There was no shortage of tiki-themed events in Orange County on Saturday. For those who hovered about the Garden Grove area, there was the Original Tiki Marketplace; and for those who gravitated towards Santa Ana, there was first the Tiki Island Expo, a marketplace with live music at Original Mike’s, and then Escape to Tiki […]
Geeking Out
Sega’s Irvine-Based Localization Team Brings Japanese Culture to the Gaming World
Thanks to household names like Nintendo and Sony, Japan’s influence on video games is hard to overstate. In the 35 years since the Nintendo Entertainment System released, gamers all over the world have enjoyed the fruits of Japan’s labor, but it’s only been in the last few years that Japanese games designed for a Japanese […]
After Two Decades of Collecting Artifacts from Disneyland, Agent Richard Kraft is Ready to ‘Let It Go’
“This was on the side of the Disneyland Hotel in the 1960s,” explains Mike Van Eaton, owner of the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks. He gestures to a giant, red neon illuminated letter “D” that stands “12 times the size of God”– to borrow a phrase from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. What […]
Vinny Newsom and Russell McKamey Are Redefining Music—One Video Game at a Time. Just Ask Your Kids
It could be the sunlight bouncing off his shiny purple hair or the bit of IPA foam resting just under his 1970s-style mustache—or maybe it’s his boisterously displayed opinions on topics such as YouTube algorithms and new Overwatch characters—but Vinny Newsom is drawing more than a few middle-aged eyes to his table at Riip Beer […]
E3 Shows Nostalgia is Still the Reigning Champion in Video Games
If you’d fallen into a coma for the last decade or two, this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo would’ve been technologically mind-blowing — yet incredibly familiar as far as actual content goes. Aside from a handful of relatively unfamiliar names like Death Stranding, Control, and Ghost of Tsushima, the vast majority of the new releases and announcements at video […]
Lebowski Fest Brings Saddam, the Real Dude and Logjammin! Car to Fountain Bowl
Saddam, Jesus Quintana’s bowling teammate Liam, Karl Hungus’ convertible, a whole bunch of Dudes and the real-life inspiration for Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski gather at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley Saturday night. That is when and where part two of Lebowski Fest LA, the celebration of all things The Big Lebowski, will be held–and […]