Free Star Wars Rancor Booklet

My kids have been playing their new Kinect Star Wars game, having lots of fun with light sabers and podracing and such. I got a nice Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you…) message from the Xbox e-mail robot today.

It included a free gift that you might enjoy, so I’ll share it here! It’s a booklet on the proper care and feeding of your pet Rancor, which could come in handy if you get a new pet Rancor for Star Wars Day. You can view and download the printable booklet here. Enjoy!

If you’re a fan of the funny, ridiculously offensive, animated series Family Guy, you should check out the Family Guy online game. It’s being billed as “The World’s First MMO-LOL,” or massively-multiplayer-laugh-out-loud game.

The game is currently in beta mode, but you can register for an invitation to get in early. It took just a day for my “Key to Quahog” to arrive. I haven’t played yet, but I expect the game to be weird, funny, and offensive, just like the show.

Hey, gamer girls! You know I’m a fan of Call of Duty, and I’m looking forward to the next installment of Black Ops, due out on November 13, 2012. Today, the trailer for Black Ops 2 was released!

It shows a conflict in the year 2025, with some future vehicles, weapons, and gadgets. The narrative alludes to a plot where our enemies have taken control of the technology and machines that were developed to keep us safe. That’s where the elite humans of Black Ops take over. Watch the trailer and let me know what you think!

Caine in his office

Caine’s Arcadeis the creation of one Los Angeles 9 year old boy, named Caine. Given a steady supply of cardboard boxes and packing tape, plus a whole summer vacation to fill, Caine built his own arcade. He built the games, complete with calculators for Fun Pass verification (enter the PIN and press the checkmark button, and then make sure the big number matches the one written on the back of the Pass), and manually-operated prize ticket dispensers (he crawls inside the box to push tickets out through the slot when a player wins), and waited for customers.

He got his first customer when Nirvan Mullick stopped by his dad’s auto parts shop. Nirvan was Caine’s only customer, and decided to organize a surprise flash mob to show up and play at Caine’s Arcade.

I hate it when the Internet makes me cry, but I couldn’t help it when I watched how strangers came together to make a little boy smile. His dad doubted that people would show up to a used auto parts shop in East LA. Watch the video and get the whole story. If you want to help Caine, you can get involved at CainesArcade.com.

Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

A 9 year old boy – who built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad’s used auto part store – is about to have the best day of his life.

Help Caine’s Scholarship Fund:

http://cainesarcade.com

Caine’s Arcade Online:

http://facebook.com/cainesarcade

http://twitter.com/cainesarcade

Credits:
Directed by Nirvan

http://twitter.com/nirvan

My handmade Skyrim "helmet" beanie

Happy New Year, everybody! I have a new addiction to confess: SKYRIM! It’s an amazing role-playing game, with a huge story, beautiful landscapes, lush soundtrack, interesting characters, and DRAGONS! The game is too big to describe here, but let me say this: it is immersive, and it sucks you right in!

Between Skyrim sessions (while my hubby was playing), I was inspired to design a “helmet” like the Iron Helmet in the video game. Here’s what I came up with! My very own Skyrim-inspired beanie, made with my own little hands. What do you think?

I posted a couple of photos on my Facebook page, and some people asked about buying the Skyrim hat. So I’ve put a listing in my Etsy shop (Skyrim inspired “Iron Helmet” with horns) if anybody’s interested.

The wildly popular game “Angry Birds” has achieved near global notoriety as an addictively fun, time-gobbling pastime. So it’s really no surprise that you can dress as an Angry Bird or Pig for Halloween, or for your next Bird/Pig costume party. Here are some of the possibilities. Just click a picture to shop!

So, video game addicts are always looking for a good reason to keep playing, right? Just one more level! I have to beat this boss! It’s Double XP weekend!

Well, here’s a truly good reason to play: Extra-Life.org‘s gaming marathon to benefit children’s hospitals! From the site:

Welcome to Extra Life, an annual 24-hour video game marathon that raises money to help kids at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. It’s never been this much fun to do this much good.

Gaming Marathon for Children's Hospitals

How it works: Each Extra Life participant is asked to raise money by recruiting at least four sponsors to give a minimum of $1 for each hour of the marathon. This fundraiser has extra meaning as it was created to honor the late Victoria Enmon, a 15-year-old girl who played video games during her battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Who can help? What games count? Individuals can play any game they choose — including those on their phone, computer or even board games — and can participate in the marathon from their own homes or create or join groups and play from any location of their choosing.

[EDIT] I’ve started a team for the October 15 gaming marathon! Please join the team and help reach our $100 goal! Remember, you don’t have to play video games. Any games will do — even board games! Join the team!

How to sign up: You can register to play or just make a donation. Check out the video below, and tell all your friends!

Kinectimals Plush White Tiger

Back in December, my family received an Xbox 360 Kinect system. One of my daughter’s favorite games is Kinectimals, which lets her play with and care for a virtual animal.

Recently, we received an addition to our Kinectimals virtual pet family. A White Tiger cub, which my daughter (6 years old) named “Stripey,” is a cute little plush toy, complete with whiskers. She was so excited when she unwrapped Stripey! When I told her we could scan Stripey’s nametag with the Kinect sensor, she could hardly wait to see what would happen.

We fired up the Xbox and started the Kinectimals game. She navigated right to the scan rock and after a couple of her wiggly tries, I scanned the tiger’s tag for her. The game recognized the code and *poof* unlocked a virtual white tiger for her! Another Stripey! She was thrilled!

White tiger unlocked in game

The Plush Pals are a fun addition to the Kinectimals game. It’s nice to have a soft, fuzzy, huggable toy to go along with the virtual pet in the game. I think any child who enjoys playing Kinectimals will be thrilled to receive a new Plush Pal to squeeze in person, and to unlock within the game as well. There are five new Kinectimals plush pals, available at Toys “R” Us and Target for $11.99. New animals, including the Canadian Lynx and Jaguarundi, will be released later this year.

The animals are small enough to fit into an Easter basket, and won’t melt in kids’ hands, get smeared into carpet, or cause a sugar-high frenzied rampage. Cheers!

Disclosure: I received 2 plush pals to review for this article.

My game-inspired dog tags

I’ve been inspired by my obsession with Call of Duty, and by the many awesome gaming girlfriends I’ve made while playing online. I thought it would be fun to put something game-related into my jewelry design, and here are a couple of things I came up with: personalized dog tags, and Call of Duty inspired charms.

I put my name on one tag, and team name G33KGIRLZ on the other. To make the tags look a bit more rustic, I gave them a brushed finish and hammered the edges a little. Perfect! Polished the tags with jewelry wax and strung them on stainless steel chain. I love the way they look! Slightly battle-worn, but still shiny. Fun for a boy or a girl!

I also found some cute pewter charms and pendants to go with the Call of Duty theme. Combat boots, machine guns, grenades, and more. I’m working on putting them together on necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. I’ve opened an etsy shop for these, so if you’re interested, go check it out! Geek and Gamer Stuff. I’ll be adding more items soon.