E3 2012: home viewing guide

Once again, it's that time of year to gaze upon the oracle of gaming-to-come, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). My NeverEnding Story of trying to get inside is still being written. The gatekeepers to the kingdom of gaming (the E3 committee Sphinxes') have thwarted even my most “Atreyuian” moves towards the gates.

Nevertheless, E3 2012 is happening June 5-7th with major keynote addresses starting on Monday, June 4th. You're viewing choices have grown (slightly) this year over last, with more network choices and dedicated streams over the Internet. Televised on Spike TV and sister Viacom Media Networks, including MTV2; MTVU; VH1; Tr3s: Música y Másand will all air the coverage simultaneously. Check your local listings for their correct channels. The Microsoft keynote will be airing for the first time on XBox Live through an app called: Playbook 360. I’m starting to wonder if by attending E3 you actually risk not seeing everything; and the best move may be getting all the information in one massive media download.

It's interesting to ponder what's in store and its affect on how the industry is fairing. E3 has high expectations associated with it, namely first look at new consoles. While I personally don’t think we will be seeing any new hardware besides the Wii U, there are some highly anticipated games we can expect to hear about.

The Gamedae E3 2012: Home Viewing Guide is below.

the new chinatown fair

Back where it always was, is the newly opened Chinatown Fair. I have known about this niche arcade since I moved to New York City, though I almost never visited. Having an arcade in town didn’t strike me as being all that novel, almost like, “of course” there is an arcade in town. When it abruptly closed last year was when I started paying attention. I was pretty shocked as it is, all but, a landmark in Chinatown.

Well it’s open again, a lot cleaner and brighter than before just a little light on the games. The new focus on younger, more casual players is evident by the layout of the arcade. There is a large touch screen Fruit Ninja machine as you enter. Following that is the service counter and many carnival-esque games like Hoops, Skeeball and the Drop-A-Quarter games. There are kids running around with streams of tickets in their hands hoping to trade in for candy. Almost hidden, in the way back, are a handful of common arcade fighters. I would say the highlight of the arcade is either the full sized dance machines or the air hockey table.

Pictures from the inside after the jump. Chinatown Fair is located at 8 Mott Street in Manhattan.

netflix instant queue top picks

I think I get more out of my disk based Netflix subscription than my streaming service. Mostly I've been using it to re-watch whole series of random TV shows. I finally finished the entire Robotech series which I started back in 2010. Currently, I'm working through the Voyager series and the wife talks about starting a Battlestar Galactica re-watch (image above). Funny how I would rather watch this stuff than any of the great series I have purchased on DVD. More of my recent picks below.

2 old 2 play update

The past few months the majority of my writing has gone to 2Old2Play.com. Being part of the writing team there is going really well. It is nice being critiqued by your peers and they have me playing some games I might not have played otherwise. After the jump is a list of the posts I have running on the 2O2P front page. Take a gander and see if anything strikes your interest. While your there, why not join the community? There are game giveaways and forum topics on just about everything you might be interested in.