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In which Blaze from Streets of Rage gets a job as "that girl in the music video"

 

Chances are that this music video for "Name of the Game" by Ural 13 Diktators has been found and shared many years before this one, but not by me. The tune is catchy and the video's conclusion that men in leather jackets have major commitment issues seems about right. But what I took away from this video is that if Blaze from Streets of Rage can get her hair did red and get a job as "that girl in the music video" years after her games have faded into retro-ambiguity, there's still hope for ME!

Name of the Game via PocketMonsterd

I can Kinect!

A few days ago Microsoft launched their new "controller-free gaming entertainment experience" for the Xbox 360, the Kinect. Bundled with their launch game Kinect Adventures, Kinect is selling for around $150.00 and requires at least 6 to 8 ft. of distance away from the TV (!) to play. I don't have too many extra funds these days and I have about 4 ft. of leg room in front of my couch, so for now the Kinect won't be rubbing elbows with the rest of my gaming consoles. That said, I had a chance to play a little thanks to my friend Greg, and despite some initial skepticism, after playing I was pretty much sold.

The Controller is coming. Get yours soon!

Friend and ever so talented graphic designer Cory Schmitz announced on his twitter about a day ago that printed copies of his second gaming magazine, The Controller, have finally arrived and are being prepped for distribution. Sister to his previous mag .EXP, The Controller features 60 pages of stunning artwork and articles from a variety of folk including Jacob Ferguson, Ashley Davis, Chris Furniss, Katie Turner, Maré Odomo, and many more! I got a sneak peak of the mag while hanging out with Cory at IndieCade, and it's a beaut. When it's out in the next few weeks you can pick it up over in the Attract Mode shop!

I too had the fortunate opportunity of contributing to The Controller, thanks to Cory. Remember all of those random drawings of food stuffs I was doing about a month ago? Well if you don't, they're all fan art for the game Deadly Premonition, and though the reference is pretty obscure you can see the full collection of drawings in the magazine! Below is an example of a [Turkey Sandwich], with more to come. I hope fans of DP will enjoy the piece.

Finally, folks in Seattle should not miss the opportunity to go to The Controller's launch party coming up on November 19th! There will be refreshments, art, and music to enjoy, and I'll try to send my original work up to Cory so he can put it up at the show. Check out this flyer for all the details.

Looking forward to getting my copy!

31 Games I published in Game Dev Story over the last two days

Karisoft's recently released game Game Dev Story for the iPhone OS and PC is kind of ruining my whole life plans right now. Though I've released more than 31 games over the course of the last two days with my production company Chow Chow Chow, this productivity exists entirely from within the game and does not contribute to my game making abilities IRL. That's a bug! Fix that, please.

My procrastination skills aside, Game Dev Story is pretty fun. It completely absorbs you in its details, and once you publish your first game it's hard to stop. The pulse of the game involves how you divvy up your funds across your employees, contract work, and advertisement while you strategically choose which consoles you develop for and what kind of games you aim to make. The release schedule and retirement of the various consoles (Intendo's Game Kid, Sonny's PlayStatus, etc.) is kind of predictable, but that only makes you think that you have an edge over everyone else. 

My favorite part is naming my games once they're all debugged and ready to ship. You only have 14 letters for the title so you have to get a little creative, but man. I wish I could play some of these. If you can figure out which out of these 31 games were the top sellers, I'll give you a cookie. 

1. Peg Leg Dads
2. Fang Gang
3. Dragon Beard
4. Haunted Hole
5. Sparkle Shots
6. Guts and Guns
7. What the Cat
8. Blood Mice
9. Ghostly Nips
10. Hairy Kids
11. Final Sash
12. Silent Nose
13. Sweat Plus
14. Hall of Oats
15. Hidden Eye
16. Dingo's Rage
17. I Love You
18. Dingo Revenge
19. Gargle Day
20. Starfish Hunt
21. Dingo Quest
22. Second Fantasy
23. Movie Land
24. First Fantasy
25. Laser Wizards
26. Topaz Hill
27. Mystery Pizza
28. Mystery Taco
29. Ninja Please
30. Dirt Pirate
31. What the Zoo?!

Raiders of the Lost Ark a la Popeye

Cartoonist Chuck Forsman made this terrific comic strip summary of Raiders of the Lost Ark rendered in the style of an old Popeye comic. The drawings are clever and look great, particularly this little moment and the part where old wax face gets his dues (shown above). Buy the full print here!