Nintendo Wii

10 of Our Favorite Parody Songs to Celebrate the Day They Became Fair Use

On this day in 1994 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that parodies, commercial or non-commercial, do not violate copyright law. 2 Live Crew had applied for permission to parody Roy Orbinson's "Oh Pretty Woman," but were refused. They made the song anyway, and after a quarter of a million ... More >>

Caution: Selling Your PlayStation to a Stranger at 2 a.m. Might Not Be a Good Idea

It's a sad sign of the times when people aren't even able to sell their Sony PlayStations at 2 a.m. to some dude they found on Facebook without getting stabbed. But that's just what happened to a Corpus Christi man this morning, according to the Caller-Times.

Video Game Sheet-Music Availability Rising, But Still Fairly Rare

Despite the enduring popularity of video games and the increasing amount of recognition that they receive as art, sheet music for their iconic scores remain very rare. Some of the most popular themes have recently become available, but publishers have been slow to tap this market. Super Mario Bros. ... More >>

Celebrity Tech Endorsements: 5 Cool and 5 Highly Annoying Examples Of Product Pimpage

Celebrity endorsements are nothing new. They have been around as long as there were celebrities and companies willing to pay them to say they smoked Kool's or drove Chevy, or force us to explain to children and the elderly why we would giggle every time we saw the milk-stained upper lip of a famous ... More >>

10 Most Difficult Video Game Achievements That Aren't Worth It

Gaming is about challenges, or if you're into MMORPGs, gaming is about challenges and calling people gaylords. Regardless, game designers go to extreme lengths in order for you to test your skills, with rewards to follow. Sometimes, though, the rewards are simply not worth the agony of the accomplis ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Dive Bars

"I know it when I see it." - Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, on correctly identifying pornography. Also applies to dive bars. The dive distinction is complicated. Used to be you could stick a bar in the non-dive phylum if a web jukebox were present. But nowadays there are dives that still fee ... More >>

5 Franchises You Didn't Know Had Video Game Adaptations

To be clear, turning franchises into video games is a scam to get people to buy them as presents. "Oh, you liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Here's the game they made about it. Happy Christmas." That sort of thing. For the most part the game designers are on a rushed deadline, and they generally resen ... More >>

Morris "Big Boy" Jones: Luck Runs Out for (Alleged) Westside Fence

According to court records, police already had Morris "Big Boy" Jones over a barrel when they rolled up outside his Katy home. A criminal complaint shows they had already seized more than $30,000 worth of stolen Palais Royal threads from his storefront way out Clay Road. And when police went to visi ... More >>

Splendora Cops Seeking Two Butt-Dumb Burglars

Splendora Police DepartmentBurglary Suspect #1. Note pensive expression and rad neck-chain tat. ​ Have you seen these two men? Splendora cops would like to know. That's because they say these two geniuses swiped the digital camera on which these photos were taken (along with a laptop, TV and ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Curtains, Jitney, Masters of Semblance, Urinetown

NFL & College Football Best Bets -- How Ebenezer Scrooge Saved Me

Ebenezer in the house​I went to the Alley Theater last night and saw A Christmas Carol. Fantastic production and actually my first time ever seeing it in any venue, let alone the Alley. For the completely un-Christmased of you out there, Carol is a tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy curmudge ... More >>

Times Are A-Changin'

Readers weigh in on Lamar's library "upgrade".

This Week in Deliciousness

That's a chewing gum turkey someone made, just in case you hadn't lost your faith in God yet.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we're still trying to gather the courage to look up what a "giblet" is. In case you were abroad for this past week, or else belong to ... More >>

One Live Humpback Whale: Local Fantasy Tour Riders

​Everyone probably knows that top-selling bands like Van Halen routinely demand everything short of the moon and stars for their tour contract and rider, but specifically No Brown M&Ms. Some bands have a schedule for required nourishment, or in Rush's case, for booze. The "Weekly Booze Schedul ... More >>

The Littlest People

There are maybe 200 primordial dwarfs in the world, and Houstonian Sienna Bernal is one of them. She's also trying to be a regular 11-year-old girl.

Houston Texans Turn The Corner -- 5 Winners, 5 Losers

Neil Rackers -- He's no Kris Brown​I shouldn't enjoy carnage as much as I do, but I have to admit that a few hours after Neil Rackers' 35-yard field goal sailed through the uprights, sending the Houston Texans to an improbable 30-27 overtime win over the Washington Redskins yesterday afternoon, My ... More >>

It's Five O'clock Somewhere

We scout out happy hour in Houston.

Monday Mix Bag: A Mic Pass In Atlanta, New Felony Video And Some Wal-Mart Confessions

Back in the day when we were teenagers in the hood, there was this guy with a really great personality who would come to our door once a month with brand new store merchandise. We're talking about anything from bicycles to VCRs (we said it was back in the day) to woman's costume jewelry. They were ... More >>

DJ Hero: A Review

​The geniuses that first let you rock 'n' roll with guitar legends in Guitar Hero decided to bring out a new instrument for gamers to party on. This time, Activision brought out the turntables for their newest title, DJ Hero. Available for the Playstations 2 & 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii, DJ ... More >>

Five Spot: A Crap N.O.R.E. Track Reminds Us of Bun B's Better Days

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.Marco Torres​ Yesterday, N.O.R.E. released "Set Trip," a wispy, "Look How Tough I Am," available-via-Internet tr ... More >>

Names In the News Ask Collective Soul's 7even Year Itch: Collective Soul's Greatest Hits 1994-2001

​Rocks Off enjoys reading The New York Times on Sundays. It's one of the few things in our topsy-turvy lives we can count on. However, several stories in this past Sunday's paper gave us serious cause for concern. The best way to help these people, we figured, was to take their problems to Georgia ... More >>

A/V Geeks: Crafty is as Crafty Does

Teaching kids the beauty of dry pasta and Elmer’s

Jo Koy

Okay, "Yoseph," time to make funny

Nerd Alert: Trailer for "The Beatles: Rock Band" Debuts

After almost two years of programming and tinkering, the developers of the Beatles edition of the "Rock Band" videogame have released a trailer for the game in advance of its release in the fall. The visuals in the trailer are faithful to the boys from Liverpool, down to every detail. We were as ... More >>

Did Video Games Really Kill Generator-Using Ike Victims?

For a few hours yesterday, the lead story at Chron.com gravely warned Houstonians on the dangers of mixing generators and video games. Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston evidently found that this happened often in the blacked-out weeks in the wake of Hurricane Ik ... More >>

DreamWorks, In Your Face: Monsters vs. Aliens

In this latest round of effects vs. storytelling, effects win. Big.

Santa Round-Up Part Five: The Crying Game

This and every Christmas season the most important person is the baby Jesus, with a bearded, white-haired toy factory owner coming in a close second. Every year we flock to the malls to sit in our kids down on Santa's lap. Sometimes they run off screaming, while others take to the old guy just like ... More >>

House of Lightnin'

Spore Isn't the Leap You've Been Led to Believe

The Revolution Will Be Televised

Video Gaming at the Games? Not This Year, Pal

Olympic Scold

Hero We Go Again with Guitar Hero: World Tour

Fake-instrument overload offers plenty to fret about

Super Cardio Bros. with Wii Fit

Helping the world forget we once loved Thigh Masters, too

Xmas Present & Past

How yesterday's games spawned today's best-sellers

Super Mario Galaxy

A breathtaking journey through space revives Super Mario

Mercury Meltdown Revolution

The Revolution will be televised — and plenty addictive, too

Lair

Lair's fire-breathing dragon is just a big turkey

When Chasing Ambulances, Be Sure to Buckle Up

Resistance Isn't Futile

It's just the only standout in an otherwise shameful launch.

Cred Sheet

Stuff You Need to Know to Avoid Musical Ostracism

All Dressed Up...

PlayStation 3 has potential -- but for the moment, little else

Midnight in the Garden of PS3

Camping out at Best Buy with gamers -- and entrepreneurs