I've said it before and I'll say it again: Gamers are the most creative people on the planet. And in order to prove my point, we needn't look any further than Theater of the Arcade.

Theater of the Arcade is an Off-Off Broadway play which was being shown at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (okay, way-off Broadway) between July 13-25 during their Gameplay Festival. The play is broken up into five segments, each one being a stand-alone adaptation of a classic videogame.  As the show's run has since come to an end, I won't be skipping out any details just to avoid spoilers.  So sit back, relax, and read on for all the theater/gaming goodness.

The show begins with a lone figure under the spotlight.  His face overcome by sadness, he begins to discuss his limited movements of forward, backward, and sideways as he tries to make it to the green on the other side of the path before him.  Complete with videogame sound effects and an inspiring performance by Robert Pinnock, this Frogger adaptation was a remarkable way to set the tone for the show as its serious and often silly portrayal of a tortured character desperately trying to make it from one side of the road to another reminds us all of the genius that is Frogger's simplicity.

The next segment of the show is set in a dingy, broken down apartment in an Italian neighborhood.  A young woman dressed in ragged clothing hobbles across the stage and throws a quarter to an organ grinder and his monkey who is playing just outside of her window. It isn't long before her brutish husband comes home and reveals that he has been fired from his job at the barrel-making factory. It is at the exact moment when the couple is paid a visit by their superintendent, an Italian fellow a distinct accent who says he is there to fix a leaky pipe.  The husband flies into a fit of rage and grabs a wooden barrel he had been using as a makeshift nightstand and flings it out the door directly at their superintendent.  The woman then stares at her husband until the chaos subsides.  She tells him that he is her one true vestige of happiness in this crummy world they inhabit but would surely leave him if he ever again behaves the way he did.  The scene ends with the husband bringing his fists to his chest and falling, apologizing to his wife.  This adaptation of the arcade classic Donkey Kong was a startling portrayal of a low-income family just barely being able to survive.  The jabs and references of the arcade game were perfectly timed and never felt forced.  Shelley Ray and Kent Meister gave emotional performances that almost brought tears to my eyes.

Pac-Man was next on the videogame adaptation list and it was perhaps the most entertaining of the bunch. Set in Germany,  we open with a rotund business man feasting on a plate of giant sized fruits. As he continues to stuff his face, his assistant sees to his employees who have come to visit: a factory worker, a farmer, and even his sultry girlfriend.  The German tyrant swiftly relieves them of their duties, citing budget cuts for his greedy reasoning and unsurprisingly dumps his girlfriend for he has found someone younger and more attractive to entertain him.  After he has finished with them, he finally fires his assistant, blaming his interest in poetry as the reason.  The four eventually meet up on the street and device a logical plan of revenge: to dress up as ghosts and scare the crap out their former boss.  They lure him outside (wth a trail of fruit no less) and tell him how his actions has led to their inevitable demise.  But just as the their employer begins to see the error of his ways, the sun rises and the gang's plot is exposed for the farce it is.  The police shortly arrive to carry the four off to jail but not before they proclaim no matter how often they are locked up, they will always come back faster and stronger than before.  Stephen Heskett, Josh Mertz, Robert Pinnock, Hope Cartelli and the exceptional Fred Baukus (loved the German accent), all gave wonderful performances for this piece.

The next scene opens on a space station on Mars. Two pilots have been called in by their superior and are being informed that one of them is losing their job.  Given that the subject matter is the arcade title Asteroids, the story here relies a lot more on the pilots' personalities – how their 12 long years of employment have left them sexless and emotionally distraught. One the one hand you have Bill, a foul-mouthed straight shooter who isn't afraid to tell his superior off.  And on the other hand you have Murphy, a timid yet devoted pilot who is beginning to break down due to his years of service.  A one-on-one interview then takes place between the pilots and an evaluator (who happens to be a woman), where the two pilots describe their work and the hardships they face on a daily basis.  The writing here is exceptionally done as the cast is able to drop enough hints at the pilots' line of work without openly stating they are blowing up asteroids for living.  After a lot of profanity expertly delivered by the hilarious Fred Backus, the scene ends with Murphy losing his job and Bill insisting to his superior that he tell him that he is a champion.  Of all the adapted games, this was the only one I had I trouble identifying.  I had known by the actors' silver pilot wings pinned to their shirts that the game was either Space Invaders, Galaga or Asteroids.  But when the evaluator, played by the beautiful and talented Hope Cartelli, jokes about their performance and asks if they 'do more than just spin around in circles' when they are out on a job, I knew exactly which arcade game was being portrayed. Well done!

The final segment of the performance opens in the great outdoors with a pair of brothers who need no introduction. Estranged for roughly six years, brothers Marv and Lou have reunited to discuss Lou's recent divorce with his wife.  As their conversation becomes serious, Marv suggests that the two trip out on some mushrooms to lift their spirits.  After sharing a silly tale of a giant tortoise Marv once saw while under the influence, it isn't long before the mushrooms' effects kick in and dark truths are brought to the surface.  Lou sees a vision of his wife who says that she is in trouble. She also tells him that Marv and her were lovers before she was married but decided to keep it from Lou to spare his feelings.  When the vision disappears, Lou confronts Marv who admits that Lou's wife is the only woman he ever loved. After trading punches, the two share a vision of their deceased father who tells them to settle their differences and work together.  Marv and Lou make a promise to save the woman they love and to settle everything else once they know she is safe.  They rush out into the darkness and the scene ends.  Given the obvious adaptation, the writing was a lot more generous with the video game references (Marv's recount of chasing a shooting star in the distance which he says 'was unable to catch because it kept bouncing around' was a real treat). I especially adored Stephen Heskett's portrayal of Luigi as his speeches about spending his life in his brother's shadow were truly revealing.  He also makes some pretty wicked fireball sound effects.

One would think that adapting five classic arcade games as a play would be a bit of a challenge, but playwright Jeff Lewonczyk and his talented ensemble have managed to prove otherwise.  It was a delightful, entertaining, and thought provoking journey into the memories and themes of our most beloved and cherished arcade game characters.

For more information on the cast and crew be sure to check out the team's homepage.

Post contributed by Andreas Asimakis. Questions for the author? Send an email to andreas@gamesabyss.com. Follow him on Twitter: @pantsguy.

Come on, TIME magazine! This is outrageous!

The Virtual Boy is not one of the 50 worst inventions ever. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's ill-fated 3D handheld is not exactly a humdinger of a creation, but is it really as bad as spam e-mail, Hair in a Can, and fake ponytails? TIME magazine says it is, but I would have to disagree. Fake ponytails, for crying out loud?

OK, it might be in the top 100… but surely there are 50 inventions worse than it.

I'll admit, I'm a little biased because I actually a proud owner of a Virtual Boy. That's right; I'm British and I have a Virtual Boy, even though the goggles-on-legs never made the journey across the pond - and I didn't get it off eBay either. I got mine in early 1996, around the time they got discontinued.

A 14-year-old yours truly went on a school ski trip to Boston, MA. One day we went to the mall, all touristy-like, and there I first saw the Virtual Boy. It was on sale, and by on sale I mean slashed from $200 to $25. Not that many people were taking up the offer, given how the store front was filled with the blighters, but I figured at that price it was more than worth a pop. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money on me, and the store closed before I could borrow any from friends. I thought my chance to get Nintendo's exciting new console at a bargain price had gone.

It was not over yet. I hatched a plan. I would leave the resort where the 80 of us school children were staying, grab a bus and ride the half hour trip into town, buy a Virtual Boy just before closing time, and then head back to the resort with nobody the wiser. It was a masterful plan. Where was the danger in an unsupervised child roaming an familiar city in a foreign country at night?

So what happened? Well, I got no further than the bus stop. What instead ensued was me getting my head bitten off in a massacre of verbal abuse courtesy of the teacher in charge of the trip – in front of all my classmates. That was fun. Of course, in the end we ended up making an unplanned second stop at the mall and I managed to pick up a Virtua Boy anyway. Stupid.

While I may well be biased because of how much effort I put into getting my Virtual Boy, I still think the handheld is not quite as bad as time and its failure has painted it out to be. Sure, only one game on it was any good (Virtual Boy Wario Land), but it really was good. Really. Some of the other games were not totally awful, too. Nester's Funky Bowling was bags of entertainment for up to seven minutes at least. And yes, maybe it wasn't exactly designed with comfort in mind, but I found that if I played it while lying on my tummy, it only caused severe neck cramp after a whole hour. And, truthfully, it didn't ever give me a headache. Then again, I now find that any kind of 3D film makes me want to instantly throw up… there's only a 35% chance that's the Virtual Boy's fault…

Alright TIME. You win. Chuck it in Room 101 with the ponytails.

After all the comparisons made of Blur to Mario Kart, including by yours truly, it's great to see its developer Bizarre Creations try to separate itself from Nintendo's happy-go-lucky racing series with a rather unsubtle but very funny parody in this advert.

It's rare to see game companies take digs at each other in commercials these days. Even when it comes to the heated rivalry between the Xbox 360 and PS3, the most we ever hear from Microsoft and Sony is a vague claim to superiority and very disguised digs at each other. That's now how it used to be in the 90s. Remember "Nintendon't" and "Blast Processing"?

Of course, it was pretty much a one-sided attack, and by attack I mean all-out offensive. Not that it did Sega a lot of good in the long run. Still, that stuff makes Blur's put-down look weak in comparison. Come on Bizarre, grow a pair. I wanted to see a fat Italian dude with a questionable moustache take one in the proverbials.

So, apart from the Sega vs Nintendo commercials, what else is there in the ways of cheeky digs in gaming adverts? I've been trawling my memory banks, but I'm coming up blank, really. Although, there are the times that the games industry takes a harsh jab from external sources, like in this Coca Cola ad:

I've gotta admit, I do want to play that game. Of course, when it comes to unsubtle cheek in the world of technology, you can't beat the PC vs. Mac ads from Apple. I wonder if you Americans realize that there are international versions of those commercials. Check out this British one starring comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb.

Although, I do prefer G4TV's take on all of it. Come on Sony, take your revenge! [NSFW!]

On the basis of that last ad, Blur, I'm more interested in Mario Kart Wii…

Dear President Obama,

It's come to my attention through reports of a speech you gave to college graduates yesterday that you, the most powerful man in the world and recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, do not know how to use a PlayStation or Xbox console.

While it shocks me that a man of such intelligence has no clue how to use devices that are essentially the equivalents for video games of a DVD player for movies or a cassette player for video tapes, especially given that you seem to have no problem using the Nintendo Wii, I thought it would be prudent to put that to one side and explain to you the basics of using at least one of these consoles.

So, for an Xbox 360 you'll want to connect it up to your TV and to your power supply. It's a bit like a DVD player which funnily enough the 360 can be. But that might be too advanced for now.

Let's stick to putting a game disc in the drive. You can buy one of these from a game store, or even from a Best Buy or a Target. A rather popular one right now is Modern Warfare 2, but that might hit too close to home. I would stick to the fun of Viva Piñata – there’s very little politics in that game.

Now, before you put the disc in the drive, you'll need to turn on the 360. Luckily, there's a large and easy-to-see power icon right on the front. No need to call in for reinforcements on that one.

Once the machine is on – you can tell because the power icon glows a happy green – please put the disc in the drive. Then, using the controller – think of it like a remote control – you can choose to play the game. To navigate through the user interface simply use the d-pad. It's a cohesive version of your remote control's bulkier up, down, left, and right buttons. Then press the button indicated on screen to start the game, and you're good to go. Now the fun can begin! But don't play too long, lest you wish to abuse the power of technology in this terribly unproductive way.

Oh, and by the way, please don't think that the public at large doesn't see behind the agenda of your sneaky aside. Your attempt to marginalize everyday technology like the iPod and the Xbox 360 into the realm of unfathomable, demonic gizmo is see-through and more than condescending.

Thanks for listening.

Your loyal British minion,

Sinan Kubba

So, it’s Election Day in a tentatively sunny Britain. My polling station is a minute’s walk from me so at some point I’ll hopefully roll out of bed, down the street, and into the booth to make my vote.

But, as a red-blooded, blurry-eyed gamer, I’m not sure who to vote for. Sure, I’ve made up my mind about all the other fluffy policies, but what about what really matters? Which party is the right choice for the gaming-minded British voter?

Well, with the UK games industry slipping down the worldwide rankings, and as developers seek to move abroad for better opportunities, tax breaks is the big political sticking point as far as the games industry board TIGA is concerned. So where do the parties stand on that?

As of this week, the three major parties – Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – appear fully in support of tax breaks for the industry, despite the huge economic deficit the UK faces. I say as of this week because it was only five days ago when Liberal Democrats MP Don Foster confirmed that his party, if elected, “would implement the relief as soon as possible”.

Labour, the party currently in power, announced that there would be tax relief for the games industry in the 2010 budget, and have generally been very vocally supportive of the industry in the last year, particularly current Prime Minister Gordon Brown and industry backer and MP Tom Watson.

The Conservatives, however, claim that they were the vocal instigators of the relief’s implantation in this year’s budget, and have popular supporters of the industry in the likes of MP Ed Vaizey. They would also highlight that the downfall of the games industry in recent years has been under a Labour government.

Then again, each party has its blind spots too. Labour MP Keith Vaz has actively campaigned against the games industry over the last few years, at times making outrageous claims. According to Vaz in 2008, players can “rape women” in modern games – hmm. Meanwhile, Tory MP and Mayor of London Boris Johnson previously deemed video games to be “narcotics for children”, and that’s just one of his many bizarre soundbites on the medium over the years.

As for the Liberal Democrats, their manifesto fails to even make a single mention of video games and the gaming industry – hence the recent, eleventh-hour statement from Foster, no doubt.

So does any of that help make your mind? No? Well, maybe you should just follow the heart of your fellow man. Recently, 400,000 plus Xbox Live users submitted their votes for who they’d like to be the next PM, and the overwhelming winner was Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg with 30% of the votes, compared to 20% for the Conservatives and 17.6% for Labour.

And if you’re still undecided after that, you can just pair off the would-be leaders in Downing Street Fighter and see who wins. Curiously, the game features Conservatives leader David Cameron with Ken-like golden locks instead of his slick brown style. He looks quite good with them too.

So, in conclusion, David Cameron should dye his hair blond.

Hey! we're talking about the cartridge here, what were you thinking? This T-Shirt definitely takes you back to the days when your old NES cartridges just had a hard time working so what did we do? Blow on them and then pray that the pink screen would finally stop flashing. Now you can be reminded of those days by owning this Blow Me T-Shirt priced at $17.95. So yea, blow on this baby! Available at sharkrobot.com

Now, this GameBoy Tube dress looks fantastic, you know you want it even if you're guy, haha. Made of soft gray knit and black fabric, this GameBoy dress sells for $60. Something this stylish shouldn't be cheap anyway. So not only can you take your GameBoy with you, but you can now wear it. Just be sure to let the boys know to try not to push your buttons. Available at Etsy.

Via: CraziestGadgets

Via: CNN

Last year Italian cruise line Costa Cruises announced a deal with Sony to create video game-friendly cruise ship experiences and the upshot of that deal is the creation of on board "Playstation Worlds".

Costa's ships Costa Luminosa (which takes passengers to Northern Europe) and Costa Pacifica (which takes them to the Mediterranean) both have areas specially dedicated to the PS3.  Individual cabins also come equipped with PS3s and the latest PS3 titles.

In addition to easy access to PS3 games, after dark cruise guests can enjoy "Playstation Nights" on giant 18 meter screens installed on the lido decks which can be used year round, thanks to retractable glass roofs. Looks like cruises are finally for someone other than the crutch and cane set.

For more info, visit the Costa Cruise Line web site.