Geek Chic Lifestyle #5 Accessories (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

*On a side note: who's ready for spring? I know I am. Okay, back to the matter at hand.

Oooooooh weeeee you geeky gals can pile on the extras on your outfits. Let's take a hint from Coco Chanel who brilliantly said "Before you leave the house, take something off." Less is always more when it comes to accessories. So let's do this.

Bracelets:

Even Bollywood doesn't go this overkill. Try again.

Now that's how you flash a little gold. Doesn't need anything else because it makes a big enough statement on its own. Even with the thin bangles, they should not being up to your elbows, that's a lot of jingling noise.

Necklaces:

Geeky girls are notorious for fashioning jewelery to make a counter culture statement. Please refer to the below example.

Now this is fabulous, I can't help but love. But if you're looking for something more work appropriate or just something a little more clandestine perhaps we could try something more like the following.

Oh yes, yes, yes. How chic is this!? Play your cards right and you can rock that at the club.

Rings:

Does this look familiar? Don't shake your head at me liar! You know damn well there's a good portion of you out there with hands decked out like this that could overload a metal detector. Knock this mess off! Are you planning on punching someone in the face and leaving funny markings on their forehead? Because if that's the case I'll allow it, but once the job is finished, those things need to come off.

Now aren't these adorable? Not only do they make a subtle, geeky statement, but it's also just enough. You'd be amazed how much more of an impact you can make when you don't lather on so much. You don't want to bury those cute little things under a ton of loud ass rings do you?

Belts:

As promised from my last installment, I will tell you how to use your more flamboyant belts in grown person fashion but first I need to show you an example of what needs to be thrown out by the time you're 20.

These things scream "I'm 15!" Not to mention you cannot get that glitter off of you to save your life!

I for one am in love with the comic belt, and I see a lot of you ladies with 'em which is wonderful. HOWEVER, when you rock these belts with loud tees and all the damn bracelets and rings you like to put on, the belt gets buried. Again, you can make a larger statement with less. Keep the shirt you wear with this more on the neutral side and rock a good pair of jeans that fit like we talked about last time and it's all good.

I would also like to make a quick note on belt buckles:

Okay, this is a great set to make my point. First off, no nerdy belt buckle works for work, unless you have one of those awesome jobs we talked about. Okay ladies, quiz time, which buckle is the one I'll let you wear?

The answer is the Transformer piece in the middle. Why? Because it's clearly a belt buckle and not something that looks like it's been welded to your pants. And ladies, I do not under any circumstances want to see Vader near your lady business, he can't do anything for you, he's wearing a helmet. Note the size of the controller, it's pretty big. Boys are allowed to rock larger buckles because a good portion of them need to over compensate. Just kidding, it's just a subtle form of male peacocking that I happily tolerate. So ladies, do you really want to draw that much attention to your crotch region? I'd much rather have 'em talking to my rack personally. If they're looking down there, that's just uncomfortable.

I'm not going to cover hats, sunglasses or watches because I can honestly say my geeky girlfriends do just fine when it comes to those three. So good job sub culture! We win one! Love you guys, see you soon.

XBL Pro: Just Doing His Job

Do not get it twisted, the "Pro that abuses his power" is no abuser, and that was a terrible editing job. I've seen all the videos and there are a few things I would like to see happen.

1. Parents: PAY ATTENTION! Do you hear the way these CHILDREN (not old enough to play these games) and the way they speak!? I for one am tired of listening to these nasty mouthed little punks when it's past their bedtime. They say the most ignorant, disgusting shit and ruins my gaming experience. It's on your credit card, just cut 'em off!

2. I am very happy that Microsoft has made it clear that this "PRO" was merely following procedure. I hope this will put a little fear into the modders and cheaters, the ban hammer does exist and honestly, I was beginning to doubt it.

Especially when I see shit like this popping up all over the web. Get a f**king life.

3. I hope Microsoft will cover the therapy costs that the Pro will need by the time he's done dealing with these gremlins.

The fact is, these little monsters were CHEATING aka BEING ASS HOLES aka DESERVED TO BE BANNED! END OF STORY. Glad we could have this talk. Considering that Sugar Gamers takes offense to cheaters, we salute you Pro man and are big fans of your work.

Brink: FPS Revolution? We Shall See (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

Splash Damage has made some heavy promises with it's latest FPS project Brink.

On a planet that has been flooded (I'm really hoping there's no global warming reference here, that would be minus points), there stands a haven, heavily guarded by security who often come to blows with outside refugees. There are many different sides to the story as to who is the villain. A factor in game play is you can jump around to any mission and complete them in any order and not get lost in the plot.

Supposedly, you will have endless customization options with your characters. You'll choose from heavy to light body frames, this will help determine what kind of weapons you'll be able to use. SD has also claimed it will take classes to a new level. There several classes to choose, far more than I'm used to seeing which may very well be a good sign and of course will add campaign replay value.

The game will feature 24 weapons to unlock, for some reason this is a number I feel comfortable with. Too little is boring and often too many weapons become somewhat redundant. There are also perks and capabilities to unlock. Perhaps the biggest news to come out of this project so far is the SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain)function during game play. Apprently this function will allow you to climb or traverse difficult terrain faster. Some have criticized this as way to bring in less experienced FPS gamers. Usually the turn off for non FPS players is getting shot mercilessly over and over, I don't see how easier travelling would fix that unless it lets you run away. However I love a moving target and so do snipers, so I'm gonna hope that wasn't the intention.

My biggest anticipation is the muliplayer system. I haven't heard any specific game types yet, but there is a featured function I am very curious about. There will be an objective wheel that has certain commands that allow your teammates to know your intentions or alert them to a situation that needs to be taken care of. Basically it's supposed to eliminate the pointless call outs you and your friends try to make during game while talking over one another. It should also make even the most selfish pricks want to help their out their team to gain some XP. If you select an object that is high priority, you'll gain more XP. If this works out ,that would be great, I'm terrible with call outs, I'm too busy in gaming space to remember to call them out, and then I tell my teammates something after they're dead, which they don't appreciate.

Splash Damage has developed almost everything on their own. This includes the dynamic objective system, and the character customization. Brink is set to release this fall for PC, PS3, and Xbox360. If they can deliver on these promises, SD might be my new bff, I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed. We'll keep you updated.

Mass Effect 2: Just Squint a Little (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

If you're not working with a high definition television, more than likely you can't read the text in Mass Effect 2 making the game unplayable.

Now I'm trying to be as sympathetic as possible. Even though this effects a rather small portion of gamers, it's still a hefty number. And I know I'd be pissed. I do feel for those left out. It would appear the only option is to get with the program.

Well, some things go together. iPOD and iTunes, chips and dip and awesome newly released video games and HD TV's. A statement was issued that it was a design decision made by the company. I don't think one could call it a costly decision, but not everyone can afford a new TV right now. However, the truth is, gaming has become a pass time for the technologically advanced. I'm not making the rules here, I'm just being captain obvious.

If you can throw down for your xbox, and all the hot games, you can probably scrounge together enough money for a 30" HD from WalMart. Just consider it as a long term gaming investment. And Mass Effect 2 is awesome and I would completely condone the purchase of a new TV to play it. Actually that puts in the Hardcore category of gamers. It's all about how many meals you'll sacrifice to get your game on.

Halo 2 We Will Miss You (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

"Dual wielding ass hole!"

"Damn it, f**king needlers!"

"I love this sword!!! Ahahahah!"

Any of these sound familiar? They should, these words were commonplace back when Halo 3 was still in it's infancy and we were all hooked on killing each other in Halo 2. Halo 2 was not about length, it was the gift that kept giving with it's multi-player mayhem. Well, get your game on while you can on this FPS classic because Xbox will soon no longer support original Xbox multi-player.

You've got roughly a week left to enjoy this oldie but goodie. I will be hosting lobbies every night until it's removed. Enjoy the Shotgun, the snipe, and the joy of needling the shit out of some one with dual wielded needlers. It may be a little somber, but we must move on, to bigger and better things. As gamers we know we have to embrace the changes but we will never forget.

Geek Chic Lifestyle # 4 Tee-Shirt & Jeans, There's a right way to do it (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

Here we are again, miss me? Who wouldn't right? Okay, tee-shirt and jeans, is this really an issue? YES! Omg I love you guys but some of ya'll have managed to mess up this simple look. I for one am a major fan of T&J's, it's practically my uniform. So, let's work from the ground up.

Jeans aka Denim, aka every girls least favorite thing to shop for. Here are some golden rules for Jeans.

1. The ruffed up vintage look is cute, BUT keep the holes to a minimum and very small. NO ONE SHOULD SEE YOUR SPIDER MAN UNDERPANTS!!

Save those for the lucky nerd who bags you.

2. You know those rubbed out light spots on the ass and thighs that you sometimes see? That is the most evil, stupid, ugly thing any designer has ever done to denim. It highlights areas most real women don't want highlighted and on our more slender girls, it just looks like your washing machine hates you. Just go ahead and skip those.

3. Simple fact, darker washes are slimming, lighter washes are not. The darker the jean, the slimmer you'll look.

4. Fit. Yeah I know, "jeans are supposed to fit?" Yes you silly geeky gooses, they're to supposed to FIT! What do I mean by fit? No matter the cut, jeans should give some definition to the buns buns. You should be able to sport a pair of jeans without a belt being a must to hold them up. On the other end of this argument, you should be able to BREATHE! You know, taking in oxygen so that you can function? Yeah, you have to be able to do that. You're allowed to expend a little energy putting on jeans but it shouldn't be WWIII, you got me? Zipping 'em up should take little effort.

Now that's a good fit. Notice that you can see the buns buns but she's not gasping for air.

5. Belts are good, they add a little polish. Of course, big girl belts add polish. Belts with bottle caps, ten tons of glitter or anything of the sort just make you look like you're trying to be twelve. (Now, I'm not telling you to dump your frilly belts, wait for the next installment of this blog and I'll show how to make those work in grown up fashion.)

Okay, Tee-shirts. We are geeks, we are die hard fans and we like to show it via the tee. And I love that we like to show it. But now I'm gonna give you some tips on how to make it fashion forward.

1. Again with fit, you guys really drive me crazy with this one. If you could only find that anime tee-shirt in the XXX men's size and you're swimming in it, guess what? That one is gonna have to stay in your pajama section, sorry. A good tee covers, the tummy and bust while giving definition but not squeezing you.

2. I'm gonna go ahead and say, as long as it fits as I have described above, you can buy any sort of geeky graphic you want. Although I will say, the more subtle, the easier it is to work with.

3. Vests, vests work wonders on making geeky tees look more grown up. Not just any vests. No puffys, and no bright colors. I want neutrals, that way they can be used with lots of outfits and tone down the tee. Below are some good examples that are easy to work with:

2. Scarves. Easy to put on, you don't need to wash them that often and are typically very affordable. Again, we're trying to tone down the kid vibe, but this one allows a lot more fun. I promise, just remember that if the tee has a lot of color, you'll probably want the scarf to be more on the neutral side or stick to solid colors. Otherwise you can make a boring geek tee into something more interesting with color or patterns. Below are some really fun and great examples that should work with even the busiest tees:

3. Jacket. I'm not talking about outdoor jackets, I'm talking about blazers and casual jackets. This is a great weapon to make a geeky tee look really sophisticated. I'm gonna with the same rules as the vests, keep 'em simple and neutral, I'll allow some prints and maybe a splash f color. Lemme show you some examples:

There are tons of jackets in all sizes that are very flattering. For my fellow curvier women I am going to tell you to be careful of the cropped jackets that cut off just under the bust, these don't really work for women like us.

Well look at you know, the T&J crisis has been averted, hooray! I always love our chats here. Thanks for reading and understanding my tough love, I do it because I love you, never forget that.

Heavy Rain: Sneak Preview Thanks to Game Stop (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

On a cold February evening, Game Stop was kind enough to open it's doors to Sugar Momma and I for an exclusive look at "Heavy Rain," PS3's hot project.

So, what makes "Heavy Rain" such a big hype machine? For one, there's a lot of highly sensative motion controls. You can't just throw the controller around like a Wii controller while playing Mario Party. You gotta treat it like a lady. You can also interact with almost anything, and of course, all actions come with consequences. You make a lot of decisions, from little ones to big ones not knowing how big the ripple effect will be. I can already tell there will no doubt be great replay factor with the sheer size of decisions and directions you can take.

The graphics are good, now I wasn't looking at a finished product so I won't make my final call on looks until this baby is born. Same goes for somewhat choppy dialog. The only thing I'm pretty certain won't change is the "Origami Killer" title. Oh geez, I gotta tell ya, it just sounds kinda cheesy, but I'll leave it alone. You never know, Halo Recon became ODST in a flash so maybe there's still a chance for a change, but I'm not counting on it.

The game is trying to build an atmosphere that will soon come crashing down. You do get somewhat pulled in, but I personally have the attention span of a fish and couldn't stay put for long. There's a very light, lala land kind of intro with bright light filters which turns into gritty grays after the murders occur. It's was very much like playing through an

atmospheric suspense movie.

I won't lie, I hope the hype can be maintained at a decent level. Sometimes too much talk can kill games like this. again, I was not looking at a finished product so none of my thoughts here are final.

Our own Sugar Momma, Ms. Keisha Howard was actually able to get her hands on the controller to experience the game demo first hand. Look for her follow up piece on her experiences coming soon.

Mass Effect: Dominating my Game Time (By Rebecca "Bonks" Rothschild)

Holy shit! Mass Effect is back and Bioware pulled out all the stops. You ever hear your online friends when they're playing? No you don't, the are long gone, swept up in a great story, damn decent graphics and fluid controls. Sitting there completely enthralled, and more than likely drooling.

I don't like to give too much away when I post up these alerts, but allow me to say a few things. At the very least, I'm going to have to demand that you either rent this, or steal it from a friend.

Looks: It's a sleek, spacey beauty. Smooth, dark filter with juicy hues. On another note, the faces on these characters look good in all lights. No weird deformed looks due to poor shading. Even the ugliest of team members look downright sexy.

The Wheel: Controls are good, they do certainly have a Gears like feel which suits me fine. There's a wheel to select your moves from. I have heard that some think there's too many shooter similarities. I respectfully cannot agree. You can't treat this game like shooter, the action expands way beyond that. The only thing about gameplay that might drive you kinda nuts is how long some of these cut aways are.

The Gang: Oh you'll come to love 'em all. A rag tag team of freaks, killers and clowns. Some character development will overshadow others. Some of the more colorful characters do fall short in development which is probably why they get more of those snappy one liners. Truth be told, there's almost too many cool guys. How's about one mellow dude who really doesn't do much but make the cool guys look cooler. I feel like everyone is competing cool game character of the year.

The Story: It makes sense, you won't get lost, but if you watch Sy Fy, you may have seen this plot before.

Replay Value: You can play through as several characters and behave in all sorts of ways. I gotta say, more often than not, it pays to be bad, but that's just me. This may be the one section where I gotta pump the breaks on the hype. After one time through you DO realize that all decisions make an impact. HOWEVER, after round two it becomes very predictable. Similar to KOTOR, I was soon able to figure out how to work the system which takes away a pretty big chunk of the fun.

All In all I'm gonna give a 8.5/10 sugar cubes. And that's more than enough to sweeten your coffee, go ahead and check this one out.

The Losers Movie?!

How did I not know they were doing a "Losers" movie 'til right now?! Dude, I loves the Losers, have you guys read this?! From the looks of the trailer I'd say it has a good chance of being pretty dead on to the storyline, but of course that's always a coin toss. Oh and Zoe Saldana was a great cast for her role. Do yourself a solid and look up the trailer, this is a hell yeah for me.

For those of you who haven't stuck their nose into this series, it is a great modern comic series with an anti hero twist from Vertigo. A pack of characters from the deadliest American agencies have fallen off the reservation and are looking for a little payback. Ever wonder what would happen if a bunch of government rejects decided to declare war on the C.I.A? Well, "The Losers" can give you at least one scenario. Written by Andy Diggle, and signature, gritty art by Jock. A few words to give an idea of what to expect: guns, explosions, witty banter, and just downright sexy.