Gamertell

The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Runway contest has ended, and EA and H&M have announced that Beau Fornillos’ winning outfit will be sold in H&M stores worldwide. Let me back up - EA held a contest on TheSims2.com Exchange, where players could submit an original outfit created with the help of The Sims 2 Body Shop. The top outfits were shown on a Yahoo! The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Runway, where people could vote on the winner.

The winning outfit, shown at right, will be released in H&M stores in July. In Belguim, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Sweden and UK, the outfit will be available after July 6, 2008. It will be available in US and Canada after July 31, 2008. It will cost $14.90. 1,000 H&M stores will be carrying the outfit, and you’ll be able to identify it by a special tag that mentions The Sims 2.

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The most recent issue of ThinkGeek catalog has been delivered and, as usual, it features several gamer goodies. Here’s a list of the more (and less) notable game-related goodies in the June 2008 ThinkGeek catalog.

On the more notable side there’s a programmable keyboard with mini OLEDs, Mario Kart slot cars, Halo 3 replicas and Zelda plush…

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The latest news from TriForce Sales is a little bit creepy, and kind of delves into “obsessive super fan” territory. Epic Games has given TriForce permission to recreate life-size models of both armor and weapons from the Gears of War Xbox 360 and PC series. Yes, starting on July 8, 2008, loyal fans can preorder items at the official TriForce Gears of War website. No prices have been announced yet.

Prototypes of the armor and weapons were displayed at Wizard World Philadelphia, which was this past weekend (May 31, 2008). The items up for sale were displayed and a panel discussion with Garrand and Lester Speight (Gears of War‘s Augustus Cole) was held. The items will likely resemble the pictures of Garrand and the Nightmare Armor Studios team that appeared in a 2007 issue of Official Xbox 360 Magazine and on Kotaku on June 25, 2007. 

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On page 42 of the April 2008 issue of Wired magazine is a photo featuring six stereotypical Geeks: a Fanboy, Music Geek, Gamer, Gadget Guy, Hacker and Otaku. Each over-generalized category is exemplified by a person modeling what Wired deems appropriate garb and a brief description that includes disposition, beliefs and turn-ons.

Here’s the unusually derogatory description Wired writer/contributor, Troy Brownfield, writes of Gamers…

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I just got a message from a Gaiaonline representative alerting me to a gathering taking place this weekend and invites Gamertell readers to come and check them out at this year’s Sakura-Con 2008 which is held from March 28-30, 2008, at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Wa.

“Lucy, I read your article in GamerTell about Gaia’s presence at Anime Boston 2008, and I thought you may be interested in finding out about a Gaia Gathering event being held this weekend at Sakura-Con 2008, which will be hosted in Seattle at the…

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Admit it, you want to rock it like a hurricane but you have taken exactly zero minutes of actual guitar lessons. On air guitar, however, you could sink a small island.

Announced at CES, Jada Toys is coming out with the Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker toy ($29.99) based on Activision’s Guitar Hero game franchise.

Set to be on shelves March 2008, the toy includes guitar pics and a big belt buckle that connected to a (wearable) mini-amplifier. To rock on, you simply swing a pick in front of the belt buckle to “play” 10 different guitar riffs: Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades,” Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me,” Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” and five original Air Guitar Rocker riffs.

The device also includes audio output ports so you can connect it to external speakers. Following the toy’s release, the company plans to release more belt buckles and “Air Cartridges” with additional riffs.

Check out the Air Guitar Rocker in action below being played by air guitar hero, Nitrous Roxide.

Site [Jada Toys] Site [Activision] Read [Joystiq]

Now this is some gaming garb I can really get into. TN Games is showing off a series of wearable gaming gear at its CES booth (January 7-10, 2008).

The clothes, titled 3rd Space HXT Gear, includes a couple vests and a helmet. Each uses embedded with a series of pneumatic cells designed to react to directional cues from videogames. In other words, the pockets puff with air and you feel like something hit you (although in a much more polite and less damaging way than an actual bullet or knife).

Positioning of the cells and coordinated puffings helps to give a directional effect. Games will need to have embedded cues (aka 3rd Space technology) in order to be used with the garb and TN is providing a software development kit to game companies.

For now, the gear appears to only operate with PCs and each requires a compressor box that connect to the PC via USB. The FPS vest is available now and works with a limited number of big-name games and the other two are expected to be available mid 2008.

The first vest is…

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So here’s a slice of Nintendo’s Mii PiiR:

• The Mii Channel now includes a Mii design contest. They give you a character to design (usually a Nintendo character or holiday related) and Wii console owners get kookie trying to create the best looking character.
• They offer a few story ideas that include interviewing Mii artists, the Mii Channel as a alternate form of social interaction and a list of top 20 Miis on the Check Mii Out Channel.

This is one f the few promo shirts I’d actually wear. Not only is it a nice color green (darker than my image), but it’s also kinda funny. Even people who have not heard of the Wiis (*gasp*) and Miis will at least give a funny giggle when realizing “Mii” is pronounced “Me.”

Nintendo’s PiiR, sorry, PR people sure are doing a nice job this year with worthwhile campaigns. Not many legit journalists really use story suggestions from PR companies, but the game sure is doing well with exposure. I even saw it on a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother (all of the videos of that segment appear to have been removed from the usual video sites, so please give us a heads up if you see it posted again).

Along the lines of a Mii T-shirt, I also came across the MiiWaresite, where you can register your Mii and turn it into a T-shirt (kinda cool) for $18-21, sweatshirts for $35-38, mugs $15-19, mousepad for $15 (yikes!) and, best of all, mini statues (uber cool) for $50 (3 in.) and $100 (5 in).

Site [Mii Channel] Site [MiiWare]

Kotaku has just rolled out one of the most impressive holiday buyer’s guides… ever. Instead of stating the obvious by listing the hottest or highest rated titles of the season (i.e. things every gamer already knows), the Kotakuites have compiled a comprehensive list of cool gaming-related items, from kitschy toys to expensive tech to avant-garde art prints. It’s definitely a great resource for any hard-to-shop-for gamers on your holiday gift list.

The guide is organized by price, beginning with “Mandatory Secret Santa” (under $20), to “Relative You Don’t Particularly Care For But Will Probably Bring A Gift For You” ($21 to $50), to “The Sweet Spot - Not too ‘spensive, Not too cheap” ($51 to $100), to “Person You Are Or Hope To Be Sleeping With” ($100 to $500) and finally “Our Prices Are Insane” ($500 and up).

Though everything on here is absolutely gift-worthy, certain items stand out, like the awesome Legacy X Nintendo shoes and the “spirit of the holiday” one laptop per child donation (where you purchase a bare bones laptop and one gets sent to a disadvantaged child as part of the OLPC program).

Read [Kotaku]

The Square-Enix online store has been updated (November 19, 2007) with some new items that previously were only available at the Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival.

The new items include rings and keychains from the three major nations in Vana’diel and an absolutely adorable stuffed baby chocobo, all of which are immediately available for purchase. As always a purchase from the online store must be greater than $23 in order to be processed and a single purchase cannot contain more than three units of a single item.

The priciest items in the update are the nation rings which are made of silver and cost $99.99 each. The rings for each nation are available, so you can purchase one to match the in-game ring you received when you first created your character. The Windurst, Bastok, and San D’oria rings are all immediately available on the site. The sizes are based on Japanese ring sizes, though, so you need to check the chart to determine which one is appropriate for your finger. Despite the price, the jewelry is going fast, as the Bastok size 19 rings (which are roughly a size 9) are already sold out.

The keychains offer a cheaper way to show your allegiance to your in-game nation. Each metal keychain bears the national emblem of Windurst, Bastok, or San D’oria and a metal bear with the words ”Final Fantasy XI”. These items were originally offered at the Japanese Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival with an in-game item code. The ones now available at the shop are identical to the originals, but do not come with an item code. Each one costs $13.99

The baby chocobo chick is by far the most reasonable and precious of all the latest releases. It is designed to look more realistic, like the FFXI birds, than the cartoony characters found in the chocobo dungeon series. This sweet, little baby is five inches tall, is made of cotton and polyester and costs $10.99. It really is just too cute for words.

The baby chocobo chick can steal your breath with it’s cuteness through the computer monitor, so please avoid prolonged exposure. Those big, marmalade eyes and that soft fluffy fur is just too much. It looks like it is just the perfect size to cuddle. Forget about declaring allegiance to some mythical video game nation, give a home to a soft plush pet. Adopt one, name him Chirpy-Boy and love him up.

Site [Square-Enix Official Online Merchandise Store]