So like I said, I love cars. I will watch a car auction, overhaul shows, and a DIY for hours on end. Last night, as I was fixated to the tube watching “Inside West Coast Customs,” I was in awe when Nintendo came to West Coast Customs and asked them to build life size karts for the new launch of Mario Kart 7 for 3DS. After they unveiled the fantasy whips, I knew I had to share with you guys. I’m not sure if you have seen them yet, but included are some of the photos:

For full size versions of all the pics, visit the West Coast Customs blog here.

Welcome all to the first episode of 2 Guys, 1 Beer, with Steve Will and James Phelps your handsome guides on a journey to flavor.

Steven and James are just two regular guys, like the majority of us, who just want a good beer to drink. None of this snob shit you see around. Just honest guys drinking honest beers. On today’s journey, the fellas are taking us through the winter wonderland that is Newcastle Winter IPA. Those of you may be familiar with the Heineken International brand Newcastle Brown Ale, but did you know Newcastle is producing more than that? True Story!

Newcastle Winter IPA is a limited edition beer that we are expecting to become a regular during the winter months. Usually with a winter beer though, you expect to get cinnamony <—–made that word up flavors, and warm taste. With an IPA, you would expect a bitterness taste with a flowery smell. But, our buddies at Newcastle have blended the two, and did it so well that the results are pretty solid and neither type of beer over-powers the other. I must say that we are pretty impressed at the quality of this beer!

America – Fuck Ye 

With any of the above match-ups, the passion of the loyal fanatics is often fueled by America’s favorite beverage…Beer! Beer is a popular choice all over the states from minor league events to the big leagues, and one of the more popular beers hail from the Boston Beer Company in the form of Sam Adams. If you’re a New York fan, it’s sacrilegious to be caught drinking a Sam during a battle, which is exactly why Foley’s New York Pub and Restaurant in New York City has banned the consumption of Sam Adams during this years Super Bowl.

Shaun Clancy, the owner of Foley’s, claims there is no malice behind the decision, but unless you are one of the faithful, know someone who is, or live in either city, you know Clancy’s claim is false. In his defense, he did make a bet with the owner of McGreevy’s in Boston, in which the losing bar owner will have to don the winning team’s jersey, and tend bar for an evening in the winner’s city. In all seriousness though, each have decided to donate proceeds from the sale of Shepard’s Pie to charity. All in all not too bad of a compromise from two cities that despise one another.

Having lived in Boston, and also being a Sam fan, I am picking the Pats over the Giants 27-21. Plus McGreevy’s is way sweeter!

See what Madden picked:

In recent years we have seen the domination of the Guitar Hero series, as well as Rock Band, which have consumed the lives of kids 12 – 20. Both were instrumental (no pun intended) in bringing classic music to a new generation, and it also allowed for unknown artists to jump on the scene if they were lucky enough to crack a play-list. Granted, both series were not the first (remember Sega CD’s – Make My Video), and will not be the last to fuse gaming and music, but they did a pretty damn good job.

As it turns out, the game industry has impressed one artist enough that he actually will be composing the music for an upcoming game. Sir Paul Maccartney, of the Beatles, has been convinced over the years that games are selling quicker than other musical formats, which is runway for him to takeoff on. Macca told a German newspaper:

It’s a fascinating market. A new computer game sells so much better than a new CD these days. Young people will hear my music for the first time in a game.

Maccartney is jumping at the opportunity to reach a new generation of fans 50+ years after he and the Beatles exploded onto the scene. In my house, I had to rely on my parents to introduce me to the Beatles, Beach Boys, and Queen, but now these classic bands/artists can utilize videogames to spread there messages through song.

As far as what game Sir Paul is composing for, that is still guarded, but once it hits I am sure you won’t need us to tell you!

The Beer Outlaw

When Dave Brecht was in Tijuana in 2004 with his buddy Jimmy, he came across an interesting novelty product. It was something like a gun holster, but was meant to hold beer bottles instead. Thinking this “beer holster” might make for a fun evening, he and Jimmy each grabbed one and headed to a party…where Dave’s holster promptly broke, shattering his Budweiser on the ground.

Staring at the shards of glass in a puddle of wasted beer caused something in Dave to snap that night. From that moment forward, he vowed to never again let cheap Mexican products ruin a good American lager. After all, he was an engineer – he could do better than this.

It didn’t take long for him to perfect a model, and Dave sold his first Beer Outlaw holster in January 2005. He now has thousands of satisfied customers in over ten countries.

Being the cool guy that he is, Dave hooked us up with one of his beer holsters so we could check it out (he even put our logo on it!).

It's like Christmas

We put it through a series of tests; here’s what we thought.

The Good

Personalized for Beer and Videogames

Right out of the box, I was impressed with the quality of the holster. It feels sturdy and the leather is real (and nice and thick). I was pretty impressed with the detail as well – the stars on the rivets are a nice touch. The belt clip that secures the holster to your waist is very sturdy and long enough to fit completely around most belts and waistbands.

My biggest concern was going to be how the logo turned out, since the image had to be expanded a bit to make it fit. I was impressed with how it looked, though, especially when I noticed that it was in color. Another concern I had was that the holster was going to be too shallow to effectively hold a beer bottle/can in place, but as you’ll see through the following field tests, it holds its own.

Mmm. Butter that bread.

One of the best perks of the holster, I realized, is that it’s completely hands-free. It allows you to carry an open beer (or any canned/bottled beverage) around with you without having to worry about finding a place to put it (where you might forget it or mix it up with someone else’s drink) or spillage. It’s ideal for light activities like making a sandwich, playing beer pong, giving hugs, or trying to convince your mother that plenty of websites make money (It just takes time, Mom).

Pat Kearnan – The best New England Patriot that never was.

Even with moderate activities like tossing a football or frisbee, the holster keeps your beer firmly in place. That handy little leg tie adds some more stability when you’re moving around. The only spillage problem I had was when I had to hoof it a bit because my brother sucks at throwing a football, and even that was minor (notice the small spill on the pocket and some wetness on the bottle itself).

What's more American than American Eagle, a Sam, and holster? Nothing!

In my mind, the beer holster would be great for something like tailgating, where you’d need your hands for things like grilling, playing cornhole, and fondling coeds.

The Bad

Physics 1 – Pat 0

The one downside to the beer holster is that it makes sitting rather precarious. If you’ve got anything close to a full beer (as I have here), you’re going to run into some spillage issues unless you’re really careful.

One of the easiest ways to combat this problem, I found, was to untie or remove the leg tie and simply adjust the holster slightly to make sure your beer is upright.

Physics 1 – Pat 1

If you’re aware enough to identify the “sitting down makes my beer horizontal” problem, it really is easily avoidable. So just keep that in mind before you grab a seat anywhere. We wouldn’t want you spilling anything on that cute girl you’re sitting next to (…or would we?).

The Ugly

It was when we put the beer holster through more rigorous testing that we were really able to exploit its weaknesses. Sure it works great for a tailgaiting or party scenario, but what about when that tailgate or party gets broken up? That’s why our final test for the Beer Outlaw holster was the “Running From the Cops” scenario.

It didn’t do so hot.

I remember when I had my first beer holster – Nice try rook!

While the holster was perfectly capable of withstanding even moderate activity like playing catch or getting slapped by previously fondled coeds, it couldn’t seem to handle breaking out into a full sprint. Almost immediately, the bottle went flying, soaking my shirt and shorts with all of its contents. Amazingly, though it had ejected its passenger, the holster remained firmly in place through the entire sprint, ride to the police station, and fingerprinting; until it was finally removed and collected as evidence.

We play too hard!

Unfortunately, I also discovered that when the logo gets a little wet, it starts to run and smudge – something you’ll want to keep in mind if you opt for a custom holster like ours. Basically, you’ll have to try to minimize the spillage (almost inevitable when doing lots of drinking or playing drinking games) and also be sure to avoid using it in the rain if you want to preserve your image.

The Dénouement

Overall, I was extremely impressed with both the quality and the durability of the Beer Outlaw holster. Going in, I was expecting it to work well while I was just standing around, but the fact that it did such a good job of holding my beer in place and preventing spillage while I was playing catch really surprised me. Obviously, it didn’t hold up too well while I was running, but it wasn’t designed to be used in that sort of situation. The only real flaws that I found were that you have to be careful or adjust when sitting (easy enough to do) and, if you’re a custom holster owner, do your best to keep your image dry.

Personally, I completely love the holster and plan on using it for the remaining summer BBQs and tailgaiting in the fall. As far as beer accessories go, a holster is one of the coolest ideas there is, and the Beer Outlaw line of holsters looks to be the highest quality on the market.

Dave offers six different styles of genuine-leather beer holster (Classic and Tombstone being his most popular) in black, brown, and pink. Prices range from $32 to $50. Check out the Beer Outlaw website for more info.

*Thanks to Pat Kearnan for playing the guinea pig and writing about his thoughts. 

There are games that make you, and games that break you. And as comforting as it is to have the training wheels called “Easy Mode,” the fact is that occasionally us gamers want a challenge. But how much is too much? What happens when the difficulty of a boss fight or final stage becomes so terrifying that even battle-hardened gamers scream like little girls at the sight of them? These trials don’t simply exist in your nightmares, they exist in the here and now. Still, everyone needs proof that Bigfoot exists, so allow Beer + Videogames to do a little Show + Tell for the greatest terrors ever programmed in the history of gaming torture.

Shoot ‘em ups are difficult as is. Senior members of our BnV audience may remember being extorted by shmup arcade machines back in the day, while our comparatively younger members broke their controllers on Ikaruga and Aegis Wing. Like a manipulative lover, these games gave us just enough room to theoretically survive, while smothering us to the degree that explosive raging was typically required. Mushihime-sama Futari, the sequel to a similarly named cult Japanese shooter, exhibits all the common signs of an abusive relationship: loud shouting, indecipherable taunts, aggressive movement…

…and tidal waves of lavender-colored, weaponized hatred. Larsa, Futari’s true final boss, can only be remotely beaten if one knows where the bullets will actually collide with your tiny ship. Even then, the player still has to posses the steady reflexes of an assembly line robot just to ride the pinkish-purple storm while simultaneously keep the pain on cackling Larsa and her giant golden throne of agony.

It’s doubtful there’s a single person reading this who hasn’t played Tetris. Yet, it’s even more doubtful that those people ever made it to point where the pieces become light-speed death bullets, fired down from the heavens by a pissed off God of the Old Testament. However, this is exactly the kind of malice one comes to expect from Arika’s “advanced” version of the timeless 1984 puzzler. As seen below, The Grand Master takes an inhuman level of precision, dexterity, and planning foresight simply to complete the game’s 999 speed levels. But that’s not why it’s being listed. Skip to 5:10 to see how the Lord punishes us for our sins.

The Tetris blocks turn invisible after placement! That’s the difficulty equivalent of tearing out a surgeon’s eyes and ears and demanding he remove a brain tumor, based on memory, from his own head. A few of you may have noticed this hidden horror happens during The Grand Master’s endgame credits, assuming the it has no effect on an already conquered abomination. Yes and no, because while you can’t lose a game you’ve won, you can lose a bit of your hard earned ranking on a game developer’s last ditch “screw you!”

Despite how utterly unbeatable many game challenges may seem, the truth is most game designers don’t aim to crush the hopes and dreams of the folk who buy their releases. As insane as many difficulty modes appear, there are always those who’ve cleared Devil May Cry 3 on “Dante Must Die” mode, or who’ve taken down the Cyberdemons in DOOM on “Nightmare.” Point is, those gamers knew what they were getting into. What separates this boss from everything else, isn’t just how badly Final Fantasy XI’s subscribers got ambushed by it, but the fact that it’s almost never been legitimately beaten.

Say your prayers and then say hello to Absolute Virtue, the most cruel and nonnegotiable enemy in an MMO. This angelic brat appears seconds after players have defeated the equally seraphic “Jailer of Love”, marauding their group before they even have a chance to recover. It will then attack en masse using the game’s most painful magic, in addition to randomly utilizing the special ability of every class in the game, once every minute. For those not in the know, players can only use these abilities once every 2 hours, to do things like evade all physical attacks, cast spells rapid-fire, or completely restore everyone’s health and status.

And Absolute Virtue can use all of them. Constantly. We’re not even getting into the bastard’s divine health regeneration, or his biblical physical attack strength, or that it occasionally summons a few helpers, on top of the ones left over from the previous boss. To this day, barely anyone in Final Fantasy XI has been able to beat it, save the original developers, who posted a video of the act just to prove it could be done.

Our buddy Michael Scanlon wrote this piece for us. He’s been friend of the team since meeting at a previous venture earlier this year. Aside from games, Mike’s a huge comic book nerd.

We hope you guys are having a good New Years. We have been out of town celebrating, but still want to bring you a look at the year in review of some of the best games from 2011 courtesy of our friends at Ebaumsworld.com.