Versus

Indie Game Jam

2005-03-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

Right now (yes literally right now), I'm on the road shooting something which may or may not turn into something really great. Of course, it could also turn out to be absolute rubbish. The funny thing about this is this: The thing I'm doing is about people doing something exactly like that.

I'm at the Indie Game Jam 3 in Oakland at the beautiful Washington Inn. Fifteen feet away from me are twenty some people that are intently trying to create finished video games in just under four days. I won't go into the history of the Jam, (I'll let the website tell you that) but I will say that this (or at least the idea of this) is fantastic and brilliant and could (note: could) lead to some incrediblely new ideas in the world of video games. At the same point, these games could (note: could) entirely fail to do the event justice. No one here knows yet and that's really what's so cool.

Everone starts with the same tool set and engine. The people from Electronic Arts have graciously donated a TON of animations and models from the Sims and it's myraid expansion packs. Intel has donated the computers. And a bunch of people have donated there minds. All in the name of risk (at least that's how I perceive it).

Risk. It's easier than it sounds but harder than it seems. If anything that initial push into the unknown is the simple part, the biting off more than you can chew (at least for now), ignoring those that have said no before. What's harder is the creeping sensations that set in over the course of the thing, the little problems you never expected, the sense of something never coming together. Like exploring a new neighborhood, you never know what (or who) will be coming around the corner ahead.

And yet without it, something else happens. Things stay the same. Complacency sets in. Something withers. Not dead but most definitely dormant.

There's a fear that comes from being there. Or finding yourself on the way. I've felt it and it's not much fun.

There isn't much of that fear here in Oakland now.

Stay tuned for more from IGJ 3. I'll upload some pictures when I get a second or two.

Oh BTW, I'm actually here to make this into a half-hour special. We'll see if it works. I sure as hell hope so.

Giant Steps (Coltrane) + Flash

2005-03-01T22:30:00.000-08:00

I used to paint.

Not like with coveralls and cans but like with tubes and horsehair.

I liked it (a lot) and hope to go back to it again someday if I finally get my ultimate job as overpaid creative concubine.

I used to paint mostly to Coltrane. I don't know why. Something about his stuff (especially A Love Supreme) really put me in that spot.

So did this.

Something that can put me in that spot (especially when I'm bogged down in the minute of work) is most definitely worthwhile.

Optimus Prime Dies of Prostate Cancer

2005-02-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

This is a brilliant bit of PR.

Godspeed Robot Chicken.

Boondocks Banned

2005-02-28T21:28:00.000-08:00

The following strip was banned today from the Chicago Tribune.

The following strip ran as is:

Which is the greater tragedy?

McGruder rules.

Blink + American Idol = Great

2005-02-27T21:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, if you haven't read Blink, go get it.

Malcom Gladwell's writing reminds me of the best parts of the blogshpere, like he's personally showing me new stuff all the time.

At times even better than The Tipping Point, Blink has Gladwell 'thin slicing' his way to a better understanding of quick (read: unconscious) decisions and the scientific acualities behind those decisions. It's truly a fasciating read and I can't reccomend it highly enough.

One of the things he talks about in the book is a couple of psychiatrists who have studied the muscles in human faces to the point that they are able to read the minds of those that they study. Boing Boing just posted something cool about these guys and you can read more about it there.

So the other night, I was watching American Idol (no regrets, it may be some of the most interesting television being made right now, truly exposing pure emotion for better or for worse) and I paused the picture to get up and go get some thing from the kitchen. When I came back, my wife was laughing. A lot. I glanced at the TV as saw that this one girl had a look on her face I'd never seen on American Idol. This girl (I can't remember which one; at this point in the show it doesn't really matter anyway) had turned towards the girl next to her and looked like she was literally about to spit on her. Imagine the feeling you get when someone picks their nose directly infront of you. It was one of those.

We laughed and then pushed play and wow what a difference a split second made. Literally, a milisecond later the girl's disgust switched to a brilliant smile and she reached up to hug the girl with what looked like genuine affection. I say 'looked like' because without the pause I never would've caught it. We rewound the scene and watched the whole thing play out in real time. Nothing but smiles and happiness.

Suddenly we had a new game and a whole new way to watch TV. Do it for yourself. You won't believe it. Tonight's Academy Awards were a whole different experience.

Oh one last thing about this. You'll have more fun with high def programs.

I'm A Robot

2005-02-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

When music videos are done right, they can transcend both the track and the visuals.

I give you "Scent of a Robot".

And I'm programmed not to know.

The Link Source Place

2005-01-25T10:08:00.001-08:00

So I fully admit I came to the blog space late. Real late.

And I can fully admit that I'm not regularly posting which I think is breaking rules one through ninety-nine of significant comments or traffic generation.

But goddamn it, I do have my finger on the teat of the internet culture. It's just that most of my surfing ends up on the telly every afternoon.

Of course, like any other 'cultural pundit' (aka bullshit weblogger) I steal most of my stuff. As do others. That's kind of the whole point of the internet.

Del.icio.us slash popular is the best.

That today brought me Post Secret. A blogger who actually uses his blog to make new things rather than recycle others ideas.

But even better is Waxy's Stat page which lists all of the places that Waxy grabs from on a daily basis. Of course, del.icio.us is big up there. But there's a crapload of other blogs that I've begun linking from as well.

And finally, my favorite link of the day:

Helmet Burger

Thanks to Pereira in today's news meeting for this one. Hopefully more on this on today TSS.

The Link Source Place

2005-01-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Posting Delays

2005-01-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I now know why this whole blogging thing is more difficult than it seems.

You see, it takes time.

And time is a valuable property to those of us who cannot freeze it.

And to those that can, I salute you.

What I like about this blog is that essentially (at least for now) I'm writing to no one besides myself. Of course, it's also my hope that at some point someone would read this. Otherwise, why would I need to put it in public?

But is this in public? I would venture that posting in a blog that has a buzz meter of about nil would be the internet equivalent of pissing on the exterior of your own home. Everyone can see you do it, but what makes you any different from the crazy guy pissing in the fountain?

Therefore, I shall continue to post in anonymity for the forseeable future.

Hey, at least I'm not

this guy.

Question of the week: Has the internet changed Warhol's 15 minutes of fame theory?

Monkeys in the News

2005-01-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

Those who know me know I've got an obsession with monkeys.

Why? Who knows. Maybe it was the chimp in my dentist's office when I was a child. Maybe it's my extremely gangly arms. Maybe it's something deeper, primordial even.

Imagine my surprise when I click through Boing Boing to a web site that I, my monkey loving self, can only describe as pure genius. That's right prepare yourself for:

Monkeys In The News

Oh, and the click through story was pretty good too. Hopefully soon you should be able to pick up one of these:

for only about $130. It's actually being made by the Robosapien people at Wow Wee.

If it really does what it says, I'll be first in line.

2.2 Gigapixel Photo?

2005-01-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

From the G4techTV forums comes this gem.

From the looks of it, it's a two-point-two gigapixel photo that allows an incredible amount of zoomifcation.

But there's been some question as to whether this is truly possible and some evidence that the photo has potentially been faked.

But actually, if you dig into the site, it gives you the whole story. It is a composite photo, made up of over 600 photos taken over one hour and fifteen minutes. It's actually a quite fascinating read.

EDIT: Okay so I just found out it's a couple months old. Still cool though.

Tricks of the Trade

2005-01-08T22:55:00.000-08:00

When you really need to know, go to those that know.

Via The Presurfer.

Twolinefiction

2005-01-08T19:07:00.000-08:00

So I used to write a lot, mostly short stories.

In fact, I almost went to grad school for fiction writing.

It's why I moved to LA in the first place.

Instead, in order to stop waiting tables, I got a job as a Production Assistant on a TV show. I thought I might be into writing TV or Films and spent a good amount of my time thinking about and doing just that (for no pay of course).

Four unsold screenplays later and two years of no writing whatsoever (but a much better job in TV), I'm back to fiction.

So as a way to get myself to write something everyday, I've started a co-joined blog called twolinefiction. The idea being that you (or I) need to tell a story in just two lines, no more no less. It's difficult. But could also be fun. Maybe it'll be the next thing to ride the del.icio.us wave. Maybe not.

Either way, I'd like to give props to the internet for getting me creative again.

Fire + Bible = Huge Hit with the Sunday Crew!

2005-01-07T23:56:00.000-08:00

Wow.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm missing out on something by not being a huge church goer.

Call me crazy but if I saw this

coming out of my Sunday School teacher's hands, I most certainly wouldn't think I was saved.

Thanks to Planet Dan for the link.

History + Flash = Fun

2005-01-07T22:56:00.000-08:00

This thing absolutely kicks ass.

Back in the halycon days of my youth, when as a ten year-old I delved into the wonders of Greco-Roman mythology, I dreamt of the day that I could quickly and easily create an image like this:

High art meet low art. Now shake hands and make nice.

Thanks to Immy for the reminder to post it.

Breaking News - Garfield Dies in Los Angeles!

2005-01-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, I thought I might be a comic strip artist/writer. I've always appreciated the medium and was lucky enough to grow up in (what I view as) the golden age of newspaper comics. Bloom County, the Far Side and, of course, Calvin & Hobbes all took the medium to the next level and provided myself and others of like minds with bathroom reading for years still to come.

One comic I never liked was Garfield. Actually, that's not true. As a young child I actually did like Garfield for that couple of years where you order books out of catalogs at school. I think I was six. It didn't take long to grow out of it. After all, there's only so many lasagna Mondays you can take. I came to forget about it rather quickly and moved onto the strips above.

Later in life, I heard an interview with Jim Davis, Garfield's creator. It made me sad to find out that the whole merchandising angle of Garfield was really the entire reason for his inception, that Jim was really an advertising guy out to make a buck (of which he's made more than a few). Slate put out a great article that goes into detail on Paws, Inc. right around the time the inspid movie came out.

So my comic strip loving heart soared this morning when I found that the Los Angeles Times (my hometown paper nonetheless) made the decision to cut Garfield from it's roster. I hate to cheer the end of something that's gone on so long but perhaps it's a step in the right direction.

The Show

2005-01-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

It's very interesting to me the back and forth on today's in-studio guests. I personally think Tom Goes to the Mayor is very, very funny and that Tim & Eric have a supreme sense of humor. Especially when it comes to microphones.

Others of you, obviously do not.

Additionally, I'd like to echo Kevin Pereira's props for one Luis Hurtado's first work on the show. I'd also like to call out the entire rest of the staff one-by-one. Which I will. Someday. In individually wrapped blog posts.

Oh, more PSP news. It seems that the lack of a release date at CES may have actually meant something. Kotaku is reporting a potential delay until June. Doesn't matter the damn thing will still sell a ton. It's pretty amazing. May very well be to have a better launch line-up.

Huh?

2005-01-05T22:50:00.000-08:00

They do stuff.

Lil' Jon: Business Kingpin + The Definition of Crunk

2005-01-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

I'm totally fascinated with Lil' Jon. The man. The mystery. The crunk.

This is a totally fascinating article all about the phenomenon that is Lil' Jon.

And as a secret gem, not-at-all-hidden in this article, I give you the definition of 'crunk':

Q: Why did you become interested in starting an energy drink?
A: Crunk means energy, and we wanted to make it so people could be as wild and as rowdy as me.

There it is. I hope the OED is listening.

Cat Fashion: Torture or Just Tasteless

2005-01-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

Let me introduce you to this:

In Harajuku (one of the many fashion districs of Tokyo), there are a number of stores that I went into thinking that they sold baby clothes. Oh no. They most certainly are not baby clothes.

I was amazed to see the whole CosPlay phenomenon had morphed with the Furry phenomenon to essentially make FurryCos or CosFur or what ever the above is.

SMS Space Monkeys

2005-01-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

So I just saw this

on we-make-money-not-art.

It's kinda interesting but also kinda creepy.

Recycled = Still Funny

2005-01-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

Rarely do I laugh out loud at things online.

I've now laughed out loud at this

and the nine other worst album covers of all time at least thrice over the last three years. And somehow it keeps getting funnier.

Thanks Pork-whatever. You make good funny.

Money Wallet

2005-01-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

Make your money work for you. By holding your other money.

Katamari Kap

2005-01-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

Cute game characters will always spawn fashion.

Case in point:

Go bid it up. Now.

Game Developer Blogs

2005-01-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

After working as a game journalist (if you can call what I've done that) for the last two years, I've come to really enjoy well-thought out web blogs from people within the industry. Sure I'm am able to come to my own understanding of games and the people who make them, but no one can talk interactive like the people that are knee deep in the gunk.

Therefore I present some of my game developer blog links for your perusal!

Tim Schafer (funny funny funny = Day of the Tentacle and now Psychonauts)
Scott Miller (for the business side of things)

Greg Costikyan (deep inside knowledge and commentary on both video and tabletop games)

Jamie Firstrom [of Treyarch = Spider-Man 2] (Really great notes on games he didn't have a hand in but just plays)

More to come soon...

How will this be different?

2005-01-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

So I was just reading about blogs from some post and it told me I need be different! To differentiate myself. To, as they say, make the gravy.

How exactly will I do that? Snackrankings anyone?

Not just yet. Maybe weird inventions? Prove me wrong sort of thing? Something like 'could this work dot com'? Hmmm, maybe.

After all I could get into the critch and then it's all over.

I'll think more about it and get back to you.

Del.icio.us Is Fa.ntas.tic

2005-01-01T01:05:00.000-08:00

Got to love http://del.icio.us.

Here's I was just thinking about old acquaintance and then this:
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues01/mar01/aldengl.html

2005-01-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

This is not a drill.

The Beginning

2004-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

1/1/2005 – It begins