In this post:
1. I can’t believe I made the same mistake twice.
2. My conversation regarding how to run a video game lounge continues.
3. Saw John Woo’s latest.
4. A bunch of things revolving around friends, zines, and chiptunes!
5. Plus I got a new gig.
Man, what a crazy week. Mostly lots of social engagements…
I Can’t Believe It Happened Again
On Tuesday I had lunch with Raina Lee; she’s been traveling the world as of late, mostly speaking at various game conferences across Europe, but decided to make a detour in the Big Apple to simply catch up with friends before venturing off to the biggest leg of her tour: she’s heading to Napal to climb the Andes and see what yak meat tastes like.
Anyhow, it afforded us the chance to catch up, talk shop, plus exchange gossip. Quite a few folks have told me so over the years, but Raina’s always been high up on the list of those adamant that my wacky life should be a book one day. And granted, that’s what UNLUCKY is for, but I guess there are some stories that just can’t properly contained in a 8 page comic. 80 page maybe. Oh, and it also provided me with the chance at last to pass along a copy of Vib Riboon, which Raina has been jonesing to play since forever. And yes, I made a bootleg of a video game, based on an original that I own! That and the game has been long since out of the print, plus was never released here in Japan, and the only person I’m “hurting” is some eBay seller. Whatever. Oh, and I also passed along some Love Love 2!
After a hearty bowl of ramen at Rai Rai Ken, we parted ways, and I went to the Kinkos at University Place to take care of some paperwork. That’s when “it” happened yet again; while trying to figure out how to operate the fax machine, some sketchy looking guy hip-checked me in a rather suspicious manner. It’s not like there was a crowd of people had to maneuver and therefore bump into me. A couple of minutes later, I went to grab my iPhone in my back pocket (strange place to put it, I know) when it was gone. Holy sh*t, for the second time in two days, my iPhone was missing!
Though I also had to wonder if I had been stupid enough to leave my phone out on the counter, unattended, where this same person was also nearby the entire time, who could have easily scooped it up when I wasn’t looking. The dude was still in the store, and hardly looked to be the type who was friendly enough to call a found phone’s original owner to happily return the thing, but more like a petty criminal who goes after poor saps and their electronic ticket to their lives. After-all, I pegged this guy to be a thief, though I had absolutely no proof, hence why I felt less than confident about just walking up and pointing a finger. Plus, I didn’t want a punch in the face, and he totally looked to be the type to do so.
It was then I decided to ask the person at the counter if they had found a phone. And wouldn’t you know… yes. The woman noted how calm I was, but I was way too embarrassed to state that the same exact thing happened just 48 hours prior. Also, the only thing that was keeping me relatively calm, despite the fact that my phone was in far more dangerous hands, was how I had password protected the thing. Which as noted last time, is a double-edged sword, since if I had done so the previous time, I would have never gotten it back. But unfortunately, not everyone’s a good samaritan.
Afterward I spoke to Tom about my ordeal earlier that afternoon, and he jokingly noted that I should create an iPhone case that’s connected to the user, like a chain wallet. Not a bad idea! If I knew how to put something like that together, I would. But I’m sure someone’s already done so on Etsy. And speaking of Tom…
Creating A Place For Gamers To Hang Out (Part 2 of ???)
Tom and I had another phone call, this time to discuss his most recent findings. He was able to get a hold of the owner of that aforementioned Jersey joint that operates a similar venue. Though initially he was hesitant since he had assumed that the owner might not want to share his winning formula, and lo and behold, Tom had a certain degree of difficulty of grabbing someone’s attention. Eventually he spoke to the man in charge, who was more than happy to answer any question, but it was his wife that had been blowing Tom off, who actually had the tell no secrets attitude!
Among other things, Tom learned of iGames.org, which sanctions game lounges world wide, though they’re technically classified as LAN centers. When you think of the term, one instantly envisions a bunch of folks huddled around a PC playing WoW or Counterstrike, not lounging around on comfy couches in front of a gigantic flat screen to play SF4, which is what Tom had in mind. And what this other guy does already. As noted, it’s presence reaches across the globe; 90% of every game center in China is a member. The primary benefit is being allowed to charge customers to play one’s games, so it all comes down to licensing… similar to how you can’t charge a group of people to watch a major motion picture on DVD your purchases from, say, Best Buy (remember all that FBI warnings before every movie?), the same goes with playing a game.
There’s an upfront $200 application fee, and then it’s $45 a month for small upstarts, even more when the operation exceeds a certain size. Seems rather costly, but Tom felt it was a definite deal, mostly because they help parties get things up and running. Plus they offer assistance when one wants to run a tournament or even get their hands on exclusive software, stuff that’s still in the works, to provide a sneak preview to their local market. The reason why all this is possible is because iGames was founded by all the major game publishers… EA, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, etc… though I had personally never heard of such an operation previously, as bas as that might sound. But it certainly sounds good, and reassuring that the industry is willing to help those who want to get involved at such a level.
Moving on, Tom asked this already established game center operator who his target audience was, specifically what the age and gender breakdown was. The answer? Just “gamers.” Basically, everyone plays games; he supposedly has 70 year olds who come in to play WW2 shooter, along with young girls who love Wii Fit. Which led to Tom asking himself what a gamer was. Which means figuring out who they are, what they do, where they go, how much money they spend, all that stuff. So for starts, he’s getting an Xbox 360 to see for himself. Or at the very least to get his feet wet. Also, I recommended that he checked out NeoGAF last time, for whatever reason, and thus far loves it! Though in the same way that Katie does I suppose. Once you spend enough time there, and realize that many of the folks who troll there are your contemporaries… it starts losing its luster.
This other person noted that most of his business comes from birthday parties. Though he felt that business would be much stronger if the location was better. Shortly after my first post about Tom, Adam from Attract Mode mentioned how there’s a game lounge near him that’s always packed, mostly since it’s in a mall, and this other person did note how he wished he was at a shopping center. Instead, they’re at some strip mall, next to a yoga studio, mostly because his sister runs that operation, and they can keep an eye out for one another.
Aside from the phone conversation, Tom tried brainstorming various incentives to draw people in. After all, why go somewhere else to play Halo 3 when one can already do so at the luxury or home? Free snacks, like chips and simple stuff like that is one such idea, though something far more substantial will also be available, like hot dogs and chicken wings, for purchase. Also free drinks, but just one an hour; anyone whose still thirsty could always buy additional sodas and the like.
Tom’s also trying to figure out what to draw in women, to avoid the entire place being a sausage party. It was here that I had to mention that women make up a vast majority of gamers out there, and not surprisingly, when I started throwing out numbers, I got a big fat “Seriously?!?!” in return.
He also threw out the idea of having random giveaways. Each day someone would get some small prize, but once a week there would a flat screen television thrown into the mix. And not just some 19-incher from some no-name company, but a nice, massive high-end one from Sony or such & such. Yes, one a week. My attitude was that it was a bit on the insane side (as well as extremely costly). The idea was, you never knew when one was going to be given out, hence the need to stick around as long as possible. But my attitude is, if having a glorious display is one of the selling points of hanging out, why give it away? To play games on a beautiful display, it should be at Tom’s place, not at the home of one of his lucky customers!
Though a far more sensible idea was to have regular challenges. Meaning, getting a grade A expert in whatever game and invited the public to test their mettle against the person, perhaps for a prize. Not a bad idea.
Then there’s the notion of making it the HQ for fantasy footballer. But the idea of reserving the televisions for watching a game instead of playing them, especially when it might come at the cost of a birthday party, is just a bad idea IMHO. Mind you, I know that fantasy football is popular, but I have no idea how that translates to revenue, and while all possibilities for profit should be explored, one also needs to keep their core brand in mind.
On that note, I suggested that Tom check out a few places in NYC, like Chinatown Fair and even Barcade, which we might be doing sometime next week! I also might be checking out this other game center in Jersey with him first-hand. So definitely more to come.
The Best John Woo Film In 17 Years
On Wednesday I was invited to a special screening of Red Cliff, the new film by John Woo. Hilary came along for the fun as well. So how was it? First some background: John Woo has been one of my favorite directors since forever, so his crap output in Hollywood has been especially distressing for myself. Though pretty much every Asian cinephile wants to hang themselves when they hear the name of the man who more or less kick started the entire HK cinema movement that still exists today in connection with Face/Off. Eventually he returned home (thank God) in order to direct a film version of the events that went down at Red Cliff, a pivotal moment in ancient Chinese history, which was immortalized in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and thusly became the source of countless folk tales, operas, novels, movies, television series, and of course, video games. The end result is a sprawling epic that’s been characterized as a Chinese version of The Lord of the Rings; two films, Red Cliff 1 and Red Cliff 2, were produced, both of which was embraced by critics and film goers alike in Woo’s native lands. And the upcoming American release of Red Cliff actually combines both films… which clock in at over four hours combined… into one slightly slimmer package that’s close to two and half.
While Hilary found all the action to be a bit overwhelming in the end, she still enjoyed herself, whereas I absolute loved it to death. And it’s true, there’s a LOT of action in Red Cliff, but all of is simply superb; perhaps I’m biased since I’m a total sucker finely choreographed, epic battle scenes. In that sense, it truly is like The Lord of the Rings, but without all the goofy fantasy elements getting in the way. The fact that the events in the film are somewhat (kinda) rooted in reality does make a tiny bit of difference, especially when it comes to rooting on the good guys when they attempt to overcome such insurmountable odds. Cuz in LotR, I was just waiting for whatever wizard to just conjure up some ultimate dragon and get it over with. Though it needs to be noted that events of the Three Kingdoms era has been heavily romanticized, hence they title!
Though I fell in love at the five minute mark (maybe less) because it’s immediately made known that you’re watching a John Woo movie God dammit. And all the wonderful flourishes that he’s so well known for is strongly displayed throughout. But unlike, say, Mission Impossible 2, which also had plenty of neat camera tricks (I think, it’s been a while), the story and especially the acting here is what keeps it all together. Because no matter how awesome the action is in The Killer and Hard Boiled, when you strip away all the eye candy, you’re still left with a compelling tale. The story this time, which again is rooted in history, tells of a ruthless prime minister to the north, Cao Cao, and the shaky alliance that is formed when southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan attempt to stand up to the man and his vast army, along with his very dirty tricks. Because Liu Bei is a war torn vets whose best days might be behind him, along with Sun Quan’s complete lack of experience, its up to Liu Bei’s strategist, Zhuge Liang, and Sun Quan’s viceroy Zhou Yu to lead the charge. Takeshi Kaneshiro plays the part of Zhuge Liang brilliantly, as the devilishly clever soul that manages to come up with the most simple yet brilliant of plans when all options appear to be exhausted, whereas the always amazing Tony Leung, whose does the stoic in the face of insurmountable and unthinkable odds. There’s plenty of other compelling faces, like Sun Quan’s spunky younger sister who ends up sneaking behind enemy lines, along with plenty of other generals on everyone’s sides, like the one whose a former pirate! Unfortunately, most of them don’t get as much screen time as one would hope, though the thing is, most of them are fleshed out much more… just in the original four hour cut.
But all things considered, whoever did an amazing job cutting down both massive films into just one, in which everything and everyone flows together just nicely. It’s never confusing, and aside from two little things that left both Hilary and I scratching our heads in the moment, one might have never guessed that a large part of the story is absent. What’s left is one high-impact battle scene after another, which features an amazing assortment of incredible stunts, jaw-dropping fight choreography, effective use of wirework, intense sword clanging, impressive explosions, and even smarter use of CGI. Half the fun is watching these brilliant military minds (much of the strategies developed are still being utilized today, and not just when it comes to warfare but everyday life itself) coming up with their plans and seeing them being executed. All of which is sure to satisfy most folks, ESPECIALLY diehard Woo fans, whereas many might be included hunt down the two complete films to fill in the blanks. Which is certainly the not the worst thing in the world! Here’s hope that the New York Asian Film Fest can get their hands on those next summer!
The film opens in theaters on November 18th, but it’s available via Video On Demand, including Xbox Live, this very moment!
Odds & Ends
What else?
- Yesterday I had lunch with Dave Roman. Which was mostly n first time we ate somewhere other than Times Square in… Jesus… quite a few years. Because his tenure at Nick Mag recently wrapped up (God rest that wonderful magazine’s soul), he’s now an unemployed bum just like me! So after lunch, we just sat around Union Square, shooting the sh*t. Mostly about cell phones, since I know a few things about them. And Jimmy McMillan! Both him and his wife Raina voted for the guy. So that’s three votes at least! Though I foolishly neglected to apologize for my lack of Life Meter blog posts. So if you’re reading this Dave (and you too Zack), sorry! Next week, I promise.
- Immediately afterward I met up with Katie for some drinks with Fitz and Martha at Ginger Man, the latter of whom was celebrating the passing of the bar! And right after that was even more drinks with Raina, who was having a go away party, before that aforementioned trip to Nepal! At both soir?e, the subject of Katie and I’s cat came up, and which the following photo proved to be an instant hit once again; I’m fairly certain I’ve shared it before, but once again…
Oh, and here’s a pic of myself and Raina, aka her last know photo before she plummets off the side of Mt Everest to her untimely death…
.,. Obviously, I don’t want any harm to befall Raina and figured that making such a joke will insure that misfortune will not occur. Or at least I hope! She’d better not die, since she plans to seriously get to work on 1UP Zine #4 when she returns home.
- Speaking of, guess who also has a video game zine up his sleeve? Mathew Kumar! It’s called exp. and it looks (and sounds) pretty hawt…
… Unfortunately it’s already sold out, though that’s a good thing as well! Luckily for me, my copy is already on way; Mathew and I trading zines, just like you do at shows! Speaking of, I think he’s gonna try to get a table at TCAF, and I’ve thought about doing the same. And hopefully he’ll let Katie and I crash on their floor while in Toronto. You hear that Mathew?
- Meanwhile, and sticking to zines, the place to go for my stuff (along with a host of other splendid goodies) aka Attract Mode, is sponsoring the first leg of a west coast micro chiptunes tour! And it’s tomorrow night, so if you’re in the Los Angeles area, it’s time to move your ass to the sounds of Game Boys!
- And speaking of 8-bit music, this year’s Blip Fest is coming up, though it’s going to need a little bit of financial aide to make it’s magic happen yet again. Which is where Kickstarter comes in, to help raise the $5,000 it needs, which thankfully has worked wonders! They’re just $514 shy of their total, and if I had the cash, I’d totally thrown down the $500 pledge amount for all the amazing extras, especially the LSDJ cart that’s pre-loaded by compositions from the Blip Fest performers themselves! Along with the extra $14 of course!
- Going back to Attract Mode for just one second, my good pal Mike over at Kotaku recently wrote great piece on a favorite subject of mine, that being video game clothing. Specifically the story behind the starting up of Meat Bun. And when mentioning other places to get neat-o gaming attire, he was nice enough to randomly mention my stuff, even though I have nothing to do with shirts, so thanks Mike!
- There’s actually tons more to go over, including all the stuff I’ve been playing as of late, like Forza 3, Tekken 6, Space Invaders Extreme 2, Wii Cheer 2, Boy And His Blob, and Lego Rock Band. Though I want to mention real quick that I finally got the top score among my friend’s leaderboard in Pac Man Championship Edition the other night, when I finally beat Heather Campbell’s score of 280,950! My new high score is 295,730! Which immediately went back to number two after added a few new folks to my Xbox Live Friends list and one person has something in the 317,000 range. Oh well.
Plus there’s all the stuff that’s been happening in the world of games as a whole, which has been quite a lot! Not surprisingly since it’s always crazy near the holidays. Though one place you can check on in the meantime is Heavy.com. Why? Because I’m the new video game blogger there! I’ll be posting several times a day, alongside K Thor Jensen. I just started, so I don’t have much stuff up there, but thus far we have…
… An early peek at the Daytona USA HD revamp, which thus far ain’t looking so hot.
… Quite seriously the awesomest video game trailer, ever.
… A rundown of some supposed Wii 2 specs that were leaked by someone at Nintendo of France.
Oh, and Joe Salina went to an NYU event last night that hosted both Cactus and Messhof, where they both spoke about their work. Joe promises that he’ll be passing along a report on that, plus a brand new indie arcade that opens up tonight in Queens, just a few blocks away from his apartment! So stay tuned…
