Up late talking games & writing? You're...

First order of business: Happy Holidays to one and all.


Games: The latest GameCritics Podcast is now live. Episode 47 is our third-annual holiday spectacular where we nominate games for a bunch of different categories and announce GC’s official Game of the Year for 2010. If you haven't already burned out on end-of-year coverage, you can give us a listen right here.


Family: Kind of a funny story.

We were out and about today, walking down the street and getting some fresh air. On our stroll, I noticed a sign for a bank that was partially obscured from view. From the angle we were at, it looked as though the establishment was called "Topless Bank”. Stupid, I know, but it made me giggle and I mentioned it to the wife. She laughed for a second, and then we promptly forgot about it.


A few minutes later, my oldest son turned to me and said "I'd like to air-drop $50,000 into it, but it would be hard to see when it landed, and robbers might take it."

I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about so I had him repeat it.

He said “If I was a pilot, I would air-drop $50,000. With a parachute.”

That was when it clicked. I clarified with him – “So you mean you want to air-drop a whole bunch of money into that bank we just passed… because you thought I meant it doesn't have a top?"

That wonderfully innocent childhood perspective... I love it.


Toys: I heard about a new-ish quasi-educational toy on the radio the other day, and the brief discussion about it was so interesting that I did something unusual (unusual for me, anyway) and ordered it sight unseen as one last Christmas gift for the oldest. I'm really glad that I did, because it was a huge hit.


Called the Fun Fly Stick, it's basically a gadget shaped like a magic wand. Inside the wand, there’s a little device that generates a static electricity field. After the thing is powered up, the person playing with the toy takes a small foil cutout (shaped like butterflies, globes, bows, etc.) and touches it to the wand. After just a moment, the cutouts start hovering in the air, and stay there.

It literally looks like magic, and the way the cutouts “inflate” and are able to be manipulated by positioning the wand underneath is pretty goddamn neat. Although it's too late to get someone one of these for Christmas, it's a pretty amazing little thing that I'm sure would bring a smile to plenty of faces year-around… it's kind of mindblowing when you see it in action, really. Here's a quick look at it.


Games: I just completed A World of Keflings (XBLA) late last night and I'm currently in the middle of writing the review. It's a great little title and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I definitely recommend it if you're on the fence, or if you're in the market for something kid-friendly, yet mentally stimulating enough for adults. It's good stuff.


Although my coverage isn't up yet, here's some information from the developer (NinjaBee) about an upcoming opportunity to unlock two Emotes in the game, if you already have it or plan to get it soon.

From the press release:

…Also keep your eyes open for those sneaky NinjaBees. They'll be teachin' people two secret emotes that you can only learn from someone else that knows it. Aye. If ya be playin' on December 26th around 7:00 p.m. PST (I think that stands fer Pilferin' the Seadog's Traysure...) ya may run into one. They'll be playin' their little hearts out, spreading their viral emotes like a bad case of scurvy.

Translation from pirate speak: Be online on that day and that time, and if you run into one of the developers or someone they've met, you can pick up these two Emotes for yourself.