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• Stay on topic.
• Contribute new information to the discussion.
• Don't comment for the sake of commenting.
• Know when to comment and when to e-mail.
• Remember that nobody likes a know-it-all.
• Make the tone of your message clear.
• Own your comment.
• Be succinct.
• Cite your sources with links or inline quoting.
• Be courteous.
• Don't post when you're angry, upset, drunk or emotional.
• Do not feed or tease the trolls.

Lovely. Be sure to swing by Lifehacker and read the whole damn thing. Read it twice, three times if you like. Words to comment by, folks.

Geek to Live: Lifehacker's guide to weblog comments [Lifehacker]

We've been running this contest throughout the past month or so, so I think it's about time to announce who the new king of comments will be.

If you remember we had narrowed down the list to these five:

EnigmaNemesis
TheIrishNinja
Spoony Bard
PapaBear434
DaiMacculate

Each of these commenters are daily readers, heavy commenters, people who spend an inordinate amount of time reading our stories and calling us on our bullshit and for that we love them. But unfortunately, we could only pick one for the latest six-month rotation as Commenting Czar, a person who will be giving the mighty banhammer, a tool which has both the ability to strike down lesser tools and to give life to once bannified accounts. The new czar will also earn $200 a month for their hard work.

Hit the jump for the name.

Without further ado I give you your new Czar: Spoony Bard

To everyone else I just want to remind you that this job lasts six months so please check back in with me in December or January because only you can prevent trolls. And of course we're always looking for strong, inquisitive writers. Thanks again for everyone's effort.

Here for your approval and general discussion our the top five Kotaku commenters. I'll be posting a poll on Monday and then, after discussion with the other Kotaku writers, announcing the new Comment Czar on Tuesday.

If you're on the list and don't want to wield the mighty banhammer for some bizarre reason make sure to drop me a line and I'll cut you from the list.

EnigmaNemesis
TheIrishNinja
Spoony Bard
PapaBear434
DaiMacculate

Hit the jump to vote. And remember, we still have the final say.

When we started using the tag last summer, we had no idea that it would snowball in the Internet Juggernaut it did. The phrase has since ventured in meme territory! Thing is, people have been starting to think that Macias was ripping us off and going to his site, expecting to see half-naked Kasumi figurines and Hot Shots Golf upskirts. Macias doesn't cover that! We do! And we ripped him off!! So, to end all confusion and makes sure Patrick gets his dues, we're retiring HTOS, returning it to its rightful owner and moving on to "MAXIMUM RISKY." We plan to push the envelope with "MAXIMUM RISKY" even more than we have before with dangerous and risky posts. Just don't go thinking that the Japanese adult film by the same name is copying us, m'kay?
[Pic]

We are always open to ban submissions (oh yes), but next Monday the ban sensitivity on the Hammer will be turned up max. Keep a watchful eye and get those submissions ready to send out next Monday. We'll be back next Tuesday lighter, faster and better. Hope to see you on the other side.

If you remember we had narrowed down the list to these five:

Witzbold
TheIrishNinja
EnigmaNemesis
Kirbytheslayer
PapaBear434

Each of these commenters are daily readers, heavy commenters, people who spend an inordinate amount of time reading our stories and calling us on our bullshit and for that we love them. But unfortunately, we could only pick one for the new position of Commenting Czar, a person who will be giving the mighty banhammer, a tool which has both the ability to strike down lesser tools and to give life to once bannified accounts. The new czar will also earn $200 a month for their hard work.

Hit the jump for the name.

Without further ado I give you your new Czar: Witzbold.

To everyone else I just want to remind you that we haven't yet decided how long this job lasts and that we also still plan on trying to hire a few more interns so don't give up hope. And of course we're always looking for strong, inquisitive writers. Thanks again for everyone's effort, drinks on Witz.

Log-in and click on "Follow Commenter." So easy! You'll get a little notice on your profile page when that commenter makes a remark. The folks you're following also appear on your commenter page. For those who don't have an ID, click on "New User" and sign up. Another thing you can do is pillage your friends' friends list, by clicking on the "+" and turning those commenters in folks you follow.

And if you realize that you don't like this person you are following, that their comments are lame, you can always click on the "+" button next to the commenter's name on your Friends list to remove him or her. Another new feature we've added is "Feedback," which allows you do give just that. There is a space on all commenter pages where you can leave comments.

If you encounter any problems with these new features, let us know in the comments below or at tips@kotaku.com (be sure to note your OS and browser type). Nothing like internet stalking following!

There's a survey below that will take only a minute or so to fill out. And if you are so inclined, you can use the comments section to tell us a little bit about yourself — whether it be your day job, your hometown or a personal non sequitur. Sometime that will shed a little light on who you are for us and fellow comments. We know you're just more than some random internet inhabitant.
Take the Survey

For some reason I forgot that not everyone takes six years... to eight years to get their four year degree and that by 21 most of you are safely ensconced in the "real world". So I've decided to lower the age limit to 18. While I will still look at applicants from everywhere, I am still sorta wanting someone who lives close enough to pick up a sandwich for me, a really big one, one the desire strikes. So preferences to Denver... and perhaps Osaka.

Hit the links to read the rules on applying. And don't forget... interns... not writers.

We're Looking for a Few Good Interns [Kotaku]

Sony has teamed up with Stanford Unversity for Folding@home. The project is a distributed computing network of PS3s to help study the causes of a number of diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cystic fibrosis and many cancers.

So! Kotaku has set up its own Folding@home page. You can view it here. This idea comes via Kotakuite Chris. Many thanks for that, Chris! Our team name is Team Kotaku (clever, eh?) and our Folding team number is 57858. We encourage as many Kotakuites to join as possible. This is a very cool program and admirable on Stanford/Sony's part.

To join the program you just click on the icon in the Cross Media bar and open up Folding@home. Then hit triangle and go to "Identity." Punch in the team number there. You can also set up your PS3 to work on the application whenever the console is idle. This second option will require leaving the console powered on and connected to the Internet.

Brian Lam at Gizmodo tells us that the PS3 has nearly sixty percent of the entire power now. Pretty amazing. Brian Ashcraft

There's others, too. Reader Jan sent along this neat trend chart that riffs on the Tokyo subway. Created by Japan-based design agency Information Architects, it's a mash-up of the most used websites from last year and what to expect from next. As the agency's site says, "It's totally unscientific and almost useless, but definitely fun to look at." To find us, Kotaku's the last stop on the enfeebled and underfed brown (yummy) "Blogs" line. Fitting. Brian Ashcraft

The Kotaku Subway [iA, Thanks Jan!]

Remember, the top messages are going to be sent to us for sorting and you, the reader, will vote to decide who wins what.

Top prize all three consoles. Two runners-up will each get a 20GB PS3.

Hit the link below for all of the details, though it's too late to enter now.Brian Crecente

Da Rules

The contest requires you to sign up for the free service and leave a message saying why you deserve to win.

The messages will be reviewed by the Pinger people for originality, creativity and persuasiveness. The top messages will then be sent to us for sorting and you, the reader, will vote to decide who wins what.

Top prize all three consoles. Two runners-up will each get a 20GB PS3. Now for the bad news, you have to have a cell phone and live in the US to enter.

Hit the link below to enter the contest and see the full rules.. You have until midnight tonight. Brian Crecente

Enter here

The contest requires you to sign up for the free service and leave a message saying why you deserve to win.

The messages will be reviewed by the Pinger people for originality, creativity and persuasiveness. The top messages will then be sent to us for sorting and you, the reader, will vote to decide who wins what.

Top prize all three consoles. Two runners-up will each get a 20GB PS3. Now for the bad news, you have to have a cell phone and live in the US to enter.

Hit the link below to enter the contest and see the full rules.. You have until midnight Dec. 13. Brian Crecente

Enter here

The contest requires you to sign up for the free service and leave a message saying why you deserve to win.

The messages will be reviewed by the Pinger people for originality, creativity and persuasiveness. The top messages will then be sent to us for sorting and you, the reader, will vote to decide who wins what.

Top prize all three consoles. Two runners-up will each get a 20GB PS3. Now for the bad news, you have to have a cell phone and live in the US to enter.

Hit the link below to enter the contest and see the full rules.. You have until midnight Dec. 13. Brian Crecente

Enter here

The contest requires you to sign up for the free service and leave a message saying why you deserve to win.

The messages will be reviewed by the Pinger people for originality, creativity and persuasiveness. The top messages will then be sent to us for sorting and you, the reader, will vote to decide who wins what.

Top prize all three consoles. Two runners-up will each get a 20GB PS3. Now for the bad news, you have to have a cell phone and live in the US to enter.

Hit the link below to enter the contest and see the full rules.. You have until midnight Dec. 13. Brian Crecente

Enter here
Da Rules

From now on, when you post a comment your little 16x16 avatar will pop-up next to your name if you've set it up. To add an avatar just click on the "Edit my user profile" at the bottom of the comments page. One in there you can upload an image.

Also, you can now click on a commenters name to see all of the comments they've made. Quite handy for troll-watching.

Stay tuned for some more comments news in the near future. Hopefully later this week. Brian Crecente

If you don't get an invite this afternoon, don't fret. Everyone who invited gets a spare, and we will continue to grow the list. You can also get an invite by sending us tips and ideas for future posts. We re looking for how-to s, tricks, hacks and hints. You help us. We invite you. Everybody wins!

Now get out there and get yapping.

Kotaku Comments FAQ

Guide after the jump.

Hot Coffee On PS2 (Get your PS2 Hot Coffee codes here!)

Rockstar Supports ESRB (Gaming allies announce support for one another.)

Thompson Coached Clinton for GTA Attack? (Attorney Jack Thompson accidentally leaks his intentions for an investigation into Best Buy for selling "sexual material," claims that he aided Sen. Hilary Clinton's preparations for her press conference.)

The ESA Strikes Back (The ESA gets all up in Sen. Clinton's face in a response to her jawing.)

Thompson, You Ignorant Slut (John Kepler Lewis responds to Jack Thompson's ridiculous letter.)

Thompson Calls for ESA Pres Resignation (Prick that he is, Thompson equates ESA Prez, Doug Lowenstein with Hitler, calls for him to step down, and generally blathers for longer than a reasonable attention span would allow.)

Clinton Calls For Fed Inquiry Into GTA (Sen. Clinton really thinks her time is best spent persecuting video game makers. Rants on poverty and education nowhere to be found.)

Rockstar Offical Denies Making Hot Coffee (Instead, it was created by hackers who altered the source code. Those inconsiderate jerks!)

Senator Whines About ESRB Ratings (Senator Leland Yee says GTA should be Adults Only and looks like a prude.)

Hot Coffee Could Burn Rockstar (The brewing of a controversy begins.)

GTA Sex Authentic and Unlocked? (The rumours are proved to be true about Hot Coffee's existence.)

San Andreas Has Built-in Sex Game? (Rumours of this lewd and loveable game first leak.)

-SM

How Game and Movie Ratings Work

Couple Go to Court Over Virtual Goods

Kotaku Japan: How To Build a Winner

Kotaku Japan: Buy Chun-Li's Boobs

Japan Hates the XBox 360

Grandmas: the New Frontier in Gaming

Halo Talk Show

The Dope Game

-SM

Ok, as much as I want to just start raving "idiot, idiot, idiot..." I need to address a few points. The ESA and their related organization, the ESRB, do not make an attempt to control content, quality, distribution or consumption of games. They are merely an advisory board, unlike the MPAA, who have their hands in a multitude of facets of the movie industry. Yes, the ESA is now moving on to the anti-piracy bandwagon, which is perfectly fine, but they understand the industry. They understand the legal and proper uses of a .torrent file, so they don't mess with that aspect. I realize it is quite cliche' to compare the movie and games industry, but it's the closest thing we have to make the argument.

There are awful video games out there that achieve an "M" rating that have a much smaller impact on the general populace and the news media as a whole. The problem arises when a decent selling game which happens to have an M rating hits the streets. The popular culprit for lawmakers to pick on is GTA, as they have here. This game, without the "Hot Coffee" mod/exploit possibly could have earned an Adults-Only rating. From the ESRB's website:

Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

As apposed to the M rating:

Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.

Without the "Hot Coffee" mod/exploit, GTA: San Andreas falls easily into BOTH categories.

The only difference you'll see in these two entries is the "prolonged scenes of intense violence" and the word "nudity" in reference to sexual content. You'll also see that the M rating is given to titles that are for those ages 17+ and the AO is for those that are 18+. I'm not a psychologist, and I know the legal definition (in the U.S.) of an adult is 18, but do we really need these two distinctions if the only difference factor is two words? I realize this is moving towards the standard of having one unified "media rating system"
(tv/movie/game/print/internet/etc...) but why must we incorporate the outdated, fairly pointless parts in the new systems?

Why blame the ESA? Take-Two never came out and said "our mission statement is to peddle a pornographic game to little kiddies!" did they? Rockstar/Take-Two has continued to push the envelope of graphic violence and social commentary since GTA3. (See Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver) Their marketing has never targeted anyone but adults though. You won't see an advertisement for GTA: San Andreas on Nickelodeon, but you will see it on Spike TV. You won't see it during the day on Cartoon Network, but you will see it on Adult Swim.

As I write this, it's still undetermined whether or not the mod that sparked this controversy is an actual exploit mini-game that was hidden in the code or an outside modder's attempt to use the in-game models for some dirty, dirty love. There is no way to access this game outside of some (closed-source) coding wizardry, and it was not disclosed to the ESRB or ESA upon their rating of the software. Does Mr. Thompson think it's suddenly Doug Lowenstein's responsibility to scan every line of code in every piece of media that passes through his hands? The MPAA is required to watch every minute of every movie, but this is not a linear piece of media. The estimated GTA:SA content extends into hundreds of hours.

So where's the liability for them? Mr. Thompson takes pot shots at Take-Two's accounting shortcomings, which is completely out of the realm of the actual issue (which seems to be a Hillary Clinton campaign contribution) of video game maker accountability. Mr. Thompson (or as I like to call him- "Thumper", for no other reason than it makes me laugh) calls Lowenstein a person who demonizes critics who point out criminal fraudulent excesses in his industry yet fails to mention anything other than one non-rating or advising related issue.

Why doesn't Thumper take aim at retailers, for God's sake? God forbid this man take a shot at the overblown retail industry! The ESA does not distribute games. (Does he even realize that?) The ESA cannot prevent a game from being released. The ESA is simply an advisory board trying to help the problems prevalent in the industry. This man just doesn't get it. Lowenstein, though not particularly one of my favorite people, has a perfect understanding of the First Amendment. Maybe not the particular verbiage associated and how it is interpreted, or the result of cases brought to the Supreme Court, but the spirit of the constitution itself.

The ESA and Take-Two are extremely responsible on the level that they are required and expected to be. If Tommy Vercetti showed up killing prostitutes in an E rated game with an exploit that was easily accessible by children, I could see where there would be a problem. In the meantime, Thumper, please get your facts straight. People will do bad things no matter what they're exposed to. It's all a product of their brain chemistry mixed with their environment. Bush is partially right when he says blame the parents. This is NOT the industry's problem, and blaming them to score a political favor with a possible presidential candidate
(echhh...) is unforgivable. I really hope this "open-letter" has scarred any chance of credibility on his part.

Anyone who calls the industry fledgling is silly. It's been around for two decades and impacts a large percent of our population. Come on Thumper. Get real.

Comments?

J-Lew

Now that my Kotaku Intern week is over, my next job begins. When I'm not writing obligatory snarky remarks about gamers and the like, I'm hocking t-shirts at a semi-local concert venue. Sure it sounds easy, but have you ever hauled around 40 pound boxes of John Fogerty tees or dealt with his fans? You people are animals when you go to shows. I'm off to find my weight-lifting belt (safety first!), but check out my favorite stories from the week:

Katamari Damacy Ball Cake

Open Letter From a VG Voice Actor

Win An Electric Blue DS and Games

Buying PS3 Will Require Working OT

Wean Yourself Off Games in China

PSP Sucks/Rocks As a Media Player

Retro Handheld Games Gallery

-SM

The Screen Actors Guild's national board of directors have sent the video game contract back to union members for yet another vote. Last month, the national executive committee threw out the agreement that their members had voted to accept.

Last week I received an interesting email from someone who's been in the video game voice acting business for more than a decade.

The letter does a lot to shed some light on the growing frustration of the membership over a guild leadership that increasingly fails to represent their members, according to the letter's author. It also shows a keen insight into the inner machinations of the video game production world. Voice actors know their voices aren't what's selling games, but they also know bad acting can hurt a game.
I am leaving off the name of the writer, to shield the person from any possible repercussions in their profession.

The union interactive agreement (for voice actors) was recently signed by AFTRA and rejected by SAG even though SAG was the one proposing the changes in the first place. It was really a stupid first attempt to get residuals off of online subscriptions, game sales etc, and even the new agreement is limiting the number of voices to 3 per actor which is ridiculous. Not practical with so many minor characters in most games.

I am encouraging all union actors to go financial core (they write a letter to their unions declaring that they are doing this effective immediately) and now they are allowed to work both union and non union. They continue to pay dues, but don't vote on union issues, which is pointless anyway as they send out ballots and then don't act on the vote but decide they're going to negotiate on their own.

Anyone can get a union card if they pay a lot of money to join and there are different requirements for SAG than AFTRA, but since a union card does not in ANY WAY guarantee that the cardholder has an ounce of talent, and since the union admits they need "an overhaul" it's time for the game industry to join the agents who have not resigned their SAG franchise contracts (because they are so fed up with the union) and everyone should stop being SAG signatories and bring the union to a reality check or to its knees.

Marketing depts of game companies still think that if they pay over $100,000 to get a "star" to do voices in their game, it will bring them press, which will sell the game better.
But the moment you use one union talent, you have to do the whole project union.

Charleton Heston who used to head the union is financial core, and people like Julia Roberts have totally done away with their agents because of all the BS. Game play is what sells more games. Grand Theft Auto had people talking about how you could beat up prostitutes, not that there were celeb voices in the game.

So I continue to say that, for the most part, gamers don't care about hearing celebrities in the games. They often turn off the sound completely. A lot of stars have bad attitudes, are not the best voice actors and to go union drives up the costs over 50% extra, making it hard for smaller developers to compete.

We've done tons of sound-alikes for the stars and we will continue to give the best acting by actors who are both union and non union, but everyone should know about financial core, because it won't hurt the talent, agents don't care if their talent is fi-core, and even though the union doesn't like the idea, the union is now going after the animation industry for more money etc. So instead of trying to be an easier entity to deal with and help clients and talent, the union is like a starving wild dog, trying to grab whatever it can to stay alive.

There, I've spoken my piece. Thanks for listening.

SAG Eyes Video Game Pact [Backstage]

With the Fourth of July right around the corner, it's time for one of my favorite road-trips of the year: Buying fireworks from states where they're legal. It's imperative that this year I out-class all my neighbors with as many hazardous explosives as possible; I will be king of my neighborhood! While I see how much gun powder I can fit into a station wagon, check out my favorite stories from the week.

Toshiba Developing Xbox HD-DVD Player?

Vide Gamer Yells at Mom On XBox Live

PS3, Xbox About the Same

Chappelle

Nerdy White Guys Make Games

MTV, Midway Become Promotion Partners

Video Baseball Game Nixed

Dear Friends Atlanta Review

I Want a War Game That Gives You PSTD

-SM

Just a quick reminder that Kotaku is still giving away Nintendo DSes and goodies to those of you sharp with our search function and rife with creativity.

First prize is an Electric Blue DS, an E3 collector s skin for your DS featuring a reproduction of the signature of legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, a copy of Kirby: Canvas Curse and a copy of Meteos. Second place is a Titanium DS, the skin and a copy of Kirby: Canvas Curse. Third place is Titanium DS and the skin.

The deadline for the contest is July 22nd, and we'll post the winners' entries the following week. And because only a few dozen of you readers have made it through Brian's Gauntlet of Trivia Doom, there's still a lot of opportunity for you to take advantage of our overly-generous ways. May the force be with you... or something.

DS Mega-Giveaway! Enter Now (original rules)

-SM

Sony Sues to Stop PSP Importing

GTA: Chappelle's Reality Edition

Show Us On the Doll Where the Contest Touched You

Cheating Cheaters and the Cheats They Cheat With

Dead Or Alive Movie to Suck

Senator Denounces Game Still Under Development

Spong Hates Kotaku

-SM

I try to reserve the Mail Bag for emails I receive meant for publication, complaints or written by jerk-offs. You figure out which category this one should fit into:

Hi Brian.

We take some exception to this piece:

(Typically snarky Kotaku piece)

We were wondering why you have such an issue with SPOnG, to the point that it clouds you ability to read and comprehend.

"Spong just loves the word exclusive. They're reporting they have exclusive images of the Game Boy Micro. They say they had a chance to * touch * the Micro during their "exclusive" interview with Shigeru Miyamoto (wait, didn't everyone interview him?), but couldn't actually play with it. That makes me sad, I had plenty of time to play with a Micro (apparently, exclusively) during my exclusive interview with exclusive Nintendo Diva Beth "Exclusive" Llewelyn at E3. I also spent 15 minutes or so playing Fire Emblem on it during the VIP booth tour."

The piece mentions that the only time we had chance to look at a unit was during the interview. It was a handy opportunity to plug the interview. And no, everyone didn't get a Miyamoto interview. We are one of the only online outlets to get this opportunity this year aside from IGN and GameSpot. We didn't claim that touching the unit was in anyway exclusive, merely that we are the first people to have taken the thing apart and photographed it.

Perhaps your bitterness stems from the fact that we were interviewing
Miyamoto and Iwata while you were being shuffled around by a PR during your VERY IMPORTANT PERSON tour? It's the only reason for your slant we can some up with here.

Tell you what. I'd really like the opportunity to discuss this with you face to face. Hopefully one day this will be possible.

Best regards,

Stefan Walters.

Does that sound threatish, or is it just me? Let me let the definition of exclusive answer your angry email for me Stefan:

1. A news item initially released to only one publication or broadcaster. 2. An exclusive right or privilege, as to market a product.

One, as in not two or three.

This weekend my mother is graduating from her Masters program — how exciting! What definitely isn't exciting is that I have to clean the house and wake early on a Saturday to watch her do it. What with the Kotaku interning when will I have time for my beauty rest? (Damn you Brian) While I zonk out in preparation, have another look at my favorite stories from this week.

Vin Diesel to Play Hitman on Big Screen, Possibly Your Screen

Spong Strips Micro, Takes Candids

Video: Being Tetris

Reviewing Game Store Customer Service

GTA Sex Authentic and Unlocked?

The Juiced Ad They Don't Want You to See

Two More Crap Resident Evil Movies Coming

Gamer Hypnotized and Dropped in Real Life Shooter

-SM

Despite my contractual obligations, I usually pass on doing the weekly thank you suck-up posts to our advertisers. But I decided to list them out this week and include a link to the how-to give Gawker money page because I've been getting a lot of emails from marketeers asking me about advertising and I want them to leave me alone.

So without further, or much, ado, our list of Godless advertisers:

Rockstar Games: Makers of all games play- and sue-worthy.
Audi: Spiffy cars I can't afford.
Verizon: They make cell phones talk.
MS Media Center: My parents always told me that if you can't say anything nice, you shouldn't say anything at all.

Advertise with us and risk being insulted [Loves ya Money]

I don't know about Brian, but I'll spending the majority of this weekend hauling my belongings from one college shithole to the next. I plan on moving a mattress and boxspring using only a Hyundai Elantra; odds on my success will be up on Oddjack in a little while. While I'm busting my hump, check out my favorite stories of the week:

NYT On Hollywood Halo

Strike Thwarted, Unions Cave

DDR With a Flamethrower

Microsoft Predicts X360 Riots

Nintendo: Games Too Long

Tamagotchi Resurrection!

PSP Gets Japanese Porn

-SM

You may have noticed in recent weeks that the occasional post ends in SM or maybe you just don t get that far down into my blather. To ease your mind it's not some typing tic that's warning of the onset of a break-down, it's the initials of a minty fresh Intern I have laboring for me.

Steve the Intern's duties include writing the occasional post and doing the occasional interview, but mostly just sucking up to me.

Here's Steve on Steve:

21 yr old; senior in college; journalism major with dreams of seeing m'name in lights; former Sploid bitch until Choire went AWOL; maintained Codebreaker for two years despite having five readers; likes: boys who speak German dislikes: making up lame bios.

He'll be here through the Summer and is earning three credits from Bradley University for putting up with my shit. Nice, huh?

So, whenever you see an SM know that it's not my fault.

This is a fun little experiment. I spent the weekend in the Grand Canyon and today my wife and I are taking turns driving the 14 hours back to Denver. I'm using my Treo 600 and Sharp larptop, along with a cool little program called PDA Net, to connect to the Internet while speeding along the Interstate and post my updates. So far the connections have been spotty at best. If you need to reach me, best email me and forego IMing.

It s Friday and as you read this I m driving through the mountain passes of southern Colorado on my way to the Grand Canyon for the weekend. I ll have my handy laptop and Treo with me, so I ll be updating on the road. Enjoy the weekend and read my faves from the week if you have a chance.

Game Exec Suing Masters of Doom Publisher

The Bad Question Interview

Man to Tattoo Himself as Xbox 360 Billboard

Mario Pick-Up Lines

Freaky Q&A with Zelda s Aonuma

Boy Jumps from Building to Join Gamers in Heaven

Frag Dolls Previews

Newsalicious

Gawker, always in pursuit of high-brow reading, has launched a new site dedicated to gaming. Don't worry, it's not another Kotaku. Oddjack is all about the kind of gaming that pays off large piles of green. The gambling site went live yesterday.

Man, I'd hate to have to be snarky about gambling. When I piss someone off I get a cold shoulder from a game developer for a week, when they piss someone off Gawker has to find a new writer and file a missing persons report.

Oddjack [Oddjack, via Oddjack thanks to Oddjack]

The World Cyber Games is now officially spewing out Kotaku-flavored news. The people behind the world's largest gaming competion in the world, contacted us a month or so back and asked if they could use our news. Unfortunately, I had to send them through the Gawker paddle machine, but a month and some nasty bruises later their site now posts my ramblings.

In other news, Kotaku has officially had more than one million page views this month, bringing our total since launch earlier this year to a bit more than four million. Don't you guys have anything better to do, like shave a cat or beat up on monkeys?

Game News [WCG]

Holy shits, Kotaku made Newsweek! I knew I wasn't the only one obsessed with Sinbad sightings.

Mike McWhertor was a godsend. I already pimp the crap out of his site, Geek on Stun, but it's worth saying again that he's one hell of a funny and smart writer and you should go check out his site.

Joel Johnson of Gizmodo fame, did the heavy lifting, putting off booth tours to make sure there was a constant stream of information flowing out to the site.

And the Intern, well the Intern just amused the crap out of us. Sure, he did his share of brilliant writing and floor scouting, but you can't top the time when he was hitting on a married woman by comparing her husband to his mom and then two minutes later arguing the postive points of getting into porn. God love the young.

It's been a fun, wild trip. I've got tons of stuff to still post so make sure you keep checking back for lots more pictures, stories and innuendo.