Feature: Great Gifts for Gaming Dads

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

“Once again Father’s Day is fast approaching, and hunting down just the right gift to show your dad you care can be tricky business. But if the paternal figure in your life happens to be a gamer, then you’re in luck. There are some very cool items out there that are perfectly geared towards pops who like to spend their free afternoons with a controller in hand. Check out these great gift ideas for gaming dads.”

Ok, so Father’s Day is over, but my recent relocation made it impossible to get this article posted here last week, so why not check it out anyway and find some great birthday gift ideas for your gaming dad. Check out the feature here at MSN’s Game On.

Feature: PAX East 2010 – Photo Essay

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

“After many successful years on the West Coast, the annual Penny Arcade Expo recently made its East Coast debut in Boston, unleashing a veritable Pandora’s box of gaming nerdery into the Hynes Convention Center that spilled out into the surrounding area for several days of revelry. PAX is the only gaming focused convention of its size that’s accessible to the general public, and PAX East’s clear focus on giving players and fans a means of accessing their wildest geek fantasies over the course of a jam packed weekend assured the approximate 60,000+ attendees would have plenty to do during their stay.”

Check out the full photo feature here at MSN’s Game On.

Feature: A Different Kind of Rock Revolution

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

“Rock and roll may never die, but it’s certainly a wildly different animal than it once was decades ago. With the music industry in a tailspin and the traditional record label model being increasingly thrown out the window, bands are forced to adapt with the changing times if they want to survive. To stay afloat and reach new fans, artists are tapping into the electric current of the gaming world and finding success in the process. No strangers to videogames, Boston-based metal heads Bang Camaro are one example of rockers making a go of it in the digital age.”

Check out the full article here at IGN and here at MSN’s Game On.

Feature: Hot and Steamy Gaming Encounters

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

“With Valentine’s Day about to drop a massive heart-adorned, candy-filled love bomb on the general populace, many peoples’ minds have collectively turned to thoughts of romance, lust, and companionship – in all their numerous wild and crazy incarnations. To help set the mood, check out this sampling of steamy video game encounters that flick the naughty switch to GO!”

Check out the full article here at MSN’s Game On.

Feature: Four Freebies

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

Four fresh freebie freeware games for your delicious amusement: Icycle, Devil’s Tuning Fork, Pixel Ranger, and Sausage Factory. Dig in!

“If only making delicious breakfast sausages was as easy as feeding cute barnyard animals into an automated hydraulic press. Pixeljam Games’ demented take on the meat processing industry in Sausage Factory is super funny and a little disturbing. This heaping mouthful of a rhythm puzzle game has you controlling color-coded crushing machines as an underpaid employee in a meat factory. As the conveyor spits out pixilated cows, pigs, chickens, and even a few less savory offerings, you get to violently smash them into a gooey pulp to prepare them for mass consumption. Yum.”

Check out the full feature here at MSN’s Game On.

Feature: Homophobia and Harassment in the Online Gaming Age

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Nathan Meunier

“The explosive growth of online gaming communities in recent years has created amazing opportunities to go head-to-head against all kinds of players from around the world. But the vast freedom and flexibility of online play on consoles and PC has also given rise to something more insidious – a new place for bigotry and homophobia to manifest and thrive.”

UPDATED: Here’s the link for the article on IGN. Note the 1,000+ comments. Holy crap.

I’ve been wanting to write this feature on homophobia and harassment in the online gaming world for quite some time. After a lot of work, I’m very pleased that the finished piece is running on two prominent high-traffic sites to help get this discussion out there. I’d like to thank Flynn at GayGamer and Angela at LesbianGamers who took the time to share their thoughts and feelings on this important subject. You can check out the article here at MSN’s Game On at this very moment, and it will also be running on IGN.com soon. Please feel free to spread the link around, post about it on your blogs, fire off a tweet about it, and get people talking. Thanks.

Feature: 10 Geeky Gifts We Love

Posted on December 19, 2009 by Nathan Meunier

“Finding the perfect holiday gift for that special someone one can be an agonizing process, particularly if their tastes shy away from cushy mainstream gift-giving fare and lean toward the quirky end of the spectrum. And while video games and assorted high-tech gadgetry are almost always a secure bet, sometimes you need to switch the geekiness to full-auto to get the job done.”