We’ve met some pretty cool people over time while dabbling in the videogame world. In the Facebook group (JPAG) that spawned this very website we’ve even formed some pretty good friendships and made some good drinking buddies. From time to time we also see fit to help each other out.
This is one of those times. Our good buddy and compatriot, Wesley “WeJo” Johnson, has had some bad luck befall him recently. His insurance company is unable to cover a considerable portion of his recent gum graft surgery, and the humble Wes is having a difficult time covering the cost.
That’s where we (and you) come in. On January 1st, 2010 (that’s this week!) the collective family that is the Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group (JPAG) of Facebook fame will be holding a special live fundraiser online. By purchasing $5 raffle tickets between now and during the show, winners will receive all manner of swag: great gaming packages, art, music, video collections, etc. (We’ve posted the full list after the break.) Or if you’d rather just donate any sum, that would work as well (and be just as appreciated).
Help us achieve our goal and help Wesley!
[Click here to go to the official Facebook event page]
It’s been a terrific first year here at SideQuesting dawt com. We’ve gone from a trio of goofy gaming enthusiasts to… a virtual herd of goofy gaming enthusiasts!
While the most important aspect of our site is our interaction with our community, readers, and gaming drug pushers we also dabble in the occasional article and news bite. This post will serve as your handy guide to our most popular posts of the year based on the amount of clicks and regularity of reads. Not interestingly, our older posts tend to bubble up to the top as they have been collecting the most views, but some newer posts are in there as well.
Shall we begin?
As if the SideQuesting Christmas Oracle was in full swing, Destructoid is reporting that Electronic Arts is set to unveil their next EA Sports game in January. That game? An NFL-branded EA Active personal training game for the Wii. Not happy with simply selling to the soccer moms on the platform EA is branching out to the hockey dads as well.
The game is reportedly going to teach players how to train like NFL players, using football-inspired exercises to drip sweat and teaching how to throw the ultimate, perfect spiral with a possible football-shaped attachment.
I bet you that after I’m done with the training I’ll be able to throw a football over that mountain over there.
Sounds like we might be on the same wavelength as EA, as we suggested the idea about a month ago during our “Free Game Idea” feature. Thanks for listening, EA! When should we expect our commission to arrive in the mail? Ah heck, just send it PayPal.
[Source: Destructoid]
Welcome to the SideQuest, your semi-weekly podcast devoted to gaming, culture, and gaming culture, with the occasional tangent.
Episode 123. The podcast that never ends! We talk one subject: The Legend of Zelda series. Thanks to the recently released LoZ: Spirit Tracks, we have a terrific amount of Zelda buzz here on the SQ airship. We’ve assembled a mighty cast of Zelda experts to discuss (in excruciatingly long detail) the games that shaped our Zelda youth and hopes for the future.
Hosts:
Dali Dimovski, Ryan Gan, Doug Lang, and Jesse Gregory
Music:
Mainfinger , Disco Link
Links:
Twitter.com/mainfinger
Twitter.com/douglang
Twitter.com/ryangan
Twitter.com/kewlrats
The SideQuest Episode 123: The Legends of Zelda [172:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (927)
“It’s not Friday!”
We know that! But seeing as how it’s America’s biggest holiday week, we thought we’d kick it off by offering our TRULY TERRIFIC stalkers readers some freebies!
The kind folks over at Cocky Culture have donated a few splendid BlackBerry themes for us to give out to our community this week. Got a drab Blackberry? Spruce it up with a sweet Revolver or Cherub theme (or whichever one else you’d like)!
How to win? Simple.
1) Leave a comment telling us what kind of phone you have.
2) Enter up to once per day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
3) Must be a US resident to enter
4) Check back each morning (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) at 10AM EST to see who won from the day before!
Good Luck!
“Dead Space Extraction’s focus on its great storyline and atmospheric visuals is almost enough to forgive the poor choice of game mechanic.”
By: Dalibor Dimovski, Managing Editor
Game: Dead Space Extraction
Developer/Publisher: Visceral Games / Electronic Arts
Released: September 2009
Platforms: Wii
When Dead Space: Extraction was announced as a “guided” shooter for the Wii, I thought, “Another rails shooter. Well, if it’s anything like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles then it should be a ton of fun.” Looking back on that thought I realize that it was a loaded wish statement. While Dead Space is in the same genre as Resident Evil, it certainly differs in some key ways. While knowing what to expect from Resident Evil — a mish-mash summary of previous games in the storied franchise — Dead Space is an all new prequel to the relatively new series.
In other words it plays fan service to those who have a hard-on for the Dead Space mythos, but not so much to newcomers.
A few months ago, I decided I wanted to start making electronic music. On an impulse, I went online and ordered a Theremin, an electronic instrument that creates sounds based on the manipulation of radio waves. The instrument ran me about $500. Flash forward three months later, and I’ve barely touched the thing (hidden pun there… you get it?). For all that, I could have just ordered a much cheaper instrument, like a $4.95 used classic Nintendo GameBoy.
Wait a minute… a GameBoy? As a musical instrument? That’s crazy talk… or is it? Not according to Bit Shifter and Nullsleep, two New York musicians who coined the GameBoy music movement and dubbed it “chiptune.” These artists and many other like-minded individuals use antiquated video game technology to create futuristic sounds and effects. Beginning tonight at 8pm at The Bell House in Brooklyn, New York, Blip Festival will celebrate chiptune music and art, and the night will ultimately culminate in a dance party explosion. Now in its fourth year, the event promises to be larger than ever.
Or: How I lost an entire night to RPG’s.
You’ve all had this experience: You sit down for a small spot of game play. It’s 5 pm. You think, “I’ll just play for an hour or two.” Then, next thing you know, it’s 2 am and the entire night is gone. What happened? How did you waste an entire night playing a game? Well, this has happened to my this past year with two games. Both vastly different games. But they had one thing in common: They stole my time!
Last year I got a game for Christmas. I had heard about it prior to its release and thought it looked cool. But, when I heard it was an RPG, I thought…no. I don’t like RPG’s. The only RPG I’ve ever played was Final Fantasy 2 and I hated it. Yes, I said Final Fantasy 2. It was on Super Nintendo and I still have it. I couldn’t get past the first “boss”, or whatever it was. It was a dinosaur, or something, and I kept dying because I had no idea what to do. That put me off RPG’s for a good 10-15 years. I thought, “Only nerds play RPG’s. They play World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 3 Billion”. Then I realized, with my vast obsession of sci-fi and Battlestar Galactica, that I AM a nerd.
One thing Wii gamers have been asking for is a Wii Remote with built-in MotionPlus. Kinda obvious, eh? Well, Nintendo hasn’t disclosed any possibility of that becoming a reality this generation, so leave it up to the peripheral manufacturers to take up the reins.
Sunflex’s Snakebyte XL+ series of Wii peripherals simplifies our heartache for now. The company is debuting their line of MotionPlus-enhanced Wiimotes and accessories. The Remote XL+ is a Wii Remote with built-in WiiMotion Plus, the Motion XL+ is a wireless nunchuck that comes with a MotionPlus add-on (for those that already have enough WiiMotes), and the Flux Duo (non-Capacitor, sorry) inductive charging system. Due out in January 2010 in Europe and weighing in at 29.99€, the Remote XL+ has not been dated for the US (yet).
