A friend of mine was over last night for a little Wii, and she did something that bugs the heck out of me. She put a game back in the wrong place. And that’s when I realized, I have a problem. I’m WAY too obsessed with the way I keep my games.

I’m sure most gamers out there keep their collection organized, but I think I might take things to the extreme. In the first place, my games are organized, first, by system (in alphabetical order of the console’s name), then alphabetically by title (unless the title is part of a series, in which case series name trumps title… however, system trumps series, so Final Fantasy VII is on a completely different shelf than Final Fantasy XII).

All games absolutely must also have cover art. If I happen to buy a used game that doesn’t have cover art, I will get on the internet and search until I find an image file big enough for me to print out and stick on the case.

I also log all of my games (and game hardware) at time of purchase, with purchase price (sans sales tax), date, and whether it was a new or used title. The log gets updated for both purchases and sales, even though it’s rare that I sell a game (in addition to compulsively organizing my games, I’m also kind of a hoarder…). The result is that I could tell you damn near exactly how much money I’ve invested in games over the past 8 years (but I won’t), and can get a pretty good estimate even further back than that.

And don’t even get me started on the accessories…

So tell me… am I alone, or are other gamers just as picky as I am?

Ok, maybe it won’t be the next Wii, but it’s still pretty nifty. If only I were a little more hardware-inclined… and could afford a Roomba…

Courtesy of Kotaku… did anyone know that someone has been working on a Metal Gear Solid novel? Surely this info must have been floating out there in cyberspace somewhere, but I just heard about it five minutes ago when I found out the damn thing had been published and is available for purchase (I must be slipping…).

The author, one Raymond Benson, seems to do quite a lot of James Bond novels. Me, I’ve never heard of the guy, and I have to admit, I’m curious. I don’t think I’ve seen a video game-based book since those Super Mario choose your own adventure books I read back in the third grade. Hell, at $10.36 I think I’ll snag a copy and see what’s up.

Metal Gear Solid (Paperback)

No, this post isn’t about those horrible games that are saturated in pink hues and revolve around cuddly anthropomorphic animal friends that developers market to pre-teen girls. This is about the Games 4 Girls competition, an event in connection with ChicTech and the U of I’s Department of Computer Science, in which college-age women design and implement a video game for their younger counterparts in middle and high school.

This year’s competition began in January, and the winners were just announced. As part a of the ChicTech initiative, the goal is to get girls interested in computer science. Participants compete for cash prizes of up to $1000 per team member, and games are judged by a panel of high school age women.

This is the fourth year for the competition. I actually had the pleasure of participating in the very first G4G with a team of women in computer science at Parkland (we didn’t place, but we did walk away with an honorable mention). It’s a great opportunity to really dive into something that women may not have ever considered as a career previously, and a whole lot of fun. By the sound of things on their website, they’ve expanded a bit and accept entries from all over the country now.

It’s too late to enter this year, obviously, but if you haven’t heard of it, and think you may be interested in the next G4G, drop by the competition’s website and take a look. Never too early to start planning. Check out the games that won last year, while you’re at it, and stay tuned because I’m sure they’ll post download links for this year’s winning games.

FEARnet has posted an interview with director/producer/mutilator of good video game storylines, Uwe Boll… which in and of itself, wouldn’t normally interest me a whole lot, seeing as this is the man who brought us such cinematic masterpieces as the screen adaption of BloodRayne, House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.

What did catch my attention, though were the last two questions the interviewer asked:

Are you aware that there is a petition online, signed by 18,000 people, requesting that you stop making movies?

Yeah, I know that. 18,000 is not enough to convince me.

How many would it take?

One million. Now we have a new goal.

Note that since the interview showed up, the petition’s number of signatures has increased to more than 56,000. Sign the petition here.

Happy April first, everyone. I hope you’re all having a prank-filled day. The unfortunate downside to the festivities is that it’s next to impossible to find any valid gaming news… and even when you do, it’s still suspect. So I’ve pretty much given up. Instead, here’s some of the better April Fool’s Day fun from gaming sites around the net.

XBOX.com is unveiling some new products. I gotta get me one of those XBOX Live board games…

Kotaku has decided to shift their focus from gaming to cakes. All hail Kaketaku!

Destructoid has sadly been taken over by FOX news.

Gamespot has some questionable news stories.

IGN has leaked the trailer to the new Legend of Zelda movie.

Blizzard has revealed several new releases, including the Bard class for WoW, Molten Core, and the Diablo Loot Piñata.

Game.co.uk is taking pre-orders for the Double Bass controller.

Vail Daily brings us the low-down on “Latesleeper Extreme”.

GamePolitics pokes fun at FOXnews for something that’s a real joke, but not in the April Fool’s Day sense…

Updates

Hello Kitty Online Adventures is open for business.

ThinkGeek is jumping on the Wii peripheral bandwagon with the all new Super Pii Pii Brothers and the Wii-mote… er… Harness. Bonus: includes gameplay video, though you may not want to watch if you’re at work and your boss doesn’t have a sense of humor.

ThinkGeek is also featuring the Wii-Helm.

Feminist Gamers has exposed an illegal Pokemon fighting ring.

VG Cats has a new look.

XFire has been 1337-ified.

Have no fear, I’ll update as I find more. Feel free to post a link or two of your own in the comments section.

If you’re heading up to the Milwakee area this weekend, or are looking for a bit of a road trip to while away your days off, you might want to check out the Midwest Gaming Classic going on all weekend long.

What is it? Why it’s a gaming convention. In the midwest. And it covers just about every aspect of electronic gaming imaginable. You can buy and play classic arcade and pinball machines, check out some new stuff, buy, sell, and trade gaming merch, listen to one of the speakers at the event… maybe win a raffle prize (like a Wii or a trip to Six Flags).

But most of all, it’s an excuse for gamers to get together with other gamers. Things kick off Saturday at 10am at Olympia Resort, and the convention runs through Sunday. Tickets are $10 for one day or $20 for both.

Check the official site for more details.

For some reason I’ve come across more bizarre games than I usually do on a daily basis today, so here’s a quick look at them, for your entertainment.

Zombie BBQ
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Gammick
Developer: Enjoy Up
Genre: Shooter
Coming In: October 2008

Synopsis: Little Red Riding Hood (no, really…) must fight evil zombies (seriously…) to save a fairy tale land (so not kidding…). Bonus: one piece of official artwork depicts a scythe-wielding zombie-pig. It’s described as a shooter that uses the DS stylus for targeting. I guess the BBQ part comes when you get yourself a flamethrower…

Bus Driver
Platform: Windows PC
Publisher: SCS Software
Developer: SCS Software
Genre: Driving Sim
Coming in: Available now

Synopsis: All the heart-stopping, mind-blowing action packed excitement of… driving a bus. That’s pretty much it here. You pick up passengers, and you drive them along 30 different routes. Whilst obeying traffic rules. Without upsetting them. You even have your choice of 12 different kinds of buses!

Chicken Shoot
Platform: Wii
Publisher: Destination Software
Developer: DSI Games
Genre: Shooter
Coming in: Available now

Synopsis: Grab you Wii Remote and shoot some chickens. In Chicken Shoot, you do pretty much what the title implies… You help a farmer obliterate his fowl. Thankfully this game is meant to be a little weird.

Last Flight
Platform: Wii (WiiWare)
Publisher: Blobber Team
Developer: Blobber Team
Genre: Hack and Slash
Coming in: Late 2008/Early 2009… if you’re in Japan

Synopsis: The WiiWare section of the U.S. Wii Shop Channel is pretty lame at the moment, but the Japanese sector has got some pretty nifty game downloads (we’re supposed to start seeing the same in May over here). Coming later this year for them is Last Flight, a Wii downloadable game in which food critic Larry Adelman must fight vampires. On a plane.

And finally, the future. Here’s a look at some of the peripherals that are yet to come.

Part 3: The Future

The Guitar Grip - I already mentioned this in an earlier post, but Guitar Hero on Tour for the Nintendo DS will ship with the Guitar Grip add-on (and a guitar pick-shaped stylus). To be honest, I’m still trying to figure this one out. I sort of see how it could work, but it looks decidedly awkward to me. I can’t imagine you’d really get the feel of playing guitar with this thing. At all. But who knows? I could always be wrong…

The DualShock 3 - Finally, the rumble returns to Sony’s console. After having at last come to an agreement over patent issues, the DualShock 3 will go on sale April 15. About time, I say. I think I’ve gotten spoiled by force-feedback. I miss it when it’s not there. The thing looks damn near identical to the DualShock 2, as well… which in my opinion is a great thing. DualShock 2 was the best controller ever.

The Wii Wheel - I have a feeling that the Wii Wheel, while endlessly amusing to the kid in all of us, could potentially turn into some sort of deadly frisbee. If you thought the Wii Remote could do damage when you lost your girp, just imagine this thing sailing towards your head… or worse, your plasma screen. This little guy ships with Mario Kart Wii.

The Wii Cord-Free and Wii Wireless Nunchuck - Both currently available for pre-order, these two might actually be useful. After all, who doesn’t get tired of that stupid nunchuck cord? I know I do… my cats go nuts anytime they’re in the room when I’m playing something on Wii. Having a ten pound kitty swatting at your controller while you’re battling moblins gets a little old after awhile. The Cord-Free, available March 25, converts your corded Nunchuck into a cordless peripheral by stashing the cord in its base and slapping a receiver on the base of the Wii Mote. The Wireless is just what it sounds like. A wireless nunchuck (and at $35, it’s an expensive little thing). It’s available May 1. Unfortunately, despite the pictures, these are third party products and neither one of them are actually packaged with a Wii Remote (the Cord-Free doesn’t even come with a Nunchuck… it’s just a shell for your Nunchuck).

Wii Balance Board - Already making the rounds in Japan, the Balance Board (I really wish they’d called it the “Wii Board”) comes bundled with the upcoming Wii Fit, which should be making its way stateside sometime in mid-May. Yet another attempt to prove that the Wii is really a highly advanced workout machine… looks like it might be fun, though. At least until I strain something.

The past, of course is fun to look back on, but you can find just as many interesting peripherals and controllers for more recent consoles.

Part 2: The Present (and not-so-very-distant past)

N64 Rumble Pak - Since the controllers for the N64 don’t have built-in force feedback, Nintendo started selling the Rumble Pak. I love me some rumble… but this thing just added to the already-bulky design of the N64 controller… and it had a slot for the N64’s bulky memory card, as well, which, when added, really made the whole mess look pretty ridiculous.

INTEC Game Screen - The Game Screen is a 5 inch screen that attaches to the top of your GameCube like a little mini-TV. I guess it’s meant to add portability to the GameCube, which seems a little silly to me. Frankly, why anyone in their right mind would want something like this is beyond me, but then again I have an unyielding hatred of tiny screens.

Eye Toy - This is a camera for your PS2. But not just a camera… oh no. It lets you interact with games by placing you image inside the game. Kind of like that show from the 90’s on Nickelodeon… Nick Arcade. Actually, this thing would have been really cool if they’d started selling it back then. Today, though, it’s a little too cheesy for my tastes. Of course, it’s not compatible with the PS3, so if you want to play with a camera on you shiny new console, you’ll have to fork out the cash for the PS3 Eye.

Gaming chairs - I guess this isn’t technically a peripheral… or a controller… but it makes me giggle. There are any number of these so-called “gaming chairs” on the market, all of them supposedly designed to incorporate themselves with the player’s console of choice in order to be the ultimate in comfort for gamers - some of them are even advertised to cater to specific genres. To be honest, I think most of them either look like some sort of torture device, or like something someone jacked from an airliner.

DDR Mats - Actually, I love these things. Oh, how I love them so… Thanks to them, I can Dance Dance to my heart’s content, without having to haul myself out to play on one of the commercial machines (and as I’m not so great at DDR, being able to play away from the public eye is definitly a good thing for all concerned, believe me). I guess someone finally found a use for the Power Pad technology. My only real qualm with them is that the inexpensive ones (i.e. the ones I bought because I’m cheap) have a tendency to slide on certain surfaces. Well, actually on just about every surface. I finally had to resort to velcroing them to my carpet.

Xbox 360 HD DVD Player - Since Microsoft couldn’t possibly give gamers the convinience of a built-in HD-DVD player in the XBox 360, they made them go out and buy this thing instead. Of course with HD-DVD having been dealt a final blow and surrendered to Blue-Ray… well, I guess you could always use your 360 HD-DVD Player as a really expensive doorstop…

The Wii Zapper - This thing looks like the incestuous lovechild of the Zapper and the Super Scope. Honestly, that’s all I have to say on this one.

The Wii Net Connect - The Net Connect is a third party creation that lets you connect your Wii to the internet via a standard ethernet cable rather than wireless… and I’m forced to ask - Why the heck couldn’t Nintendo just build this into the damn console in the first place? Would it really have killed them to stick an ethernet port on the thing?

Coming Up: Peripherals of the Future