Cabin In The Woods -- Great Movie, Or Greatest Movie?

Wait a minute, a movie that is both funny as it is terrifying? That's gotta be worth watching, right?
So Cabin In The Woods is the greatest movie of the year. No, I haven’t seen every movie released in previous months. Nor do I intend on seeing any other movies in the future. This is it. The last movie I’ll ever need to watch. It’s only fitting I watched this film after watching The Avengers. There should be some sort of barometer to gauge my tolerance of Whedon/Hemsworth exposure, but luckily this movie functioned as an adequate chaser.

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The Avengers -- The Best Movie, For Everyone Else

If anything, a nation of Mountain Dew drinkers now know what Shawarma is.

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Commercial Break: Retro Bobby via Copenhagers

I just watched The Avengers and Cabin In The Woods, back to back -- in that order. It's going to take me a while to process writing down something of logic and cohesion. In the mean time, There's this guy.

Retro Bobby Ågren's store, Ruben & Bobby, located Jægersborggade 6, Copenhagen. Yup, that's a mouthful. Thanks to the fine folks at Copenhagers for putting a spotlight on Bobby's retro-game-and-toy-shop, that also doubles as a barbershop.

Also, Bobby's hair is magical.

In all seriousness, it's good to have these reminders as to why you write. Knowing that there is one guy out there in "Jaegerville" doing what he loves and wearing amazing sweaters to boot, in a way, is pretty darn inspiring.

Video: Unfinished Swan Trailer

Giant Sparrow did it! It's all their fault. I got excited for a game centered around using paint to guide my way through an all white world of nothingness. This was three years ago at GDCs Independent Game Festival. 

Then nothing. Three years of silence. Three years of, "Hey remember that game that looked so cool and interesting, what was it's name again?" 

Three years of hard work from a studio that is relatively unknown. Giant Sparrow has teamed up with Sony's Santa Monica Studio to release something that, well, we don't know much about. 

And you know what? That's okay.

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Commercial Break: To The Greatest Science Professor Ever

Michigan State University's Paul Hunter may not have been the most liked professor, but he was well respected. For years I heard tales for quite sometime about a "grey-haired man of science" making things go boom in his lectures. Friends who defected from Ohio to attend Michigan State gave me mixed-impressions of him. 

As a native Ohioan I'm supposed to be hardcoded to hate anything resembling Michigan or Michigan accessories. However, I'm not eight and this guy is clearly operating on a level far above that of the average Joe Science ... pack?

Last month Professor Hunter past away from a heart attack which was attibuted to a car accident hours prior.

The video above is from the Science Olympiad held at MSU. A very difficult exam most of the students have to take in order to pass their class. At the end of the Olympiad, Professor Hunter would amaze students with his daring science savvy.

Commercial Break: Quite Possibly The Ultimate Troll

Aside from watching video of G.G. Allin antagonizing his fans to the point of punching his face into a bloody pulp, what you are witnessing above is something made of numerous dreams [and possibly nightmares depending on your volume level].

I figured it's gonna take me a while to put up some of my more in-depth writings and ideas. So if any regular readers/stalkers of my little blog are wondering "where's them words at?" They are hiding in several Google documents being edited on daily basis. 

More to come, promise.

Commercial Break: Metal Gear X Lupin The 3rd?

[This one is for my homie Emiko, I'll see you soon! Enjoy.] 

Finally an anime and possible fighting game idea [that I just made up and retain all monetary rights if said game is made in the future] that I can blindly support without any reservations as to how amazing it would be. Unfortunately, everything in this video is fan-made. It isn't real and therefore Earth's biggest tease.

Or is it?

It's no secret that Japanese studios love reaching back into this current cultures nostalgic nerd-past. There's also the sad reality that Japanese games aren't really clicking with American audiences like they use to. I'm going to send this to Konami and try and feel out their excitement level. 

Who knows, maybe this could be what we need to *save Japanese games.

Enjoy the funny and possible spoilers to be had in this homage to [what I feel] is one of the most ambitious franchises in gaming.

*it's debatable if Japanese games need saving seeing as games, in general, appear to be going through some sort adolescent growing pains. Jussayin.

The Hunger Games Review -- Why Didn't They Just Burn Down The Tree?

The true star of the show was Elizabeth Banks' wardrobe/costume design

[Before we get this thing going, it should be noted that I fought hard by not putting “...More Like Hungry Lames” in my title for this post. I see it as a sign of maturity.]

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Commercial Break: Caine's Arcade

Let this be a lesson in humility. Let this remind you of those days when it was just you, in a yard, with ideas. Let this ground you, because we weren't all popular. A lot of us were, or probably still are, the person that doesn't get to play with others often. We get so engulfed in whatever worlds we inhabit that it's really easy to believe that no one out there is paying attention.

Sometimes a little hardwork and solitude will bring great fortune. We can all do ourselves a service by sitting with our ideas, and really sticking with them.

Big thanks to director Nirvan Mullick and his reddit clan. For more about Caine's Arcade and his scholarship fund, go here.

The Art & Sound Of Dustforce -- An Interview With Terrence Lee

Four developers. Four different cities. One game.

It’s rare I get to make contact with artists making work that motivates me. It’s even more difficult when it’s a game developer who has just released a game weeks ago. A man from my home state of Ohio, Terrence Lee spared some time to answer questions about his team’s new game, Dustforce. In my continued studies of how we approach games, I think it’s important to pay special attention to how smaller teams make the jump from idea experimentation to full-fledged execution. Why? The ideas of how we play and enjoy games, should be just as important as the idea of making them.

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