Get 8-Bit with Louisville Arcade Expo

The great thing about Kentucky's conventions is that all of them provide something unique and special. Louisville Arcade Expo is certainly no exception. Since 2011, Louisville Arcade Expo has been providing the Commonwealth with the opportunity to play probably any video game imaginable. Expo goers can harken back to their youth in the local arcade playing Ms. Pac-Man or Tekken. Personally, I was a Mortal Kombat master. I played every time we went to Giovanni's in Flatwoods and got pretty good at it if I may say so myself. You can read about my first console experiences on the blog post My First Video Game.

Arcade X, which takes place March 6-8, features over a hundred pinball and arcade machines set on free play, Classic Consoles from the 70s, 80s and 90s, and Classic Computing including the Apple II and Commodore 64. For just $20 a day or $45 for the weekend, you can play all of your favorite games and also take in events such as Retro Pub Trivia, Maximum Chiptunes by DJ CARTnage, and tournaments, including Street Fighter II, Power Pad Olympics, and Galaga. Regional vendors will be on hand to sell their retro gaming inspired wares.

Whether your interests are in Oregon Trail, Doctor Who Pinball, or Colecovision, you're sure to find something that's right for you. This year, Arcade X will also present one of the founders of Activision, and an early designer of many great console and arcade games, David Crane.

Louisville Arcade Expo

Triple Crown Pavilion @ the Ramada Plaza
1776 Plantside Drive Louisville, KY

March 6 - 8, 2015

Fri 2p-Midnight, Sat 10a-Midnight, Sun 10a-4p

@Door:  $20/Day | $45/Weekend

Facebook | Website | Event List | Twitter

If you're able to make it to Louisville this weekend, it's sure to be a great time. Everyone be safe, as Kentucky has just gone through Snowpocalypse 2: The Blizzarding. Keep up with more Kentucky convention news here at Kentucky Geek Girl.

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Guest Post: Jam This Weekend With RunJumpDev!

 

I had the pleasure of meeting some representatives from RunJumpDev, a local video game design collaborative. Recently, they partnered with the Lexington Public Library for The Lexitron, a throwback to classic arcade gaming. They exhibited at LexiCon Gaming Convention where several of their partner video game companies had their projects on display.

I'm happy to host Amanda Wallace on the blog today. Amanda is an Associate Editor at Game Skinny and is a Lexingtonian. Look for more posts from her in the future here on Kentucky Geek Girl! Take it away Amanda!

Flashback Friday: My First Video Game

Flashback Friday is a new series where I get in the wayback machine and revisit some of my favorite things from years past. It can be anything really, random stuff from teh intarwebz, books, movies, games, et cetera.

The big snow that much of the country is getting this weekend reminded me of my first video game. A strange connection to make at first glance, but it makes a lot of sense when I explain the story. The first video game that I ever owned was Super Mario World. I got my first console, a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), for Christmas in 1992. I was five years old and I was probably the giddiest person on my street, I assure you. I didn't get a lot of games right away, but the first game I played for SNES was Super Mario World.

Dawnguard DLC for Skyrim Announced

Exciting news has arrived today from Bethesda Softworks, producers of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They've released the trailer for Dawnguard, which will serve as the first DLC for the fifth installment of TES. This DLC will initially be available for XBOX 360 (with full Kinect functionality) but will likely be available for other platforms in due time. No word yet on the price for this DLC for other systems, but according to Bethesda, Dawnguard will be available on the XBOX Live store for 1600 points.

In March, Gamespot reported that Bethesda was seeking a trademark for Dawnguard, so it was just a matter of time that an announcement came from the company. More information should be available at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) which will be held in just one week at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Dawnguard is rated M for Mature by the ESRB with Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, and Use of Alcohol.

What do you think of this trailer? Let me know in the comments!

Q & A with Jasmine Hruschak

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll see that I retweet a lot of posts from Gamebreaker TV, an awesome network of shows related to video gaming. Check out their site for news updates related to your MMOs and other games, including World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Guild Wars 2. It was through GBTV that I was introduced to the wonderful Jasmine Hruschak, who at the time was a regular on a show about the game Rift. Though I never played the game in depth, I admired her commentary greatly.

Jasmine, known to many as IRLJasmine, streams games on her Twitch.tv channel, and hosts Q & A sessions with fans, including TMI Tuesday in the magical land of Tumblr. She was born and raised in Humboldt County, California and now travels back and forth between there and Southern California. She attends events like Blizzcon and PAX East, where she reports on gaming news. Jasbro was awesome enough to sit down and answer a few questions for me about what it's like to be a professional gamer.

Is An Elder Scrolls MMO Announcement Coming In May?

You can find this and other articles by me at Word of the Nerd Online!

After the success of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, there has been a tremendous amount of speculation as to the likelihood of Bethesda Game Studios releasing an Elder Scrolls MMO. Take off the tinfoil hats, folks, because there may be an announcement sooner than you think. Kotaku, via Tom's Guide, has late-breaking news that the makers of Oblivion will be unveiling their plans to market a massively-multiplayer game based on their Elder Scrolls franchise. Now, there are few details at this point, but it looks as if Bethesda and ZeniMax Online Studios will be making their announcement in May.

Of the few details that have been leaked, where this game would fit on the Elder Scrolls timeline seems to be the most important. Sources are reporting that it would take place a full millennium before Skyrim, during the "Second Era", which basically places it several hundreds of years before any of the current Elder Scrolls games. As of now, there will be three factions. It's not clear where each of the playable races of the current Elder Scrolls will fit into each of these factions, or if all races will be able to choose their own faction.

One detail that seems not to have surfaced at this point is the subscription model. With so many games going free-to-play, one can't help but wonder if an Elder Scrolls MMO would hang with the likes of World of Warcraft and Star Wars the Old Republic. The trajectory of the industry seems to be placing more and more games into a free-to-play model, but time will tell when details of Elder Scrolls Online are fully revealed!


Check back for any news as it develops!

Steam has been hacked

Valve is the latest in a string of companies to have their information accessed by outside means. On Sunday, November 6, the Steam's forums were attacked, which lead to an in-depth search by investigators. They concluded that a database containing personal informal such as user names and passwords was accessed. Valve founder Gabe Newell released a statement regarding the attack. While there is no evidence of credit card number violations. it is probably wise that everyone with a Steam account go ahead and change their password. I, for one, even changed the associated email address.

I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Gabe.

Stay tuned for more information as it develops.

Elementary, my dear geek!

Semesters are finally starting at colleges across the country this week and with it comes new classes and fulfilling the wonderful general education requirements. For my history major, I'm taking The Age of Samurai and Europe 1914-1945. For my Anthropology minor, I was able to get into a class on Explorers and Anthropologists where I'm going to be doing a project on representations of explorers and adventurers in popular culture. (Cue *Dun duh dun duhhhhh*) Transylvania University (where I attended college) has a history of offering some pretty awesome classes. There have been Foundations of Liberal Arts (Freshman writing and composition) courses on Appalachian stereotypes, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I took a course on comedy called Laughing Matters. Some classes have even studied ghost hunting! Pretty awesome stuff. Transy isn't the only university to teach some pretty interesting and geeky classes. Check out a list after the break!

Around the Web: 16-Bit Game of Thrones RPG

Disclaimer: This video includes spoilers for Season 1 Game of Thrones and A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. It is also NSFW.

It's Game of Thones week at Kentucky Geek Girl and we found this awesome video on College Humor!



Not going to lie, I wish this was a real game.

First Impressions Friday (1): Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

First Impressions is a meme hosted  at Within Pages where we take a look at all things, mostly booky, and reflect on our initial thoughts. Non-bloggers, non-book bloggers, and everyone alike can participate on any topic you'd like. Feel free to drop your links or thoughts in the comments!

This past week, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, was held in Los Angeles. The top executives, developers, and designers from the major electronics and video game companies met to discuss the future of the industry. Many of the concepts that are unveiled at E3 are released within the next year. One of the major portion of the expo is the release of game trailers for upcoming titles. This year, we saw trailers for new Assassins Creed, Modern Warfare and Bioshock games, just to name a very few. Also unveiled at E3 was the next generation in video game consoles. Nintendo unveiled the Wii-U and Playstation showed off their addition to the motion gaming world, the Move.

Portal 2 Released Today

"It's been a long time, how have you been?" the mechanically feminine voice of GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System) asks as the camera pans around the wreckage that was left upon you beating the first Portal game. The first teaser trailer for Portal 2 was released mid-2010 and the day has come: Aperature Science is back. I've not yet played the demo, but I'm very excited for Portal 2.



From the Steam Portal 2 store page:

Portal 2 draws from the award-winning formula of innovative gameplay, story, and music that earned the original Portal over 70 industry accolades and created a cult following.

The single-player portion of Portal 2 introduces a cast of dynamic new characters, a host of fresh puzzle elements, and a much larger set of devious test chambers. Players will explore never-before-seen areas of the Aperture Science Labs and be reunited with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer companion who guided them through the original game.

The game’s two-player cooperative mode features its own entirely separate campaign with a unique story, test chambers, and two new player characters. This new mode forces players to reconsider everything they thought they knew about portals. Success will require them to not just act cooperatively, but to think cooperatively.

For those who do not like playing a game alone, Co-Op mode sounds like a really fun and challenging experience. As soon as the game was released last night, MikeB aka Fony from ZAM's BFF Report and Gamebreaker.tv live streamed co-op mode on



his Justin.tv channel.

Portal 2 is available for PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3. You can download it on your PC through Valve's Steam client for $49.99.

GLaDOS is still alive. The cake is still a lie. Aperture Science carries on for the good of all of us, except the ones who are dead.

In honor of the Portal 2 launch, here is my song of the day:

"Still Alive" by Johnathan Coulton AMV featuring Azumanga Daioh

You can even drink your own Portal cocktail! Get the recipe at The Drunken Moogle.

Have you played Portal 2 yet? What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments!