If you haven't heard about GameSpot Sync yet, that's because you aren't watching the return of On the Spot! What if you had a way to know what's happening on the site in under 5 minutes every week day? Well, GameSpot staff thought about bringing back Today on GameSpot and over time those ideas have grown into a little show that you'll see this Monday at 4pm PT called GameSpot Sync. On the Spot has returned live every Thursdays at 4pm, but we wanted to bring back something different. Also, Button Mashing for you old timers has returned in new form called Super Button Mashing.

Before you check the promo (or if you already have seen it and can't wait!), keep in mind that my duties on the site will be what I already do. Don't I already inform you about the happenings on GameSpot and the community? Yep! Do I travel as much as the other staff who have been on Today on the Spot, Now Playing, and now the returned live webcast, On the Spot? Nope. I probably travel about 2 times out of the year for my job, and while that might increase more this year (as a hobby, or because I beg them to let me go), then maybe it will be a little more.

Well, what I am getting at is, the editors don't have nearly as much time to invest in a daily show, but since I already hang out with all of you, I might as well host GameSpot Sync!

Now, jump on over to GameSpot Sync's new landing page to find more about what to expect, and tell us what you think on Monday! Also, as much as I'll keep you in touch with general stuff on the site and in this blog, I also have Twitter and a Facebook page you can check out! So, now I have a nifty phrase to use more often, let's Sync back up tomorrow! :D

I was digging up an old video I had about my roots of gaming, and stumbled upon a couple of older videos. One of the videos is called CaliGirl's Original of Gaming shares a little about how I got into multiplayer gaming (some stuff was already shared in the recent C&C blog), but that barely touches the surface with how many Quake stories I have. I also stumbled upon this video I made about the South Africa gamers I enjoyed playing with in the day. It's quite funny because I forgot that I made these videos so many years ago.

I kind of wonder why I still remember little things about playing Quake 1. I don't think that many gamers I played would remember the stuff that I did with them many years ago. I remember things like who I was playing while on a map for the first time, what servers I was on or if I was using Mplayer, or things that happened. When I have share memories with old Quake friends or even Quake peeps I meet today, they sometimes remember how it was.

If you're all interested, maybe I'll share even more stories from the Quake days in my blog and share a video series about it. :D

Hello my lovelies! Guess what I'm training Synthia to help me with today? Yep, as my blog title states: The Weekly Report! Share what you love about this report, which hasn't been around since last October.

In the meantime, you should expect the report first thing in the morning! :)

Well, she's not entirely a twin, but Synthia Weires is GameSpot's new community manager! Go welcome her to the team, and track her! Here are a couple of things you should know about your new community manager:

- She might be timid with that banhammer right now, but give her a few weeks. I wasn't good at first, either!

- She loves retro games, so she might have much in common with most of you tracking my list.

- She enjoys most game genres, but don't ask her about sports games.

Want to know more? Check out her latest blog about her history with games.

Alright everyone, we have come to a close on the pranks in GameSpot's forums today -all in celebration of April Fool's. I hope you had a good smirk or laugh, but if you missed out on what we did today, I'll explain what went down in hope that I can get a chuckle out of you!

The obsessive user story in Off-Topic has come to a close. At 9pm PT/12am ET last night, Off-Topic had a discussion created by a prank account in hope that people would believe that another user was stalking me. Off-Topic is known to have discussions around dating and celebrities at any given time, and because this forum cannot discuss games, it can be a bit of challenge on what we can do there.

Gabuex was kind enough to volunteer to handle the prank account's blog entries and the discussion made in the Off-Topic forum. I did close the comments in the prank account's blogs (all of you can do this in your options, by the way, didn't you know?), and that seemed to puzzled some of you.

As for the photo in the prank account's last blog entry, the original one has me standing with Splash Damage's community manager at Quakecon 2007. This community manager was known by many of the ETQW fans in the day, and I haven't kept in touch to know if he still works there. An actor's face was put over the Splash Damage guy's face, which none of you of you could tell! The original actors' face is Will Estes from CBS' Blue Bloods show. We thought the tie in with a possible celebrity would grab your attention, but I guess this actor wasn't known enough for you to recognize him.

As for the forum name changes, they're all changed back now. I'd like to offer an April Fool's forum emblem to those who interacted in certain discussions during the times these pranks were happening, for being good sports! However, I'm getting that created, so you might not see it on your profiles until next week.

In case you weren't around when the forum name changes happened today at 11am PT, six of our main forums had these names for about 4 hours today.

- General Games Discussion was General Lack of Interest
- System Wars was Zoo Wars
- Off-Topic was On-Topic - Religion, Dating, Politics, Proselytizing, Shopping
- PC & Mac Games was Mac & Cheese Games
- Legacy Platforms was Long-gone Platforms
- Ask the Mods was Seduce the Mods

Lastly, if you're in the mood for a live show, we're having one today starting at 4pm PT. Drop by to visit the chatroom during the live show or post in the comments to receive a holiday emblem!

Note: If you drop by the chatroom to discuss the live show before 4:20pm PT (yes, that means you need to show between 4pm PT and 4:20pm PT, you've gots 20 minutes!), you'll likely receive the emblem during this window. However, those who post in the comments today through the weekend will have to wait until Monday, when I gather all usernames posted on the video comments pages.

Happy April Fool's!

I find the nutshell term quite funny. When really thinking about it, doesn't that mean you can't crack it unless you have a really good tool or device? I guess it would depend on the kind of nut. Walrnuts won't budge, while peanut shells are softer to break.

Anyways, I've thought about the term nutshell all morning. I'll probably never understand how nutshells came into the human language outside a snack. I shared some moments at GDC 2011 in this video. I'm a few weeks late, but I'm sure you won't mind. ;)

For those too lazy to watch a 5 minute video (oh, I know you exist!), here's a quick rundown.

- It's still gametopia, even if more people are talking about social and Facebook.

- I still easedrop walking down the streets to hear what people have to say (did this for years even though I didn't attend).

- I didn't get to attend as many sessions as desired, and believe me, I had about 20 I wanted to attend this year. The GDC sessions are like the heartbeat of this convention.

- I also attended the Game Design Challenge. Among two other awesome game developers, John Romero's game was funny because he had people trying to convert others to their religion through different color post-it notes. [actual session]

- I also was a part of a moderation and abuse round table, and met some amazing people who deal with other game communities.

- This year I also went behind scenes to interview some people in the industry during the Game Developer Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival Awards. I enjoy meeting people who create games. [interviews of the award winners]

My battery died so I had to wrap it up at the end.

A couple of weeks ago I recorded gigs worth of footage of Back to the Future Episode 1 by TellTale Games. To make room on my hard drive I created these videos. Now, I can delete the Episode 1 gameplay videos and finish playing and recording footage of Episode 2!

The first 5 minutes of the game
I realize this sounds silly to some, but the first five minutes of a game needs to grasp me, or I'll think it's a waste of time. What can I say, when it comes to games I kind of like to have good first impressions. If you haven't played the game, I recorded this for you to see if it's something you'd like!

Memorable Moments
There are obviously many cool moments in this game, but these are the ones I thought about after finishing Episode 1. This video does have me narrating why I liked certain things too.

Rocket Contraption
If you played this game, you'd know why I cut many portions to avoid too much of a spoiler. So, yes, I didn't include too much that would give away the fun factor about creating the rocket or the rocket's circumstance. ;)

Funny Moments
I am the kind of person that doesn't find that much humor when people try too hard, but these moments in the game actually got me chuckling.

Bullies & Gangsters
Lastly, if you watch the film, there's an abundance of bullies (or some might call gangsters), so this video shares the moments I found quite entertaining. I did leave out portions of the game I liked (like being on top of gazebo and such to avoid too much of the plot spoiler).

If you have watched the film or played this game, feel free to share your favorite moments!

I figured the first place to ask is the people who track me! So, if you're in Australia/New Zealand or Asia (and know english) we're looking for mods who live in this region. If you live anywhere else, and post in the Mobile / Onlive & Steam / Nintendo Wii forums; or maybe you love reading and posting user reviews, please drop by the latest community news.

To be eligible, you'll need to be a 2008 or earlier registrant with 2,000 or more posts.

I have some exciting news for those of you attending PAX East and happen to be fans of Duke Nukem or The Darkness II. If you want to get hands on play of Duke Nuke Forever or The Darkness II while at the event, PM me before 4pm Pacific Time today with your real name and I'll respond with some details about how you can play the game at PAX East!

I was going through my necklaces this morning and grabbed a dragonfly necklace, but noticed that the kinds of stuff I like are often copper or silver (don't care for gold for some reason, it's too bland!). Then, I realized that I only have a Quake 1 bracelet I got back in late 90s from a place that made metal work and trophies for Unreal, Half-Life, and Quake, which is no longer around these days. I also have a wood piece World of Warcraft Horde necklace (FOR THE HORDE!). I do have tons of other schwag built up over the years from the days I worked at different companies in the game industry too (like some nod and GDI medals I got many years ago - maybe I should make them into 2 different necklaces?).

While I do have some industrial or sci-fi looking necklaces, I would like to grow my collection with video game related jewelry this year, even if that means I make my own out of stuff that is metal and worthy of drilling holes to make a pendant!

To start my hunt, I figured I'd reach out to all of you to ask about any places that sell game jewelry. Plastic jewelry is fine, but silver and copper will obviously be what I'll look for. And, if you have crafty mind, maybe you know of some regular schwag I can buy online that might be worthy of transforming into jewelry! Some of the games I'd like to see are listed on my watched games list.

Now, if you have jewelry that I'll probably never be able to get a hold of, feel free to share pictures here! Your jewelry might give me some ideas about how to create some for myself! :)