idiosyncrasy Today

Calculator in Little Big Planet Beta seems simple... but it's not.

2008-10-14T08:41:00.001-04:00

This video recently went up on YouTube and shows how complex the wiring for a calculator can actually be.

I'm looking forward to the game to release to see what other creative things the denizens of the internet devise with their ample amounts of spare time.

\\drew

32 WoW Accounts = No Need for LFG

2008-10-14T08:28:00.003-04:00

An article over at Ripten gives the internet the insider scoop on possibly the most hardcore WoW player of all time.

His name is Bradster, a gamer who is currently running 32 WoW accounts... at the same time. Bradster has 32 accounts, each with a Shaman, which he plays simultaneously thanks to a few clever PC tools and 11 computers.

The game costs Bradster $5711 annually, but according to him "there are more expensive hobbies out there than World of Warcraft." Yes, those "hobbies" are called "life".

Full Awesomely Disturbing Article Here

\\drew

Tuesday Images from the Net

2008-10-07T08:15:00.005-04:00

Nintendo has officially announced the DSi, and now more tidbits of information concerning it are trickling to the public. One juicy *cough* unfortunate *cough* bit is that the new DS will be region locked. That's right gents, no more importing hardware and software.

Continuing some coverage of what's new in Japan, console sales in Japan have always favored Nintendo and Sony over Microsoft's XBOX360, but over the last month we've seen a slight shift. Namely, the XBOX360 is outselling the PS3. While this isn't anything fancy to us here in the states as the 360's dominance has been well established this is a big deal for Microsoft Japan, having never gained a foothold in the Japanese gaming market prior to now.

A Kamakura based IT company called KAYAC Co., Ltd has devised a method to allow plants to blog. Yes... blog. Using sensors to read bioelectric current flowing through the surface of the plants the system registers the plant's assumed change in temperature, lighting, humidity, vibration and nearby human activity. This system is being employed in numerous locations, one being bowls Donburi Cafe in Kamakura with their plant Midori (seen right). Through the website you can check out Midori's current blog entries and even activate a flourescent light next to the plant to give it a "treat".

\\drew

EA's change in thoughts on DRM

2008-10-06T10:10:00.002-04:00

Apparently back in the day EA wasn't a fan of DRM and instead believed that if they provided a quality product that their consumers wouldn't steal from them. Or at the very least they asked us nicely to not steal from them.

This was taken from a copy of Deluxe Paint ST. They've... evolved beyond this ideology in recent times.

\\drew

DSi Officially Announced, Fanboys go crazy

2008-10-02T08:09:00.002-04:00

Nintendo's recent press conference has announced the creation of the DSi, which is a gussied up version of the standard DS lite.

The new system speccs, according to Kotaku, are as follows:

" It eschews the GBA slot (boo!) in favor of a range of improvements. The handheld's screens have been enlarged, and will now be 17% bigger (at 3.25 inches) than those found on the DS Lite. As for the rumored additions, both have proven to be correct, with "audio enhancements" made to the handheld, while it will also now include two 0.3 megapixel cameras. "So the health of the DS continues to grow," said Iwata, "we are putting out this new version." "

Along with this announcement Nintendo has also revealed that the long awaited "fix" for Wii memory will be resolved soon, finally allowing people to download games onto their SD cards.

\\drew

Tuesday Images from the net

2008-09-23T08:41:00.003-04:00

Ok, so today won't have images, instead it will have an assortment of videos.

First off is two video from Kotaku.com featuring anime inspired erotic games on the iPhone. Why would someone make these? I really don't know.
Full Kotaku Article Here

The second video is courtesy of ShackNews and C&C: Red Alert 3. It's a digital remix of the cast and the internet throng of spoofs for All Your Base. The song is pretty fun, and it might even make you forget that the game is still going to be toting some seriously draconian DRM, albeit a toned down version thanks to the Spore fiasco.

And finally we have a video that was created in response to a great video. First we see the Wii Fit Girl (Lauren Bernat).

She showed the internet why men want their ladies to have a Wii Fit, though she was blissfully unaware until it was all over YouTube. In turn Tyra Banks put them on her show so Lauren could get some payback on her boyfriend. This video's not nearly as interesting but it still has the humor behind it all making it rather fantastic.

So I'll leave you all with this... don't piss off your girlfriend.

\\drew

Impractical Gear on a Video Game Character?

2008-09-22T08:44:00.003-04:00

An article over on Gamesradar.com illustrates some of the best (see: worst) examples of outfits seen in video games based on practicality.

Winners range from the obviously fanboy induced Ivy Bodice to Arthur's worthless paper mache armor in Super Ghouls and Ghosts.

All in all the article is pretty funny, with each character being broken down with some photoshop'ed tags to show how ridiculous all of it actually is.

Full Article Here

\\Drew

When the internet is angry, you get odd creatures

2008-09-17T09:49:00.002-04:00

With the whole debacle over EA's DRM in the new Spore PC game, it was only a matter of time before the players lashed out from within the game itself.

Some angered members of the Spore community have begun creating anti-DRM creatures and buildings. Some of them are quite humorous.

With Spore's Amazon rating still heavily sunk to a 1 star, perhaps EA should take note, though they have said they have no intentions on changing it.

Images here

\\drew

Tuesday Images from the Net

2008-09-09T08:15:00.007-04:00

Today's Images from the Net will host a series of Motivational posters. You know, those cute black-frame images with a kitten holding onto a tree limb that say "Hang in there!"? Ok, so these are a bit different, but their mass appeal beyond the cube-dwellers of some bureaucratic organization is substantially higher.

Whether is be Han Solo from the distant future and a galaxy far far away to the Fonz, Chaotic Good has always sported some of the most loved characters.

Warhammer 40k is built around stat management, point allotments, strategy, and of course making your figures look as absolutely awesome as humanly (or xenosly) possible.

That being said sometimes someone will make an odd choice in modeling for flair. I've seen countless tanks with an unarmored sergeant hanging out the turret. When I see this image I see why that's a bad idea.... Fire is raining from the skies, hide in your tank sir.

This one is an oldie but goodie. Nothing says fantastic images from the net like Spock from the legendary geek sanctuary of Star Trek spinning some tables and churning out 1337 electronic mixes.
..
...
Nothing...
...
..
Moving on!

Finally we have the most relevant image of the day. Today marks the final day of peace and tranquility prior to CERN booting up and beginning their initial full runs of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). The web is buzzing with articles concerning this so I won't bother going into much detail here, but lets say that they created the same device that Black Mesa had which caused a "Resonance Cascade" that sparked all of the events in Half-Life 1.

Check out my article over on Idioms and Axioms if you want more information about the LHC.

\\drew

Starcraft 2, brought to you by PAX '08

2008-09-09T08:04:00.002-04:00

This is 1 of 3 videos of new Terran footage shown at this year's PAX. As the video came up the fanboys in the audience began to salivate. It was pretty bad... and then I realized I was drooling. Ah the life of a fanboy.

Hit the jump to see the other 2 videos shown on omgstarcraft.com.

\\drew

The wanderings of a procrastinator

2008-09-05T09:17:00.003-04:00

When I procrastinate this is damned near the exact route I take.

I'm a fan of the "start trail of related videos" as when I'm severely bored I can always tell because I start watching random videos simply because they are there.

\\drew

Tuesday Images from the net

2008-09-02T09:19:00.008-04:00

With the beginning of the week I'd like to bring a new feature to idiosyncrasy Today. Tuesdays I will be posting images found around the net with small blurbs about them. A slight departure but there is some really odd things out amidst the tubes.

First up is a paper origami figure of D0g from Half-Life. The project was a 50 hour undertaking by a 4channer by the name Chamoo232. Over on /po/ is a full compliment of images. The craftsmanship on this piece is pretty awesome. I tip my hat to you sir.

Note: The link will only be good for so long as 4chan cycles through its content, if you want to see the images check it out soon, otherwise just post a request for the images on the board, I'm sure someone will help you out.

Next up is an article I found over at Gizmodo where a guy made a huge version of the classic SNES controller out of wood, plastic, wires and love.

The whole project took a few months and the outcome was nothing if not successful as the larger than life controller is fully functional. Nothing says hardcore like whipping out a 50 pound SNES controller to whoop on your college dorm-mates in Street Fighter 2 Turbo.

Check the link to see all the images of the build and a mug of the dedicated soul who brought it to life.

And finally a tried a true internet humor as ingrained in current web culture as a l0lcats. This cake was ordered by a guy in Texas. And while the actual order requested a cube cake apparently the woman at the confectionery thought that square and cube were the same. That being said the cake is still pretty fantastic, and most certainly not a lie as it is purported to be moist and delicious.

\\drew

Lil Bow Wow bets on Madden

2008-08-28T09:08:00.003-04:00

Yes, it's true. Child rapper-turned young adult rapper/actor extraordinaire Lil Bow Wow, sorry I suppose he's dropped the "lil", has challenged fellow rapper "The Game" to a game of Madden football.

This comes after The Game claimed publicly to be the best Madden player in the world.

Bow Wow has challenged him to a match of Madden with $100,000 as the prize. The money will be given to a charity of the loser's choice.

The game will be broadcast live on KonsoleKingz.com.

The game should be happening this week, the website currently has a slew of smack talk videos between the two.

While the whole thing is fun and the money is going to charity, after watching some of the "smack videos" from the two I'm saddened as these guys have more money than me.

\\drew

Mortal Kombat vs DC is hardcore

2008-08-25T09:34:00.002-04:00

Yes, that's right. The game is rated Teen as opposed to Mature like most titles of MK lineage but it still manages to maintain a level of violence that would make the M-rating fan proud.

In a recent play test by the guys at Ripten they show off one of the fatalities from the Joker. Not only will the DC characters have some pretty serious fatalities but they will also add character.

This fatality is awesome.

\\drew

Guitar Hero DS meets full sized guitars

2008-08-22T08:55:00.002-04:00

Leave it to those crazy internet modders to turn the hand-held portable version of Guitar Hero into a less portable version with more perks.

Pumping the sound through your home speakers is a nice addition however.

\\drew

The TF2 Spy as the Joker?

2008-08-19T09:15:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if I'll buy into the Spy being up to snuff with one of the most feared and diabolically twisted super villains of all time, but hey, I'm a sucker for machinima.

I will say overall this was done well, though the actually "disappearing" of the pencil leaves something to be desired.

\\drew

Chou Aniki, Most Eclectic SNES Game?

2008-08-18T09:18:00.003-04:00

In this "classic" Japanese SNES title the player chooses a fighter and then proceeds to work out their inhibitions on their opponent as they can't in the real world. That alone is the plot to every arcade fighting game, but Chou Aniki goes a bit above and beyond that standard rigmarole and lets you choose fighters ranging from the Man on the Moon to a gray version of Hard Gay.

I mean... wow this game looks high quality. Seriously high quality.

\\drew

Miyamoto on a short leash

2008-08-11T08:50:00.002-04:00

According to an article from The Times Online, Nintendo concepting mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto has been "banned" by Nintendo from speaking publicly about his hobbies.

When speaking on his hobbies the site says,
"It's not that they are naughty, illegal or even nerdish, it's just that any glimpse inside his head could be worth billions. Particularly so now: the Wii still sells strongly around the world, but its successor is the talking point. Unfortunately, the only place where the discussion has any grounding is inside Mr Miyamoto's head."

Furthermore, "In short, the gaming and investment communities are wondering which of his current pastimes will be translated into a virtual rendition that will attract millions of sales five years from now."

So Miyamoto's long talks on playing with his dogs have been deemed dangerous. My question from all of this? With his hobbies black listed, what is he going to talk about at E3 next year?

\\drew

Mario meets Duck Hunt

2008-08-08T09:52:00.002-04:00

In this clever mix of old school gaming and video editing we get to see what would have happened if the two classic games managed to hop bits on their shared cart and invade each other's games.

Duck Hunt has the clear advantage as there is nothing for them to evade as Mario lacks the basic ability to "Fly Away" patented by the fowl of his cart cousin.

If only Luigi could hop in and take out that dog.

\\drew

Embarassing Moments in HL2

2008-08-07T08:14:00.003-04:00

You know, it's really hard being the daughter of a mastermind of science. You have so much to live up to. And now, you're face to face with the man the myth the legend Gordon Freeman and your dad further practices his one-ups-manship.

Watch more Half-Life 2 Videos

Man, Dr. Kleiner is pretty hardcore. I mean, I once drank an entire container of maple syrup to impress someone, but that pales in comparison to this.

\\drew

Fury sets itself up to close its servers.

2008-08-06T08:41:00.003-04:00

Auran Games, the Australia based video game studio has stated that it will be shutting down their servers for the game Fury as they have failed to find a viable business model to earn massive amounts of bling (see: any money whatsoever).

Their much hyped yet poorly received MMO Fury has been slowly slipping into decrepity ever since the release. Auran Games has had to layoff much of their staff and the title went from a monthly subscription business model to a free to play with additional features available for purchase similar to many Korean MMO's.

Company CEO Tony Hilliam states, "We have reached our time limit to find a solution that would help us keep the Fury servers open, sadly, no solution has been found and so we have no alternative than to shut the servers down in 48 hours."

Then while referencing the team Hilliam said, "To the Auran team, who put their heart and soul into making Fury, thanks for your efforts. As I said many times before, we need to be much better than the competition to have a chance of succeeding. We gave it everything we had and history now judges that it still wasn't good enough."

It's always tough to see a company crumble. Currently I question any developer with aspirations of toppling the WoW figure-head of the MMO genre. It is a lofty task and without differentiating yourself early with solid differences and possibly striving to appeal to a different audience the likelihood of success is fairly low.

\\drew

The Last Guy Everywhere... Web!

2008-08-04T09:00:00.002-04:00

To promote the upcoming Sony release The Last Guy for the Playstation Network (as of this article the title has already seen it's Japan release) the company has launched a web-based version of the game.

Here's the setting. You're a hillbilly err... mountain man in the Himalayas. Life is good as you hide from society. But oh noes! A space laser has come down and turned everyone who was in the daylight into zombies! I hate zombies!

Conveniently enough you, being the intrepid mountain man you are, decide to wander down your mountain and begin saving survivors by bringing them to safety while you are slowly changed into a zombie yourself.

It's the kind of story that makes you understand why Evangelion's original ending made little to no sense, but hey, it's a pulp science fiction plot with zombies. I'll bite.

So the website game allows the denizens of the internet to put in damn near any existing site and then the Sony site creates a level based around the empty space.

You control your hillbilly *cough* I mean mountain man and then wander around the website finding civilians while evading zombies and other forms of sordid evil.

The controls are fairly simple. Move by moving the mouse cursor. Dash by holding the left mouse button. Press C to crowd your civilians together. Hold the space bar to make the zombies disappear revealing only the humans. And you can zoom with the mouse wheel.

The game is quick and simple but pretty fun. I suggest checking it out.

The Last Guy

\\drew

Fun with Grenades

2008-08-01T09:25:00.002-04:00

I found this nice compilation of quality Halo 3 grenade kills this morning. Now while I'm not a huge fan of Halo 3's multiplayer, man do I love me some good old fashioned 'nading.

WeGame.com - Halo 3 Videos

Sure the number of deaths gets bigger and the amazing luck of the bounce pads increases as the numbers approach #1, but I'm a traditionalist and #9 involves momentum and one hell of a throwing arm.

There's nothing more gratifying than sniping someone with a plasma grenade.

\\drew

Oblivion speed run.... of doom!

2008-07-29T08:35:00.002-04:00

So Oblivion was a pretty long game right? I didn't like the game but I still invested about 25 hours in it prior to deciding to just win the game at level 2. But thanks to some clever gamers they've gotten that time down to a sleek and sexy 11 minutes.

WeGame.com - Oblivion Videos

By exploiting the jump bug while holding objects they manage to skip all of the content of the game post the jail breakout. Hah.

\\drew

Christian Bale beats his family

2008-07-25T08:35:00.002-04:00

Well, technically Christian Bale allegedly beats his family. And not all of them, just his mother and sister.

Well thanks to the glories of the internet you can help our new and beloved Batman escape his uniformed captors in this excellently hilarious flash game.

Using nothing but your "bat mouse" use it to jump over obstacles while collecting bat symbols (probably used later as torture devices on his cousins) and evading bobbies willing to tackle you football style if you get close enough.

Run Batman Run

\\drew

When Legos meet Gamers

2008-07-21T08:58:00.003-04:00

While perusing the porn laden tubes of the internets this morning I stumbled upon this true gem of internet engineering.

According to the builder Steve Barker of Lair of the Legomancer the project in total took 11 hours to construct, after having to make a bulk order of red and black legos of specific shapes.

For those who don't recognize this fiendishly awesome death weapon, it's none other than a level 3 (see: Fully Upgraded) rocket turret from Team Fortress 2.

The resemblance to the actual 3D model is quite astounding. This guy knows how to build some legos. See, when I was in my lego phase I was lucky if what I was building looked remotely like a boat... my boats often had wheels... and were a myriad of colors as I just had a tub of shapes... and my parents often told me I would never accomplish anything if I approached life with the safe sort of shiftless dedication I approached my lego building with.

Seriously though, I loved legos but they were all pretty weak. Thanks Steve for making me feel inadequate much like my father.

Check out the full site here with plenty of additional pictures.

\\drew

Back in full force

2008-07-21T08:57:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, sorry for the shoddy update schedule, my project at work hit its first candidate and was commanding some serious amount of attention. With that gone (or soon to be) regular updates will once again commence.

\\drew

Zelda: Ocarina of Time Hi-Res Texture Remake

2008-07-14T09:05:00.002-04:00

A group of fans have gone through and made updated textures for Zelda: Ocarina of Time, originally for the N64.

It's amazing what a little elbow grease can do. Just by updating the textures the game takes on a whole new feel. The game came out 10 years ago this year and the new textures give it a fidelity that makes it feel fresh.

Check out the hard work.

The group also did a cel-shaded remap but I've never been a big fan of that look. I particularly like the work they did on the shield.

Outside of that however I wish they would have updated Link's textures a bit more. His model gets some lighting and his boots got an overhaul, but overall he still looks the same.

\\drew

Headshots? We have plenty.

2008-07-07T09:31:00.003-04:00

Whoever said you couldn't successfully head shot with a shotgun has never seen this video.

FPS gaming at its finest gentlemen. This video made me want to go back and play Resident Evil 4 again. Great game, its mitigated ammo drops yield frenetic gameplay and frantic runs for cover, though I suppose had I been head shotting more often I would have had plenty of ammo.

\\drew

Diablo 3

2008-06-30T08:53:00.002-04:00

It's official, Blizzard has announced Diablo 3 and first impressions are rather fantastic.

Check out this video.

Now I've never been a fan of the barbarian class, but this video makes me want to give them a shot.

With Titan Quest a memory Blizzard is now free to once again begin churning their prize winning dungeon crawler and all of the fanboys rejoice. (see: Me)

\\drew

Blizzard to announce Diablo 3?

2008-06-26T09:04:00.001-04:00

According to 1UP.com Blizzard will be announcing a new game this week, and it seems they are putting stock into it being Diablo 3.

Check out their site for their 5 reasons.

I'm not convinced personally, but if it is I'll be giddy. Yes that's right. Giddy, like a school girl.

\\drew

Existential Mario

2008-06-24T09:25:00.003-04:00

Nothing says "I'm a hardcore gaming nerd" like converting the seemingly meaningless romps of an angered Italian plumber into an existential view of life and love.

Thanks to this image created by an unknown artist we can now see the true meaning behind this heady classic.

We all knew Mario was looking to pass on his seed, I mean, why else would he chase after deformed, maligned turtles with no reward?

This made me happy.

\\drew

Epic? Rube Goldberg? Excellent

2008-06-19T08:57:00.002-04:00

When I think epic I think of Rube Goldberg machines... ok, well maybe not, but this recent GMod machinima rocks out some serious class when it comes to performing a simple task in the most asinine way possible and for that I salute it.

WeGame.com - Garry's Mod Videos

Had I known soccer was such a hardcore event with numerous rockets I would have watched it more often.

\\drew

A Monday full of videos

2008-06-16T09:04:00.002-04:00

Here's an assortment of videos I found around the web today. Loads of funny things.

What happens when girlfriends play TF2.

WeGame.com - TF2 Videos

101 Ways to kill G-Man. An interesting video compiled in Gary's Mod showing both a warped sense of morality and a lack of constructive venues to relinquish the maker's rage.

Spore-live, watch as one of the lucky 50 get to try out the game early.
.TV online : provided by Ustream

\\drew

Bioshock meets internet fangirl

2008-06-11T09:00:00.002-04:00

In the current episode of Hey Ashly, Watcha Playing, we find the youthful Ashley ravenously consuming crowd favorite Bioshock.

She parodies the climactic scene between the main character Andrew Ryan. Oh, did I mention that the video contains spoilers.

Well the video is certainly worth a gander if for no other reason than to see her dressed up as Ryan.

Would you kindry!

\\drew

Doki Doki Majo Shinpan gets a Porno Knock Off

2008-06-09T09:02:00.004-04:00

It's a fairly common thing in Japan to see successful PG to PG-13 (and sometimes even G) rated licenses get an overhaul by less than reputable companies looking to appeal to the avid ecchi.

With that in mind it was only a matter of time before the pseudo-innocent title Doki Doki Majo Shinpan DS got a seedy remake.

This one is called Majo Michi and takes the rather tame idea of poking jiggly breasts with a DS stylus to full on groping of witch bodies followed by acts of pure depravity.

Check the following link for the exceedingly NSFW site.

Official Majo Michi Site Her e

\\drew

Rehash of Seemingly Mundane Deaths

2008-06-04T09:26:00.002-04:00

Ever wonder what video game death would actually resemble if it wasn't for the cutesy look providing by the artists?

Well look no further, Gamesradar was nice enough to run an article containing more true to life images of some common deaths seen in kiddie video games.

Oh that's right, being eaten by a dog is not a good thing... in fact, it's rather horrible.

Full Article Here

\\drew

New Super Robot Taisen is less "Robot"

2008-05-30T09:11:00.003-04:00

I am a large fan of the Super Robot Taisen series by Banpresto as it allowed me to customize large stompy mecha and battle other robots in a strategy RPG style.

This new game seems to be lacking somewhat in the robots however, putting more emphasis on high quality sprite animations on their busty female characters.

Overall I'm still biting at the bit hoping this one hits American shores and in turn a friendly localized version, but I won't hold my breath. The quality of the animation is pretty slick and I'm an anime fanboy and will accept the lack of real robots for another good RPG, but man, if they had spent as much time on the robots as they did on making sprite boobs jiggle this would be a mecha game for the ages. Instead it's an anime game not intended for all ages.

\\drew

WoW Machinima at its finest

2008-05-30T09:02:00.001-04:00

WoW Videos

\\drew

Snakes on a Building!

2008-05-27T09:11:00.002-04:00

It's kind of like snakes on a plane, only... without the plane, and without actual snakes, and without Samuel Jackson, but still very cool.

The people that set this up have too much free time, but God Bless them for it. It reminds me of something that you would see in the old Hackers movie. Wait! That's it! Zero Cool strikes again!

\\drew

90 minute cutscenes for video games?

2008-05-27T08:53:00.002-04:00

According to a new article on computerandvideogames.com MGS4 will be sporting numerous 90 minute cutscenes amidst it's stealthy gameplay.

I don't know about you but when I want to watch a movie I'll watch a movie, and when I want to play a game where I'm a bad ass soldier named Snake I want to control the bad ass soldier named Snake and kill people with his Kurt Russell-y good looks.

In case you were wondering, most action movies are around 90 minutes long. This month's PSW magazine states that, "MGS4's story is massive. The videogame equivalent of all three Godfather movies on one disc."

....

Wow....

Impressive yes, will I be purchasing it? No.

\\drew

Japanese 5th graders are dirty

2008-05-20T08:38:00.002-04:00

According to a new article on the Mainichi Daily News 2.5 percent of Japanese 5th graders play erotic video games!

This is in stark contrast to the 30.9% who play action games and 28.4% who play RPG's.

You know, it seems odd in all honesty to see that percentage be so low. In a culture that views sex and other sordid activities as commonplace I'd expect the youngins to start their dabblings in all things raunchy earlier. I mean, you're never too young for tentacle sex right?

Branching back to the actual purpose of the study, 95% of 5th graders have video game consoles. That's a pretty impressive install base for developers.

Full Article Here

\\drew

Alpha Week and Buying a House

2008-05-16T08:37:00.001-04:00

I believe the title suggests everything, but I'll be back to updating next week once things have calmed down a bit.

\\drew

Fantastic Retro Clothing

2008-05-13T08:53:00.002-04:00

Being a modern day geek who's reasonably successful I find the need to express my geekdom in new clever, yet stylish, ways.

Thanks to Asylum there's now an excellent hit list of items to purchase to make my geekiness better than yours. Or, yours better than mine if you're faster with a mouse and willing to shell out amounts like $150USD on a superb Mario Brother hand-knit scarf.

Check it out!

\\drew

Director Announced for Upcoming Rapture Movie

2008-05-09T08:35:00.002-04:00

With the announcement of director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy) fans of the underwater city of Rapture and in turn fans of the Bioshock video game can now rejoice as the license isn't being held by cheap directorial hacks like Uwe Boll.

In a recent interview with Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick he states:

"In partnering with Universal and Gore Verbinski, we have assembled a team that respects the uniqueness of BioShock and will translate it into a powerful movie experience. Our ability to attract a major studio and unparalleled creative team speaks volumes about the strength of our BioShock franchise."

Thank goodness another video game turned movie will not fall into the trappings of many others
before it.

\\drew

Portal from an artists point of view

2008-05-06T08:01:00.003-04:00

The original photograph was taken by Russian photographer Max Sauco and can be found here.

As for this image, I like it better. Something pops. Maybe it's the portals. I wonder if Sauco played the now classic'ed title prior to taking this image.

Goodness knows that when I am looking for inspiration when taking pictures of naked women I look no further than video games... because... this is art right?

No no no, it's legit, this is art...

Try and explain that to the Mrs.

Link to non-safety edited portal version.

\\drew

Well it's about time

2008-04-30T08:53:00.002-04:00

For those who have been living under a rock the past week, Grand Theft Auto IV hit store shelves yesterday and swept quickly from their fresh packaging to the grubby paws of GTA fanboys around the US.

I won't bother getting into how the game is one of the highest rated titles ever as every site under the son has spoken about that already. So instead I'll bring up this juicy little article.

Violence ensues in England at the game's launch, complete with theft, stabbings, and other assorted goodness.

This story reminds me of a fantastic book called Jennifer Government. One of the companies in this book decide to release a new shoe and the advertising department found a great way to build up hype and solidify "street cred" by hiring a group of guys to go out and rob people after purchasing the shoes.

While unlikely I wonder if Rockstar would actually hire people to do heinous acts in order to draw even more notorious attention to their title. Damn! People get stabbed while buying this game? It must be awesome!

People shouldn't harm others for video games...

Just saying...

/sigh

\\drew

Bowser... realistic?

2008-04-28T08:28:00.003-04:00

The guy over at Essenmitsosse was recently inspired by the works of Mario and Homer over at Pixeloo and decided to try his hand at realistic toon characters.

His subject matter? Bowser from the Super Mario series.

The result? Possibly the scariest version of Bowser I have seen to date. Bowser has gone through many iterations in the past prior to this most recent version, but none that have brought him so close to being an actual dinosaur.

My take on this image overall? The old Bowser seems like something out of Night of the Living Dead. You know, shambling horde zombies. Whereas this Bowser is much hipper and up to date (see: Fast as hell and scarier than standing between Oprah and a donut), a la 28 Days Later.

Full Image Here

\\drew

Uwe Boll gets shut down by Blizzard

2008-04-22T08:56:00.003-04:00

German director Uwe Boll has apparently been completely exiled from the kingdoms of Azeroth after a meeting with Paul Sams of Blizzard.

Boll approached the company with hopes of licensing the Warcraft franchise for a movie.

Sams was quite blunt in his response of, "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you... especially to you."

Sorry Uwe, I guess your sterling works of master-craft Bloodrayne, Bloodrayne 2, Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, and Postal didn't sing your praises enough for Blizzard to warrant throwing away a successful franchise.

All of the fanboys are currently rejoicing. Thanks Blizzard, we owe you one.

Full Article Here

\\drew

Mega Man Stained Glass Window

2008-04-21T08:24:00.002-04:00

If only all stained glass was video game related. I would have stained glass windows in every porthole to the outside in my home.

The project seems fairly straight forward enough, perhaps I'll try my hand at making something like it. Possibly with Mario.

If I ever get off my lazy keister and do something fancy I'll post images.

All the Images here

\\drew

Milestone!!!

2008-04-17T09:56:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, IT will be back later, milestone this week saps time. I'll try to come back with something cool. I have no idea what that would be, but it'll be there.

\\drew

Rarest PS Games on the web

2008-04-15T08:26:00.003-04:00

With the ebbing of time comes the slow cast off of old video game titles from store shelves and due to some limited releases on some games their price tags float at or largely above their original intended price to this day.

Racketboy.com has compiled a list of the rarest (and most expensive) PS1 titles currently making high priced transactions through these tubes we call internets.

I won't delve into the list as the link will suit that need just fine, but I would like to point out how the majority of the games listed there are RPGs. Why you ask? Because the RPG player is not looking for flashier graphics, they are looking for better gameplay and an engrossing story, which allows them to covet older titles for a longer period of time. There are few games that get released outside the aforementioned genre that see major play even a few years after their release whereas some of these rare PS1 games hit store shelves more than a decade ago.

I personally own all of the RPG's listed being a horrible horrible fanboy of JRPGs and I to this day play them often. I recently played through FFVII to revitalize the title in preparation of FFVII: Crisis Core and previous to that I finally beat Suikoden II with collecting all of the Stars of Destiny (a grueling task which had eluded me on my initial play through).

Check out the list, it's nice to remember times of ol' when games where about the content, and if you haven't played them I highly recommend you shell out your hard earned cash to give some a try.

The Rarest and Most Valuable Playstation Games

\\drew

Taxes, Foxtrot, D&D

2008-04-14T09:53:00.003-04:00

Three things I standardly associate with one another. Ok, perhaps not.

In this new Foxtrot comic we look at how broken real world economies would be if they updated to include MMO inflow.

Make sure to dot your i's, properly fill out section 17a, mark sections accordingly if you are/have been a resident of NYC for part of the year, claim your level 70 night elf priest with half dungeon epics and full pvp gear, claim the tips you made as a waiter, ensure that all sections of the 1040 form are filled out in pen, all signature sections are signed and dated, get it in the mail by April 15th.

Wait, something here doesn't make sense... Oh, that's right, i's are always capitalized when separate. Sorry about that.

\\drew

Portal Meets WoW

2008-04-10T08:24:00.002-04:00

WeGame.com - WoW Videos

Machinima, blissful blissful machinima.

Custom models, textures, and a mechanostrider with a bad attitude, this video is pretty clever and certainly worth a gander.

\\drew

Mario in 14kb

2008-04-09T08:08:00.003-04:00

A guy over at Nihilogic has managed to compress and build Super Mario Brothers in a 14kb java applet. Pretty damned impressive if I do say so myself.

Check it out for the cool tech he's using.

Full Article Here

\\drew

Starcraft 2 Art Direction

2008-04-07T09:41:00.001-04:00

<3

\\drew

Bioshock, if Bioshock was anime

2008-04-07T09:04:00.002-04:00

I love Bioshock, I thought it was one of the best stories I've seen in a video game in years. I also love anime, been a fan ever since I watched Ronin Warriors (see: Sailor Moon for guys) as a youngin'.

With that said we now have this picture to the right. Blending two genre's can sometimes be cool, like peanut butter and jelly. Two very different flavors, but awesome when put together. This image? Not so much.

I think that my distaste for the image is a result of the Little Sisters losing all level of creepiness. They are cute little anime girls now as opposed to genetically altered mass murdering Adam collectors.

Image is still well done, it just makes the world less scary.

\\drew

Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2!

2008-04-03T09:33:00.004-04:00

That's right ladies and gentlemen, if the first bout of boob grabbing wasn't enough the sequel will now offer even more flicking, touching, examining, etc... All new and improved.

Much like the first however, this one is not likely going to hit American shores.

\\drew

Stormfront Closing it's Doors

2008-04-02T09:02:00.002-04:00

The internet has been buzzing since yesterday concerning the possible closing of independent studio Stormfront, the studio responsible for games like Neverwinter Nights, Stronghold and most recently Eragon and Spiderwick Chronicles series.

According to an article on Next-Gen the company is citing "adverse business conditions" to the closing.

As a company that pioneered the graphical MMO genre we owe them much, and for an independent company who's been in business for 2 decades to go under the ripples will strike deep in fellow developers.

There are so few independents now not sheltered by our newly forming oligarchy of preeminent publishers that each one is special and harks to days of old. Think of it as the wild west of game development, back when the games controlled the development and every day a company was still alive was a miracle and a continuous fight to maintain that life.

Stormfront you'll be missed.

\\drew

So it's April Fool's Day...

2008-04-01T08:24:00.003-04:00

...And check out Blizzard's information on their "new" hero class!

Combining two of the most widely successful franchises, WoW and Guitar Hero, Blizzard announces that now one simply can rock into Mordor... err... Stratholme!

Nothing says "I'm BA" like going to eleven and grinding out Iron Maiden on an Axe. Want to keep those pesky Night Elf women away? Play some hate music for an auto-fear effect! Gnomes getting in the way of your ankles? A quick Randy Newman riff will have them giving you a clear path.

Check out the official Blizzard site to see the full gritty details of their yearly April Fool's Day joke, this one may beat out the wisps as a playable race.

Full Blizzard Article Here

\\drew

Blizzard sues Glider creator

2008-03-27T09:35:00.003-04:00

In a recent chain of events Blizzard Entertainment is suing Michael Donnelly, creator of the popular Glider software, for copyright infringement saying that,

"Blizzard's designs expectations are frustrated, and resources are allocated unevenly, when bots are introduced into the WoW universe, because bots spend far more time in-game than an ordinary player would and consume resources the entire time."

They also went further stating that the software copies the client into RAM to evade anti-cheat software.

Donnelly rebuts these accusations saying that no copying of the client occurs.

My two cents on the topic? I've never been a bot-enthusiast in MMO's. I'm paying a monthly fee to play a game, in turn I should play the game, not simply allow my computer to play it while I wander around elsewhere. If I wanted that I would play Progress Quest, which I highly recommend as a side note, my level 94 Gyrognome Sprocket Knight is fairly strong when casting "Nestor's Bright Idea MMMMMDCXX".

That being said I don't dismiss the tool for others. It's not my thing, but it certainly does not break economies and the experience for players worse than the Mythical Chinese Gold Farmer. If Blizzard wants to create a better gaming environment stop these companies from flooding the markets, don't worry about a 31 year old who's too lazy to play the game he's paying for.

Full Article Here

\\drew

Fun With Portals RL Style

2008-03-26T09:25:00.003-04:00

Ok ok I know this article has been up on digg for a while now, but I'm just coming around to seeing it... I've been busy... stop judging me! :)

Thanks to some create Canadians out in Toronto we now have pictures of a companion cube dropping through a portal on a busy street.

Imagine walking down the street and seeing this looming over head, it would be fantastic.

The best part about this? The image seen in the portal is the view from the other portal... yes that's right, the other portal is found in another part of the city and contains the back end of the companion cube.

<3

Full Article and more images here

\\drew

Worst licensed titles of all time

2008-03-24T08:31:00.002-04:00

Hey guys, here's a nice little video from College Humor revolving around looking at some of the worst licensed titles of all time.

Ranging from Shaq-Fu to Home Improvement (complete with Tim the Tool Man Taylor fighting pterodactyls with a nail gun), each game is horrible and ill-conceived in its own unique way.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

I love it.

\\drew

Starcraft 2, a look into the Zerg

2008-03-20T14:13:00.001-04:00

I want it... I like the Zerg...

I believe I speak for all fanboys when I say that this title is one of the most anticipated titles in a very long time... especially in Korea.

\\drew

Bible Fight - The Flash Game

2008-03-19T08:57:00.002-04:00

Now I'm always game for blasphemy, it tends to make me happy. So you can only imagine my glee after finding this new flash game on the internet thanks to Adult Swim.

The game is called Bible Fight and puts you in the position of one of the badasses from the Bible, you know, Eve, Moses, Jesus, Mary, Satan and Noah. Each have a compliment of moves to perform, from raining frogs and fish to slapping you with the great corrupter in snake form.

Check out this video:

Now you should go and play the game here.

Say hi to Moses for me, his reach can be a real bear, that guys is so wiry.

\\drew

Call of Duty 4 Gun Techno Mix

2008-03-17T08:33:00.004-04:00

Serpento gets my vote of the day for this clever chunk of piece mail. By cobbling together the gun sfx from CoD4 he's managed to crank out a decent beat.

\\drew

Pontiac gives props to Spy Hunter

2008-03-14T08:49:00.002-04:00

I like when commercials make reference to fantastic classic games. In this video Pontiac is pushing their new model as it traverses 2D/3D level reminiscent of Spy Hunter.

\\drew

Rock Band Band Rocks out on the Street!

2008-03-13T12:58:00.003-04:00

It was only a matter of time before some clever individuals took the craze of rock star related gaming to the streets. We rock, the game said so, why shouldn't we share?

This video makes me happy on so many levels, especially when they recruit a random pedestrian to rock out with them.

See, they need to do this but have a television hooked up so they can rock out to sweet sweet TV speaker sound.

\\drew

Bioshock 2 Slated for Q4 2009

2008-03-12T08:27:00.002-04:00

In Take-Two's recent financial report they have stated that Bioshock 2 will be developed and released for a late 2009 release.

This isn't surprising, but what is is that they will be changing developers from 2K Boston/Australia to 2K Marin.

When asked if Ken Levine would be involved in the development process CEO Ben Feder stated, "Ken is a terrific asset in the company and he is a brilliant game developer... He will be working on BioShock 2, and he will be working on a new IP. A lot of the work will be done at 2K Marin, but that's not to say that Ken will not be involved."

So it sounds as though they have Ken swat teaming a new project which has some precedence over the sequel to a game that sold over 2 million copies.

We'll see what big news comes out of Take Two in the following years, people are certainly expecting big things... Bigger than Big Daddies even.

\\drew

Excellent D&D Chart

2008-03-10T08:37:00.003-04:00

With the death of the man, the myth, the legend Gary Gygax comes even more articles written in memorandum.

Thanks to this NYTimes article we get a chart based around D&D that is frighteningly accurate.

What makes this accurate you ask?

Well, simply note the number of life nodes between Being exposed to D&D or Not being exposed to D&D and Girls. The astute eye will see that the number of nodes between not playing D&D and girls is substantially shorter than the other.

So sadly true...

Anyways, check out the article giving praise to one who will be missed.

Full Article Here

\\drew

Internet miscreants at work

2008-03-10T08:30:00.001-04:00

All I have to say is hah! Damn portals are everywhere, you better watch out.

\\drew

Thompson is not allowed to legally represent EA

2008-03-06T08:29:00.002-05:00

I'll start off this article with a resounding No Shit. Pardon the blunt nature of my snap reaction to finding out Jack Thompson offered his services to EA in regards to their attempted buy out of Take Two Entertainment.

In a response letter to Thompson EA writes:

Mr. Thompson,
We have received your letter to EA's shareholder site. In response to your offer to assist in the proposed acquisition of Take-Two, we would strongly prefer that you not get involved in this matter. EA is a strong supporter of creative freedom for game developers. We feel that your past statements - including false claims about content in our games - make any collaboration with you impossible.
Sincerely,
Mariam Sughayer
Sr. Manager Corporate Communications
Electronic Arts, Inc.

I enjoy this letter on many levels and for many reasons, but the primary internal yay is probably how it reminds me of my grandmother. Yep, my grandma could basically call you a piece of shit, to your face while molesting your own mother and somehow you wouldn't realize until later that she had insulted the very core of your existence.

I give a large amount of kudos to Sughayer in this letter. The keen use of words here makes me feel warm inside whereas Jack is most likely reeling from the severe lash of reality.

\\drew

Gygax learns Lich

2008-03-05T08:10:00.003-05:00

It was only a matter of time before Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax decided that he was not long for this mortal coil and finally unraveled the key sequence of reagents, hand gestures, and somatic elements in transforming himself into a Lich.

This theory of mine comes from the fact that Gygax was pronounced dead at 69 in his home in Wisconsin. He's been plagued by "health problems" for numerous recent years and this is a culmination of those battles, according to most newspapers and "official" reports.

My take? Gygax is a legend, and legends don't die from simple things like strokes, failing a Save vs. Death, and "old age". They die from something grander, like bollixing a once lost ritual to summon an Outsider to do one's nefarious bidding, or getting hit by a mountain falling out of the sky by angered gods, or accidentally slighting Vecna, or my personal choice... learning how to cast Lich from Vecna himself.

If Vecna were to give secrets to such a powerful spell it would surely only be to someone of Gygax's ilk and I guess I like to think of him as still with us, albeit in an evil vessel of bone and magic.

So I solemnly ask everyone who reads this to tip one for our homey who isn't with us no mo'.

*raises a d20*

Roll 'em if you've got 'em.

We'll miss you Gygax, say hi to Vecna for me.

\\drew

The Ghosts in the Machine

2008-03-03T08:06:00.003-05:00

I can only account for this through a complex frame bug where the guy with the sniper rifle fired, the head of his teammate was lined up, but lag led to the sync falling out, resulting in a preposterous shot that would make Oswald envious.

\\drew

NES Gaming in your Browser

2008-02-29T08:28:00.002-05:00

Through the years we have seen many excellent browser games make their way to java applets on our computers.

Ranging from table top tower defense games to mathematical shooters we as internet denizens have seen it all. But now there is something else. Something wonderful with a slight dash of mystery.

Nintendo8.com has released a web-based NES emulator allowing for players of classic games to hop onto their website and pilot some of the best games of all time.

Nintendo8.com

I recommend TMNT2... or Ms. Pac-Man.

\\Drew

On Death's Door

2008-02-28T12:30:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, I've been reeling from the Flu all week, capping out at a very respectable 103. In turn I've been comatose on the couch. I will likely post again tomorrow or Monday when I can think... and write... possibly with witty anecdotes or allusions to banter I conjure in my head.

Also, I'm thinking of taking the blog in a new direction, but more to come on that later.

A Day of Portals

2008-02-22T08:33:00.002-05:00

Here's two pretty slick gaming news sure to excite the ravenous fanboys out there.

First up, Still Alive, the haunting ending track from Portal performed by Jonathan Coulton, will be coming to Rock Band as a downloadable content update. Now you can groove out to the melodic hymn of a robot turned sociopath on your cheap plastic drums.

You can read up on the song debut and the most excellent way it was revealed here.

Secondly, in an interviewon G4 with Portal Lead Designer Kimberly Swift, she states "Well, I believe Doug Lombardi who is our lead marketing director at Valve, has announced Portal 2."

Yep, that's right, a sequel, not just more work done in the realm of portal. We'll see how that one turns out, hopefully a little better than Hypercube and Cube Zero.

\\drew

GDC Meet Red Ring of Death, RRoD Meet GDC

2008-02-20T08:39:00.002-05:00

Yes at this point this is old news by all standards, with every news site that covers anything remotely tech related having already plastered images and witty commentary on their front pages.

But hey, I haven't yet and it's about damned time.

With the coming of this year's Game Developers Conference comes the chance for folks in the industry to get together and have panels concerning the state of the industry as a whole, new trends, and share ideas.

It's also a place for studios to display their works in progress for others to see. Unfortunately this sometimes involves running an XBOX360 for an extended period of time, and as mine proved this "extended period of time" can be under 2 hours.

According to statements by Microsoft they have fixed all new hardware to evade the previous iterations' habit of dying at the most inopportune time (see: during a boss fight or after multiple hours of play without a save point). There is no telling if this console that frazzled out is a newer model or one of the older, but wow is it funny.

Thanks Microsoft, this reminds me that a company can still be wildly successful and charge consumers large sums of money for a paper weight with new self-melting features.

\\drew

Princess Peach Upskirt

2008-02-18T08:58:00.002-05:00

Yes you read that correctly. Hah.

Princess Peach Upskirt in new Smash Brothers

Sorry, busy busy and no time for a long article today.

\\drew

2008-02-14T08:54:00.003-05:00

...

So yeah... not video game related, but I'm a rabid fanboy of Indiana Jones (see: My first son is going to be named Indiana).

\\drew

Will Wright and his Spore

2008-02-14T08:36:00.002-05:00

In a recent Wired article Will Wright, designer of the highly anticipated and upcoming game Spore, walks the readers through some of the stages the players can expect to see in his pipe dream turned reality.

From a designer's point of view this game could really revolutionize how we develop, but it runs the risk of falling flat on its face like so many much hyped games. With a release date finally set at September 7th of this year we'll soon be able to find out for ourselves.

Wired Article Here

\\drew

Card Sagas Wars

2008-02-13T14:44:00.001-05:00

I'll get more in depth with this article later but I have a meeting to go to. Until then check out this teaser trailer and the kid's website.

Did I mention he's 18?

Card gallery

\\drew

Mahjong meets Saucy

2008-02-12T08:24:00.000-05:00

Here at work we always "joke" (see: It is an inevitability and we'll eventually make it, and you'll all be sorry you've shunned us for years) about making a Mahjong dating sim for the Nintendo DS. It just seems to make sense right? I mean, take the frenetic puzzle touchscreen clicking of Mahjong and add in the lurid tales of a Japanese dating sim and you have a cash cow on your hands right? ...Right?

Well ok maybe the idea isn't the greatest, but as a fan of both genre it seems to make sense to me.

Conveniently enough D3's new mobile title The Sexy Szechuan Province takes a stab at this muddled genre I like to call "Puzzle Play", or "Otaku Obscure", or "Fanboy Flabbergast".

Ok, so the game is not technically a dating sim, as dating sims are built around a simple text-based branching path storyline featuring numerous endings and ways to get to know all of the characters. This game here is just about playing Mahjong to see naughty pictures of anime girls.

Last time I checked that was a fairly simple task that did not require solving a series of block-based puzzle games to do *cough* 4chan *cough*. Certainly this game's value would increase if there was plot between these sections of depraved content.

But I digress.

Long story short this game is one step closer to my dream of perfect blending of two seemingly disconnected genres of gaming and I can only hope that I'll be able to pioneer it once everyone stops looking at us like we're crazy for wanting to make it.

Full Article here

\\drew

Space Invaders Snow Man?

2008-02-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

Well, not exactly a snow man, more of an ice sculpture, but that's close enough for me!

In a recent Kotaku article a reader sent in this image from the Sapporo Snow Festival held last week in Hokkaido Japan.

Apparently this one was a bit small compared to some of the other contestants, but seriously, if you had to pick between an 8-bit hark to times past or an ice statue of an angsty teenage ninja there really is no contest right?

\\drew

Super Mario World meets Quantum Physics

2008-02-08T08:52:00.000-05:00

Who says video games can't be used in the classroom?

Thanks to an article over on Mechanically Separated Meat some clever people have used a Super Mario World hack called Kaizo Mario World to explain Quantum Physics to some degree.

The above video is actually 134 playthroughs of the hacked SNES classic layered on top of each other using Super Nintendo Emulation software.

The article is worth a read as it gives some insights into "science things" while keeping it wrapped neatly in one of the best 2D side-scrollers of all time.

Mechanically Separated Meat

\\drew

CoD4 Flash Bang Kill

2008-02-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

Yep, it had to be possible. Flash bangs deals a small amount of damage, couple that with a direct tag to someone's head and you have a video made of win.

\\drew

Devil May Cry 4 Japanese Trailer

2008-02-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

You know, we really should have advertising like this in the US.... IT WOULD WORK.

And people can get on their high horse about sexuality on television and video games can preach about how this is destroying our youth, but last time I checked Budweiser commercials still have girls in bikinis telling kids that drinking beer will get them laid.

\\drew

New Quasimodox Figure

2008-02-05T08:43:00.000-05:00

Much in line with his apparent love for Valve characters, Quasimodox has released a new sculpted figure of TF2's very own Pyro.

The figure is truly a great addition to any bathtub backdrop as it comes fully equipped with a holder in the flame thrower barrel for a tea candle. Nothing puts your special someone in the mood like an androgynous pyro-technician wearing a rubber suit who's currently playing with fire.

Quasimodox is also known for his Alyx Vance figure, though I'm really feeling this Pyro much more.

You can see the entire collection of images as well as the step by step creation process over at Gametrailer.com.

\\drew

New Mana Energy Potion, Guaranteed to make you pee B12

2008-02-04T08:41:00.000-05:00

As companies attempt to market off the mass appeal of World of Warcraft we find ourselves facing down this drink called Mana an "Energy Potion".

This fancy bottle totes around the rather impressive label of twice as potent as a can of Red Bull.

Based on the Supplemental Health Facts on the side of the container the drink further boasts 1600% of your daily needed B6 and 6667% of your body's B12 intake.

Personally I try not to go overboard with my vitamin intake on a daily basis as it can cause some problems, well that and you simply pee out all the extra and I'm a fan of my pee being waste product, not something I spent $3.50 to imbibe.

Mana website here

\\drew

Tommy Lee Jones?

2008-02-04T08:37:00.000-05:00

In recent adds for Boss coffee, Tommy Lee Jones has been playing the part of "Alien Jones", a person wandering through Japan learning about how things work here on earth.

In this super-sized commercial AJ finds himself in Akihabara at a Maid Cafe. It's rather fantastic simply because it's Tommy Lee Jones.

\\drew

M.C. Escher meets Portal, Photoshop, and 4Chan

2008-02-01T08:27:00.000-05:00

With 4chan ever steamrolling on despite its obvious criminal intent *cough* every so often a great piece of work comes from the internet image board.

I recently stumbled upon this true gem, a mix between M.C. Escher's warped art and sense of reality and Portal's clever use of warping reality for puzzles.

While it's common knowledge that I loved Portal as it was the most refreshing design experience found in a game for quite some time, I'd be even more eager now to delve into this image as a game. While the story of Portal is finished the complexity of the puzzle possibilities are in a fledgling state.

How intense would it be to move through this level trying to figure out how all the rooms combine to get the door open?

Maybe I'm just a puzzle junkie.

\\drew

Wired takes up the Fox Fight

2008-01-31T10:19:00.000-05:00

In an article by Lore Sjöberg over at Wired.com he parodies Fox's inane ability to sensationalize anything to be an unholy threat to our nation and its children. Yes, our children, you do want to protect our children don't you? Super Mario Galaxy is a bane on us obviously. Mario? A plumber? That's quite widely known as a reference to old pornography from the 70's. It's filth.

Check out the full article here

\\drew

Soldier Boy by Egad Pit

2008-01-31T10:18:00.000-05:00

I don't know if words are really required when accompanied by this video, so just take a peak.

I will give a few words however, because it's my blog, I have the right. Some people have far too much free time.

\\drew

Ender's Game being transformed into video game franchise

2008-01-30T09:07:00.000-05:00

In a recent announcement, Chair Entertainment Group (Undertow) have joined forces with Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game) to create a video game franchise based on the events and places found in the award winning novel Ender's Game.

The current plan for the games is that they will be based on the Battle Room training facility seen in the novel.

No word yet as to the surmised gameplay, art direction, or release date.

Full News Release Below:

Salt Lake City, Utah – January 29, 2008 – Chair Entertainment Group, an independent video game production company and creators of the award-winning Undertow, and bestselling author, Orson Scott Card, today announced their partnership to create the first-ever video games inspired by the legendary “Battle Room,” featured in the beloved literary classic, Ender’s Game. Ender’s Game is an award-winning, international bestseller and one of the most popular science fiction novels ever written.

Under the terms of the agreement, Chair has obtained the exclusive rights to develop Ender’s Game “Battle Room” video games across all next-generation consoles, handheld platforms, and PC. In collaboration with Orson Scott Card, Chair will begin development later this year with the first offering expected for release via downloadable platforms.

“I have been a huge fan of Ender’s Game since I was ten years old, so it is a true honor for our team to be entrusted with creating the first video game inspired by this classic story,” said Donald Mustard, creative director at Chair Entertainment Group. “Our goal is to create an authentic Ender’s Game experience that delivers awesome gameplay and can be enjoyed by both longtime fans and gamers new to the series.”

“From the moment I started working with Donald Mustard and his team at Chair, I knew that these were the guys I wanted to do the first Ender’s Game video game,” said Orson Scott Card. “It’s not enough to slap the Ender’s Game name on just any game - it has to be exciting, memorable, and endlessly replayable. Chair shares my understanding of this and I am looking forward to working with them to ensure the game is as authentically Enderish as possible.”

In the fictional Ender’s Game universe, humanity is at war with an alien species known as the Formics, and Battle School is the training ground for the future leaders of Earth’s International Fleet. Taken at a very young age, Earth’s most brilliant children undergo a rigorous training designed to teach advanced military theory where strategic and tactical glory is won in the null gravity battles known to the elite students simply as the game! Through simulated war games and training conducted in the Battle Room, the children rise through the ranks of Battle School to become Earth’s only hope for victory.

The two parties previously collaborated on the Chair Entertainment Group property Empire, which the Company introduced in 2006 with the launch of an Orson Scott Card-written bestselling novel of the same name. A feature film based on Empire is in development by Warner Brothers and Chair has future plans for video games and comic books based on the property.

Gamers and long-time Ender’s Game fans are invited to share their thoughts on Orson Scott Card’s popular website, www.hatrack.com, and the official Chair forums at: http://www.chairentertainment.com/community/forums/

About Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is the award-winning author of the national bestsellers, Shadow of the Giant and Shadow of the Hegemon, and of the beloved classic, Ender’s Game, published by Tor Books. He is a professor of literature and writing at Southern Virginia University and lives with his family in Greensboro, North Carolina. For more information on Orson Scott Card, please visit his official website: www.hatrack.com

About Chair Entertainment Group
Founded in 2005, Chair Entertainment Group is an independent video game production company committed to creating blockbuster entertainment franchises through development of its original intellectual properties. In 2006, Chair launched its first original property, Empire, as a best-selling novel written by Orson Scott Card. A feature film based on Empire is in development by Warner Bros. and Chair has future plans for video games and comic books based on the property. In November 2007, Chair launched Undertow, an award-winning underwater action shooter for Xbox LIVE Arcade. Additional information, artwork, and gamer forums can be found at: www.chairentertainment.com

\\drew

Super Smash Brothers Brawl meets 300

2008-01-29T09:36:00.000-05:00

Gaming Today posted a video on Sunday, just a little video, about a small title, possibly you've heard of it, Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii. *applause* *cheer* Calm down heathens and fanboys in the peanut gallery.

Well this video ties together video from the trailers for the much anticipated Wii game, VO from the 300 movie and of course a rocking soundtrack from NIN.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Kinda makes me want to play the game, how about you?

\\drew

Cooper Lawrence Renigs on Prior Mass Effect Judgement

2008-01-28T09:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's right, after having her livelihood belittled into the ether author of The Cult of Perfection Cooper Lawrence as officially recanted her argument that Mass Effect is pornography.

In an article in the New York Times -

...Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. "I recognize that I misspoke," she said. "I really regret saying that, and now that I've seen the game and seen the sex scenes it's kind of a joke.
"Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it's like pornography," she added. "But it's not like pornography. I've seen episodes of 'Lost' that are more sexually explicit."

Perhaps she will learn her lesson and do some background research on topics prior to publicly criticizing them. She wouldn't write a book prior to learning about the subject would she?

\\drew

Update coming later today

2008-01-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

Today I'll be updating the site a bit late, milestones cause frantic work environments! I may also post a small blurb about Emergent Gameplay to further educate the masses, but we'll see if I'm feeling squirrelly.

\\drew

Yahtzee discusses The Witcher

2008-01-24T09:02:00.000-05:00

Man that is fantastic. 20 minutes, outside, puffer fish.

\\drew

Mass Effect causes more controversy

2008-01-23T10:53:00.000-05:00

We often forget that somehow, amongst all the people in United States, we few are the pinnacle of rational thought and conviction.

Thanks to "adults" who "understand" the "dangers" facing our nation's youth, fingers are pointed every which way, to all forms of media. Why you ask? Well it's obviously the responsibility, nay, the holy charge of the government to protect our children, because we as a vapid work force are too troubled with our daily lives to become interested in the goings on of our young'uns.

/sigh

\\drew

Fantastic new Flash Game

2008-01-22T08:52:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a fellow employee here at the grind I found this flash game today which is a step above and beyond most of the pulp flash games that are mechanically churned out on the internet today.

The game resembles a tower defense game only it seats the player in a more active role, tying in some shooter elements as well. The game also features a campaign mode which speaks much for the longevity.

StormWinds 1.5

\\drew