Free Game: Abobo's Big Adventure

I mean who doesn't love a great 8-bit game, that also functions as an homage to the gaming days of yesteryear? I know I don't.

Let's face it, I tend to write about some fairly serious topics in, at times, an overly dramatic fashion. It can get down right annoying. So here's my thanks to you, a free game that you can play on the crappiest of computers [with upgraded Flash, mind you]. It's called Abobo's Big Adventure [you wouldn't believe how many times I've to spell check "Adobo"]. Abobo's Big Adventure is an indie game featuring one of Double Dragon's most hated villains. He's on a quest for blood and revenge. Why? Not sure, I think Abobo's son was kidnapped and ... umm -- revenging. Hey, if you want the history as to how and why this amazing game exists, by all means check it out.

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Ethics and Anarchy -- How We Play, Enjoy and See Games

Maybe life is best with a little imbalance?

Consider this an incredibly delayed reaction to J.P. Grant’s article on fair play, which was an incredible response to Jenn Frank’s article.

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Art You Might Hate: Pinkroad by Limee Young + U Joo

Many thanks to Colossal for pointing me in the direction of this power couple. Husband and wife duo, Limee Young and U Joo are a pretty cool team. I've been studying a lot on kinetic art, and sculpture specifically, Limee Young's name kept popping up.

Imagine my surprise when I ventured to their site and noticed some pretty amazing paintings, illustrations and video of their meticulous works.

I've always been interested in the construction of kinetic sculpture. I use to build robots for crying out loud! But this? This is a little over my head. The whole idea of kinetic sculpture is reliant on either wind energy, a standalone electricity source, or an artist having an active hand in how the kinetic energy is stored. Like being on a seesaw, but an amazingly beautiful and complex machine is on the other end of the plank.

So in these videos, you are seeing machines function because of liquid, weight and equal amounts of pushing and pulling on joints. Depending on how far a joint moves a microprocessor on a circuit board uses the energy generated to tell another joint to move. Or in the above video's case, a processor is telling a joint to move back, while the kinetic energy stored in the joints are telling it to move forward. This is as best as I can describe the very little I understand.

I thought I was getting closer to understanding kinetic art, but this work is proof I'm no where near comprehension. It's truly amazing work. After the jump is more stills, illustrations and videos. Thanks for the inspiration U_Joo and Lim!

 

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Commercial Break: da Vinci Robot Is Both Expensive And Peels Grapes

As the title indicates, the surgical da Vinci robot is clearly being used for it's intended purposes. That purpose being: stylin' on all other robots that wish they had the swag and technological bling that this one cleary possess. What with having them arms and grape peeling power. One day, yes, one day this surgical robot will see the inside of -- a melon.

[In all honesty, The da Vinci robot has been quite the achievement for modern medical science. It's been zapping cervical, prostate and all sorts of cancers for years. For more info, go here]

Commercial Break: Bill Gates Got Ups

Prior to spewing that yang and dumping that slang for the internet. I need to get energized. I need a guiding light that will channel my ideas into words of various fonts and font sizes. Oh, wait. You're telling me there is a clip of a young Bill Gates jumping the s**t over a chair? Well, see now this? This right here? This is just what I needed.

Peep his recovery? Didn't even flinch. Like nothing ever happened. "What? Oh that? Yeah, I just jumped the f**k over that and will probably make a billion dollars in the next twenty years. Become one of the biggest philanthropist and out live ya boy Steve Jobs. What? Huh? I cross a line? Do I need to jump over another chair to prove my swag?"

I'm paraphrasing, of course.

Commercial Break: Sonic The Hedgehog = Gateway To Furry-dom

I see why the aliens won't abduct us anymore. Hey, I know a lot of you out there support furries and truth-be-told, I kinda like the fact that there's a sect of people out there that kinda weirds me out. I see it as a benchmark for me when I think I've become too desensitized. Just yesterday I explained to one of my young dancing students what felching is.

But here we are headed into 2012 with possible damnation and post-apocalyptic events in tow. Yet there is a man, doing his friend group a service. Well sir, who am I to judge?

Seriously though, you're weirding me out with the "I'm going to judge sexiness of fictional female video game characters by the size and length of their pony tails."

We could have a possible Bronie on our hands. 

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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Persona 4 - The Ultimate In Mayonaka Arena Combo Sampler

Many thanks to Jourdal's video coverage of a game most fighting game sites are keeping quiet about.

Though I have yet to finish a Persona game [even in game format, I hate doing homework], I don't think it will be a prerequisite to play the game. Looks fairly standard for an Arc System title. Can't wait to see what comes of this. 

[*crosses fingers hoping there is an animation of high school kids shooting themselves in the head]

Commercial Break: Can You Remember The First Time You Saw Yourself?

I can't quite vocalize specifics of the tech being used here, so I'll let the engineers responsible do that for you here. However, I want to highlight a portion of their synopsis that struck a chord with me.

This quite simple experiment touches interesting psychological aspects of self-consciousness, whose complexity can be proved by the fact I already mentioned of the few species that can recognize themselves in front of the mirror.

I'm realizing my next batch of upcoming articles deal largely with how personally I process detail in art and/or the production of said art. When I saw Qbo, looking at himself ... itself, I first thought [skeptically] how much assistance is being used. I hear keyboard clatter, is this playing a role?

Then I let go. I looked at the robot's optical movements as if looking at a car being manufactured. Jigsaw puzzles being aligned but not wedged together. Then the instructor tells Qbo that the reflection is of him ... of it. 

I tried thinking long and hard about the first time I saw my reflection. It was so far back that my consciousness takes for granted how our brains adjusted and have been adjusted time and time again, in how we see ourselves, and how we see each other.

A very human side of me wondered if a 'second Qbo' was there looking at an adjacent mirror, would the litany of pre-programmed reactions have still been "Nice?" What if Qbo's reaction wasn't so cheerful?

I love that the next frontier of artificial intelligence is of aspects of the self-conscious. But I do find it funny that we must build something wholly new, to understand something about ourselves. Thoughts?

Commercial Break: Robot Starfish Isn't Lame

So the Harvard engineering research department has been up to no good. In by that I mean, they've possibly created several breakthroughs with just one robo-project. Here we see a video that has all the fireworks of paint drying, but what you don't see are the many uses that could come as a result.

By creating a "soft robot" we can come closer to understanding how inverterbrates function. Their muscle structure and movements could lead to several marine biological studies. Not only this, but there is a clear military use that will most-likely follow. And I'm all for more robots and less humans out on the battlefield [at least, when asked].

One result I hope comes from this is an advancement in prosthesis and amputee studies. We could finally be closer to giving those in need something past a mannequin limb.

Anyway, that's it from me. I'll get back to writing about games and stuff...