The turkey has been eaten. The belt has been loosened. Some folks are working off their food coma in front of the TV, watching a football game or a movie. Some folks are on the computer, looking at their favorite websites. To you, we say, “Welcome!” Team Unwinnable is off with family and friends, just like you, but we thought we’d leave behind something to help pass your idle hours. Now that you’ve fed your stomach, we’ve put together a menu of twelve favorite pieces from the last several months to feed your brain. Bon appetit! (more…)

In a world where geek culture is becoming ever more pervasive, where video games sell millions of copies and comic books are adapted into blockbuster movies, there still remains one hobby that rides along the edges. There is still one hobby that is shunned by the mainstream. Join me now as we explore the world of tabletop role-playing games. Join me, the TABLETOP WIZARD!

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Amid the chaos of New York Comic Con there existed an oasis of calm and reason. Far from the crush of the crowds, the flashing lights of video games, the cloying scent of vinyl, sweat and popped corn, lay the North Hall. That fabled land where few would tread, home of the D-list celebrity (may their autograph hands always be strong!), a life-sized roaming R2D2, a time-traveling DeLorean, two Batmobiles and the Wizards of the Coast gaming area. While the main halls were packed with mainstream movies, comic book companies and book publishers, a large portion of the North Hall was filled with tables and chairs. Around those tables people, often strangers to one another, sat across from each other playing Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons 4th Ed. and a slew of D&D based board games. I’ve never played an RPG at a con before, and outside of my experience with D&D Encounters (See TTW#3), I’ve never played with strangers before. I mean, it’s not always the easiest thing to pretend that you’re a fantasy warrior in front of people you hardly know, but we were all there for the same thing, so judgment was at a minimum. (more…)

This is the beginning of  New York Comic Con 2011. Dave and Chuck arrived and acclimated themselves to their surroundings. Ian, John, Heather and Dan followed soon after. The first thing they did was check around to see who else they knew. (more…)

Last Saturday, Unwinnable hosted its second Geek Flea. Hundreds of people came to check out the geeky wares of dozens of vendors, new friends were made and fun was had by all. An event like Geek Flea isn’t a success without a lot of hard work, not only from Team Unwinnable, but from our sponsors, vendors, friends and supporters in the local community. We can not thank you enough for your ceaseless help and encouragement. (more…)

I hate when pop culture vultures call my peers and me “the Nintendo Generation.” Yes, we grew up playing the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and probably know more about the Triforce than any religion we were raised in, but that’s not all we are. If that were so, Video Power would have been a fondly remembered classic as opposed to being a footnote.

Any American kid growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s knew what the NES was. So it made sense that children’s television magnate Haim Saban would want to get in on the trend – hence the birth of Video Power. (more…)

I think any fan of Japanese cinema will agree with me when I say that I want to see the world through the eyes of Noboru Iguchi. There seems to be no end to the sheer madness collecting in that brainpan of his. The biomechanical butt bonanza that is this man’s imagination achieved international recognition with 2008′s The Machine Girl, and then the party started. The releases of RoboGeisha and Mutant Girls Squad in 2009 and 2010, respectively, continued to test the boundaries of good taste, or “taste” at all for that matter. But hey, this is Gonzo Grindhouse! The last thing you expect from a lunatic like Iguchi is that he tone it down! (more…)

Chrissy Murderbot is a busy dude. Last year he released a new mixtape every week, covering nearly every genre in electronic music you could Beatport – and others you can’t. He jockeys discs all over the globe and runs two record labels. He also has a new LP out on Planet Mu. I got to talk to Chrissy toward the end of his ninth international tour about old school video games and electronic music production. (more…)