Soon that empty space will be filled with people playing Tatsunoko VS. Capcom, Marvel VS. Capcom 2 and Super Street Fighter IV, and while you won’t be able to join them, you’ll at least be able to watch them via Capcom’s Ustream channel, which will be broadcasting until the end of the event. Witness the joy on fans’ faces as they revel in competition! Envy the amazingly good time they are having. Or, you know, enjoy this relatively empty room. Your choice!

You can watch the stream via the little doohickey below, or hit up the channel page to break the first rule of Fight Club.

Video streaming by Ustreamhttp://www.ustream.tv/channel/pac

I suppose the Empire State is in cutting-edge democracy-lab mode for this one, having seen the devastation wrought by a rogue PSP player on a Honolulu bus. Yes, this is a blanket ban on using all portable electronics, and is probably meant to stop driving while texting, which is more profligate and a bigger problem than playing Patapon on the Thruway. But the ban is only a secondary violation – meaning you have to get popped for something else first before you can be cited for the $US150 fine.

Now, if a cop rolls up beside you while you’re scratching on the DS, my guess is he’ll consider you’re driving carelessly, pull you over for that, and then slap you with driving-while-gaming. So it’s not like you can flout this so long as you’re buckled up, doing the speed limit and have all tail lights intact. But if so, it kind of raises the question why this law is necessary in the first place.

When I start my own state legislature, we are going to ban driving while making belgian waffles. Just putting that out there now.

NY State Bans Texting, Gaming, Surfing While Driving [GamePolitics]

The faux island getaway on Times Square’s Military Island, 7th and Broadway avenues, will be open to everyone from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on July 23. The real world Wuhu Island will include game demonstrations, giveaways and a bar serving tropical non-alcoholic drinks.

It will also, if the stars align, include one sweaty Stephen Totilo on assignment from Kotaku. See you there.

The Legendary Starfy for the Nintendo DS might have been released in North America early last month, but it’s never too late to raise brand awareness. From 1pm to 3pm this Saturday, July 11th, Starfy himself will be on hand at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, posing for photos in a special underwater-themed area. There’ll be prizes to be won, demos to be played, and yes – face painting.

We’ve been trying desperately to get Totilo to show up and get his face painted, and shall continue to do so long after this event has come and gone.

Up to 100 players will be entered in the game, which begins at 7 pm, so if you want to participate, you should plan on getting there early. (It’s at 354 W. 45th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.)

Here’s how it works: Pitfall! levels will be projected onto a back wall and floor of a theatre stage. A rope is suspended from the middle of the ceiling. Team members must advance through the level by running, jumping or swinging over pits, alligators, snakes and other obstacles.

Grabbing treasures gives a team 4,000 points – touching a rolling log deducts 100, just like in the 1982 game. Teams will play until they lose all four members or 5 minutes are up, whichever comes first. The winner gets a trophy made from the original 2600 cartidge.

Sounds like a neat idea. If anyone goes, snap some pics and send them to me or to tips. We’ll run them tomorrow.

Pitfall! Live at the Tank [Come Out and Play 2009]

Reader TheMissing sent in this pic from the party showing off the free t-shirt he snagged and the Doc’s Remedy chocolate bar that was given out with a purchase of the game.

Nintendo sent out a clutch of photos showing all of the folks who arrived at the store to try and nab the title of World Video Boxing Association champion. Cyr F. of Jersey City took home the trophy.

The production projects vintage game graphics onto the stage, uses 8-bit era music and an EGA colour palette theme for set pieces and costumes. The story is about a generic Hero type who goes out to fight the dreaded Octopus Cult and win the love of a Peasant Girl.

“King’s Quest is definitely the primary influence and like the Sierra games in general, like Space Quest and Quest for Glory – all the ones where you had a guy like walk around and you type some commands,” co-producer Chris Chappell told us by phone today.

Like Homestar Runner’s Peasant Quest spoof game, Adventure Quest uses common conventions and pitfalls from PC adventure gaming to move the plot forward. Chappell described a scene in which the Hero finds himself in a cemetery with no idea what to do. In desperation, he randomly starts combining things in his inventory and trying to give them to a man he meets. Finally, and for no apparent reason, the man accepts a tea set, makes Cemetery Tea and the hero is allowed to continue on.

Adventure Quest isn’t just about being nostalgic and funny, however. “It has some interesting things to say,” said Chappell. He explained that the play’s debut is part of a series of plays in The Brick’s Antidepressant Festival that all explore happiness and adjustment in the face of difficult or depressing situations.

“[The Hero] gradually becomes self aware as the game goes on […] and he starts killing people,” said Chappell, “It actually gets pretty dark.”

But without giving away the play’s ending, he said, there is hope for the Hero. “Even in a world like that you can find your way.”

Adventure Quest hits The Brick June 2 for the Antidepressant Festival and will keep running from July 2 through July 25 as part of the Game Play theatre showcase, which features three different plays that take place within or are built around video games. You can check out a cute text adventure the play’s producers have put together here and get a walkthrough for it on the play’s Facebook page.

First step, off-Broadway theatre, next mainstream musicals and then… the world!

That’s because the work, called “Here & There”, was partly inspired by Halo (which, it must be noted, was in turn influenced by the work of Larry Niven). But that’s not where the gaming influence ends: while cataloguing the inspiration for the piece, Schulze writes “I don’t like the way maps (in-game maps) work in most video games.”

“They seem to break my flow of play, and locating one’s actor in the game isn’t satisfying. I’d love to see a first person or third person shooter where the landscape bent up to reveal a limited arc of the landscape in plan over distance.”

So in putting the map together, the creators cite not just Halo, but Grand Theft Auto, SimCity, Syndicate and even Luigi’s Mansion as having contributed towards their idea for the picture, all (presumably) because of the way they depict the world around the player.

Here & There influences [Here & There, via Gizmodo]

Yesterday, Nintendo held a Rhythm Heaven Scratch DJ Academy event in New York to promote the release of the DS title.

Gamers who showed up were able to check out the rhythm game and then received free DJ lessons from professional DJs. Did anyone here go? Looking at the photos it looks like attendance may have been light.