Link Dump version 1-2-1.3

Lately I've been collecting links, so very many links. But I haven't really been posting much. So I've got a bit of a back log, and it's time for a link dump. Here are some interesting things:

http://imgur.com/gallery/PJ0sQnc

I love this animation. I imagine you will as well. Speaking of Animation, it turns out Chuck Jones actually had a set of rules for Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons. They're pretty much what you imagine, though maybe not with the same words. On a different note, I really like the enclosed definition of the word 'fanatic.'

http://www.avclub.com/article/fairies-dancing-screen-4-classic-video-game-sprite-215639

Here's an article breaking down four classic jumps from video game history. linked from John B.

http://jpbruneau.tumblr.com/post/115704339194/kturbio-street-fighter-stages-in-real-life
if you needed another reason to follow jpbruneau: Street Fighter stages in real life.

http://theomeganerd.tumblr.com/post/114376010304/little-dovakiin-skyrim-cosplay
the luckiest kid on the planet.

http://www.manaleak.com/mtguk/2015/03/well-this-is-a-bit-of-a-buggerance/
"Well, this is a bit of a buggerance. A Thank You letter" by manaleak author Christopher Cooper. It's a Magic The Gathering tribute to Terry Pratchett, and is full of inside jokes. In fact, it's composed almost entirely of inside jokes, I still thought it might be nice for you to peruse.

If you're still reading this, why not read about some Alien 3 concept movies that never were:

http://www.empireonline.com/features/alternative-alien-3-concept-movies/p6

And, if that's not your thing, this article shares some love for Donkey Kong Country 3, a perspective I found refreshing, despite the fact that I never played the game.
http://kotaku.com/the-best-donkey-kong-country-ever-made-1683495417

-D

Zelda and Final Fantasy Mashup Fanart

An Artist called Shattered Earth made a series of Legend of Zelda title screens in the style of Final Fantasy.  They work out really nicely, my personal favorite is the Links Awakening one for how cool the wind fish looks. 

Have a look!

-D

What I mean when I talk about Graphics

The body of this post was originally composed about two years ago when this blog was brand new.  Because of my difficulty in articulating my thoughts, opinions and convictions, this post sort of floated around in draft form for those two years.  I recently read an essay over at Gamasutra on the same subject and decided to dredge this old post up, dust it off and finally publish it.  I think the subject of graphics has long been an important one in Video Games, though it does seem to be pretty much the same story as when I was a teenager.  Bigger, better, higher, faster.  If this subject interests you at all, have a look at the Gamasutra article I've linked here, and share any thoughts or resources you have on the subject.  Thanks. -D   

no denying this is purty, but is it enough?

When it comes to Graphics, I have always been and will always be, something of a hypocrite.   At least, it will seem that way to everyone who isn't inside my head, or doesn't understand me in that special "nerd" way.  I will, on the one hand, whine endlessly about graphics.  About too much focus on good graphics.  Too many bells and whistles, and not enough depth.  And then, on the other hand, I will dance a jig and praise halleluja to the graphics of games I like.  This is a pattern I plan to never break.

For example: in the case of Minecraft: it’s hard to call the graphics ‘good’ per se, on some sort of linear scale of supposed ‘quality’  - however, it’s easy for me to call the graphics ‘awesome’ because they are.  It’s more a design thing than a photo-realistic thing.  Photorealism is a keyword here.  There is a belief somewhere that this is the pinnicale of graphic representation, and I have to disagree with that. 

When I was younger, I believed in photorealism.  I believed that was the sort of art that required skill, and that abstract art was just nonsense.  Funny thing though:  I have no memory of cartoons as art, or my opinion of cartoon art.  Cartoons were simply alive, and I loved them.  It never occurred to me that they might be art.  Maybe this is one of the best measures of art. 

Bridging the gap from cartoons to realism is comic book art.  I thought Jim Lee and Mark Bagley were the best comic artists of the 90s.  This was in part because of their ability to convey realism, but, growing older, I see that their version of realism was highly stylized and not really photo realistic at all.  But even that level level of realism isn't necessary for enjoyment.  

Quintessential Jim Lee artwork from my childhood

It would be nice to have a better vocabulary for these things.  To better be able to explain what I mean.  I'm going to work on that in this post.  Jac, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.  Little help?

Jaconian's Interjection: I totally get/agree with what you're saying.  I'll argue that with some Final Fantasy games, that they've moved away from story and focused too much on the look and graphics of the game.  "It's not all about graphics!"  But then, when I play say, Wave Race, I'll be like, "It's a pretty standard racing game, nothing overly special.  But dear god man, look at the water!  It looks fucking real!"  That might not be a great example, but I understand where you're coming from.  Another one is the "updated" graphics in Dragon Warrior in the US from Dragon Quest in Japan. 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_(video_game)#North_American_localization)  

In the image you can see the difference in sprites and in the article is says that the character always faced that direction, regardless of the direction.  I tell myself now that that would bother me and the "better" graphics are better for game play, even though graphics aren't a big part of why I find that game/series to be so awesome.

Another thing that I've found myself being a hypocrite about, in a similar manner to graphics, is the quality of music in games.  I can listen to the Legend of Zelda overworld theme for hours on end, with it's simple three tone musical awesomeness.  But then with the music from Ocarina of Time, I'll go on for hours about how the music sounds like not-so-great MIDI.  Additionally, the sound quality between the two is different and while there are sound quality improvements over the original soundtrack, ultimately I feel that there was a shift away from melody to atmosphere

OR, staying with Zelda, the graphics and design of the game (like what you said in your previous post) are perfect for  he game.  BUT, if there was an updated remake with either the Wind Waker or Majora's Mask engine, I would be singing its praises even before I got a chance to play it.  Maybe that's because it's something we've been talking about since Ocarina of Time came out.

Yes, graphics sure do represent a mixed bag of experiences.  And it seems like that is the key to the whole thing- how do the graphics affect your experience of the game?  Arguably, with the Dragon Warrior example, your play experience probably wouldn't have been affected much by the graphical updates.  If nothing else, the fact that the character always faces the same direction may have been slightly distracting.  But, then again, it may have been more distracting than I imagine.  I always accepted that the 'open world' style design of Dragon Warrior is a place with four cardinal directions, and that the characters within have a front, sides and a back.  The idea of every character sort of 'strafing' along is kind of distasteful.  But I'm probably over thinking it, which is okay; I like doing that.

I guess when thinking about graphics, it is good to think about how they are used.  In the case of Wave Race, it may be good to note that the game took place in many different settings.  The first that come to my mind is 'Drake Lake,'  which has the most dynamic graphics in that game.  Here, the fog-lifting action on the third lap sort of 'shows you what you've been missing' to great effect.

However, even without the fog-trick from Drake lake, the water effects on Wave Race are awesome.  More than any other racing game, Wave Race gave me the desire to drive off of the course and just go exploring.  I think the water effect had a lot to do with that.  A water environment is so much more interesting than a racetrack environment.  I only wish they had actually supplied an open world track.  Or, hey - you know what would be awesome?  A Jetski option in Pilotwings!  For close examination and exploration of the coastlines and islands. 

Alright, I'm getting distracted here with another one of my random 'you know what would be cool?' game ideas.  Ultimately, I'm not sure what my point is here.  Except maybe that 'my opinion is my opinion and that is that.'  Which is kind of... a moot point to begin with.  Anyhow, when I look at the industry, I see a lot of hyper-realistic big AAA games, but then I also see some really cool artful and abstract indie games.  So, I keep my attention on the indie games, but I do wish that the masses being catered to by the big-industry could see and appreciate the games I love.  And that's normal, isn't it?  

-D

P.S.  Since I originally wrote the bulk of this post, I had the great pleasure of reading Scott McCloud's fantastic 'Understanding Comics' series.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in comics, art and design. I found the contents relevant to subjects outside comics; including video games. He puts forth this idea of Realist vs Iconic graphics, and puts them in this nifty Triangle (below), which he cleverly calls the 'Big Triangle.'  He has a breakdown of the Big Triangle on his website.  Go check it out, why not?

Braggin'

Hi! Conklederp here, just stopping by to do a little bragging on behalf of Jaconian, because I know he won't do it himself. Jaconian has a not-so-secret hobby aside from video games, and that is cross stitching. I think he has posted about it before. Well, in addition to stitching awesome things, he also CREATES patterns, which you can check out at his new Etsy store, ExorStitch.  The patterns he makes are sometimes snarky, sometimes geeky, and always super rad. Right now he's got a Stephen King tribute, a classic horror poster, a video game reference, and a threat from Norse Gods to clean your kitchen. It's refreshing to see some truly unconventional cross stitch patterns out there.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/209163138/the-code-cross-stitch-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_4

Super proud wife-thing signing out!
-Conklederp

At long last a Link Dump!

I've had all these links just piling up, I thought maybe it was time for another LINK DUMP!

For starters, check out this totally sweet 8-bit style Smash Bros, put together by CJartan at Deviant Art.


I think that was pretty neat.  Next up, Bennet Foddy's Speed Chess.  You may remember Bennet Foddy from such hits as 'QWOP' or the sequel 'Clop.'  If you don't remember him, that is fine, but you should probably check those games out, preferably with someone around to laugh with you.  

The story with Speed Chess is that Bennet Foddy thinks Chess is too slow, and thus he created a new version of chess that plays in real-time.  Also, there are 16 players.  Interested yet?  It's certainly worth a look.
Well, here's the thing: It's actually designed for 16 players, all plugged into the same console.  16 controllers, can you believe that?  How silly.  I hope he decides to make an online version.  

Alright, we can't play Speed Chess.  Even though it sounds like fun.  Maybe in the meantime we can just read this Cracked article about mini-games that people developed within other video games.  Avoiding the Kamikaze mushroom in Mario 64 sounds like fun!  Cracked really has come a long way from being a poor man's MAD magazine.

Speaking of mini-games.  One time there was a site dedicated to Underdog games at Kongregate.  I always like to see people sticking up for the little guy.  It's too bad the site stopped updating in 2008.  I remember those innocent years.  Before Indie Gaming was a huge industry, and Steam was still an upstart.  Just sifting through Kongregate, looking for something worth playing.  Finding plenty of five to ten minute interesting plays.

Oh, the old days.  So,  I'm no Sonic the Hedgehog fan, but I can respect the content of this next article.  It's written by a die hard Sonic fan about a hidden level in a Sonic game.  This level was featured in a preview story about the game, but was not actually included in the published release.  But that didn't stop die-hards from searching and spreading rumors and writing in.  It's a cool story, for which I can put aside a deep grudge against Sega.  Sonic did have cool art, afterall.  

  

A Quest for the Secret Origins of Lost Video-Game Levels.

Finally, I'll leave you with this sweet little comic.  Go ahead and click the picture to read the whole thing.  Brought to you by JPBruneau and OwlTurdComics.

We Go Forward

-D

    

First Impressions: The Blue Wizard is about the Die (Book Review)

Blue Wizard is About to Die is a book of poems about video games, by Seth 'Fingers' Flynn Barkan.  I picked this up nearly a year ago in the Humble Story Bundle - Video games collection #2.  

I hadn't cracked said bundle of ebooks in all this time, and I wasn't sure when I would get around to it.  However, I just finished 'A Dance of Dragons,' reading about half of it on my cell phone.  I had such a good experience, I knew I wanted more books available on my little portable display and telecommunications device.  

Then I remember the Story Bundle I had purchased on an impulse, and after a skirmish with my cell phone over the subject of storage space (there's space, my phone just doesn't know how to use it) - I was able to download one of the books:  The Blue Wizard is about to Die.  So far, so good.  

I'm writing my first impressions, because after a delightful series of poems, I've discovered I'm about a third of the way through this book.  And, honestly, I'm scared to read the rest, because the enjoyment curve has been so delightful up to this point.  Can he keep it up?

Seriously though, this guy gets it.  I mean, he gets it!  He is approximately my age, and he has played a number of games, been moved by the experience and committed it to poetry.  After reading several of his poems, I can't believe this is the first instance of video game poetry I've seen.  Certainly the first collection of said theme.  And they're great!

I have my favorites so far.  Half Life (2?) is definitely a big plus, but his musings on Lag and his silly Mario scenarious are a great time as well.  All in all, I'm really glad I started reading this, and I recommend it to people who were playing video games in the 80s, 90s and 2000s.  Like me!  

-D

Tetris and More Tetris

(I found this post in the attic, dusted it off, and now I'm sending it back out to you.  Tetris art really is a topic that keeps on giving)

Now that I've taken the lid off of the Tetris-can, I have lots more to cover on Tetris.  I'd like to mention that it was a family-fun-time game.  In that, I remember that we rented it one day, probably from placer, and everybody played it.  Or at least my dad did.  He really loved it, and the next day, he left to return the game, and came home with a newly purchased copy for us to have.  He didn't play a whole lot, (not like a certain Tetris Genius I know)   but it was a pretty sweet gaming experience - very rare. 

Tetris fashion:
Now, I don't know much about fashion.  ... ... or color schemes or anything, but I've always been a big fan of the NES version of tetris and it's various color combinations.  I remember designing a series of izod style shirts with my friend 'Lary, using the tetris shapes and color combinations.  She's an artist, so the fact that she agreed with me on the color combos was all the validation I needed.
If you look at the different levels of NES tetris, it's easy to see like a pants, shirt, tie combination in any of the three-color palletes.  orange, grey, white. level 9 done.  And the black background is like a safety if you need to mellow it all out a bit.

Tetris Dreams:  (The Tetris Effect)
Also - there's probably more to be said on the subject of tetris dreams.  That is, 'the tetris effect' which describes any sort of dream which is like a tetris dream.  I definitely had this while playing Final Fantasy, recently.  And usually when I return to an RPG type game after a long break.  Or any sort of 'build a character' time game.  Sim City did it to me when I really got into it:  I would daydream about building a city, and different approaches I would take.
Tony Hawk was the last 'new innovation' type game that did this.  After playing Tony Hawk, I wanted to grind every edge of every surface I encountered.  This effect was even stronger when riding in a car.
No, wait, scratch that.  Starseed Pilgrim is the last game to give me Tetris Dreams.  

Tetris Art: 
The other thing I want to talk about is Tetris Art.  Jaconian made a comment about a cross-stitch idea, which I think would work fantastically with tetris designs.  And, really, the great thing about cross-stitch is that it's a physical thing, so you get to hold it in your hand, which is awesome.  Below I've listed about a million different examples of art inspired by Tetris, and there are many more out there!

Tetris Art Links:  

http://blog.thegiven.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/tetris-art2.jpg

construction cranes

http://www.walls360.com/v/vspfiles/photos/19441-1.jpg

pretty square

http://dailyinspires.com/tetris-wallpapers/

tetris wallpapers

http://walyou.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/01/Tetris_Gadgets_and_Designs_21.jpg

origami tetris cube

http://setofvectors.com/free-vectors-eps-ai/tetris-patterns-vector/

website for above image

http://www.fodrizzle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Tetris-World.jpg

world map in tetris

http://www.feeldesain.com/feel/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/feeldesain-tetris-world-map-open.jpg

bigger world map tetris

http://a1.s6img.com/cdn/box_004/post_14/488567_7600214_b.jpg

smb mushroom tetris

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/522276

TuperTarioTros

hooooooooly shit!  Mario/Tetris crossover.  This is the greatest thing ever!!

http://www.firebox.com/product/916/Tetris-3D

Actual tetris game.. like, phsyical game.  I wonder how it works. 

http://maglipid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Nail-Art-Design-Tetris-500x375.jpg

Tetris finger nail paint

http://cdn.unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/tetris_design_4.jpg

Tetris shoes, I want

http://inhabitat.com/images/TetrisShelvesNEW2.jpg

tetris stacking shelves.  Boy, I want. 

http://bp.uuuploads.com/pumpktris-playable-tetris-game-inside-pumpkin/pumpktris-playable-tetris-game-inside-pumpkin-1.jpg

tetris jackolantern

Wow, what a Vomitous pile of Tetris Art.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

-D

Full Review: The Plan (PC)

The Plan, a "game" of sorts developed by Krillbite Studio, the same people who are developing the first person survival horroresque game where you play as a two year old, probably does not require it's own full article, but you know what, it's going to happen because I enjoyed it that much.  I've played through three times and I think I enjoyed it more the second and third times around.

Krillbite describes the game as an "atmospheric videogame, exploring the issues of death and meaning."  I feel that The Plan, while it does allow the player to explore those issues, I feel that they happen after the game has finished.  And by finished, I mean that it will take you between 5 - 10 minutes to complete.  And believe it or not, the game comes with it's own achievement that is really more of an Easter egg than anything else.

So what exactly then is The Plan?  You begin the game as a fly with the camera very close up on you, almost uncomfortably close, especially if you are not personally fond of flies.  You then progress through the game/stage and slowly the camera pulls back and back, all the while the music in the background (from 19th century Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg) becomes more-and-more pronounced and powerful, but not obnoxiously so.

The game is very simplistic and very calming for the most part, considering that you are controlling something that most people tend to kill on site and cats for some reason like to eat.  I would say that it would be better to go into this game without any expectations although I did tell The Kid that she would "either like it or think it's absolute shit."  And really, that is all I feel you need to tell people, that the game is a small file (~120MB) that takes less than 10 minutes to play and if you don't like it, then you only lost maybe 20 minutes tops.

I just find that The Plan is a nifty little experiment from a video game studio that, from what I have seen from them, is true to their development philosophy, not to put words in their brains.  I highly recommend downloading this free game if for no other reason than to give your opinion about it and what defines a "video game" in todays market.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

The Concealment of Joyful Laughter

First Impressions: The Stanley Parable

Wow.

The Stanley Parable is full of moments that make me say: 'This is the greatest game I have ever played.'

On the other hand, I've also had many moments where I've thought: 'Maybe this game isn't all its cracked up to be.' Fortunately, shortly after thinking that, I am usually rewarded with something clever and delightful.  

The best quote I ever heard about the Stanley Parable was "I'd describe the Stanley Parable to you, but that would be spoiling it."   This is true.  Please feel free read on, acknowledging that every detail may spoil the game a little bit for you.  Perhaps you should play it first.

I do think there is enough interesting content in the Stanley Parable that it would be tough to spoil completely. However, I've enjoyed playing so much that I would like to preserve the newness of experience for others.  Please come back after you have played the game.


The Original Stanley Parable
Here's a link to download the original Stanley Parable.  Turns out the version I've been playing is a 2013 update to the game.  I'll draw comparisons after playing through this one.  In the meantime, perhaps you'd like to play this, completely free to download version of the game?


Moving on, have you played it yet?  You really shouldn't be reading this if you haven't.  

The Stanley Parable is easily the most 'meta' game I have ever played. The narration is fantastic, isn't it?  You know, because you've played the game before, like I asked you to.

I love the way the narrator messes with the player, but even more, I love the way that sometimes I can mess with the narrator through the choices I make.  It's pretty great.  Love the broom closet!

Some obvious (to me) comparisons are Groundhog day for repetition, Portal for oppositional narrator and underbelly of gaming, Bastion for smart narrator and Thomas was Alone for British Narrator and inclusion of the name of the main character in the title.  I'm sure there are more comparisons I should make, but I just haven't got the time right now.  Onto the next paragraph.

I have found two approaches to playing this game so far, first: to save at every choice, and to avoid restarting the game.  second:  to restart the game frequently or to play through after any of the auto-restarts.

Essentially, the Stanley Parable is a choose your own adventure book, as a video game.  The design, writing, performance use of sound and visuals are all top knotch.  Fantastic game, Bravo!

-D

Gone Home ... .. .

Jaconian has already written about Gone Home, and I suggest you go read his article now.  I'm writing with his article in mind, he does a great job of not revealing too much, but highlighting the emotional content in a striking and appropriate manner.  He also provides all the background necessary to approach this (non)game.  Suffice it to say, we had similar experiences, so I will try not to be too repetitive, though I'm sure some things will bear repeating.  For example, the following line:

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

This game is really sweet.  Not as in Totally Sweet! but a gentle kind of sweet.  The voice acting is excellent, and listening to Samantha's diaries is very affecting.  I love what a teenager she is, alienated, but excited by all these new things.  Also, I feel like the mixed-media approach to character building is special to video games.  In addition to her diaries, we pick up what kind of a person Samantha is through looking at her stuff, her room, her work assignments.

In particular the 'Menstrual Cycle: A Novella" is about the funniest damn thing I've read in a long time.  Simply fantastic.  A really neat detail is that later in the game: I found Katie's version of that assignment, and realized that Sam copied it entirely into her assignment, but wrote the story around it.  The tipoff was the last line "isn't it amazing what a womans body can do?" or something like that.  It was the only line that was not relevant to the assignment that Katie included, but Sam copied it verbatum.

One thing I want to note about the Journal entries is that the game is very lonely.  Both in play and as the character of Katie, there is a removal from the action that comes from being alone in a new place, after having been gone for a long time.  When the journal entries read, it's really nice to hear someone's voice.  Especially with how warm and happy Sam feels a lot of the time. I came to feel affection for Sam, both in my role play as Katie, and just as a player/viewer/reader/listener.

There's also a strange sort of voyeuristic intimacy that was mildly disturbing.  As an adult male, I questioned my right to this fictional teenage girl's private diaries.  

I wasn't a big fan of the setting as a dark and stormy night, it makes the whole process spooky, and I'm not sure I needed that.  I didn't understand this choice until I read Jaconian's review and he mentioned that it used a modified Amnesia game engine.    I suppose the spookiness was in homage to that.  Or maybe it was just in Homage to Portland.    Adding to the spookiness is the crappiness of my computer preventing smooth animation.  Can't blame the game for that.

One final *spoiler* - something I picked up from reading an article from clockworkworlds blog about Gone Home.  It reveals a darker story about Sam and Katie's father, and Uncle Vernon.  This is interesting, because of the content, and also interesting because a lot more detective work is required to piece this story together, as opposed to Sam's story, which is the central plot.  

Overall,  Gone Home really does all the things I hoped it would.  The emotional content and the attention to detail are fantastic. I dub this the Non-game-game of the year, 2013, retroactive!

-D

P.S.  just some odds, ends and ideas:

Another awesome detail was the note that said "Sam, don't leave all the lights on, you're as bad as your sister" - and of course, at that point I had left all the lights on.  Mostly because this place was flippin' scary! I love that the designers anticipated this.

I realize that Gone Home is very much like Dear Esther, though instead of a landscape, we have objects to examine, and in that way it is more complex than Dear Esther.  Dear Esther is more abstract.  But still, I am very hopeful for the future of games with Gone Home.  I hope that its success will tip off other developers for the future.  Also - must play Dear Esther again.

Imagine this kind of detective work in a supernatural game.  Like, imagine that the house is a stage in a game, that is actually a representation of a persons mind.  Like, professor X psychic style.  Gone Home is a short game, independently produced, but it could very easily be a chapter in a larger story.  This is definitely not the last I've said about Gone Home.  

Link Post, December 2013

X-Manatees... why?  Why not?

Hi there, everyone, I'm looking to fill some space between postings, so here's a series of unrelated links that I've accumulated over the months and years.  Mostly game related, though some are just nerdy.  Like for example, above you see the Manatee version of Phoenix of X-men fame.  This is one in a series of X-manatees by jharris.deviantart.com - original, to say the least, and well-designed.  

Another fun thing I saw once was a blurb entitled 'if Super Mario Bros were released today' - it's a series of design jokes, with special attention to tutorials, achievements and DLC.  Pretty funny, I think, and such a early, fundamental game like Mario is a great place to make points and jokes about game design.  

Speaking of fundamental games, I learned the term 'mother dough' from an article over at the Brainy Gamer.  He's borrowing the term from the world of baking, and I think the concept translates well.  The idea being that a game like Mario is the 'mother dough' for many platformers to follow -- but if you dig deeper, then you might see it was Donkey Kong that lay the groundwork for Mario.  Anyway, go ahead and read the article for more details.  Love that Brainy Gamer.  

And, trailing off from the Brainy Gamer subject, there's a cool little article by Scott Juster at Experience Points about the overworld theme of Final Fantasy VII.  He says that he doesn't know much about music, but I enjoy his analysis.  And it was a nice way to revisit Final Fantasy VII without having to play through the game again.  I give that game a lot of shit, but that overworld theme is pretty darn good.  (BTW, Scotts youtube link is outdated, so here's a new one:  FFVII Overworld Theme)

  
Alright, well, I guess I'll cap this off by mentioning the Game Music Bundle.  It's a new bundle I found out about.  Of course, the bundle is over now, so it's ... well, it doesn't seem like it has a purpose.  But anyway.  I think it's a cool idea, and given this last one was Game Music Bundle 6, I can imagine there will be another.    


Okay, okay, alright, alright.  I am not out of links to post, but I think this is enough for now.  Enjoy!

-D

Zelda Fan Art

Well, I don't have a post for you all, so I thought I'd just go through some of my bookmarks for some sweet video game art.  Fan art, on a whole, is an incredible thing.  Some amazing stuff bubbles to the surface on the internet.  Like that sweet Ganon picture up there.  Isn't it totally awesome?  That image is part of a series of of Legend of Zelda images I found over at this place called the Zelda Dungeon.

I really appreciate the art style, and I also appreciate that it is all images from the original Legend of Zelda game on NES.  We've waxed about nostalgia for this series before, and about the potential it may have lost over the years.  Images like this remind me of that potential, of how these simplistic critters could look totally sweet and how there could be a rich mythology behind the happenings in the Zelda games.Also, it reminds me of all the cool names the baddies in Zelda have:  Gleok, Dodongo, Keese.

The artist is called Deimos-Remus at deviantart.com.

Also at Zelda Dungeon, I found an interesting article about Skyward Sword that used terms like 'skill scaling'   'sub optimal dominant strategy' and the like.  I love this game theory stuff, and I harbor dreams of being that kind of a smarty pants and getting to talk about video game design all day.

The writer for this article GaroXIcon, and I like him so far.  In addition to the above article, he pitches a direct sequel to A Link To The Past, and says that Majora's Mask is his favorite game of all time.  How do you like that?  GaroXicon is my new video game critic crush.  and Deimos-Remus is my new video game art crush.

-D

Monthly Update: December

http://motherfuckingwebsite.com

Here is a funny link all about simple web design.  The last time I designed a website, it was in HTML 5, it was a Ryouga Hibiki Shrine on angelfire and was WAY too image intensive.  Granted, I was accessing with a 14.4k modem, but this taught me to design to my access speed.  I learned the basic lessons so hilariously described in the above link, and have occasionally remarked with incredulity at the super complicated websites of today.  Even though my access speed is now, something like 1000 times faster, website designers have managed to make things load almost as slow as the giant pile of P-chans that was my first website.  

Anyhow, that background helped make this silly link a lot funnier.  That and all the swearing.  Man, I'm surprised it took me this long to talk about Ranma 1/2 on this blog.

I just found out that Hiroo Isono, visual artist for the Seiken Densetsu series passed away this year.  Just about one year ago, I found out who he was, when I did cursory research for the Secret of Mana box art (possibly my favorite box art of all time).  His name has been very nearly the most popular search term bringing people to this blog.  And his art was really cool!

Links:
http://www.art-licensing.com/artists/Hiroo-Isono-Forests-and-Landscapes/biography.html
Official-seeming-site

http://www.realmofgaming.com/news/Hiroo-Isono-1945-2013/1811.html
brief eulogy

http://shinigamilist.com/2013/06/13/illustrator-hiroo-isono-passed-away/
another brief eulogy

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/hiroo-isono
lots and lots of art

I recently read an article arguing that the Mario Bros movie 'wasn't that bad.'  Well, I decided to finally watch it.  It's pretty bad, but it's a kids movie, afterall.  And they do a great job of putting in a bunch of game references in a movie that is, visually, radically different from the games.  Look out for snifits, fireballs, and an allusion to the last fight in Super Mario World.  And frankly, the acting is fantastic, Dennis Hopper, in particular. The sum total is a mediocre movie, not a terrible one. 

http://www.destructoid.com/why-the-super-mario-movie-is-an-underappreciated-masterpiece-29694.phtml

destructoid does a pretty good job of laying it out.

http://bottomlesswit.com/in-defense-of-the-super-mario-bros-movie/

this one's pretty good too, though I still don't think it's the one I read.

I'm between games, so nothing to talk about there.  I'm reading Haruki Murikami's book 'Wild Sheep Chase.'  I really like it.  The flow can be very strange, moving quick at times, slow at times, but I really like the lead character/narrator, and when this book is good, it's really good!  

The job search isn't going all that great, but it might help if I had any idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.  Except write for this blog.  Masters Degree?  Teach?  Desk Job?  Who knows.  Eventually I'm going to be tired of staying on couches, that's for sure.  Which reminds me, hey Jaconian and Conklederp...

Alright well, I hope I've wasted enough of your time.  Have a wonderful December!

-D

P.S.  Secret of Mana and the Mario Bros movie both came out in 1993.  But I wasn't making websites until '95, I think.

P.P.S. I almost forgot!  The Humble Story Bundle!  13 days left! Yeah, I bought it.  8 bucks.  I sometimes think I might like to talk about video games more than play them.  And this collection is just perfect for that tendency.  I'm pretty excited about it, but I wish they were physical copies, and not digital downloads.  Maybe if I owned a kindle I could split the difference, but alas, I do not.