So, that's it. The Line has been well and truly Painted. I won't say where the painting occurred, as that might constitute spoiler material. This was originally supposed to be two separate strips (which probably shows) but I accidentally said it was ending today so he drew both. Let's hear it for the artist, ladies and gentlemen!
I think that in the intervening years, I had forgotten how much I liked Gears of War. This is partly because none of my friends did, which made me feel like some usenet fetishist, sprawled out in some ultra-specified group whose hunger is defined by watercolors of discontinued Happy Meal toys copulating in Russian nuclear subs. But it is also because Epic has allowed me to feel nostalgic for it, with a two year window between releases which refines and softens those memories of play.
Also, I had the best service, so it was up to me to host. This meant the first game's Host Advantage was conferred virtually every time I played, which we didn't understand yet in those heady days. At the time, I thought I was the reincarnation of Christ.
I was going to link it before, but Gametrailers pulled it, and now they've put it back up. It's solid Gears multiplayer gameplay with no contextualization. When I say contextualization, I mean that there is no point in which Cliff Bleszinski tells you that something is "Bigger, Better, Or More Bad-Ass." The game speaks for itself, as you'll see in the clip. Anywhere you look, you'll see something horrible or triumphant. And yet he still waves this Goddamned phrase around, wild, like he's swatting at biplanes from the Empire State Building. This motheaten, dumbass phrase is already worn the fuck out. Gears of War 2 is a game where you can give an alien linebacker a colonoscopy with your chainsaw. Calling it "bad-ass" may be gilding the lily.
For some reason, The Onion has the best article on the second Rock Band, and not just because they quote me. In fact it's grim indeed that I've somehow managed to generate the pullquote for the disparity between Rock Band and Guitar Hero, because I love Harmonix. Did you know that they extend a special kind of employee leave for bands who need to go on tour? Did you know that, in addition to making videogames, they also make gel insoles? It's like walking on air.
I'm open to the idea that an authorship suite doesn't constitute a mainstream feature, one that even a double digit percentage of the userbase will even take advantage of. The usage pattern may, in fact, be very similar to the percentage of people who utilized the Half-Life SDK - but everyone else still got Counter-Strike. Even so, for most people the new challenges, drum training, new drumkit, and serious refinements to the way bands are built constitute welcome improvements. None of the articles currently available define the coolest, most pro-consumer features of the product, so that must have been the secret stuff I judiciously avoided discussing.
All this junk about composition is a cover anyway; I'm only looking for an excuse to form a band that plays nothing but punk versions of worker's songs like Union Maid and We Have Fed You All For A Thousand Years. I suppose I could just use a real guitar.
(CW)TB out.
During the Paint the Line series I had a lot of requests for individual panels to be made into wallpapers. I went ahead and made a bunch based on what seemed to be the most popular. Thanks to everyone that mailed me about the artwork in this series. We've been talking about doing Paint the Line for more than two years, so I've had a lot of time to think about these scenes. It was fun to finally draw the match on the submarine and the kiss between Tycho andOksana after thinking about them for so long.
Speaking of oksana, I had a lot of people mail me to tell me that she's "the hottest girl you've ever drawn." I think you are probably right but I honestly can't take much credit for it. The character of Oksana is based on a real table tennis player named Biba Golic. She plays in exhibition matches all over the world as a part of the Killerspin Krew.
During my vacation I played a lot of Final Fantasy Tactics A2. At this point I feel very comfortable recommending it to fans of tactics games or FF in general. The game is really beautiful with gorgeous backgrounds and special effects that look like they belong on the PS2 rather than the DS. I also read a great book by Jack Mcdevitt called Seeker. I've picked up quite a few of his books because his covers tend to meet my stringent requirements. So far I've been really impressed with everything I've read from him but Seeker stands out as being especially good in my opinion. If you dig hard Sci-Fi you should check him out.
-Gabe out
A while back I was asked to be a part of a special Street Fighter tribute book from Udon. It's a massive book full of various artist's take on the Street Fighter world to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series. I was honored to be asked to participate and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who I'd draw. When it comes to the game, I tend to be a Ken man but in my opinion he's not that much fun to draw. I ended up settling on Zangief since I've always thought he was hilarious. Here's a peek at my contribution.
The book is available for pre-order now and trust me, this is something you want sitting on your coffee table.
-Gabe out
The live stream will be starting at 12:45, so in just about ten minutes. If you can't make the live shows but you still want to see the comic get drawn you can always hit the Ustream site here. I record and upload most of the shows.
-Gabe out
