Crazy Legs Conti, left, Timothy Janus, right, courtesy IFOCE. Attention competitive eating fans – hey, stop snickering; it’s a legitimate sport regulated by an International Federation! As one fan site says, "For those of you who doubt it's a sport, try making your body consume 20 pounds of food in 10 minutes." Anyway, C.E. fans will definitely want to plan for an extra-long lunch break on Tuesday, May 20th, when two of the world’s biggest......

Because Mario Kart Wii is launching next week, the folks at Nintendo have decided to treat "unsuspecting NewYorkers" with free cab rides in Midtown at 8 a.m. -10 a.m. and 12 p.m.-2 p.m. A costumed Mario will literally be hailing cabs for commuters at the Midtown Sheraton at 817 7th Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets. As Joystiq pointed out, "just because the cab driver looks like Mario doesn't mean he's part of the......

Remember how a few years ago a 19-year-old girl climbed down onto the subway tracks to get her phone and got killed by an oncoming V train? It seems the lesson still hasn’t been learned and commuters are still risking their lives to retrieve dropped objects: Tourist Bijan Rezvani recently explained his reasons for venturing down there to collect his precious iPhone. It's the first time I've had a cool phone that does anything and......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: shots fired on 166th St. and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, a pedestrian struck at Berry St. and Division Ave. in Brooklyn, and a found body on Richmond Valley and Arthur Kill on Staten Island. Still searching for the Staten Island ninja burglar, police questioned New York Post photographer Ron Romano because of his ninja-like ability to tightrope walk. A huge hole in the middle of Brooklyn's Pacific......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue at Atlantic Beach Bridge in Queens, a fall victim onto the train tracks at West 42nd St. and 9th Ave. in Manhattan, and a car in the water on Bay and Edgewater Sts. in Staten Island. He didn't have to be shot in the back with a shotgun! Dick Cheney's heart problems continue. Seriously though, best wishes. Gov. Elliot Spitzer is going to be sequestered in......

Who says the Wii is only for the young - or those dressed as Luigi? The Carter Burden Center for the Aging on the Upper East Side had a Senior Fitness Day this past Friday Friday that gave seniors a chance to play Wii baseball, as well as Brain Age 2 (photograph below), the Nintendo DS game that has various ways to challenge people's memory and keep people sharp. The Carter Burden Center for......

Opening this past weekend and running through June 30th is Seattle artist Mike Leavitt's "New York Art Army" show. Hand-made action figures were created to visually tell the history of the city's creative scene, the wooden New Yorkers stand alongside other "urban art stars and old masters." Fittingly, the show (exhibited in a site-specific installation) is across the street from the ToyTokyo toy shop, at their Showroom. Leavitt’s “toys” depict famous and controversial artists like......

At a bar filled with arcade games, all of which pre-date the 1990's, hundreds of spectators and competitors gathered yesterday for Wiimbledon. While interest in the first-ever Nintendo Wii tennis tournament was high, only 128 competitors were able to play in the single-elimination tournament at Barcade. Players dressed up as tennis players, Harry Potter, and came in their best bear costumes (the bear was eliminated and dejected). While the competition was intense at times,......

When released last year, the Nintendo Wii became a gaming phenomenon. Lines stretched around city blocks, people searched around the city to satisfy holiday wishlists only to come up empty handed. Lane Buschel and Steve Bryant, two Brooklynites, decided to organize a Wii tennis tournament they've called Wiimbledon (like Wimbledon, see). Wiimbledon is accepting a limited number of competitors today and tomorrow (the first day was yesterday), starting at noon. The tournament is this Saturday,......

This is traditionally a pretty slow time for music. Everyone is getting their feet back under them from the holidays, there aren't many bands putting out albums, and even less are ready to get back out and start touring. The news cycle in general is still pretty weak, and music has it no different. Nonetheless, we're starting a new feature this week recapping the biggest stories in rock around this town every Friday. So... New......

Dear Gothamist, I'm sure there are other people who want Wiis but are much too cool to wait in line or fight for one. But they're still hard to come by. I need me some citizen journalism action on this issue. Where are people getting Wiis, if anywhere? - Wah Wah Wii Wii It's so true. The Nintendo Wii has been out for almost two weeks, but they are still moving off the shelves......

As mentioned earlier, the American Museum of Natural History unveiled its Origami Holiday Tree yesterday. Although the Origami Holiday Tree has been a tradition at the museum for more than thirty years (see last year's article), it's a good year to get into origami. Let's face it, with Polly Pocket recalled and Nintendo Wii sold out virtually everywhere, all kids may have left to play with this holiday season is wrapping paper. Five hundred paper......

The Nintendo Wii went on sale last night, providing a second, if slightly anti-climactic, game console release of the week. There didn't seem to be any reports of violence around the Wii, perhaps because it is $351 cheaper than the PlayStation 3, but people were still enthusiastic. Gizmodo said about 1,000 people were waiting on line last night, but with reports of 5,000 Wii consoles available, who knows if the wait was worth it? A......

If you haven't showered in a few days, there is a good chance that you're probably waiting on a line trying desperately to score one of the new next generation console releases from Sony and Nintendo. This week brings two very exciting releases for the gaming community. Tonight is the release of Sony's PlayStation3 (PS3; below, left) and Nintendo releases Wii (right) on Sunday, in hopes of both unseating the XBOX 360 who has......

Estradasphere's previous efforts ran the gamut from jazz, Klezmer, disco, Nintendo music, film noir, metal, surf guitar, doo wop, Motown, grind, TV themes, Middle Eastern sensibilities, calypso, Tropicalia, and lounge, to name a few. Now they've released Palace of Mirrors, an effort that was over three years in the making. It's a work best described as a score to a film that can never be made. How do you feel the new Estradasphere album's......

That's assuming you have 10 hours of your life to spare. Fox Sports has a great little interview with the man behind the RBI Baseball re-enactment of the 10th inning of Game 6 in the 1986 World Series, which we mentioned last week. For those that were wondering how Conor Lastowka (the man behind the amazin' clip) did it, the interview clues us in. It turns out that Lastowka used a Nintendo Emulator on......

Gothamist hears there's some fun to be had during mid-day and night at Rockefeller Center today and tomorrow: Between 11AM-2:30PM and 6-9PM, Rockefeller Center's Plaza is hosting a "lawn party," with food, music and games. For instance, Nintendo will be letting people try out new games and Brookstone will be giving Segway rides (yeah, we know it's very 2003, but still, it's something to do at lunch). And at night, there will be a happy......

Last night, the producers of The Apprentice" href="http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice_3/index.shtml">The Apprentice tried to mix business with one of the most non-business forms in NYC - graffiti. The two teams were supposed to promote Sony Playstation's Gran Turismo 4 by painting a mural on a Harlem wall that would appeal to an urban, hip demographic (Sony Playstation was mentioned throughout the show, ensuring that Nintendo executives are gnashing their teeth). The team leaders were Alex for Magna (aka......

Craig Zobel, Film Production...

Bruce Bennett, Writer/Typist/Guitarist...

Quentin Tarantino eloquently rages on about computer-generated effects in movies to Empire: "You know, my guys are all real. There's no computer fucking around. I'm sick to death of all that shit. This is old school with fucking cameras. If I'd wanted all that computer game bullshit, I'd have gone home and stuck my dick in my Nintendo." Meanwhile, Gothamist believes that it's Kill Bill star Uma Thurman's husband, Ethan Hawke, in the first blind......

This is more Gizmodo territory, but the Game Boy Advance SP is just too cool not to mention. And there are new Zelda and Tony Hawk games for it! The Daily News features the Game Boy Advance and the Nokia N-Gage. More information and cool demos at Nintendo......

The problem with Xbox is that they don't have a portable platform. And this one looks just too fresh not to buy: | Edgy New Game Boy Advance SP Takes Portable Game Play Anywhere - News - Nintendo |......