In this post:
1. PAX is happening this weekend, and it shall be epic to say the least!
2. Highlights from the past few days, including Ace Venture playing Time Crisis 4.
3. My two cents regarding GDC.
4. And a few random game related bits & pieces, mostly stuff I’m pretty sure you haven’t seen before!
All right, it’s finally time!
FORT90 X ATTRACT MODE X MEAT BUN X LIFE METER X ATTRACT MODE X HEAVY X EGM ?!
In just a few hours I’ll be getting on a Chinatown bus for Boston, and for PAX East 2010. Man, I am so psyched; gonna be a crazy awesome weekend! As well as a crazy busy one… As everyone already knows by now, hopefully, I’ll be helping Adam out by running the Attract Mode table (in an area known as “band land”, where all the assorted musical acts will be setting up camp). And not only will one find all the wonderful goods that are present on the website, but in the flesh (and most importantly, sans expensive shipping costs), we will once again also have an assortment of shirts from Meat Bun! Though I already mentioned that last time… so perhaps it’s worth stating that we’ll also have the latest Life Meter collection! This will be everyone’s first chance (aside from those who made it out to SPX last yeah; it hasn’t been available since) to pick up the latest, and arguably best Life Meter trade yet. Plus, we’re going to have a fun little cross-promotion with Tiny Cartridge! Everyone will have to stop by the booth to find out what I’m talking about, though I’m pretty sure Eric or JC will reveal some details on their end as well.
Not only will I be selling stuff at the show, I’ll also have my reporter hat on as well; I’ll be covering all the major news on the behalf of Heavy.com, though I’ll also be taking plenty of cosplay pics for this place additionally. FINALLY got a new camera! And maybe it wouldn’t hurt to mention that I’ll be doing a few extra things on the behalf of EGM? Yes, Electronic Gaming Monthly! Not sure yet if it’ll be for the print version or the new electronic one, since we only recently started talking. Hopefully both!
Mr. Hand Sanitizer For The Win
The past week or so leading up to this weekend has been equally crazy. I say that way too often, but this time it’s the God’s honest truth. Not only have I been gearing up for the big show in Boston, but for the one after that in New York City, MoCCA Fest to be exact. Mainly putting the next zine together; perhaps I shouldn’t admit this publicly, but I’m already WAY behind schedule. It’s rather embarrassing, considering how much time I’ve supposedly had to work on it, along with the hype machines that’s well under way, but hey, that’s just how these things go! I’m both a stickler for details, yet I love going by the seat of my pants.
I’ve also been working on an iPhone project (it’s mostly a tech demo, but is primarily a game) and finalizing details regarding my zine launch party/indie arcade shindig (more details on both as they come). Though it hasn’t been all work and no play; here’s a pic from this past Saturday’s birthday celebration for my pal Marianne!
Holy sh*t, I look like hell. I know I need to lose some weight and all, but Jesus Christ. And I’ve never been very photogenic, but that’s ridiculous. Though I didn’t look all that bad in this pic from my pal Michele’s birthday party last last year…
Anyway, back to Saturday night, Marianne’s party was lots of fun; the crowd was an interesting mix of book publishing types plus comedic actors and writers. One of whom actually hit on me! And anyone whose remotely familiar with improv comic chicks should be familiar with their method of sizing a guy up, i.e. they engage in this weird “scene” with you, almost dueling banjo style. In the end, I didn’t pass the audition, but my heart wasn’t exactly in it either; aside from already having a lady friend, I’ve sworn off dating actresses a long time ago, with the sole exception of Emma Watson, of course (I still luv u Hermione).
The night before was spent with the aforementioned gf, plus dmauro, at Chinatown Fair, to witness the first of presumably many Street Fighter 3 tournaments to come. Long story short, some folks at the Shoryuken fight forum are trying to raise money, via the tourney, to purchase a pair of Astro City cabs for the place, and I figured it might make an interesting story when all was said and done. Though conducting interviews and simply keep track of what the hell is going on in that place can be quite the challenge, yet I did manage to get some good info, even some interesting dirt, as well as witness some interesting theatrics. Myself, Katie, and Dave all fell in love with this one Asian dude who was quite unabashed with his use of Purell before assuming the controls each and ever time, even to the point that he would wipe the stick and buttons down with a very liberal does (we’re convinced that it’s going to do damage to the machine in the long run). Oh, and there was some guy dressed up as a Ace Venture playing Time Crisis 4, and another excessively sweaty guy trying to impress the ladies via DDR as usual (best part is how these dudes are invariably in their late 30s/early 40s for whatever reason). Couldn’t stick around for long I’m afraid, due to a social engagement later in the evening, though there’s going to be a bunch more I’m guessing (unless it becomes red hot super fast and they make all the money they need next week) and I should be at the one after next, since again I’ll be in Boston, and however more after that. Expect my full rundown afterwards, though where or who whom I honestly can’t say at this point! And it actually happening to begin with might largely depend on the cooperation of some of the folks involved, and let’s just say that communication has been… tricky at best.
As for that social engagement, it was yet another get-together, this time for my pal Quinn, someone that most folks who write about games in the NYC area are more than familiar with. He’s one of the dudes who works for TriplePoint, a firm that is well known for having some of the flat out coolest (as well as super nicest) in the PR biz. And it was his last hurrah before heading off west, to Cali, where TriplePoint HQ is located and a big promotion. Naturally, quite a few other PR peeps and fellow game journalists were also in attendance, and one of the topics of conversation covered was GDC. Primarily the level of reporting from the mainstream press, and it was where I heard the second nicest thing said about me that week (the first being Adam’s way too kind assertion that my zine helped to spark the current gaming zine boom… though his argument he provided personally was pretty persuasive). And that’s how, if I had been in attendance, there might not have been such a gaping hole when it came to following the indie beat…
After All Was Said And Done: GDC 2010
And on that note, it’s near the end of March, which means yet another monthly recap of notable game related headlines and whatnot. Unfortunately, my full rundown will have to wait till later, since I’m strapped for time, but because the dust has finally settled, and I don’t want to back logged when it comes to addressing events, perhaps now might be a good time to talk about the Game Developers Conference….
First off, from my (albeit limited) perspective, the show did not jump the shark as some had predicted (and as I had secretly feared). Granted, a few things leading up the conference were starting to look a little too E3-ish. And despite the best wishes of some, who would have actually preferred such a spectacle for assorted reasons, it was what it was supposed to be when all was said and done: a gathering for those who build games, period. Which has always been the case, but for this year an especially concerted effort was made to ensure that people would be able to learn from others’ experience, share their ideas, become inspired, and express their passion for the art of making interactive entertainment in a conducive and fostering environment. Going by the feedback I’ve heard from who are actually in the field and attended, the organizers’ goals was once again achieved. And considering that it is indeed for professionals, plus how the cost of entry is in the thousands, perhaps it’s foolish to fear ever become an overly flashy, media driven affair. True it’s no longer this secret hideaway for game creators to talk shop, but given how interactive entertainment is so front and center these days (to the point that it’s a given and no longer a noteworthy fact), how could it not be at this point? It’s also true that Activision apparently had a gathering with pole dancers, but then again, that’s Activision for you. Plus, a big company tried making a splash at a trade even that primarily consisted of computer dorks by using sex? News at eleven.
Speaking of the news, that there was the one big sore point of the entire affair; the overall coverage, primarily from the mainstream outlets, or lack-thereof. Basically, it was absolutely pathetic. And I get it, at the end of the day, mainstream gamers care more about some hackneyed Wii Sports wannabe (i.e. the PlayStation Move, lulz) than a bunch of one button games at the indie pavilion. Or so they believe/we are led to believe. Still, I’m genuinely shocked that Kotaku and others weren’t on-hand to report from the floor of the big Gamma 4 party (though some have noted that this might have been for the best). Hell, other than Patrick Klepek from G4, the actual exhibition itself was more or less soundly ignored by all the rest. WTF. Also, no reports from the Game Over show, none of the chiptunes events, not even the GDC edition of Capcon’s fight club; surely I wasn’t the only one who knew about/got invited to these things. Meanwhile, some of the things that was focused on was simply befuddling. The lack of decent coverage was certainly felt by more than just myself, particularly those behind the scenes at the GDC proper, who found it all the more distressing. Many of us also lamented the unfortunate lack of Brandon Boyer’s usual brand of comprehensive and ulta sublime reporting, thanks to Boing Boing seemingly not caring about Offworld anymore. I guess that’s what pisses me off the most about not going myself; cuz I could have definitely helped fill that hole. Which is not to say that I’m anywhere in the same league as Brandon, but something is always better than nothing. And there’s so much from that week that could have been documented and shared with the world, yet was not.
In the end, all those fears that the indie scene was becoming over-exposed was also unwarranted, since hardly any was given to them in the first place! Though on a semi-related note, some feel that this shift in focus might be due to the fact that the popular definition of indie as it stands in gaming today is hardly indie to begin with, and how it’s going through a transitional period, similar to when alternative music in the 90s basically became the norm. Another interesting aspect of the show, which I was only able to get bits and pieces of, was hearing from various independent game creators who aren’t part of the “scene” and their reaction to it. But now we’re getting into a bigger discussion of what exactly does the term indie mean exactly, and even though it’s certainly relevant to the subject at hand, I’m not touch that, at least not yet. So onto the highlights…
- The theme was this year’s GDC was apparently feat and loathing in farmville. And the person who first coined that term recently detailed all the highlights from the show to help illustrate this sentiment over at Gamasutra.
Sad but true; social gaming is somewhat taking over. Kinda. Maybe. It’s hard to deny that a f*ckton of people actually engage in them, though many other related factors, such as them actually being games in the first place, has yet to be fully determined. The guy from Zynga (the folks who make FarmVille) caused the biggest stink when he accepted the award for best new social/online game and claimed to be “just as indie” as the rest of the audience. Furthermore he urged them all to put their money where their mouth was to, by making their own social games, cuz that’s where all the money is at. He also went to describe how cool his company was and asked for everyone’s resumes. Yeah, what a douche!
BTW, here’s a very excellent response to the way Zynga and others makes games. Long story short, traditional game creators have nothing to worry about in the long run. Then again, according to some, if the theory that Facebook is essentially the Wal-Mart of gaming outlets, then perhaps there is something to worry about.
- The indie game makers rant session was certainly newsworthy, due to the fact that one person’s bitching about Apple’s App Store policies got his game unceremoniously dumped afterwards. I’m not even going to bother to highlight the Cult of Mac’s pathetic defending of such asinine behavior. And the dude in question’s equating of the platform to Tiger handhelds, when speaking about port of games like Mega Man 2 and Street Fighter 4 was so on the money that it’s not even open for debate. Seriously, has ANYONE ever beaten Mega Man 2 on the iPhone?
BTW, for those who might be interested in whatever everyone else had to say at the rant session, Mathew Kumar has the basic gist of everyone else’s. Of special note was what Ryan O’Donnell of Area 5 had to say regarding game journalism, in which he gave a shout out to Tiny Cartridge. And for good reason; it does indeed rock very much!
- Thankfully Brandon’s coverage wasn’t totally absent; here’s his break down of a presentation given by Ron Carmel from 2D Boy, along with the accompanying illustrations from David Hellman, regarding the recently established Indie Fund.
Plus, there’s what I believe to be an illustrated version of Craig D. Adams’ “less talk and more rock” from the aforementioned rant session. I think?
- First there’s all the winners of the 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. But if you’re like me, you could sorta care less about the big boys’ awards (no offense to Uncharted 2 and all), and are only interested in the winners of the Independent Games Festival!
Then you have the IGF Mobile’s winners. Some might recall that I was one of the lucky few to be the inaugural edition’s judge! Anyhow, this year’s edition was the first real evidence that Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery is indeed just as amazing looking as many had hoped it would be.
- Aside from the idiot from Zynga acting like an idiot on stage, there was one additional bit of drama at the award ceremony, but one which virtually no one caught wind of, which was Greg Costikyan storming out of the ceremony over his disgust over the goofiness on stage, which he clearly did not find very funny at all.
Oh, somewhat related/somewhat not really; someone recently showed me this. I guess it’s nice to know that, at the end of the day, he still believed the IGF to be “A Good Thing”. Hey, nothing is perfect, that’s for damn sure. And personally, as just noted, I was a judge myself once and thought it was an absolute blast! Certainly wouldn’t mind being one again next time, that√≠s for certain.
- Also from the award ceremony, this image of Warren Spector wearing Mickey Mouse ears..
- Once more: here’s all the Gamma IV games, the six winners, plus many of the entrants. I unfortunately haven’t had a chance to check them all out, but I will agree with IndieGames that Fish Face got totally robbed.
- Steph Thirion, the creator of Eliss (which I still believe might be the absolute best pure iPhone game in existence to this very day, and the only reason why I’m remotely interested in the iPad) finally showed off his next game, Faraway. Looks awesome!
- On a semi-related note, since the previous game was influenced by everyone’s favorite, Canabalt (which is also a damn fine iPhone title, but since it was originally available on a desktop browser, I hesitate to call it a “pure” experience, if that makes any damn sense), here’s that game’s postmortem.
- The best part of GDC, other than the big reveals, are the sessions of course, where the best in the biz address their peers and talk about their work, often sharing some great stories, valuable insight, even secrets! When I attended GDC 08, one of the highlights was definitely Masafumi Takada, and this year if I had gone, I would have most definitely would have attended Akira Yamaoka’s talk, the former Konami/current Grasshopper employee. Along with the creator of Metroid and WarioWare of course!
The Nuovo Session sounded like it could have been interesting as well, plus the Game Design Challenge is always great. Then you had keynotes from the luminaries, like Sid Meier and the always entertaining Will Wright (who again I was fortunate enough to see two years ago in San Fran).
- In light of the recent Nintendo 3DS announcement (real quick, lol at Nintendo for announcing the new next DS a week before the now old DS even comes out), I wonder how valid this info regarding “the DS2″. Who knows, maybe in addition to 3D graphics that one doesn’t even need glasses for, it’ll have an accelerometer as well.
EDIT: Well, wouldn’t you know.
- Also revealed at GDC: Seanbaby ruined video game journalism this generation. Naturally, I’m dying to hear more!
- As for the headlines that the rest of the world might actually care about, the only ones relevant to my interest has to do with Metroid: Other M, via the Yoshio Sakamoto session. Like how the beginning literally picks up from where Super Metroid ends, literally and how Dario Argento was a major source of inspiration for the man.
Along with how it was originally an on-rails game, plus how the dude also has the hots for Samus. Join the club!
- I wonder what Q Entertainment’s secret meetings here all about? Hmmm.
- lol, Sony admitting that they should have released Demon’s Souls.
- I’m also bummed that I couldn’t be there for the opening of Gave Over 3, but at least Giant Robot has posted all the pieces online! My fave would have to be the one that Adam highlighted recently, of what Mario must look like to a Goomba. I also like Kazimir Strzepak’s Ikari Warrior piece, though it’s still not as cool as the one from last year.
- Then we have pics from the Into The Pixel exhibition that also opened during GDC! Some fine stuff there as well.
- Finally, the obligatory Mega 64 kids screwing around at the thing video. Too bad Kojima couldn’t make a return guest appearance, but his replacement is decent nonetheless.
A Japanese Zine About 80′s Shumps? YES PLEASE
Like I said before, this is the part where I was going to detail all the other notable items from various other places that a few out there might have missed. But I just don’t have the time, so with what little I have left, going to concentrate on the stuff that hasn’t been covered by Tiny Cartridge, GameSetWatch, Siliconera, Sankaku Complex, and Kotaku already. Like…
- Check out this rather nifty custom Touhou Project arcade stick!
… Personally, I think having his name on it is a bit overkill, but whatever. At least I don’t have to bother posting a link to his blog!
- I’ve been way too busy for some of my usual haunts, like NeoGAF for example. Though in that case, the amount of nonsense posted is simply too much for me (I do realize that it’s a complaint which has been around since day one, and I guess since I’m no longer an active member of the community, I therefore am not as entertaining or forgiving when it comes to the theatrics), plus the loss of the search function has made it almost impossible to navigate. Oh, and the place’s new design totally blows, imho. But some good stuff can still be found, you just have to dig deeper. Like this UK:Resistance appreciation thread…
I also enjoy this one, in which folks share that video game posters. On a side note, I almost bought a Persona 4 poster (basically the image from the Japanese art book) from some dude on Figure.fm, but the dude stopped talking to me after a while. Such a bummer.
- Semi-related, and also speaking of that place, here we have some highlights from a Touhou Project art book that was stumbled upon in Akihabara! Might have to special order that one at Kinokuniya.
- Plus here’s some dude who recently had a job interview with Square Enix, along with some rather interesting details. Seems rather risky (among other things) to go public with such info, but since it’s fascinating, I have to give the guy a thumb’s up.
EDIT: Just noticed that part 2 just went up yesterday.
- Is everyone here familiar with Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga, aka Automatic Mario? I’m pretty sure I posted the original many moons ago, but those that haven’t been around that long, here’s the original, as well as a number of remixes.
- One last thing from that place, and I know it’s sorta old news, but I saw her first! I simply haven’t gotten around to posting it since now; the cutest, lil’ cosplayer you’ll ever see…
… There’s a pic of at least one game related character (Yoshimitsu), hence why posting the link counts, though her Voltron outfit is clearly cooler.
- Moving on, but not too far, is another Danny Choo web space, this one called Tokyo.Japan Times, in which users share pictures and information about living there, but not just stuff otaku related nonsense. It’s mostly restaurant, hotel, and vacations spot reviews, though video games do manage to make an appearance every once in a while…
- Here we have some pics from a recent Japanese auto show, featuring plenty of custom jobs, like…
- For those who haven’t seen it; another Mega 64 vid, this one featuring Indie Man!
- You know what blog I religiously follow, despite a language difference? The one belonging to Japanese chiptune sensation Saitone, whose work I fell in love with at the very first Blip Fest. Well, one recent entry contained this totally amazing, 30 minute long jam session with the guy and a pal of his. If you’re a chiptunes fan, it’s a total must see.
- Here’s a clip that has nothing to do with games, but is beginning to tapped into somehow. I can easily envision it being the interface for some iPhone game.
- I believe one of the Tiny Cartridge guys posted this on Twitter; five white DMG (Dot Matrix Game) Game Boys, all neatly arranged…
- Related: I’m far more jealous of press folk who got Cave Story prints from Nintendo (mostly cuz each one was unique) than DS XLs and a very large sandwich. That particular day, when everyone was writing about their care packages from the big N, was a nice reminder that it had been a while since I had fired up my Game Boy Micro, with a flash cart loaded with the English translated Mother 3!
- Also via Tiny Cartridge: a Tumblr that’s completely dedicated to the kids that competed on Nick Arcade.
- And this one is via Adam’s Twitter, of an absolutely amazing looking arcade that I must go to before I die. Or before they change the carpeting, whichever comes first…
- Oh, so as most of you have heard by new, there’s a new King of Kong, and its neither Steve Wiebe or Billy Mitchell, but Hank Chien. Sorry, but as far as I’m concerned, anything that TwinGalaxies has to say these days is practically worthless.
- Back to Twitter; just started following someone who calls himself RAINBOW SATAN, and he’s pretty awesome, cuz of stuff like this.
- I wonder if this is from the same dude that did the Soul Calibur as a 2D fighter piece that I posted not too long ago?
- Time for some pixels that actually move, yet not via pixelstyle, but from one of the many random Tumblrs maintained by teenage girls who mostly post stuff that they find cute!
- Behold, the Dreamcast Millennium Falcon.
- Related: check out this insanely incredible gallery of Star Wars in the real world imagery courtesy of France’s Amusement magazine…
- Courtesy of Ryan from Electric Ant Zine/Same Hat comes some work from his hero (and yours) Kazuo Umezu, whose comics are very Shintaro Kago-esque, not in terms of the subject matter (maybe he does guro, don’t know, since I’ve only started to learn about his work) but how he loves to play with layout and structure and the like. This taste of his work is strongly reminicent my fave Kago story, which too was very pixel-ish…
- Again via Ryan comes proof positive that, and also not really game related, but this is simply too mind-blowing not to share; when it comes to zines, no one does it better than the Japanese….
- Finally we have a game related zine, also from Japan, one that revolves around shmups! Classic shumps from the eighties to be exact, called Eightbit Fighters, by Junji Okubo, which apparently made a super huge splash at the latest Comiket. It’s apparently so awesome that someone made a tribute video! Man, I absolutely need to get my hands on this thing! As does everyone else… which might actually be happening real soon! Stay tuned.
… Okay, that’s enough from me. See you this weekend in Boston!
