Deep in the basement of an ancient house in Sonobe (tucked in the fields of Kyoto, Japan), an amazing discovery has been made: real 1up Mushrooms.

ThinkGeek :: Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit

In this game you take land from poor people, grow cows on it, process it in a factory, add hormones, sell it in your stores, fight off anti-globalization protestors, bribe government officials, and profit!

Its strangely addictive. I think I should open a franchise.

McDonald's Videogame

Delko witnesses a bank robbery and the CSIs soon discover that the culprits are playing out the action from the videogame "Urban Hellraisers" on the streets of Miami. As they score points for each crime committed, the CSIs must discover what consists of getting to the next level in the game in order to stop the culprits before they strike again.

On the one hand, I think this will be a fun episode. On the other hand...

U: Oh my god that sucked so much. I'm terribly sorry for anyone who bothered to watch it based on my recommendation.

CSI: Miama tonight is based on GTA

A Miami resident has bought a virtual space station for $100,000 and wants to turn it into a cross between Jurassic Park and a disco.

Whoa. Turn your habit into cash.

CNN.com - Virtual property yields $100,000 - Nov 10, 2005

Eventually the road filled with mysterious beings coated in sparkles and green paint, their gossamer wings floating in humid Southern air. They were followed by a troupe of mournful vampires, a couple of Spider-Mans, Aeon Flux, Superman, a fleet of Klingons on motorcycles, a mass of Harry Potters, assorted characters from Babylon 5 and of course an entire phalanx of stormtroopers marching more or less in formation behind a gaggle of Princess Leias.

I really haven't had time to write up my own comments from DragonCon, but it was a really excellent weekend. Its an intersection between people who make things like role playing games and people who make things like space elevators. Its where the dreamers meet, and you can grasp onto outlandish ideas that will one day be considered everyday things.

Wired Dragon*Con Review

This video is a little slow to start up, but worth the wait. Watch it full screen, because you won't believe your eyes otherwise.

Basically, some people have come up with one of the scariest arcade games ever, and are simply waiting for new victims, er players, to step and stick in some coins.

Proof that british people have a strange sense of fun

] The Institute for the Future (IFTF) is a 35 year-old
] non-profit research organization that studies technology
] and its impacts on society. We're embarking on a new
] project to look at the history of electronic games so we
] can better understand where they're headed in the
] future.
]
] To help us develop this history, we'd like to invite
] you to share your personal experiences with electronic
] games. Videogames are definitely included, but even
] earlier is fine. As long as some bits and bytes are
] involved.

Share your Gaming History

From the web page:

"Have you found a really neat web site that does not rank highly on Google yet? Sure, there are many ways that you could tell other people about it (e.g., add a link to it from your web page, give it a "thumbs up" on StumbleUpon, mention it in a newsgroup, etc).

But why not make such a recommendation as part of a game where your score will depend on the actual Google ranking achieved by the site in the future? Why not find out who is the very best at predicting which sites people will like and that will rank higher on Google as a result?

And why not also make predictions about web sites whose Google ranking will likely go down in the future?

The Speculative Search Game allows you to make such predictions in a competitive environment."

Speculative Search Game (Google Game)

] ShotGlass Chess plays by the same rules as regular chess
] but the fun really begins when you capture an
] opponent's piece! Depending on the Shot Glass Chess
] rules you adopt, you or your opponent will be tipping
] back the contents of the shot glass with every capture!

Shotglass Chess - Shotglass Chess Sets, Pieces and Shotglasses

As if go wasn't complex enough. I've played it a few times. I suck. I'd like to get good at it but I require an opponent who is actually interested in learning with me over time and regular playing. Add a third dimension, and you can forget it. Go on a mobius strip. You people are nuts.

3-Dimensional Go!