This is it; its officially September, the month I’ve been long gearing up for. As crazy busy the summer months were, it likely won’t compare to the next 30 or so days. And already there’s a major dilemma…
The original plan was to have Spready Bear playable by October, before Nelson leaves for Europe. Having the whole game done by then seemed a tad bit too hopeful, so we’ve been aiming for just one fully-functioning level, which would also be shown off at the upcoming IGDA Demo Night 3. As mentioned before, I ran into Wade from Large Animal a few weeks back and he mentioned that it would take place in mid-September, but since there’s been zero chatter about it via the IGDA channels, we figured that it would be at the end of this month/early next month, as to give people enough head’s up time.
Wrong. The formal announcement was made last night, and will indeed be this mid-month, and in less than two weeks! Things are going well… the art assets are being assembled as I type, but still, less than two weeks isn’t nearly enough time to play-test and bug-test. Plus I already have way too much stuff on my plate; aside from the usual freelance writing gigs and the anthology, school starts next week which means I’ll actually be busy all day long, plus my class starts soon, plus I’m going to be advising two students on their thesis projects these year.
Back to the anthology, both Joe’s and Katie’s pieces are shaping up very well (I pick up Joe’s later tonight actually) but there’s still the third one, from myself, to do. And the thing is, I doodle and all, but its been a while since I’ve done anything major in a while so I’m pretty rusty. Plus, I can’t fucking draw, so maybe its best that the mini is left at just two stories? I’ll be working on mine alongside MK while she works on her new book all this weekend in Jersey, but if I can’t get mine done in time, at least there’s two solid stories for SPX (mine would drag theirs down anyway).
Also this weekend, which will be the last chance for either MK & I to relax until the end of the month, we’re gonna try to get some hiking in upstate. As for tonight, I’ll be hanging with Joe for a bit (it’ll be the last time to do so in a while… I unfortunately will be out of town for a wedding during his birthday, plus he’s also going to be super busy for the next few weeks, primarily to work on his new book and for some comic book project which I won’t spill the beans about, but it pretty fucking unbelievable, I’m Toonces the Driving Cat or some other Jack Handy SNL sketch level of absurdity); Kenny the drummer’s throwing a party. It’ll be good to see the guy, it’s been a while since I heard a really good Grandpa Al Lewis impression.
BTW, here’s some quick game related news:
- I just found out that the new Ghouls n Ghosts PSP games will introduce many Metroid-esque elements to the series, such learning new abilities, different kinds of armor and weapons to find, and branching, nonlinear levels. The infusion certainly revamped Castlevania back in the day… hence the term Metroidvania. Now I’m seriously interested.
- Capcom is also asking fans what they want to see on the PSP, such as what franchises they want to see go portable. It’s a double-edged sword really; if Capcom didn’t do this, they be critizied for not listening to the fans. But since they are, all subsequent Resident Evil or Onimusha games for the PSP will be seen as further acts of milking from Capcom. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Rival Schools or Powerstone, even if they are just straight ports.
- But there is a new Mega Man game coming its way. All that’s known is that it’s called Rockman Rockman (for those who don’t know, Rockman is the Japanese name for Mega Man). So Mega Man Mega Man, eh? I just hope its based on the original series and acts as a Mega Man 9 of sorts, bridging the original and the X series.
- Here’s some screenshots from Metal Slug 6:
Its the first game of the series to be done on Atomiswave hardware, and once again, SNK hasn’t really exploited it to any great degree. The backgrounds are all hi-res, but its the same old sprites from before, plus a few fancy tricks here and there. I guess its really Metal Slug: Neo Wave. But hey, it features Ralph and Clark, from Ikari Warriors!
BTW, SNK just sent me a copy of Metal Slug 4 & 5, and I have to say, it ain’t that bad. I mean, its not Metal Slug X or 3, but I don’t find it that offensive either. Diehard fans of the series act as if part 4 punched their moms in the face.
- Wanna give Feel the Magic 2, aka Where Do Babies Come From? Well here’s you chance with a demo level Sega’s created in Flash.
- The Okami website has been updated. Click on the last two buttons at the top for some quick vids. This games is very pretty.
- And I’m no big fan of Fist of the North Star, but I have to admit, this game looks pretty fucking nice.
… This reminds me: I’ve been so busy as of late, that I simply don’t have any time to surf the web for fun, which really sucks. I bet at least seven brand-new internet fads have passed me by completely. At this point, I have to rely on friends to point the way towards the good stuff, like a site that Dave sent a while back that features various artists depicting late night talk show host Conan O’Brien vs. a bear.
BTW, if this is “OMG OLD”, please, I’ve been out of the loop, okay?
Oh, and for those interested, a few things do work out for me in the end (like the friendly beer bag guy incident) and something I paid for actually got to me; here’s a pic of that Soundwave statue that I took while testing one of the school’s new cameras this morning.
For those curious as to what the rest of my living space is (I’m certainly interested in that sort of stuff, especially when it comes to nerds…. in fact, I might write a book about it in the future), just click here.
Alright, time to get to work…
