Happy Holidays From The Brog

Oh that Krampus always causing a ruckus

As I sit here wrapping the final gifts, infested with flu-like symptoms, imbibing both wine and Theraflu. I'm reminded of several things: 1) no matter how hard I try, my allergy to alcohol will continue being my Achilles' Heel to a life of drunkatude. 2) I've never felt luckier to have met and made connections to you great people on the internet. Your tweets and inboxed links haven't gone unnoticed. Sidenote: some of that s**t is straight-up weird and has resulted in a record number of blocks and reports. So, yeah, there's that.

What was I getting at with this? Oh yeah, 3) I'm not a rich guy, or even moderately "balling." I spent a fair amount [okay, all] of my spending money on my mom and little sister this holiday. At the same time, I'm not trying to go in debt or make a material statement as to my status in life. I got lucky with this friend group. They only expect me to be me. It was super-unfortunate I couldn't get everyone at least a joke/gag gift, but this post will have to suffice.

Below you'll find links to art, articles, and videos that I hold very dear. Some are to be taken in jest, others not-so-much. Thanks for the support.

And don't let Krampus poke you.

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Thoughts On My Colony Wars Article Reception

These guys are cool, you should check them out. Tell them I sent ya.

[Update: 10-3-11 11:34pm. Mike Anthony of Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops and Lead Programmer of Colony Wars & Colony Wars: Vengeance is now up on Gamasutra. This is probably the last of what I'll write about one of my favorite franchises. Enjoy]

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L.A. Noire Developer Exposed -- Brendon McNamara

Nice work on the neck-fat there John. 

[image courtesy of Hardcoregaming 101]

[I was originally going to post this on 1up.com, but their editor won't save my work. Also, I'm at my day job and I don't want to make it a habit of writing up stuff, while I'm supposed to be doing other work. So, this is just between you and me internet.]

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Personal Note: It's Been That Kind Of Week

video via rickymachinima

I try and keep the Brog PG-13, but sometimes a healthy f**k is good to squeeze out of the body every now and again. Don't worry, it won't become commonplace, but boy has the gaming world shown it's ugly side this week [again]. I probably haven't contributed to the healing process [pay no attention to my twitter feed]. I'd like to think at least writing this stuff down is a good piece of therapy. It's just unfortunate that when I do bitch about the pitfalls of this culture I'm met with "you know this is par for the course, right?"

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What Makes A Good Year For Games?

Because the only thing better than a pile of money -- is two piles of money.

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E3 2010: What Was Missing?

Because Re-Imagined, Motion Controlled 3D Games Are The New FPS

Pre-E3 I had issues with how the show 'could' go. During E3 I tried my best to put up as much video I could find with my patented commentary -- which I'm sure you all loved. Now I'm stuck at a crossroads. I sit here elated and disgusted. Disgusted with myself for allowing my favorite hobby turn me into a kind of gaming cynic. There was nothing in the Sony and Microsoft press conferences for me. I'd even venture, had it not been for the 3DS, there would have been nothing for me in the Nintendo press conference even with the announcements of old titles being made anew.

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E3 2010: Clipstravaganza! [Updated 6-17-10]

Now I know I had some pretty harsh words for E3. I mean it was just hours ago I went on a rant for the ages that has almost completely temporarily ostracized me from the rest of me E3 supporting nerds out there. But in keeping with last years theme, I stay vigilante and dedicated to making an entirely too long brog posting about the video released from this overly bloated expo.

Sidenote: Now that I think about it, I'm thinking about writing a 'low lights' of E3 posting in the future. And trust me...Ubisoft is taking up a lot of that.

I digress. Let's get to these fancy clips. I'll keep updating the post as soon as I get my hands on some uploaded video. Up first...Star Wars: The Old Republic...again.

[Update: Here Are The Press Conferences In Their Entirety -- Nintendo (part 2), Sony, Microsoft,  EA, Ubisoft , Konami]

Thanks to 1up, Machinima, IGN, Ustream and Youtube for the video!

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Gears Of War 3: I Don't Get It

Caravaggio Couldn't Have Painted It Better

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Where Do You See Gaming Going? Supersaturation

Totillo's Going To Wish He Could Use That 'Go Back In Time Potion'

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For The Four People Who Care: No New Colony Wars Game

Old news, I am a huge Colony Wars and Psygnosis fanboy. It was the Brog's best kept secret that I was hoping to get an interview with one of the designers of the old Colony Wars/Wipeout series. Thanks to a little help from Tim Wright [DJ ColdStorage and legendary composer for the aforementioned game franchises] I was able to track down some key individuals from the now fragmented Psygnosis team. It is incredibly unfortunate timing that as of this week, most of them have recently lost their jobs. Those who still remain at Studio Liverpool have lost a team that has had one of the longest running racing franchises in gaming.

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