Save the date for the royal wedding

My wii told me I was fat

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Taylor Momsen basically fired from Gossip Girl

10 memorable shows set on campus

Celebrate all your awkward school photos

Justin Bieber is too good for normal people

Are adult bibs the new trend?

This girl graduated with 200K worth of debt

Does Christina already have a new man!?

I find this hard to believe

I know there are a lot of girls out there who wish their boyfriend would just put down the friggin controller already and step away from the Playstation. I get it – no one likes sitting around watching their boyfriend play videogames for 4 hours. I can’t imagine anything more boring. But (and yes, this is the nerd in me talking), maybe instead of standing in front of the TV or tearing the controller out of his hand, you should join him!

My boyfriend and I are both gamers and, trust me, it’s a lot of fun to play together. (Seriously, there’s a reason he plays so often. These games are addicting.)

Video games are a great way to unwind after a long day of class. Especially when the only shows on TV are repeats of The O.C. (from the 3rd season when it sucked) and Judge Judy. They also happen to be a great way to take out some boyfriend frustration in a healthy way. Instead of yelling at your man because he forgot your birthday (because he was so busy playing Halo…), you can just beat the crap out of him in a game of Super Smash Brothers.

Also, much like any activity you do together, playing video games is a good way to get closer with your BF. You’re showing your guy that you’re interested in his interests and that’s something he’ll definitely appreciate. Probably not enough to let you play all the games he’s obsessed with (he doesn’t want to affect his standings), but there are tons of games out there that he won’t mind playing with his girl.

For those girls who are new to video games, look into download-able games on your system. Most are cheap, crazily addictive, and, best of all, they’re simple. There’s everything from puzzle games to updated versions of old arcade games. Matt and I have played everything from Zuma to the old Xmen arcade game on our XBox.

For those who are more experienced, pretty much anything with a multi-player mode will do. If you’ve got the hand/eye coordination for a shooter, then go for it, girl! My favorite is Left 4 Dead, because it’s really straightforward: just kill zombies. Plus with co-op modes you have to rely on and strategize together, which is great bonding time for couples.

The best games to play together? Obviously anything on the Wii. My favorite is Wii Sports resort. It’s a lot of fun and all about the competition. And let me tell you, there is no better way to take out your frustration on your man than with a sword fighting duel. You can work up a sweat and show that boy who’s boss and no one actually gets hurt. (Well, besides that one Wiimote mishap….)

Whatever system your boyfriend has, there’s definitely something out there to play, so stop begging him to drop the controller and pick up your own. You’ll be happy you did.

Best class ever?

We’re all well aware of the fact that we are the technology generation. We spend our entire day with our eyes glued to computer screens, sending more texts and BBMs a minute then our hearts beat, and accompanying our lives with a personal soundtrack courtesy of our iPods. After Twitter made it possible to tell the world what you’re doing every 2 seconds (and I found out how often some of my guy friends poop), I thought nothing could shock me.

That was until I heard that the University of Houston now has an entire class dedicated to the Wii. No joke.

The course is listed in the catalog as “online aerobics activities” and the description? A class for PE credit where students work out 20-30 minutes twice a week by playing the Wii Fit video game.

Why the heck can’t my college offer this course? I’d enroll in a nanosecond. Play video games the whole semester and knock going to the gym off my daily schedule twice a week? I’m sorry but that sounds like perhaps the most amazing thing ever.

Oh, but it gets better. A course built around a game console would no doubt attract a large interest among guys, but the chairman of the university said the course focuses more around fitness activities like Yoga. Hell freakin’, yea! Now you’re telling me I don’t even have to suffer through sports like Tennis and Bowling? I can drink my chai tea latte, show up for a 20-minute yoga sesh, bag my A and call it a day?

The only thing better than taking this class is being the luck jerk who gets to “teach” it.

I’m seriously considering transferring. What do you guys think?

So the time has come.

It’s been a long week of Tweeting, Twittering, and whatever else we can do on Twitter (do you follow us? You should!), but decision day is here and it’s time to pick the “Rock Out With Your Guitar Out” winner. We’ve written down everyone’s names (and written you down again if you had your friends hook you up) and tossed them in an empty Pirate’s Booty bag.

Yeah, we know we said we were gonna pull it out of a hat, but then we realized that hats don’t look good on us so we don’t have any lying around. But empty bags of chips? Yeah, we’ve got plenty.

Anyways. Here goes. Reaching in. Reaching deeper. Wishing there were actually chips in here or that the little scraps of paper at least tasted like chips….

OK. Here we go. Here is the winner:

@fsufashiongirl!!!

Congrats! Yay! Woo! You just won yourself some seriously awesome shiz! And, perhaps, a visit from us; we freaking LOVE Guitar Hero.

Email editor@collegecandy.com to get all the deets and, obvi, your prize!

(P.S. We have another seriously HUGE contest coming up later today, so don’t fret if you didn’t win. I mean, you can fret, but don’t stick your face in a half gallon of mint chip – there are blue skies ahead!)

Seriously, this giveaway is so ridiculously cool, it’s going to make your friends (especially the boys) very, very jealous.

Prize pack includes:

1 – Nintendo Wii video game console.
1 – Guitar Hero 5 Bundle (game and band kit) for Nintendo Wii to get the party started.
5 – copies of Guitar Hero 5 for Nintendo Wii – party favors for your friends!
1 – $200 AmEx pre-paid debit card to buy party supplies.
1 – Flip Ultra digital camcorder to record the fun.

How to win:

1. Follow us on Twitter (@collegecandy). If you’re already following us, then you’re good. And perfect. And awesome.

2. Send us a message with the hash tag #CollegeCandyGuitarHero5Giveaway. Once you’ve done that, you’re entered. However…

3. YOU WILL GET AN ADDITIONAL ENTRY any time one of your friends or followers adds us, and sends us a message with YOUR Twitter ID and #CollegeCandyGuitarHero5Giveaway.

So that means the more people you get to follow us, the more chances you have at winning this awesome Guitar Hero 5 prize package!

Your tweet should look like this: @collegecandy #CollegeCandyGuitarHero5Giveaway
Your friend’s/follower’s tweet should look like this: @collegecandy @yourtwitterid #CollegeCandyGuitarHero5Giveaway

You muct be a U.S. resident to enter and your Tweet must be formatted correctly. We will throw all entries into a fedora and pick the winner on Thursday, August 27th. Then we’ll announce it to everyone!

[Pre-Order Guitar Hero 5 at GameStop and GameStop.com, and receive a free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen as well as two free song downloads!]

Ready… Set….GO!

The system is touted as having many advanced features from the older DS. A slightly larger screen and a lot of really great new abilities: downloading full games directly to the system, camera and photo editing, more memory, etc. Sure, these aren’t things I really needed (I only want to play games on my way to class!), but I’m a sucker for bells and whistles.

And let me tell you, I’m glad I bought it!

The system looks different from the former having a matte finish which keeps it from getting all smudged. Vain and silly I know but I HATED when I had fingerprints on my DS. It just looked messy. But that’s the least of its features.

So what other tasty things does it do?

Le’s start with the camera. The resolution isn’t bad. There’s no flash and it tends to get blurry when anyone moves (like the crappy iPhone camera), but it’s good for taking quick pictures of friends or funny things on the bus. You can also edit the photos that you take on the fly. Wanna add hearts to your boo? Done. Wanna give your BFF fish lips to show her what her obsession with plastic surgery will do to her? Done and done.
It also happens to be a main component of some new games. Brain Age Express: Math uses the camera for some of the features in the actual game.  How cool is that!?

There’s also a voice recorder that you can play around with. It doesn’t record much and you have to be rather close for it to be clear, but it’s good for a quick note to yourself. It’s also good to one-up your friends who have that old DS.

Much like the new iPod Touch, the DSi comes with internet capabilities. It can’t pick up on every wireless router, but it is pretty useful. Although the memory is small and can’t load every page you may want to use (probably to prevent porn surfin’) I was able to check my mail and update my Myspace. It’s browser is powered by Opera and is functional for small internet tasks.

It also has a download shop where you can directly download games to your DSi. The shop is pretty empty right now but I’m sure Nintendo will be adding things in the near future. I purchased Brain Age and have been having fun training my brain in minutes a day.

The only real downside to this puppy is that it only handles DS cards. For most people this is a non-issue, but if you’re really addicted to your old school NES games that were re-released in GBA format a few years ago, you are gonna be upset.

All in all, the DSi is a fun little toy.  And now I have to get back to Animal Crossing. Those weeds aren’t going to pull themselves.

Video games and virgins are a timeless pairing as classic as  Thelma and Louise, Brad and Angelina, and Simon and Garfunkel. The two fit so flawlessly together that it’s hard to look past the age-old stereotype. Perhaps that was the key to Heather Kelley and Erin Robinson’s win at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference where the two women took home the top prize for the Game Design Challenge after creating a video game concept entitled  “My First Time.”

Yes, these two women came up with a video game about swiping the old v-card.

The game was imagined as a series of mini-games to be played on the Nintendo Wii or Apple iPhone as players would advance through a series of challenges that would end with the ultimate prize of doing to deed. Players have to shave their legs, pick out an uncomplicated outfit for a date with no buttons or zippers (wish I thought of that), choose the right mood music (Kelley uses Miles Davis), avoid falling off the top bunk in a college dorm room and flip off a smirking roommate (college can be a very special time).

The two levels of the game  mimic each of the creator’s first times, a level for Kelley, and one for Robinson. Robinson’s level starts with a drive home from ultimate Frisbee practice where she stops off to pick up some condoms, goes back to his place to “watch a movie” and ends with a phone call to the best friend (hmm, sounds familiar).

It’s no surprise that Kelley and Robinson took home the first prize. Sex sells and if you throw in the hilariousness of what inevitably is everyone’s first time and add a hint of nostalgia,  you’ll have yourself a winner. There’s something about a futon and some cheap beer, a sloppy make out session with lots of fumbling that will make a girl reminisce as she goes out to buy this new game.

What would your video game include?

So I was browsing the shelves of Gamestop the other day and noticing that Nintendo was putting out a slew (well maybe not a slew so much as a few) of games that were Gamecube games remixed for the Wii’s controls. I was totally stoked because one of them is Pikmin, which I love. Yes, fight for my supplies my colorful horde. . .

In any case, it got me thinking back to the systems of ancient times. They were fun weren’t they? And so cheap now. So, if you are looking for something to do when you come home from the bar or when you don’t want to study, here are my top five not-really-so-retro-games for your playing enjoyment. Grab one of the gaming systems online and have a grand ol’ time.

Final Fantasy VII (Playstation)

This was the game that brought FF back to the forefront of RPGing. It pits characters against a sprawling world filled with not only monsters, but quirky side games. The story is engrossing and addictive. You just had to play it until the end. The cut scenes were super but the in-game graphics look lame now. Still it’s an excellent game for anyone.

Katamari Damacy (PS2)

You roll a ball around collecting things to make it bigger. That’s the premise of this game. Simple, relaxing, and oddly addictive. With a perky soundtrack and a ton of tiny little things laying around to pick up, the possibilities are endless.

Psychonauts (PS2)

Action Adventure anyone? You play a Raz, a creepy kid with mind powers who sneaks into a summer camp for other kids with mind powers. Along the way he manages to stumble upon a nefarious plot to take over the world and then save it all while dealing with his daddy issues. The game play is varied and original, the levels lush and varied. Fun all around. (Though I have no idea who thought of this one!)

Viewtiful Joe (Gamecube)

I’m not going to lie – I was madly frustrated with the last level. I wanted throw my controller at the TV… and I did. It’s in the past now. All I know is that Viewtiful Joe was a great and original game. The story is basically that an action movie fan gets sucked into the movie he so loves and then becomes the hero himself. It utilized a SFX meter to control your powers, which were all based on movie special effects. Slow motion, speed up, posing. All at your command. Frustrating, maybe, but still a great game.

UmJammer Lammy (PS)

It was the rock version of ParRapper the Rapper. She was a girl with a guitar trying to get to her gig. Along the way she meets a ton of people in her crazy town who all NEED her help! What is she to do? The only thing she can do: play guitar. It’s a musical extravaganza. And when you beat it you unlock PaRappa.

What are your favorite classics?

And to retailers it’s the season to lower prices on TVs.

Yes, this is the season to buy a new TV.  As this is one of the largest viewing events of the year, the prices of TVs are being slashed to make purchasing that new set as easy as possible for that avid football nut. I mean, it’s far easier to convince your wife/girlfriend/sig other that it’s a good buy when it’s $500 off (after mail in rebates).

But even if you’re not really into the game, now would still be a good time to upgrade from that old tube set. Flat screen TVs are easier to fit into small spaces, provide a much better picture and are just so pretty. Below are some pretty fantastic deals happening now.

Walmart has a good deal on a 19” set. It’s not the biggest, but it’s perfect for small dorms/apartments. Or just your bedroom. You won’t be gathered around it playing Wii, but you can at least cuddle with your honey and watch a movie.

Best Buy has a few deals on 26” sets. Not a huge scree, but big enough for you and your buds to play some Gear of War 2. Depending on how much you want to spend you have a few options with this size.

I found Kmart to be a place to get a good 32”. They didn’t have many to choose from, but the ones they did have were of good quality.

Remember, it’s ok to go off brand with a TV sometimes. You may be able to get a better deal and the same quality. Try and go to the store and look at a few just to judge picture quality, actual size, etc . . . Even if you get it from somewhere else you’ll still benefit from having a look first. Or go online to a site like CNet and get reader reviews (read: people with more TV experience than you) on the sets you like.

Oh, and don’t buy a huge TV just because it’s a good deal. You will spend a ton more than you planned and it may not even work in your space.

Have fun out there!

1) Stay away from shopping centers – Unless you specifically wish to be run down in the parking lot of your local Target or mall, stay away from every shopping location with more than 50 parking spaces until at least the third week of January. Why? Pre-Christmas Sales, Last Minute Shopping Runs, Post-Christmas Sales, and It’s-January-There’s-No-Reason-For-Sales Sales. You have better chances of surviving a brisk swim through Bull shark infested waters than making it from your car (parked in the next zip code) to the very first pair of sliding glass doors of some venerable shopping institution.

If by chance you do make it into the store, the crush of people going in every possible direction is certain to disorient you, resulting in an unintentional detour to the Hardware section when you really just wanted to pick up a card.

2) Don’t OD on Christmas music – With the commercials looping constantly, a certain famous Mariah Carey song on thirteen stations at a time, and your little sister playing her Disney Christmas CD around the clock at a level just loud enough to be audible in your room, but not loud enough to get her in trouble, you are bound to go crazy. Decompress from the assault of seasonal media by either moving to Northern Greenland, or simply playing normal CDs instead of listening to the radio. Leave the room temporarily when that irritating holiday car dealership commercial comes on, or if driven to extremes, pitch the television out of your living room window.

3) Don’t be caught in your little brother’s rush to the Christmas tree – The one place in the world that nobody wants to be is between little kids and Christmas trees. Should you be blocking that rush to the wrapped Wii beneath the tree, you’ll find yourself knocked accidentally into the next county as your eyeballs hang in place in the air, like Wile E. Coyote from Looney Tunes. Instead, wait out the stampede; it’ll only take about three seconds.

4) Know which relatives to avoid – They lay in wait like something off the National Geographic channel, some of them stealthier than others as they seek out captive audiences for their “funny” jokes, “quick” stories about the fun effects of Mexican food on their digestive systems, or rants about what’s wrong with “you young kids today.” While much of your relatives will give you harmless advice about life, this special group of family members are almost calculating in their ability to sap your energy and tempt you to drive to the closest bar down the road.

5) Like you do with your pets, watch what you eat – While the feasting and gift-exchanging is going on, take care not to overindulge at the dinner table. While (mostly) everyone loves Christmas dinner, it’s no fun to forget what happened the rest of the day because you fell under the influence of the turkey and collapsed on the couch to sleep until 2 AM (I speak from past experience: a five hour nap at Thanksgiving when I was thirteen).

For more holiday tips and advice, join the College Candy Facebook group!