Kotakuite Charles stopped by a New York City Best Buy location this morning to pick up Modern Warfare 2, only to encounter the stuff of nightmares - Bon Jovi fans. Also, clowns.

"Went to best buy this morning to get COD. We were greeted by Ringling Brothers clowns waiting in line to buy the Ringling Bros. game from 2K. Also waiting in line were about 30 people waiting to get the new Bon Jovi album (they were even chanting Bon Jovi for a moment....wtf). Needless to say, Bon Jovi and Ringling won today's morning crowd as there were only about 2-5 people waiting to get COD. Just another NYC moment."

Just another NYC moment? I'll be staying on the Southern half of the East coast for the rest of my life then, thanks.

That's okay! The PSPgo is smaller, and the economy is crap. And who can afford enormous PSP billboards these days?

PSPgoes For Smaller Visual Placement [Pasta Tech] [Pic]

Popcap Games is an official sponsor of this year's Village Halloween Parade, and they're not content to be represented by a lousy street sign. No, they're forming a Plants vs. Zombies troupe to march in the parade, inviting fans of the game, zombie groupies, and "macabre gardening types" to come celebrate with them on October 31st. The company is attempting to make this year's event the largest zombie gathering in parade history, going as far as to extending special invitations to zombie enthusiast organizations such as NYC Zombie Crawl and ZombieCon.

If I were in New York City, I would totally go as a plant.

"Plants vs. Zombies seems to inspire people to new heights of zaniness, and we have the photos to prove it," laughed Garth Chouteau, vice president of public relations at PopCap. "We wanted to give those rabid PvZ fans a fun time and place to gather and celebrate their passion for the game. What better way than marching up 6th Avenue in New York's historic Halloween parade!"

The parade kicks off at 7PM on Halloween night. If you're in the area, you probably won't want to miss it. And hey, bring the kids! It's an excellent alternative to keeping them locked in the closet all night for their own safety.

The Legendary Starfy for the Nintendo DS might have been released in North America early last month, but it's never too late to raise brand awareness. From 1pm to 3pm this Saturday, July 11th, Starfy himself will be on hand at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, posing for photos in a special underwater-themed area. There'll be prizes to be won, demos to be played, and yes - face painting.

We've been trying desperately to get Totilo to show up and get his face painted, and shall continue to do so long after this event has come and gone.

That's because the work, called "Here & There", was partly inspired by Halo (which, it must be noted, was in turn influenced by the work of Larry Niven). But that's not where the gaming influence ends: while cataloguing the inspiration for the piece, Schulze writes "I don't like the way maps (in-game maps) work in most video games."

"They seem to break my flow of play, and locating one's actor in the game isn't satisfying. I'd love to see a first person or third person shooter where the landscape bent up to reveal a limited arc of the landscape in plan over distance."

So in putting the map together, the creators cite not just Halo, but Grand Theft Auto, SimCity, Syndicate and even Luigi's Mansion as having contributed towards their idea for the picture, all (presumably) because of the way they depict the world around the player.

Here & There influences [Here & There, via Gizmodo]

On Saturday, May 16th from 1pm to 4pm at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, Nintendo will be celebrating the return of the Punch-Out!! franchise with a 32-player elimination tournament. The winner receives a World Video Boxing Association trophy and a copy of the game two days before its Monday release. Fans not participating in the challenge can still have a good time, with giveaways, DJ entertainment, and a chance to purchase the game before anyone else in the country. Good for them!

See for yourself, it's right there, dominating the nearby streetscape in Manhattan's Chinatown. Not a bad way to get some free, dorky advertising if you happened to have your ads up at the time.

Major exhibitors from all parts of the gaming industry will be heading to New York on February 6th to participate in the 2009 New York Comic Con, with gaming booths taking up a massive 11,000 square feet of exhibition space - 50 percent more than the 2008 show.

Some of the names showing at the con include Activision, who will be showing off some of their Marvel lineup; Konami, who are bringing Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Blue Dragon card game; Namco Bandai, who've packed up just about everything they're bringing out for the trip; and Atari, showing off Riddick and Ghostbusters.

Would have loved to cover the show myself, but somehow I managed to schedule my first vacation in two and a half years for that weekend. Oops. Check out the full press release below for a larger list of gaming exhibitors.

New York Comic Con Announces Enormous Growth of Videogame Exhibitors at 2009 Show

Officials Note 50 Percent Increase in Gaming Presence Since '08

NORWALK, Conn. - Jan. 27, 2009

New York Comic Con (NYCC) has today revealed details of its videogame industry attendance for the upcoming 2009 NYCC, which will take place February 6 – 8 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. NYCC officials note that videogames have become a huge part of show planning and that the videogame section has become the single largest growth area for NYCC since 2008. Major exhibitors from the videogame industry will be displaying their products and introducing their latest games to thousands of eager fans in booths that will occupy over 11,000 square feet of exhibit space. This represents a 50 percent increase in exhibit space for videogames as compared to 2008.

Tickets and programming information for New York Comic Con are accessible at www.nycomiccon.com and more personal insights and anecdotes about the show are available via Show Manager Lance Fensterman’s blog, www.MediumAtLarge.net.

“I am enormously pleased and gratified to see how much and how fast our videogame component has grown since last year,” notes Fensterman. “From the get go, one of our principal goals at New York Comic Con has been to build on our core interest, which is comics, by expanding outwards to include other interests. This is what defines us as a true pop culture event. We provide a wide range of stimulating activity which commands the attention of our many fans. I couldn’t be happier that videogaming is now taking a leading role in all of this.”
Some of the prominent companies and the games they will be featuring at NYCC include:

Activision: Leading worldwide videogame publisher Activision will have a robust presence at New York Comic-Con, showcasing some of this year's most anticipated videogames including their 2009 Marvel video game lineup with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 as well as PROTOTYPE™.

Atari: Champions Online, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, Ready 2 Rumble Revolution.

Codemasters: Fuel on Xbox 360, Damnation on Xbox 360, Overlord 2 on Xbox 360, Overlord Dark Legend on Nintendo Wii, and Jumpgate Evolution on PC.

Electronic Arts: Spore Galactic Adventures, Godfather 2, Dragon Age, Burnout Paradise, Battle Forge and Battlefield Heroes.

Konami Digital Entertainment: Yu-Gi-Oh!, TRADING CARD GAME and Blue Dragon Role Playing Card Game.

Namco Bandai Games America: Afro Samurai®, Dynasty Warriors®: GUNDAM® 2, Naruto™: Ultimate Ninja® 4 (tournaments will be going on for this game!), Splatterhouse, We Ski™, Snowboard and much more.

SouthPeak Games: Velvet Assassin on X-Box 360, X-Blades on X-Box 360 and PS3, Roogoo: Attack on Nintendo DS and Roogoo: Twisted Towers on Wii.

TC Digital: TC Digital’s flagship game, the Chaotic TCG, will be featured throughout their booth. Fans and players will be able to take demos, hone their skills, and compete in tournaments for various Chaotic product prizes.

In addition, other well known companies in the videogame industry who will have a prominent role at NYCC include Cryptic Studios, Mythic Entertainment, Rockstar Games, Sega, THQ and Ubisoft.

“All in all, everyone who is anyone in videogames will be at New York Comic Con,” concludes Fensterman. “We are very pleased and honored to be getting such a vote of confidence from this important segment of the pop culture world.”

This is of course the culmination of the mysterious case event that had us on the edge of our seats towards the end of November, which involved some interesting documents, including a few schematics for the special chair in question.

This Saturday and Sunday, January 17th and 18th from 11am - 7pm, our mobile F.E.A.R Lab will be parked outside of the GameStop at 1282 Broadway on the corner of Broadway and 33rd (near Herald Square) to give a sneak preview of the upcoming first person shooter game F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin.

In case you can't make it (which I sadly cannot), the whole thing will be streamed for your pleasure at http://www.armacham.com/fearlab. If you do go, feel free to share the experience with us!

Nintendo is hosting a Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii Father's Day Tournament at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza on the 15th from 1 to 4 PM, with the winners of the bracket-style playoff walking away with two Wii, two copies of the game, and a trophy commemorating the event. Photographers will be on hand throughout the event to offer framed father and son pictures so at least you come away with something if the tourney only drives home the fact that you and your father have absolutely nothing in common.

The third annual Come Out & Play Festival once again attempts to turn New York City into a playground. In 2006, when the festival first hit NYC, gamers were given a chance to play life-sized Pong and real world Pac-Man, among a list of other interesting games. This year's list of games features two dozen ways to play outside including Humatar, which uses Xbox 360 controllers, headphones and Nerf guns to turn people into real-world avatars.

In Humatar one set of players controls a second set with the use of the Xbox 360 controllers. They don't get into specifics on the site, but since headphones are worn by the avatars I assume that moving the thumbstick sends out audio commands to the avatars. Sounds like it could be fun.

Hit up the site to check out the full list of games and Manhattan this weekend to play them.

Come Out & Play Festival 2008

Sightseeing in Liberty City [Matthew Johnston @ Flickr]

Wii Fit takes over Times Square [Go Nintendo]

The Great Wait for the Wii [via gonintendo]

The Nintendo World Store in New York's Rockefeller Plaza will be host to Majesco's first ever Cooking Mama: Cook Off Challenge.

The event is scheduled for this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature an on-site chef preparing real snacks as competitors prepare virtual meals.

Winners will take home a copy of the game and if you show up you get a limited edition Cooking Mama apron, if they don't run out before you arrive.

If you go make sure to take pictures and send them our way. Brian Crecente

Majesco holding NYC Cooking Mama Cook Off [Gamespot]

British band The Go! Team feature a 1970's style Ms. PAC-MAN chase scene in one of their music vids. Sure, we've seen live-action Pac-Man stuff before, but never sounding this good! Brian Ashcraft

Ms. PAC-MAN Runs Through NYC, No One Notices [Aeropause]