Column Pwn Up
Zelda-xiled
By Kevin Corrigan / February 3, 2012

Ever had a moment so nerdy that you needed to tell the Internet about it? Send your submissions to dorklypwnup at gmail.

Pwn Up: Zelda-xiled - Image 3

I just proposed to my girlfriend. We started planning everything, and I mentioned I wanted to have Solid Snake and Meryl cake toppers. She asked who they were. I told her a requirement to marrying me was to play through MGS1 with me before the ceremony. She said yes!
-Kyle (who sounds more excited to play MGS than to get married)

My fiance and I split up four months ago, after I spent months planning the perfect wedding. It was a zombie-themed wedding, complete with a zombie flash mob that would do the Thriller dance during our first dance, steam punk wedding bands, two wedding cakes (a companion cube and a human head, with red velvet cake brains), 5-inch floppy disk invitations, and a DJ playing nothing but MC Lars, MC Chris, MC Frontalot, etc. My perfect wedding was ruined by the groom.
-BrooklyneB

I secretly like the hair on my toes because it makes me feel like I’m part-hobbit.
-Paige

Two months ago I was coming back to my dorm pretty late. I noticed someone playing Skyward Sword in one of the TV lounges. I’m a huge Zelda fan, so I stopped in to see who it was. It turned out to be an insanely cute girl. Her roommates were using her TV so she’d been Zelda-xiled. We got to talking, and she was quite knowledgable about the whole series. Eventually I had to leave, because she was at the same point in the game as I was, and I didn’t want any spoilers. By a stroke of luck, a friend of hers knew who I was and she added me on Facebook. Two weeks later I asked her out. We’ve been dating ever since.
-Anonymous

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Filed Under   pwn my life
By Steven Romano / February 2, 2012

Article The Dorklyst: The 7 Most Disturbing Moments in Pokemon History

The Dorklyst The 7 Most Disturbing Moments in Pokemon - Image 8

Some people have the absurd notion that Pokemon is nothing more than a series about obnoxiously cute and cuddly critters beating each other to the point of exhaustion — all in the name of friendship and perseverance. Okay, they may be kind of right in that regard, but what these naysayers don’t know is that beneath Pokemon’s misleading exterior there is a seedy underbelly. Here’s our tribute to the most disturbing moments in Pokemon.

7) Celadon City Pervert Alert (Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow Version)

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This elderly individual decided to take full advantage of the Celadon City Police Department’s preoccupation with the influx of Team Rocket grunts to indulge in his voyeuristic pastime: peering through the windows of the Celadon City Gym uninterrupted.

The sleazy geriatric — in the process of pumping his “Diglett” — unabashedly declares “Heheh! This gym is great! It’s full of women!” “Women?” More like a gym full of teen girls trying to hone their trainer skills in peace; preferably without Peeping Toms fogging up the windows. Fortunately for the old coot, your character wasn’t a police officer, because if he were, the old perv’s wrinkly ass would’ve been hauled off to the nearest prison, where he would likely have a firsthand experience with a Horn Drill attack in the communal shower. It’s a one-hit KO!

6) The Final Battle with Wally (Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Version)

The Dorklyst The 7 Most Disturbing Moments in Pokemon - Image 1

Up until Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, your rivals in the game were by and large intolerable asshats that made it a point to go out of their way to either bombard you with putdowns or spring up out of nowhere for a battle you didn’t expectt. Wally, on the other hand, was the complete opposite: meek, kind and — get ready for this one, folks — sickly. What he suffers from isn’t elaborated upon, but it’s enough to cause his family to have a deep concern for his health. And his greatest wish is to be a Pokemon trainer just like you…which causes a moral dilemma here.

Despite his weak condition, and protests from his family, Wally manages to make it to Victory Road for one final challenge against your — at this point — crazy strong character, who he’s been idolizing since the outset. Basically, your battle against Wally is a small child making a wish to the Make A Wish Foundation to play a one-on-one basketball game with his favorite star player. But imagine that this player doesn’t hold back. Instead, he totally brings his A-game, including smack talk, underhanded maneuvers and post-game showboating. That’s your final battle with Wally…and it leaves you feeling like the worst trainer in the history of the game series. So, how does victory taste?

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Filed Under   pokemon   the dorklyst

Column The Weekly IRL
7 Pictures of Custom Stormtroopers
By Staff / February 2, 2012

The Weekly IRL 7 Pictures of Custom Stormtroopers - Image 1


The Weekly IRL 7 Pictures of Custom Stormtroopers - Image 1
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Filed Under   the weekly irl   stormtroopers   star wars

Column Pwn Up
Pwnsident Evil 6
By Kevin Corrigan / January 27, 2012

Ever had a moment so nerdy that you needed to tell the Internet about it? Send your submissions to dorklypwnup at gmail.

 Pwn Up Pwnsident Evil 6 - Image 2

There is this girl I like, but she has a boyfriend and thinks of me only as a friend. Then one evening we were alone and eventually made out. The first thing I said after was “achievement unlocked.” She decided to stay with her boyfriend.
-Anonymous

In college, I convinced the campus doctor that I had a ADHD and got an Adderall prescription. I didn’t have ADHD. I did it so I could stay up all night playing Socom and remain attentive and alert. That’s right. I needed performance enhancing drugs to maintain my 3:1 kill-death ratio.
-Brennan

Last night, I dreamed I was in Skyrim. The dream included long loading screens.
-Anonymous

I was asked to play piano for a funeral. They wanted me to play for about a hour and a half. After 45 minutes, I was running out of songs. I took a risky move and played the Dire Dire Docks theme from Super Mario 64. Nobody noticed. In fact, everybody loved the song.
-Anonymous

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Filed Under   pwn my life
By Staff / January 26, 2012

Article The 15 Most Frustrating Situations in Videogames

The 15 Most Frustrating Situations in Videogames - Image 16

There is a new king in the land of broken controllers! After receiving almost 1.3 million votes, the most rage-inducing moment has finally been crowned. I’d like to thank the gaming community for the huge turnout, but in reality, it was probably just a couple guys voting a few hundred thousand times each. So this one’s for you, Paul and Mike. You guys really hit it out of the park.

15. Not realizing you’re fighting enemies that will respawn indefinitely and wasting all your health and ammo trying to finish them all off

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You weren’t supposed to win, you were supposed to run away. Unfortunately, the game decided to let you figure this out on your own. Since you’re a total fake badass and NEVER back down from a fake fight, you didn’t figure it out until you’d already unloaded clip after clip into the unending army of minions. Now you’re off to the next section of the game barely clinging to life. Annnnnnd it just auto-saved. Beautiful.

14. Running out of inventory slots

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Gamers are hoarders by nature. We are obsessive collectors. Even useless items somehow find their way into our inventories, because hey, those can be sold for gold and we like collecting gold; even when we’ve already got all the best items in the game. Thus, a full inventory is our sworn enemy: You’re suddenly faced with the realization that you can’t keep all that phat loot you’ve been picking up along the way. Some particularly cruel games won’t even let you drop items, meaning you’ve got to run back to your item box any time you fill up. I’m looking at you, Resident Evil.

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Filed Under   lists   toplists   frustrating situations
By Dan Siegel / January 23, 2012

Article 9 More Game of Thrones Pick-up Lines



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Filed Under   pickup lines   game of thrones

Column Gamebook
iPhone Games Invade Facebook
By Staff / January 20, 2012


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Column Pwn Up
Star Trek Pwrn
By Kevin Corrigan / January 20, 2012

Ever had a moment so nerdy that you needed to tell the Internet about it? Send your submissions to dorklypwnup at gmail.

Last week I went to a hockey game. There was a young girl sitting next to me. She was playing a DS. I noticed that she dropped her stylus, so I picked it up for her. “Here, I think you dropped this,” said I. “Oh, thanks buddy,” said her father. “She’s always losing that thing.” I chuckled and said, “I know how they can be, I have one of my own.” “Yeah. They’re something special all right,” he said. “They sure are,” I said. I think he thought I was talking about daughters. I was talking about my DS.
-G

I have a little Christmas tradition (late I know, shut up). On Christmas Eve, I go into every one of my Pokemon games and send each character home for Christmas to spend it with their mom.
-Anonymous

After realizing how massive the Skyrim world is, I printed out a map and taped it to my wall. I mark off the dungeons as I complete them with a marker. I’m too ashamed to let other people see it, so I keep it hidden under a college banner. I only take it out when my door is closed and locked.
-Nick S

My fiance and I are getting married in April. To get ready for the reception, she’s been having us practice with Dance Central 2.
-James

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Filed Under   pwn my life
By Sophie Prell / January 19, 2012

Article The Dorklyst: 7 of the Most Blatant Rip-Offs in Videogame History

Hi everybody! Sophie Prell won’t be joining us today. Instead, allow me to introduce myself in her stead. I am Sofia Bell, video game journalist, humor writer, and just plain good-lookin’ gal on the Internet. My lawyer has advised me to state that, for the record, I have never heard of Sophie Prell, and any similarities between my own writing and hers are purely coincidental. That disclaimer firmly – and totally legally! – out of the way, I thought I’d bring with my introduction a present. Dear Dorkly, I give you seven of the most blatant video game rip-offs of all time!

Ironyyyyyy…

7. Fighter’s History

Let’s face it, there isn’t a single fighting game in all of history that makes a whole lot of sense, and likewise none that are too original. Fighter A punches Fighter B, both are competing to be top dog in the world’s greatest martial arts tournament, which is secretly run by an evil dictator/corporation/demon/all of the above. Have I just described the plot to your favorite fighting game? Have I just described the plot to all of them?

Well not Fighter’s History! Fighter’s History was different, by god! At least, it was legally ruled to be so when Capcom sued developer Data East over copyright infringement. Why the suit? Oh, no reason. It totally looks like its own game. But hey, you know what Street Fighter never had? A weirdly androgynous Chun-Li. Mmm, just think about what might come from that spinning bird kick.

6. Great Giana Sisters

Let it never be said that early video game developers didn’t believe in the concept of gender equality. Or maybe just a cheap buck. Take a look at this screenshot. Or this one. Even the recent port and upgrade for the DS version barely changes what is clearly a rip off of Super Mario Bros. tripping balls on acid. Goombas now have horns, lobster-ants crawl through lava, and Lovecraftian eyeball-tentacle monsters lie in wait around every corner.

And what in the goddamn is up with that cover? I understand that early games had notoriously bad presentation with their art, but this looks like the artist didn’t know if they were going for a Heavy Metal homage or if they wanted to purposefully confuse every young male gamer’s erection into painful submission. Is this game for children? I don’t know! What’s that dragon doing in the background? No idea! My entire reaction to this game can be summarized as a succinct and elegant, “What is this, I don’t even.”

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Filed Under   the dorklyst

Column The Weekly IRL
Gamers Nailin' It
By Staff / January 19, 2012



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Filed Under   the weekly irl