Editor's Corner 06.20.09: The Debut

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 06.20.2009

The first edition of this bi-monthly look into the happenings of 411 Games kicks off as editor Ramon Aranda pops up for a little water cooler talk, all things gaming.



Hello everyone this is your Games Zone editor here and I thought it was high time I started up my own column. Yeah, I've been doing Fact or Fiction over the last few months but that didn't necessarily require a whole lot of writing on my part unless I was participating in it that week. So just to give you guys an idea as to what the column is about – I'll generally be giving you readers some insight as to the going-ons of 411Games as well as dishing in my own two cents on the game industry along with some other tidbits going on from behind this desk. So that being said, welcome once again and let's get on with it!

Fact or Fiction Update

First off, since I mentioned Fact or Fiction in my intro, I wanted to give you guys a heads up that Mr. (if you really want to label him that) Drew Robbins will be taking over the column beginning next week. Due to other editorial duties including other columns in our Boxing zone, it would just be too many items on my plate so I've decided to surrender it to him. Besides, Robbins has been around the column scene a few times. Let's see if he can actually hang on to this one. Take care of it like a lady Drew, or I'll take care of you! J/K (Or am I?)

E3 Shenanigans

It's been over two weeks since a few of us from the staff were roaming around Los Angeles to bring you E3 coverage but it seemed like it's been longer. I must say this was probably the most fun I've had at an E3 and I'm sure the guys can attest to that as well. Whether it was eating, drinking or playing, there was plenty of fun to be had. Jacob Lopez for instance insisted that we eat In ‘N Out since he doesn't have any out in Texas. I have one a block away so to me it was no biggy but it turns out they enjoyed the hell out of it. I also had to take them to Troy's Burgers which is a personal favorite of mine and needless to say, they pigged out. There wasn't a ton of parties this year but being picked up in a limo by the Windows 7 team was pretty sweet. We rode in and hit the lounge which included plenty of food and drinks to boot. I think John De Large probably got ripped the most out of all of us but that was the point. So John, was that chick a chick or something else? (Inquiring minds still want to know, haha)

I ended up taking the guys out to Universal City Walk on the final night which wasn't too bad. I mean it was a Thursday so it wasn't packed or anything but we all got a good laugh out of this street performer who pulled off some funny break dancing moves while telling Mark Salmela that he better treat his momma good – lol. I told them all I'd take them out to Las Vegas next year just for kicks since it's only about a 3 hour drive so expect plenty of interesting stories out of that one when the show kicks off next June.

Did anyone take a picture of Sean Garmer rocking that blue Klonoa hat? Classic.

Starcraft II


"Slammin'!"

This past weekend I got a nice little email from Blizzard inviting me to test out the upcoming Starcraft II beta. Needless to say, I responded ASAP and am now anxiously waiting for it to arrive. I've been a huge Starcraft fan since the original game came out and have recently started to play through it again just to freshen up on the storyline, while the expansion pack waits some play time too. I'm wondering, do any of you still play? If so, we might have to rumble!

411 Game Nights

In what began as a little test session a few months ago, I thought up the idea of having the Games staff jump on a game each week just for bragging rights. We had a few COD4 nights but it's sort of swindled off. Looks like we're starting it back up again and what I'd like to do in the near future is have like a monthly challenge where you the readers can meet up with select 411 Games staff members to compete in a random game. Rod Oracheski has already tested out his video capture for our own game nights so this could be a fun little diversion and we hope to get it cranking soon enough. If you guys have any suggestions for games, feel free to drop me a line here so I can start creating a wish list for games. We're open to Xbox 360, PC, PS3 and Wii titles.

Other Random Quips

- With the Punch-Out!! review now in the rear view mirror by the time you read this, I'll be starting up with my review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, so stay tuned for that. I recently scored a Wii Motion Plus so I'm eager to give it a go.

- I mentioned this on my Twitter but I had – believe it or not – never gone through to play Portal. Yeah, I know, "how can the editor not have ever touched Portal?" "what a douche!!" Yeah, I get it. I had played with Orange Box, specifically Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2 but until a few days ago I dipped into Portal on the Xbox 360 and damn, is it ever good!

- I'm quite interested in Project Natal, but wouldn't it be kind of creepy if you woke up in the middle of the night to drink some water and Milo suddenly scared the crap out of you in the dark with "hey, what are you doing up so late?!" You know what would be creepier? If the Xbox 360 was unplugged…oh my!

- Another game I just recently got around to playing: Super Paper Mario (Wii)…great game! I'm also finally going to play Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. My fiancée has a PS3 so I'm going to take advantage of it. Anybody have any other hidden (or otherwise) gems that they'd like to recommend?

Well that'll do it for this week's Editor's Corner, so until next time - game on!