So normally the kind of stuff I choose to share with you is interesting pictures or videos or some of my reviews or columns and the like, but today, the focus is on straight up information, which highlights what’s wrong with network TV these days.

I know there are a lot of Community fans out there, myself included as you guys encouraged me to get into the show. Unquestionably one of the best episodes of the series so far was “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” where the gang tried to help out a depressed classmate by organizing a game of D&D. Pierce promptly took over the game as the lead villain, and even though it was just eight people sitting around a table, it was one of the best comedy episodes (with a pretty heavy dramatic punch) that I’ve ever seen.

But as it turns out, NBC never wanted this episode to air. They were vehemently opposed to the entire concept of a D&D episode because they thought it wouldn’t appeal to the demos they were trying to target.

The Onion AV Club has an ongoing interview series with creator Dan Harmon where he talks about every episode in the season, and reading what he has to say about Advanced Dungeons and Dragons makes me weep for the state of network television, and it quite literally made him cry as well.

I’ve pulled some highlights below you should definitely read:

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Alright folks, it’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. If you haven’t tuned into E3 yet, you haven’t missed a whole lot as Microsoft and Sony didn’t have too terribly much to debut. Read my thoughts about those two shows here.  Rather the best parts of the show have been game demos like the one for Elder Scroll: Skyrim. Autonomous randomized dragon encounters. AMAZING.

Anyway, it’s time to actually make some news. Nintendo is set to debut their newest console at their presentation today. A few details about it have been leaked, including the fact that it’s supposed to be more powerful than the PS3, and its controllers have touchscreens. Other than that though, I’m not quite sure what to expect out of “Project Cafe,” and one of the aspects I’m most curious about is the name itself. What the hell are the going to call this thing?

This is a big moment for the industry, as it’s the first real step into the long-awaited next console generation. What wonders (or horrors) wait ahead? I guess we’re about to find out. Liveblog starts below, and you can refresh the page for updates. Watch on G4 or streaming on IGN.

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Why yes, it is 8PM and I’m still writing things. I just love you guys that much.

But seriously, it’s E3, and I’ve been liveblogging these press conferences for something like five years now. Seriously, check it out back on the original Unreality from way back when.

If you caught my Microsoft press conference post earlier today, you could tell that I was none too please with the company whose console I actually own. I usually have given them fairly rave reviews for past E3s, but between an hour of Kinect content jammed down our throats and the “surprise” of Halo 4 having been leaked hours earlier, there wasn’t much to get excited about.

Microsoft’s conference was an exercise in laziness, though it’s hard to blame them. Consoles are selling, Kinect is selling and they don’t have to do much but sit back and see what Nintendo does next. Sony has self-destructed recently because of the PSN fiasco, and so their only aim is going to be to get people talking about something else besides that.

Will they issue another apology, or dodge the issue entirely? Will the debut some sort of new security set-up? They probably should, although hackers would just start taking notes and have it cracked by tomorrow no doubt.

I can’t imagine that Sony will rely as much on Move as Microsoft did on Kinect. It hasn’t sold nearly as well, and with even Nintendo apparently moving on past controller based motion control, they’re going to seem real antiquated if they push Move too hard. Rather, hopefully we’ll hear some new titles announced that will get people excited, and hopefully some cool hardware upgrades or even a possible hint at a new console? One can dream.

Liveblog starts below. Refresh the page for updates cause we’re not high tech here. Watch the event on G4 or streaming on IGN.

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Perhaps someday I’ll actually get to go to E3 myself, but for now I’m at home watching from afar. That, however, means I get to liveblog the entire thing effectively and don’t have to do it on my iPhone via Twitter hashtags, and actually have the ability to comment on what’s going on.

First up is Microsoft, who I recently wrote is so comfortable with their inexplicably surging Xbox sales that it’s almost a guarantee they won’t debut or even mention a new console here this year. I actually expect the LEAST out of Microsoft, as they have less to prove than Sony and Nintendo at the present time. That being said, I hope they do have a few announcements that will actually get me excited. I don’t really need another year of Gears of War 3 gameplay footage, nor a Halo HD remake. I’m sure they’re going to try and push some Kinect titles, including a Star Wars game, but from what I’ve seen in previews, it looks rather terrible.

Will they shock us with a big announcement to preemptively upstage their competitors? I doubt anything will top Nintendo’s Cafe reveal, and I think Microsoft will probably just play it safe this year. But let’s find out, live blog starts below. Refresh the page to see minute by minute updates, and watch the event yourself on SpikeTV or streaming on IGN.

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It may be a uniquely American thing to celebrate the murder of someone as more or less a national holiday, but in the case of Osama Bin Laden, I think that’s more than justified.

Yeah, it’s outside of our usual scope here, but it’s a big day in our country, and I thought it was prudent to at least mention it.

I found out about it this morning on Twitter of all places with Edgar Wright’s tweet that said “Now that @TheRock has taken out Bin Laden, I hope he can double his efforts in catching Dominic Toretto.” Hah.

I did some Googling, and sure enough, it’s true. I figured he had died years ago of kidney failure, and had his followers burn him so he would forever remain a ghost. That probably would have been a better plan than hiding and getting killed by a Black Ops team for the whole world to see. It really is an incredible story where Navy Seals raided a high security fortress to kill Bin Laden inside Pakistan, and you can read more about the details here.

America has had it pretty rough lately, so it’s definitely nice to have a win for once.

So, when’s the movie coming out?

In what was an unprecedented move this morning, Sega decided to pull the plug on one of its most beloved characters.   As many of you know, Sonic is a character created in the early 90s and earned quick success on Sega’s Genesis system.

Over the last 20 years there have been nearly too many legacies and milestones to list off in a small article like this.  But amongst Sonic’s achievements a couple of notable ones have been being the first video game character to be a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a “Walk of Game” induction in 2005, a 2004 award for being the “ultimate gaming hero” and being voted the 10th best video game character of all time in Guinness.

Fans were outraged by the announcement and pledged to never play a Sega game again.   Why the little furry guy was axed is still a mystery but in case you guys haven’t noticed it’s April 1st so we had to do something on April Fools.

Yay!

Elizabeth Taylor was one of the most revered actresses in history, and sadly she passed away at 79 today. She had been hospitalized for a while, and succumbed to congestive heart failure about two hours ago.

RIP Elizabeth. Here’s a video of one of her finest moments, accepting her Oscar in 1961 for Butterfield 8. Check it out below:

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It’s not normally like us to jump on the bandwagon and make fun of celebrities who are on the front pages every single day for a week straight.  However, this entire Charlie Sheen is one of those once in a lifetime things that the press is really stretching to its outer limits.

And rather than blast the guy any further I thought we could focus on some of the lighter things in the life of Sheen.   Let us reflect on some quotes he’s made over the years.

Here are ten you’ll surely enjoy

*And don’t forget to check out the video at the end of this.  It’s amazing….. Continue Reading »

I was recently directed toward this site, FatUglyorSlutty.com. It may sound like the world’s worst HotorNot clone, but rather it’s more of a social experiment.

It was started by a few female gamers tired of the heaping piles of misogynist shit they heard or had sent to them day in and day out over Xbox Live, which is notoriously full of assholes and immature creeps. But while I’ve become immune to being called a “faggot” at this point, I didn’t realize just how bad things were for girls on these sites.

I can’t even reprint most of the stuff that’s said here, and since its inception, the site has grown past XBL to other game centers as well, though the Microsoft service does remain the top contender.

The best part of this is that these idiot’s gamertags are presented front and center for the world to see, so any internet white knights out there can go and counter harass them if they see fit.

I fully believe that other people are the primary reason multiplayer gaming sucks so much these days, so maybe if a site like this gets really popular, people will curb their language, especially toward women, for fear of being publicly crucified.  Although in counterpoint, since Gamertags are still anonymous to the public, some may start saying vile stuff to see if they can MAKE it on the site.

I think moderators need to browse this site and starting handing down bans to these assholes. THAT’S the only way to get through to them I imagine.

Sony has just announced their newest handheld system because they apparently didn’t want to wait for E3 when the 3DS was already riding a huge wave of buzz. They’ve released a lot of info about the device, and the highlights include that it has an OLED screen, touch controls, 3G and dual analog controls. That last bit is perhaps the most exciting part.

The downside is that the thing is huge, even bigger than the old PSP, and there’s no cool glasses-free 3D tech like what’s found in the 3DS.

For full details on the new system, head over to Kotaku here. It’s cool, but is it really pushing the envelope enough to compete with the DS and 3DS? I’m not so sure.