I recommend you head over to Eurogamer and check out their new pictures of the DS. The article covers foreign pricing, the new shape and color, a thinner base, and - most importantly - a storage slot for the stylus, which was supposedly so critical to this handheld system. The Nintendo that everyone expects them to be, myself included, would have released the old form factor and told people to shove it up their ass if they didn't like it. It all comes down to how the machine is used by developers, of course - there's still not much information on that. But they've certainly made an effort to sweeten the deal.
Over the San Diego trip I was thinking about this a lot, actually. Storm Shadow is letting us borrow his Tapwave, a Palm-based handheld console which is really an excellent device if you don't have to pay for it. Each new gadget of this kind must immediately be exposed to Brenna, in the hopes that this will be the one that will cause her to whirl in place for a moment and emerge in full possession of her geek heritage. No such luck in this case, but I've got to tell you that for Brenna - and I'd imagine many, many people outside of the hardcore gaming enthusiasts we likely identify with - using a pen to do things is second nature. There is nothing complex about it. It is the same thing again for peripherals like Sony's EyeToy. We had bubble popping games and so forth on our webcams almost five years ago, so for me a machine that lets me have those heady days again is practically retro. For Brenna - again, one of these desperate mongrels that growl outside the hardcore's gleaming facility - doing things with a camera is pretty fresh. I think that there is a blind spot I have regarding electronics of these types, it might be shared by other gamers, and certainly by our representatives in the media who must feign enthusiasm whenever a company straps some widget onto their aging product and calls it a revolution. For people outside our context, playing a videogame with cameras and pens - that is to say, the relics of ordinary life - is a revolution.
You really should be going to Gizmodo for your your gadgetry fix, as you should see a specialist whenever possible - however. I saw another fancy, expensive phone that has me entranced called the V3 Razor. You really should look at the pictures, both at Mobile Review as well as at Howard Forums.
(CW)TB out.
you can set your charm on stun
I'm just going to list off some of the highlights of the trip for me.
-I got to meet Kazu and the rest of the unbelievably talented artists from "flight". I heard that they had the second best selling book of the show and I believe it. It's a stunning collection of work and I highly recommend that you go out and pick up a copy if you haven't already.
-I got a sketch of the Cardboard Tube Samurai from one of my favorite artists, Stephen Silver. You might not know the name but chances are you're familiar with his work. He's responsible for the look at feel of shows like the Clerks Animated series and Kim Possible. He is probably my biggest influence as an artist and having him do a sketch of one of my characters was a real treat.
-I was invited out to a sketchbook party in the lobby of a nearby hotel. It ended up being forty or fifty artists all passing their sketchbooks around and chatting. It took an incredible act of will power for me to overcome my debilitating anxiety and actually attend such an event. Now looking back on it, I'd say is was the high point of my trip. I met some incredible artists and learned a lot.
-I had the opportunity to speak with Stan Sakai for a little bit. As it turns out he is actually aware of the CTS and not only that, he told me he likes my work. Hearing Stan Sakai tell me that my Samurai character was unique and well drawn was almost enough to stop my heart. He even drew a picture of Usagi slicing off Gabe's head with a Tube. I drew a picture of Usagi for him in exchange. I'm still having a hard time believing that the entire thing actually happened.
Adam Warren came by the booth. It turns out he likes to read Penny Arcade. I was actually too nervous to speak to him while I was autographing his Penny Arcade sticker, and then later when I went looking for him he was gone. I’m not sure what I would have said to him had I actually found him. I probably would have just groaned and spit up a little.
-Tycho and I were invited to talk in a panel about syndication vs. web comics. I'm not sure why we were even there. We never think about Syndication and don't really have any desire to discuss it. At one point during the panel Tycho said that discussing syndication was like "discussing the circulatory system of an extinct animal". Maybe in twenty years I'll be on a panel called web comics vs. hyper comics. Then some kid can tell me that creating comics for the web is out dated and that everyone should be making comics that are injected right into your brain.
The mail link at the bottom of my post is the one that works now. I'd change the one at the top but I don't know how.Until I figure it out you can just use the one below.
Even I have a reverence for the man, a sort of reflected radiance, because Gabriel's burning attraction to him is so intense. So when he came by the booth one morning as we were restocking shirts, I recognized him immediately and my breath caught in my throat. Gabe was prostrate on the floor, not in worship as I had originally thought but grabbing some shirts under the table to restock the shelves. I thought that he'd seen him and simply been struck dumb.
"Seems like you guys are doing great this year," said Stephen.
"Thank you," said Gabe, his head partially covered by the blue skirt around the table. He looked something like a nun, or some other breed of dedicated ascetic with an odd dress code.
Stephen looked over the shirts one last time and then began to trudge to his booth, past Star Wars but not quite to GameSkins. I was impressed. "I really thought you were going to freak out, man," gesturing at him with a Strawberry Mousse pocky. "I think you're growing as a person."
"What are you talking about?" says he, annoyed. I get this a lot.
"That was Stephen Silver, your lord and saviour," I said. "I assumed you would sink your teeth into his leg, and he would have to drag you around the convention."
I could sense, then, that his mind had disengaged from his body, perhaps via some cord not discernable by rational methods. Fired into space by true discomfort, on a vector calculated to escape all current scenarios and the outcomes nested like seeds within them.
He broke into a run. He didn't say where, but between you and me, I have a pretty good idea where he went.
(CW)TB
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