I've always had a fond place in my heart for CheapyD, (a place that grew to include a futon and potted plant after he took me to watch Sumo in Tokyo this year) and this is why: He's got a great self-deprecating sense of humor. One that manages to, once a year, encapsulate the life of a bloggerin a three-panel comic. We feel your pain Cheapy... well, no, not literally.

Make sure to stop by his site and say "Hi."

CAG Comic: A(ss)perture Science [Cheap Ass Gamer]

It doesn't strike me, as a marketer, that it would be fascinating for someone to open the packaging.

And like that George Harrison's nerd cred goes out the window. But, it is fascinating! From the color of the twist-ties to how the cables are packaged, I want to know everything that's in the box. EVERYTHING. Brian Ashcraft

Unboxing Article [CAG]

One of the cheap bastards at Cheap Ass Gamer has compiled an amazingly informative guide to importing. CAG forum member Chacranajxy originally wrote this how to for Gamespot, but has dumbed it down for all of us! He gives us the lowdown on how to mod consoles, a full list of import recommendations, which games are actually import friendly and how to buy them. Think of it as "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Importing (But Were Too Afraid to Ask)." Brian Ashcraft

More Here [CAG]

Like Xbox 360 games, but don't like Xbox 360 prices? It's no secret that software prices have been sliced in Japan, making the country 360 shopping heaven. CheapyD from game site Cheap Ass Gamer has compiled a list of US $40 Asian Xbox 360 games that ain't region protected and have full English support. Games include: Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII, Call of Duty 2, FarCry Instincts Predator, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Gun, Hitman: Blood Money, MotoGP '06, Quake 4, Tomb Raider: Legend and X-Men: The Official Game. These games are being imported via PlayAsia, patron saint of cheap bastards like CheapyD. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [CAG] via Opposable Thumbs

After Peter Moore's 24-inch guns apologized for boneheaded backwards compatibility remarks, we know that Microsoft cares about BC. But, does Msoft care about BC?

CheapyD does. He also has loads of free time. So after getting up at 2:00 PM and shopping for new socks, he started crunching numbers, finding the facts and trying to see how much Microsoft cares about backwards compat. Cheapy writes:

With the latest backwards compatibility update occurring this week, I thought it might be interesting to see how many of the best reviewed Xbox games are backwards compatible on the Xbox 360.

I took the 300 best reviewed Xbox games as scored by Metacritic (a website that collates reviews) and then checked to see which games are backwards compatible on the Xbox 360.

Of the top 300 reviewed Xbox games, 82 (or 27%) are backwards compatible.
Of the 21 new additions to the the bc list, 8 are in the top 300 best reviewed list.

Well, don't look at it like only 27% of games are backwards compatible, because that's a small figure. No, think that 73% of them aren't BC. Because bigger numbers are better. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [CAG]

CheapyD from Cheap Ass Gamer appeared on Bloomberg, giving the inside track on gaming. I told Cheapy to wear a Mexican wrestling mask, but the lad chickened out. Speaking of which, the Bloomberg anchorman, Bernie Lo, didn't dare say "ass" on air—instead he refered to CheapyD and his site CAG. He did say the Microsoft X360 and the Sony P3. Nice!

Oh, and did you know CheapyD was a "Video Game Consultant"? 'Cause he didn't. Brian Ashcraft

Bernie Ain't a Gamer [Television Asia]