That's exactly what I did at E3, passing by the tiny Gamer Grub booth between appointments. I approached the counter, filled with sample cups of all four flavors, out of sheer curiosity. ("Where have I heard of this before?") I was surprised --nay, shocked!-- to find the snacks to be, in a word, delicious. The company representative apparently took notice of my media badge (and my approving reaction) and quickly offered full-size bags of the Pizza and PB&J (peanut butter and jelly) flavors. I, being damn-near shameless, thanked him and hinted that our rather large website staff would really appreciate the samples, which naturally led to even more free food being offered and subsequently accepted.

For my first character, I decided to choose the one and only Wario.

“So admit it..... Don't I look cool in the game screens? Those long, muscular legs on my sturdy toned frame.... I'm the perfect specimen of a man..... What!?!? You say I look fat and my quadruple chin looks like a waterfall of flab? Shut up! That's just because you have your television set up on widescreen display!” —Wario

Wario is very unique among the Nintendo staple of characters. He's not a villain, yet he isn't a squeaky clean guy. If he saves the princess it's likely because the king offered a huge reward. He will cheat anyone out of their money, no matter if it's an old disco dancer or a pair of adorable ninjas. Yet you will likely never see him hit or bully anyone weaker than him…unless it's the enemy and it's preventing him from getting the treasure.

During a recent press conference regarding the documentary It Might Get Loud, Jimmy Page made the following remark:

"You think of the drum part that John Bonham did on Led Zeppelin's first track on the first album, Good Times Bad Times, how many drummers in the world can play that part, let alone on Christmas morning?"

Jack White had the following to say:

"It's depressing to have a label come and tell you that [Guitar Hero] is how kids are learning about music and experiencing music ... Which format people should get their music in ... if you have to be in a video game to get in front of them, that's a little sad."

The first game I was drawn to was Batman: Arkham Asylum. Though excited about the concept of the game, I had always been wary, given the Dark Knight’s questionable video game history. Actually playing the game, however, made all those fears melt away. Rocksteady has crafted an elegant, beautiful game that puts you right in the boots of Batman and never lets up. Appropriately, Batman himself is voiced by Kevin Conroy, the Joker by Mark Hamill, and Harley Quinn by Arleen Sorkin. The demo showed off Batman’s considerable combat prowess. Surrounded by a gang of thugs, the player need only press Square in conjunction with a direction from the left stick to take down the competition. Batman’s attacks are fluid and contextual—he punched the guy in front of him but elbowed the rear attacker, then kicked the man coming from the side. The other big feature of the game is “Detective Vision,” which shows you all the bad guys in a room, whether they’re packing heat or not, and all the objects you can interact with. Using this special visor, you can basically plan out your entire attack so that Batman remains unseen. I especially liked how your actions provoke fear in the remaining enemies. Stringing up one thug prompted his buddy to run screaming from the room, for example. The game looks beautiful, and Arkham itself is atmospheric. It was one of my favorite games on the show floor. Comes out in October, so mark your calendars!

In all honesty, I didn't even know this game existed until I listened to RFN 149 on my way to work this morning. Big thanks to Greg for slipping this bit of info in at the end, because it has really made my day.

I'm not sure which direction Skip is taking with this entry, but I'm glad that they are continuing the series regardless. It will be a real shame if this game is quarantined in Japan, though.

Given NOA's odd localization strategy, it wouldn't be impossible to believe that this game may never see release stateside. Hopefully if NOA snubs it, NOE will pick it up as they have done with some of the quirkier games in the past.

Punch-Out!! had an event at Nintendo World Store and had humorous commercials like the one seen below.

What makes a wedding so great is how it's one of the rare times you're able to round up all of your friends and family (even those that live far away) in one place for the sole purpose of having a party. Amy and I had friends coming in to Atlanta from New Jersey, California, Canada, and even Belgium! It was like the dream celebration that we all wish we could organize, but never actually have the opportunity to put in motion. It makes me want to throw a big party like that every year.

Many of us attending found it quite odd that Nintendo hadn't offered up a release date in all of their E3 press kit. As a result, I made it my mission to figure out exactly what was going on with the game.

My first target were the two reps who had been demoing the title throughout the show. Both told me independently that the title wouldn't be seeing release until Q1 2010.

I then moved my attention to other reps that are typically reliable source points for the site. They all claimed they had no idea, and referred us to the Fact Sheet on the game (which incidentally doesn't exist). My final target were the reps working the booth desk. They did as previous reps had, referring us to the press kit and claiming they had no idea. I informed them that other reps had given me the Q1 2010 date, and their only response is that they didn't know, but never denied the date.

NWR decimates Morton.

Classic Morton Koopa Jr. photo from www.mariomonsters.com

At Activision’s booth I got a chance to try out the new skateboard controller for Tony Hawk: Ride for the PlayStation 3. The controller is an interesting beast and looks similar to a skateboard deck. It reads which way you lean and has four sensors, one on each side, that point on an upward angle. These sensors read grabs and other similar tricks.

The first part I tried was a simple street run. I began by pushing off the board to gain momentum like a real skateboarder would. This is read by one of the side sensors. After I gained momentum I manualed by slowly tilting the controller up. It was a weird sensation, especially since I was used to playing Tony Hawk with a controller.