Here we have another one of Coin-Op TV’s installments of some E3 coverage with Hailey Bright (Busy Gamer’s Gamette of the Year 2009). Hailey talks with Toys For Bob’s executive producer Jeff Poffenbarger about Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. Check it out!
Thanks to Coin-Op TV for sharing this video from E3 with us, you can check out more of their E3 coverage here at www.coin-op.tv.
We get uber delighted when our past Gamettes are out covering gaming events, especially the major ones like this interview over at E3 this year in Los Angeles. Take a peek at Coin-Op Tv’s Hailey Bright (our Gamette of the Year 2009) interviewing Radical Entertainment’s Chris Ansell for Prototype 2. Good stuff, and keep your eye out for the return of the BG Crew at SDCC in July 2011. Pending court dates of course (just kidding, we’ve been good this year).
Thanks to Coin-Op TV for sharing this video from E3 with us, you can check out more of their E3 coverage here at www.coin-op.tv.
I’d have to say that 2010 was a hell of a year. I’m almost sorry to see it end with all of the fun we had this past year but I can honestly say 2011 is already shaping up to be another great year.
We’re already lining up our 2011 Gamettes and the contest for our 2010 Gamette of the Year is still in full swing and will be running until January 16th so don’t let the thought of some new geeky hotness distract from the lovely ladies who are already on the site.
Don’t think we forgot about our Top Five of 2010 list, either. We know some of you probably wish we would but tough noogies, you get one!
So without further ado or fanfare, here’s our top 5 game picks for 2010 in no particular order:
That's five assassins. That's ten "ass-es" and five "ins".
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: This one comes could almost be our top pick for 2010 with its damn near perfect mixture of story, action, and multiplayer goodness. There’s very little wrong with this game but some of what is wrong can bring the fun to a screeching halt.
Following the exploits of Ezio Auditore, ACB brings some of the best single player action we’ve seen all year. As an Assassin in 16th century Italy, Ezio is a solid badass with an arsenal of moves and weapons at his disposal that serve to decimate opponents while you hack, slash, and stab your way to revenge. The missions can be a bit frustrating but fortunately, there’s a very forgiving checkpoint and autosave system that will help ease the pain of the more treacherous tasks Ezio has in store for him.
The multiplayer *can* be a blast. Short, furious matches where patience is rewarded more favorably than the quick and dirty kill. Points are based on the quality of the kills you make so you might get 3 primo kills and beat out the guy with 12 kills. As you level up your multiplayer character, you get access to more equipment and perks which can change the way you play in multiplayer.
The downside of the multiplayer is the wait times. There seems to be something hinky about the way Ubisoft’s matchmaking works and you may end up waiting 20 minutes for a 10 minute match which can seriously eat into your session time in what would otherwise be an excellent time saver. In the end, the weird match setups can be forgiven as this game is very Busy Gamer friendly. If you have 30 minutes to play, you can get a substantial amount of enjoyment from this title.
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare: The BG Reckon Crew has expressed their undying (pun intended) love for the western shoot ‘em up that is Red Dead Redemption. While there have been several DLC updates for the game, Undead Nightmare made it a whole new game. There’s a very real feeling of desperation when you begin as ammo is much more scarce in this DLC than in the main game and the storyline actually picks up during an earlier point in the main game, meaning that if you’ve already beat the game, you’re going to be seeing all those familiar old places in a whole new light.
New weapons and outfits are just the capper on this DLC. Undead Nightmare also adds some new multiplayer but where the game shines is the new single player missions. As in the original, missions can be time consuming and you’re definitely going to want to see what happens next so busy gamers should approach the DLC with that in mind. And just like in the main game, once you’ve beaten the main story, you can continue to play well after the final credits roll. Whether it’s hunting sasquatch (seriously) or just gunning down zombies, there’s plenty to do once you’ve finished the storyline.
We play primarily for the sheer amount of headbands in Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops: Amid all the turmoil that’s been going on with Activision and Infinity Ward, the Call of Duty franchise has managed to launch another winner in the series with Developer Treyarch back at the helm this year. Along with revamping the popular Nazi Zombies mode, Black Ops manages to land another one-two punch with a fantastic story and incredible gameplay. Not only did the single player campaign manage to keep me on the edge of my seat, the multiplayer modes available do not fail to satisfy.
Unlike the Modern Warfare entries of the franchise, the single player story felt considerably longer. This isn’t a bad thing as I’ve felt the stories being told in the previous entries was almost too short to enjoy but it’s something to keep in mind when trying to get in some quick gameplay. The scenarios have a tendency to grab your attention so the real danger isn’t that you can’t get in quick games but that you won’t want to turn it off once you get going.
New multiplayer maps, weapons, and gears have added an entirely new facet to the frenzy that has become CoD’s multiplayer sessions. Games are quick to come up though if you’re trying to find one specific type of map or game type, you may find yourself waiting a little longer. Try not to get too caught up in the Nazi Zombies multiplayer. You may find yourself missing hours from your life.
Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty: Twelve years in the making meant a lot of expectations for this sequel. We all know, however, that sequels just happens to be one of the things Blizzard does well. Thus, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Wings of Liberty landed and not only surpassed our expectations but ended up being a hit with people who hadn’t even played the original.
As with most of Blizzard’s products, WoL hit the markets with some phenomenal music, voice work, and gameplay. A solid sequel to the story told in the original and the add ons, Wings of Liberty managed to captivate our attention all over again.
With two more expansions in the works (Wings of Liberty covered only the Human campaign, the Protoss and Zerg campaigns are yet to be released), the Starcraft franchise is officially back in business. While the single player campaign could be a little time consuming, the multiplayer is still the same frantic pace as the original and can make for some quick, sometimes frustrating, matches for those who are gaming on a schedule.
Time will tell if the two add ons will generate as much interest but it’s a good bet that Blizzard has yet another hit on its hands.
This screen shot will mean absolutely nothing to you unless you play the game...
Game Dev Story: Yeah, I’m throwing an app up here on my top five. That’s why it’s my top five and not yours. Available for iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Android, Game Dev Story is one of those games that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.
The scenario is this; you’re a new game company creating (what else?) games for the various devices on the imaginary market. While many of the “consoles??? you create games for bear some resemblance to real life devices, you are able to create your own console and program for it. You choose from categories that set the tone for your game (Robot Fighting or Animal RPG Sim anyone?) and then go to market with it.
It’s a clever little game that can be played at length or with just a few minutes a day and you won’t regret any of the time invested… unless you do something like forget to walk the dog or feed the kids or something. The greatest part of this game is that it is portable and easy to click a few times and then sit back to see what happens. In all honesty, this has been one of the few games that I’ve felt compelled to buy from the very get go and the first time I played it, I realized a few hours of my life had disappeared as I tried to tweak my programming team and figure out which games were the money makers.
I imagine this game will see some improvements as time goes on but as it stands now, it’s a great game if you want something a bit more portable to entertain you during your down time.
There it is, folks, our top five picks for 2010. If you haven’t had the chance to play them yet, we highly recommend them all. Before you run off to pick them up though, go vote for our Gamette of the Year because every time you don’t vote, I kill a kitten.
Gritskrieg – End of Line
Please Stand By
As you may have noticed, we’re experiencing some “technical??? difficulties with our polling software. This very experience is one of the reasons that we chose to go with a third party polling site that had, until recently, proven to be very reliable. The hope was that even if our site went BLAMMO we’d be able to redirect those who wanted to vote for their favorite Gamette to an alternate site in order to keep the polls up and running.
In the IT world, we like to call this a “minor setback???. The reality of it is, however, that it’s a pain in the ass.
We’ve been on the phone with the poll provider. We know there’s an issue with their DNS server. We know and understand, as people who have worked in various technical fields, that these things happen and there’s nothing to be done but to replace the hamster wheel that powers the interwebs. We want to be patient and say, take your time, we know how it is. At this point though, I have to say I’m ready to strangle someone.
We apologize for the inconvenience to both our Gamettes and our readers who want to cast their votes. As soon as we have more information, I’ll update this post with it so you know where we stand. For now, we ask for your patience and understanding while we work on this issue and try to make sure all of the data we have collected up till now is sound and secure.
Gritskrieg – End of Line
Update – 12/22/2010 2:15PM CST - Our polls are back up, no data was lost, we’re all fine here, how are you? Get back to voting or the terrorists win.
The gorgeous Hailey Bright, Gamette of the Year '09
That time of year has rolled around once again. While you’re out shopping for stupid things like gifts for your family, we here at Busy Gamer are hard at work making certain another year of lovely geek ladies is all lined up for our readers. We’re also setting up our Annual Busy Gamer Gamette of the Year contest.
We’ve seen a lot of lovely nerd girls grace our site this year and it’s time to see who our readers want to represent the Gamettes for 2011. We’re certain you all have your favorites and now it’s time to show it. It’s hard to believe we’ll be crowning our third lovely lady this year and we’re going to give you the chance to be a part of it.
The rules and contest length will be a bit different from the previous two years. To begin, the contest will run from 12:01AM CST December 15th, 2010 till 11:59PM CST January 15th, 2011. And this time out, we won’t be limiting our readers to one vote for the entire contest… you’ll be able to vote for your favorite lovely lady once a week, every week for the entire length of the contest.
We’ll still be reviewing the votes for anything hinky so don’t go getting any ideas about how you might rig the contest for your favorite Gamette. If we learned anything from Red Dead Redemption, it was how to keep it honest. Fortunately for our readers (and most likely ourselves), we haven’t been able to procure a six shooter. We applaud your enthusiasm but by keeping the contest honest, we’ll applaud your enthusiasm *and* your honesty.
The list this year is a bit shorter than in years’ past and some of you have mentioned it. Unfortunately, we had scheduling conflicts and a number of false starts on our part over the past year. Don’t worry, though… we’ll be making up for it in the coming year and we know you’ll be able to forgive us once we do. As always, we’ll be looking high and low for the ladies who love us and all the things that make us geeks.
For now, however, take a few minutes to make your voice heard by heading over to the voting site and casting a vote for one of our lovely, nerdy, geeky Gamettes.
Gritskrieg – End of Line
Here’s the deal, we’re going to be in Seattle for PAX, you’re going to be in Seattle for PAX. We’re geeks with a photographer, you’re a geek who’s photogenic. We like geek girls, you just happen to be a geek girl. It’s simple math. Might be time for us to talk.
We’re looking for someone who wants to be our official PAX Gamette and you could be that someone. We were going to shorten it to PAX-ette because we know how people love when we get “cutesy??? and add “-ette??? onto the end of words to feminize non-gendered words but we’re just going to stick with the “Official PAX Gamette???.
So what do you need to do to apply for this once in a lifetime (well, until the next PAX) opportunity? It’s easy, first, just send us an email at gamettes@busygamer.com letting us know you’re interested and attach a photo. Tell us a little about yourself like why you’re attending PAX and what you’re most interested in seeing while you’re there. You don’t have to be a professional model to land this opportunity, just a geek or a nerd.
And what will you get if we pick you? Well, you’ll get to hang out with the Reckon Crew and we’re awesome but, if that’s not enough, here’s what we’ll do… We’ll set up an impromptu photo shoot somewhere in the nearby vicinity that will allow us to capture your inner nerdy. Once that bit is done, we’ll drag you around the convention and use you as a distraction to cut in lines for the games by yelling, “HEY, LOOK! A REAL GIRL!??? If that doesn’t work, we may have you beat up someone to get us a place in line because we’re lovers not fighters.
Seriously though, if you’re interested in getting to see a specific game or event, we’ll pony up a BG Reckon Crew pass and see about getting you to the front of the line. We may even chronicle your reaction to said game or event as part of the whole experience. And then, if you’re not sick of us already, we’ll introduce you to Hailey Bright, our Gamette of the Year 2009, and take you out for something fancy to eat, like McDonald’s.
And, since we just happen to know where all the cool parties are, we’ll be more than happy to let you tag along to anything we happen to attend. So you’ll get to attend some of the epic PAX after parties if you so desire.
In addition to all of this, you’ll also be entered into our Gamette of the Year competition for 2010 as one of our official Gamettes for… well, 2010.
Now, there are some rules we have to abide by and they’re kinda important:
Dem’s the rules and now that they’re out of the way, it’s time for the PAX FAQ (which I totally just made up):
So that’s it. You want to give it a shot? We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Gritskrieg – End of Line
Looks like our Gamette of the Year Hailey Bright found her way into Lallywood, a new comedy web series hosted by none other than Ken Lally of television’s Heroes, CSI Miami, Alias, and voice actor of Resident Evil 5. This awesome webisode 2, called ‘Hot Girls Who Game’ has Hailey and Ken talking nerd stuff in Hollywood, including Hailey’s favorite games, what she likes in men, some game voice acting she’s currently involved in, and she even turns the tables and pops a few questions off at Ken.
Take some time after watching this and visit Hailey over at www.HaileyBright.com, and be sure to keep up with her in the awesome Twitterverse.
BG Reckon Crew - Crutchboy, Timothy Danger & Gritskrieg
They say you can take the boy out of Texas… But you can’t take Texas out of the boy. I guess we’ve been lucky the past two years to spread that little bit of Gospel all around the U.S… but there is one place the BusyGamer Crew hasn’t gone yet. So we’re fixing that this week.
I’m talking about the land of fame and excess. Movie stars and bad habits. Silicon chips and silicone… well y’know.
That’s right fiends, the Busygamer Crew is headed to L.A. for a little rest and relaxation, nerd networking, and of course, a little bit of what we do best… (it rhymes with “thinking??? but let’s face it I was never very good at that)
Hailey Bright - Gamette of the Year 2009
Of course, we do have a main mission. That is to put our beloved leader and bossman Amory ‘Gritskrieg’ Gritta on COIN-OP TV Thursday night. Oh that’s right… I didn’t stutter. Grits is going to be in the hot seat for one of the video game industry’s most popular interactive shows… What’s more… you can watch it and participate live while it happens. COIN-OP TV is much more than an internet show. It features a unique twist in which viewers can log in and participate with the shows by leaving live comments and questions in the chat room.
Grits will be talking about the website.. our lovely Gamettes, our mega cool Gamette of the Year contest, and of course will be awarding COIN-OP TV’s lovely co-host HAILEY BRIGHT the coveted GAMETTE OF THE YEAR title.
We are certainly excited to make the trip. LA is the epicenter for video game technology, gaming subculture, and home to countless other geek treasures (Not to mention some old school punk rock history). We can’t wait to make fools… er I mean represent Texas in a manner only gentlemen wearing the BusyGamer moniker can.
You can watch The BusyGamer Reckon Crew live on the broadcast of Coin-Op Tv here at www.thestream.tv/coinop 8PM PST / 10PM CST January 21 starring host Robert Welkner and Co-Host Hailey Bright. It’s live, it’s interactive, and you need to check this out! Send us some questions, we dare you.
We wrapped up our annual Gamette of the Year event last month and it is now quickly approaching the time where we will welcome our latest additions to the site. As such, we’ve decided to be generous and share our top Gamette submissions for 2010 with our readers. One of the most difficult jobs here at BusyGamer.com is sorting through all the beautiful and well qualified applicants we review as the year progresses and only choose a handful of the ladies to represent the site and be named an ‘Official BusyGamer.com Gamette’.
As we plunge headlong into our third year of celebrating the greatness of women in the nerd world, we present to you a brief preview of some of the ladies that our staff at BG has chosen to carry on the torch of ‘Beauty and the Geek’ for 2010. Enjoy.
I was racking my brain trying to think of a good way to segue this entry. But instead of telling you a good anecdote or story or something wise and relevant, I think we should just dive into this…
Last month was our Annual Gamette Of The Year Contest. The contest is done for the past two years that we have been in existence to support and celebrate our models who represent the site. The first year we did it. It was mostly harmless fun. The girls promoted themselves, blogged, sent bulletins and emails, got their social circles involved… What some people call a popularity contest, turned into a good clean competition which ended in a big party and cash prize.
This year… the ladies as usual were still pictures of grace, good manners, and fun (which is why they are gamettes in the first place). The problem seems to stem from people who weren’t even IN the contest to begin with.
This past month… the site and our ladies have been targeted for all sorts of things gender based including being charged with “exploiting women??? bringing on models who weren’t “true??? gamers and we even had one person that blamed us for her eating disorder.
They say there is no such thing as “bad publicity???. I don’t know if I agree with that, but there comes a time when you have to address this and move on… So here we go.
First… you can call us a lot of things. Drunks, jerks, and idiots. This is all true. We have never claimed to be Politically Correct. It was never our intention to come across that way and please everyone. We are a site that writes for people like… well… like US. We don’t game a billion hours a day (BUSYGAMER remember?) We play in bands, do radio shows, do IT work, and webpage design when we aren’t taking over the world with BG. When we write our stories, we put up things that WE would like to see. The same goes with our models. (Trust me this is going somewhere) Our Gamettes are a celebration of these girls. We are intent on showing that our subculture is NOT male dominated to women and also show other guys that even though they may like to have a Star Wars marathon in their home now and again, there are girls who will not only watch it with you, but also school you on the logistics of lightsaber construction. This can go on all day so let me just address my main concerns…
Second… One person said we “exploit??? these girls. Are you kidding me? To “exploit??? means to use selfishly for one’s own needs. So let’s get some things straight… We don’t make money off of these girls. We don’t show any nudity on our site (We’ve had to turn down offers for that). We try our hardest to help our gamettes make appearances in cons, push their own websites, blogs, businesses and portfolios. We offer them the chance to write and publish their stuff on our website which is read by hundreds if not thousands of people a day (just like you). In short whatever their prospective field is we promote them just as hard as they promote us. If you don’t believe that… why don’t you try to contact one of our girls yourself and ask them what awful flesh peddlers we must be.
Third… is the charge that not all of our girls are “true hardcore gamers???. This is true by God, and we like it that way. Our requirements for the Gamettes is to be involved or interested in the nerd community or industry in some way. While we love having pro gamers on our site… we also love a gal who reads comics, likes tech stuff, hosts radio or internet TV shows and has other interests. I’m not sure if you noticed, but the name of the site kinda tells you that we are a site for the “busy??? gamer. There are other sites that promote strictly pro gamers and while we love and appreciate ALL the sites in our industry, we find this works best for us.
Yes, most of our girls are models. Most of them have been doing it long before they met us and will continue to do so. It makes sense for a model to see the other girls and be interested in being a feature so she can further her work and be seen by thousands of people who wouldn’t ordinarily. Being a model in not a requirement, but one of our requirements is to be very self confident and we wouldn’t pick a girl who wasn’t.
Fourth. Wow. You’re really going to blame us for your eating disorder? As I type this, the bachelor is on right now. Guess what… no fat chicks. Magazines like KING, MAXIM, GQ have been featuring impossible looking women for years. Our website is completely applicant based. Which means, these are real girls, I am sorry that you have found us to be the target of your problem.
I’m going to let you in on a shocker. I’m a big man. I’ve lost weight at a hundred pounds at a time, then I’ve gained it back. I am comfortable in this size I guess because I know that if I really want to, I will go and work to lose it. As it is, I have had moderate success in society by the merits of my profession and succeeding in life. My luck in affairs of the heart is also moderate because of my confidence in this world. Yes, the nerd/geek community accepts me because of my contribution to it, but I am also aware that at ComicCon there is not a line of girls waiting to meet me like those dreamy Twilight boys. And in the end, I’m not going to compare myself to them. Just like you shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone else but you. If you feel threatened by our girls (and for the life of me I can’t think of any other reason why people would make these claims) then maybe the problem isn’t with us, but with you. Here’s the deal, we have before and will continue to feature full figured models IF they apply and meet the criteria and beat out the other girls to do so. This is possible and has happened a few times. The fact is we don’t get a lot of applicants to do so. Maybe it’s because they don’t think they are good enough… but if they never apply, then we can never know.
In the end of the day… we aren’t smut peddlers. This ain’t that cool of a job. We are not women hating jerks, if anything we love ‘em more than our games. We are just a few simple guys who started a site on our own in our spare time writing and featuring things we want to see. If I wanted to feature a plate of eggs as our next model, I would do it. (probably get vetoed by the staff but oh well) I guess what I’m trying to say, is that we will continue to write what we want, review what we want, give you our honest opinions on comics, movies, tech and games… and we will continue to feature the girls we want. If you don’t like it, well like I said, we have never been PC and I’m not going to beg you. I’m not going to argue this anymore. Everyone has an opinion, and I’m not here to change anyone’s mind, but I wasn’t going to close the book on this without addressing it either.
