One More Time

- Better late than never I suppose: last week was the closing of the i am 8 bit art show, and somakitty was there. As was some new pieces:

Dan Fleres

Joe Ledbetter

Plasticfucker

Luke Chueh

Anna Chambers

Michelle Garduno

And a Gabe Swarr piece that some person on GAF managed to buy.

- So as you can all guess by now, I’m just not feeling it in regards to the Xbox 360. But if there is one thing I am still really looking towards, it’s Jeff Minter’s Virtual Light Machine, which basically creates graphics to music, much like WinAmp, Windows Media Player, or iTunes, but super amped up. Actually, his VLM predates all those, way back to the Jaguar CD, which I entertained the notion of buying just for it’s VLM.

Minter’s posted a vid of the program in action on his site right here.

Pretty neat, if you’re into that kinda stuff. Though like other folks, it just makes me even more depressed (and annoyed) that we never got Unity.

- Okay, one more E3 related thing: even if you didn’t get a chance to go, you can still play the games that Nintendo was demoing for the DS (they broadcasted them to anyone who went to their booth with a system). Here’s the demos, and all you need is some software and a wireless connection, no hacking of the system or a flash cart. Neat! Though why Nintendo just doesn’t have these available to download already for everyone is beyond me.

- Back to the subject of music, the trailer for Square Enix’s Heavy Metal Thunder has been around for a while now, but no one has a single clue what it’s about. When I first heard of the name, I automatically assumed it was just another Full Metal Alchemist game, but once I saw the clip, I became somewhat nervous. Why? Cuz it’s sorta like an idea that I had for a game that I’ve had for a while, which is based on an idea for a cartoon that I had even further back, when Jason and I were brainstorming television concepts to pitch to Cartoon Network and the like.

Well, someone on the GAF pointed to IGN article which finally shed some light on the details, and I guess there’s no cause for concern… at least not yet… so I can just sit back and enjoy the vid like everyone else. So it’s based on a live action TV show? Wow…

- Also on the GAF, someone pointed to a site that had a bunch of fan drawings of game consoles as anime girls. Nothing too original, I know (was the iMac girl the very first to start the trend?), and some were obviously nothing more than fap material, but I thought this was really cute (as well as taste-full):

- Meanwhile at insert credit, you can learn more about the one person Tanguy Ukulele Orhestra, who happens to have a fine command of the classic game music repertoire. You can check out some of his songs here; I strongly recommend his Space Harrier and Kid Icarus renditions.

- Sticking to the subject of music, Brian from click-stick just gave me a heads up on a chiptune show going on tomorrow night in Brooklyn. Since I have prior obligations, I won’t be able to attend, but I strongly urge anyone who can to go; interested parties can find more info right here. And like I told all my colleagues at the IGDA, tell Joshua and Jeremiah that Matt sent you!

On a quick aside, one of my main duties at the IGDA as a result of out meeting earlier this week will be to keep everyone better informed on the arty-farty-party side of gaming here in NYC. Can you believe that no one knew what chiptunes was? WTF?!?!

- And finally, the official Lumines soundtrack just came out in Japan, but its missing a few key tracks, such as the ones from Mondo Grosso and Eri Noduchika, due to licensing issues; I’m assuming this was the same reason why there was no Deavid Soul and a few other artist on the first Jet Set Radio soundtrack.
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Meanwhile in other news, not too much new is going on; I’m still buried in work and haven’t paid much attention to the rest of the world. Though I do hear Lucas wants to do another Star Wars prequel, this one to Episode 1 (making it Episode 0?). Just fucking awesome. Also, Jason just told me about some story where a hippie couple who has just won some court case to retain custody of a gorilla that they raised from an infant threw a birthday celebration for their simian. They invited all their (presumably) hippie friends and other gorillas, and one of the other apes went nuts and ripped of some guy’s testicles. Then some dude who had a gun with him (not a hippie I would have to assume) shot the crazy (or is it bloody?) ape in the head, point-blank. God I love hearing stories of stupid people trying to keep wild animals are pets. Also, stupid fucking hippies, serves them right.

But yeah, like I said, nothing terribly exciting has been going on, hence why most of what I talk about is video games news, though I do know that what the majority of the visitors to this site come for, hence why I’ve heard no complaints. Well that, and some things just aren’t suitable for public consumption. Though I guess it couldn’t hurt to mention that EA stopped by SVA earlier this week. Long story short, a certain relationship is going to be developed in which EA will be looking at SVA very closely for potential talent to hire. Plus, the aforementioned IGDA meeting went well. Some actual business got done! After getting side-tracked for a bit, things are on course in regards to assembling a proper NIGA NY website. Plus I think I’m going to be a moderator for the forum. The power! Plus I finally got my IGDA membership card. Almost two years late, but hey, least I have it! And I’m apparently getting six gold lesson for MK’s dad, as payment for my old TV which MK gave to him.

Anyway I know this is a blog, and they’re made for stupid whining, but even that gets old. But real quick like, things are currently pissed at: the subway, the inconsistent weather (I am BBQ-ing this weekend, Goddamnit), eBay, freelance jobs that are taking forever to send me my money, and stupid people in general.

Come to think of it, an old fashioned bitch fest might do me well…