When I came across those Day of the Tentacle Chuck Taylors the other day, I was thrilled. Few things make me happier than classic point-and-click LucasArts adventure RPGs.

Erik, an artist and animator who blogs at Perequin knows this. He caught my post about the DOTT kicks, and left a comment about his sweet sneaks… that feature Full Throttle, the very game I was hoping would be featured on the next LucasArts inspired sneaks.

Great job Erik. These are amazing. Roy Conrad would have been proud.

Full Throttle Chuck Taylors @ Perequin

If you find well drawn mice in capes adorable yet bad ass and haven’t read David Petersen’s Mouse Guard, it is required you catch up. Comic Book Resources chatted recently with Archaia Studios Press (publisher of Mouse Guard) as well as its new parent media firm, Kunoichi about the publisher’s past, its recent rebirth, and its future plans.

Archaia Studios Press, based out of Kearny, New Jersey, was acquired by Kunoichi in 2008 and has since suspended production to rework its business model with the media gurus. Now, Archaia Studios Press feel it’s ready to resume production and distribution of its several titles including Jacamon and Matz’s The Killer (soon to become a film, go figure) and O’chua and Sheikman’s Robotika (but most importantly Mouse Guard).

Archaia Studios Press will continue releasing the (somewhat) monthly series of Mouse Guard this month with Issue 6 of the “Winter 1152″ story arc. Check your local comic store if you’re interested in some rodent warrior action!

(Via Comic Book Resources)

Need something to play this weekend? Haven’t played one of the greatest single and co-op multiplayer games this year? Are you also tired of your friend referring to you as a “Boomer” and not knowing what it is? How about picking up said game for free?

Those wacky guys at Valve are at it again with another offer you can’t refuse. This time giving away Left 4 Dead for 24 hours only! Starting 00:01 GMT this Friday Left 4 Dead will be made free to download over the company’s Steam digital delivery service. This being said I think you should pick up Steam ASAP, because those servers are going to be hot. You can also pre-load the app now and then just flip the switch on Friday morning and start putting the undead in their place.

Here’s the catch, and in this case there is one. Once you get the game it will only allow you to play for 24 hours for free. Then it will lock and you will have to pony up if you want that next fix. Somehow I see this as a great marketing strategy on Valves part because this is one addictive game.

Via Kotaku

I am really starting to wonder about Think Geek lately. I mean the stream of awesome just doesn’t end from their website. First the tauntaun sleeping bag (that hopefully will now be a reality), the brand new Sega Dreamcasts they are selling (Joe covered this earlier), and now the thing I personally have been waiting for since I first played an emulator on my computer… the USB Retro NES Controller.

You have no idea how many times I have wondered why this didn’t exist. It just makes sense! I mean everybody loves playing retro games, but honestly the “feel” of playing those games on a computer with a controller that is a rip-off design of a Playstation controller just isn’ t the same. I have seen hacks of this on eBay go for $50 and above for custom made controllers.

For my NES experience to be complete I need to feel those boxy corners of the little rectangular controller and 4 buttons. You heard me – not eleven, but four. One button for shoot and one for jump, which is sometimes all you need. Now if only I could hook this up to my Wii.

USB Retro NES Controller
www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/ba5a

Ah, May 2nd. Free Comic Book Day. The single day when shops around the world give away comic books to anyone who walks into the store. And our pals over at Brave New Worlds (what’s up guys!) in Old City are happily participating.

What can you expect? Lots of Stormtroopers from the 501st Legion will be there, trooping around Old City. You can also meet Spider Man. Will they battle? My sources say yes.

If you want to RSVP you can visit their Facebook page event. You don’t have to, but hey, it’s nice to see just how many people are swinging by.

PS: Brian, please bring Supergirl to the Old City event.

PSS: No, you can’t hire Bianca. She couldn’t pull off Supergirl.

PSSS: Bianca, stop hitting me.

Brave New Worlds Comics
www.bravenewworldscomics.com

Lenore over at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, created this outstanding Missile Command skirt, using images from the classic Atari game… and now you can too!

If you visit her site, Lenore provides a step by step guide on how to make this awesomely geeky dress. When working on the design, Lenore did her research. She captured the imagery by playing the original game on the Atari website and on her iPhone.

Yup. Wear this, and you’re sure to score a date with any Geekadelphian you want. Yes, even the girl and the married one.

Missile Command Skirt via Sprite Stitch

Now, we Geekadelphians have witnessed some great works of steampunk artwork and craft, but what you see above is the fusion of art and practicality. Yep, that’s Etsy user cerriousdesign’s steampunk style flash drive, folks and it can be yours for just $40 from Etsy. Well, the price may be  ridiculous a bit steep, but numbers mean nothing to a true fan of steampunk.

So what is it, really? Under the laser cut, rusted metal is a 4 GB Sandisk retractable flash drive. It’s also equipped with an orange activation light to give it an eerie feel as if you found it in a ghost town. Said ghost town would be fictional, of course, as the steampunk era never actually occurred. Bummer.

Alright, we know you’re thinking, “Couldn’t I get tetanus from handling this thing?”

We seriously doubt the rust is real. Besides, Etsy could suffer some serious legal issues if it were real. So, there’s no way it’s real rust, right? Right?

(Via Engadget and Geeky Gadgets)

Ah, Dead Space. Easily the scariest game I’ve ever played, and soon to be an utter disappointment on the Nintendo Wii. However, unlike the Wii adaptation of Dead Space, this action figure looks awesome.

Isaac features over 20 points of articulation and comes in 2 unique versions, Standard and Bloody, each with their own unique weapon including the Ripper and the Cutter. Highly-detailed and highly-articulated, these figures come in clamshell packaging.

Poised to arrive in July, this figure will run your pockets $30. Consider it preordered.

Another shot of the figure after the jump.

Dead Space Action Figure via Super Punch

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Seriously. You should be.

Founded by three incredibly talented local Philly writers, Brian James Kirk, Sean Blanda and Christopher Wink, Technically Philly are quickly setting themselves up to be Philadelphia’s local version of TechCrunch. How? By covering all wakes of Philly’s wonderful local tech scene. Just check out their about section.

From the small group of programmers working on the next big Web application to large businesses that employ hundreds, the Philadelphia technology community is growing. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of all of the start-ups, organizations, venture capitalists and businesses that are working to make Philadelphia thrive.

Technically Philly will be there to help you stay on top of all of the news that affects our technology community with a Philadelphia-first mind set, and we will let you know when the next event is happening in your neighborhood. In fact, the three editors of Technically Philly have never even set foot in Silicon Valley.

Chris, Sean, and Brian may not have stepped foot in Silicon Valley, but they sure know what they are talking about. Their site boasts an events page, a Twitter, and more. Add ‘em to your RSS, your bookmarks, tattoo their URL on your chest, whatever. Pay them a visit. You won’t be disappointed.

Technically Philly
www.technicallyphilly.com

One thing that has kept a lot of people from upgrading to Blu-ray is the price of the player. With dvd players now at less than $30 a pop, paying $229.99 for a low-end and  upwards of $500 for a high-end Blu-ray player seems completely ridiculous.
Right now only 2 groups seem to have joined the Blu-ray revolution, high end cinephiles who have to have the latest movies in the best format possible(who also do not care how much it costs) and gamers(that would be me!) who  purchased a PS3 and got one with their game system(which you now can get at a Gamestop for $349, so if you weigh the price its not a bad deal). But things are going to change and the companies who have been enjoying the profits of the high end format are not happy.

The reason is Blu-ray is coming to China! Yes with the technology being licensed and available over there, the Chinese will do what they do best make a really cheap player for half the price of most competitors! With the rumored price point being in the $99 bracket as soon as Christmas. Not only will we see cheap Blu-ray in this move, we may see my favorite region-less players that will pay anything on a plastic platter even those pesky VCDs. China has been using several hd disc format like NVD kinda a homebrew version of Blu-ray born and raised in China that stores 12 gigs to Blu-rays 50 gigs. But I am hoping this move will bring Blu-ray to the masses because that in turn will bring down those pesky Blu-ray disc prices.

via Gizmodo

The season finales of both Chuck and Heroes will air tonight on NBC. While both shows would definitely benefit from a boost in ratings, Chuck is in a more dire situation. Chuck has not been renewed for a third season. With the ratings it’s been getting recently, the outlook for a renewal appears slim. I didn’t watch Chuck until recently, and I wish I had started from the beginning. It’s easy to get into, the characters are well developed and interesting (one is even given the nickname Captain Awesome!), it’s funny, and it’s just good television.  Also, it is very geek friendly.  Everything from the Brian K Vaughan comics,  Tron, and recently a Steve Jobs inspired villain played by Chevy Chase.

In order to save their beloved show, fans of Chuck have been writing letters and signing petitions at the very least to get a third and final season.  One of the more interesting campaigns is “Chuck Vs The Footlong“. While the standard letter writing is asked of by the fans, there are a couple of other steps:

5. On April 27th be sure to BUY A $5 FOOTLONG from Subway and if possible, drop a note in the comment box at the franchise letting them know you’re participating in the Finale and Footlong campaign to save NBC’s Chuck, of which Subway is a product placement sponsor.

6. Watch the finale LIVE if possible.

If you do nothing else…do the last two items on the list.

If you want to know more information about this campaign, check it out here. Be sure to tune into to Chuck tonight on NBC.

Via Zachary-levi.com

The results of March’s NPD reports for a few key Nintendo titles are paltry at best, despite well enough reviews across the board. The key titles in question include MadWorld and The House of the Dead: Overkill for the Nintendo Wii as well as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS.

For example, GTA: Chinatown Wars, a title which received universal acclaim from critics, sold only 89,000 copies. Granted, Rockstar’s debut on the DS released more than halfway into the month (March 17), but a title to receive such high-scoring reviews, only to sell less than 100,000 copies, raises questions of the state of games tailored to the bloodthirsty mature, hardcore audience of Nintendo’s consoles.

What does this all mean for you Geekadelphians who actually want some more bloodshed in Nintendo’s two best selling systems of this decade? Find out after the break. (more…)