The Modern Materialist

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• Pacman Says, "Sit On My Face"

  Ever wanted to have a sexy fun time on PacMan? Now you can: Read More... Posted Oct 03 2008, 12:25 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, living room, stools

• Gamer Grub

  1. Barf. 2. This is exactly like an Onion News Network Episode: Read More... Posted Oct 03 2008, 12:01 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Food and Drink

• The Best Thing Ever. Ever. Really.

  When you see what this is, if your jaw doesn't drop at how obvious this was, you're not a human being: Read More... Posted Aug 11 2008, 01:35 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, toys, games

• Want To Play With Some Boobs?

  Ultimate geek fantasy time: Designer John Nouanesing has created the Geekini, which (in theory) is a game controller built into a bikini. Ultimate geek reality time: You put this on, and I guarantee your BF will basically spend the next four hours mashing your breasts and crotch, while essentially ignoring you. Not that that's any different than the rest of your sex life. Oh snap! I said it! I said it! Here's another pic, pervos: Read More... Posted Jul 22 2008, 09:00 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, geeky, sexy, bikinis

• Deal of The Day: Guitar Hero 3 for $60, Rock Band for $100

  As most of you know, Amazon has daily “Gold Box” specials, super cheap deals that go until their inventory is sold out. Usually, they’re for some new Tupperware, or gold jewelry, but occasionally, something totally awesome comes along. Today is that day. Awesome Day. All day long, Amazon’s Gold Box deals are for music based video games, meaning Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and the like. Find out the deets, after the jump... Read More... Posted May 21 2008, 02:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Deal of the Day

• The Entertainment Top 5: Wii Fit, Tom Petty, and Muppets!

  The Entertainment Top 5 is how you should spend your hard won dollars this week. Check out the full list, below: 1. Wii Fit [$90] Why? It’s a big week for video games, what with Garfield’s Lasagna Tour coming out and all, but the bigness news is Wii Fit, the exercise machine for your video game system. The Wii is already the 800-ton gorilla of the video game industry, so why not make that an 8000-ton gorilla by taking over the exercise industry as well. Reportedly, the Wii Fit lets you feel the burn, but will it be fun? Only time, and hundreds of thousands of Wii Fits sold will tell. Oh, and if you haven't gotten one yet? Good luck, they're already out of stock. The rest of the Top 5, after the jump...  Read More... Posted May 19 2008, 01:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, entertaining, Music, Movies

• The Weekly Top 5: SNL, Indiana Jones, Death Cab, and More

  Whether it’s SNL back when you remember it being good, or Welsh neo-Big Band music, The Weekly Top 5 tells you how you should be spending your entertainment dollars this week. Check out the whole list, and then let me know what I got horribly wrong, or missed, in the comments below: Read More... Posted May 12 2008, 02:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Music, Movies, weekly top five

• The Weekly Top 5: Boom Blox, Teeth, and More

  The Weekly Top five (formerly the weekly top four, but there’s so much awesome stuff out, who needs just four things?) is what you should be spending your entertainment dollars on this week… Assuming you didn’t already spend all of your fun-money on Iron Man and GTA4 last week, of course. Check ‘em all out, after the jump: Read More... Posted May 05 2008, 01:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Music, Movies, the weekly Top 5

• The Weekly Top 4: Madonna, GTA4, and More

  I’m not going to lie to you guys… It was very difficult to decide what deserved to be in the top spot this week, i.e. what’s most deserving of your entertainment dollars. The question really came down to: am I a gay man, or am I a mentally repressed man-child, with both sides of my personality fighting for dominance. Find out which half of me won out, after the jump… Read More... Posted Apr 28 2008, 04:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Music, Movies, weekly top four

• Hands On: Samsung’s 3-D TV

  Last night was Samsung’s Spring Fever Showcase, showing off all the products the electronics giant will be hitting the public with in the next few months. Though they plied me with tiny crab cakes, and all the booze I could drink, I stayed on task, and throughout the rest of the day, will give you my impressions of a few of those products. I want to mention right off though, that the parting gift from this electronics showcase was a regular note-pad. I mean, a really nice notepad, but here I am, taking pictures with my Sony camera, and no-one came up to me and said, “Hey, it looks like your camera is awful. Why don’t you have one of these Samsung cameras, free of charge?” I guess looking doe eyed and sad in the corner doesn’t get you free gadgets? I dunknow, I’m new at this. Anyway, a little while ago, I posted about Samsung’s 3-D TV. Well, now I’ve got to play around with it, and I can say that it is, without a doubt, pretty darn cool. Impressions, and more info, after the jump...  Read More... Posted Apr 25 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: gadgets, video games, Television, Movies, samsung, hands on

• Geek Out: Zelda Sounds Keychain

  I don’t think there was any game I played more as a child than The Legend of Zelda. When it came out, I remember having conversations with classmates every day about all the secrets we had found, and all the secrets we pretended we had found… Sometimes kids make up stuff to seem cool, you know? More terrifying tales of my childhood, after the jump...  Read More... Posted Apr 24 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, toys, Geek Out, Keychains

• The Weekly Top 4: Cloverfield, Whitesnake, and More

  Every week, awesome stuff comes out in the worlds of DVD, Music, and Video Games. Every week, I tell you the top four things you have to buy. This is the Weekly Top 4: 1) Flight of The Choncords [$10, Amazon] What The? First official album from the HBO musical/comedy duo. Sorry? Flight of the Choncords has been tickling your funny bone since last year with their absurd and hilarious songs. This album collects them, officially, for the first time. Fifteen songs on the album range from the brilliant French class parody “Foux da Fafa,” to the moment you first fell in love with the Kiwi duo, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room.” Check out the rest, after the jump...  Read More... Posted Apr 22 2008, 12:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: video games, Music, Movies

• Geek Out: Cantina Band Shirt

  There’s a pretty simple crib sheet to figure out the sort of stuff I like to post here under the heading “Geek Out." What's on that crib sheet, after the jump: Read More... Posted Apr 22 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: video games, Movies, Shirts, Geek Out

• Hands On With Big Buck Safari

  Working at Nerve has its advantages: - All the personals you can eat. - A nice, warm, blog to lay your head on at night. - And sometimes, you get to try stuff before anyone else. Though Wendy and Steph always manage to get to the food and shelter before I do (thanks a lot guys, seriously!), I did manage to trump them in one regards, and snuck my way into a press event for Play Mechanix’ brand spanking new, never before played Big Buck Safari event at the Black Bear Lodge last night. A full hands on, after the jump...  Read More... Posted Apr 18 2008, 12:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: video games

• The Weekly Top 4: Okami, Asia, Juno, and More

  The Weekly Top 3 feature I did last week was SO POPULAR*, that I’ve decided to turn it into The Weekly Top 4! How amazing is that? For the very few of you who didn’t read last week’s feature**, I’m going to tell you the Top Four things you should be looking out for in the world of Entertainment, from DVDs, to Music, to Video Games, to anything in entertainment. So let’s get to it, homeskillets, after the jump...   Read More... Posted Apr 14 2008, 12:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: video games, Music, Movies

• Geek Out: VG Controller Pillow

  I think we all have a good sense here of what sort of things we like, right? Steph and Wendy like delicate assemblages of tasteful furniture and clothing, while I like video game pillows. At least, that’s what I assume Wendy was telling me when she e-mailed me this particular item, saying she thought of me when she saw it.  And I’d get super pissed about it too, except, well, she’s totally spot on. More deets after the jump...   Read More... Posted Apr 08 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: video games, geeky, pillows, Geek Out

• The Weekly Top 3: Portal, There Will Be Blood, and Leona Lewis

  Hey, it’s Monday! Assuming you didn’t blow ALL of Friday’s paycheck on strippers and booze, you’ll still have a little left over to buy yourself some fine entertainment this week. So what should you pick up? Glad you asked; that’s where The Weekly Top 3 comes in. I'll let you know the Top 3 things you should be picking up from the world of entertainment, and then you take your money, and go buy them. Then, you invite me over to hang out with you. Check it all out, after the jump: Read More... Posted Apr 07 2008, 03:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: video games, Music, Movies, The Weekly Top 3

• Geek Out: Customize Your Guitar (Hero)

  It’s Guitar Hero’s world, and we just live in it (or something like that). So why not take your controller for a customizable spin with Colorware? More info, after the jump… Read More... Posted Apr 07 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Geek Out, Guitar Hero

• Big Buck Safari!

  I’ve previously written about the joys of Big Buck Hunter, the game where you get to destroy animals without actually killing anything, while drinking beer. You know, the perfect game? Anyway, there was a little tease at the end of that post about Big Buck Safari, the latest incarnation of the game series, hitting at the end of March. Lo and behold, it’s the end of March, and here it is. Deets, after the jump...    Read More... Posted Mar 31 2008, 12:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games

• Retro Arcade: Space Invaders Journal

  Dear Diary, It is the third day since the aliens attacked our planet. They came in one slow wave first, moving from left to right across the sky. We were able to maneuver our defense turret to take some of them out, and were hopeful we would be able to repel these space invaders. We were wrong… They keep coming, row after row of alien ships. They’ve already destroyed one of our four houses, which gives us fewer places to hide. And there’s something… We’ve noticed above the line of ships. A faster ship that we think is the mothership. My hope is that we can shoot it down and end this war. To that end, I’ve offered a large bonus to whoever can destroy it. I pray to god I will be able to write soon about how this war is over. I must go, the troops need all the help they can get. It seems the more we destroy… The faster they get. Sincerely, Taito Midway [$6, Etsy] Posted Mar 28 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Retro Arcade, Journals

• Mario Kart Wii Preview

  Okay, let’s do this. I swear I’ll be back to ridiculous gadgets and whatnot tomorrow, but for today, I’m embracing the full range of my geekiness, and you’re all going to just have to deal with it. I’m here, I’m nerd, get used to it. After the jump, video, pricing, and way more nerding out...  Read More... Posted Mar 27 2008, 02:00 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, geeky

• Retro Arcade: Pac-Man Cufflinks

  I have, in my life, found zero opportunities to use cufflinks. When I do find the opportunity to do so (and gosh, I hope it presents itself soon), I doubt I’ll go the wacky route. Most likely, I’ll go for the traditional cufflink experience. It’s like going to a new pizza place for the first time: you want to try the cheese slice to get the sense of the place, not skip ahead to the rigatoni cheeseball supreme*. For those of you tired of the same old cufflinks day after day -  especially those who have an old school arcade fetish – you may want to check out these home-made Pac-Man cuff-links. How many more things can I hyphenate in a row? We’ll see, after the jump...   Read More... Posted Mar 26 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Jewelry, Retro Arcade

• Wii Sports Bowling Bag

  I have, on occasion, taken my Wii to other people’s houses. That’s sort of because I’m a good friend, but mostly because I want to whip them at tennis, which I rule at. Hardcore. However, I’ve always had a problem as the Wii doesn’t pack up nicely in any of my bags; and I’d rather not have everything rattling around inside, breaking as I do a good deed. This bag solves that problem. It has a large pocket for your Wii and A/V cables, and smaller individual pockets for your plugs, wii-motes, and nunchuks. Also, it looks like a bowling bag, which is pretty cool. [$45, Best Buy] [Via GeekSugar] Posted Mar 25 2008, 03:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Bags

• Retro Arcade: Tetris Pillows

  Anyone else confused that the best geek stuff consistently comes from Etsy? Anywho, Etsy user sequoiam has made a set of old school Tetris pillows that lock together in different combinations. Sadly, the pillows do not disappear once a row is made, and you’ll probably have to hum your own Russian-esque music. We’re just not there in the technology yet, people. Pricing, and some more pics, after the jump…   Read More... Posted Mar 25 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Retro Arcade, pillows, Etsy

• Retro Arcade: Plush Gameboys

  Listen: I’m aware my role on this blog is the tough-as-nails gadget guy. I don’t take no guff from nobody, and that’s the way I like it, right? But goddamn if I don’t want to hug and love one of these plush gameboys. Each one is hand-made in a color of your choice, and won’t break the bank. But maybe your heart? Perhaps… It shall break your heart? Man, I need to find some sort of USB barbecue blender or something, just to get myself back to normal. [$14, Etsy] [Via Technabob] Posted Mar 19 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, toys, Retro Arcade

• Retro Arcade: Asteroids Table

  The great thing about this table is, your guests will either get it, or they won’t. So those you don’t want knowing you’re a secret video game fanatic will be all like, “Cool table.” And those who are in the know will get it instantly. No pricing yet, but there will be a limited run this summer of about 50 units. [Via Mostly This] Posted Mar 18 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Retro Arcade, Tables

• Retro Arcade: Tetris Skirt

  I’m just going to post this without comment. Okay, one comment: If I was a lady, I would totally wear this. Okay, one more comment: I might wear this anyway. [Sold Out, Etsy] [Via Kotaku] Posted Mar 14 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, clothing, Retro Arcade

• Retro Arcade: Super Mario Checkers

  You can have your Scrabble. Your Chess. Your Castle Risk and Balderdash. Me? I’m a Checkers man*. The eternal battle between red and black is the game of kings, and the ultimate in strategic… Strategery. Yeah. I need a thesaurus. I’m also a big fan (in case you couldn’t tell) of video games, so imagine my excitement upon seeing this combination of the board and the video, a home-made Super Mario Checkers set from Etsy user coolstuffforsale. The board and pieces are made out of beads, is one of a kind, and should probably be snapped up fast. [$25, Etsy] *For the sake of this post, at least. Anyone wants to challenge me on Scrabulous, you’re going DOWN. [Via Geeky Toys] Posted Mar 13 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, Retro Arcade

• Time To Hunt Some Bucks

  Now, I’ll start this off by saying that I don’t endorse hunting. Guns freak me out. And I’m completely squeamish about blood. However, I love Big Buck Hunter. For those of you who have never played the game*, it’s exactly what you think it is… You travel around the country, shooting deer, caribou, and elk, competing against up to three of your friends at a time. Which doesn’t sound that crazy exciting, except that it is the perfect bar game: Each turn takes about a minute to play, so there’s plenty of time between rounds to go get a drink. In addition, if you each put three dollars in the machine, and you have four people, a game can stretch upwards of 45 minutes. That’s at least 40 minutes longer than most arcade games, and again, plenty of time to grab a few drinks while you murder a few deer. More after the jump...  Read More... Posted Mar 12 2008, 02:30 PM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games

• Retro Arcade: Evolution of Man T-Shirt

  When man first climbed from the primordial muck, there was only one thought on his mind: Do you have any quarters? From ape, to caveman, to modern human, the quest to get quarters has shaped our world, and changed the very course of evolution. What better medium to capture the heart of this quest than the canvas used by Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and of course, Picasso: The T-Shirt. Game Asylum’s new Tee, showcasing the growth of the human race, is a picture for the ages. Nay, a snapshot of the very soul of the human race. Don’t you owe it to yourself to wear it while drinking the nectar of the gods itself? I refer of course, to PBR. Let us bring a frosty toast to our lips. To man! [$20, Game Asylum] [Via TechnaBob] Posted Mar 12 2008, 09:30 AM by Alex Zalben with | with no comments Filed under: video games, clothing, Retro Arcade, Shirts