This week San Francisco is hosting the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC), and lucky for us locals, the Hotel des Arts is celebrating by opening their unique space to the “Into the Pixel” and “Video Game Art Show” exhibitions. Opening night is this Thursday, March 11 from 6pm – 10pm, and is free to all. The show will be up through April.

I found it surprisingly difficult to find out much about the event, as unfortunately the Hotel des Arts’ website hasn’t been updated recently. But according to Game Scenes:

In addition to the Into the Pixel exhibition on the main floor of the Hotel des Arts, all five floors of San Francisco’s ‘Art Hotel’ will be filled with artwork ‘from and inspired by video games’. … Gallery partners for this unique VIDEO GAME ART SHOW include Super7, Gallery 1988, Project One Gallery, and the START SOMA art gallery.

Joystiq also reports that the entire fourth floor will be dedicated to art from the making of EA’s “Dante’s Inferno”. The Game Scenes article also has some interesting history on the “Into the Pixel” shows, as well as some examples from last year. I’m loving this sneak peek of some art which will be shown at the Video Game Art Show, from 3 Fish Studios (my original source for the show). Eric shared the image above in his March newsletter. Keep reading for directions to the show, along with a view of one of Hotel des Arts’ rooms.

I’ve been so slow on the upkeep and these were meant to be Valentine’s Day gift guides, but guess what– as the Mr. constantly points out– you love your mate more than just on Valentine’s Day so why wouldn’t you want to gift them things even if it wasn’t the commercial day of love. So, I’ve sat through countless Etsy pages searching for affordable presents… here are top gift suggestions for gamers. You’ll excuse me as most items are targeted to women– but I did find some men’s stuff… hit the jump to check it out…

Today is the official release of Bioshock 2. Before I go any further I want to put it out there that I’ve yet to play the first Bioshock, but I’ve spent several hours watching both my Mr. and younger brother play through it. Although I didn’t play it (which will change soon since I hope to be playing it at some point this week), I can tell that I’ve never seen such a cinematic game. With the release of the second installment– NECA has released the Big Daddy Bouncer (above) and the EVE Syringe replica (below).

Tenacious Toys is currently taking pre-orders for the plush and you can go here to reserve your very own. It’ll cost you $24.00. I found the syringe at Entertainment Earth– the pre-order will cost you $15.99, you can click here for your very own. I want both, more specifically for my Mr. who absolutely loves the game. I’m sure once I play it, I’ll get selfish and just focus on how much I want them. ^__^

All the things I’m about to talk about have the same thing in common, ZOMBIES! I’ll start off with the video above. Can anyone recognize what it is? It’s Call of Duty: World at War for the iPHONE!! Or Touch, depending on which product you own. Earlier in the year, CoD:WaW released a full zombie map in the game titled: Nacht der Untoten (followed by a second one who’s name I forget). The iPhone/Touch version is based off this map.

When I’d beat L4D with my team (which will soon be reunited), I was concerned that my teammates and I wouldn’t find another game to connect with as much as we did with that game– I sound kinda of pathetic don’t I? But, when CoD’s zombie maps were released, I quickly learned the gameplay and looked forward to Friday night/Saturday morning gaming sessions. According to Co-Optimus, where I read the news from earlier today, it’s even got online support, but no chatting. I’ve already got it synced on my iPhone and will be checking it out throughout the week to see how it compares. =D Keep reading for more zombie goodness!

So, the PSPgo will officially be released in the gaming market October 1st, and I’m being a major tech whore– I WANT!! I took the liberty of searching a video showing off the pros and cons of the PSPgo, and found IGN’s hands on video. So, Scott Lowe has put several questions on the table:

1. Is smaller and slicker always better?
2. Is it worth it for gamers? Since they’ve gotten rid of the UMD system, and have gone fully downloadable only, is it worth it to gamers who own a previous version and won’t be able to port their games?

I don’t own a PSP, I’ve always stolen my Mr.’s whenever I wanted to play games (Patapon ^_^), but the smaller much more compact design makes me want this new gadget. What do you guys think? Is it worth it?

Scene: Fairytales Fights from I Heart Cool Stuff on Vimeo.

At this year’s AnimeFest, we were lucky enough to get some hands-on time with the upcoming Fairytales Fights video game by Playlogic. The game is based on “reject” fairytale characters, including Jack from Jack and the Bean Stalk and Red from Little Red Riding Hood. They’re tired of living in the shadows of the more popular and heroic characters, and go on a bloody rampage.

That’s the best part of the game so far. The blood. I tend to be a huge fan of cute things that suffer, and this game meets those requirements to a tee. The game, soon to be released for the Xbox 360 and PS3, will be a full on hack-and-slash game jam packed with it’s 1000 achievements and trophies.

Tomopop’s First-Lady-in-Chief (that’s the title I’ve come up with), Colette, has gone off to Tokyo, Japan to report on-site from Tokyo Game Show. Since I also follow Destructoid, the sister site, I caught her Professor Layton plushies post.

If you don’t know who Professor Layton is, then you obviously haven’t played the Nintendo DS game. The Professor Layton series (so far there have been two releases, more are coming next year) are a series of puzzle games. I recently started playing the second game, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and so far I’m frustrated. =D Puzzle games always make me feel like fool– Scribblenauts is having the same effect on me too. Anyway, the plushies look super cute and I definitely want to own them. No news on when they’ll be released, but definitely check out PlayAsia for a pre-order. [via: Destructoid]

Today is the official release of Scribblenauts! Woot-woot! I didn’t pre-order the game, but that won’t stop me from picking it up and playing the shit out of it. The game, which features an uber cute main character (Maxwell) is an interactive puzzle game. The object of the game is to solve the puzzles by summoning objects (by writing out the words on the touch screen) and collecting Starites.

Who’s getting this game? Let me know what you think of it, I’ll share my thoughts on it later. =D

Does anyone have a baby they can loan me? I promise, it’ll only be for a temporary amount of time, as I’m sure he or she will outgrow the onesie above someday and I’ll have to find a new baby to fit it. >_<

I still haven’t finished Portal, I literally have the very last mission to finish, and then it’s over– but I find this onesie to be super informative. I wish it was made as a tee, then I could wear it to work and pass the information on to my students– that’s if I don’t get fired for wearing it to work in the first place. =D

If you’d like to purchase this, you can find it over at cafepress for $12.50. Thanks to SuperPunch for sharing.

I am really digging this trailer for the upcoming PS3 PSN game Dead Nation. It reminds me a lot of a top down Left4Dead and you all know we here at IHCS love us some Left 4 Dead. No word on when it’s getting released but we’ll keep you posted.

[Via]