Saturday, June 30, 2007
Settling Down
The Wife is mostly back to normal, still a little weak and prone to near narcoleptic fits of suddenly needing a power nap, but it looks like the fever is gone, and aside from some lingering flu-ish aches and pains, she can now think about food without getting nauseous. This is good.
And I'm back to playing to Rogue Galaxy again...
The Wife is mostly back to normal, still a little weak and prone to near narcoleptic fits of suddenly needing a power nap, but it looks like the fever is gone, and aside from some lingering flu-ish aches and pains, she can now think about food without getting nauseous. This is good.
And I'm back to playing to Rogue Galaxy again...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, My Life
Friday, June 29, 2007
Ho. Ly. CRAP.
Man, what can you say about the Japanese? Of the various notions of horror that exist as a genre, it is the Japanese who have perhaps the most unique take on the topic of making people wet their pants.
Having just put Fatal Frame II away (once and for all, I hope) I am once again reminded that the Japanese have an innate understanding of what it is to afraid; a two major components of their perception are The Unknown and Helplessness.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the series, Fatal Frame is a series of loosely connected horror games that have a common element of a device known as the Camera Obscura. In this case, it's a camera with a special property; it can take photos of things spiritual and otherwise invisible to the living, and can exorcise hostile spirits. Unfortunately, for the camera to work at its best, this usually means having to let said hostile spirits get reeeeeeeeally close to you before taking a shot, which, when viewed through the viewer of the camera, makes for an extremely nerve wracking experience.
There are currently three games in the series, all of them using their own physically unimpressive (though cute) main female protagonist. The real star of the show however, has to be the amazing design work of the environments. In full lighting, the various period Japanese buildings would just look run down and in need of a major renovation, but put it in the dark, feebly lit by only a single flashlight, or dim candles, throw in some curtains, and add in the occasional baby cry, weeping or insane girlish laughter and suddenly these rundown spaces become an exorcise in horror so acute that many gamers cannot play these games alone, in the dark, for more than a few minutes before the stress becomes too much to bear.
It's this lethal combination of having a likable though essentially helpless girl, and dark, shadowy places that ooze of menace from beyond the grave that make the series so effective, and quite possibly the single scariest experience legally available for purchase to consumers. I will admit that certain writers like Stephen King and Clive Barker have managed to scare me. And certain movies, The Exorcist and Poltergeist creeped me out beyond all reason, but games bring something quite special to the table that these other media cannot. They put you IN THERE, right in the middle of the action, virtually speaking, and that extra layer of involvement, that knowing--in a weird sense--that it's not a character in the story, it's YOU, adds an extra degree of fear, especially when you play these things in surround sound and those whispers start calling out in all directions. Suddenly, you are the person in charge, and if you know there's something bad behind the door, you don't have to open it, but there's no guarantee that walking down the hall and turning the corner won't reveal something worse, that also wants to kill you, because you are alive and it is not anymore.
I have played quite a few games that have an element of fear, but my opinion is that the Fatal Frame series shines above the rest because it doesn't resort as often as other games to that cheapest of scares; the jump scare. Resident Evil is a perfect example of this. I'm going to spoil it now to some degree for complete unknowns, but the RE series, in its very first game, created one of the greatest scares in gaming, when, while walking through a quiet hallway, a dog bursts through the window and starts attacking you. For the most part, RE and many other games constantly resort to this easy tactic of just having something suddenly come out of nowhere, with appropriate shrieking sound effects and music. It's a jolt, and it works, but only once.
Where Fatal Frame and to a somewhat lesser degree the excellent Silent Hill series excel is not in surprising you, or even grossing you out with gore (neither series is particularly excessive in terms of graphic depictions of bloodshed), so much as creeping you out. They don't provide that jolt of fear that comes from reacting to something sudden or excessive, but slowly build up a sense of dread; you know you are surrounded by evil, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. The Silent Hill series does this by literally bringing you into a nightmarish, rusted, hellish insanity rooted in psychology and fetish. Fatal Frame does it by giving you only one weapon, your camera, and then throwing you into what--for westerners--is pretty unfamiliar territory; abandoned, haunted, period Japanese buildings. This all complemented by some amazing sound design, which, it's no exaggeration to say, probably constitutes half the effectiveness of the fear. It's only after a few replays and some measure of calm that you begin to understand exactly what the developers have done, combining extremely high-pitched tones, clattering of metal, the sounds of animals, pain, sadness and others for a truly unsettling effect. Then you tack on the ghosts themselves; these are not gored victims with their guts hanging out of their eviscerated body cavities. In one example, you fight a woman who has fallen and broken her neck. As a result, she stumbles towards you with her head lolling loosely on the base of her shoulders as she tries to look at you. In another example, I watched in horrified fascination as a pale hand pushed up the lid of an old trunk, and, very slowly a scarred, broken woman painfully, slowly, crawled up and out of the box, taking her time to fall to the floor and get up again, before trying to kill you. In each instance, there is no sudden jump and shrieking of violins; the game lets you see exactly what's going on, painfully slowly, and then almost seems to ask you "What are ya' gonna' do NOW?"
That feeling of dread and helplessness is something that nearly all Western games have completely failed to capture. For example the scariest game on Western shores right now, dubbed F.E.A.R (which stands for First Encounter Assault Recon) is a first person shooter. Yup, you're a big tough guy, with guns, grenades and all manner of destructive weapons at your disposal. The game then throws this Asian style of ghost at you, but more liberal amounts of blood and--yep, you guessed it--a lot things suddenly jumping out at you.
It's a shame too, because it's an enormous waste of potential. Games, more than other medium, have a capacity to get an adrenaline surge out of the player, whether it's fear from failing/dying a segment of the game, or the more ambitious goal of making a player afraid to sleep with the lights off. The Japanese have found a way to take small amounts of the supernatural and tease it just enough into a more realistic setting (most importantly, with more realistic people) that even when you turn the game off, the experience lingers. In the West, for the most part, once the excitement of shooting and having things jump out at you wears off, it's easy to walk away from the experience with only a vague recollection of the excitement that was had, as opposed to the irrational terror You Are Not Safe Anywhere that games like the Fatal Frame and Silent Hill series manage to convey.
Man, what can you say about the Japanese? Of the various notions of horror that exist as a genre, it is the Japanese who have perhaps the most unique take on the topic of making people wet their pants.Having just put Fatal Frame II away (once and for all, I hope) I am once again reminded that the Japanese have an innate understanding of what it is to afraid; a two major components of their perception are The Unknown and Helplessness.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the series, Fatal Frame is a series of loosely connected horror games that have a common element of a device known as the Camera Obscura. In this case, it's a camera with a special property; it can take photos of things spiritual and otherwise invisible to the living, and can exorcise hostile spirits. Unfortunately, for the camera to work at its best, this usually means having to let said hostile spirits get reeeeeeeeally close to you before taking a shot, which, when viewed through the viewer of the camera, makes for an extremely nerve wracking experience.
There are currently three games in the series, all of them using their own physically unimpressive (though cute) main female protagonist. The real star of the show however, has to be the amazing design work of the environments. In full lighting, the various period Japanese buildings would just look run down and in need of a major renovation, but put it in the dark, feebly lit by only a single flashlight, or dim candles, throw in some curtains, and add in the occasional baby cry, weeping or insane girlish laughter and suddenly these rundown spaces become an exorcise in horror so acute that many gamers cannot play these games alone, in the dark, for more than a few minutes before the stress becomes too much to bear.
It's this lethal combination of having a likable though essentially helpless girl, and dark, shadowy places that ooze of menace from beyond the grave that make the series so effective, and quite possibly the single scariest experience legally available for purchase to consumers. I will admit that certain writers like Stephen King and Clive Barker have managed to scare me. And certain movies, The Exorcist and Poltergeist creeped me out beyond all reason, but games bring something quite special to the table that these other media cannot. They put you IN THERE, right in the middle of the action, virtually speaking, and that extra layer of involvement, that knowing--in a weird sense--that it's not a character in the story, it's YOU, adds an extra degree of fear, especially when you play these things in surround sound and those whispers start calling out in all directions. Suddenly, you are the person in charge, and if you know there's something bad behind the door, you don't have to open it, but there's no guarantee that walking down the hall and turning the corner won't reveal something worse, that also wants to kill you, because you are alive and it is not anymore.
I have played quite a few games that have an element of fear, but my opinion is that the Fatal Frame series shines above the rest because it doesn't resort as often as other games to that cheapest of scares; the jump scare. Resident Evil is a perfect example of this. I'm going to spoil it now to some degree for complete unknowns, but the RE series, in its very first game, created one of the greatest scares in gaming, when, while walking through a quiet hallway, a dog bursts through the window and starts attacking you. For the most part, RE and many other games constantly resort to this easy tactic of just having something suddenly come out of nowhere, with appropriate shrieking sound effects and music. It's a jolt, and it works, but only once.
Where Fatal Frame and to a somewhat lesser degree the excellent Silent Hill series excel is not in surprising you, or even grossing you out with gore (neither series is particularly excessive in terms of graphic depictions of bloodshed), so much as creeping you out. They don't provide that jolt of fear that comes from reacting to something sudden or excessive, but slowly build up a sense of dread; you know you are surrounded by evil, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. The Silent Hill series does this by literally bringing you into a nightmarish, rusted, hellish insanity rooted in psychology and fetish. Fatal Frame does it by giving you only one weapon, your camera, and then throwing you into what--for westerners--is pretty unfamiliar territory; abandoned, haunted, period Japanese buildings. This all complemented by some amazing sound design, which, it's no exaggeration to say, probably constitutes half the effectiveness of the fear. It's only after a few replays and some measure of calm that you begin to understand exactly what the developers have done, combining extremely high-pitched tones, clattering of metal, the sounds of animals, pain, sadness and others for a truly unsettling effect. Then you tack on the ghosts themselves; these are not gored victims with their guts hanging out of their eviscerated body cavities. In one example, you fight a woman who has fallen and broken her neck. As a result, she stumbles towards you with her head lolling loosely on the base of her shoulders as she tries to look at you. In another example, I watched in horrified fascination as a pale hand pushed up the lid of an old trunk, and, very slowly a scarred, broken woman painfully, slowly, crawled up and out of the box, taking her time to fall to the floor and get up again, before trying to kill you. In each instance, there is no sudden jump and shrieking of violins; the game lets you see exactly what's going on, painfully slowly, and then almost seems to ask you "What are ya' gonna' do NOW?"That feeling of dread and helplessness is something that nearly all Western games have completely failed to capture. For example the scariest game on Western shores right now, dubbed F.E.A.R (which stands for First Encounter Assault Recon) is a first person shooter. Yup, you're a big tough guy, with guns, grenades and all manner of destructive weapons at your disposal. The game then throws this Asian style of ghost at you, but more liberal amounts of blood and--yep, you guessed it--a lot things suddenly jumping out at you.
It's a shame too, because it's an enormous waste of potential. Games, more than other medium, have a capacity to get an adrenaline surge out of the player, whether it's fear from failing/dying a segment of the game, or the more ambitious goal of making a player afraid to sleep with the lights off. The Japanese have found a way to take small amounts of the supernatural and tease it just enough into a more realistic setting (most importantly, with more realistic people) that even when you turn the game off, the experience lingers. In the West, for the most part, once the excitement of shooting and having things jump out at you wears off, it's easy to walk away from the experience with only a vague recollection of the excitement that was had, as opposed to the irrational terror You Are Not Safe Anywhere that games like the Fatal Frame and Silent Hill series manage to convey.
Labels: Games
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The Final List
The Wife has recovered from her fever and Fatal Frame II is being wrapped up, necessitating a long post tomorrow. But in the meantime, here's the final list of Guitar Hero Encore: Rock's The 80's tunes. This is it, kids, no going back now. As usual, the new ones are highlighted:
The Wife has recovered from her fever and Fatal Frame II is being wrapped up, necessitating a long post tomorrow. But in the meantime, here's the final list of Guitar Hero Encore: Rock's The 80's tunes. This is it, kids, no going back now. As usual, the new ones are highlighted:
- "I Wanna Rock" (by Twisted Sister)
- "I Ran" (by Flock of Seagulls)
- "Round and Round" (as made famous by Ratt)
- "I Want Candy" (as made famous by Bow Wow Wow)
- "Metal Health" (as made famous by Quiet Riot)
- "Holy Diver" (as made famous by Dio)
- "Heat of the Moment" (as made famous by Asia)
- "18 and Life" (as made famous by Skid Row)
- "Bathroom Wall" (as made famous by Faster Pussycat)
- "Lonely is the Night" (as made famous by Billy Squier)
- "Nothing But a Good Time" (as made famous by Poison)
- "Play With Me" (as made famous by Extreme)
- "Shaken" (as made famous by Eddie Money)
- "Synchronicity II" (as made famous by Police)
- "The Warrior" (by Scandal) (I'm betting this is a master track myself, it sounds dead on)
- "Only A Lad" (as made famous by Oingo Boingo)
- "Balls To The Wall" (as made famous by Accept)
- "We Got the Beat" (as made famous by the Go Gos)
- "Caught In A Mosh" (as made famous by Anthrax)
- "Wrathchild" (as made famous by Iron Maiden)
- "Hold On Loosely" (as made famous by .38 Special)
- "Radar Love" (as made famous by White Lion)
- "No One Like You" (as made famous by Scorpions)
- "Turning Japanese" (as made famous by The Vapors)
- "Seventeen" (as made famous by Winger)
- "Electric Eye" (by Judas Priest)
- "Los Angeles" (as made famous by X)
- "Police Truck" (as made famous by Dead Kennedys)
- "Because It's Midnite" (by Limozeen)
- "Ballroom Blitz" (as made famous by Krokus)
Labels: Guitar Hero
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
No Major Post
Because the Wife is down with the flu, meaning lots of bed rest, fluids, vegetable soup, movies and games.
Because the Wife is down with the flu, meaning lots of bed rest, fluids, vegetable soup, movies and games.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Icky Couple Stuff
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
It Is HOT
And since the apartment is air condition-less, this makes for a much better understanding of "lazy days of summer" since it's hard to do anything even remotely productive.
Well, that and Fatal Frame II (pictured yesterday and with this delightful shot left) is making it so that I don't really want to go to bed until the sun rises, for fear of murderous ghost children throttling me, the Wife and the cats to death.
Did I mention that I'm a total wuss with these kinds of games? Well, I am.
And since the apartment is air condition-less, this makes for a much better understanding of "lazy days of summer" since it's hard to do anything even remotely productive.Well, that and Fatal Frame II (pictured yesterday and with this delightful shot left) is making it so that I don't really want to go to bed until the sun rises, for fear of murderous ghost children throttling me, the Wife and the cats to death.
Did I mention that I'm a total wuss with these kinds of games? Well, I am.
Labels: Games
Monday, June 25, 2007
Holy Crap I'm Scared
I don't care what anyone says, the scariest fictional experience I've ever had to date was not with a book, a campfire story or even a movie, it's these damn video games.
I've had this game for a while now but have been extremely hesitant to play it through to the finish. Now that I'm actually going ahead and doing it, I now realize why.
It makes you wet your pants.
The only thing worse than a ghost trying to kill you is when it's a child ghost. But I'll talk about that more once I'm done.
I don't care what anyone says, the scariest fictional experience I've ever had to date was not with a book, a campfire story or even a movie, it's these damn video games.I've had this game for a while now but have been extremely hesitant to play it through to the finish. Now that I'm actually going ahead and doing it, I now realize why.
It makes you wet your pants.
The only thing worse than a ghost trying to kill you is when it's a child ghost. But I'll talk about that more once I'm done.
Labels: Games
Sunday, June 24, 2007
For All The Best Friends Out There
I was having a talk with the neighbor downstairs where we kind of touched in the idea of the support role that many earnest, male best friends play for fabulous women they know who wish they could date someone like said Best Friend but will have absolutely nothing to do with the factory original model sitting right in front of them that seem to bring them the solace and healing their lousy boyfriends don't. So here's one from Rick Ocasek for all those poor bastards out there. I feel for ya' man, and believe me, for many years, I was so there...
I was having a talk with the neighbor downstairs where we kind of touched in the idea of the support role that many earnest, male best friends play for fabulous women they know who wish they could date someone like said Best Friend but will have absolutely nothing to do with the factory original model sitting right in front of them that seem to bring them the solace and healing their lousy boyfriends don't. So here's one from Rick Ocasek for all those poor bastards out there. I feel for ya' man, and believe me, for many years, I was so there...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Music
Saturday, June 23, 2007
You Know You're A Cityslicker Snob
When you actually take the step of owning a coffee bean grinder and instant just don't cut it anymore.
Yup, I now officially suck.
When you actually take the step of owning a coffee bean grinder and instant just don't cut it anymore.
Yup, I now officially suck.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Friday, June 22, 2007
Friday For Dull People
Wrote more of a GameAxis article, had dinner with the neighbors in the backyard and, in a fit of supreme boringness, actually played through Tomb Raider: Legend again, just because I'm really enjoying this style of gameplay right now.
Wrote more of a GameAxis article, had dinner with the neighbors in the backyard and, in a fit of supreme boringness, actually played through Tomb Raider: Legend again, just because I'm really enjoying this style of gameplay right now.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Thursday, June 21, 2007
More Dullness
Did laundry, wrote article for GameAxis, and that's about it, really. Oh, and Time Trials for Tomb Raider: Anniversary are nearly done. Only Greece left now...
Did laundry, wrote article for GameAxis, and that's about it, really. Oh, and Time Trials for Tomb Raider: Anniversary are nearly done. Only Greece left now...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Quiet Wednesday
A small run for groceries, some time in the backyard with the neighbors and some time trying out Time Trials in Tomb Raider: Anniversary were all that was done today. On the other hand, poor Rockstar Games got hit with a double whammy. Not only did their new game Manhunt II get banned in England, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board in America slapped it with an Adults Only rating, a rating that both Sony and Nintendo refuse to allow for publication on their systems. Seeing as the game has only been developed for the Wii, the PSP and PS2, this spells trouble and, unless Rockstar goes back and hacks out the objectionable bits, they just wasted several million dollars. Ouch, man...
A small run for groceries, some time in the backyard with the neighbors and some time trying out Time Trials in Tomb Raider: Anniversary were all that was done today. On the other hand, poor Rockstar Games got hit with a double whammy. Not only did their new game Manhunt II get banned in England, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board in America slapped it with an Adults Only rating, a rating that both Sony and Nintendo refuse to allow for publication on their systems. Seeing as the game has only been developed for the Wii, the PSP and PS2, this spells trouble and, unless Rockstar goes back and hacks out the objectionable bits, they just wasted several million dollars. Ouch, man...
Labels: Gaming Industry, My Life
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Good Ol' Lara
I'm sincerely happy about the fact that the Tomb Raider series got ripped from the hands of the increasingly out of touch Core--a shame, since they were the original developer--and put in the hands of Crystal Dynamics, who had the good sense to bring back Toby Gard as a "consultant." Toby Gard, for those of you that don't follow the gaming industry is the original creator of Tomb Raider, but he left the series after the first game because he felt that Core and Eidos' increasing insistence that Lara's sex appeal and titillating aspects be emphasized over gameplay caused a falling out. Five failed sequels later, they finally realized he was right, and brought him back as an adviser for Tomb Raider: Legend, as well as the aforementioned dumping of the original development house. I imagine that certain old guard members of Eidos must have been full of hate and loathing, being forced to take him back with a smile on their face while mouthing his take on Lara and pretending that their own horribly failed agendas were never their idea.
Whatever the behind the scenes story is, his vision once again proved invaluable to bringing back that old spark to Lara that had been missing for several years. For Tomb Raider: Anniversary, they made him the lead designer and I guess that's only fitting, since TRA is essentially a remake of the original game. Now with Gard back in charge, this game has that same sense of exploration and wonder that was touched on in Legend, but here, as a repackaging of the original game, the nostalgia is positively lethal. Except that in many cases, it's actually better. Check out this video that makes a comparison between pre and post-millennial Lara Croft:
The biggest improvement is in the controls, which at the dawn of 3D gaming in 1996, were a marvel simply because they worked at all. Time however, has not been kind and those clunky, archaic controls, problematic camera, and the "invisible grid" that Lara walked on all tended to limit what was supposed to be a lithe, athletic woman. The controls introduced in Legend are still at work here, tweaked with a few extra abilities such as Lara's super-cool-but-totally-unrealistic ability to jump on poles and balance on these points would give a troupe of dancing angels trouble. Of course the graphics are also vastly improved and just seeing the videos of the old game makes me wince now, thinking that I ever found it impressive. If I ever needed proof that nostalgia can really do a number on one's memory of an object or experience, that is it. I went into TRA thinking it was a slight improvement over the original graphics but seeing actual comparisons is shocking in the extreme.
But where I think the is true gem is the fact that it manages to retain the same sense of wonder as the first game, and even makes you feel that nostalgia by letting you feel like something is the same, even though it's drastically different. For example, it's not much of a spoiler to say that in the first Tomb Raider, one of the big setpieces was a fight against a T-Rex. It was a mindblowing experience in 1996, but going back and seeing the original fight in the original game, it looks small and unimpressive. Playing it again in TRA makes you feel the way you did in 1996, and it looks the way your 1996 mind must have remembered it, because it captures the essence of that moment, even though it doesn't have to resort to covering half the viewable screen in darkness to hide rendering limitations, or reduce the dinosaurs to blocky things that vaguely resemble dinosaurs with a lot of imagination. In each instance, when I go back to certain levels in the game, I think to myself, "Oh yeah, this part was huge and beautiful..." And it still is. And it still makes me open my mouth and go "Oh wow," and have that exact same feeling of awe that the original game can no longer give me.
With two good games in a row, and Toby Gard on board, I now have more faith in the Tomb Raider series than I have in years. I'm actually looking forward to them again, rather than experiencing that morbid curiosity that made me think "How are they going to degrade and corrupt it further this time?" I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series will unfold since it seems pretty obvious they have a big, ongoing story now in mind, and this remake of the first game ties the series even more closely to the events portrayed in Tomb Raider: Legend. It's good to care again about what happens to Lara, rather than just looking forward to seeing her run around in a catsuit. Although to be fair, I don't object to that entirely either...
I'm sincerely happy about the fact that the Tomb Raider series got ripped from the hands of the increasingly out of touch Core--a shame, since they were the original developer--and put in the hands of Crystal Dynamics, who had the good sense to bring back Toby Gard as a "consultant." Toby Gard, for those of you that don't follow the gaming industry is the original creator of Tomb Raider, but he left the series after the first game because he felt that Core and Eidos' increasing insistence that Lara's sex appeal and titillating aspects be emphasized over gameplay caused a falling out. Five failed sequels later, they finally realized he was right, and brought him back as an adviser for Tomb Raider: Legend, as well as the aforementioned dumping of the original development house. I imagine that certain old guard members of Eidos must have been full of hate and loathing, being forced to take him back with a smile on their face while mouthing his take on Lara and pretending that their own horribly failed agendas were never their idea.Whatever the behind the scenes story is, his vision once again proved invaluable to bringing back that old spark to Lara that had been missing for several years. For Tomb Raider: Anniversary, they made him the lead designer and I guess that's only fitting, since TRA is essentially a remake of the original game. Now with Gard back in charge, this game has that same sense of exploration and wonder that was touched on in Legend, but here, as a repackaging of the original game, the nostalgia is positively lethal. Except that in many cases, it's actually better. Check out this video that makes a comparison between pre and post-millennial Lara Croft:
The biggest improvement is in the controls, which at the dawn of 3D gaming in 1996, were a marvel simply because they worked at all. Time however, has not been kind and those clunky, archaic controls, problematic camera, and the "invisible grid" that Lara walked on all tended to limit what was supposed to be a lithe, athletic woman. The controls introduced in Legend are still at work here, tweaked with a few extra abilities such as Lara's super-cool-but-totally-unrealistic ability to jump on poles and balance on these points would give a troupe of dancing angels trouble. Of course the graphics are also vastly improved and just seeing the videos of the old game makes me wince now, thinking that I ever found it impressive. If I ever needed proof that nostalgia can really do a number on one's memory of an object or experience, that is it. I went into TRA thinking it was a slight improvement over the original graphics but seeing actual comparisons is shocking in the extreme.
But where I think the is true gem is the fact that it manages to retain the same sense of wonder as the first game, and even makes you feel that nostalgia by letting you feel like something is the same, even though it's drastically different. For example, it's not much of a spoiler to say that in the first Tomb Raider, one of the big setpieces was a fight against a T-Rex. It was a mindblowing experience in 1996, but going back and seeing the original fight in the original game, it looks small and unimpressive. Playing it again in TRA makes you feel the way you did in 1996, and it looks the way your 1996 mind must have remembered it, because it captures the essence of that moment, even though it doesn't have to resort to covering half the viewable screen in darkness to hide rendering limitations, or reduce the dinosaurs to blocky things that vaguely resemble dinosaurs with a lot of imagination. In each instance, when I go back to certain levels in the game, I think to myself, "Oh yeah, this part was huge and beautiful..." And it still is. And it still makes me open my mouth and go "Oh wow," and have that exact same feeling of awe that the original game can no longer give me.
With two good games in a row, and Toby Gard on board, I now have more faith in the Tomb Raider series than I have in years. I'm actually looking forward to them again, rather than experiencing that morbid curiosity that made me think "How are they going to degrade and corrupt it further this time?" I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series will unfold since it seems pretty obvious they have a big, ongoing story now in mind, and this remake of the first game ties the series even more closely to the events portrayed in Tomb Raider: Legend. It's good to care again about what happens to Lara, rather than just looking forward to seeing her run around in a catsuit. Although to be fair, I don't object to that entirely either...
Labels: Games
Monday, June 18, 2007
Semi-Uneventful Monday
Aside from watching the stairs leading up to our building get torn up and replaced with new ones--concrete, still drying even as I write--the only things we really did were go shopping, eat at the excellent, folksy Grapefruit Moon restaurant in the neighborhood, finish up the Relic & Artifact hunting for Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and some work.
Yes, I know I'm not exciting.
No, I don't have a problem with that.
Aside from watching the stairs leading up to our building get torn up and replaced with new ones--concrete, still drying even as I write--the only things we really did were go shopping, eat at the excellent, folksy Grapefruit Moon restaurant in the neighborhood, finish up the Relic & Artifact hunting for Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and some work.
Yes, I know I'm not exciting.
No, I don't have a problem with that.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, My Life
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Tomb Raiding Sunday
The review has been written and finished, but since Tomb Raider is actually also a favorite of the Wife's from her teenage days, we're still going at it, looking for all them nifty extras...
The review has been written and finished, but since Tomb Raider is actually also a favorite of the Wife's from her teenage days, we're still going at it, looking for all them nifty extras...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Saturday, June 16, 2007
And Done
And it was a hell of a fun game too. My geek review will come up soon, though my formal review for GameAxis comes first.
Now to just let loose with the ol' obsessive/compulsive disorder and find all the remaining artifacts, relics and complete the time trials.
And it was a hell of a fun game too. My geek review will come up soon, though my formal review for GameAxis comes first.Now to just let loose with the ol' obsessive/compulsive disorder and find all the remaining artifacts, relics and complete the time trials.
Labels: Games
Friday, June 15, 2007
Geeking Out
Hung out with neighbors, played Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Hung out with neighbors, played Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Reunion
The submission package is probably on the plane to New York by now, so there's not much else to do with regards to DC.
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a review I need to write for a recently released game. This involves meeting up with a special little lady to relive the old days. I am, of course, talking about Lara Croft and the excellent updated to the 1996 original, dubbed Tomb Raider: Anniversary. For anyone that missed it the first time around, I can say--at least so far--that you're better off playing this rather than going back to the original. This is one of those rare occasions when the remake supersedes the original.
And also, she's a LOT easier to look at 10 years later than the massive amounts of pubescent imagination required to make her blocky, 1996 incarnation sexy...
The submission package is probably on the plane to New York by now, so there's not much else to do with regards to DC.Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a review I need to write for a recently released game. This involves meeting up with a special little lady to relive the old days. I am, of course, talking about Lara Croft and the excellent updated to the 1996 original, dubbed Tomb Raider: Anniversary. For anyone that missed it the first time around, I can say--at least so far--that you're better off playing this rather than going back to the original. This is one of those rare occasions when the remake supersedes the original.
And also, she's a LOT easier to look at 10 years later than the massive amounts of pubescent imagination required to make her blocky, 1996 incarnation sexy...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Wednesday Is DC Day
Today, aside from the continuing heat that can officially be considered Days of Summer, it was really about one thing; writing up the submission materials for DC. We're going to be sending the submission by FedEx tomorrow to the DC office on Broadway, New York. Man, never thought I'd be writing that sentence, but there ya' go.
Anyway, back to tweaking that. But in the meantime, here's more Guitar Hero 80's related stuff. Check out these two videos showing two songs being played in their entirety on Expert.
The first already has "first tier introductory" song written all over it, and I suspect this is the GH 80's equivalent to I Love Rock & Roll. It is also the one almost universally being panned by the Guitar Hero community for either being a) too easy to be worthy of the game, or b) too cheesy for inclusion. Either way, vast majority of GH players seem to hate it.
This other is simply flat out SCARY. I thought Hanger 18 was giving me trouble... Good God, this one is going to keep me busy until the next US Presidential administration takes power. LOOK AT HOW CRAZY THIS IS...
Today, aside from the continuing heat that can officially be considered Days of Summer, it was really about one thing; writing up the submission materials for DC. We're going to be sending the submission by FedEx tomorrow to the DC office on Broadway, New York. Man, never thought I'd be writing that sentence, but there ya' go.
Anyway, back to tweaking that. But in the meantime, here's more Guitar Hero 80's related stuff. Check out these two videos showing two songs being played in their entirety on Expert.
The first already has "first tier introductory" song written all over it, and I suspect this is the GH 80's equivalent to I Love Rock & Roll. It is also the one almost universally being panned by the Guitar Hero community for either being a) too easy to be worthy of the game, or b) too cheesy for inclusion. Either way, vast majority of GH players seem to hate it.
This other is simply flat out SCARY. I thought Hanger 18 was giving me trouble... Good God, this one is going to keep me busy until the next US Presidential administration takes power. LOOK AT HOW CRAZY THIS IS...
Labels: Comics, Creating Comics, Guitar Hero, Writing
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Slow Hot Tuesday
Today was one of those hot days that--in an apartment with no air conditioning--made it kind of an effort to even sit at the computer and write. Still, work got done and the 12th script for the kid's comic is done. Guitar Hero II completion continues to elude me (although I got about 90% into Hanger 18 before crashing out) and I need to start setting my sights on a couple of other things. There are more new GameAxis articles owing soon, and I have to work on that submission for Shelley Bond the DC editor.
Busy little bee. And a damn hot one, too...
Today was one of those hot days that--in an apartment with no air conditioning--made it kind of an effort to even sit at the computer and write. Still, work got done and the 12th script for the kid's comic is done. Guitar Hero II completion continues to elude me (although I got about 90% into Hanger 18 before crashing out) and I need to start setting my sights on a couple of other things. There are more new GameAxis articles owing soon, and I have to work on that submission for Shelley Bond the DC editor.
Busy little bee. And a damn hot one, too...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Comics, Writing
Monday, June 11, 2007
Monday Means Back To Work
Kind'a. Sort'a.
We still took it easy for today, and just got back into the routine of shopping for stuff and visiting our favorite shops. Before we left though we met the new neighbor who's moved into the apartment upstairs. She's an Uber Nerd that does things so complicated with computers that she needs six of them for her work. I still don't completely understand it, but she suddenly seems like a viable Go To Gal when our own PCs are acting irrationally, which is about 60% of the time. She's also a bit of a night owl, so it looks like we're all going to get along just fine working until the sun comes up and going comatose when the rest of the world is getting up to go to work. Having said our "Hi's" we took off for Bloor to do our shopping.
One sad visit in particular is the excellent cheese shop we discovered when we first arrived, which is now closing. It was a little difficult since it seemed like the woman who ran the shop didn't really want to do it, but didn't have much a choice. We didn't ask, but we bought a bunch of stuff and she thanked us for coming in supporting the place while it was up and running.
We also found a new store, although apparently it had been sitting there for the last 5 weeks and we simply hadn't noticed. It's a Geek Shop specializing in comic/manga artbooks, as well as anime and manga, so it's not quite in competition with Beguiling, although there's a little bit of overlap. They're also apparently heavy into promoting local artists and were immediately interested in talking more with the Wife about her stuff. Man, it's freaky how much more approval her work gets here than in Singapore...
The Old Friend also came around for a visit in the afternoon to hang out, socialize, and plug herself into Guitar Hero. I make converts wherever I can, and it would seem that after really getting into the Butthole Surfer's Who Was In My Room Last Night, her verdict was, "I think I have to get a PS2 now."
Good on you, girl.
And in other Guitar Hero news, a fresh spate of tracks has been released for the upcoming Encore: Rocks the 80's and holy CRAP is this ever getting me excited. Witness, the current list with updates in bold:
Now I really should get around to writing that landmark 12th installment of the kid's comic (geez, have I been at this thing for entire year already?!), but in celebration of the Most Triumphant return of The Vapors, enjoy the following video...
Kind'a. Sort'a.
We still took it easy for today, and just got back into the routine of shopping for stuff and visiting our favorite shops. Before we left though we met the new neighbor who's moved into the apartment upstairs. She's an Uber Nerd that does things so complicated with computers that she needs six of them for her work. I still don't completely understand it, but she suddenly seems like a viable Go To Gal when our own PCs are acting irrationally, which is about 60% of the time. She's also a bit of a night owl, so it looks like we're all going to get along just fine working until the sun comes up and going comatose when the rest of the world is getting up to go to work. Having said our "Hi's" we took off for Bloor to do our shopping.
One sad visit in particular is the excellent cheese shop we discovered when we first arrived, which is now closing. It was a little difficult since it seemed like the woman who ran the shop didn't really want to do it, but didn't have much a choice. We didn't ask, but we bought a bunch of stuff and she thanked us for coming in supporting the place while it was up and running.
We also found a new store, although apparently it had been sitting there for the last 5 weeks and we simply hadn't noticed. It's a Geek Shop specializing in comic/manga artbooks, as well as anime and manga, so it's not quite in competition with Beguiling, although there's a little bit of overlap. They're also apparently heavy into promoting local artists and were immediately interested in talking more with the Wife about her stuff. Man, it's freaky how much more approval her work gets here than in Singapore...
The Old Friend also came around for a visit in the afternoon to hang out, socialize, and plug herself into Guitar Hero. I make converts wherever I can, and it would seem that after really getting into the Butthole Surfer's Who Was In My Room Last Night, her verdict was, "I think I have to get a PS2 now."
Good on you, girl.
And in other Guitar Hero news, a fresh spate of tracks has been released for the upcoming Encore: Rocks the 80's and holy CRAP is this ever getting me excited. Witness, the current list with updates in bold:
- "I Wanna Rock" (by Twisted Sister)
- "I Ran" (by Flock of Seagulls)
- "Round and Round" (as made famous by Ratt)
- "I Want Candy" (as made famous by Bow Wow Wow)
- "Metal Health" (as made famous by Quiet Riot)
- "Holy Diver" (as made famous by Dio)
- "Heat of the Moment" (as made famous by Asia)
- "18 and Life" (as made famous by Skid Row)
- "Bathroom Wall" (as made famous by Faster Pussycat)
- "Lonely is the Night" (as made famous by Billy Squier)
- "Nothing But a Good Time" (as made famous by Poison)
- "Play With Me" (as made famous by Extreme)
- "Shaken" (as made famous by Eddie Money)
- "Synchronicity II" (as made famous by Police)
- "The Warrior" (??? by Scandal) (I'm betting this is a master track myself, it sounds dead on)
- "Only A Lad" (??? by Oingo Boingo)
- "Balls To The Wall" (??? by famous by Accept)
- "We Got the Beat" (??? by the Go Gos)
- "Caught In A Mosh" (as made famous by Anthrax)
- "Wrathchild" (as made famous by Iron Maiden)
- "Hold On Loosely" (as made famous by .38 Special)
- "Radar Love" (as made famous by White Lion)
- "No One Like You" (as made famous by Scorpions)
- "Turning Japanese" (as made famous by The Vapors)
- "Seventeen" (as made famous by Winger)
Now I really should get around to writing that landmark 12th installment of the kid's comic (geez, have I been at this thing for entire year already?!), but in celebration of the Most Triumphant return of The Vapors, enjoy the following video...
Labels: Friends, Guitar Hero, Mean Streets Of Toronto, Writing
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Back To Normal
And now things settle down once more.
The In Laws came over one last time in the morning to say goodbye before hopping in the car and driving back to Maine. It's been a pretty interesting last few days. I get the distinct impression that they are a little homesick for urban life in a city with more than a million people. Then again, being only the second of two Asian families in an American town with a population of 3000 (and falling) will do that to ya'.
The Wife and I have also had the opportunity to not just revisit our favorite haunts but see some new ones. For example on Saturday, at the request of our friend Sonny Liew in Singapore, we tracked down a book he'd been looking for that he located in a Toronto bookshop dealing in rare books. If it hadn't been for his request, we never would have tracked down this neat little place (with its ultra friendly black cat) on our own, and it's now definitely the kind of shop that bears repeat visits. On the way (because we walked there from Eaton Centre) we also found an army surplus store that sold everything from current standard issue forest and winter gear for the Canadian army to pressurized pilot helmets worn by MiG pilots of the former U.S.S.R. complete with neat-o breathing masks. The Wife ended up getting a cap for herself with a red star on it and now looks like the People's Artist. The evening was spent with the Wife's aunt for a bit of a family reunion, since the Aunt hadn't met up with the In Laws in something like 25 years, so there was merry making and wine and conversation all around. Mostly I stood around and talked and occasionally smoked while everyone else did that family thing. The food was prepared Singapore style, meaning that I didn't eat most of it (too spicy) and had a glass of milk on hand for the inevitable accidental consumption of something too hot for me to handle. Which brings us to today.
Today's Big News
Today, after the In Laws left was our excuse to take the street car down to a part of the city we hadn't yet seen, Exhibition Place. I'd viewed parts of it from a distance, namely the classical statues and the big turbine, which I didn't know were part of the grounds. I hadn't realized however, that this was actually the site of the biggest exhibition floor in the country, or that a lot of major national tradeshows and other events happened here.
The reason we came down was because there was yet another comic book convention running. I had no idea when we arrived that Toronto was such a comic town, but it seems like we've inadvertently picked ou the perfect city in Canada for us to hang out in with our particular interests. Although we missed the start of the Paradise Comic-Con, which was yesterday, we made the effort to stop by today. Sunday, however had a special going, in that anyone that showed up in costume would be allowed free admission. So the total body count--at least as from what I could see--was:
1 Next Generation era Starfleet Officer, engineering and operations division.
1 Darth Vader, Episode IV era
1 Snowtrooper
1 Scout Trooper
1 Imperial Crimson Guard (the guys that stood by the elevators guarding the Emperor in Return of the Jedi)
1 Batman
1 Superman
1 Spiderman (child)
1 Robin (child)
1 Baroness (the female villain from G.I. Joe)
1 Power Girl
1 Ms. Marvel (
2 Hogwarts Students, 1 Slytherin, 1 Gryffindor
That aside, the real reason we came down was because the Con was having a special section devoted to Women Of Comics. A lot of female artists were on hand, many of whom I recognized (at least in name), and though we missed her, big names like Gail Simone were also on hand. Of particular interest to the Wife was the fact that DC had some editors sent down. One of them was Shelley Bond, the editor for a new line of books aimed at female readers called MINX. Our friend Sonny Liew is one of the artist that is helping to launch this line with his book, written by Mike Carey, called The Regifters.
Anyway, the editor was in Toronto mostly to talk about and promote the MINX launch, and partly to scout out talent. She was dispensing advice to artist who lined up at her table and showed off samples of their work. This was one of those things the Wife initially thought was a gigantic waste of time because a) she sucks, b) people never get a break this way and c) she sucks hard. I more or less whined and kicked up a fuss saying that this was something she should do anyway, under the pretext that it would be a good experience for her and that she could at least say she'd done it. Miraculously, she went along with this, and so we showed up and took our place in line, which turned out to be very small, with only three people ahead of us.
We were the only "pair" there as the rest were either hopeful amateurs, or slightly more established artists who had web comics and a space in "the artist's alley" (the area behind all the sales tables where individual artist can sell their work or take original commissions) and were angling for more work. Unsurprisingly, most of the people who were in line were male. Surprisingly, a lot of the work seemed to be the usual superhero stuff. That gave me pause for thought, since Shelley Bond was clearly the editor for a female readership line that was more focused on emotion and characterization than dynamic battle poses in tights, but hey, there ya' go...
When the Wife's turn came, they refused to let me stand and insisted on pulling out a chair from their table and letting me sit down. The Editor introduced herself, did all the usual handshaking and the Wife showed off her stuff. Obviously she had a few things going for her a) she's talented, regardless of her constant denial, b) she's a professional illustrator who's already had work appear in Maxim and FHM, which she was able to show, and c) she even had a portfolio book on her which she uses as a promotional piece for Art Directors in advertising agencies. In other words, she was already established as a professional with a polished body of work. There was that irrational surge of spousal pride that came from seeing the Editor praise her work for avoiding things she'd already gently criticized in others, such as a nice variety of panel numbers and sizes, good use of angles or interesting choice of two-shots. The Wife explained a little about herself and what she was working on, and, in the interests of adding in a little extra insurance, I named dropped.
Since Sonny Liew was one of the artists who had contributed to MINX's launch, I not-so-discreetly mentioned that not only did we know him, we lived across the street from him for a few years and were contributing to his anthology. It turns out that not only was the Editor totally gushing with praise for Sonny, she was aware of the Liquid City anthology was pretty enthusiastic about its development. The Wife then went on to mention an aborted attempt to work with Serena Valentino (who does Gloom Cookie for Slave Labor Graphics) and these little associations seemed to helpfully cement her credibility with Shelley Bond.
At the end of the talk (which lasted far longer than the others and we actually put an end to it ourselves out of guilt) the Wife got the e-mail and snail mail address of the Editor with a request to see more work, any ideas for stories, as well as a question of whether she'd be willing to work with any writers besides me. Her response was, yes, she was willing, but her preference was still to work with me if at all possible.
This, of course, is insanely cool.
So now it turns out that an idea that we've been talking about for the last couple of weeks is incredibly well timed. The subject matter seems perfect for MINX and so I guess the next step is to write it out in proper submission format and then send it off to the DC offices in New York to see how it goes from there.
I have no idea why 2007 is turning out to be the Year Of The Comic for us, but man, I am SO not complaining.
After that we spent a leisurely afternoon wandering around on the Harbourfront, which is the downtown section of Toronto that overlooks Lake Ontario. I cannot believe how different it is from the closest Singapore equivalent, Boat Quay. Boat Quay is a riverside boulevard of sorts filled with restaurants and bars designed to cater to the flood of executives that come in from the nearby Central Business District. Harbourfront, on the other hand, seems more geared towards families and couples and people genuinely interested in having fun, rather than drinking to forget their loathsome occupation, or hungry, pretty young things looking for that potential golden ticket that means citizenship to another country. Where Boat Quay is claustrophobic and full of ambition, Harbourfront is spacious and relaxed. Where Boat Quay is about elitism and arrogance, Harbourfront is about being yourself and just having a good time.
Have I mentioned recently how incredibly happy I am to be back home? Well I am.
And now things settle down once more.
The In Laws came over one last time in the morning to say goodbye before hopping in the car and driving back to Maine. It's been a pretty interesting last few days. I get the distinct impression that they are a little homesick for urban life in a city with more than a million people. Then again, being only the second of two Asian families in an American town with a population of 3000 (and falling) will do that to ya'.
The Wife and I have also had the opportunity to not just revisit our favorite haunts but see some new ones. For example on Saturday, at the request of our friend Sonny Liew in Singapore, we tracked down a book he'd been looking for that he located in a Toronto bookshop dealing in rare books. If it hadn't been for his request, we never would have tracked down this neat little place (with its ultra friendly black cat) on our own, and it's now definitely the kind of shop that bears repeat visits. On the way (because we walked there from Eaton Centre) we also found an army surplus store that sold everything from current standard issue forest and winter gear for the Canadian army to pressurized pilot helmets worn by MiG pilots of the former U.S.S.R. complete with neat-o breathing masks. The Wife ended up getting a cap for herself with a red star on it and now looks like the People's Artist. The evening was spent with the Wife's aunt for a bit of a family reunion, since the Aunt hadn't met up with the In Laws in something like 25 years, so there was merry making and wine and conversation all around. Mostly I stood around and talked and occasionally smoked while everyone else did that family thing. The food was prepared Singapore style, meaning that I didn't eat most of it (too spicy) and had a glass of milk on hand for the inevitable accidental consumption of something too hot for me to handle. Which brings us to today.
Today's Big News
Today, after the In Laws left was our excuse to take the street car down to a part of the city we hadn't yet seen, Exhibition Place. I'd viewed parts of it from a distance, namely the classical statues and the big turbine, which I didn't know were part of the grounds. I hadn't realized however, that this was actually the site of the biggest exhibition floor in the country, or that a lot of major national tradeshows and other events happened here.The reason we came down was because there was yet another comic book convention running. I had no idea when we arrived that Toronto was such a comic town, but it seems like we've inadvertently picked ou the perfect city in Canada for us to hang out in with our particular interests. Although we missed the start of the Paradise Comic-Con, which was yesterday, we made the effort to stop by today. Sunday, however had a special going, in that anyone that showed up in costume would be allowed free admission. So the total body count--at least as from what I could see--was:
1 Next Generation era Starfleet Officer, engineering and operations division.
1 Darth Vader, Episode IV era
1 Snowtrooper
1 Scout Trooper
1 Imperial Crimson Guard (the guys that stood by the elevators guarding the Emperor in Return of the Jedi)
1 Batman
1 Superman
1 Spiderman (child)
1 Robin (child)
1 Baroness (the female villain from G.I. Joe)
1 Power Girl
1 Ms. Marvel (
2 Hogwarts Students, 1 Slytherin, 1 Gryffindor
That aside, the real reason we came down was because the Con was having a special section devoted to Women Of Comics. A lot of female artists were on hand, many of whom I recognized (at least in name), and though we missed her, big names like Gail Simone were also on hand. Of particular interest to the Wife was the fact that DC had some editors sent down. One of them was Shelley Bond, the editor for a new line of books aimed at female readers called MINX. Our friend Sonny Liew is one of the artist that is helping to launch this line with his book, written by Mike Carey, called The Regifters.Anyway, the editor was in Toronto mostly to talk about and promote the MINX launch, and partly to scout out talent. She was dispensing advice to artist who lined up at her table and showed off samples of their work. This was one of those things the Wife initially thought was a gigantic waste of time because a) she sucks, b) people never get a break this way and c) she sucks hard. I more or less whined and kicked up a fuss saying that this was something she should do anyway, under the pretext that it would be a good experience for her and that she could at least say she'd done it. Miraculously, she went along with this, and so we showed up and took our place in line, which turned out to be very small, with only three people ahead of us.
We were the only "pair" there as the rest were either hopeful amateurs, or slightly more established artists who had web comics and a space in "the artist's alley" (the area behind all the sales tables where individual artist can sell their work or take original commissions) and were angling for more work. Unsurprisingly, most of the people who were in line were male. Surprisingly, a lot of the work seemed to be the usual superhero stuff. That gave me pause for thought, since Shelley Bond was clearly the editor for a female readership line that was more focused on emotion and characterization than dynamic battle poses in tights, but hey, there ya' go...
When the Wife's turn came, they refused to let me stand and insisted on pulling out a chair from their table and letting me sit down. The Editor introduced herself, did all the usual handshaking and the Wife showed off her stuff. Obviously she had a few things going for her a) she's talented, regardless of her constant denial, b) she's a professional illustrator who's already had work appear in Maxim and FHM, which she was able to show, and c) she even had a portfolio book on her which she uses as a promotional piece for Art Directors in advertising agencies. In other words, she was already established as a professional with a polished body of work. There was that irrational surge of spousal pride that came from seeing the Editor praise her work for avoiding things she'd already gently criticized in others, such as a nice variety of panel numbers and sizes, good use of angles or interesting choice of two-shots. The Wife explained a little about herself and what she was working on, and, in the interests of adding in a little extra insurance, I named dropped.
Since Sonny Liew was one of the artists who had contributed to MINX's launch, I not-so-discreetly mentioned that not only did we know him, we lived across the street from him for a few years and were contributing to his anthology. It turns out that not only was the Editor totally gushing with praise for Sonny, she was aware of the Liquid City anthology was pretty enthusiastic about its development. The Wife then went on to mention an aborted attempt to work with Serena Valentino (who does Gloom Cookie for Slave Labor Graphics) and these little associations seemed to helpfully cement her credibility with Shelley Bond.
At the end of the talk (which lasted far longer than the others and we actually put an end to it ourselves out of guilt) the Wife got the e-mail and snail mail address of the Editor with a request to see more work, any ideas for stories, as well as a question of whether she'd be willing to work with any writers besides me. Her response was, yes, she was willing, but her preference was still to work with me if at all possible.
This, of course, is insanely cool.
So now it turns out that an idea that we've been talking about for the last couple of weeks is incredibly well timed. The subject matter seems perfect for MINX and so I guess the next step is to write it out in proper submission format and then send it off to the DC offices in New York to see how it goes from there.
I have no idea why 2007 is turning out to be the Year Of The Comic for us, but man, I am SO not complaining.
After that we spent a leisurely afternoon wandering around on the Harbourfront, which is the downtown section of Toronto that overlooks Lake Ontario. I cannot believe how different it is from the closest Singapore equivalent, Boat Quay. Boat Quay is a riverside boulevard of sorts filled with restaurants and bars designed to cater to the flood of executives that come in from the nearby Central Business District. Harbourfront, on the other hand, seems more geared towards families and couples and people genuinely interested in having fun, rather than drinking to forget their loathsome occupation, or hungry, pretty young things looking for that potential golden ticket that means citizenship to another country. Where Boat Quay is claustrophobic and full of ambition, Harbourfront is spacious and relaxed. Where Boat Quay is about elitism and arrogance, Harbourfront is about being yourself and just having a good time.Have I mentioned recently how incredibly happy I am to be back home? Well I am.
Labels: Comics, Creating Comics, Mean Streets Of Toronto, My Life
Saturday, June 09, 2007
More Relatives
Saturday consisted of a trip down to Eaton Centre, where we temporarily left the In Laws to their own devices while we ran an errand to check out a rare book shop for a friend in Singapore. The rest of the day was spent visiting the Wife's Aunt with the In Laws before staggering back in at the truly awesome hour of some time past midnight.
Saturday consisted of a trip down to Eaton Centre, where we temporarily left the In Laws to their own devices while we ran an errand to check out a rare book shop for a friend in Singapore. The rest of the day was spent visiting the Wife's Aunt with the In Laws before staggering back in at the truly awesome hour of some time past midnight.
Labels: My Life
Friday, June 08, 2007
In Law Visitation Continues
A visit to Kensington was followed by Chinatown, then I plugged my sister-in-law into Guitar Hero for a few hours (she plays piano, so she jumped straight into medium and stayed there comfortably until Cream's Crossroads wiped the floor with her) and then pizza was consumed at the neighborhood Magic Oven. The verdict from the father in law; "I think that's the best pizza I've ever had."
Very tired. Must veg out.
A visit to Kensington was followed by Chinatown, then I plugged my sister-in-law into Guitar Hero for a few hours (she plays piano, so she jumped straight into medium and stayed there comfortably until Cream's Crossroads wiped the floor with her) and then pizza was consumed at the neighborhood Magic Oven. The verdict from the father in law; "I think that's the best pizza I've ever had."
Very tired. Must veg out.
Labels: My Life
Thursday, June 07, 2007
In Laws
They arrived late this afternoon, having gotten used to the sedate, rural charm of Calais, Maine and got thrown into the maelstrom of the automotive grid lock that is the 401 coming into Toronto. We walked to Bloor, we had Korean food. I am going to bed. That's a pretty big jump, going from a "city" with a population of 3000 to the 5 million plus of the Greater Toronto Area...
They arrived late this afternoon, having gotten used to the sedate, rural charm of Calais, Maine and got thrown into the maelstrom of the automotive grid lock that is the 401 coming into Toronto. We walked to Bloor, we had Korean food. I am going to bed. That's a pretty big jump, going from a "city" with a population of 3000 to the 5 million plus of the Greater Toronto Area...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, My Life
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The Night Before
The In-Laws officially arrive some time tomorrow and we are now going to bed at a reasonable hour of the night, just like most sane people. It looks like we're going to go down to the Paradise Comic-Con on Sunday (thus missing out on the Gail Simone talk) because a) a group of editors from DC will be looking at portfolio submissions on that day, and b) the Wife's family leaves on Sunday. This does, however, mean that we will be inundated with Cos Players galore since people that dress up on Sunday will get free admission. For those of you that don't know, Cos Play is a Japanese term for people that dress up in costumes of favorite anime/manga/comic/TV characters, as evinced by the video below of some of the more successful--and cute--attempts that craft.
The In-Laws officially arrive some time tomorrow and we are now going to bed at a reasonable hour of the night, just like most sane people. It looks like we're going to go down to the Paradise Comic-Con on Sunday (thus missing out on the Gail Simone talk) because a) a group of editors from DC will be looking at portfolio submissions on that day, and b) the Wife's family leaves on Sunday. This does, however, mean that we will be inundated with Cos Players galore since people that dress up on Sunday will get free admission. For those of you that don't know, Cos Play is a Japanese term for people that dress up in costumes of favorite anime/manga/comic/TV characters, as evinced by the video below of some of the more successful--and cute--attempts that craft.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, My Life
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Finally
For the first time in several days, I'm actually going to bed when it's dark outside. Whoo. It's the small accomplishments that make me happy.
For the first time in several days, I'm actually going to bed when it's dark outside. Whoo. It's the small accomplishments that make me happy.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts
Monday, June 04, 2007
Almost Normal
Things are slooooooooowly beginning to start feeling normal again. Woke up at 3 am, pottered around the house, and then walked through the neighborhood and a little up north to keep the Wife company as she picked up some canvas someone was selling online. Turns out the woman who was selling them had bought them during an intense oil painting phase, and now that the phase had passed, knew that she wasn't going to put the canvas to use anymore.
Other than that, more Grim Fandango was played, a walk down to Bloor got us more coffee, art supplies and continuing episodes of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Excel Saga and now FLCL, as well as more coffee.
Bed time was actually sometime after 9 pm, so it was a weird, long day in that my body was desperately trying to grab back onto a daylight cycle wakefulness and actually managed some success since we spent the majority of our waking ours up during the day.
Things are slooooooooowly beginning to start feeling normal again. Woke up at 3 am, pottered around the house, and then walked through the neighborhood and a little up north to keep the Wife company as she picked up some canvas someone was selling online. Turns out the woman who was selling them had bought them during an intense oil painting phase, and now that the phase had passed, knew that she wasn't going to put the canvas to use anymore.
Other than that, more Grim Fandango was played, a walk down to Bloor got us more coffee, art supplies and continuing episodes of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Excel Saga and now FLCL, as well as more coffee.
Bed time was actually sometime after 9 pm, so it was a weird, long day in that my body was desperately trying to grab back onto a daylight cycle wakefulness and actually managed some success since we spent the majority of our waking ours up during the day.
Labels: My Life
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Exploring Spadina
The march towards sleeping at a reasonable hour in time for the In-Laws' arrival continues. We actually were up around midnight messed around at home for a while and then early in the morning, we headed down south to check out The Other big market in Toronto, Kensington Market. This was kind of weird for me since I actually remember seeing portions of this place on TV as a kid when the Canadian sit-com "The King of Kensington" was being broadcast. If St. Lawrence Market is a collection of two buildings that represents the historical capitalist aspect of Toronto, then Kensington is the sub/cultural side of things. It's a few streets (one of them being Kensington, obviously) that have rows and rows of stores and cafes. The same could be said for our usual haunt of Bloor but it has a distinctively different vibe; where Bloor feels very much like a hip, student hang-out, Kensington has traditionally played host to first immigrants and now the various subcultures of Toronto. A walk down its streets reveals full-on punks, hippies, Rastafarians, Goths and various other groups who come down to enjoy the broader "cultural climate" of the place, compared to Yorkville, which is a Yuppie conclave, or Queen Street West which is where the cutting edge trendsetter/fashionista types go to see and be seen.
The more laid back, "Hey, man, we're all brothers and sisters aren't we," Haight-Ashbury feel for the place is only reinforced by the fact that you can visit, shop and, yes, smoke, in cannabis cafes like the Roach O' Rama, which has a BYOP policy, but sells pretty much everything else, including seeds. You've even got folks like Bob Snider, a Canadian folk-singer, who comes out on Saturdays and just drops his case on the the street, whips out the guitar and starts singing away. Or you can just click on that picture of him there and see his take on the place. We also wandered down Spadina Avenue proper, which is really just the formal way of saying "Chinatown" since that's what takes up the majority of the street until you travel south far enough to hit the previously mentioned Queen Street West area.
Chinatown made the Wife extremely happy. If you want to see some of it yourself, just click here or on the picture.
It was really bizarre just how much the vibe changed in one split second, crossing over from Kensington to Chinatown. The change was made more dramatic by the fact that it feels intensely familiar if you've lived in Aisa before. Suddenly, going into stores, people don't make eye contact, salespeople don't come up to you ask how you are and if they can help you with anything, and buying stuff results in a kind of quiet, annoyed grumbling that gives you the distinct impression these people wished you were dead for interrupting whatever it was they were doing, and just want you to hand over the money and go away. In short, I felt like I was back in Singapore.
But aside from that general familiar feeling in the air, the other part, the part that made the Wife nearly faint with the joy, was the sudden influx of familiar logos and brandnames I had just spent the last decade seeing in Singapore stores. Khong Guan cookie tins, Ayam curry, Skyflake Crackers and Hainanese Chicken Rice stock lined the shelves. I was amazed at how much of this stuff I recognized and even more surprised to actually find these Asian brands both familiar AND comforting. I may not have been born in Singapore, but for over ten years, it was home, and there was a weird twinge of nostalgia looking at some of this stuff and thinking, "Oh my God, white rabbit candy! I remember this stuff, it's CRAP!" Previous to this, the Wife had been getting her fix of Asian goods by shopping at a grocery store in Koreatown, which is what Bloor turns into if you walk down the street westwards. However, I think that grocery store has now been completely discplaced in the Wife's head by the grocery store we found in Chinatown. She had the same glazed look in her eye and trembling hands that is normally reserved for me in a videogame store. It goes without saying that we made off with a bunch of stuff that has put the Wife in a very good mood since she now has a few of the familiar products of home, and Kensington and Chinatown are now officially added to our list of Neat Places To Visit For Shopping.
The food, however, is not quite up to snuff. That's probably not fair, since we only sampled one restaurant, but Singapore, in an attempt to make up for its almost total lack of substance, has an almost homicidal obsession with food. As a result, especially for Asian fare, it's pretty hard not to find a Really Good Restaurant anywhere within cat-swinging distance. We found a dumpling restaurant, called the Dumpling House, and, having memories of the quaint little restaurant we'd walk down to on East Coast road, run by a former Chinese National Team basketball player, we went in. The dumplings and beef noodles there were amazing. This dumpling restaurant didn't match up, but that's not to say the food was bad. I was caught off guard by how large the servings were and had to remind myself "Oh yeah, right, this is Canada," and the flavors were reasonably good, but it wasn't quite that same experience of popping one a' them little Northern Chinese pan fried dumplings in your mouth and suddenly saying "DAMN, THAT'S TASTY!" the way I was used to.
We were both surprised when, as we were finishing our meal, we noticed that there was a huge line up to get into the place. The quality of food, while not bad at all, hardly seemed to justify the piles of people that were trying to get in. I think though that this is another one of those few aspects where I have to give it to Singapore; if you're a lover of Asian food, the place is one of the best pieces of real estate on the planet to live. Those folks getting in the line may have thought the dumplings were tasty, but then they'd probably never had the Real Deal out in Asia itself.
The march towards sleeping at a reasonable hour in time for the In-Laws' arrival continues. We actually were up around midnight messed around at home for a while and then early in the morning, we headed down south to check out The Other big market in Toronto, Kensington Market. This was kind of weird for me since I actually remember seeing portions of this place on TV as a kid when the Canadian sit-com "The King of Kensington" was being broadcast. If St. Lawrence Market is a collection of two buildings that represents the historical capitalist aspect of Toronto, then Kensington is the sub/cultural side of things. It's a few streets (one of them being Kensington, obviously) that have rows and rows of stores and cafes. The same could be said for our usual haunt of Bloor but it has a distinctively different vibe; where Bloor feels very much like a hip, student hang-out, Kensington has traditionally played host to first immigrants and now the various subcultures of Toronto. A walk down its streets reveals full-on punks, hippies, Rastafarians, Goths and various other groups who come down to enjoy the broader "cultural climate" of the place, compared to Yorkville, which is a Yuppie conclave, or Queen Street West which is where the cutting edge trendsetter/fashionista types go to see and be seen. The more laid back, "Hey, man, we're all brothers and sisters aren't we," Haight-Ashbury feel for the place is only reinforced by the fact that you can visit, shop and, yes, smoke, in cannabis cafes like the Roach O' Rama, which has a BYOP policy, but sells pretty much everything else, including seeds. You've even got folks like Bob Snider, a Canadian folk-singer, who comes out on Saturdays and just drops his case on the the street, whips out the guitar and starts singing away. Or you can just click on that picture of him there and see his take on the place. We also wandered down Spadina Avenue proper, which is really just the formal way of saying "Chinatown" since that's what takes up the majority of the street until you travel south far enough to hit the previously mentioned Queen Street West area. Chinatown made the Wife extremely happy. If you want to see some of it yourself, just click here or on the picture.It was really bizarre just how much the vibe changed in one split second, crossing over from Kensington to Chinatown. The change was made more dramatic by the fact that it feels intensely familiar if you've lived in Aisa before. Suddenly, going into stores, people don't make eye contact, salespeople don't come up to you ask how you are and if they can help you with anything, and buying stuff results in a kind of quiet, annoyed grumbling that gives you the distinct impression these people wished you were dead for interrupting whatever it was they were doing, and just want you to hand over the money and go away. In short, I felt like I was back in Singapore.
But aside from that general familiar feeling in the air, the other part, the part that made the Wife nearly faint with the joy, was the sudden influx of familiar logos and brandnames I had just spent the last decade seeing in Singapore stores. Khong Guan cookie tins, Ayam curry, Skyflake Crackers and Hainanese Chicken Rice stock lined the shelves. I was amazed at how much of this stuff I recognized and even more surprised to actually find these Asian brands both familiar AND comforting. I may not have been born in Singapore, but for over ten years, it was home, and there was a weird twinge of nostalgia looking at some of this stuff and thinking, "Oh my God, white rabbit candy! I remember this stuff, it's CRAP!" Previous to this, the Wife had been getting her fix of Asian goods by shopping at a grocery store in Koreatown, which is what Bloor turns into if you walk down the street westwards. However, I think that grocery store has now been completely discplaced in the Wife's head by the grocery store we found in Chinatown. She had the same glazed look in her eye and trembling hands that is normally reserved for me in a videogame store. It goes without saying that we made off with a bunch of stuff that has put the Wife in a very good mood since she now has a few of the familiar products of home, and Kensington and Chinatown are now officially added to our list of Neat Places To Visit For Shopping.
The food, however, is not quite up to snuff. That's probably not fair, since we only sampled one restaurant, but Singapore, in an attempt to make up for its almost total lack of substance, has an almost homicidal obsession with food. As a result, especially for Asian fare, it's pretty hard not to find a Really Good Restaurant anywhere within cat-swinging distance. We found a dumpling restaurant, called the Dumpling House, and, having memories of the quaint little restaurant we'd walk down to on East Coast road, run by a former Chinese National Team basketball player, we went in. The dumplings and beef noodles there were amazing. This dumpling restaurant didn't match up, but that's not to say the food was bad. I was caught off guard by how large the servings were and had to remind myself "Oh yeah, right, this is Canada," and the flavors were reasonably good, but it wasn't quite that same experience of popping one a' them little Northern Chinese pan fried dumplings in your mouth and suddenly saying "DAMN, THAT'S TASTY!" the way I was used to.
We were both surprised when, as we were finishing our meal, we noticed that there was a huge line up to get into the place. The quality of food, while not bad at all, hardly seemed to justify the piles of people that were trying to get in. I think though that this is another one of those few aspects where I have to give it to Singapore; if you're a lover of Asian food, the place is one of the best pieces of real estate on the planet to live. Those folks getting in the line may have thought the dumplings were tasty, but then they'd probably never had the Real Deal out in Asia itself.
Labels: Mean Streets Of Toronto
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Time Is Funny
When your anchor to it has been cut off. Woke up before midnight today after going to bed some time in the middle of the afternoon. There is a weird--though not actually unpleasant--feeling of drifting through the day in a disconnected sort of way. It's kind of like that feeling you get just after waking up, or after you've been a up a really, really long time, though without the feelings of drowsiness, just that sense of things happening at a remove from you.
The morning was one of those rare times where we were not only conscious, but actually did something. We went down to Front Street with the neighbor to do some shopping at St. Lawrence Market, which, I am amazed to realize, has been kicking around in that same spot since 1803. It's a big ol' place, divided into two buildings. The more recent, northern building is the Farmer's Market where some of the most colorful vegetables I've ever seen in my life are sold by farm girls that are as buxom as they overly made up. This is strictly a weekend market, opening way early in the morning and closing in the early afternoon. The south market, which is St. Lawrence proper, has coffee, fish, meat and all kinds of other things in a big, bustling building that has played both jail house and city hall over the course of its life. Many fixin's were purchased during this run.
However, after that, we did something very uncharacteristic for us. Since the neighbor mentioned that an affluent neighborhood just to the north of our home was having a massive, coordinated yard sale, we took her up on her invitation to wander it. Taking place in the Austin Crescent area. Going there was kind of like walking into the middle of every Hollywood movie that ever featured a "typical, suburban neighborhood" in that the houses--though not mansions--were gorgeous, the inhabitants were affluent, and even the dogs smelled like perfume. It kind of reminded me of what I'd always imagined the rest of Ferris Bueller's neighborhood would look like.
I did, however, make a couple of surprising finds. It would seem that one of the guys living in the neighborhood is a gamer who has more or less fixated on the Real Time Strategy game Command & Conquer and was saying goodbye to other games he no longer played. I went nuts and immediately picked up these two when I saw them:
Homeworld: Game of the Year Edition
Man, was I ever amazed when I saw this. I first saw this game in Singapore and thought it would make a good gift for a friend of mine over there, so I picked it up and gave it to him for his birthday. We sat, hunkered in his little closet/computer room, smoking cigarettes and thinking, "Hm, not bad graphics," until the full enormity of the game's brilliance suddenly hit us with the force of a hammer.
Homeworld is an important game in many ways. It was the first truly beautiful looking Real Time Strategy game ever released, but beyond the graphics, it innovated the genre in many ways, embracing science fiction, taking things to space and actually allowing Z-Axis movement (as in players could send ships north, south, east, west, UP and DOWN), and doing the one thing that Sci-Fi nerds had been clamoring for for years; giving the ability to participate in massive space battles using mixed units of big, hulking capital ships, nimble squads of one man fighters, and throwing in the mix of mid-sized units like frigates and light cruisers. It also did something incredibly brilliant in terms of story-telling; it made you give a damn without ever showing a single face. The plot is pretty interesting; on a small, deserted, hostile world, the inhabitants, coming into technology similar to our own, find something on their satellites buried in their world's great desert. Going there reveals a vast starship and technology beyond their wildest imaginings, except that it's all in an ancient language that is the root of their own. They finally realize that they are not native to this world, and use the technology to advance their culture and build a ship capable of traversing star systems and finding their true home. Unfortunately, doing this violates certain conditions of surrender established millennia ago and as payback, their entire planet is purged, leaving only their new mothership, a some thousands of people in cryogenic suspension and boundless rage. The game plays out entirely through the communication exchange between the fleet, and somehow, those faceless characters convey more determination, loss and fear than you'll normally see in 90% of the games released today. It's particularly cool that your fleet from mission to mission continues to grow from your existing resources, meaning that if you had one particular cruiser you built at the beginning, that same cruiser--at least if you're careful--will fight for and with you right to the bitter end. Amazing stuff. A real landmark in the genre.
This particular addition includes a strategy guide and, the happiest of bonuses for me, the soundtrack on CD. And the cost? Five bucks. MAN...
And then there's this:
When you talk to fans of the Adventure Game genre, there is an argument, akin to Sci-Fi film/TV fans, that will ensue as soon as you try to talk about the best of the best. In SF, this is usually the tired old Star Wars versus Star Trek argument (though anyone remotely sane will tell you this battle has already thoroughly won by Battlestar Galactica) and in Adventure Games, it's The Longest Journey or Grim Fandango.
This one of those games I've been meaning to play for YEARS. Not only is one of the very best the genre has to offer, it is, with no room for debate, flat out the funniest. Tim Schafer was the man who created this game, though console gamers will probably know him better as the guy that made Psychonauts. This, however, is Schafer at his prime. You play Manny Calavera, one of many "reapers" who's duty is to visit the newly dead and sell them "travel packages" that can speed their way to their final after-life reward depending on how good they've been in life. Otherwise, it's going to be a long 4 year hike, and the more really killer packages Manny sells (the best being a bullet train that reduces the trip to 9 minutes) the faster he can work of a massive karmic debt he has accrued that prevents him from beginning his own journey.
This is Schafer at his prime. The writing is so smart, so funny and so constant you'd never understand why more wasn't done with this property. The only downside to finding this game is the fact that it was hell to get up and running because it was designed to run on Windows 95 and Windows XP... did not like it so much. The Wife had to play tech support for a couple of hours tweaking things in Safe Mode and MS-DOS windows to finally get the thing to even install and run properly. But it is a great, GREAT game, and a must own for anybody that thinks games can't be well written. And the price? Again, five bucks. CAN'T. GO. WRONG.
When your anchor to it has been cut off. Woke up before midnight today after going to bed some time in the middle of the afternoon. There is a weird--though not actually unpleasant--feeling of drifting through the day in a disconnected sort of way. It's kind of like that feeling you get just after waking up, or after you've been a up a really, really long time, though without the feelings of drowsiness, just that sense of things happening at a remove from you.
The morning was one of those rare times where we were not only conscious, but actually did something. We went down to Front Street with the neighbor to do some shopping at St. Lawrence Market, which, I am amazed to realize, has been kicking around in that same spot since 1803. It's a big ol' place, divided into two buildings. The more recent, northern building is the Farmer's Market where some of the most colorful vegetables I've ever seen in my life are sold by farm girls that are as buxom as they overly made up. This is strictly a weekend market, opening way early in the morning and closing in the early afternoon. The south market, which is St. Lawrence proper, has coffee, fish, meat and all kinds of other things in a big, bustling building that has played both jail house and city hall over the course of its life. Many fixin's were purchased during this run.
However, after that, we did something very uncharacteristic for us. Since the neighbor mentioned that an affluent neighborhood just to the north of our home was having a massive, coordinated yard sale, we took her up on her invitation to wander it. Taking place in the Austin Crescent area. Going there was kind of like walking into the middle of every Hollywood movie that ever featured a "typical, suburban neighborhood" in that the houses--though not mansions--were gorgeous, the inhabitants were affluent, and even the dogs smelled like perfume. It kind of reminded me of what I'd always imagined the rest of Ferris Bueller's neighborhood would look like.
I did, however, make a couple of surprising finds. It would seem that one of the guys living in the neighborhood is a gamer who has more or less fixated on the Real Time Strategy game Command & Conquer and was saying goodbye to other games he no longer played. I went nuts and immediately picked up these two when I saw them:
Homeworld: Game of the Year EditionMan, was I ever amazed when I saw this. I first saw this game in Singapore and thought it would make a good gift for a friend of mine over there, so I picked it up and gave it to him for his birthday. We sat, hunkered in his little closet/computer room, smoking cigarettes and thinking, "Hm, not bad graphics," until the full enormity of the game's brilliance suddenly hit us with the force of a hammer.
Homeworld is an important game in many ways. It was the first truly beautiful looking Real Time Strategy game ever released, but beyond the graphics, it innovated the genre in many ways, embracing science fiction, taking things to space and actually allowing Z-Axis movement (as in players could send ships north, south, east, west, UP and DOWN), and doing the one thing that Sci-Fi nerds had been clamoring for for years; giving the ability to participate in massive space battles using mixed units of big, hulking capital ships, nimble squads of one man fighters, and throwing in the mix of mid-sized units like frigates and light cruisers. It also did something incredibly brilliant in terms of story-telling; it made you give a damn without ever showing a single face. The plot is pretty interesting; on a small, deserted, hostile world, the inhabitants, coming into technology similar to our own, find something on their satellites buried in their world's great desert. Going there reveals a vast starship and technology beyond their wildest imaginings, except that it's all in an ancient language that is the root of their own. They finally realize that they are not native to this world, and use the technology to advance their culture and build a ship capable of traversing star systems and finding their true home. Unfortunately, doing this violates certain conditions of surrender established millennia ago and as payback, their entire planet is purged, leaving only their new mothership, a some thousands of people in cryogenic suspension and boundless rage. The game plays out entirely through the communication exchange between the fleet, and somehow, those faceless characters convey more determination, loss and fear than you'll normally see in 90% of the games released today. It's particularly cool that your fleet from mission to mission continues to grow from your existing resources, meaning that if you had one particular cruiser you built at the beginning, that same cruiser--at least if you're careful--will fight for and with you right to the bitter end. Amazing stuff. A real landmark in the genre.
This particular addition includes a strategy guide and, the happiest of bonuses for me, the soundtrack on CD. And the cost? Five bucks. MAN...
And then there's this:
When you talk to fans of the Adventure Game genre, there is an argument, akin to Sci-Fi film/TV fans, that will ensue as soon as you try to talk about the best of the best. In SF, this is usually the tired old Star Wars versus Star Trek argument (though anyone remotely sane will tell you this battle has already thoroughly won by Battlestar Galactica) and in Adventure Games, it's The Longest Journey or Grim Fandango.This one of those games I've been meaning to play for YEARS. Not only is one of the very best the genre has to offer, it is, with no room for debate, flat out the funniest. Tim Schafer was the man who created this game, though console gamers will probably know him better as the guy that made Psychonauts. This, however, is Schafer at his prime. You play Manny Calavera, one of many "reapers" who's duty is to visit the newly dead and sell them "travel packages" that can speed their way to their final after-life reward depending on how good they've been in life. Otherwise, it's going to be a long 4 year hike, and the more really killer packages Manny sells (the best being a bullet train that reduces the trip to 9 minutes) the faster he can work of a massive karmic debt he has accrued that prevents him from beginning his own journey.
This is Schafer at his prime. The writing is so smart, so funny and so constant you'd never understand why more wasn't done with this property. The only downside to finding this game is the fact that it was hell to get up and running because it was designed to run on Windows 95 and Windows XP... did not like it so much. The Wife had to play tech support for a couple of hours tweaking things in Safe Mode and MS-DOS windows to finally get the thing to even install and run properly. But it is a great, GREAT game, and a must own for anybody that thinks games can't be well written. And the price? Again, five bucks. CAN'T. GO. WRONG.
Labels: Adventure Games, Games, Mean Streets Of Toronto, My Life
Friday, June 01, 2007
Damn. Didn't See That One Coming.
I am now well and truly in full on vampire mode, having gotten out of bed as the sun was almost completely set.
I am also now amazed and somewhat bummed out over the fact that Ron Moore has announced that Battlestar Galactica will--as Edward Olmos hinted--be ending as of the fourth season. This is a bit weird for me since I love the show, but am only half-way done, since I watch the DVD collections rather than the actual broadcast episodes. On the other hand, this is a pretty logical progression since--in novel-like fashion--Moore has been advancing the characters and stories with irreparable changes and the whole "we're looking for Earth" thing kind of needs to be addressed. Still, better to end it with people loving the show than just let the momentum run out and turn your fans against you, a la the X-Files back in the day. It's a gutsy move, and I'm really curious to see how this will go, since I had thought they wouldn't be able to tell the entire tale in four seasons and would need at least a fifth to pull it off.
In other news, the second story for the Liquid City anthology has been done, sent off to the artist and he says he's going to start on his roughs within a week. What was supposed to be my "easy" 10 page story once again ballooned into something 17 pages in length, but with the artist looking it over, there may be room to cut things down. Man, I remember there was a time when I could actually tell a story in less than 8,000 words, and now I've gotten to the point where it's nearly impossible. How the hell did that happen?
There's also a little bit of work to be done for IGN, as the editor I was previously in contact with has moved on, and after pitching an idea to the New Guy, he decided to run with it, so I've got to start doing some prep work on that. And the last of the articles for GameAxis needs to be put away for the month, so I guess I'd better start tidying that up as well.
I am now well and truly in full on vampire mode, having gotten out of bed as the sun was almost completely set.I am also now amazed and somewhat bummed out over the fact that Ron Moore has announced that Battlestar Galactica will--as Edward Olmos hinted--be ending as of the fourth season. This is a bit weird for me since I love the show, but am only half-way done, since I watch the DVD collections rather than the actual broadcast episodes. On the other hand, this is a pretty logical progression since--in novel-like fashion--Moore has been advancing the characters and stories with irreparable changes and the whole "we're looking for Earth" thing kind of needs to be addressed. Still, better to end it with people loving the show than just let the momentum run out and turn your fans against you, a la the X-Files back in the day. It's a gutsy move, and I'm really curious to see how this will go, since I had thought they wouldn't be able to tell the entire tale in four seasons and would need at least a fifth to pull it off.
In other news, the second story for the Liquid City anthology has been done, sent off to the artist and he says he's going to start on his roughs within a week. What was supposed to be my "easy" 10 page story once again ballooned into something 17 pages in length, but with the artist looking it over, there may be room to cut things down. Man, I remember there was a time when I could actually tell a story in less than 8,000 words, and now I've gotten to the point where it's nearly impossible. How the hell did that happen?
There's also a little bit of work to be done for IGN, as the editor I was previously in contact with has moved on, and after pitching an idea to the New Guy, he decided to run with it, so I've got to start doing some prep work on that. And the last of the articles for GameAxis needs to be put away for the month, so I guess I'd better start tidying that up as well.
Labels: Battlestar Galactica, Journalism, Liquid City, My Life, Writing
Archives
01/01/2003 - 02/01/2003
02/01/2003 - 03/01/2003
03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003
04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003
05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003
06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003
07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003
08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003
07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
