Toys for Kids & Adults

New Site Design!!!

And all you thought we did was play video games. Geez. No respect.

Yes, we've been busy lately redesigning the site to make it easier to use. Some new features that you may enjoy:

• Redesigned drop down menu at the top is simplified and makes it easier to navigate the site.
• Alphabetical links at the top of every page to quickly jump to the walkthrough you're looking for.
• Search feature in the top right corner of every page.
• Left side column has quick icon links to get you where you need to go quickly and farther down, contains more navigation links.
• Center column, which contains the site's content, is easier to read.
• Right column is wider and easier to look at. Includes an easy way to sign up for the LunaPass and our newsletter.

We're continuing to tweak with everything and have a good amount of work left to go, so if you see anything funky, justlet us know.

Oh, and we'll be working on theLunaPassandLunabeanGuides.comas well.

Enjoy the new site!

'NCAA Football' and college royalties

Hometown paper,The Oregonian, today has an article titled,A Piece of the Pixels, which explains that Division I college programs earn anywhere from 10% to 25% of their royalty revenue via Electronic Arts'NCAA Football.

In the case of top ranked teams, such as Florida and Ohio State, we're talking about $150,000 pumped into the programs. Local teams Oregon and Oregon State pull in $95,300 and $60,000 respectively.

What's most interesting is not the money, but that the colleges don't have to do anything for it…well, other than continue winning. Still, EA is advertising and branding these colleges not for free, but actually paying them to do so.

Is it a win-win or another case of amateur athletes being exploited?

Read the article

NYT: In console war, Wii gains allies
TheNew York Timesis today reporting that Nintendo has gained crucial allies in the console war: game developers and publishers.

Despite Sony's best effort to convince the public that first year sales of a console don't really matter, it seems developers and publishers want to make and sell games for consoles that have sold well in that first year. What's more, these developers and publishers are preferring the inexpensive nature of making games for the Wii, as opposed to the PS3, which often costs twice as much. (Of course, if the PS3 was flying off the shelves, that wouldn't be a problem).

While none of this comes as a surprise to those who have been closely following the video game industry this year, the fact it is being reported in the mainstream media, provides another nail in the PS3 coffin, and another boost for the Wii.

The masses want to buy the console with the best games. TheNew York Timesis telling people that it's looking like the Wii will have the best games. And, while I still believe Nintendo President Satoru Iwata's comment that theWii could top the PS2 in number of consoles soldwas bold (and even arrogant), articles like this make it more of a possibility.

Read theNYTarticle

'Bully: Scholarship Edition' announced

Rockstar Games yesterday announced thatBully, the prep school-based sandbox game, will be coming to the Wii and Xbox 360 this winter.

Bullywas definitely one of my favorite games of the past few years, perfectly capturing the prep school atmosphere, from cliques to the seasons. Ahh, autumn at Bullworth Academy.

We wrote a comprehensiveBullyWalkthroughlast year, and judging from the press release, there won't be a ton of new stuff in the new games.

If you missed this game, I highly recommend it.

Sony gives gamers the middle finger…again

Sony's recent announcement of a$100 price cut on the PS3was met with a sigh of relief across gaming-dom.

Finally, we all thought, Sony has done something right. Granted, a 60GB and an 80GB PS3 was potentially confusing to the average consumer, but hey, you could get a PS3 for $499, so who was going to complain.

Now, Sony has come out and said that they willno longer make the 60GB PS3and that the $100 off price will only be valid as long as stock remains. At that point, the only PS3 available will be the 80GB for the too-expensive previous price of $599.

This move effectively gives gamers a double middle finger. First, all of those gamers who purchased the 60GB PS3 for $599 now have a lesser model. Ouch. That hurts.

Second, Sony's "price cut" is really nothing of the sort. It is simply a sale to get rid of the stock of the lesser PS3. It's a dirty, disingenuous trick.

Sony continues to rub consumers the wrong way and this latest move is just one more example.