, satisfaction and superiority. I cannot say that I'm one of them, preferring instead to witness the feats of cranial strength and the spewing of random facts, but I will admit that my first ever home page was a little time-waster called Useless Knowledge. Are you a smarty-pants yourself (or looking for one?) and not afraid to show it? Then peruse this preliminary guide, subject to additions.

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Nerdy New York

Let's hear it for the nerds of New York, the coolest nerds on the planet. Like everything else in the big city, the intensity of the nerd experience here gets ratcheted up to astronomical levels because of the sheer density of nerds and the unlimited resources available to realize every nerd fantasy. With grassy parks to stage jousting tournaments, exhibition halls to host conventions, and shops to sell the paraphernalia for every nerdy pursuit, the New York nerd is the envy of his nationwide peers. Naturally, nerds, dorks, and geeks from far and wide descend upon the city for annual events like Comicon and the ASDA Fall Postage Stamp Mega-Event, but for the everyday New York nerd experience, you can't beat these classic New York nerd venues.

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