Farewell to a Friend...

Gary Coleman passed away yesterday. Gary Coleman, from Different Strokes and Postal 2. Gary Coleman from that E3 where Kudo Tsunoda never got the message that Psibabe was looking for him. Gary Coleman from the Sony Party from that time I didn't approach him to ask him to walk up to Ashley after she returned to the table and simply point up at her and say, "You!" The Gary Coleman who, with buxom blonde on arm would somehow always be in front of us at any Johnny Rockets we went to. That very same Gary Coleman.

The gaming industry will mourn his loss, as will we, here, at Game Vortex.

Looking at Astro Gaming...

Astro Gaming has pretty slick looking products that come in pretty slick looking packaging, all black-on-black, glossy-on-matte, lined with chrome, coated in comfortable rubberized coatings and bristling with features and included accessories.

They first caught my attention with a snazzy Flash banner ad somewhere, but they had a high-tech gamer/DJ feel about their products, so I was thrilled when I received the Astro A30 gaming headset, the MixAmp and some assorted accessories in for review.

I'm currently working on reviewing these products, and they're great, so far... with the reviews to be posted later tonight. I found an interesting website that Google is funding, called English Central, and used the A30 Headset with that to practice my English on trailer video clips from Resident Evil and commercials and such. Too Fun.

However, I need to try them out in some online gameplay on my consoles and with the final episode of lost coming on tonight, I don't have access to my television until after it's over... and they're might not be many people online anywhere in the world to play against.

Hmm... that actually might give me a chance to get a "king of the hill" achievement online... Might have to use it with that. I guess I could run over to J.R. Nip's and give it a try.

At any rate, busy, busy, busy... and watch for the reviews soon!

Blast from the Past...

Wow. 1988. In the Heyday of the Commodore 64. Back when I was still in West Feliciana High School, I submitted some tips to a popular Commodore magazine, aptly titled, "Commodore Magazine". I submitted a few and two of them were selected to be printed. Each tip selected receives a $5 check... well, except for the fact that I put them in the same envelope and, somehow, they found that as enough reason to just give me $5, instead of $10. No biggie. It wasn't really about the money. And, for that matter, I all but forgot about them ever being printed, my copies of the magazines getting lost (at worst) or misplace (at best) in the last couple of times I've moved to a new place.

However, just today, I was Googling myself (no, not for the typical vanity purpose; I was trying to locate some information about my mother in conjunction with myself) and I found where someone had put some issues of Commodore Magazine online when my search pulled up a couple of results from scribd.com.

Wow. 1988. In the Heyday of the Commodore 64. I realize that they're all but completely irrelevant (at best) now, but still, I wanted to post a link to them, for anyone who might want to check them out.

My first Game Tip ever published...
'Commodore Magazine Vo1-09-N12 1988 Apr'
(Search for "Yie-ArKungFu"): http://www.scribd.com/doc/14565370

My keyboard repair tip for the C64...
'Commodore Magazine Vol-10-N04 1989 Apr'
(Search for "RepairingYourKeyboard"): http://www.scribd.com/doc/14573215

I looked at the info about these being scanned in and saw that they were scanned in last year, which probably has something to do with copyright expirations, as it's 20 years after publication, but I also found it interesting (coincidental, I suppose) that they were both scanned in on my birthday. What a nice gift. Thank you, Steven D. of Prince George, B.C. Canada. It's just what I didn't even realize I wanted.

EA Sports: Team Builder and Madden Online Franchise

EA is bringing a new level of connectivity to it's sports games. Beginning with NCAA 2010, you'll be able to customize your own team, including logos, colors and players. But don't take our word for it, head on over to: the Teambuilder website and check it out yourself. 

If college isn't your thing, this year's edition of Madden will include online franchise. Say good-bye to productivity. You can trade, draft and schedule games from the EA Sports Connect website, your cell phone or iPhone (there's an App for that).

EA Sports: FIght Night 4/ MMA

Peter Moore takes the stage to show off Fight Night 4. The original helped to usher in the current generation of consoles and the next iteration is aiming to push it even further. 

We get a live demo pitting Tyson vs. Ali. Game is much more dynamic. Round Three was scripted in up-close areas. That's changed. Ali knocks out Tyson, and we get a close-up of the new muscle and sweat dynamics. 

Fight Night Round 4 hits June 25.

EA is also moving from the ring into the cage with EA Sports: MMA. Game is already in production at EA Tiburon. 

The Saboteur

Imagine Get Up mixed with Max Payne... Saboteur has an intersting black and white comic-book feel to it, which they explained is actually a feature of the game; as you improved the area's will to fight, the color will return to the environment.

The Saboteur features a very interactive environment, allowing you to actually jump in a car to make your escape or even climb the Eiffel Tower, should you choose to.

More on this one later, as this looks like it could definietly be awesome.