So much for duel classing as a Mage-Rogue.

A former Wizards of the Coast employee from Burien, Washington has been accused of a massive theft of $45,000 worth of rare Magic: The Gathering cards.

Twenty-six-year-old Donald J. Henry was observed by a fellow employee trying to sell the rare cards at a Magic tournament in Portland, Oregon this past September. The employee determined that the vendor and Henry were acquainted and reported the incident to the company.

Henry was hired on at Wizards of the Coast’s Renton headquarters in December of 2009, fired in September when an investigation into the incident was launched. The investigation found that during his brief employment Henry had made 70 trips to a storage locker the company uses to hold rare promotional cards.

During a meeting with members of the Wizards of the Coast staff, the store owner who purchased 1,753 of the cards later returned the goods which were believed to have an estimated market value of $44,828.

Henry has been charged with fist-degree theft, and admitted to stealing more than 200 of the rare cards returned to the company. Prosecutors are tapping mana to see if they can prove that he stole the whole lot.

[Source]

Billy Dee Williams - Wizard World Austin

For those of you not in the know, Austin Texas was invaded this weekend by the largest assortment of nerds, cos-players, science fiction enthusiasts, and comic geeks at this year’s Wizard World Austin Comic Con. The convention was held at Austin’s Convention Center downtown and spanned over 3 days with plenty of ‘nerd-dom’ to spread around, and then some.

Wizard World Austin consisted of tv/film celebrities appearances such as Lee Majors, Ernie Hudson, Adam West, Burt Ward, Lindsey Wagner, Ray Park, Billy Dee Williams, Lou Ferrigno, Gil Gerard, Walter Koenig, WWE’s Kevin Nash and Torrie Wilson, not to mention comic artists James O’Barr, Arthur Suydam and Matthew Sturges – and I reiterate this is only a few from those three categories. It was a lot to take in over the weekend for us fanboys and fangirls (see a complete list here).

Being a major fanboy myself, I find these events mind boggling with so much going on that I literally have to make a written list of things I want to see, attend, ogle over, and of course spend money on. As our weekend team took some time to split up and see the con and wander at our own place, my first observation was that the Austin Con Center was very adequate for this event. With all the attendance, I didn’t have to wade through people to get to see who I wanted to see. The celebrity lines went fast, and were not too long of a wait at all. Most strikingly was the reception of the fans by the guests. Every celeb I spoke to were very easily approachable which can be nerve racking at times. You never want your favorite stars reputation to be blemished by rude behavior toward its audience, who are ultimately the ones who are paying for it (yeah that would be you). The range of prices for personalized autographed photos were $20-$40, not including any photos that you wanted to take.

Back off man, I'm a scientist!

My highlight of the weekend was getting to speak informally with Luciana Carro aka ‘Kat’ from SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica series. After totally geeking out with her about the TV series and obtaining my autographed photo I proceeded to try and ‘over nerd’ myself and remove from my backpack a copy of the new paperback The Science of Battlestar Galactica by Kevin Grazer / Patrick Di Justo (a technical manual written about the series by one of its NASA consultants). Amazingly since the book is very new, she had not received her copy and was delighted to peruse it there with me. Yes with me! When you get to sit and talk sci fi technology with a member of the cast, one on one, in real time, and hear their experiences on the set, stuff that you would only read about – that’s the reason enthusiasts like us storm these cons, (well me anyhow). Luciana was super polite, signed my book, I went on my way with another con experience up there on my list, as again knowing affirmatively, ‘why we do what we do, and why we love doing it’.

We closed out the evening with a Q&A panel lead by Ghostbuster’s Ernie Hudson, followed by a quiet intimate showing of the Ghostbusters movie where we sat alongside several of the members of Texas’ Ghostbuster cosplay fan clubs as they quoted lines along with the film – ‘Aim for the flattop!’.

Overall, Austin provided a great welcoming for the Wizard World show, and we were happy to be able to attend. And magnificent props to those of you who were able to get some photos with our Gamettes Taffeta Darling and Deathwish Dena (pictured above), they did a fantastic job representing with us, and of course it just is never the same doing cons without them! So until the nerds gather in the masses again…

Crutchboy – Out.

Photos by Dave Martindale / www.emptyallegory.com, click below to see more pics of Wizard World Austin!

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There is a new Star Wars game heading to your iPhone this month that uses a very interesting backdrop called ‘augmented reality’. Augmented reality technology uses what’s around you, and lays graphics and infomation over it. So basically, your playing field for your game layout will be ‘wherever you are’. Although in this case we don’t believe that it will have influence over the game mechanics, it does make for some neat looking gameplay.

The game Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is coming out this month for the iPhone, and it looks quite dashing for an iPhone game. Simply hold up your phone in front of you, and your surroundings suddenly become the scene for a bunch of invading Tie Fighters.

So in addition to your phone distracting your from your daily endeavors, you now need to alot more time fighting against the Empire. And we all can make time for that.

Story lead by Billy Holcomb aka Schlitzboy.

Publisher announced today that Splatterhouse has completed development and will hit the market November 23.

Splatterhouse is to feature a mix of platforming, puzzle-solving, and brutal combat, all set to an original storyline by comic-book scribe Gordon Rennie (Judge Dredd, Necronauts). Players assume the role of a college student in search of his kidnapped girlfriend and subsequently happen upon a mask that confers great power, and an insatiable bloodlust (yummy!).

The series reprise will also feature the original Splatterhouse trilogy of games as an unlockable bonus. Gamers interested in simply checking out the original Splatterhouse can either download the TurboGrafx-16 version from the Wii Shop Channel or look forward to a mobile version of the title set for release on a variety of platforms, including the iPhone and Windows Mobile phone, around the same time as the console game.

We thought that this game had been shelved since it was originally announced as being in development in May 2008 by BottleRocket Entertainment. Namco Bandai had abruptly pulled the studio off the project in February 2009. After a brief dispute between the two companies, Variety reported that Namco Bandai had picked up a number of ex-BottleRocketeers to finish the project.

Even though it will miss Halloween, it should have enough blood and gore to carry over and land in your cranberry sauce on Turkey Day.

[Source]

Playstation Phone for 2011?

Engadget has photos of what it says is a prototype Sony Ericsson slide-out phone with PlayStation-PSP–style gaming controls. The phone has a multitouch trackpad and purportedly will appear sometime next year running Android 3.0.

Rumors of an Android 3 PlayStation Phone first emerged in August, and according to Engadget, the phone’s screen is “in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches??? — they have photos, but not a copy of the phone itself.

The phone is also reported to have a 1-GHz Qualcomm processor, 512 MB of RAM and 1 GB of ROM.

Engadget also claims there will be a special Sony Marketplace offering Android apps for the device. Custom Android app stores for custom Android devices seem to be the thing to do: Barnes & Noble is getting ready to do just that for its new Nook Color.

Kotaku reported earlier this week that Sony executives were showing off a slide-out widescreen gaming device that the company was calling the PSP2. The Wall Street Journal reported this summer that Sony was working on adding 3G networking to its gaming devices, and on handheld devices offering wireless communication, gaming and e-reading.

Sony’s European division stated that the leaked photos are fakes, but then changed its official response to “no comment.???

[Source]

Fable III for Xbox 360 and PC appears to be quite generous on the prostitutes that will be roaming the towns, male and female, as depicted here in 2 pages of the new Fable III artbook.

The Art of Fable III book will contain images of uniforms, posters, characters and enviroments featured in the game. And maybe a few coin purses here and there. Yep we said it. I was wondering how much ‘play-style’ from Fable II would be incorperated in the third installment of the series, and judging by the pics I’d say that you will still be prompted to use ‘protection’ upon every endeavor.

And we always need that in our fantasy life too right? Of course. And need a bigger pic for your desktop – click away pervo.

Sega announces comic book hero will return to his propaganda roots to fight Nazis on Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, and DS next year

Super Soldier Captain American will be facing off against his nemesis, the Nazi agent Red Skull in 2011 on your consoles. Set during the height of WWII, the third-person action adventure will be laid out in a sprawling castle complex that will feature foes from the comic books, including the Iron Cross and members of the terrorist group HYDRA. Gameplay will have a heavy emphasis on hand-to-hand combat involving the Cap’s indestructible shield as well as platforming sequences.

Sega is taking the shield-wielding hero back to his WWII beginnings in the forthcoming game Captain America: Super Soldier. The game is based on the eponymous film, which stars Chris Evans (Fantastic 4), Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men), and Samuel L. Jackson (Iron Man 2). The movie has been titled Captain America: First Avenger.

Let’s hope next year is not too soon for our favorite Amercian hero, we’d hate to see another horrible ‘movie-to-game massacre’.

Electronic Arts today said today they would be removing the “Taliban” as a playable character from their new military shooter Medal of Honor. Instead the will be replacing “Taliban” with “Opposing Force”. But we are guessing they will still appear “Taliban-ish”.

Medal of Honor came under pressure from the military after it became known that in the multiplayer portions of the game, players would be able to take on the role of terroist Taliban fighters.

In September, the commanding general of the Army and Air Force Exchange Services told sources that he would have Medal of Honor pulled from U.S. military bases worldwide because of the “well-documented reports of depictions of Taliban fighters engaging American troops” in the game.

A statement this morning on the Medal of Honor website, Greg Goodrich, executive producer of Medal of Honor, said the decision to drop the Taliban reference was driven purely by the feedback from friends and families of fallen soldiers.

“This is a very important voice to the Medal of Honor team,” he wrote. “This is a voice that has earned the right to be listened to. It is a voice that we care deeply about. Because of this, and because the heartbeat of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and Allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team in Medal of Honor multiplayer from Taliban to Opposing Force.”

Goodrich noted the change will not directly affect gamers or alter gameplay.

[Source]

Get your six shooter ready for some brain blasting! RDR Undead Nightmare Trailer!

From Rockstar.com:

“the Undead Nightmare Pack will feature an entirely new mostly single-player campaign that follows John Marston as he tries to find a cure for the highly infectious zombie plague that has spread across the frontier.

In addition to this epic new single-player adventure, the Undead Nightmare Pack also features brand new gameplay mechanics, weapons, zombie animals, mythical creatures and even a brand new secret location. All this, plus some exciting new multiplayer details and much more to be revealed very soon.”

Not sure how they will mesh this into the story line, without ruining the ending for people who have not played the game all the way through – it will be interesting to see if Rockstar’s writers try and shove a square peg through a round hole…but just in time for Halloween none the less.

Our September Gamette of the Month by far needs not much of an introduction, she should very well be introducing us. We met her at several of the Dallas Comic Cons this year and it was no hurdle for her to charm the BG Crew. If you don’t see her doing some cosplay around Texas, you may very well find her storming comic shops loading up on her favorite books or planning her next Dr. Sketchy’s show. So again, say hello to her if you see her, go and visit her slamming website, and give Taffeta Darling a round of applause for gracing the pages of BusyGamer.

Tell us who your favorite character is and why they’re better than Superman. If your favorite character is Superman, you lose this round.
Enid Coleslaw [if you don't know who that is, you lose this round]. She’s just trying to figure herself out and find her place in the world. Sadly she paves and leaves a path of heartache for herself and just about anyone who cares for her. Supes has a lil heartache and struggles with his family and heritage on a different scale. Enid had and has the strength to keep family in the heart but seek out the world and it’s meaning. Clark is pretty predictable, and no matter what, he’ll will always run home.

Tell us in haiku/Why we should read comic books/Because haikus rock.
* inward adventures * free my mind o book of art * the beacon to shore *

You get to choose one awesome super power but then you have to take one lame super power as well. What are they and why?
Lame Power – Ultra Flatulence boost, that projects ya 2 feet into the air, because it’s a natural occurrence, and every gal could use a boost. A Super Power – flying. Duh. no wait, breathing under water.. ah crap, maybe invisibility.

Our super power is being super sexy. Is it working?
I’m sorry, what was the question? I got lost in your sexy, sexy eyes.

Read the full interview and pictorial here!