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

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

    

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

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

Ultima Love

for more sweet video game comic art:  http://www.campbellwhyte.com/uncategorized/ultima-exodus/

As I mentioned before,  Ultima gets a lot of love online.  Here are some many examples of Ultima Love.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/ultima-most-important-game-series-ever/
This article goes straight to the love.


http://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/category/ultima-3/
Guy who collects strategy guides focuses on Ultima 3


http://ultimavforipad.tumblr.com/
Total Ultima love page

http://ultimacodex.com/2012/08/awesome-ultima-fan-art/
best Ultima fan art

http://blog.fantasyheartbreaker.com/tag/heros-quest/
Video games for people who care too much?  This article gives a spot to the Cleric class, and mentions Ultima Exodus

http://mikesrpgcenter.com/ultima3/
Ultima Exodus Maps, maps maps!

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL52FB86B0F0DFFF07
ulillillia's video walkthrough for Ultima Exodus on NES.  

http://allconsolerpgs.blogspot.com/2012/02/game-3-ultima-exodus-nes-introduction.html
The rpg consoler plays Ultima 3

http://www.jeffludwig.com/ultima3/
More Exodus love - this time it comes in the form of a mod for the game, changing the class and experience balance.  I call this awesome.

http://youtu.be/npOuYlxQj_E
Soundtrack to PC version of Ultima 3