Relevant Links:

Jay “Not Justin” Johnston

“Keep the Change”

The Fistula Foundation (a truly wonderful cause)

Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Where in time is Carmen Sandiego? Mill Creek Entertainment will be answering the first question on February 21st, when they’ll be releasing the complete series in a four-disc set on February 21st. While it may have been almost two decades since the show premiered, the trail hasn’t gone cold.

Based on the computer games, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? is the animated series that features siblings Ivy and Zack, agents of ACME, tracking down the notorious Carmen Sandiego of VILE. The show took place in a virtual reality game, and The Player would be theoretically playing the game. With concepts such as time travel and the holographic C.H.I.E.F., the series avoided realism at times, but was a great way to introduce history and the world filled with action,

Mill Creek Entertainment is best known for the budget TV series releases, combining such classics as Ultraman with such oddities as Super Robot Red Baron, and released the series based on Pole Position.

Would you go through this series again? As Ivy was my first cartoon crush as a kid, I think I just might.

Source: Facebook via TVShowsOnDVD

As with most PC games, Skyrim has a console you can enable by pressing the ` (tilde) key, which allows users to input text commands to manipulate the game. For instance, you can spawn dragons, give yourself gold, or just straight-up kill everything. YouTube user Colloseus X, however, is using this newfound power to stage massive battles between enemy AIs. Take this for example: four giants vs. one Dwarven Centurion Master.

Honestly, I had my money on the giants. My only disappointment is that this really highlights the lack of physical interaction with characters in Skyrim. Hits that powerful should be visibly staggering or launching those giants and that old fantasy steampunk robot thing. Instead, you only see that sort of thing happen when characters die or when a dragon flies by and snatches up a hapless guard.

Anywho, have fun abusing Skyrim (and probably your CPU)!

via Kotaku

Product: Custom Plush Toys

Website: www.HappyToyMachine.com

MSRP:  12 inch toy $29.99 US / 24 inch toy $49.99 US

Even though I have done many reviews in the past, this is something totally new for me, as I have never seen anything quite like Happy Toy Machine before.  Happy Toy Machine (HappyToyMachine.com) is an innovative new online business that allows you to use a simple website-based tool to design your own plush toy, and then have it custom made and shipped to you.  In order to get more perspective from the target audience of the resulting toy, I enlisted the help of my four year old son, Richard.  He helped design the toy online with me, unboxed it when it arrived and will share his comments with you in a short video at the end of this review.

The website which serves as the storefront for the business is divided into a few main areas: Create a Toy, Your Creations and a Public Gallery.  The meat is in creating your own toy, but first, let’s look at examples of what can be created in the Public Gallery.

The Public Gallery is where you can browse toys designed by others who have chosen to share their designs publicly.  In the gallery there are pictures of their toy design side-by-side with a photo of the actual toy.  This allows you to see exactly how the onscreen designs translates to physical toys.

Designing a new toy is a simple process that your child can help with.  First, you choose a starting point by selecting a basic design from the list above.  Richard decided, after looking through the gallery, that he wanted to design a robot.

The interface was simple enough for him to follow along and make choices for the head, arms, hands, legs and feet.  Color selection for each is also a simple process of just clicking on a body part then choosing a color for it.  Some of the colors look very similar on screen, especially red and magenta, so double check them all before completing your toy.  This is how our robot ended up with a pink body.

We detailed our robot with square eyes, angular eyebrows and nose, a zig-zag mouth and some gauges on the chest area.  All of these elements are pre-designed and added or changed with just a click.  Additionally they can be moved, rotated and size adjusted.  If you like, text can even be added.

When placing your order, there is a choice of two sizes for your toy.  The regular 12″ version is $29.99 and the large 24″ version is $49.99, but for a limited time we have a coupon to get a 15% discount (at the bottom of this post).

Once your toy is ordered and manufactured, Happy Toy Machine takes a portrait of the finished product and shows it on the website side by side with your design.

  

Inside the box, our toy was sealed in a plastic bag to protect it from moisture during shipping.  Also included, and also protected by a separate plastic bag, was a thank you letter and, to our surprise, an 8.5″  x 11″ color portrait of our robot.

We were, and still are, very impressed with the quality of the toy.  All of the seams are tight and solid and all of the decorative details are intricately embroidered.  The material is soft like flannel and surface washable.  ”Red Robot” has been played with every day and slept with every night since his arrival about two weeks ago and shows no signs of wear.  It is rugged and durable enough to easily handle all the typical play and abuse a rowdy four year old boy can dish out.

  

The only thing we found disappointing was the frequent message on the website that “this feature is coming soon”.  While it’s great to know there are more options coming in the near future, it’s hard to explain to a child.  The upside is that soon you will be able to add all of the following to your custom toys:

• Use fuzzy plush cloth in place of the standard material (September 2011)

• Add hair (October 2011)

• Choose clothes for your toy (November 2011)

• Upload and add your own images (January 2012)

Richard absolutely loves his robot, partly because it was something we designed together and partly due to the magic of designing a toy and having it become real.   While surprises are fun, don’t leave your child out of the design process.  If you want to give a gift from Happy Toy Machine, give a gift certificate and design the toy together.  You will be glad you did.

I promised Richard that he could help with the review so, here he is to tell you what he thinks of Happy Toy Machine and his Red Robot.

Check out a new collection of screens below. The table looks beautiful and I for one cant wait to play it.

This week’s featured free game is Robot Wants Kitty, a great little metroidvania style action-adventure game by Hamumu Software.

In Robot Wants Kitty you play as Robot, the one wheeled mechanical marvel. Kitty is your objective. You start with no abilities outside of moving left, moving right, and dying horribly. As you progress in the game, you’ll navigate through a sinister underground lab, collect power-ups, blast monsters, explore every corner of the map to reach kitty. Robot Wants Kitty is a fun and sometimes challenging little game, the ending is worth your time, and the price is right.

So? What are you waiting for? That kitty isn’t going to get itself! Go play Robot Wants Kitty now! If you like it, consider picking up the iOS version for additional levels and a level creator!

What do you think of this week’s Free Game Friday? Do you like it? Loathe it? Do you have a suggestion for next week’s free game? Tell us in the forums!

John Boiles, an engineer at Yelp, worked after hours to combine Microsoft’s Kinect hardware, the OpenNI framework, and popular Half Life 2 physics sandbox mod Garry’s Mod into a full on robot-wielding, body-kicking, box-bashing simulator/good time machine. The post itself goes into some fairly good detail about how it all works regarding Boiles’ code structure and whatnot, but I think this video explains it best.

I don’t think the bucket was tracked when it was shown, but rather it was just simulated in Garry’s Mod and the real life representation was merely for show. And besides, how can you not love a video that includes such an inordinate amount of ninjas poses? Boiles has also open-sourced his code at his GitHub for those that are curious.

via Yelp Engineering Blog.

In the colorful sequel, de Blob will paint his way through the enormous and pollution-filled Prisma City accompanied by a fantastic new interactive soundtrack and an arsenal of new tricks to confound his enemies. Joining de Blob will be a new robot sidekick, named Pinky, who will help him blast enemies, disable traps, and negotiate the challenging levels of Prisma City. The game will also present players with new side quests, which allow players to upgrade de Blob’s abilities. de Blob 2 features an in-depth single-player campaign with all-new power-ups and challenges, as well as multiplayer modes that support co-operative and competitive play.

This time every year, men and women across the globe are professing their mutual  love for one another. This being my first Stir, I wanted to pick a topic that felt apropos.

I have been with my wife for over nine years. I knew that when I met her, I could stop looking. Stories in some of our games show examples of this as well. My personal favorite couple is Kaim and Sarah from Lost Odyssey. Both immortal, they can truly spend eternity together. To some, this may seem like it would get old and annoying, but people truly meant for each other will always find a way to work things out.

Immortals truly together for eternity...

Romance and love are almost never at the forefront of a game’s storyline. They really make interesting subplots, though. In the case of Final Fantasy X, love plays a very healthy role in the storyline. In the case of Gears of War, one has to work to see the role that love plays there. In other titles (Mass Effect franchise, Dragon Age Origins, etc), love isn’t even a mandatory part of the player’s experience, but a path that is available to them. If you are a completionist like me, though, you will end up with someone.

If video games are going to be treated as a serious medium on par with film, then I urge studios to incorporate the emotions of the heart more often. Red Dead Redemption is a fantastic story, mainly due to the fact that Marston is going through all of the game’s events in order to get back his son and wife, whom he loves dearly, regardless of their past. The Grand Theft Auto franchise has never really gone the ‘love’ route so much as the occasional smattering of sex (which doesn’t count, in my opinion).

That said…

WHAT OUR WRITERS HAD TO SAY

Cooper Bibaud | Thirsty Robot | Twitter |

(Spoiler warning)

Some may see this as cheating, but my personal favorite love story in a videogame is that which appeared in the smash indy hit, Braid. Not only is Braid my favorite videogame love story, but also happens to be one of my favorite games of all time.

Braid

For those of you that have played through Braid, and obsessed over its complex story, will find one so deep and rich, and most of all, unexpected. On the surface it appears to be simply about one man –Tim, who’s Princess was snatched up by evil, and as a result is left with nothing but ill feelings of regret. As you reach the end you as the player realize that things may not be how they seem. Your rescue mission ends up not being a rescue at all.

The game had a huge impact on me, and I delved deeper into the story once reaching the end and finding the mysterious clues strewn about, along with the hidden stars that need to be collected in order to get the real ending. You find that the Princess actually represents the atomic bomb, and the story is not only one of love, but obsession. If you’ve yet to experience the beauty of Braid, please download it, and play it with your Valentine. Your mind’s will be blown.

Also, download one of the songs in it, “Lullaby Set” by Shira Kammen and Swan, from Wild Wood.

Sarah Howard | FFXPrincess | Twitter |

Story of love and sacrifice.

Of course mine is Tidus and Yuna from Final Fantasy X. The storyline for that game is fantastic as far as a love story goes. Tidus finds out that Yuna has to give her life to save the world, but he refuses to let that happen and wants to find an alternative method. I won’t spoil the ending, but I cried!

Stewart Loosemore | Stigweird85 | Twitter |

The first thing that springs to mind about romance and/or love in games is the Mass Effect franchise. In both games the romance subplot has been well written and always felt natural without being the main story driver or something was tacked on to sell games and/or gain publicity (not that it didn’t also do this) From the two games my favourite “romance” was with Tali, her story seemed the most realistic having being developed over two games and multiple years (in game time)

As couples go, I liked the unsaid and unexplored bond that developed between Monkey and Trip throughout the Enslaved game and I hope that they are revisited in the future (but I doubt this will ever happen) a special mention has to go to Heavy Rain, not for merit but for most obvious and most tacked on romance plotline.

At the end of the day, I appreciate a good love story and I’m not ashamed to admit it, but it needs to feel real. If you want to tell the story of a couple then you need to tell the story of the couple. Both characters need to be developed; they both need personalities, thoughts and emotions. If one character only exists as a love interest for another then you will rarely get a believable story.

Alyx Vance

Finally, if I had to pick 5 characters who I would like to send a card to or receive one from the in no particular order:

1. Jade (Beyond Good and Evil)
   
2. Rikku (Final Fantasy X and X-2)
3. Alyx Vance (Half Life 2, and Half Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2)
4. Tali (Mass Effect 1 and 2)

5.   Zoe (Left 4 Dead)

Mike Murphy | Chibi_Mike | Twitter |

Balthier

Mike: Will you be my Valentine?

Mitchell Broussard | ChaosWalking | Twitter |

The things I do...

My earliest experience with how deep a romantic storyline can go, but yet staying pretty damn simplistic, was in Shadow of the Colossus. There are many reasons the game is one of my all time favorites (haunting open world, epic boss fights, simple yet engrossing game design) but it’s really always been the sweet and simple story of “save the princess” that gets to me. This guy brings a girl over from some other land, and commits to destroying 16 giant beasts just to bring her back to life? The two barely speaking a line of dialogue (well besides the endless amusement of mashing the “call horse” button) throughout the entirety of the game? That, to me, must be one hell of a devotion to someone. Seriously, when you know someone would destroy over a dozen ancient colossi for your undying love, lock that one down. It doesn’t beat you over the head with how much they’re in love (hell she could even be his sister for all we know), it’s about as subtle as you can get. It assumes it’s audience is grown up and mature enough to grasp these concepts, and for that reason alone the love story in it deserves to be called one of the best in gaming.

MY FINAL STIR

Patrick Talbert | AzraelPC | Twitter |

Love is an essential life function. People who have experienced the emotion know what I mean. Those few of you that haven’t experienced it, you have my sympathy. I’ve always made it my personal goal in life to find that special person that God (or whatever diety/higher power you believe in, or even the universe itself) placed in this universe. Many would perceive this as a ‘soul mate’, but I don’t really believe in soul mates. I believe that each person has a set personality that melds well with certain other people’s personalities. It just takes time (and sometimes, just dumb luck) to find one of those special people.

What do YOU think, Platform Nation?

THE RULES FOR STIR ARE SIMPLE

I pick a topic and ask the Platform Nation writers, editors and staff to send me their opinions.  Thanks go out to all the Platform Nation writers who contributed to Stir this week.  They are all part of the best writing team in the industry and I couldn’t do this without them.

Now, drop down into the comment box below and let us know your favorite couple, female or male character (that you would ‘love’ if they were ‘available’), or romantic storyline/niche to a game’s story or even universe. Basically, if it has to do with the emotion of love in video games themselves, it’s fair game, so hit me with it down below.

Stay Stirred Every Weekend & Follow Us On Twitter!

**Much thanks to YRPT at deviantart.com for the image of Sarah and Kaim, as I scoured the web and found no other images. Very well done, sir.**

NEW OR USED

The grand-daddy of used game sales in the U.S. - often the highest priced but still worth checking.

According to the gaming industry, used game sales is the plague that will  destroy the financial viability of our favorite franchises.  But this is a problem faced by several other industries on various levels.  Used CD sales didn’t destroy the music industry.  Instead the industry was forced to evolve and offer their products in a format, and at a price that consumers wanted.  It’s far more convenient to grab a few songs or albums on iTunes or Amazon rather that deal with digging through racks of used media.  Even in television there is a struggle to capitalize on content the way consumers want to view it.  Used game sales are going to be around for a while because consumers want to purchase games at a lower price.  It’s that simple.  Games are too expensive.

Physical media is the root of this problem and digital distribution, in some form,  will eventually be the solution.  In the short term, pricing of new games will combat used game sales.  Just weeks after release, new game prices will drop to compete with used pricing.  The long term solution, in my opinion, has already been found.  The model used by PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam is the future.  Give me a demo, let me play the first level, let me try the game on for size and then purchase the complete game digitally at a lower price.  Let’s look at a specific example.

Gamefly offers their members some of the best prices on used games anywhere.

In a little over a week, Fallout: New Vegas will be released.  It will retail at $59.99 and only be available on physical media.  That is what creates the used game market.  A large investment in a game you might – or might not – enjoy.  While it still has some level of trade-in value, many will take their losses and trade the game in for a fraction of the price paid for it, thus seeding the used game market.  Within a couple weeks of release, used copies will be available at GameStop for only $5 or $10 less than retail – giving the retailer as much or more profit than selling a new copy.  The industry creates it’s own problem.  But imagine that on release day you can get a limited version of the game for free – let’s call it a demo – much like the Arcade games.  If you like it, unlock the rest of the game for $39.99.  No packaging or distribution costs (other than those fees that go to XBL and PSN) and the game is available immediately.  This distribution method alienates those without hard drive storage and high speed internet, so at a later date, release the game in its entirety on media – much like DLC is being offered now – but at a premium price.  By the time this media gets to the used game market, it has little value compared to the price of purchasing digitally.  Consumers will need to know they are saving the difference between the new and used game prices (plus the “lost” trade-in value of the game) when purchasing digitally.  If game distributors move to this model, the used game market would eventually collapse and sales of “new” games via digital download would skyrocket.

“But I don’t have enough hard disk space for all those downloads.”  Welcome to the world of PC gaming.  I can’t count the number of hardware upgrades I have purchased in the past to be able to play new generations of PC games.  Everything from more ram, better video cards, faster processors – game developers never used to shy away from pushing the edge and requiring systems to be current to run their games.  Requiring more hard disk space and high speed internet is just the next phase of console gaming.

If I was able to purchase new releases digitally for the right price, and never have to change media in my console to play my games, I would probably never purchase another game on physical media – new or used.  Financially it would be a win / win for the industry and for consumers – game prices would go down while total sales of new product go up.  The losers would be retailers that depend on used game sales to survive, but due to the parasitic nature of their business model, that’s a funeral that just may be worth attending.

Until things change, used games will thrive, so – see the insets for sources to purchase used games on the web.  Just click the images to go there and see their deals.

WHAT OUR WRITERS HAD TO SAY

Cheap Ass Gamer follows all the latest deals on new and used titles - and even give-aways.

Cooper Bibaud | Thirsty Robot | Profile | Twitter | I’ve always loved the idea of trade ins. Ever since I was a kid, I’d take my old Genesis games to this store that nobody seemed to know existed and I would trade 2 for 1′s all the time. Years later, up here in Canada we’ve got shops like EB Games and Gamestop where you can do a similar thing and receive trade in credit toward new and used games. At first, it was a very useful tool, and I did it all the time. Lately, I’ve noticed a trend where new games never drop down in price, and they charge nearly the same amount for used games with only a 5 dollar difference. Yet, the amount you receive back for the game is often less than half what they turn it around for. They seem to be getting stingier and stingier, and I find myself just opting to buy brand new now that the difference in price is so minimal, and it often will come with a reward for buying it new as opposed to the used copy.

On a separate note, I would like someone out there to figure out a way to put a value on used digital media. That is where the future is headed, and there needs to be some sort of way to ditch media you’ve downloaded and no longer need.

Best Buy has recently jumped into the used game market. Prices seem to be in line with GameStop and are a little high.

Sarah Brannan | FFXPrincess | Profile | Twitter | I purchase both! I don’t have a problem with having a game either new or used, as long as it works. If it’s a Special Edition or Collectors Item and is missing stuff, then obviously I will want a new one, but other than that, there’s no difference to me.

Scott diMonda | WCC5723 | Profile | Twitter | I purchase new games and before anyone says it must be nice to have a disposable income to choose that way, I will explain.  I have my reasons but I do have an exception to the rule.  Let’s face it, game stores that re-sell games are a rip off and their profit margin is  higher on the used copies than the new copies.  I hate nothing more than to see a kid walk into their local “GameGo” (fake name to protect the retail giant) and get pennies for a game to just have is resold to another customer at a 50% mark up (numbers are not exact but it sure seems like that much).  I have bought games from friends and have given what they asked for the game but I have never bought a used copy from a retail giant.

Overall I do not like the used game retailers as they rip of fellow gamers and let’s face it, with rising costs of gaming we are all looking for a bargain, but I don’t feel that “GameGo” is the answer to saving a few dollars.

The best kept secret for used games - Family Video sells off extra rental copies as soon as six week after the release date - and the prices are great.

Brian Heitzenrater | FrehleyzComet | Profile | Twitter | I totally support used games. I mostly sell my used games and turn that cash around into buying more games. I still try to buy new when I can, but I’m not too proud to buy a used game if it will save me money and is in good condition. I’m not going to fall for Gamestop’s ploy though. I’m not going to pay $55 for a used game when for $5 more I could just buy it brand new. GS, if you’re going to sell used games, please make it worth my while. Buyers, please stop paying Gamestop’s prices for used games! They are like the government when it comes to ripping you off with their used game prices. Hell, I’ve even seen where their used game prices are more than the same game new. If you’re going to buy used, Half.com and Amazon is where it’s at, or if you’re lucky enough to have a “mom and pop” game store near by.

Earlier this year, my wife and I wanted to buy a PS3. We looked all over the state (Pennsylvania) and even online and it was sold out EVERYWHERE! We didn’t know what to do, but then we remembered this one local store so we tried there. Well they were actually sold out as well, but they did just receive a returned 120gb PS3. They said they sold it to the dude about a month or so ago and he returned it because he needed the money. They were selling it for $75 cheaper than a new one, so we took the gamble. Man was it worth it. When we checked his memory, he had only played one game the whole time he owned it. So we got really lucky with it. My point is, I can’t imagine that we would have gotten that kind of information or price from Gamestop. They wouldn’t have known the history of that PS3. Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they just made up a story just so they could get rid of it.

William Johnson | StylelessKnave | Profile | Twitter | I typically purchase most games used. Ever since I started spending my own my own to purchase games for my PS2 while I was in high school, it was really used games or nothing. Unless it was a title coming out that I had to have immediately. The last new game I bought was Modern Warfare 2, and Mass Effect 2 before that. I see used games as a great way for gamers to save a few dollars here and there. While though now, seeing the back lash that has come from the studios and developers saying that they are loosing money since a middle man like store such as Gamestop and EB Games gets a majority of the profit from me buying used, I do feel bad initially, but I dont loose sleep over it. And I hope that other gamers dont either. People will resale games all the time. Whether in the bricks and mortars like Gamestop, or over the net on sites like Craigslist, Amazon, or eBay. Cant stop, wont stop. When I want to pick up a game, and save some dollars for gas – I’ll buy used. But when a new game that I really want like the new Fallout coming out next month, I’ll buy it new.

Walmart has also jumped into the used video games market. Like Best Buy - they seem to be following the GameStop pricing model.

Angel Pelaez | Reeve | Profile | Twitter | I do think you need to support developers by buying new games most of the time, but I strongly disagree when they are annualized and strong franchises. Franchises as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, FIFA and even Call of Duty don’t really offer a lot of new and fresh ideas each year, and yet they have massive marketing campaigns and sometimes expensive hardware, this is when I buy used videogames.

Some companies are already trying to “force” the consumer to always buy new games via exclusive DLC or online passes, but I feel trade-ins and the used games industry give the consumers the opportunity to experience games they woudn´t have played otherwise. Yes most of the time is all about the money, but I like to think that if I missed a great game from 2 or even 3 years ago, I will have the chance to get it for 15 bucks.

It is also important to know that there is a way to stop the used games market; digital distribution could finish it but it’s not time for that yet, so if our readers buy used games, I’d say they will keep doing it for a fair amount of time.

MY FINAL STIR

When all else fails - there is ebay. As with all auctions, your mileage may vary.

Chris Forbis | MensaDad | Profile | Twitter | Other than a few “must have on release day” titles, I buy used video games mainly from Family Video.  They don’t buy or take trade-in games to mark them up for resale, they are just clearing out extra rental inventory after a title drops in rental demand.  I also purchase (keep) rental games from Gamefly just because they have some unbelievable deals.  The economics are quite simple.  I have a limited budget for gaming and I can get twice as many titles if I am patient and purchase used titles.

The big exception to this is Xbox Live Arcade.  I have been purchasing more downloadable games recently.  I find that most XBLA titles are a great value for the price – and I know I am supporting future releases from the developers.  The big game studios and distributers could learn a thing or two from these smaller studios that release direct to digital distribution and produce titles in chunks or “chapters” such as DeathSpank.

The rules for Stir are simple. I pick a topic and ask the Platform Nation writers, editors and staff to send me their opinions.  Thanks go out to all the Platform Nation writers who contributed to Stir this week.  They are all part of the best writing team in the industry and I couldn’t do this without them.  Show them some love by viewing their other work or following them on Twitter.

Now, drop down into the comment box below and let us know what YOU think.  Do you buy new or used video games?

Stay Stirred Every Saturday & Follow Us On Twitter!