Did you know that as you play games on your Xbox 360 new icons are added secretly to your profile? After Jeff told me that, I remembered way back to the days of the pre-360 release when Microsoft people were trying to sell us on that very point, but back then I was convinced I wasn't going to be interested in the system.



My how things change.

So I was scrolling through my profile icon list when I saw these lemons. I can't for the life of me figure out what game they came from, but don't they look so fresh and awesome? To top it off, I'm really really hoping that someday while I'm playing Xbox Live, somebody will say "Hey baby, nice lemons!" After it happens, I'll probably really regret wishing to hear it, but for now, I can dream, can't I?

Tim Tracy called me earlier this evening and said he had a spare ticket to go see Kid Koala.

I've been to only a few shows since moving out to San Francisco, so I was pretty excited, especially considering that I missed both Von Iva and Hey Willpower earlier this week.

But it wasn't Kid Koala that blew my socks off. It was Mike Relm, one of the opening acts, that put on the best show I've...well, that I've probably ever seen. Scratching both records and videos that were projecting on the screen behind him, Mike Relm scratched and mixed 80's rap with Office Space with Led Zepplin with Bjork with the Charlie Brown theme with Fight Club with previously recorded images of himself holding up signs that gave such helpful tips as "Don't forget to tip your bartenders."

If the show had consisted of either the visuals or the music, I would have been perfectly content, but the combination of both was absolutely amazing.

Do yourselves a favor, if Mike Relm ever comes to your town; go see him.

My hint in a previous journal entry now has a headband on the front page so I guess it's safe to say that's what I was talking about.

I'm honored and anxious (that countdown timer is a little scary actually) to be a part of the brand new live video review process. I'd say more but I don't want to spoil it!

It's 6 AM on the West Coast which means I'm about to head out of the house and hop on the Caltrain to get back down to San Jose for GDC. It's really nice to come back home and crash after a long day of work, but the hour travel each way (minimum) makes that work day even longer. I'm not complaining, I'm just glad they're holding it in the Moscone Center in San Francisco next year. That way when I see Will Wright on the street, I can kidnap him and get him back to my house pretty easily.

At the end of each GDC day, I'm writing about the day's events over in a little blog. So if you want to hear a more casual discussion of what happened at GDC and/or silly little anecdotes, please check it out.

After Friday, there's practically nothing in between us and E3. How crazy is that?

If you are not watching Greg play Oblivion right now go do it right right right now. I spend all day watching other people play video games, and I have never been so entertained in my entire life.

I always thought The Truman Show was a great idea but would be terrible in practice, but right now I'm contemplating staying up all night just to watch this. Who is with me to wake up at 3:00 AM to see what Greg and his wacky antics are up to?!

You suckers are all going down. I'm taking no prisoners. Except Jeff, you can stay ahead of me in points, Jeff. The rest of you are history!

It's really too bad it's all over. The NES feature was some of the most fun (and work!) I've had in a long time.

One of the best things about it was not only how much everyone had to say about the system, but how similar everyone's experiences were. Except for how people fiddled with the NES, everybody does it differently (and only my way is right).

Anyway, do check out the feature, and especially the video. It's a 45 minute epic that should win Tim Tracy some kind of man of the year award, if you ask me.

Mr. Shoepod has written a preview of Tetris DS, and although none of the pictures we're posting can do justice to the experience of a ten-person five-bystander match of Tetris, needless to say, it was pretty intense.

Highlight of the picture is Rich bringing a nerf gun to a DS match.

Yes, yes, we simply had to do a Valentine's Day feature although I'm aware that the holiday is one of those strangely painful ones.

I just want to give some great big love to all my single people out there. Think of what a liberating holiday this is for us... No having to buy gifts (and then worrying if it was good enough or if he/she will get you one). No alienating your single friends (instead you can take them all out and get loaded). Absolutely nothing red or pink all day (except our feature, which is really quite cute).

Sure you might be single, and that might not be where you'd like to see yourself, but if you are, take this Valentine's Day to make someone that you really love (and will still love the same way in a hundred years) your Valentine. Mine is my grandpa, and frankly I couldn't ask for a better one.

This weekend's feature Empathy and Conditioning Violence was an absolute joy to work on. While my job is often entertaining, I have to say that it has recently been extraordinarly thought-provoking as well. I hope that it's as interesting to read as it was to research.

If anyone has suggestions for other topics they'd like to see addressed in our "How do Video Games Affect Us" series, I would be thrilled to hear them (although as a warning, I have about nine ideas batting around in my head right now, so who knows when I'll get to them all).