Happy 4th Birthday PTG!

It was over four years ago that Brian and I sat in an Italian restaurant in Winchester, VA and came up with the idea for Part Time Gamer. Two long time and long distance friends needing an outlet to talk about games to each other since our wives probably could have cared less, getting some creative writing experience, not really caring whether or not people care about reading the site at all. The funny thing is, people read this site. A lot of them.

Now, our website has had over 13,000 visits and by the end of the month, 2,000 visits in November alone. That's huge. We've gotten 15% of our total site visits in one month. It's almost double the number of visits last month and almost as much as the first 6 months of the year combined. Sorry, I love statistics. Look for yourself if you want.

But, enough about our public standing. I've loved writing for this site and almost wish I could do it full time, especially now that we have a baby and I play games a lot less than I'd like to, but I enjoy reading news online, posting some stuff here and writing about my experiences. It's encompassed in my gaming hobby, making the experience more complete.

I hope to keep making little changes to the website like I've done with adding the Flickr search at the top as well as the quick links. I may not change the entire site for quite a long time, but it's enough to keep me digging around in the HTML (another hobby of mine that I miss).

I hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as I have and I hope that readers have some fun too.

Part Time Gamer: Breaking Records

These are our own records of course, but I'm just floored at how many people visit the site every week. If you read the site on a regular basis, or just are here because of some Call of Duty article that we put up (those always do well on Google), please drop a note in the comments!

It's only halfway through November and we've already surpassed last month.

Whoops!

Sorry, me and GoDaddy don't get along well. I was futzing around with the forwarding settings. Things should be back to normal soon.

Anyone know how to fix this problem: people visit http://www.parttimegamer.com and when the click on a link to another site, the location box on the web browser still says http://www.parttimegamer.com.

I thought it was a forwarding problem on GoDaddy's controls, but I guess not.

New Site Feature: Flickr Feed

I thought it would be a good idea to add some pictures to the site. Of course, we don't take any pictures of video game culture or events or press briefings or anything like that, but the world does.

So at the top of the site I posted a Flickr RSS feed that searches for the latest pictures on Flickr posted with the tag "video games". That's it. Simple.

I hope to see some interesting photos show up there and pray that nothing not work safe doesn't stay up there too long.

Facebook and Twitter come to Xbox Live

So Microsoft unveiled some new services coming the console this year that I believe are ridiculous. I'm not saying that they aren't going to do well because I believe people will not only eventually try anything once, but also do things wrong.

Facebook and Twitter are the two services hitting the Xbox this year. These are super huge web apps that practically everyone and, literally, their mom use. We all log on to our computers at least once a day and check to see what kind of princess each other are. We are very busy people. But why would I want to turn on my tv, receiver and Xbox to check all that stuff? Not including having to login to your Xbox Live account (if you have more than one person on your Xbox). The same with Twitter. You couldn't possibly make it any harder to check your accounts when you could just as easily hit a bookmark link on your computer.

But I'm sure that social gamers and heavy Facebook/Twitter users will find a happy marriage here. And just like the recent ads for Conan O'Brian say...

"I'm here to tell you about an exciting new technology called television. Television allows you to watch things just as you would on your computer or cell phone, except while seated in a more comfortable chair."

Gamers already know this chair. A little too well.

And just to be a green geek, doesn't it have to involve a lot more electricity to check Facebook on a home entertainment system than, say, a laptop? Or do a lot of gamers have both up and running?

Our Best Month Ever

The point of Part Time Gamer isn't really to get traffic or sell ads (though I do have Google ads for the heck of it) or drive magazine sales, it's a few friends that live far apart from each other who thought it would be a good idea to write about the different games we play and look forward to playing.

But traffic does always seem to find us. Our average week is about 20 visits a week. I have every single Sitemeter.com report to back that up. But this year we've been consistently getting over 50 visits a week and, this month, we've had the most visits ever to the site, 390 and over 520 page views.

Since the blog started in November of 05, we've had 7,364 visits to the site and over 10,500 page views.

Tetris HD

I wish this had a pause button. It would be really fun to build this up for a run of "|" drops for getting multiple Tetris!


http://sovietrussia.org/f/src/tetoris.swf

Thanks to BoingBoing.net for pointing this out.

Another "Top" List

Okay, I might not have totally agreed with you dissing the last Top 10 list that you posted, but I'm all aboard for this rediculous Top 100 Best Games to Play Today list from Edge.

This list is littered with games from 10+ years ago, which if I were to even think about the best games to play "today", it wouldn't involve playing games with graphics so dated they make my eyes bleed. I think we've all gotten nostalgic for games that we played when we were kids. I've tried many a time to go back and play GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Mario 64, Wolfenstein, Doom, Majora's Mask, and even a good batch of PS2/Xbox games. Today, those games graphics really limit their playability when our eyes have gotten so used to the smooth, liquidy graphics we play now.

And by the looks of the comments section, I'm not alone. Really, the only thing that hurt the list was including "to Play Today" in the name. Basically the article will spur a bunch of people to dust off or go buy a bunch of old games they'll play for about 15 minutes and then jump back into CoD: World at War for the rest of the night where the rest of their friends are.

P.S. I'm so hungry right now.

My Time in Paradise (Burnout)

Here are my most recent stats in Burnout: Paradise City. I really haven't been on Criterion's website very much...

Review: Bow Street Runner

The U.K.'s Channel 4 website is hosting a history game called "Bow Street Runner" This historically accurate game is a companion to Channel 4's tv show.

It's a point-and-click game similar to Myst, where a scene is set on the screen and you move your cursor around and click on items, in this case, to gather evidence to solve a crime. In some instances you can move things around to look for evidence, you can choose subjects to talk about to people, and you can even pick locks and perform surgery (stitch up wounds!).

I played through the first chapter in about a half hour and ultimately failed to present enough evidence (or the correct evidence) to convict the killer, who ended up floating backside up in the Thames river.

I'm really looking forward to playing the next four chapters. The game is really well done and uses a pretty decent cast of actors (from the show?). The music is great and the graphics are a mix of computer art and real pictures. The actors are caught in full-motion and talk in real time.

If anyone likes murder mysteries or historical subject matter should really check out this little game.

GamezNFlix: IzBeAllupOnz

I know that sub-cultures can generate a lot of weird memes. The internet one is proud to present to you the "z", the "N" and the "x" suffixes and whole word replacements. It's a general eye sore of a website name, but as your mother once taught you, don't judge a book by it's cover"z".

What GamezNFlix.com does offer is a 9 buck video game rental plan, cutting GameFly.com by almost half. And since Blockbuster's 5-day rentals are $8.00 a peice, I'll gladly consider joining GNF.

Actually, I'm really considering it. Besides the fact that you can rent PS1 games on there for twice what you could own them for, it's really the fact that they've gone that extra mile to do so. The advertising is sort of big, but interesting. I haven't read much of their reviews or watched any of their video reviews, but I'll give it a look over before I subscribe and then realize how big of a douchebag they really are.

Gamer Vacations (aka Someone Reads this Website)

Woohoo! Our first submission email!

I got an email from, of all things, airlinecreditcards.com that keeps a blog about travel destinations. Jessica Hupp posted up about the top 25 Gamer Vacation Destinations.

Some of the destinations don't make much sense (Beach rental?), so I'm not sure if 25 was just a magic number (though I probably would take a DS to the beach, so okay, you got me). But there are some real winners in here.

Penny Arcade Expo is definetly on my list of things to do. Especially since we have friends and family on the west coast to stay with. E3 would be nice, but I'm afraid my blogger cred will never get me into such an exclusive (especially since the recent format change) event.

So if you're planning this summer's vacation with the family and want to sneak in some gaming, suggest some of these but don't mention the fact that there is gaming there. That's a true Part Time Gamer tactic for ya. Always intend to get your game on, even in the most unlikely spots.

Flickr Group: Game Rooms

I finally got around to posting up pictures of my game room. But it's been like pulling teeth to get anyone else too.

It's weird to say that I'm so proud of this, but it's like my chronological life after my mom stopped keeping and collecting all those mementos from things I did in that big scrap book. And it took a lot of time and effort to track down all the games I stupidly sold as a kid when I needed money for other games.

*Note to self: never let offspring sell anything.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/530462@N21/

The other Flickr group I started, Video Game Photo Mode, was a little more popular, but it's leveled off now.

Internet Ads = Crap

I don't understand how click-through ads make money in the first place, because I never use them. But I also don't watch late night infomercials or buy stuff out of those as-seen-on-tv catalogs.

But I love how search engines on the internet turn everything you look for into an ad. My example:


Don't get me wrong, I'd love to own a suit of Mjolnir armor, but a Halo "brand" of it? There really needs to be a better formula for these ads other than, "Buy your *insert search request here* for cheap!"

And trust me when I say, no one, absolutely no one sells items for your '07 Warthog that is sitting your imaginary driveway.

Info: Stuntman Ignition

I played the Stuntman: Ignition demo a few weeks ago on Xbox Live and I was pretty impressed.

Today on IGN they reviewed the game's Constructor function. A set of challenges that you must win by placing elements on the movie set to complete the scene. If your scene involves getting over a river, you must use the set props you have to achieve the scene. A ramp might be the best application.

Here's the best part: there are two modes. Stunt Director has you strategically placing a limited number of props to achieve a scene in a movie. It's a sort of logic puzzle that involves blowing things up and looking cool.

The second mode is a free-style, sandbox arena that lets you do whatever you want with an unlimited number of props. Set up the most insane course with the most insane stunts and then go at it. Put cameras anywhere you want to catch footage as the car comes by, then post your movie online for other people to see.

I have to admit, I was thinking about the game as a used purchase, but with this new level of interactivity, I might have to buy it right when it comes out.

Here is some footage of the Constructor level.

Video Game Rooms

I'm hopelessly lost in trying to figure out how I want to set up my basement. I know there is going to be a corner or wall dedicated to old games, with posters and figures strewn about. The problem is that I can't think of a classy, contemporary design that I like. I'm sure there is going to be a trip to IKEA involved. But I wanted to scour the net for inspiration. Something that has been difficult to do.

But while I was digging around, I came across VideoGameCollectors.com. It looks like a picture hosting site dedicated to people's gaming rooms. There about 60 pages (some are blank) of galleries posted of people's bedrooms and basements, packed to the gills with games and systems from every generation. If you want to see what serious game collectors rooms look like, look no further(!!!).

This is probably one of the cleanest rooms posted, but the feeling of Wal-Mart furniture in a 16-year-old's bedroom permeates throughout.

Chore Wars

This is hilarious.

In the vein of World of Warcraft and Guild Wars, Chore Wars is the best way involve your kids (or husbands)...(or wives) into doing chores around the house or for special events.

Create a character (pick a picture), arm it with abilities (vacuuming, dusting, etc) and join a clan (Part Time Gamers!).

Then the clan master (me) will create new quests for your characters to go on and you gain experience points (XP) and maybe in-game cash and prizes (worthless?).

Obviously I would make my kids actually do the things before they could play online, which I'm assuming is the point. Otherwise it's just hitting a button and hope your percentages work out. But I would then make them hit each other with wooden spoons a number of times based on their experience points from the online game. That would be fun.

I'll make Nicole join. That should still work.

Child's Play on Facebook

I absolutely love Child's Play and everything it stands for. Lots of gamers already know about the charity created by gamers for kids in sick hospitals. So I decided to create a new avenue for it on Facebook.

Last year gamers raised over a million dollars in video games, toys and cash. In 2003, when it started, it raised just over $250,000. I can't imagine what 2007 will be like.

This year I'm also thinking of posting an email within RCPS schools and printing up flyers to put up in the hallways for students. This charity really spoke to me as a gamer, so I'm hoping to make some kids in this area feel as good as I do.

The first year I donated I purchased a Nintendo GameCube bundle for the Children's National Hospital in D.C. That felt really good. Then the next year I realized that there were so many inexpensive items that hospitals asked for on the Amazon wishlist. That year I bought a case of Play-Doh and 11 sets of markers. That's at least 12 kids at once that I made their stay in a hospital better.

So I hope anyone that reads this now knows about Child's Play and might be compelled to do something for it. And now I've made it even easier for anyone with a Facebook account to spread the word.

Video Games Live

A short motorcycle trip to Knoxville, TN for a birthday vacation and I'm finally back.

I walked into the kitchen to find a few birthday cards. One had some tickets to a show printed off from the computer. It didn't have what the tickets were for, just that they were to the Kennedy Center and for the 29th of June. So I looked up the show schedule.

I was blown away.

Video Games Live is for pure gaming junkies and connoisseurs of music alike. Combination of an orchestra, lights, and footage from video games all tied together. And the game list is quite impressive.

Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, God of War™, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania®, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20+ games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders & Outrun!

If this is a taste of what's to come, I don't know if I can wait a week.

360Voice.com

This is a website that has actually gotten pretty interesting over the past 6 months.

At first it was just a neat trick; monitors your activity on Live, make a few preprogrammed comments. Funny for about a day.

But today I decided to see what the site was doing and it's really come a long way. Of course there is still the incessant amount of babble coming from my 'box, but they've added a whole bunch of interested stats.

For instance, it tracks longest gaming streaks (12 days), how many days I play as a percentage (40%), my largest achievement gains (16 achievements, 320pts). It also compares me to everyone registered (just on the site?).

Some improvements? What's the most unlocked achievement? What's the least? Most people to unlock the same achievement in one day? What game as the most achievements unlocked by everyone?

I could think these up all day.

Overall it's a nice little additional stats package to quietly plug away on your gaming habits, at least on the 360. I would love to see the stats on my NES for all-time.