wtf posts (Subscribe to this feed)

This moment brought to you by the letters W, T, and F:

After the break, a very special moment made up of three disparate, but equally important, elements: 78-year-old Doris Roberts (that's Everybody Love's Raymond's mom to most of you); the line "Game on!"; and an honest-to-goodness shoryuken (don't call it an uppercut!).

We have the upcoming movie Aliens in the Attic to thank for the existence of this moment. To spare you the pain of watching the entire trailer, we've trimmed out the relevant scene from Hulu and tucked it away after the break. Overseas? Try this YouTube variant (but skip to 1:25! You've been warned!).

[Via Capcom Unity]

It's difficult to imagine a property as insidious as Lego Batman. Go ahead, try. Labeling the game a "symbol of commercialized childhood," an activist group calling itself the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has called out TT Games' cubic take on the Dark Knight. Wait, is this a joke? A riddle? A two-faced lie?

The game was included among a handful of other toys as a finalist for the organization's inaugural TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) Award. Other playthings, including Hasbro's poop-happy Baby Alive and a Barbie tarted up as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, are also up for the dubious honor. But how many of these were also included in Happy Meals, one of the chief complaints of the Boston-based group? Only you can put the Caped Crusader over the top by voting for the "winner". Won't someone please think of the children?

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is the cover story for the latest issue of Forbes magazine, and the article's got one helluva quote -- and it's not even from the man himself. While you might balk at the businessman's lack of gaming credentials (read: he doesn't play games), this is the line, written by Forbes itself, that'll cause more than a few raised eyebrows: "EA also teamed with MTV to sell Rock Band, a shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero that added drums, bass and a microphone to the world of make-believe rock stars."

The decidedly negative tone without attribution is uncharacteristic for the magazine, and also feels a bit ... off? We know the Harmonix-RedOctane schism can be a bit confusing, but when the creators of the hit franchise are the ones making Rock Band -- and doing the multi-instrument thing first -- is that really the best choice of words?

[Via geoffkeighley]

There's not much we can say to prepare you for the video after the break (which we carefully extracted from Capcom's TGS DVD). Let's go over the facts: Capcom is making a Street Fighter movie centered around Chun-Li (played by Smallville's Kristin Kreuk); that movie will be directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak (who previously helmed DOOM); it will be terrible.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Joystiq!" you exclaim. "Those first two statements are, as you said, facts. But that last statement ... surely that's just your opinion." We appreciate your concern, reader, but the smallest of sneak peaks – really, just a single frame from the film – is enough to convince us. Is Chun Li wearing a mattress?

Video games and politics aren't strangers to one another. Since the days of the crusades against Mortal Kombat -- pretty tame nowadays -- and extending into the storied and humorous career of one Jack Thompson, video games have lingered in the halls of politics (let's not get into all the unsuccessful and costly legislation attempts). We think this is, however, the first time that claiming a political opponent plays Halo has been used as a smear tactic. And yet, there it is. In a politcal fact sheet produced for Arizona's Maricopa County District 1 Supervisor race, the fact that 26-year-old Ed Hermes is an avid Halo player is used in an effort to defame him.

"Skilled player of the popular video game Halo," the flyer reads, opposite a more politically relevant statment about Fulton Brock -- Hermes' 56-year-old opponent. It continues with a quote from Hermes made in a university newspaper: "I am addicted to Halo, and play almost every night."

We find ourselves wondering if a young Fulton Brock was once accused by an elder statesmen of "Watching the boob tube," or "Reading the Devil's picture books."

[Via Joystiq]

While it doesn't quite fulfill our wish list of PSP games we'd most want to purchase by download and run from a single Memory Stick, D3 Publisher's "classic" catalog is coming to PlayStation Store (the PC one) this September. Props for being ahead of the curve. Up for digital delivery will be:

• Cube ($9.99)
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords ($14.99)
• WTF: work time fun ($9.99)
• PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient ($9.99)
• PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 ($14.99)
• Dead Head Fred ($14.99)

Once a true PSP Store is in place, we'd love to see all publishers follow suit. Now tell us that wouldn't send a chill up your spine GameStop!

Finally! D3 Publisher, we applaud your decision to bring your PSP catalog to the PLAYSTATION Store. You're not bringing just one obscure game onto the Store -- you're making available a number of games, from big-budget releases to obscure cult classics. Best of all, you're making them available for cheap! Here are the releases:

September 18, 2008

• Cube - $9.99
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - $14.99

October 2, 2008

• WTF: Work Time Fun - $9.99
• PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient - $9.99

October 16, 2008

• PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 - $14.99
• Dead Head Fred - $14.99

To find out more about each of these titles, simply click on their names. You'll find all our news, previews and reviews of these games.

Is it April already? A quick glance at our calendars confirms that it's still January, and an extended glance at 1UP's reveal of Soul Calibur IV's secret characters does nothing to evaporate the reigning feeling of utter confusion. The lineup of saucer-eyed assassins, scantily clad combatants and bizarre pain fetishists in Namco's anticipated fighter is set to be joined by the Sith's darkest lord and the Force's most diminutive master. Our little green friend can almost manage to fit in to Soul Calibur's ye olde fantasy trappings, but poor ol' Vader appears to have gotten lost and disoriented after leaping over some sharks on his space jet ski.

Even better news can be found in 1UP's suspicion that even more Star Wars characters will waltz into Calibur's cantina, possibly via downloadable content. An interesting idea, but we reckon you'd save money by simply buying a copy of Masters of Teräs Käsi off eBay.

Update: Gamespot reports that Darth Vader is reserved for the PlayStation 3, while Yoda will be included in the Xbox 360 version.

[Thanks, Antonio]

Yesterday we took a look at some of the weirdest DS-related games and stories of 2007. We got to mention things like Doki Doki Majo Shinpan and Spanish for Everyone again, which meant that we had a great time. But we couldn't touch on every bizarro story that crossed our "desks" in 2007. We didn't discuss the BioWare Sonic RPG, for example (in that case, it was because we didn't want to be murdered).

What was your favorite DS-related WTF moment this year? Did some random training game come along that got you L'ing OL? Or was something advertised in a way that, maybe, it shouldn't have been? We want you to join in on the fun!

Activision's Spanish For Everyone may not be as inclusive as the title may make it sound. There are a lot of people, in fact, who may fall outside the category of "everyone" that this game purports to be for. Allow us to describe the introduction of the game: Miguel asks to play with his friend Shawn's (brother's) DS for a minute, just as Miguel's father pulls up in a limousine and informs him that it's time to go. The car pulls out before Miguel can return the DS, headed straight to Mexico and trailed by two police cars. Shawn's aunt, a taxi driver, pulls up and offers to drop him off in Tijuana, and to help him learn Spanish along the way. She tells him "They don't call me Gina Vasquez for nothing! I can teach you many things, and Spanish is definitely one of them!"

If that offends you, the game's not for you. If the fact that this sequence was depicted in CD-I Zelda-level art bothers you, the game's not for you. If you don't trust a language training game whose English text is rife with errors, you are just not a member of the "Everyone" that Activision is after. You should be proud.

Activision should be proud too. They've created a series of ridiculous videos that's bound for Internet memedom. The story continues after the break (Spanish For Everyone spoilers ahead)!

WTF, or Work Time Fun, is the first game we ever reviewed on PSP Fanboy: "Although the game certainly features some stinkers, it's still an enjoyable game that takes advantage of the PSP quite well." At a budget price of $15 at Gamestop, the game's value increases quite a bit, making that 6.0 score we gave it a little easier to swallow.

[Via CAG]

Sony's fake blog, "All I Want for Christmas is a PSP," still lives in infamy. It hit number three on 1UP's list of "top ten WTF moments of '06." "Chock full of painfully awkward slang, the whole thing peaked with a horrendously embarrassing hip-hop video that as much as we'd like to we just can't un-watch." If you missed out on this marketing blunder, check out the links below:

See also:
Flog archived for your pleasure
PSP for porn, pedophiles and Nazis ... according to FOX

[Via Joystiq]

With WTF come and gone, another game must fill its shoes. HOT PXL attempts to emulate Nintendo's successful Wario Ware formula by adding an Atari twist. With its expanded media profile, and skateboarding attitude, does this game have what it takes to stand out in an ever-growing crowd of genre clones? Well, watch the trailer and judge for yourself.

WTF, or Work Time Fun, is an enjoyable, but ultimately flawed, game. The title encapsulates the spirit of the game incredibly well: it's quirky and filled with a dark humor that some may find a bit too vulgar or violent to appreciate. Those that watch you play the game will have no choice but to ask WTF? as they see you participating in a variety of games, from the insane to the inane. A collection of approximately 40 mini-games can be unlocked in the game's unique format. You'll only have four games to start, but as you play those games, you'll earn money that allows you to unlock even more games. While the presentation is unique, and executed very well, it's also one of the greatest flaws of the game. Progressing in the game can sometimes feel less like fun and more like work.

Continuing reading to see the final verdict.