You know how I keep saying that I’m working on a bunch of different things, but have been super vague and cryptic? Well, I can finally reveal one of them…
… You can read all about it here. Get ready New York City; Attract Mode is coming back!
Once again, time is flying by at a breakneck pace; the 2013 edition of PAX East is just around the corner, which means the 2013 edition of my PAX East report will surely follow. But before that, some random Instagram pics from the past few few weeks, which I need to pass along before they’re officially in the way…
Corpse on the Imjin!
So last time I spoke about the first ever IndieCade East, though one key detail I forgot to mention was how Kris had asked to crash at my place and I had to tell him no. Why? Because it was cold as hell that week, and for whatever reason, the heat in my apartment was borked.
It was so bad that I seriously fired up Ted‘s Pixel Fireplace by my bedside, in hopes of convincing myself that I was sitting next to the real thing. Guess what? It worked…
Oh, so I’ve been busy has hell, putting two… things… together, back to back (will explain more in a bit, when the time is right), plus I’ve been designing an iPhone game, PLUS I’ve got more freelance work than I know what to do with. Which is why, among other things, I’ve barely left the apartment these past couple of weeks.
So one Saturday night I forced myself out, to finally check out Kyle‘s (not so new) apartment. Where I discovered a treasure chest of game controller. Literally…
I also got to finally meet Chums…
On my way home, while waiting for the G to arrive (Kyle lives in Greenpoint), I got bored and decided to take a subway selfie…
The following weekend, on my way to Mitsuwa, the old rundown house I always pass by looked especially creepy and decrepit (so naturally I had to take some pictures)…
As for Mitswua itself, while stocking up on the essentials (i.e. curry, curry, and more curry, plus this miso flavor salad dressing that is simply the best thing ever), I decided to swing by the candy section, where their karaoke themed sweets seemed might tempting…
As was this brand new line of sake they had on sale…
While on the topic of delicacies, have I mentioned that I get all my pearls of wisdom from Chinese fortune cookies?
I’ve mentioned Ventla once already, and recommend him to basically every chance I get. When people ask where to start, I always recommend Anti-Vivant…
Like most folk, I usually get bills or junk in my mailbox. But the day in which both the latest edition of Shooting Gameside and a print out of a Gothamist post both showed up on the same day was sorta exciting (for the story behind the latter, simply click here)…
Not long after, this showed up, which I’ve been eyeballing for ages now (and which I found on eBay for a crazy low price)…
… As for how it plays, I wouldn’t know! The drive door to my Xbox 360 is busted, so I haven’t been able to play the damn thing. Along with how my Wii’s OS is somehow corrupted (it took several days, but was able to finally download the definitive version of Retro City Rampage, the WiiWare edition) and how my PS3 can’t do jack on the internet, I sure do love how this generation of gaming has turned out!
Actually, I do know how the game is; been enjoying the iOS version since it first came out. Highly recommended! BTW, I don’t think I’ve ever shown off my Transformers Masterpiece edition of Soundwave, have I? Him, alongside Zero Suit Samus from before, is my pride and joy. Now, unlike Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu cost and an arm and a leg, and was worth every damn cent…
You know, I was afraid of showing him off, since the main reason why FORT90ZINE4ANSWER is in limbo is due to not having enough cash for print solution #7012. Let’s just say that he was acquired when my finances were a bit more stable, and was also one of those spur of the moment, “dear God I’m super depressed, maybe if I buy the one toy I’ve always wanted as a child, which they finally got around to making, 28 years later, I might cheer up, and besides, it is Christmas after-all” type of deals.
… Though, the latest financial headache comes in the form of a trucker from Pennsylvania, or at least that’s who I think it is. Long story short: Simon was in town, the other week, for a pre-GDC mixer in NYC, and I took him to my favorite Sri Lankan place for lunch. Problem is, I didn’t have any cash and the place did not accept cards. It’s also located in a place in which there are seriously no banks nearby, so against my best judgement, I decided to use one of those ATMs you use in the middle of the street in NYC. Which I always avoid, cuz, they look sketchy as hell. And wouldn’t you know, my paranoia was completely warranted; a few weeks later, a decent chunk of money was stolen from my bank account, to purchase diesel gas in Pennsylvania, hence the assumption that it was a trucker. Or so the theory goes; there’s no real proof that the ATM was actually rigged, but it’s the only wild card that would attributed to my credit card info getting jacked. There’s an investigation going on, and while I’ll get all my money back eventually, it’s still been a massive pain in the ass, and yet another reason why my bank account has been dangerously close to zero.
Anyway, back to Transformers: here’s a work in progress GPK card that Joe’s working on, featuring Sunstreaker, that I spotted when swinging by Wax Eye HQ this past Friday night…
It’s actually a commission; as a fully licensed and certified Garbage Pail Kids artist, he gets all kinds of wacky, personal requests. Like the following that he just recently wrapped up, featuring an Indiana Jones and Boba Fett mashup…
Together, along with June, we swung by the Society of Illustrators, for the Art of Harvey Kurtzman opening…
For those who aren’t familiar with Harvey Kurtzman, he’s basically one of the greatest cartoonists to have ever walked this earth and put pencil to paper. He’s up there with Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, and Art Spiegelman. In addition to highlighting Mad Magazine, which he created, the exhibit also showcases some of his Two-Fisted Tales tales output…
Along with Little Annie Fanny, which was a comic strip that ran in the pages of Playboy and that Kurtzman did alongside longtime collaborator Will Elder…
… That’s not Kurtzman btw, but Elder, along with a total hottie of a Playboy bunny. But anyhow, there’s not much to say here, other than how Kurtzman was truly one of a kind…
The retrospective is simply amazing, though also a tad bit depressing. Aside from the obvious (it’s sad that he’s not exactly a household name, even though his impact, not just on comics but entertainment in the past 50+ years across the board is more than evident), it also made me feel like a shlep for not drawing regularly these past 14 years.
Before I got involved in video games and writing, I was first and foremost a cartoonist. But that’s a discussion best saved for a later time.
“She’s attractive and is the size of an average human mother.”
Anyhow, time once again to pass along a few random game related links and images, just like the good old days! Starting with…
- Cory posted the following the other day on Twitter, of what he calls the 3DSi, and I want it pretty badly! At the very least, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who isn’t in love with the 3DS XL either (it’s better than the normal 3DS, but only marginally so)…
- And via Tumblr comes “a real man’s room”…
- Back to Ventla; he’s the one who passed along this…
- Yes, I totally follow a site whose URL spells out Let’s Go Lesbos (NSFW, perhaps obviously), but the most important thing is the following pic that was posted: does anyone know that game that she’s playing? It’s something for the PS2, that’s all I can tell…
- Well, I’m glad that horrible and gross looking “Pikachu” has a roof over its head…
- Corey (not Schmitz, but Lewis; note the extra “e”) says his Revengance fan art might be print soon. I hope so!
- I spotted the following on Rodney Greenblat‘s Facebook page I believe…
- Good news: Vanguard Princess has been translated, and it’s only $5! Bad news: it’s apparently censored, and it’s not getting a hold of the Japanese version, which is totally free, is all that hard.
- Even better news: Mamoru-kun might be coming to America! That’s sorta random.
- Hey, did you hear about how Darth Vader introduced Wicket the Ewok to video games? It’s totally true.
- I forget where I first saw this, or if I’ve ever passed this along before, but at any rate: check out the smallest ass Game Boy you’ve ever seen.
- This woman beating some dude in Soul Calibur, and without even looking at the screen is mighty impressive.
- Turns out, Leonard Nimoy not only has a PS4 already, but he’s had it for 30 years now.
- I totally want to play the rarest PSP game ever produced, which is all about being a Hilton hotel employee.
- This pretty much single-handedly sums up why I love the Yakuza games so much.
- In case you’ve forgotten: Sonic fans are quite insane.
- Exhibit #2…
- Am totally gonna nab this brand new Chie figure from Bandai, though I only wish I knew how big she is…
- Though even cooler is this Raidou Kuzunoha figure…
- Sorry, I forget who the artist is. But it’s a heartwarming scene, is it not?
- Though I know who did this rad Punch-Out illustration; Ed Piskor…
- I totally love these rejected Mega Man bosses by Anthony Clark that Tiny Cart posted the other day…
- I so badly need to make my own custom Radiant Silvergun arcade stick (from this site)…
- Hey look, Mortal Kombat pizza…
- Came across the follow the other night, while trying to figure out why I can’t get Kega Fusion to play any Sega CD redbook audio…
- Kris was the one who gave me the heads up on the race for the first 3D printed home. Don’t know about you, but I totally want to live in a house that looks like a Crocomire’s skull (a la Super Metroid)…
- Anyone out there familiar with 8-Bit Zombe?
- Though the real big news from the past couple of weeks is sudden and untimely passing of Kenji Eno. Before I began idolizing the works of Masaya Matsuura, Fumito Ueda, Goichi Suda, and even Keita Takahashi, I was a total fanboy of the guy who made Enemy Zero (the absolute greatest survival horror game ever made), who told Shigeru Miyamoto right to his face that he thought Mario 64 kinda sucked (Shiggy was extremely grateful for such brutally honest criticism), and who totally punk’d Sony at their own presser (instead of announcing a new game for their PlayStation, he stopped on the console and a toy based upon Jumping Flash; God I wish video of that existed).
This recently published interview that had long been unpublished, courtesy of Kotaku, is a must read. But before that, and especially if you haven’t check it out already, this epic, 10 page long interview from 1UP is absolutely required. Especially now that 1UP’s days are numbered.
Which is why you should also not just read, but download, their incredible retrospectives on Panzer Dragoon and Shenmue, plus one of the best interviews with Tetsuya Mizuguchi you’ll find anywhere.
A Couple More Things…
K, time to wrap this up. But first, a few Attract Mode posts, since last time…
- At long last, your long overdue Nintendo World Championships 1990 recap.
- Part three of Lil B and his “classic” video game collection.
- And my most recent Instagram dump, featuring a heavy dose of cats…
… And two final PAX East 2013 notes: remember how I said that I would be moderating a panel? Well, there’s now a time and a place! You can find out, plus more, via its homepage. Yes, the panel has its very own site! That’s just how we roll.
Also, for those of you who plan on going to Boston via the Chinatown bus, please note that the Fung Wah is no more. So I’d suggest getting tickets sooner than later!
Five days into March already and I still haven’t finished covering February. Anyway, after Toy Fair, you had…
IndieCade East
IndieCade, aka “the video game word’s equivalent to Sundance” is something I’ve long wanted to witness firsthand. Unfortunately, making it out to California has always been on the difficult side for me. Hell, I have yet to even attend E3.
Though you better believe it when I say that I’ll be in town for the LA Game Space opening shindig! Plus a trip to Los Angeles is now officially overdue, now that I have so many friends who live there; sup Lamar. Which is why, when I heard that IndieCade was happening in NYC, I was beyond stoked. And the final verdict? Well… I always try to be kind when it comes to anything’s first time.
More than anything else, the extremely healthy turnout for the very first IndieCade East, despite relatively little to almost zero advertising, is a testament to how thriving the world of indie video games is here in the Big Apple. And how hose who are directly involved, along with others who are simply on the other side of the fence, are both eager for the chance to learn from each other.
IndieCade East was a three day affair that took place at the Museum of Moving Image, which is without question one of the most underrated institutions in the entire city (though I’ve yet to fully forgive them for their retrospective of New York City cable access from two years ago, which was a bit an epic fail as they come). Alas, due to my schedule, I was only able to go Saturday and Sunday.
My primary goal on day one was to catch Kris‘s keynote. Though equally high on my list was to check out was the game jam, and that’s what I hit first…
Various teams were all busying putting stuff together with the PlayStation Mobile SDK; Sony was the sponsor. Among the familiar faces was Team Donut Goku, aka Emmett and Diego, the duo behind Heads Up! Hot Dogs, plus their gal pal Nina. Here’s what their game was looking like at that point, day two…
You controlled this cute little pink robot who had to plant one of two different flowers, per instructions from a computer. The flora would grow automatically and I think you had to perform actions to keep things under control, though it wasn’t clear what.
Team Donut Goku were still trying to figure stuff out, like all the other teams, but it was beyond super cute and I had high hopes that they’d win the grand prize! At any rate, I wasn’t the one who was impressed…
Elsewhere you had a showcase of games from past IndieCades. Including Dyad, Hokra, and Splice…
You also had Bloop, which I never got the chance to try out, though everyone else seemed to enjoy it…
Was delighted to finally experience Thirty Flights of Loving. Though, I believe the PC that was running it was overheating, or perhaps I encountered a bug, because my character at one point picked up an orange that he wasn’t supposed to. Didn’t know that, so I spent all this time offering it to various characters with zero effect…
One of the star attractions of the weekend was the Oculus Rift, which I had already test driven at CES (actually, I wanted another go, but the line was always too damn long). So instead, I checked out the Ouya. Long story short: it seriously sports the most comfortable controller ever. Even beating out the GameCube’s!
Eventually it was finally time for the aforementioned keynote. It was basically Kris detailing CAPY’s “hidden history”, the days before Critter Crunch, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, and Sword & Sworcery, which was a long and winding road to put it mildly…
Before those aforementioned games, which everyone knows and loves, put the studio on the map, there were countless others that have long been forgotten. The presentation was a fascinating and detailed look back at CAPY’s early, awkward steps towards future greatness…
Most intriguing of all were the games that CAPY has willingly chosen to forget about themselves…
Equally fascinating was hearing about the epiphany that Kris had, which came at a time in which CAPY was barely about to stay afloat. And as a consequence, was struggling to find itself…
Fun-fact: GDC 2008 was where I first met CAPY. I was one of the judges for IGF Mobile, its very first year, which has since been dissolved and incorporated into the rest of the IGF. I remember playing Critter Crunch on a BREW (or was it J2ME?) handset and how it was my top pick of mobile game of the year. Then later meeting Nathan on the show floor; I wouldn’t become pals with Kris till some time after…
Unfortunately, at this point was when Kris was told to wrap it up, even though he had a LOT left to go through. Given how much work he had put into his presentation, it was both heartbreaking and downright annoying. These last couple were flashed super fast like…
The reason why I haven’t gone crazy with the details (and I did take some fairly extensive notes) is because I’m mostly hoping Kris will re-tell his story, over at Attract Mode! Because I’m dying to know how it all ends.
But yeah, the keynote flub was definitely a huge disappointment. Unfortunately, the evening was far from over; afterwards was Night Games, which again was again designed to showcase past IndieCade offerings, with the key distinction here being that they were mostly party games.
First you had Roaming Gnomes, which required 30 players, all working together in teams. It just seemed so complicated and way too involved, which scared everyone away; people at that point just wanted to scope things out, and not become immediately tied down to the first thing they had stumbled across. Was told that not a single session actually took place all evening…
Searchlight definitely seemed cool. Unfortunately, it never got up and running due to some kind of malfunction…
Next you had Yamove, which again, was unplayable due to technical difficulties. I was fortunate enough to be given a complimentary press pass, and to be totally honest, if I had instead paid to attend Night Games (which required its own entrance fee, separate from the rest of the show), I probably would have been hella pissed since half the games were not working.
There was actually one game that was running just smoothly, or so I heard: Renga, which was in one of the theaters. But because so many other games were not functional… and because they only allowed a single session… was never able to give it a shot. Frustrating to say the least.
So to kill time, I went upstairs, where a separate video game exhibition was taking place. One that spanned a wide variety of software and hardware. On the plus side was the messed up Star Wars Arcadde game, which as noted previously, looked a lot like Rez! Still, would have been nice to have the real thing showcased, instead of of its limp-dicked sequel…
Thankfully, the IndieCade showcase was still up and running. Those who were unable to get a piece of Roaming Gnomes, Searchlight, Yamove, or Renga had at least BaraBariBall to keep them occupied…
Actually, there were two Night Games that one could actually partake in, and with no fuss or muss. First, Rakete, which again required a large groupe of people, to control a single space ship (but its theater was somewhat easy to miss, hence why it was never at capacity)…
And Hit Me!, which is all about trying to slap the button on the other person’s helmet, while also maintaining eye contact. Basically required two friends who secretly have beefs with each other that they can draw upon…
So yeah, Night Games, kind of a bust. Though, as bad I felt for those who had paid to get in, I felt ten times worse for those who games were on hand and which were not played, regardless of the reasons.
The highlight of the next day, the last day to be exact, was all the game jam game makers showing off their blood, sweat, and tears (plus lack of sleep) from the previous 48 hours. And there some really good stuff! Like Don’t Wake the Bear by Team Backpedal Games; it’s a party game in which you try to apply silly crap on a sleeping bear, in hopes of not waking him up. Imagine hot potato, but using a PlayStation Vita…
BTW, that’s not some weird filter I’m using; there was even technical difficulties during the jam showcase. Sometimes the projected image would be all pink, or there would be no sound. You couldn’t help but feel horrible for the teams who had busted their asses to produce the best game possible in such a short time frame, only to have the big reveal be totally ruined, and in such a lame manner.
Moving on: another favorite was Team Donut Goku’s final product from the jam, which had become decidedly more sophisticated since I last saw it, like the addition of variable weather and new goals …
Quite a few games were made that weekend, some better than others, though overall, the quality was excellent for any game jam (which can be super hit or miss). Not only was time a huge hurdle for everyone, but so was the PSMobile SDK itself, which apparently was a real pain in the ass to use. In the end, four games were chosen as semi-finalists; the grand prize would not only be published by Sony, but the team would have a Vita license for an entire year!
Hence why I wanted Team Donut Goku to win; not just because I felt they deserved to, but so I could then try to convince them to do a port of JizzMoppa. Alas, they did not make the final four, nor was I thrilled with many of the choices. At least Team Backpedal Games nabbed a slot, which counts for something.
Anyways, that was IndieCade East 2013. By no means a perfect weekend, though as already noted, the most important thing is how people came out to show support for such a thing, and who thankfully were forgiving enough to not mind the rough edges. But next time might be a different story; hopefully the event organizers will take the necessary steps to iron them out for IndieCade East 2014, which I’m already willing to wager will indeed be bigger and better.
PlayStation 4
I was indeed present for the big PlayStation 4 “unveil”. And there’s honestly not a whole lot to say that hasn’t been said already. But still…
- The level of excitement amongst game journalists leading up to the event is hard describe. Once it had sunk in that Sony was actually going to introduce to the world the PlayStation 4 in February and in New York City (hey, I believed it too), everyone went bonkers. Equally hard to properly articulate was the precise moment after the show was over; the sense of deflation in the Hammerstein Ballroom was deafening. I remember this one reporter, who sat right next to me going: “That’s it? That’s seriously it?! They’re not even going to show the damn system?!?!” Was kind of hilarious.
- Going back, starting from the top actually: it was a real thrill seeing Mark Cerny and David Perry in the flesh and on stage, two men whose work I greatly admire. The former not only made Marble Madness when he was just 18, but we would go on to helm Sonic 2 and basically had a hand in every major first/second party platformer for Sony; Crash, Jak & Daxter, Spyro, Ratchet & Clank. And the later made some of my fave Genesis games, like Cool Spot, Aladdin, plus Earthworm Jim. Too bad they were basically trotted out on Sony’s behalf to apologize to developers, for making the PS3 so god damn hard to make games for.
- Like many folks, I’m less than thrilled with Sony’s insistence that people’s online identities become more transparent. Does everything have to be connected to Facebook? That being said, I can’t figure out who is who on my PS3/Vita buddy list (for whatever reasons, people who are usually consistent with their online personas all went with some wacky other name on PSN). Though I mostly found it hilarious how, later on in the evening, we got two separate game demos (Infamous: Second Son and Watch Dogs) that are all about the evils of Big Brother.
- The idea of steaming your PS3 library, in leu of hardware driven backwards compatibility, is intriguing. As is the idea of also having PSone & PS2 games available in the same manner. But most figure that Sony will not be able to effectively determine which old games you already own, and henceforth simply charge for everything all over again (just like Nintendo). Though considering how Sony is unable to give me a steady enough connection to watch old episodes of Next Gen, or how a modest 15 meg update takes seriously an hour to download, I have zero confidence, and therefore interest, in their next-gen online initiative.
- Of all the people to hit the stage, I was most excited to see Jonathan Blow, even more so than Cerny and Perry. Hey, I can’t stand almost anything that comes out of his mouth, but the guy knows how to make a good game. The Witness got me the most excited that evening. Swear to God, I’ve watched the trailer on YouTube about 50 times now, easily (and am now a fan of the Mediæval Bæbes, who did the song).
- Conversely, no one pissed me off more than David Cage. Christ that guy is such a douche; I’m so sick of his embarrassment with the medium of games. The dude desperately wants to makes movies, and since he clearly could never cut it in Hollywood, we’re stuck with him as a result. Splendid.
- I wasn’t there at E3 when Nintendo gave everyone in the attendance douchechills with their Wii Music demo, but I imagine it being awfully close to the sensation everyone felt with the Media Molecule/PlayStation Move demo.
- I seriously can’t believe that there was no Gran Turismo 6. But even more shocking was the total lack of the KOJIMA!
- Thoughts on the PS4′s controller? I’m cool with it. Nice to see that Sony didn’t do away with the venerable Dual Shock design, much like when they tried with the PS3. The boomerang, anyone?
- Thoughts on the PS4 console being a total no show? lulz. And what do I think it’ll look like? I’m with Cory:
“it will probably be a black rectangle.”
- Thing wrapped up with another look at the highly anticipated Watch Dogs, and it finally dawn on me that there is absolutely no way the final product can ever live up to the hype. Basically, it’s your typical Boobisoft game!
… But seriously, what were people expecting? Did they honestly believe that Sony would give ALL the goods? Of course not; the holidays are still far away, plus they need to hold back at least something for E3. Still, many of the reporters I spoke with were pissed, mostly the ones from out of town, who had to go through the hassles of securing a ticket, then booking a flight, hotel, and so on. Many stated that they wished that they had just stayed at home and watched the livestream.
Afterwards was the cocktail hour, filled with frazzled journalists trying their best to make a story out of nothing (there was zero developers in sight; they were all at a separate shindig, which is somewhat telling of Sony). Hence why everyone interviewed each other; I think I’m in like three different wrap-ups. Though without question the biggest highlight of the entire evening was when some girl from Portugal who was dressed up as Lara Croft. She had a camera guy with her, and when wanted to know if she could ask me a question.
I figured it would again be what I thought of the PS4′s future. Instead she asked who I thought was the hottest video game girl. And my answer? Chie Satonaka of course. And because I was so piss drunk at the time, I went extra in depth, to the point that I believe Lara was taken aback. Either that or perhaps I was supposed to say Lara and didn’t follow the script. Anyhow, perhaps one day it’ll show up on YouTube? I hope to God not.
