Hello Cute Geeks – Microsoft unofficially kicked off e3 with their “Project Natal” event aka Kinect. The event was amazing – screens, lights and incredible designs throughout the stage and performers. We all had to wear these poncho looking white tops, with crazy shoulder pads that lit up during the event.

The show exemplified the evolution of gaming-which was just using a controller and eventually not using a controller. The many examples shown really cleared up the confusion I walked in with and I left pretty excited about the future of gaming, especially after seeing the many ways all members of a family could use it.

Check out the video to hear more about it-the personnel were very strict about taking pictures but I managed to take one haha!

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The great people at Harmonix and MTV games recently sent me the Beatles Rockband game (instruments sold separately) to test out (THANKS GUYS!!) for my CES/Holidays round up of products to review.  When I first found out that they were sending me Beatles Rockband I was overjoyed and jumping around my condo like a kid in a candy store.  

 I played it twice at E3 but frankly I wanted to play all the songs and see how I would progress in the game as I became better. I kept wondering what cool things could I unlock with my mad Rockband skills.  I also recently hooked up my microphone stand next to my drums (Phil Colins style) so I could sing and play.  One would think I am taking Beatles Rockband to another level by doing this but actually I saw on the Beatles Rockband Stage at E3 and have been dying to get to a level where I could sing and play at the same time. 

This game is truly for all ages especially those who love the Beatles (which I do) and believe it can be a great bonding experience between grandparents, parents and kids. If your into Rockband like I obviously am it’s the perfect gift. I actually have visions of parents waiting till their kids are asleep to play the game themselves; like my parents did.

The introduction to the game was phenomenal and quite a visual trip! At first we did a couple rounds of the quick play as our typical Rockband band. The neat thing about this game is that you can harmonize with up to 3 singers, play 2 different guitars (bass and electric), and of course the drums. This gave this game a whole new aspect; more challenging and engaging more people to participate in the game all at once. See the screen shot below of what it would look like if you played the game.

We had some friends over fo my pal Mel’s birthday and we all had a chance to play Beatles Rockband as a real band (instead of the puny band of just my husband and I).  First we got all the girls together to see how well we could do and show the boys whats up! I have to admit Mel, Lauren, Colleen and I rocked it and all had a chance to try different instruments. Check us out!

We then let the boys join; I guess that is fair right? Everyone had a blast; I have to be honest Rockband can get old at parties but not the Beatles! One of my guy pals, Jeff, decided to really play the game instead of quick play and went through the “story” portion. What was neat about that portion is if you do well you win video clips and photo’s of the Beatles. That made me a tad fanatical and had to play all the chapters of the story which sadly meant I had completed the game. For those that make it to the end of the game there is a nice surprise that I will not spoil; just realize you have to go through all the ending credits (and there is allot)!

So gather up all your gift cards from the holidays and get Beatles Rockband. This by far is one of my favorite games currently and believe its definately a 5 star experience…if only I had the special drum set.  Stay tuned for a seperate post of all our youtubes of playing Beatles Rockband (be warned there is hours and hours of videos).

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Today Harmonix and MTV released Beatles Rockband; frankly its about time!  I tested out the Beatles Rockband game at E3 (see youtube here) and have been dying for it to be released. I had hoped for a copy before the release date but I am apparently not cool enough…yet (do I sound bitter?). 

A true Beatles fan I watched VH1′s classic channel tribute to the Beatles all Labor day; including all their movies and the George Harrison Concert that Eric Clapton arranged. Till this day I start my morning with “Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…”

So there is a pretty cool demo here but if you want to see us cutegeekers rockin’ it I suggest checking out this link!

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I finally got a PSP (our friend gave us one) and Rockband Unplugged for it courtesy of the friendly folks at Harmonix and MTV. After E3 playing Rockband Unplugged on PSP I realized it was a must have for me!  For several reasons, first I hate flying with a passion and I believe this is a great distraction for anyone like me or those who travel allot and are bored on a plane.

I am the type that needs to have a few glasses of wine and take 2 Dramamine just to get through security, board the plane and prepare for take off.  Once my husband put me on the smallest plane (2 propeller plane) known to man in a thunderstorm from Seattle to Utah…I was convinced he was trying to kill me by a plane crash (not to mention ironically my life insurance was up’d).  Something to be said when even the flight attendants were white as a ghost and no drink service. ”CRAP,” I thought…I don’t even get a glass of wine before I die!

 

Since I will be traveling more via plane to visit my gal pal moving to LA; I believe a PSP may distract me enough to where I don’t have to medicate myself to a zombie like state!  Or freak out the passenger next to me by saying “God please don’t let me die today!” (out loud!)

Second reason I think PSP is great not just for kids(of course its perfect for kids but my angle is towards adults) but also for any city people like myself that use public transportation…Especially if you have a long commute on the train! You can play Rockband Unplugged for an hour on PSP and not realize where the time went and you’re at your destination…SWEET! I will probably be the dork on the Muni dancing to my PSP while everyone thinks I am “oh one those wackos.” Plus it was so easy to figure out, Sony may hate me for saying this but I didn’t look at the owners manual, its pretty straight forward!

Third, I just love playing Rockband especially when we bust it out in parties!  So when I got the Rock Band Unplugged game in the mail I jumped up and down with joy!  I immediately started playing with it.  I created my band just like I did on my PS3, named my characters (my game name is “Ninja”), and started the tour.  Here is what was odd about the game;  the game automatically started with San Francisco (where I live now) and then I unlocked the Austin (I am from ATX).  I was miffed; how did this little contraption know this information…I have think this is a coincidence…O-O-O-R-R is it?

The game itself for me was a challenge at first b/c you have to flip inbetween each instrument and hit all the notes within phrase. Then you pop to the next instrument and hit every single note and so forth in order to get those magical little stars that up’s your score and fan base (because we all need fans). The game helps you figure out which instrument to go to next; I figured this out much later into my tour (unfortunately)!  Once you have hit every note in a certain number for phrases on each instrument you get a notification that says “BAND GROVE!” That’s when you know your starting to do well; unfortunately it distracts me each time and I miss a note!

So far (since I also have a life and can’t play 24/7) I have only unlocked Austin, Seattle, LA, Chicago, New York, Boston, Montreal, Street Promoters, a Merch girl, and 2 Deluxuliner Bus (because you need a second bus for your entourage! Hello I am a ROCK STAR on PS3).  Below is the list of songs I have so far on my PSP.

•  ABC, Jackson’s 5,
• Miss Murder, AFI
• Buddy Holly, Weezer
• More Then a Feeling, Boston
• Float On, Modest Mouse (my favorite)
• Alive, Pearl Jam
• I Was Wrong, Social Distortion
• Livin’ on a Prayer, Bon Jovi
• My Own Worst Enemy, Lit
• White Wedding, Billy Idol
• Message in a Bottle, The Police
• Today, Smashing Pumpkins.
• Our Truth, Lacuna Coil
• The Killing Jar, Siouxsie and the Banschees
• Carry On Wayword Son, Kansas
• Mr. Brightside, The Killers (another fav, saw them back stage at ACL)
• Drain You, Nirvana (Nirvana was my first CD ever!)
• Show Me the Way, Black Tide
• Where’d you go, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
•  Aqualung, Jethro Tull
• The Middle, Jimmy Eat World

I had to share this new toy with some of my greatest pals in San Francisco on the way to Fremont (which I believe is on another planet but its not…though sure does seem like it from the city!)  My BFF Mel and I also geeked out and played at our weekly girls lunch a couple minutes.  She really got into it and she isn’t a gamer like me at all! Then my two guy friends in the car tested it out; one got annoyed pretty quickly…guess it’s not his cup of tea (maybe he just was not good though a lovely person…gamer not so much!) and my other guy pal did decent.  Then my husband was the one that got all 100% on Buddy Holly (grrr!)…not when he was driving of course.

This is probably my favorite product I have received so far, I can’t stop playing it and loosing sleep trying to unlock cities!  If you don’t have it go get it, its going for about $39.99.

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Yippee skippy!  I cannot wait till September to get the Beatles Rockband!!!  Always been a huge fan even though I am an 80′s baby, my parents played music from the 50′s and on since I was a child!  Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is clearly one of my favorite Beatles albums (it helped my parents had the CD)! I recall I use to listen to that CD nightly in high school (unlike everyone else in HS listening to pop rock, no offense I am just an old schooler)!  Till this day I swear I sometimes I start my morning with…

“Woke up, fell out of bed, Dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and drank a cup, And looking up I noticed I was late. Found my coat and grabbed my hat. Made the bus in seconds flat.” (Beatles Song: A Day In The Life)…and yes I literally sing this with a lil’ dance! I should have a reality show since I am such a dork! I swear I have been meaning to do a youtube of this reenactment! BUT I am hoping one day this song will be available for Rockband!

 So yesterday I got a list of more songs for Beatles Rockband! 

Per the press release, see below…and I believe the list will grow…to see full press release go here!

“Following the world premiere of The Beatles: Rock Band at the Microsoft press briefing at the 2009 E3 Media & Business Summit last month, the newly announced 15 songs represent a cross-section of hits and favorites that span The Beatles’ storied career from Can’t Buy Me Love and Paperback Writer to With A Little Help From My Friends and Yellow Submarine, bringing the total number of announced songs to 25.”
 
The 15 new songs for The Beatles: Rock Band and the venues they are featured in are:
 
·         Twist And Shout / Cavern Club
·         Do You Want To Know A Secret / Cavern Club
·         Can’t Buy Me Love / Ed Sullivan Theater
·         I Wanna Be Your Man / Ed Sullivan Theater
·         Eight Days A Week / Shea Stadium
·         Paperback Writer / Budokan
·         And Your Bird Can Sing / Budokan
·         Yellow Submarine / Abbey Road Dreamscape
·         Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band* / Abbey Road Dreamscape
·         With a Little Help from My Friends* / Abbey Road Dreamscape
·         Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows / Abbey Road Dreamscape
·         Revolution / Abbey Road Dreamscape
·         Birthday / Abbey Road Dreamscape
·         Dig A Pony / Rooftop Concert
·         I’ve Got A Feeling / Rooftop Concert
 
Additional on-disc songs will be announced at a later date.  Stay tuned kids; I think this can only get better!!!!

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While at E3 I had the chance to play with a PSPat the MTV booth.  It was really cool b/c they set up pods for each person to play the game; no one told me that this was so no one else can hear you playing the game.  So my geeky self goes to one of the pods hell bent on playing Rockband on PSP(I think I have an unhealthy addiction to Rockband, but that’s another topic).  I put on Modest Mouse b/c on drumming its easier then say QOTSA or Foo Fighters plus I never played a PSP before…Before you know “Float on” comes on and I start dancing along with the PSP in hand enjoying myself and having a good old time, so I started dancing along even more! 

This is when Michael from Hardwaregeeks.com comes to me in the booth, “Uh Nina,” he says.  Annoyed I say “yeah?” (hello I was in the middle of float on and throwing down some mad dance moves) “You do realize that no one else can hear you.”  First off thanks Michael for making me look like a dork for at least 2 minutes BEFORE telling me this.  I have to wonder if he was recording it with his camera or just standing there laughing at me. Michael if you have this on video post it dude! 

SO my face turned all shades of red from embarrassment and then I thought well I already made a huge dork of myself, mine as well keep dancing! After trying this PSP for the first time I realized I needed a PSP and ASAP!

So today I open my cutegeek inbox to this press release below.  I got EXCITED and sang excited (again sing with me world!)

Optical technology developer sets sights on Q4 launch of V-Screen for PSP.

My initial thought was man it must be soooo cool to be a kid now a days!  Then a light bulb went off in my head!  I don’t h-a-v-e to be a kid to play with the PSP; we all know I am big kid at heart anyhow!  So I am hopeful to score a PSP before Q4 so I can try out this new technology!

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At E3 I met the VP of Marketing Matt from Xfire (again cutie!), who explained all the ins and outs of gaming social media.  Sorry ladies I didn’t get a picture…just take my word for it that he is cute in his casual fedora hat!

So per the Xfire.com website “Xfire is a free application that combines multiple gaming tools into one powerful tool to alleviate the need to run multiple different gaming related programs. For instance, Xfire allows you to chat with your friends, see what games they are playing, what servers they are playing on and join them instantly with one click. Xfire also allows you to show off your gaming skills by capturing screenshots and videos and uploading them to your Profile page on the Xfire website.”

Admittedly I went on a spa quest to get out of the city and to a resort in the south bay.  I recalled that Matt said Xfire was in Menlo Park and since my resort was there I might as well stop by.  I had set up my clan on Xfire after E3 and since then did nothing to it and have only one sample friend, which is pathetic! Though how nice of Xfire to give me a sample friend since I clearly had NONE!  I needed some Xfire tutorials and demo’s of what other folks with more friends Xfire clan looked like. 

I have been wanting to try some online games out and Xfire is the perfect interface and seems to be the ideal website for me to join.  So I make my drive from the foggy city to sunny Menlo Park. 

I walk into the Xfire office, “uh…hello? Anyone?!” It was 9am…

It looked like any gamers office/ lab, I know this after working at Dell with engineers!  Cardboard cut outs of gaming characters and posters of games or gaming entertainment posters on the walls. 

In walks Matt…”oh thank gawd I am not in the wrong office,” I thought immediately!

Matt takes me to his office and I see his Xfire account…and now I have clan envy.  His xfire was all hooked up with all these friends and clans…it’s kinda like getting friend envy on facebook or twitter! Darn I am about to look like a major idiot once he sees mine, I thought. 

Please don’t ask…please don’t ask…

And then sure enough he asks, “Whats your account name so I can add you as a friend?” 

On No! uhhhhhh…I think the spa mentality got to me too soon…

I didn’t even have it memorized!  What kind of gamer am I?! Seriously  I shuffle around in my over sized Juicy C purse and finally find my user name and p/w.  Even more embarrassing is that I had some pretty crappy games listed that I honestly have no idea how they appeared on my account, maybe after some “grape juice?”

He gives me a standard tour on his PC of screen shots of different gamers on xfire and live broadcasts.  I got a better grasp of the hot keys that were used to switch between games and the web!

So here is a good list to help you all get started who aren’t on Xfire.com
Scroll Lock + X: Brings up Xfire Ingame
Scroll Lock + V: Starts Video Capture
Scroll Lock + B: Starts Broadcast
Scroll Lock + W: Brings up Web
Scroll Lock + S: Takes a screenshot

So then I meet the engineer who showed me the gaming interface and how all the above also help your xfire gaming experience.  I have to be honest till I play around and join games I am so lost.  However I recall at my Madballs Demo they said it would be online so that may be me!  So give it a try!  Why not right?! So be my pal on Xfire…I need pals…love me gamers!!

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I was so excited when I got my first new product after E3 and it was these SUPER cute ear buds and in ear headphones from Roxy/ JBL. First off I love bright colors, I am not sure if it is because I am in California or that I am blind and frankly colors stick out more…

Radiris and I  make amazing partners in crime; we both have different technology preferences! CUTEGEEKS UNITE (imagine Radiris and I running to each other in slow motion [because everything is better in slow motion]and high fiving like big geeks)! As most of the population knows not 1 woman is the same…Radiris loves the On Ear Headphones and I love the in ear headphones/ ear buds.

I realize we have said in the past not everything needs to be pink b/c not all women love pink; Radiris loves the color black and looks smashing in it.. I love pink and admittedly my shuffle is….gasp…PINK! When I got the pink and orange ear buds from Roxy/ JBL  in the mail I was S-O-O-O-O pumped! I did a one foot happy dance (still sporting the boot cast). They matched my lil’ shuffle perfectly and the sound was AMAZING!! A true geek at heart; I do get excited when I get products that look fabulous and impress me technology wise…literally the sound quality was A-A-A-M-M-M-A-A-A-Z-Z-I-N-G-G (sing with me world)!!! I love to jam out to rap/ hip hop and I always have to turn the volume on my other ear buds all the way up but not with these little Reference 230 miracle buds…And I love that they are smaller than the apple shuffle earbuds…who wants their ears all stretched out…not me…

So you want the specs right? Any geek would…

Power: 2 x 20mW

Frequency Response: 20 Hz- 20kHz (-10dB)

Dimensions: Diameter- 15mm/ Wire length 1250 mm

Weight: .38oz (11grams)

The in ear headphones reference 250 are cool too. Basically you can receive calls while listening to your MP3s and not interrupt your music list… pops you inbetween your phone and MP3 player. These little buds are a perfect size and smaller then the ear buds. It took me some time to get use to them but once I did I was impressed with the sound quality.  So again Nina give me the specs (shut up already right?!)…well here you go! 

Power: 2 x 5mW

Frequency Response: 20 Hz- 20kHz (-10dB)

Dimensions: Diameter- 13.5mm/ Wire length 1182 mm

Weight: .42oz (12grams)

And Chloe also had to try them on, the girl just loves new toys…I played no music though of course (do not try this at home kids).  She is just so curious about technology too!  Again no music was played while she tried them on!!

I know allot of people want to hear me rant (for those who know me…my rants tend to be funny) so I had to sit here and think (think Nina think think think think)…what would be a standard complaint? I love these things way too much and I believe ear buds truly are my generation’s technology fashion accessory.  After a couple glasses of “grape juice” I found minor and I mean minor items that bugged me…

Rant #1 the noise cancelation on the in ear headset is so strong I cannot hear over my voice when I speak. I used it on Skype and literally had to take one bud out…I hate my inside voice (you know the one only you hear and thank goodness for that). I think I am one of those weird people that does want to hear my surrounding…This really isn’t a complaint considering everyone else in the world would love it!

Rant #2, the pouches for these though super cute it doesn’t stop me from throwing my ear buds in my purse. This starts the downward spiral on the demise of my day, having to untangle little bitty wires. I have actually not used my shuffle if my wires are tangled. I have yet to find the miracle solution for having your buds not tangling; I have broken all the retractable ones. One would assume I would just put them away but NOOO…I don’t…if I was rich I would hire a professional de-tangler if there is such a thing! Again I think this is a Nina problem…I am one hot mess I tell you!

Lastly, I think I need the other color Roxy/ JBL  b/c I am running out of pink items to match with my ear buds and I hate doing laundry or worse…dare I say I hate repeating an outfit…Opps, I’m always thinking of fashion first even if I am a technology geek!

I love these ear buds though and honestly I am the happiest little girl right now rockin my JBL/ Roxy  pink ear buds…even if I am not matching on the streets of San Francisco!  Don’t judge; if you heard the sound you would be rockin’ pink ear buds too!

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I little birdie told me today about the Announcement from Logitech Introducing Logitech Vid  and thought I would share to all you cute geekers.  I love their sloggan, “Isn’t it about time video calling became easy!” um YES! So check this out!!  I plan to toy around with it as well.  Give me your thoughts cutegeekers!

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On day 2 I woke up sore, I forgot to let you all know I am pretty sure I sprained my foot.  I was limping all through E3 and like a dummy I walked around on it. So day two was a late start (my nick name was gimpay)  but we headed off to the convention center for our first meeting.  Check out one of the displays in front of the convention center, this year truly had some creative outdoor displays and games.

Our first meeting was with Logitech and the first thing I tried was the Logitech® Wireless Guitar Controller and though I am not a Guitar Hero pro and never play the guitar I loved how this instrument played.  It seemed more authentic especially since the neck is real wood. It has a wireless range of up to 30 feet and virtually silent controls, NICE!

My most favorite thing I first tested out on day 2 is not yet released  from Logitech and I cannot give any information on it YET. What I can tell you is it MADE my E3 experience; I fell in love with it and didn’t want to leave after seeing this! I had a perma grin for hours and Radiris had to literally drag me out of the room!! Keep on reading my blog b/c I am hell bent on testing this out and telling you how AMAZING Logitech is! Love love love it! It may have resolved so many gaming issues I had in the past regarding my neighbors!

 HOWEVER I am able to discuss the Logitech G940 Flight System which is AMAZING! Here is the live DEMO from E3! One of my dearest friends flew in the war and also is a pilot now for a major airline so I have so much more interest in this! And yes she is a female pilot; did I just get cool points by association?

So the force feedback effects allow you to feel its movement as well as its reaction to wind shear, buffeting, turbulence, and g-forces. It controls multi-engine aircraft using the two 8-way hat switches or you can lock the levers when you need to operate your engines in sync. It also has true-to-life rudder control, which is needed when performing defensive maneuvers and crosswind landings, or piloting helicopters.The interactive buttons help control and illuminate red, green, amber, or off to indicate the status of critical aircraft systems—gear up, flaps down, and etc.

We also checked out at some Logitech mice.  One model was the V220 which is in a variety of limited-edition patterns and colors; priced at $29.99.

Next we went to City Interactive to test out some new games and my first one to demo was Chronicles Of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple on DS and I have to be frank this game on a plane is Perfect!  We next tested out Chronicles of Mystery: The Three of Life on the PC and Redneck Chicken Riot on Wii; both very cool interactive games.  The ghosts in Redneck Chicken Riot were funny and spooky all at once!

Next we went to the MTV booth again; being a child of the 80′s I honestly cannot get enough MTV! But one of the most thrilling of my E3 experience is PLAYING THE DRUMS FOR THE BEATLES ROCKBAND!! Check out the all chic Beatles Rockband youtube video, I am rockin the drums!  At home I have the standard 4 pod rockband drums but I was up for the challenge and even played on medium first time around. Self hug b/c I rocked it and it was cool to have all chicks the first time! This game is a perfect party game, I should know…I love to throw parties! Nina jammin on Rockband Beatles Drums!

I then ventured over to the PSP Rockband demo…not only do I now need to get rockband Beatles…now it’s a PSP! Michael told me I looked like a huge dork jamming under the PSP Demo pods b/c noone can hear what you are playing! I imagine this is what I will look like once I get this device and you see me on the streets nodding my head with maybe bust out a little dance move…movin’ here and there…who knows! I loved hearing my Rockband songs and being able to play portable was amazing. I want this toy! My birthday is coming up…any takers?! ANYONE?! Its the first of many big 29′s!  (I can’t believe I am admiting this to you all, I was told no women should reveil their age but I think 29 is a big deal or party…ok back to E3)

One thing that made me curious was Xfire.com. Myself being new to gaming besides PS3 the entire explosion of this really cool website/ software Xfire is astonishing. Basically its similiar to facebook’s social media but gaming ONLY instead and also you can create “clans (ie: communities)”. The site has 13.5 million members all over the country! WOW!  We met with the VP of Marketing who was ultra cool (plus uber cute) and he was completely in tune with his audience; he gave us the entire back story. Ideally this site is for those who do online interactive gaming. It has so many short cut tools to continue gaming without even leaving the game! Including and not limited to Chat rooms, voice recording, video broadcasting, web browsing and etc. Also this whole creating clans is a fantastic creation!! Kuddos to you guys! In fact us cutgeek girls will be creating a xfire clan for all you gamers to follow us super cute geeks…I feel like I just became cool even though I am a GEEK! In fact we may even do a demo on building our own little clan and xfire profile.

Overall I had a blast at E3!  I feel like I saw some of the coolest shazza (yeah I said it…shazza) on day 2 and cannot wait to test out some of these amazing products!

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Its only just begun everyone see us Cutegeek girls at E3 on youtube. See some more new post of Ms. Radiris and I at E3 playing games. Radiris on Guitar and Nina on Drums!

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Today MTV Games’ Harmonix Music Systems announced a partnership with Warner Bros. Records and Green Day  to bring the music of Green Day, exclusively to Rock Band ®.  See Press Release Here! 

The first songs that you can download are a three-pack of songs of their Album; 21st Century Breakdown on July 7th including:  21 Guns, Know Your Enemy, East Jesus Nowhere.  Additional Green Day songs and projects will be announced at a later date.

If it is not obvious I am the Rockbander of the cutegeek.com and I am excited about this new release of Green Day coming to Rockband.  I wanted to be a rocker or punk rocker since I was a child of the 80s.  Unfortunately I lack the talent to play the real drums (sad face) therefore…do-to-do-dooooo Rockband drums!  Everyone saw how I killed it at E3 on the drums  right? (not so much on the singing, I use to be able to no idea what happened…opps!)

So MTV and Harmonix are just going crazy on these new releases of Rockband games and everyday I hope when I open my inbox there is a new release of something fun and I get…well…gitty like I was 7 years old again…what will I get?  Another Rockband alert…oh boy…oh boy!

This actually comes at the perfect time so thank you MTV/ Harmonix/ Warner Brothers and Green Day! I have a very important birthday coming up that I may repeat for several years to come and nothing makes my heart a flutter more then new Rockband songs!  BTW I celebrate my b-day for a month so…July 7th isn’t too far off.  THOUGH shout out to my pals at MTV/ Harmonix that if they want me to preview it, I would be the happiest birthday girl! :-) hehe

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After E3 I must admit I am more into games.  So today I got this lil’ tid bit in my inbox and thought I should share with my fellow cutegeeks and gamers who also love music!  As of today and for $50.00 Video Games Live Pre-loaded MP3 Player is available for your pure enjoyment.

This new MP3 player comes with high-quality VIVO Headphones, a USB Adapter and 2 GB of built-in memory. Also included in the player is an internal speaker for non-headset listening and a built-in microphone which can be used to record voice and audio directly onto the device. Included on the player are never before released live recordings of music from the following franchises: Halo®, Kingdom Hearts, Warcraft®, Castlevania®, Myst®, Mass Effect™, Civilization IV, Tron, Earthworm Jim and Advent Rising.

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While the lovely Radiris and I were at E3 we shared a hotel room…boys please focus there were no pillow fights involved.  So as we are getting ready together I look down at the scale; now I am legally blind but did my eyes just see the scale’s name is Thinner? What kind of subliminal message is this scale telling us women especially teenage girls?

So I looked over at Radiris and said; “Really?! Do I need a scale telling me to be thinner?! I mean if I am weighing myself its probably cause my pants do not fit or I am bloated.”  Granted I was a bit cranky as I am not all that happy about traveling or with my broken foot which seemed to drag me down (not to mention almost falling 10 times) but damn…Thinner…I wonder who thought of that brand marketing? Is it me or should it be named something more PC?! I suggest Healthy and Lovely!

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This year was my first experience actually attending E3. I had planned it for others before but never attended until now! As I walked into the LA convention center I was blown away immediately with a HUGE Pepsi Rockband stage with fellow rockbander rocking away, check out the video here!  I then walked into the south hall with my cutegeek partner in crime Radiris and I was AMAZED as you can see in my video here you can listen to my excitement plus see my girl!

My first observation, this was not like CES at all. There were so many women gamers and women executives at E3; I loved it! I believe women gamers truly showed themselves at E3 especially with Rockband, Guitar Hero, Wii Fit, Dance Revolution and Disney.  Of course we had some booth babes in gamer costumes; but I frankly thought they looked GREAT!

Our first stop was Disney Interactive Studios and I had a feeling Radiris would be in heaven! The Toy Story Mania game was fun check out Michael from Hardwaregeeks and I playing one of 25 games on this video. The Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show (PSP), G-Force (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) and Disney Sing It: Pop Hits (Wii, PS3)was fun as well! Oh and yes Radiris and I sang along with Sing it which also has vocal lessons as part of the game as well…How Cool!  Gforce was also a fun game to watch; check out Radiris in her GForce Demo…I think she rocked it!  See more toy story demo here!

My next stop and I was so excited Riiflex for Wii , check it out the awesome demo of Riiflex! Basically its 2 and 4 pound actual weights for your Wii wand and nun-chucks plus an interactive work out video which is intense as you see in the demo.

What I found amazing is that you cannot slack on this game, you have to work out and hard. Apparently the reason this product was developed was due to an executive whose wife loved WiiFit but needed a new challenge and a change to her workout routine! And Taaa Daaa…I think the husband majorly delivered. This product rocks and hope to test it out once its released.

Next and one of my favorite’s was the Beatles Demo! First off well done Harmonix and MTV the Abby Road House replica as the booth was amazing! We then walked into a theatre where we had a live demo of Rockband using all instruments. I have to be honest Harmonix, your employees love their job after seeing this demo!!

So what’s so cool? First off you get to vocally harmonize with other players. Second the new Beatle’s drums rock! Third they created the game so that if you are a beginner you will not fail out. How many times do you have a party, bust out rockband and you have to restart b/c apparently your friends aren’t gamers like you. Which is cool but I want to get through a song dang it!

This is the fun part to read so listen up! I got to DEMO it! OH yeah baby! First on day one all I did was I sing. I am a former singer but I hate singing, however to the Beatles, I loved it! It brought me back to a simple time in life!!!

So I missed the Alienware demo due to schedule conflicts (us cutegeeks cannot be everywhere all at once) BUT kudos Alienware, your booth rocked! Being a former Dell employee and into convention/event planning I loved what they did; two story booth, amazing gamer lights, modern/ sexy looking and a live DJ. Plus they had super official secret service Alienware agents! I also had the lovely opportunity to run into some old Dell friends from my past; always great!

Our next stop was Gamersfirst which is range of multi player online games as well as rich community features. I must be honest the dude who first gave me the demo bored the crap out of me, seriously I don’t care how to create a profile b/c guess what I already can figure that out dude (um not that hard).  I wanted to play and after this demo I was already looking around for new things to look at. Finally!  We meet a young marketing women of Gamersfirst (love it) who enlightened us on their products and how cool their games are.  She truly made me want to look more into their products and she was interested in social media! She related more to the female aspect of gaming and I admire their booth for that.

On a personal level I met up with a new friend at Rivera Restaurant in DT La which was an amazing hot spot. I had no idea DT LA was revamping itself!  After such I met one of my greatest pals from high school ten years later (I didn’t make it to my HS reunion) also in DT LA.  After drinks at a Whiskey bar…we had breakfast for dinner (love it) at Pantry Cafe where I swear to gawd the waiter was George Costanza’s dad.

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Disney was our first meeting and boy it’s timing could not have been any better. It was perfect because I had the most fun and started E3 with a bang. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m not an avid gamer. I currently don’t own any systems and although I enjoy playing them, haven’t in a while.

The one thing I do know is that I love Disney. I played games that made me feel like I was at home, in the living room, and could be surrounded by a bunch of kids. Call it my mother instinct trying to throw hints at me, although I’m not even close to my clock to start clicking…but yea…Disney has a bunch of cool games coming out that can easily turn any day into a family day. Adults and children could enjoy them.

Most of the games I played were for the Wii, so I am convinced that it was my calling. I need to buy a Wii. The best game they had was Toy Story Mania! It’s scheduled to come out in the Fall and has over 25 mini games to play. Nina, Mike and I all played some of the games, and by the end, all of our arms got some sort of a workout.

I also played a game (The Princess and the Frog) that made us compete to see who could cook a stew faster, we were chopping, throwing and then stirring ingredients into a pot and that was cool. Another game was a rendition of red light, green light, except we were dancing, playing instruments and had to stop when the bad guy appeared.

Nina and Mike played a couple of games against each other, but being the all-goodness women that we are, Nina ended up turning it into more of a collaborative effort – despite Mike’s “You suck” comments. Girls play nice, boys do not.

My lack of experience using the Wii became apparent once I started playing G-Force…One, I was a little guinea pig, fighting household appliances – you know, the regular – irons, toasters – story of my life as a woman. It was fun, but man, those controls were freaking me out. I guess my quick demo was too quick, because I didn’t ‘get it’ and I eventually gave up and told the Disney guy I would much rather see him play, and actually see him do something in the game. I was going in circles, as if it was my first time driving, and all I wanted to do was whip some butt.

Disney’s car game, Split/Second (for the XBOX 360), was so freaking cool. It made me feel as if I were on the road. I don’t know if it was due to all the swerving going on, or what, but the game is extremely realistic and fun to experience. I tried recording Mike playing, because he was almost a zombie – glued to the TV, barely blinking – but my camera didn’t do a great job at recording my funny comments. I still posted it, and I’ll try to add what I was saying in the description for those of you that are interested.

The next game I played was Disney’s Sing-It – yes, you can stop clicking on the videos now…you do not want to hear me…Disney’s Sing-It – Pop Hits (yes, yes, yes…pop hits) is an ideal game for people who enjoy doing karaoke. They have a large selection of today’s pop hits, like most karaoke games, but the best part was its ‘educational’ side of things. The game provides singing lessons! Like for real, for real…Wouldn’t that be great for a child that has a voice and for a parent that may not have the money to send them off to expensive lessons? That’s the first thing that came to mind…

Nina and I sang Colbie Caillat’s Bubbly…it’s a catchy tune, and although I’ve heard it many, many, many times, the only part I know about that song is the chorus. Like most of you out there…don’t lie. Although it shows you the lyrics (you’re probably thinking how can you mess up in karaoke), all I can say is that the main reason I stood next to Nina, CuteGeek’s own singer/drummer/guitarist, is because I am her groupie. Yes Nina, I am your biggest fan and I knew you could sing. I didn’t think I would actually be singing until they gave me a mic, and then I was doomed. I usually only sing in the shower, where the tiles make me sound amazing, or when the music is loud enough for me to not hear myself…anyway…Mike got it on video…man the lights were bright and it was so hot. Now everyone knows the faces I make when I’m embarrassed, clueless or confused…

Cecilia told us all that Disney is usually the most enjoyable booth to attend and it’s true. We were all ready to believe…

I had sooo much fun.

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I learned the value of being in good company this week. From the moment I arrived in LA, I thought, wow – it’s been a year since I’ve been here, and things felt so different. I blame it on the humidity, but I had a great feeling about E3 from the moment I got off the plane.

A third of our group was already at the hotel, aka Mike, and Nina was joining us in the AM, so it was fun going over our schedule and wondering how it would all play out. Nina and I had never been to an E3 before so I don’t even know if our foreshadowing into the event was on the same page, but I was impressed from it all.

First off, E3 is freaking cool. We walked into the convention center and were welcomed by a mini rockband concert going on. I can tell Nina was inching towards the stage, the closer we got to the escalators, but she saved her rock star skills for the goodies in the hall.

The crowd at E3 was so attractive, and so full of life that I automatically told Nina I liked it more than CES. CES is great, don’t get me wrong, I had tons of fun, but the people at E3 made me want to network a little more than I did at CES. The energy was different – I loved it and I’m sure those that attended agreed. It’s something about being in a place full of people who are all passionate about the same thing. You can feel it. There were also tons of women at the event. Both as exhibitors and also as attendees. There were many women behind the games that we played and that in itself was motivating to me. I’m like always oozing super girl power though, so maybe I was the only one that noticed that.

I saw Barry Bonds…

Nina and I, as many of you already saw, looked super cute and coordinated on our first day. We didn’t necessarily plan it, but once I saw the colors she was wearing on Tuesday, I decided to match the same color scarf to show our – unitedness or something, I dunno, or cute geek-ness…whatever…we looked good. That was the point.

The games we played were tons of fun, and Nina convinced me to try Rockband w/ her (the Beatles one of course). I can already tell she’s going to be a great mom, because I definitely communicated my fear of trying something new, especially on a stage, in front of strangers, but she said all the right things to get me on it. Even when it was over, and I received a 50% accuracy percentage, she still told me I rocked and forget it – now I want to rock out! Thanks Nina, for encouraging a disaster to continue to perform. Just kidding!

The goodies I can’t mention are worth the wait – trust me.

I won’t lie and say E3 was the best thing since sliced bread (because I think the New Super Mario Bros for the Wii wins that title) but it was a cool event. We didn’t always get to play though – as you can see from the picture below, we sometimes had to listen to really long techie talks regarding the game’s specs…Nina and I are more hands on kind of women. We wanted to see how all the games worked, we weren’t necessarily trying to become game developers by the end of the event…

By the end of the 1st day, I realized if I ever lost Nina, to look towards a stage, because she would most likely be on it:

I grew a greater appreciation for the gaming world and everyone involved in it. It was a really cool event and I’m already looking forward to next year!

(Mike & Nina had camcorders and I had the digital camera – hence why I have so many pics of them. They will most likely upload the most videos from E3 in the upcoming days, I’ll be sure to link them to the site, once they’re all up)

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Mario and I established a relationship many, many years ago. It has had its ups and downs, but this week, the spark was there. I forgot about all the times I couldn’t beat a level, or the times my brother seemed to know everything. All the memories were gone. At E3, it was all about me and the new game.

I played the newest Mario game to soon come out on the Wii and I was in pure bliss. Nina even commented on how happy I looked playing, especially once I figured out how to fly and I was. I really, really, was. With all of these new gaming systems, the one thing I really don’t like, and applies to most, is this whole ‘let me make you dizzy, and make you fall’ thing that they all do, oh yea, sorry, its called 3D. I don’t like it. I like the old’ skool Mario, and this new one allows you to play with up to 4 players at the same time. It was soooooooooooo much fun.

Nintendo is doing the right thing by bringing the New Super Mario Bros back to 2D. I am now going to buy a Wii. I’m buying it only to play this game. You’ll just have to wait and see when this heaven sent game is released. Once it is, I can guarantee I’ll have a copy. I promise.

I will link the video of me playing, once its uploaded. I’m sure you’ll be able to tell which part I learn how to fly in – it brought joy into my life.

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Slowly but surely we are posting our video’s from E3. Check them out and let me know what you thought of the games! Make sure and watch them in HD!

Cutegeek youtube videos from E3

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CuteGeek.com will post pictures of events, products, and random ‘forms’ of interesting technology that surround us on our new Flickr account !

Our first set of pics are from E3. Tomorrow we’ll add more pictures from the event and we’ll also upload all of the videos that we captured on our YouTube.com account.

Enjoy!

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It’s official.

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Original band members Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, came together today to kick off the 2009 E3 Media & Business Summit with the world premiere of The Beatles: Rock Band.

See Presss Release Here!

Tomorrow will be a huge day for me as I will be testing out the New Beatles Rockband with my fellow cutegeeker Radiris!  I hope to video tape or have our unboss video tape us testing it out!  Follow my tweets and facebook as I embark on my first E3.

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E3 is fast approaching and we are starting to plan our booth visits.  Here is a chance to live vicariously through us at E3; tell us what you want us to check out!  What do you want us to check out?  Here is the exhibitor list

We plan to take photos and test out as many toys as we can.  Of course I will be at the Rockband booth (did you doubt me?!).  So let me know what you want to see!!!

Here is a goofy pic of me at CES; I am not affraid to try out unusual looking toys.

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CuteGeek.com will be there to bring you the latest and greatest from the largest video gaming conference in the world! e3 will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 2nd through the 4th.

We’re teaming up with Michael Reyes, from HardwareGeeks.com to meet some of the coolest companies showcasing their newest games, technologies, and ideas influencing the gaming industry. We currently have meetings scheduled with Harmonix, Logitech, Lucas Arts, and Ubisoft, to name a few. Click here to view the full listing of exhibitors that will be present at e3.

My flight and hotel are booked and my vacation days from work have already been confirmed!

See ya in LA!

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