Link roundup

1. Battlestar Galactica Online is a free to play space combat game. (But it crashed in Chrome when I tried to load it.) Via.

2. The original Tron is available for preorder on Blu-Ray for a ridiculous $28 at at Amazon. For some reason, they're selling the DVD and Blu-Ray together.

3. Watch BMW's "The Future Just Isn't What It Used to Be." (Ignore the title, it's optimistic about space travel.)

Link roundup

1. Part of the Bulletstorm promotion is a full downloadable first person shooter called Duty Calls that mocks the Call of Duty series. (Alas, my computer is too old to run it.) Via.

2. Funny "complimentary" email to an artist.

3. Ice cream princess.

*Buy the Bulletstorm Epic Edition at Amazon.

You have to burn the rope

Alright, first, go play You Have to Burn the Rope, an absolutely delightful game. I got more enjoyment out of it then the last Zelda DS game I played.

If you're having trouble, there's an in depth manual, and here's a full walkthrough:



And probably the best end credits theme ever:



It's inspired fan videos complete with very dramatic music:



And even a remake in Little Big Planet:



Via.

Link roundup

1. Frank Frazetta tribute show (scroll down). Via.

2. Goblin War Machine is a fun flash game where you destroy medieval towns with an upgradeable buggy. Via.

3. Video showing off close combat kill animations in Halo Reach.

*Buy Halo toys at eBay.

Play a Japanese demake of Fallout

Presumably more fun if you can read Japanese, play a Japanese demake of Fallout. As far as I can tell, it fights for you, but you get to make various dialog choices. Via.

*Buy Fallout bobbleheads at eBay.

Link roundup

1. PETA's right, Polar Bear Payback is a very fun game.

2. The Nissan Leaf has a built-in game which ranks your energy efficiency against other owners.

3. "A 28-year-old police officer in the Mexican border town of Guadalupe, Erika Gándara, has been missing since gunmen stormed her home last Thursday. She was the last remaining cop in the town after her colleagues had resigned or been killed."

Link roundup

1. Get in the spirit of the holiday with Adult Swim's addictive game Mountain Maniac Xmas. It's sort of like pachinko crossed with rampage, where you control a Department Store Santa consumed with RAGE. (You control the boulders' path by moving right and left.)

2. Another Christmas drawing by Charles Santoso.

3. Maltese paper toy.

*Buy ornaments at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Bat Country is a fun free game that lets you pilot a helicopter against giant bats, enormous sharks, and more. (Make sure you get good at slinging the bombs.) Via.

2. "Free Print-and-Fold Guide Offers 10 Tips for First-Time Android Owners."

3. How to use Mechanical Turk to get a story on the NY Times's most emailed story list. Via.

*The HTC Droid Incredible is one penny at Amazon.

Link roundup

1. Anyone have any valuable feedback about One True Fan? I was thinking of adding it to the site.

2. Naomi Campbell wore couture to every day of her court-mandated community service.

3. If you're in the mood for a Canabalt clone with fancier graphics, try I Must Run. Via.

Link roundup

1. Detroit is utopia?

2. 13 songs in Spin's latest batch of free music.

3. Interesting experience - - try out Mr. Doob's Multiuser Sketchpad. Start drawing and someone might join you.

Play a remake of the original Batman video game

I can't vouch for the gameplay, but the price is certainly right, download a free remake of the original Batman video game:

Help BatMan find seven pieces of the BatCraft scattered around the caves, mansion and other places. In the end find the BatCraft and finish this adventure.

Via.

*Buy Batman Happy Meal toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Fun time waster: Knifetank: The Hauntening, a web based point and click adventure in a creepy mansion.

2. Long article at Fast Company about Boing Boing. This quote from Cory Doctorow struck home:

"I don't know what a liquidity event for Boing Boing would look like," Doctorow continues, "except for a job. If we were acquired by some content giant, if Yahoo or someone bought us out, it's just a job at Yahoo." (This is purely hypothetical, he says.) "If I wanted a job at Yahoo, I'd go look for a job there; they post listings pretty regularly. I'm glad not to have a job. I don't want a job."

I came to that same realization after an extremely short-lived experiment blogging elsewhere earlier this year. So short I didn't even have time to mention it here.

3. Really nice photos of one of Neca's Alien figures. (The site is full of high quality photos of expensive toys.)

*Buy Neca toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Here's a fun, mindless timewaster: play as a girl in a sanitarium who swings her straitjacket sleeves to attack nurses and other enemies.

2. Rock Paper Shotgun calls Telltale's new poker game Poker Night At The Inventory "beyond dreadful."

3. Things From Another World has posted its Black Friday deals, including $1 comic book "door busters."

Link roundup

1. Cupcake/cake giveaway. Via.

2. A college basketball coach has decided to dress like a clown to attract (positive?) attention to his team. Via.

3. Kotaku's picks for the best free games on the PC.

You must play Sydney Shark

You know this image of a humongous shark attacking a soldier climbing into helicopter?



Well, imagine if it was turned into a free video game with simple, yet delightful instructions:



In case you missed that, the instructions included, "Try to bite aircrafts and pull them down into the water." You must play Sydney Shark. Via.

*Buy Jaws posters at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Here's an interesting flash game - - in a Mario-esque 2D platformer, you control the platform to assist the adventurer. Via.

2. Eric Merced is once again selling great sketch cards cheap - - "full color for $10.00 (+ $2.00 shipping/ $3.00 outside the USA) + $5.00 each additional character."

3. Robot 6 picks "six x-rated comics you can read without shame."

*Buy sketch cards at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Kotaku's list of best free iPhone games.

2. New There Will Be Blood t-shirt at Last Exit to Nowhere.

3 Gallery 1988 is currently welcoming submissions.

*Buy iPads at eBay.

Link roundup

1. I haven't tried it yet, but Rock, Paper, Shotgun recommends the free game Escape from the Underworld.

2. Photo of a baby elephant with its trunk stuck in a crocodile's mouth. Via these sites.

3. The winner of Gizmodo's sexy robot costume contest was a woman dressed as a Slave Leia/Terminator.

*Buy Slave Leia toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. I highly recommend this video game/music video for Team Me's Weathervanes and Chemicals. Clever, albeit frustrating jumping, and the song's great. Via.

2. And Thomas Was Alone is a fun puzzle game.

3. Tweet and win manga.

Link roundup

1. Bill Simmons:

Here's a fun story for you: A few weeks after the Clippers fired Mike Dunleavy last winter, someone called me out of the blue asking for help getting their vacant GM job. I had never talked to this person before in my life. I have no idea how he obtained my number. But that didn't stop him from lobbying me for the next 15 minutes as I said things like, "You don't understand, I only do things like that for Daryl Morey." (Just kidding. I did say, "Sorry, I just don't do things like that." Which is true.) Even better, this person was employed by another NBA team at the time. Now, assuming I helped him get the job -- and by the way, that's my favorite part of the story, that anyone thought the notoriously oblivious Clippers could be swayed by an online columnist -- what would I get in return? You guessed it … scoops! Breaking news!

2. The murder of a Palestinian official in Dubai by assassins captured on camera has lead to zero arrests. Via.

3. Free Star Wars digital jigsaw puzzles.

*Buy Super Spy by Matt Kindt at Amazon.