Nintendo Wii Fanboy

While it's not unusual to be loved by anyone for hotels to include video game services, Japan used to do it arcade-style with coin-operated consoles (like the one shown above). 100 JPY (approximately $1 USD) would net you 10-15 minutes with a Famicom (NES), which means you'd have to lay down about $2 or $3 to for a satisfactory amount of this blogger's hotel staple, Punch-Out!!. The Super Famicom (SNES), though, was a bit more coin-hungry, and the $1 equivalent would only last five minutes -- yikes. Still, we're sure that if we visited Japan during the magical time that these boxes were hooked-up to hotel TVs, we would have let go of a few coins for some quick bouts of Mario and such.

[Via Kotaku]

What's a good way to get folks into your hotel? We have no clue, what with being a game blog and all, but it looks like some hotels might have found a good way to get folks in their doors: gaming. We imagine if you have something the people like and want, they'll flock to you. That must be the thinking behind some hotels in the U.S. incorporating some of the most popular games into their repertoire of activities available to patrons. Games such as Wii Sports and Guitar Hero III.

While we can't comment on whether this is a good decision from a business perspective, we can comment that this is a good decision from a customer service perspective. Now top Wii Sports bowlers and fast-fingered freaks in Guitar Hero III need not worry about getting rusty while they're attending that convention in Tuscaloosa.

[Via Joystiq]

To celebrate the release of SSX Blur, EA held an event at Quebec's Ice Hotel, which is a hotel made of ice. A hotel, where people sleep, where the walls are made of ice.

Journalists got a chance to play the new game and see new demos of Army of Two and a mysterious new property that is, unfortunately, under embargo. Junkie XL, who is responsible for Blur's soundtrack, provided a performance, presumably using non-ice-based instruments. The crowd was also treated to drinks at the ice bar (a bar made of ice), and, of course, warm chicken soup, which no doubt helped everyone keep warm. Ice, as you may have heard, is cold, and the event took place in a building made entirely of ice.

We don't know whether to be jealous of the people who were invited to this unusual locale, or happy that we spent the day in an environment habitable by humans. Luckily Blur is out in stores and we can enjoy it in our nice, temperate homes.

[Via QJ.net]