Last month, I tasked the Bitmob community with letting out its inner comedian, and the response was fairly huge. The submissions provided a nice variety between random silliness and clever satire. But were these seven Bitmobbers funny? I leave that for you, the audience, to decide.
The Play Times: Covering video-game news that isn't real
By Evan Killham
Anyone can whip up a bunch of bogus news stories, but Evan actually created a fake newspaper, complete with a believable layout. By extrapolating stories from box art, he highlighted the ridiculousness the medium can sometimes embody while reveling in it unapologetically. (Mike Haggar will always be my favorite mayor.)
Click on for the rest of the entries.
How to be better at online games
By Scott Deakin
Scott decided to conjure a classic and lampoon online game culture. His “tips” may not really help you be better at online games, but they definitely will let you blend right into most game sessions on Xbox Live.
An “Anonymous” list of demands
By Jason Lomberg
In a post that has oddly come around to being topical again, Jason mocks Anonymous and the group's threats against Sony. The result is as controversial as the events surrounding the piece, as users debated the satirical value of the article. But whatever side you fall on, you have to admit that his concept was sound.
Can Obama be blamed for the PlayStation Network crisis?
by Stan Rezaee
PSN was a popular topic for this challenge, and Stan decided to tackle the opposite extreme by writing a fake editorial asking whether the President is to blame for the breach. He aptly channels the tone of news pundits after the BP oil spill, even fooling a couple of commenters into buying into the charade!
The weird email I got from Sony
by Rick Knight
Rounding out the trio of Sony articles, Rick got clever and paraphrased the actual e-mail Sony sent its customers…with some additions. I'm not about to spoil it for you, but trust me: Read the piece in as serious a tone as possible. You'll thank me later.
4 kid-sized killers in video games
by Matthew Anfuso
Matthew highlights the many innocent-looking dangers that gamers take for granted. I, for one, had no idea that the greatest threat to the human race was right under our noses all along. I guess kids today really don't have respect and are responsible for the decline of civilization. Who knew our grandparents were right?
GLaDOS has a Twitter account
by Sean Hinz
Finally, we close with another clever triumph of humorous graphic design. Sean shows us what GLaDOS's Twitter account would look like, though it says a lot more about the characters she's following than her. It's the little touches, like the trending topics, that sell this for me.
And that's it. Don't forget to participate in Chris Hoadley's Crossover Appeal challenge and find common ground between disparate media. I'll see you next month, but don't forget to stop and have a laugh once in a while.