GGF#27: Let’s not talk about games

[Gamer Girl Friday]

I can’t write today! I’m very excited! I’ve been busy with a cool project involving videos!!

And although it’s not exactly game related, it’s a lot of fun! You’ll be able to see the fruits of my labour next week!!

But that means I didn’t have time to play any games this week, so I don’t have any game reviews for you today. Awww. :(

And because I’m too excited to write, today will be Pictorial Day.

Well, okay, I’ll write some. I have a lot of nonsense in my head which I need to dispel daily or my brains will turn to mush from the toxicity of my nonsense.

It’s kinda like slow poisoning by melamine, only worse.

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Table of Contents

  1. The Goonfather tries to be a movie star
  2. The search for the COG Tag
  3. New Xbox Experience
  4. Sheylara and Lara Croft
  5. Results of last week’s contest
  6. Win a 1GB Imation Nano Flash Drive!

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The Goonfather tries to be a movie star

I received this game a few days ago from the good Xbox people. I love them to bits!

I was really busy this week, so I just left it lying around instead of tearing open the box right away.

The Goonfather couldn’t resist it. He was, like, “CAN I OPEN THE BOX OMG!!”

I said, “But I want to take a photo of it before opening it but I have no time to take a photo of it.”

“Okay, I take for you,” he said, “Where’s your camera?”

“In my bag.”

He opened up my infamous Nike bag, stared silently for two seconds, and repeated, “Where’s your camera?”

“In the camera pouch lah.”

“YOU HAVE A ZILLION CAMERA POUCHES IN THERE LAH!”

Unfortunately, he was right.

Note that my bag never looks so neat. I arranged everything nicely for the purpose of this photo.

So, anyway, he found the camera and took ONE lousy photo of the game box (pictured above) before ripping it open.

The game is pretty cool. It makes you do funny actions, like look angry or do a hula dance. You see an instant feedback of yourself on your TV screen (via the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera included in the box).

Afterwards, the game will take all the actions it recorded you doing, put in backgrounds and edit it into a movie for you.

The problem is, the Goonfather lost patience with it after the second action, so I never got to witness his completeed movie. (He never does have any patience to follow instructions).

Idiot. CMI!!

Anyway, this game can take up to four players, so you can be in the movies with your friends!! OOOH BOY I GOTTA TRY IT WITH MY FRIENDS!

Hopefully, I’ll have a video to show you next week! ;)

You’re In The Movies is an Xbox 360 exclusive game.

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The search for the COG Tag

This is strictly for Gears of War fans but it’s still cool enough to just know about it if you’re a gamer.

Epic Games released 1,000 COG Tags into the world for GOW fans to find and there’s one hidden somewhere in Singapore.

Merdeka and I have been releasing clues to its whereabouts in our Xperts.com.sg blogs. Today is the fifth day already and the tag still hasn’t been found yet!

Find out more about this contest here!

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New Xbox Experience

Launched two days ago, the new Xbox dashboard features cool, customisable avatars! Yay!

Okay, it’s no trailblazer, but it’s still cool. Here’s my avatar!

I have a pink heart tattoo on my left cheek! Gotta get a real life one!! Hehe.

You can change your clothes and features at any time.

I wish I could change my features at any time in real life, too.

I love the way you see your friends as avatars in a virtual room now, instead of just a list of text names.

If you see a bunch of friends in a group, it means they’re either having a LIVE voice or video chat party, or playing an online game together. Some of these parties are joinable!

If the avatar is sleeping, it means the friend is offline.

I love it!!

These guys were having a Call of Duty: World at War party but I don’t have the game, so I couldn’t join them.

So I joined a Gears of War 2 party, instead!

As usual, I got thrashed the hell out of.

My avatar posing:

My avatar acting cute:

I got a shock when I saw Merdeka’s avatar. I don’t know what he was thinking!!

That guy is nuts! Haha!

Anyway…

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Sheylara and Lara Croft

I feel malnourished standing beside her…

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Results of last week’s contest

We have many winners today! Congratulations, you all!!

This beautiful copy of Virtua Fighter 5 for the PS3 goes to ahtiong for his 1337 bootlicking skillz!!

Woot!!

ahtiong says:

I think Lion Rafale is quite similar to the Goonfather. Seeing that both are rich and have some connection with thugs, like Lion’s father’s illegal dealings with terrorists, and the Goonfather being a goon, and his photos, give me the impression of a mafia head. 老大!

For the record, the Goonfather is neither rich nor has any connection with thugs.

But well done, anyway!

Next!!

Congratulations to Yoi, ahtiong and Fort Adesso for each winning a 90-day Gamepath account!!

I know you’re all probably stuck to your WLKs now, so I’ll be nice and e-mail you your redemption codes.

GAME ON!!!

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Win a 1GB Imation Nano Flash Drive!

Well, guess what?

I have another one of these awesome things to give away!

Will wonders never cease!

To win this, you need to prove to everyone that you have a superhero power like in Heroes or X-Men!!!

I’m just joking, of course.

Just tell me what superhero power you would like to have if you could choose ONE. And then give yourself a superhero name. If you want, you can even describe your superhero costume.

I will award the prize to my favourite entry!

Closing date is Thursday, Nov 27, 11:59 pm.

GO FOR IT!!

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And now, the end is near,
And so I face the final curtain.

My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full,
I traveled each and every highway.

And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

[Gamer Girl Friday]

GGF#21: Lara Croft comes to Singapore

[Gamer Girl Friday]

Today’s GGF is very Xbox-centric because we have all been swept into this crazy Xbox vortex, with so many exciting events happening in the Xbox world this month! I’m all dizzy, I swear.

Today’s GGF is also a crazed hyena with rabies doing the 100-metre dash because that’s about what I’m feeling, right now.

So, if anything feels wrong today, please blame the chocolates I’ve been overdosing on to give myself imagined energy boosts.

Also, I have one bit of very important news to announce. But I don’t want to say it now because I want to make you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the issue to read it.

(Blame the chocolates.)

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Table of Contents

  1. Meet Lara Croft in the flesh!
  2. You could be the next face of Xbox!
  3. Rocking out at Xbox Xperience Zone
  4. Sheylara Bus
  5. Celebrating Halo 3 anniversary by dying
  6. Results of last week’s contest

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Meet Lara Croft in the flesh!

This has to be one of the best news all year for all you hot-blooded males (and maybe females, too)!

The latest official Lara Croft, portrayed by sexy gymnast Alison Carroll, is coming to Singapore this month!

Bookmark your calendar RIGHT NOW!

She will be appearing at X08, the biggest Xbox event of the year, from Oct 24 to 26, 2008.

And fans will get a chance to get her autograph and have photos taken with her!

Because GGF is updated only weekly, you should stalk my Xbox blog for more regular updates on Lara Croft’s appearance as well as X08 itself!

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You could be the next face of Xbox!

Okay, I’m lazy, plus I’m running out of time, so I’m going to plagiarise my own blog and copy wholesale what I’ve written in my Xbox blog, okay?

Okay! (I gave myself permission to plagiarise myself.)

Woah! Yes! You saw right! The Xbox team is now on the lookout for a new Xbox Xpert to join me in my mission to shape the Xbox outreach in Singapore!

This means that one awesome person will get to do all the crazy stuff I’ve been doing here, and Xbox gamers will have more opportunities to interact with the Xbox team in Singapore!

The good news is that you don’t have to be a female. Or a male, for the matter. (Of course, it would be nice if you had a specific gender but either one is fine.)

What we really want are people with passion, people with a desire to help bring gamers together, people with the secret ambition to convert every last human being in the world into being an Xbox gamer! Mwahahaha.

Kidding about the last bit. That’s just me.

Very importantly, you should be an Xbox gamer, yourself.

HOW TO BE THE NEXT XPERT?

For a while now, we’ve been quietly building an Xbox Xperts page on Facebook. Sneaky, aren’t we? So, what we want for you to do is go there and upload a 2-minute video telling us why you should be the next Xpert.

Be creative as you can, but don’t break any laws doing it!

For more detailed instructions, CLICK HERE.

To upload your video, CLICK HERE.

The winner gets to be my slave!!!

No, I’m joking. The winner will get to do fun stuff together with me! (I’ll keep the slavery to a minimum, promise!)

Enough talk, now. Let’s see some vee-deeos!=)

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Rocking out at Xbox Xperience Zone

Before anything else, here’s a video of me playing Rock Band at the Xbox Xperience Zone last week, at Challenger Funan! I’m on the drums.

This was the last song I “performed” before I left the event. We had asked for volunteers to jam with me, but the crowd at the time happened to be super shy, so my real friends (who were there to support me) volunteered, so that I could finish up, pack up and go home! LOL.

My friends are sweet!

The Xbox Xperience Zone is a new space created by the Singapore Xbox Team to allow gamers to try the latest games and learn more about the Xbox from trained staff in the zone.

The first XXZ was launched last week at Challenger Funan, in conjuction with the launch of Rock Band for Asia and Infinite Undiscovery, the popular Square Enix Xbox 360 exclusive.

It was also an opportunity to meet with Xbox fans and be totally decadent by playing games on the job!

Since Rock Band is such a cool game, I spent most of my three hours there playing it! Heh.

I also chattered on (I can’t remember now what I was talking about)…

…and camwhored with my standee!

We held two Rock Band competitions within three hours and winners walked away with exclusive Xbox 360 bags and watches!

The fans really loved it!

And check out this little drummer!

He had a lot of difficulty following the coloured bars on the screen, but he kept persisting and wanted to get it right. Good boy! But his father was so worried about his little boy hogging the drums that he kept telling his son, “Enough, boy, let’s go!” Good man! LOL.

And tons of photos with Xbox fans!

See, we had so much fun! A shame if you weren’t there!! ;)

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Sheylara Bus

Multitudes of people have been kindly informing me via SMS that they have seen me on this bus that plies Orchard Road.

I reply, “I don’t take buses in Orchard lah.”

And they say, “I MEAN YOUR PHOTO LAH, IDIOT.”

Okay, fine.

So, I’m on a bus and now, I have photos of me beside me being on the bus!

We had to cheat a bit.

The Xbox Team arranged for the Xpert bus to be made available to us one sunny afternoon, so we could take photos of it without having to go camp Orchard Road like desperados, armed with ready cameras on tripods.

So, here’s the bus! TA-DAH!!

Does seeing this bus make you feel an uncontrollable urge to pick up an Xbox 360 to play? It’d better, or we’ll want our money back from the Secret Department of Subliminal Domination. We had subliminal messages magically weaved into the images on the bus saying, “Play Xbox!”

Oh wait, I think I’m not supposed to tell you that.

More photos!

Right, enough of buses. Don’t later people say I sua ku, like never see bus before like that.

(That last sentence, by the way, was a very fine specimen of Singlish, which I’m sure non-Singaporeans will be very impressed with because they don’t understand what the hell we’re saying when we lapse into that.)

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Celebrating Halo 3 anniversary by dying

The first time I got into a Halo 3 multiplayer game was with a bunch of International strangers and it was my very first time playing that game. I didn’t even know what buttons to press and what I was supposed to do.

Needless to say, I died countless horrible deaths.

Last Saturday, I got invited into a game by a group of Singapore gamers whom I had gotten to know through Xbox LIVE. They were cool! They took the time to teach me how to play the game before they thrashed me!

First, though, we all gathered at the beach to take some screenshots because, unbeknownst to me, it was Halo 3’s first anniversary!


Screenshot by Merdeka

There was a lot of screaming and shouting as a few jokers started killing everyone while people were trying to get in position for the photograph. Then the dead ones had to respawn and run back to the beach, cursing and swearing.

It was hilarious.

At one point of time, one of the guys asked me to jump on the back of his vehicle for the photo.. So I did.

And then he drove off with me clinging on for dear life.

The others yelled at him and asked him to bring me back but he just laughed.

And then one of the other guys shot him dead and he fell off the vehicle.

LOL.

With 10 players in the game all talking at once, it was quite a mess!

Anyway, we finally managed to get some nice screenshots, and then we started the game.

I did quite well. In one hour, I managed to kill about three people.

In comparison, I was killed about 3,000 times.

Wootage. It was fun.


Screenshot of me by Merdeka. I’m gonna get pink armor the next time.

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Results of last week’s contest

I put up a Microsoft LifeCam NX-3000 as prize last week and asked readers to answer five questions to get into the lucky draw.

The questions didn’t deter people at all. I got tons of entries for this contest. Good job, guys!

I really enjoyed reading all the answers, so before I announce the winner, I want to publish some interesting answers from random contestants!

Why do you want this prize?

Honestly — I like this one because it looks so cool. It looks like some fancy gadget from the future. With this in my possession, I would be invincible! — modchip

Because I dont have a webcam and it would be good for me to camwhore with it when I get bored waiting for Sheylara to update her blog. Hahahah. — felicia

Because my cam that is suppose to be a genius is not really that smart anymore. — Lee Mark Anthony

Because it’s a webcam! And also because I don’t have one? This is the only thing I’ve bothered to enter your contest for. Doesn’t that show how much I want it? — jwong

Do you actually read Gamer Girl Friday or do you usually just skip to the contest section?

sorry Guy don’t really read but skip to contest section — Chow SW

Honestly, I would go directly to the contest page. — Syazana

I usually just read GGf and ignore the contests. — jwong

What’s your favourite game?

Er… X-com: UFO Defense *blush* — tiger4

Starcraft (I know I am kind of old dork who lives in the past haha. Now looking forward to Starcraft2) — Aicee

What’s your gender?

Haha! What a silly question. ^_^ — modchip

Urhm. FEE-MALE. A silly question indeed. — felicia

Male (Wish I was female though. They get all the good stuff in MMOs) — Dominic

I know this is gross but the one that gives out red stuff every month. — Syazana

The one that hurts more when you are kicked between your legs. — Dwayne Tan

What’s the first thing you’ll take a photo of if you win this lifecam?

My bitter half and she refuses to be called a thing. — Lee Mark Anthony

Some of the cute dogs at ASD – Action for Singapore Dogs. These abandoned dogs need more publicity because they need homes. — Dwayne Tan

oooh my dog and I? i have a crush on my dog!! hahaha — mok ying ying

Hmmm nothing. Not into photography — Aicee

My happy face — jefflee893

AND THE WINNER IS…

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* * * Lindy!!! * * *

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Congratulations! Here are Lindy’s answers!

Why do you want this prize?
Because I lost my previous old and lousy webcam, and I want to get a new oneee!

Do you actually read Gamer Girl Friday or do you usually just skip to the contest section?
I’ll read about cute games like patapon! Or game events too!

What’s your favourite game? (Can be console or PC.)
For now it’ll be N+ on PSP!

What’s your gender?
Female

What’s the first thing you’ll take a photo of if you win this lifecam?
A mirrored version of the lifecam! =D

Lindy, if you’re reading this, please send me an e-mail to claim your prize (in case I forget)!

Thank you all for participating!

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Random photo for fun

So, here’s the important announcement: There is no contest today because there will be no GGF next week!

Sorry. =(

I am applying for a one-week leave and if you don’t give it to me, I quit!

LOL.

Seriously, I can’t do GGF next week because I’m travelling to KL and Penang for a feature film shoot and it’s going to occupy most of my time.

I will still update my blog as daily as possible during the week I’m there, to tell you all about the exciting torments that my director will be putting me through, but I will be out of the gaming scene, for sure.

I toyed around with the idea of making the Goonfather step in for me, and calling next week’s issue Gamer Goon Father, but then he told me that his idea of a good gaming blogazine looks something like this:

1. The Force Unleashed

Freaking good game. Buy it!!

2. Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway

Has great reviews. Didn’t try cos too busy playing The Force Unleashed.

3. Tom Clancy’s EndWar

Coming soon! But play The Force Unleashed first.

4. Fable II

Play THE FORCE UNLEASHED a million times and get all the holocrons!

The End

I’m of the opinion that you readers might just prefer that GGF takes a break for a week. Business will resume on Oct 17!

In the meantime, you should still continue reading Sheylara.com for daily rubbish and Xperts.com.sg for Xbox gaming updates!

Till the next time!

[Gamer Girl Friday]