I’ve spent the last hour preparing my video camera to hold a massive amount of video. I’m heading to Barcamp Madison (Madison, WI) tomorrow and I’ll spend the weekend packing in as much learning as I possibly can (you should see the sessions already planned). Of course, that fact that we’re having a LAN party, a Wii fight and an XBox time slot means I get to game at least a little bit as well.

Sunday afternoon I fly to San Francisco so that I can help Women in Games at GDC. I get to work the booth on Weds and Thurs morning and Fri afternoon. I’ve also got a few interviews lined up for the videoblog at GDC. I’m especially looking forward to getting to see EA at the WIGI event and getting to attend the Microsoft party on Thursday night. I still can’t believe I get paid to do this kind of work…

Anyway, I’m almost prepared. I’ve packed as many geek Ts as I can fit in my ginormous girl suitcase and I’ve lovingly wrapped my laptops and game machines into 2 carry on bags. I’ve got a backlog of work (including 3 podcasts) that I can work on during the flights and a healthy supply of Vince Flynn, Matthew Reilly and Tom Clancy novels. I’m all set.

If you are going to be at GDC or Barcamp Madison, let me know. I look forward to meeting some new people this week!

For those of you who weren’t chosen to receive the Halo 3 beta, you can pick up a copy of Crackdown today and download the beta via XBox Live. (That’s where I’m going right now!)

This is really smart marketing as this game is reaching a valuable segment of gamers (the Halo fanbase is legendary, and those who would want to play the beta are even more invested in the franchise). I mean, do we really think that Crackdown just went gold because people want to play it? Heck no, people are buying this game because they want the beta.

It will be played by the people who will drive valuable, and measurable, WOM and if it’s any good, they will talk about it incessantly. Of course, if it sucks, the entire world will hear about it too.

Either way, this is a sneaky, almost coercive, way to market a game (and I like it).

While most of us will agree that there are few games worth a toot for the PS3, one most are looking forward to is Virtua Fighter 5. This game is getting 9s and 10s from the reviewers, so I am guessing it’s pretty good (although they lied to us about Dead Rising).

Two new fighters (and some new customization opportunities) join the game:

El Blaze is a Mexican wrestling champion who uses the Lucha Libre fighting style while Eileen uses “Kou-Ken”, a Monkey Kung Fu style.

It really is a pretty game, but I haven’t played it so I can’t speak for the game play. The game is rated T for Teen and should retail for about $60. It will follow on the XBox 360, which is where I’ll play it.

By Phil Shapiro

My birthday was on Friday and my hubby got me a Zune. He also wrote this really sappy and sweet post, so he’s certainly in my good graces.

Some Zune pron:

My first thoughts were about the enormous screen. I’ve had an iPod for a year now, and this screen is much larger. As well, the Zune is a little larger overall and thicker, but oddly, it’s a tad lighter. The surface has a flat, matte look to it. The only shiny parts on the device are the controls and the screen.
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