I don't really have an angle on the next Xbox, though I greedily lapped up the presentation from the GDC. You probably won't see the same arc from last time, where I resisted the system and then ultimately gave in - I think they probably know they can't just kick out a Nightcaster or an Azurik: Rise of Perathia and we'll shamble over to their black altar this time. It's just fucking insane from a hardware standpoint, and they're coming into the platform with the already more than proven Live component. And then they gave away like a thousand HD televisions, and J Allard picked up a guitar and said that anybody who wasn't ready to rock should leave via one of the rear exits because he was about to "turn this motherfucker out."
It's hard to imagine how their philosophy could be more different from Nintendo's, epitomized by Iwata's speech at the same event. I really recommend you read it. He talks about Nintendo stuff in general, but it's mostly a kind of love letter to our passtime.
Jungle Beat drops today, and if you are not just joining us you probably know that I've been pining for it since the last E3. Since then it's become a full game and not just a cool idea. I need to tell you how it is similar to shooters like Ikaruga so that you are not shocked by its length.
Any opportunity I get to talk about shooters is one I'll take, but I've never explained the reason behind that fervor: it's because shooters embody the arcade mentality of gaming-that-was. Limited lives are a coin-operated, vestigial sort of coccyx in a home game. Particularly in shooters there is the idea that outside of a given score you are trying to best your own performance, get this far without losing a life, what have you. Those are pressures that exist on a console, but there is the psychic and financial component that is unique to the arcade environment, to say nothing of an arcade's inherent element of performance art. I haven't felt the pressure to be present mentally absolutely every moment in a game so intensely since my father handed me four quarters, turned on his heel, and walked directly into the bar.
A thread of that experience is present in Jungle Beat - the constant struggle to improve upon personal performance - but without the financial incentive, it's something you have to want on its own. Not everyone does. I think this idea has fallen out of favor with many people who play games: this self-directed, electronic calisthenics, and I'm choosing not to make a judgement about that. At any rate, if you are playing this game to win it you will be able to do so very quickly and without undue strain. You will stand astride it, the noble victor. Certainly you will have satisfied a "victory condition" and I could not fault you for believing yourself descended from kings. When you realize that there are not three but four crests per level, you will begin to realize the vast chasm between yourself and your supposedly royal heritage. Getting good at Jungle Beat is where the real meat is, otherwise you're talking about a "three hour tour."
After seeing those quirky initial videos, I assumed that Phantom Dust was the sort of game that had a quirky video released about it and then you never heard from it again. Not so, and 1up seemed to like it. It was brought over at the budget price by Majesco, which did the same for Guilty Gear X2 #Reload - both Live capable games, both twenty bucks. Majesco, a company whose games I typically don't cleave to with ardor, is startling to materialize as a cauldron from which odd things emerge: Psychonauts, the Double Fine adventure platformer presumed lost when Microsoft dropped it, hits middle of next month thanks to them. They also have the Orson Scott Card penned Advent Rising, part of a planned trilogy that hits in May. Other stuff too, and they're taking the PSP very seriously. I don't know when they became something that required the active application of my mind, but I have learned the lesson.
(CW)TB out.
spiraling into depression
The daily grind seems like an interesting idea. I'm not really sure it's a fair competition. I mean some of the comics I see in there are just stick figures. I'm not sure Bob stick guy should be up against Mr. full color comic book page. Personally I am rooting for Kurtz. Essentially he just has to keep doing the job he already gets paid to do and he'll win.
Squidi announced that he's going to be the father of a baby girl. From one new Dad to another I'd just like say congratulations. I hope she's happy and healthy man.
There was some controversy over at Keenspot this weekend. One of their artists decided she didn't want pictures of boys kissing on her website and so she took it upon herself to remove the keenspot ad box. Keenspot came out and said she was within her rights to do so since they failed to provide an alternative ad. I was honestly surprised to see such a reasonable response come from a company run by a grown man who lives in an abandoned elementary school with his mom. Actually I think I saw a horror movie like that once.
A much less reasonable response came from Websnark. If you don't draw a webcomic you probably have no idea who that is. Imagine a guy who writes a blog where he consistently overanalyzes webcomics. I guess you could say he's sort of like a poor mans Scott McCloud. In his latest article over at Comixpedia he claims to have invented fiction with a handful of other internet pioneers. Bravo.
Anyway, He called the Keenspot artist a bigot and told everyone the reason she removed the ad was because it was "Gay Positive". This was total fucking speculation on his part and his remarks actually started controversy where there wasn't any before. People including Scott Kurtz took him to task in his forum and he eventually posted a sort of apology. If you asked me what I thought of websnark I'd tell you that "he reflects the creative energy of real artists". But I guess you didn't ask me.
The thread over at the Keenspot forums about the whole thing is actually pretty funny. Apparently someone let Bobby Crosby out of his cage and the kid just goes fucking nuts. His Keenspot masters try and rein him in but his psycho rants against Scott Kurtz go on for a good twelve pages. As far as I can tell the only reason Chris keeps him around is so that people will look at Bobby and say "Chris must be the talented brother."
-Gabe out
At any rate, now you can learn what French speakers learned only moments ago: there's a couple more baby tees awailable in our jumpin' online storefront. You can see them on the top of that page, it's the Jesus garment, the Rogues shirt, and the FF I believe.
Okay, I just checked. It is those things.
(CW)TB
-Gabe out
