What's Clogging my Tubes? #3

How to pretend you're aboard the Starship Enterprise

Anyone who loves Star Trek has at one point wished they could be on the Starship Enterprise exploring the galaxy. Well, IO9 found the next best thing: filling your room with the Enterprise idling sound. This youtube clip loops for 24 hours and will simulate what it's like to sleep on the Enterprise.

Beginnings: Nobody dies on the first goomba

SephirothX writes about his experience with attempting to beat the original Super Mario Brothers and how the first Gooma, used as a symbol for the first dangerous obstacle in a game, effects the player. It's a fun and surprisingly profound read for anyone who played Video Games as a child.

Preview: Brain busting goodness in Quantum Conundrum

Kim Swift, who helped create Valve's Portal and Left 4 Dead games left the powerhouse company to join Airtight Games where she would have more freedom. The result is Quantum Conundrum, a 3D physics puzzle game where the player has the ability to alter states of matter in order to solve complex puzzles. The mechanics sound interesting and the art style is more cartoonish and friendly than the Valve games. If it comes close to her previous two projects Quantum Conundrum is sure to be a winner.

Penny Arcade's Gabe on the Mass Effect 3 ending

With the release of Mass Effect came the rabid Bioware fanboys declaring that the ending was unsatisfactory because… well it wasn't happy enough. There weren't enough endings, they were't varied enough, it wasn't the ending *I* would have written and whatever other reasons these gamers could think of to remain unhappy. As a wanna be writer I find it offensive that people take such ownership over a narrative they didn't craft… but I guess they get far more emotionally invested in Video Games than I'm capable of… more power to them. Penny Arcade's Gabe wrote a fantastic piece reacting to the whining at the end of Mass Effect 3. It's filled with spoilers but definitely worth it if you've been following this story at all.

Avengers' Trailer

Not much needs to be said about this. It's the Avengers trailer. It looks awesome. This is what happens when you give Joss Whedon ALL THE MONIES. Can't wait!