Infinite Lives

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Jenn Frank — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:08:33 PDT

ON THE SUBWAY DUH

The Daily What – Carmen Sandiego IRL of the Day

Mortal Kombat on Paper

Jenn Frank — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:32:02 PDT

Eric Power is a filmmaker. A lot of his animations are about video games.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

(Also to enjoy: Zelda on Paper, Resident Evil Paper, and so much more.)

ericpowerup – Mortal Kombat Observations pt 1 via Super Punch

Trubble Club: Scenes from a Mall

Jenn Frank — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:38:42 PDT

In the newest collaborative effort from Chicago’s own Trubble Club, the Hot Topic Counter Girl is playing some kind of 2D heart-smashing platformer.

Trubble Club – Tales of Extinction

Daily Linksplosion: Wednesday, July 14, 2010

cronjob — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:01:16 PDT

Joystiq – Atari’s Haunted House returns to scare PC, Xbox 360 and Wii
If there’s one thing I’m internet-famous for, it’s talking about Haunted House. Like, I talk about it a lot, and I’m not even sorry. So what do we think? Does the Haunted House remake seem promising? (P.S. Thanks to the two of ye who Tweeted me.)
Tiny Cartridge – Hotel Dusk sequel coming to the West
...or at least to Europe. But that means gorgeous, hand-drawn noir is sure to come to North American DSes, too, right? Right, you guys?

Daily Linksplosion: Tuesday, July 13, 2010

cronjob — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:01:33 PDT

Indie City Games – The Indie City Games July 2010 Meeting
Because the inaugural meeting was such a success, the organizers of Indie City Games have arranged a tidy, half-day symposium for current and aspiring game developers based in the Midwestern United States. Among those scheduled to speak at the July 24 event: Ben Collins-Sussman demystifies interactive fiction; Dai5ychain’s Jake Elliott demonstrates the possibilities of Flixel; Puzzle Bots designer Erin Robinson explains Adventure Game Studio.
Game Journalists Are Incompetent Fuckwits – I think I’ve made my point, don’t you?
You know, there have been other blogs before this one that subscribed to exactly the same theme, and those made me laugh. (When I worked at Ziff, a coworker constantly refreshed one such blog out of grim paranoia, scanning the page for his own name, and that also made me laugh.) This Tumblog never made me laugh, though—in fact, it made me a little bit uncomfortable—so alarmingly serious seemed its author. Which is too bad, because vitriol can be hilarious, so long as it doesn’t get personal. And I’d rather laugh and squirm uncomfortably than never ever laugh, maybe.

In any case, author Ben Paddon now writes that he is closing up shop and hiatus-ing. I have strongly mixed feelings about it because, the truth is, I and a few friends have very actively followed Paddon’s ongoing catalogue of complaints, and as a reader, I’ll miss his blog. I suspect he’s exhausted himself by caring too much, though, and I do think the good games writing is more worth caring about than the bad.

Morning edit: without so much as a dramatic pause, Paddon keeps blogging

Usborne Guide to Computer and Video Games (1982)

Jenn Frank — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:26:12 PDT

From The Usborne Guide to Computer and Video Games (1982):

Many more extrapolations and insights at the link.

Global Nerdy – Videogames of the Future, as Predicted 25 Years Ago via intweetion

Daily Linksplosion: Monday, July 12, 2010

cronjob — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:00:03 PDT

Pixel Prospector – The Big List Of Indie Game Sites
Whoa. (via superlevel.de’s @Fabu)
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency – Roland Barthes Reviews "Pac-Man."
Cross-saving Mike Nowak’s (@n0wak) hilarious del.icio.us link.
GameLife – Spooky Platformer Eversion Gets Polished Up for Steam
Guilherme Töws, whom I know best as "Zaratustra" from IRC channels, now has a game on Steam! And while you can still grab the freeware ‘Eversion’ from his website, the US$5 download promises redesigned levels and better graphics. Hop to it!
Numberless – Sight Unseen
Scott Jon Siegel wonders: with HD televisions and cable services, three-dee tee-vee, the iPhone 4’s "Retina Display," and now the Nintendo 3DS, how is a company supposed to market a technology that the consumer cannot see until he is, well, actually seeing it?
Lost Levels – Review: Colors
Oh, man, I can’t believe I am only just reading this. I have always dreamed of somehow getting ahold of the source code for this game, slapping it on an SD card, and loading it right up on my beloved Gizmondo. As I understood it back in 2005, ‘Colors’ was meant to be one of two planned ARGs for the Gizmondo handheld device: using cellular network service and the gadget’s built-in GPS, you were supposed to basically wardrive around town until you found another player to brutally murder in-game—kind of like foursquare for Haters. (Or, OK, the idea of cell phone drive-by social gaming is actually pretty old and, I think, Swedish.) Anyway, apparently the solo play in ‘Colors’ is not too great. Oh, well! I guess I’ll just go back to looking for the Gizmondo source code for ‘Johnny Whatever’ instead.
Drunken Moogle – The Rainbow Road Shot Challenge
The best looking worst idea ever.
GameLife – Next post UK’s Channel 4 Uses Games to Teach Teens Happiness
Games for good.
Artful Gamer – The Changing Nature of Gaming Interfaces
Excellent read that elegantly conveys, ultimately, my own horror at touch screen devices. Here’s Chris Lepine’s footnote on button-mashing: "I am using a very special meaning of the word ‘repression’ that Merleau-Ponty introduces in his phenomenology of the body. ... For more details see Lawrence Hass’s book Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy, pp. 89-90."

Awesome custom Samus at LA’s Toy Art Gallery

Jenn Frank — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:23:50 PDT

That incredible Samus Aran figurine (with LIGHT-UP HELMET and CANNON ARM) is, bafflingly, a customized Celsius vinyl toy, executed by artist Dave Quiles. Look at the details on her Varia suit!

This lovely bounty hunter is just one custom vinyl toy at the Ganmettal Celsius Custom Show, which opened July 10 at LA’s Toy Art Gallery.

The show also featured at least one Mega Man custom (well, duh, right?).

Vinyl Pulse – Dave “outtamymind” Quiles for the Custom Celsius Show @ TAG (07.10)

Kill Screen, issue #1: the No Fun Issue

Jenn Frank — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:15:07 PDT

Hi, mom. Hi! It’s me! Yeah, hi!

What? No, I haven’t taken the GRE yet. Hang on, hey, I was calling to tell you—hmm? My driver’s license? Um, nuh-uh, I didn’t renew it. But I—huh? Well, I mean, probably. No, I mean, I’ll get the oil changed, I think I can do that for twenty bucks at the Car-X. What? Yes, we are. No. Yes. Yes. Probably a movie or something. No, I think I’ve actually stopped losing weight. What? Well, ramen and granola, mostly. OK. OK. OK. I don’t think so? OK.

Hey, I was actually phoning to tell you about my article in the magazine. What? No, my article. Well, the magazine is called Kill Screen—uh, no, it’s a video game magazine, I guess “kill screen” is like a video game, uh, term.

But it’s Kill Screen, issue number one, the “No Fun Issue,” and my column is about gender and sex and sexism and uh genderism, and the magazine is twenty dollars. What? No, I get one copy. No, I just get the one copy of it. No. No, I’m keeping my copy. You have to buy your own copy. No. No. Yes. Hmm? Well, even though you can kind of already read my piece online for free, you know, the magazine is published like quarterly, and it’s ad-free and glossy and ninety-six pages long, so since this is a really nice magazine or whatever, like, I couldn’t just publish the old version of the column. So I added a lot to the original piece and we all workshopped it, and so it’s like a really different article now, in some ways, but I think in good ways.

Anyway, I guess that’s all. OK. OK. I will. Mhm. Yes. OK. I will. I will. OK! Talk to you later. OK. OK. Talk to you later. Bye! OK. OK, bye! Yes. I will. Bye!

Kill Screen Magazine – Issue One: The No Fun Issue

Daily Linksplosion: Wednesday, July 07, 2010

cronjob — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:00:41 PDT

Kotaku – When Instant Death Was Only A Step Away
The blargh is about Space Quest, but hang out the comments section afterward for some really cool videos (like Waxworks which, let’s face it, you’re basically playing to see how graphic your deaths can be, but that game is totally impossible, so, oh cool someone made an age-gated YouTube video).
Boing Boing – This Gaming Life free online
Let’s all read a book, for free! Oh, look. Here is a book I have always wanted to read.

Kingdom of Loathing: still exists, misses you

Jenn Frank — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:17:04 PDT

I’ve actually had the online dungeon-crawl Kingdom of Loathing back on the brain for a little while now.

Last month, I idly wondered if there would ever be a Kingdom of Loathing iPhone app, because even though its frames-based web gameplay is part of the RPG’s rough-hewn appeal, I’d certainly play the shit out of it during lunch breaks or on the toilet.

Then, maybe a week ago, I logged in and tried to remember where my well-dressed drunk of a Pastamancer had left off on her quest. I even hopped into an IRC channel and therefore hung out in two KoL chat rooms concurrently.

But Kingdom of Loathing knows—the game knows—you have forsaken it. And in Pete Davison’s case, the game sent him a love letter:

I mean, I know things got kind of messed up at the end, and believe me, I’m sorry. If I could take any of that back, I totally would. And I know people grow and change, and you’re not the same person you were then, but hey—I’ve changed, too! I thought and thought about how to win you back. I figured I’d make you a mix CD, but I couldn’t decide what “our song” was. So I just concentrated on becoming a better game for you, and here’s what I came up with.

Oh, my god.

Jedi Brain Noise – I Still Love You, Kingdom of Loathing

New toys from PaRappa the Rapper artist

Jenn Frank — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:29:30 PDT

Last week, I was pretty startled by the sudden appearance of two new Kidrobot plush bears (PJ Berri and Sweety Bancha) right here in my workplace.

Maybe I didn’t quite recognize them immediately, but each of these heavy-lidded teddies is based on the art of one Rodney Greenblat, better known to video game-goers as the guy behind the distinctive look of PaRappa the Rapper and UmJammer Lammy.

PJ Berri and Sweety Bancha retail at about US$30 each.

Last-instant edit: Damn! GameSetWatch totally covered this yesterday.

Daily Linksplosion: Wednesday, June 23, 2010

cronjob — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:00:36 PDT

RPGs be broke – need more women in te gamesindustry
Satire makes me nervous.

Daily Linksplosion: Sunday, June 20, 2010

cronjob — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:00:52 PDT

IndieGames – ModDB Launches Indie Community Site IndieDB
Look, even though I completely understand that "DB" is supposed to stand for "database," I cannot read that headline without seeing something about indie douchebags instead.
Nobuooo – Professor Layton and the Unwound Future [E3 Trailer]
While I’m not toh-hoooh-tilly sold on the idea that this really counts as "videogame music news," I mostly pay attention to everything @jeriaska posts.
Gnome’s Lair – Game Sniped Filled with Ancient Toys
Wow! I’d never been to vintage games auction site gamesniped.com before, and now I feel like the biggest dick in London (that’s a line from Snuff Box, B.T. dubs)

Daily Linksplosion: Thursday, June 17, 2010

cronjob — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 01:00:41 PDT

Game Play: a Celebration of Video Game Performance Art
HEY HEY did you know that in my old life I did a ton of comic book performance art with like a troupe and everything? Didja?

Anyway, LOOK. Look at this! Look at how amazing all these video game performances sound! I’m glad we don’t live in Williamsburg because that’s where I got mugged at gunpoint, but I really wish we could all go to this in July!

I’d especially like to attend "Kewl-Aid Man in Second Life," because it sounds a lot like hanging out in Second Life with Scott Sharkey. He would fly around on his NES hoverboard, or we’d travel around in his TARDIS, and oh my God is it ever fun to harass people.