Gamertell

For those of you who want to trim their tree with game-themed ornaments, you do have a few more options than the usual Hallmark stuff. A couple companies make cutsie, less recognizable and usually more affordable (and copyright-free) gamer ornaments and, of course, there are always a few at the create-your-own product sites.

Click through for a list of some of the gamer ornaments for sale this holiday season…

MORE »

According to a recent article published in the SouthTown Star and written by GateHouse News Service, online gamers may have been wrongly stereotyped.

Of the 7,000 online gamers researchers interviewed who played EverQuest 2, a MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online game), they are not the overweight rotund teenage boys most people once thought they were…

MORE »

If you’re a gamer heading to Japan, chances are you’ll stop by Akihabara. Akihabara is a part of Tokyo offically known as Chiyoda-ku that is famous for being a hot shopping area and mecca for electronics, gadgets, anime and video game fans.

Akihabara, also referred to as Akihabara Electric Town or Akiba, is a commercial district with electronics retailers, as well as manga and anime stores, book stores and video game shops. The best part is new and used items can be found there. The main street features stores selling the newest products. If you venture down the side-streets, you’ll find stores selling used items.

So in case any Important Importables readers are heading to Japan, or dreaming about heading to Japan, here are a few key locations you will definitely want to visit…

MORE »

In the Los Angeles Times, writer Alex Pham reports that the San Fernando Library encourages youth to play video games and even invites them to be as loud as they like.

“It lets teens be more comfortable with the library and become familiar with librarians,” San Fernando librarian Lydia Harlan told Pham. “And it’s what kids are into these days.”

In the article, Pham reports that more libraries are turning to video games to connect with technologically savvy youth who might be losing interest in books and stories. In New York, the New York Public Library has even added a collection of books, films, music and maps about video games.

Click through for the full article and a list of recommended books…

MORE »

It’s difficult for the parents of a child diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) to find ways to control their child’s disorder and help him or her live a normal childhood.

PopCap Games recently contracted Information Solutions Group to conduct a unique survey in April 2008 in which 2,728 respondents (of the 13,296 casual gamers surveyed) indicated they or someone they are caring for has a disability…

MORE »

The American leg of US World Cyber Ggames 2008 will take place at the Samsung Experience in New York, NY, on May 31, 2008,  and June 1, 2008. At stake are cash and prizes worth more than $20,000 along with a place in the WCG USA National Final. The first leg or the WCG 2008 US Open will include some of the best gamers in America who have their sights set on qualifying for the WCG 2008 Grand Finals in Cologne, Germany, in November 2008.

The Grand Finals will have…

MORE »

Title: Gamers (aka Gamers: The Movie)
Price: $24.95 (DVD)
Release Date: May 6, 2008
Distributer: Monterey Media, Inc.
Rating: Unrated
Pros: A good mix of both subtle and outrageous humor with engaging characters. Surprisingly well made and funny or an indie film produced in six days.
Cons: Starts a little sluggish and goes a little odd with a couple gags.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 90/100; A-; * * * * out of five

Screw the lame-ass box art. Gamers is a great indie flick that will make anyone who has ever rolled something other than a 6-sided die snarf milk all over their mother’s teak coffee table.

Click through for the full review…

MORE »

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…

MORE »

The gaming population is on the rise, making up 72% of the entire US population, according to a new NPD report that was released last Wednesday (April 2, 2008). That figure is for the year 2007 and is up 64% from 2006.

NPD found that 58% of all the people who play video games like playing them online. Many gamers dream of owning more…

MORE »

You’ve heard me talking about my military gamer friends (two are in the photo on the right) in past articles but recently I found a copy of Stripes Gamer and was amazed and happy to see the military now has its own gaming news outlet.

When my friends are deployed they have no clue what is going on in the gaming industry here in the United States. I know when they e-mail me they feel so left behind when I tell them about the latest games that are out. Games they won’t be able to play until their one-year mission is complete. It’s even bad enough that they are not always included in the statistics published about gamer demographics, our troops are often the forgotten demographic.

According to the managing editor of Stripes Gamer, Tony Haugan, those serving in the military are also part of a “video game generation that has grown up and they’re taking their games with them when they deploy,“ he explained. “A lot of times they live in extreme boredom or extreme terror…

MORE »