If only he had the Geekadelphia Guidespot link!

Recently, freelance writer (and awesome tea-cup maker) Alexis Siemons reached out to me about helping create a Geekadelphia themed guide on the popular site Guidespot. Entitled Shop, Eat, & Play Like a Geek, the guide shows off some of my favorite ‘geek’ picks in the city of Philadelphia.

Omoi, Brave New Worlds, National Mechanics, Tattooed Mom… these are my hangouts. Go get to know ‘em.

Geekadelphia on Guidespot
www.guidespot.com/guides/geekadelphia

Yes, you can has.

Ah, swag. We love it here at Geekadelphia, and if there’s one thing I love more than getting free stuff… it’s giving it away.

About a month ago, the kind folks over at TRU Company sent me a pair of their Volo high-performance HDMI cables. They’re trying to “introduce [their] high-performance HDMI cables to the gaming community. [The] PRO V Gamer Series caters to their specific needs at a much lower price point,” says the president of TRU, Mitch Norton.

Designed specifically for the gaming console, the cables transfer “all the hi-definition audio and video from your video game to your HDTV in lossless uncompressed digital formats.” Now, what does this mean to you, the gamer unfamiliar with such tech lingo? After all, not all of us are Brian James Kirk. Simply this. The cables aim to maximize your system’s audio and video performance on your HD enabled television.

Now, the cables come in two types, the Pro V Gamer 100 & 200, priced out at $20 and $30 respectively. This is an awesome deal, when you consider the obscene prices of HDMI cables at stores like Best Buy or Radio Shack. Most times, you’ll end up spending over $100 on a cable that’s certainly not worth the price. Seriously. Look.

Anyhow, I’m giving away my second cable. There is a short review of the first cable after the jump. How can you enter? Like all other Geekadelphia contests, just leave a comment. I’ll choose one of you at random using a random number generator. Simple as that. Special thanks to VOLO for sending me this outstanding product. Good luck, readers!

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I can’t help but sigh every time I think of the Golden Age of PC Adventure Gaming. There’s isn’t a Wikipedia page or an encyclopedia entry anywhere that describes this era, but if there was, LucasArts would take up a huge hunk of text. The Dig, LOOM, Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle… the list goes on. These games were a huge part of my life growing up, and created some of the most iconic characters in the history of adventure gaming. And while point and click adventures have long since gone by the wayside (Broken Sword and the Telltale Games’ ventures excluded, of course), I still yearn for these simple days of simple gaming, brilliant writing, and mind boggling puzzles.

So when The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition released onto Xbox Live, you best believe I downloaded it faster than you could shout “look out, a three headed monkey!”

While I’m sure there are a wealth of fanboys out there who shouted foul at the idea of a revamped classic, the team at LucasArts certainly knew what they were doing. Rather than remake the original with ugly 3D sprites or a different story, they catered to the fans, using hand drawn art, the principle voice artists from the Curse of Monkey Island, and even kept the old school version of the game as a special feature. Spoiler alert, switching between the two versions gives you some achievement points. Do it.

With updated graphics and widescreen presentation, does this touched up remake live up to the legendary status of the old classic?

An extremely biased review, after the jump!

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Director Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza has finally released his long awaitied documentary Second Skin, which depicts the lives (virtual and real) of several World of Warcraft and Everquest players. Luckily, this relatively new director has decided to release the film both in select theaters and online through services like Hulu this past Friday. God, we love the internet.

As you may know, Tim and I do spend a good amount of our free time in the World of Warcraft along with the other 12 million players across the globe. Being an avid MMO player (and a fan of nerdy documentaries), I’m interested in what you, constant readers, think about online worlds.

So, do us a solid and take the time to watch Second Skin. While the film is well edited and does a great job exposing the minds of MMO players, it also includes some pretty impressive machinima. After watching this lovely documentary, let us know what you think. If you play an MMO already, how does it make you feel about your gaming habits? If not, does Escoriaza’s work attract you to online worlds or freak you out push you away? Shout out in the comments section!

(Via Big Download)

Joey Mariano aka Animal Style

Joey Mariano, one of my favorite chiptune artists in the city of Philadelphia, just launched his new website. Joey, who creates music under the name Animal Style, published the new site last week, and to celebrate, has made the song Please Let That Be You available for download.

Please Let That Be You is an “outtake” from the upcoming 8bit Weezer Tribute album (omg). It’s a reworking of an early, Sharp written, Weezer demo titled “Mrs. Young”, which was considered for the B-Side slot on an early single.

Go check out his official website to learn more about him and to download the song. He’s also got a string of shows coming up, including a performance at this year’s VGXPO, which we will be sure to check out.

Animal Style
www.animal-style.com

The Goonies is an 80s legend hands down, and one of the greatest movies of that time period in my book. It was a story about a group geeks who not only left the house(which would be unheard of nowadays) but go on an adventure in the search for pirate treasure. How much cooler can you get than that? Well maybe if they snuck in some ninjas or zombies…… it’s a thought. It was a movie that made geeks cool before being a geek was the hip thing to be and basically just got your chocolate milk stolen at lunch. It also has Corey Feldman what more could you ask for?

The Philadelphia Film Society as part of their Midnight Movie Madness will be showing The Goonies for one night only on 35mm on Saturday the 15th at 11:59 pm at the Ritz at the Bourse. Tickets for the showing are $9, and are available on the Landmark Theatres Website.

It’s the end of the work week. You’ve been waiting for it since Monday. Geekadelphia is here to help you pass the time with Flash Game Friday, with a new game featured at the end of every week. So turn the sound off, have your Alt+Tab combination ready for when the boss walks by, and have a safe weekend.

I loved, LOVED the first Totem Destroyer. Incredibly addicting, physics based gameplay. And now, there’s a sequel. Give it a try. Totem Destroyer II is essentially the same thing, just with prettier graphics and more blocks.

Have a favorite flash game you’d like to share with us for Flash Game Friday? Send us an email or a Twitter, and hook it up!

Totem Destroyer II via Neatorama

Our boys over at Technically Philly write seriously good pieces. We’re talking quality journalism. We think they deserve more traffic, so we’ll be highlighting their articles at the end of the week. The Internet. It’s about sharing and caring, people.

Man Detained in Iran is Likely Son of Phoenixville Electronics Magazine Publisher – Chris Wink touches on the story of the three detained backpackers, and how one of them is likely the son of Jacob Fattal, the publisher and president of U.S. Tech Interactive, a Phoenixville-based electronics industry magazine. Here’s hoping everyone gets home safe and sound.

Sestak to Run for Senate, Paves Way for Welch – Sean Blanda discusses Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) and his plans to run against incumbent Sen. Arlen Spector (D-Penn.) in the Democratic primary for Senate. I don’t know anything about politics, but Sean sure does. Read up.

CoTweet: San Francisco Scene Has “Distinct” Advantage Over Philadelphia – We disagree, but hey, whatever. Your loss CoTweet.

Avencia, City Dept of Records Launch LandStat Real Estate Data Site – This is neat!

The Birth of Philly’s Video Game Scene – Originally published in the City Paper, this is an awesome story. I met these dudes at a Bloblive event, and they are up to some fantastic things.

Technically Philly
www.technicallyphilly.com

My favorite geek: Samir Naga…naga…naganna work here anymore

For Global Geek Week, John Freeborn and I made this silly little video, showing off 52 of our favorite geeks. Yes, we spelled Grover wrong. Yes, I need to shave. But we had a good time, and it’s all for a good cause.

Read up on Global Geek Week on their official website.

Global Geek Week
www.globalgeekweek.com

When I choose to review the 10 issue english translation of the French comic series The Killer 2 scenarios came to mind with a comic of that name, and if your not a fan of Hong Kong action cinema let me fill you in. Simply put The Killer by John Woo starring Chow Yun-Fat is one of the greatest assassin movies ever made – period. It defined a genre and its double-fisted gunplay is something that has become a staple of action movies and been reproduced so many times it has been placed to rest next to witty one liners in the graveyard of overused action movie clichés. It was one of those movies that made the entire world pay attention to something other than Hollywood, which is a feat in and within itself. I still remember picking up my um-teenth generation copy from Quakerhead on South Street, way before the eventual Criterion release on DVD. With that in mind calling your comic book The Killer and having it be about a professional assassin sets the bar pretty darn high. Which brings me to my scenarios either this series was going to have to seriously bring it or it was going to fail miserably trying.

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The Shack?!? Noooooooo! (Image via Engadget)

What’s this? Just a collection of tasty morsels from the past week, posts that fellow geeks will be interested in. Have some link tips for the next round up? Shoot us an email!

How To Make The Pew Pew Pew! Sound – You know, I always wondered how they made the blaster sounds in the Star Wars movies. Perhaps this was how. Perhaps not. Though I do enjoy the mental picture of George Lucas with a bunch of sound technicians, playing with Slinkies. Don’t you?

USB Jellyfish Aquarium – You’ll still have to hop the bus over to the Camden Waterfront to see real jellyfish, but this is still pretty awesome. Makes a lovely desk accessory, no?

Radio Shack Rebrands Themselves as “The Shack” – Tim’s head is heard exploding from across the country. I am not looking forward to seeing the Radio Shack over on 17th and Chestnut re-branded like this. Such a stupid move.

Backpack Vacuum Cleaner – Hilarious and debilitating towards women. In related news, I immediately purchased this for Bianca.

Wet Trailer – Amazing. AMAZING. Why is this game not in my hands now? The viral trailer shows no actual gameplay of any kind, yet I want. Most successful game ad ever. Thanks for this tip, Ben.

Macbook Pro Cake – Nom nom nom. Delicious.

Crunchgear Pwn PR Gal – Hilarious. I love you guys.

Mass Effect 2 Cover Art – Can’t wait for this game. I wanna see the special edition already. The special edition for the first Mass Effect was beautifully packaged with lots of excellent features. Here’s hoping they follow up with an equally awesome second one.

Gears of War My Little Ponies – Cute and deadly.

One of my geeky passions other than collecting comics and horror movies is sneakers. Sneaker Pimps is the worlds largest touring sneaker hip-hop lifestyle exhibition featuring over 1500 pairs of rare, limited edition, vintage, celebrity signed, artists collaborated sneakers and a collection of sneaker inspired artwork, fashion and photography. The tour also features live street art installations, live skateboarding demonstrations, street basketball competitions and live hip-hop and rock performances by some of the world’s foremost recording artists. You can also buy, sell and trade sneakers at the event as well.

The Sneaker Pimps World Tour will be in Philadelphia Saturday August 8th at 8pm  at The Starlight Ballroom the event is all ages and sounds like they have an awesome lineup with The Clipse, J.Cole and They Live. tickets are $18.