Snatch - this word based game allows you to be extremely sneaky and steal your opponent’s words and use them for your own diabolical needs. It’s a tiny bit like Scrabble, but on steroids, and with a high-speed rocket attached to it. Mix things up as much as you can, and try to steal as many letters and words as possible. As a bonus, it comes in a really spiffy tube that carries the whole game, making it portable and fun, all in one.

Abalone -  No, it’s not a fish — instead it’s a extremely simple, yet very fun game using black and white marbles. Basically, you line up your marbles and use them to “push” your opponent’s marbles off of the playing grid. It’s based on Sumo wrestlers and their movements, but you won’t have to bulk up to play this. It’s also one of those games that you can leave lying around to make you look smart, like a chess set.

...continued: D'oh! Snow? Give Those Dice a Roll, It's Game Day!

While many celeb filled events are often covered in the blogosphere - there is also coverage of gaming parties in virtual worlds, such a Guild Wars’ Dragon Festival that lasted for 5 days. With everything from special mini games (like Whac-a-Mole) and special Dragon Festival Masks awarded to some players including some gorgeous imagery of the decorations designed for the celebration. Check out more of the pics over at Guilded Lilies.

Who didn’t love Oregon Trail as a kid? The squirrel hunting, the covered wagon wandering, trying to cross rivers and not loose family members? Over at PlayGirlz they seem to have uncovered the African version. “Well think Oregon Trail but with lions, and famines the likes of which even early settlers would be appalled at, and you have 3rd World Farmer. Created as part of a student project at IT University in Copenhagen, Denmark, 3rd World Farmer challenges players to eek out a sustainable living in a locale rife with poverty and bloody conflict. Grow corn, diversify with chickens, and learn a bit about the troubles plaguing third world families (and countries).”

ThisNext loves to discover new lists already being made in the blogger world - and this one is a bit frightening - AeroPause’s “10 Girliest Video Games EVAR!” and you might wonder what girliness they have found - i didn’t even know these games existed! Everything from Bratz to Hello Kitty make the list, and the redeaming thing is that Ghost Recon tops the list since “1. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter— Any game that the Frag Dolls can kick your ass at counts in my book.”

ThisNext knows the importance of personalization - so anyone who’s been craving a pink DS Lite - today is your day! Just got announced in Japan… more over at OnNintendo.

Don’t let the name of this blog fool you - Wonderland - contrary to its fabulous banner that pays homage to Alice - is a gamer/gadget blog with some great finds! Including these adorable “Nintendo Power Mints” ACTUAL SIZE of the NES controler. ThisNext highly recommends giving it a browse.

According to the boys of the Pocket Gamer Blog, Here are 10 great reasons why you should keep a game in your pocket:

1. It’s portable

2. It’s cheap

3. It’s easy

4. It’s fun

5. It’s sociable

6. It’s Tomorrow’s World

7. Everyone has the neccesary hardware

8. It’s actually quite cool these days

9. It’s versatile

10. It’s healthy!

For the rational behind each of these reasons look —-> Here. We love good recommendations and reviews, so check out the Pocket Gamers for their latest finds.

Everyone knows Sonic the Hedgehog - but did you know that it’s his 15th birthday this Saturday? (gah i feel old.) Just found this out on Joystiq - and they also pointed out this hilarious papercraft (print out the PDF, and build your own little world) of Sonic the Hedgehogs equivalent to World 1-1: Green Hill Zone designed by Sega of Japan.

So for anyone who’s been out of the gamer scene lately - check out FragDolls, they are one of the premier groups of girl gamers sponsored by Ubisoft, and they each have a blog (yes thats them you see all in charicature form in the pic). We’re all anxious for the ThisNext launch here, and we’ll have a little something for everyone when you start browsing the finds we’ve got waiting for you - even gamer girls.

As I sit here thinking about "happy little trees", I wonder just what the world would be like without our dear Bob Ross.

At ThisNext we strive to promote "better living through better products" - and with that comes people who are passionate about what they do...what they create. So despite personal affinities for landscapes and streams (or not) - it's crazy to think there is a whole generation out there that never got to see happy Bob Ross show them how to paint on PBS. Seriously. We would have no Rachel Ray if there had been no Bob Ross.

Lucky for us all, in a perfect marriage of modern technology and gool old fashioned public television programming, we can all look forward to the Bob Ross Video Game.

Better still: YOU can enter your own "Bob Ross Wet-on-Wet Technique ®" paintings to be included in the game (contest opens July 4th).

And just like that - the legacy of Ross continues for another generation...

via UnBeige