Christmas is past... The new year approaches.

Okay, everyone... take a deep breath, hold it... and let it out... let it all out...

Whew! Christmas time is a busy season at GameVortex, with a pile of games to review, and movies, to boot! Now that Christmas has past, however, things can begin to calm down a bit, and we can start thinking about the new year ahead of us.

Which is kind of a big thing for us, since 2009 will be GameVortex's 10th Anniversary! Wow, the big One-Oh!

I would love to say I've got lots of things planned for 2009, but, at this stage, I have a few ideas here and there, without a solid gameplan. However, I am making my plans now, as part of composing my New Years' resolutions, so I think people will be pleasantly surprised at some of the changes we make... and that includes myself.

One thing I have been doing is answering questions on Yahoo Answers. I had been considering adding a Q&A section to GameVortex, but I might direct readers to Yahoo Answers, instead, where more people could benefit from the answers, what with Yahoo being the most popular website on the planet, right now.

Well, I'm off to work on my list.

The Snowman Cometh

Long time, no talk, but we've been busy, what with Christmas just around the corner. The latest noteworthy thing is that we actually got snow at the GameVorplex. I know, I know... a lot of places routinely get snow... and in much greater quantities than this, but this is LOUISIANA. I've seen, maybe, four or five snowfalls in over twenty-five years. Also, none of those occasions did we get this much snow. In all, we got between one and three inches of snow, but for those in Louisiana or familiar with Louisiana, pics of the snowfall we got in Baton Rouge may be interesting.

(The yellow car is Psibabe's, the Green car is mine (Geck0's) and pictures are courtesy of J.R.Nip.)

We lost power for a total of, maybe, a couple of hours, so this isn't going to slow our publishing or anything.

Smoke and Mirrors (and Lights)

So, I got the Rock Band Stage Kit in for review. You know, the fog machine / strobe light / LED lighting effect kit that says, "Hey, I take Rock Band waaay too seriously."

Well, you can see my review of the Rock Band Stage Kit at GameVortex.com, but in summary, I'll just say that it really does change the feel from simply playing a game to much more of a performance. This is just the desired effect for parties that I go to, so I'll have to tote it along.

I tried it out at a "Gaming Day" at work, with Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360), Guitar Hero World Tour (PS3) and some various Wii games and it was a big hit. The gaming session lasted from 4:PM to 8:PM and, at the end of the day, we were down to five people rotating in and out of a Rock Band 2 game, with the Stage Kit going... well, without the fog, since you can't lower the amount of fog to reasonable amounts... and we wanted to actually see the screen.

Post PAX, Post Gustav, Post Guitar Hero World Tour Press Event, Post Ike Update

A lot has transpired in the past few weeks, and thank God, it seems we've lived through it all. J.R. Nip and StarScream did, eventually, make it back from PAX, the GameVorplex wasn't blown away by hurricanes, I made it out to participate the Guitar Hero World Tour press event in Santa Monica, CA (and will be posting a report on all of the coolness that entailed) and I've gotten sick and (as of this writing) just about over it.

Due to the hurricanes and the resulting power outages, we've gotten a little bit behind on things, as it's difficult to play games or even movies when you have no electricity, but we're working hard on catching up. Check for lots of updates... soon.

"How are you going to get them back on the farm once they've seen PAX?"

And I think it's gonna be a long, long time...

Going TO Louisiana is rarely a problem for people interested in the gaming industry. Typically, people from Louisiana are trying to go elsewhere to be where the gaming industry is... such as going to Seattle to attend PAX. Take, for example, J.R. Nip and StarScream, both of whom are currently in Seattle, for PAX.

The problem is, with Hurricane Gustav barreling through the Gulf of Mexico straight toward the GameVorplex, our esteemed comrades are unlikely to be able to fly back into Baton Rouge until, well, I don't know when they'll be able to fly back in. I assume it won't be until the storm is done, according to the FAA or whoever determines that for the commercial airlines.

StarScream was coming back a day earlier than J.R.Nip, and we were assuming that it the weather wouldn't effect StarScream's flight, but now it's looking like both flights will be affected. What does that mean for our reviewers? I wish I knew. Time will tell.

A Wing and a Prayer

So, the Penny Arcade Expo (or PAX, for short) is upon us and I, for one, don't get to go. J.R. Nip and StarScream will be covering the event for us, so they're flying to Seattle today. I know that J.R. Nip is in the air as I write this, and has been in airports and in the air since 4:30 a.m. this morning. I don't envy a day wasted with commercial flights, but I do wish I was able to go to PAX this year. Oh, well... hopefully I will be able attend next year.

...That is, of course, supposing that I live to next year. Not the kind of thing that one would typically say, but I'm scheduled to help Kambur O. Blythe and Psibabe in batting down the hatches to prepare for Tropical Storm Gustav, which looks like it's expected to be a Hurricane by 8:00 p.m. tonight.

So, either this evening or tomorrow morning I will be in a tree, wielding a chainsaw, which I have had no practice at using. I will be doing a fair bit of praying, I think, and trying to think of a way I could practice.

Hmmm, perhaps there's a game that I could train with... Maybe a Resident Evil or some FPS, perhaps?