06/17/2012

The Last Metroid Is In Captivity… The Galaxy Is At Peace

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

As noted last time, this blog will be receiving its long overdue overhaul very soon. And once again, my 900th post is when I’l be kicking off my New York Asian Film Festival coverage for this year! A summer tradition ever since I first I opened fort90.com’s virtual doors.

But I still have one entry left. So no. 899 gets another heavy dose of Instagram. First, a couple shirts I picked up at Blip Fest. Since chiptune shows is where I do all my clothes shopping and all. Here’s latest from Nullsleep, his third apparel collab with Francoise Gamma (at least that I’m aware of)…

Also got picked one up from Monodeer. Aside from being the hottest new star at this year’s fest, his tee was also the most sought after item at the merch table…

Sticking with triangles, check out Cory‘s Zelda Zines!

Not surprisingly, it’s chock full of awesomeness. Like Michael OBrien’s submission from number 2…

My good buddy Lamar‘s from number 3…

And finally, KC Green’s from number 1…

If you want copies of your own, they can be ordered here. Issue one is sold out I’m afraid, sorry. Moving on, and something else with a triangle; my hard copy of CRUNK JUICE by Steve Roggenbuck also finally arrived…

Here’s a fun-fact: I don’t like poetry. But I like Steve. And it wasn’t until recently that I realized that his hilarious, stream of conscious ramblings was actually poetry. The technical term is “flarf”. I’ll just let Steve explain it all.

Anyway, in-between what sounds like drunken tweets is some genuine depth and emotion, believe it or not…

Back to apparel, and Lamar, here we have his OutRun inspired tee…

Though this Transformers X Daytona USA mash-up, also courtesy of Meat Bun, is pretty much the greatest thing ever…

Moving away from just snapshots of stuff acquired, taken in my bedroom; the other weekend I finally got the chance to visit the Coney Island aquarium, with Colleen and our pal Marianne!

I have no reason why it took so long. And man, did it ever live up to the hype. And no, it’s not just because of their sizable Metroid, I mean jellyfish collection…

Here I am, in Dave (Roman)‘s former stomping grounds, on our way to see Prometheus. Which absolutely sucked, though I’m sure you’ve probably heard that already…

The car ride home was entirely spent on us attempting to wrap our brains around all the idiotic logic gaps that movie was riddled with. Which this does a great job of touching upon.

Oh, and we never did get Italian ices that day after-all,, so the entire day was somewhat of a wash. Meanwhile, here I am crossing into Jersey, via the George Washington Bridge…

Went to Mitsuwa to buy some groceries. Which is where I was reminded of one simple truth: Japan knows what they’re doing when it comes to snacks and cats…

It’s worth nothing that, when I say “groceries”, I mean Japanese soft drinks (I’ve somewhat relaxed my once stringent no soda rule, which also includes Coke Zero) and Japanese booze, as evidenced by what’s usually in my fridge, being a weeaboo bachelor and all…

And earlier this weekend, went to Queens to hang out with Joe and Mike. At the deli we stopped by for sandwiches, I came across this heart-wrenching/heart-warming tribute to a loved one no longer with us…

Later that night, I made it out to Brooklyn to hang with Dave (Mauro) and Peter‘s, where I was reminded of what a clusterf*ck that was New Year’s Eve…

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06/15/2012

Almost There…

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

As usual, TONS of stuff going on. Of the things I can talk about?

First and foremost, am happy to announce that FORT90ZINE4ANSWER is officially in the home stretch! I’m still in the midst of re-writing a piece, which means I’m not quite done with the layout either. Otherwise, things are looking great.

Unfortunately it’s always two steps forward, one step back; the final hurdle will be getting the damn thing printed. I’m officially done with the print shop that I’ve been using off and on for the past few years; every time they screw up, I go somewhere else, who does a worse job, and am back at square one, who then manages to somewhat redeem themselves.

One of the numerous reasons why I didn’t get it done in time for TCAF (looking back, that was pretty much the dumbest plan imaginable to being with) is how, before flying out, I got the covers done at the aforementioned sh*t-shack, and which they totally botched up. Despite the same instructions that I’ve been issuing for the past? I dunno? four years now?

If anyone reading this can recommend a good printing solution, one that’s preferably local, it would be much appreciated. Oh, and semi-relatedk; here’s something that was passed along to me by Raina a while ago, but which I kept forgetting to post; a random FORT90ZINE #1 appearance in some food blog!

It would seem that the author’s hobby, aside from fine eats, is fine reads! But unfortunately, it’s no longer active, but here’s the source anyway.

Speaking of random pics, something awesome was posted on Twitter last night. I asked Gerritt for a copy (was an picture an old cell phone from PAX Prime 2010), and here it is, with the same cropping he employed?

Third up: for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, here’s my review of Indie Game: The Movie for Kotaku?

It was a very tricky and difficult task to undertake, since I know it’s such a hot topic. Many colleagues of mine are absolutely adore the film, and I also know a few who are actually involved in it as well. All I can say is that I tried my best to be as objective as possible, and I believe the final piece speak for itself. Though, at the risk of stirring the pot even further, I can’t help but call attention to this.

Speaking of movies, next is how the NYAFF 2012 is almost here, as noted at the top of the month. It officially kicks off in two weeks, but for myself, things are already in full swing. My coverage will begin shortly beforehand, and will coincide with the long planned for relaunch of this blog! Starting with post #900 (cuz, you know, this site is called FORT90 after all, in case the reference wasn’t obvious enough).

Though I will say this, right now: that aforementioned movie with the zombies, Buddhist robot, and giant meteor in the form of an 8 ball that a little girl orders on the internet? It is indeed damn good, so buy your tickets today!

And finally, the NYAFF will be my primary focus for the new couple of weeks? along with a little something else that I really can’t get into. Let’s just say that I might be putting together another art show-type thing for later this year? More on that when the time comes!

Till then, a little some that was intended for my last shindig and wasn’t finished in time, but which I’m glad was completed eventually; in addition to being a big fan of Gitaroo Man, Olly is also clearly a huge fan of Sin & Punishment?

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06/05/2012

E3 2012, in a nutshell?

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

? Also, this guy. And let’s not forgetting this week’s other new, Nintendo-spawned superstar: Non-Specific Action Figure!

UPDATE #1: for those curious about the scene above

UPDATE #2: Non-Specific Action Figure to be Nintendo’s brand new IP CONFIRMED

So my buddy John, who is into video games, but not way, WAY into video games? and therefore has been confused by the mass hysteria that has flooded Twitter since yesterday? asks via Facebook:

OK, fill me in on whatever just went down at E3. Twitter is ablaze with statements like “video games are over now” and “you had a nice run, video games” and “so this is how video games will end” and so on, in very angry and negative tones.

My response:

Long story short: many longtime/hardcore gamers have long felt that the mainstream gaming industry is losing track of the ideals that brought gaming to “the dance” in the first place, and moreover, are being left far behind.

Yesterday was filled with long-winded press events containing either games that are ultra violent in nature, which long-timers find grotesque, or content that has precious little to do with gaming at all, in an effort to go after a different kind of audience, which predictably has hardcore-types feeling quite bitter.

For the record, I find much of the longer-timers’ complaints a tad bit eye-rolling, if only because much of their bitching about how vile and worthless content sounds a bit too close to how many parents, politicians, and other “authority” figures sound when shunning gaming as a whole.

As for the diehards, I’m quite happy with gaming going in wild, non-traditional directions. Yet I too am perplexed by some of the directions that some are choosing. Especially Sony’s Wonderbook initiative, which is offensive on multiple levels, especially to anyone that enjoys reading (will explain later).

Anyway, both camps were looking towards Nintendo to save the day, and they essentially f*cked it all up by being Nintendo. As in, they’re still too self-obsessed to know what the deal is anymore, with offerings that are underwhelming and even flat out confounding.

And as much I’ve tried to keep a positive attitude about mainstream gaming as a whole, this is the very first time in which I’m being to feel disillusioned as well. That landscape is honestly not looking very good. But hey, at least there’s always indie gaming!

Also, someone is actually bringing Tokyo Jungle out in the States! So E3 2012 isn’t a total wash after-all everybody…

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