Gamertell

Kotaku posted a very cool little story this week about famed Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers claiming that GTA IV is the best popcorn movie of the summer. Crossing the boundaries between the two media, he gave a very interesting (and pro-games-as-art) analysis of the social commentary and satire at play within the game…

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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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I can’t wait for my copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots but I don’t want to say goodbye to elite agent Solid Snake, whom we’ve grown to love while following his adventures.

We pray that rumors of an end are not true and continue to pose theories about why the series could never end.  Even so, as a preemptive memorial to help cope with the denial that this may be the absolute last game for Snake, here is a look at the MGS franchise....

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Make magazine makes me want to make more stuff. The most recent issue of this DIY mag has three juicy game goodies in its pulp-based publication: The Multari handheld Atari 2600, Pixelmusic 3000 video generator a la the Atari 2600 and four WiiMote hacks for making audio tracks (and involves Macs).

All three fall into the Way Frackin’ Kewl category of do it yourself projects, so click through and check them out now…

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In the June 2008 issue of Maxim magazine (pp. 67-69), writer Will Leitch lists “The 10 Worst Broadcasters in Sports.” The list is topped by Chris Berman at number 1 with Chip Caray at no. 2 followed by Dick Vitale, Bryant Gumbel, Bill Walton, Billy Packer, Mike Patrick and Walt Frazier, respectively. At the bottom, which is where it begins conveniently placing his familiar mug next to the headline, is John madden at number 10. According to Maxim’s “Penalty Box” icons, he’s guilty of being an incoherent blowhard with a grating voice.

The article goes on to call the namesake of one of the best-selling videogame franchises “a parody of himself” and…

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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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M Network (actually Mattel Electronics) has released its first catalog of 11 games for the Atari VCS and, dude, does it look totally awesome.

First, the box art is choice featuring black and gnarly silver ink. It will certainly impress your friends when you go to pull out the cartridge. Second, these games feature way more colors than other games, even using multiple shades of…

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Imagic, the creators of Atlantis, which was just released for the Atari, is going to hold a fantastic contest titled “Defend Atlantis”to find the treasure of Atlantis. The four players who send in the highest scores from Atlantis will be sent to Bermuda with a guest to compete in a contest to win a chest of gold worth $10,000. All the players who manage to make it to the finals and don’t win will receive $1,000. Even if you aren’t that good at Atlantis, don’t despair, the 250 third place winners will get snorkeling sets and and 1,000 runners up will receive Atlantis T-shirts.

Keep reading to learn how to enter.

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For a limited time, McDonald’s will be offering a Whopper-ing $10 mail-in rebate for the Atari VCS (aka 2600) gaming system. I got my hands on the mail-in form from a secret source. I would load it to the Gamertell BBS computer for you to look at but it doesn’t convert to ASCII very well.

In addition to the $10 rebate, the form also offers $3 rebates on 15 great Atari cartridges including…

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I just picked up the latest Atari Catalog (CO16725-Rev. E) at Sears. It lists 49 games, four of which are completely new from the previous catalog (CO16725-Rev. D). It also has a section in the back with a few accessories for storing games and a better picture of the Game Center storage case.

The last page also features “Coming Attractions” that include a yet-to-be-named football game that will have “life-like pro players,” a baseball game and a “jolly version” of video volleyball. Atari is also promising an updated version of Combat (Combat II or maybe Revenge of Combat?) and a “gripping” adventure game in two installments in October and November 1982.

The four news games are…

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