Tribute to the Fallen of 2012 – Literature

Posted on 01/07/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Jan Berenstain (88, stroke): Growing up with The Berenstains was an experience in of itself. When Stan died in 2005 it was really tragic, as he was taken by cancer. Luckily Jan and her son took the reigns of the bears for a few years and they even found their way into the modern world. I can remember when I was young the book always made me wish I had a sibling while at the same time grateful I didn’t. I don’t remember the bears having any friends though. They probably did, but I don’t recall them. There was a cartoon too, which I remember not to vividly but it did exist. There was this PC thing as well, which I still own. I was way too old for the Bears at that point actually, but the point and click style and nostalgia for my childhood grabbed me.

Maeve Binchy (72, illness): I must honestly admit I have never read a Maeve Binchy book, but my mother has read all of them. She was a true fan and I’m sure if I took extra time to get her to write a little bit about her it would be sweet and heartwarming and reassuring that at least someone in this family got affected by this writer who I’m sure was wonderful. I did see Circle of Friends, but it was nigh impossible to not notice all the hype and clamor for this brand new discovery Minnie Driver and how wonderful she was.

Ray Bradbury (91, illness): I absolutely love The Toynbee Convector. Sure it’s the Martian Chronicles that put Ray on the map and Farenheit 451 that cemented him, but he was so much more than that. Something Wicked This Way Comes and it subsequent stories as well as Death Is A Lonely Business made me more than just someone who really enjoyed his work, but a serious fan. It’s amazing how much of his work has actually been adapted as well for both the small screen, stage and film. Twilight Zone used his shorts as basis (Bradbury also created a few original scripts for TZ as well), then of course there was even his own TV series, The Ray Bradbury Theater, which he wrote all the episodes for and actually was in the introduction as a host. A search on Youtube of Ray Bradbury Theater should bring you all the episodes, choosing one specifically to recommend seems a bit much, so really just go to to Youtube and see what catches your eye, you can’t go wrong.

Helen Gurly Brown (90, undisclosed): For over 40 years the editor in chief at Cosmopolitan, she will always for me be “The Single Girl”. I’ve never actually read “Sex and the Single Girl” and I probably never will, but it and she inspired the film of the same name in which Natalie Wood shined. The movie itself isn’t good. Everyone knows that. But it made so much money it’s a freaking classic nonetheless. Also, it helped DOWN WITH LOVE happen so many years later. So here’s to Helen Brown, fucking up dating for people worldwide for years. Thank you Helen.

Harry Crews (76, neuropathy): As a journalist I have read a share of his work in Esquire and Playboy. He covered some crazy stuff that you’d swear was fiction. I never read his fiction, so I’m not sure if it was ever crazier than what he found in the real world or if he just used the real world to inspire fiction of things he couldn’t properly convey in journalistic articles in the way he wanted. I should explore that, but there’s so much to explore.

Gene DeWeese (78, Dementia with Lewy bodies): I’m familiar with DeWeese because of the few Star Trek: The Next Generation books he wrote. I use to devour those things like comics. It was a pretty bad habit, as most of those books were essentially hackneyed fan fiction put into a pretty package, but I was an addict, addicts know when something is bunk and still take it and look for more.

John Sargent, Sr. (87, health complications): Executive at Doubleday as President and Chairman. Amazingly he started working at the company long beforebefore he dated and then married the founders grand daughter and kept it after their divorce because of his incredible success into turning Doubleday into the Powerhouse it remans today. Later he got married to Liz Kelly, top editor in charge formerly at William Morrow, Harper Collins and Cosmo.

Maurice Sendak (83, stroke): The thing I loved the most about Maurice was that he always stated that he was not a children’s book author. You have to love that a man who created one of the greatest and most loved children’s books of all time refuses to accept what they called him or that he continued to create Children’s illustrations for others as well as develop Children’s TV… he wasn’t making stuff FOR kids, he was making stuff for everyone, it just so happened that the target market in publishing and TV was kids, but he wanted everyone to love it and… well I think they did. I also loved that he was a crotchety gay Jewish Atheist (one can be Jewish and Atheist… he identified with the plight, if not the beliefs). I mean seriously… how awesome is that? He was never quiet about it either. He was always crotchety, he was always Jewish and he was always gay, even if the last part never actually came out in his personality or publicly till 2008. I could probably go on forever of my love of the man and his work and what he offered, but I think I’ve said too much.

Derick Thomson (90, natural causes): Master of Gaelic poetry and literature, as well as many books teaching and explaining the Gaelic language, Professor Macthomas has been in my periphery and part of my base of knowledge for a long time. He would’ve been a great man to have gotten to meet had I given myself chance to ever visit the isle… but alas it was not to be.

Gore Vidal (86, pneumonia): I’ve never read a word Gore Vidal has written, but I know I’ve definitely seen his work on screen, butchered, uncredited or officially. I’ve always wanted to read thing like Lincoln, Myron, Empire, etc… just never got around to it. Maybe one day I will, I owe it to myself.

Sam Youd (89, natural causes): AKA Chris Youd, Hilary Ford, Peter Graaf, Stanley Winchester and most notably John Christopher. As John he wrote The Tripods, which if you’re an American, were a teenager or a kid in the 80’s, liked stuff, had a TV and intelligent parents you saw on PBS (if you didn’t, well, too bad, it was on and it was awesome, but if you really must see it, here’s a link to part 1 of episode 1 on Youtube. I believe the show is also on DVD, but only in PAL). The Tripods was not the only work of John Christopher to be adapted either, he was truly a science fiction great and with his pseudonyms surely a great writer period.

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Tribute to the Fallen of 2012 – Professional Wrestlers

Posted on 01/03/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Doug Furnas (52, heart disease): With his tag team partner Phillip Lafon (aka Dan Kroffat), Doug was one of the most under appreciated and under utilized talents in sports entertainment. While they had seriously success in Japan and were given respect in ECW, once in the WWE that respect went out the window and they were turned into boring and bland. That was really unfortunate as they could’ve easily been used to be major stars, but were looked over for flashier talents. Luckily footage of them in Japan against what are considered one of the greatest tag teams of all time The British Bulldogs does exist and here it is.

Pablo Fuentes Reyna aka MS-1 (55, car accident): Most popular in the 80’s as a part of Los Infernales with Pirata Morgan and others. I personally was never really privy to his work but it seems interesting to me which Luchadores names are public knowledge and which are not but either way I think they die with their mask on (although MS-1 did not wear a mask).

Here is the one match I could find on Youtube with Los Infernales taking on The Guerreros (Mando, Hector and Chavo, Sr.)

Aristóteles Radamés Coccó Flores AKA MS-2, Maskare and later as as Yeti (57, cancer): Aristóteles Radamés Coccó Flores AKA Maskare and later as and most well known as Yeti (57, cancer): Another luchadorian h actually dressed like a Sasquatch/Yeti and worked in AAA in the 80s when it we got it on Galavision. His existence is actually a sight to behold. Before all that though he was a regular team partner of MS-1 and was even brought into Los Infernales for a short time. Despite years passing since the two worked together, fate took them both in the same year. Curious. Here’s a match where he teamed with Tinieblas Jr. and Sr, as well as La Calaca against Pierroth Jr, Heavy Metal and Latin Lover (oh and midgets too). This match isn’t the best example that shows Yeti’s size though as the Tinieblas were freakishly tall as well was La Calaca. The only average sized lucha here actually is Heavy Metal.

Joe Scarpa (87, results of a fall): The man known as Chief Jay Strongbow was never in the main event, but he was truly a wrestling superstar. Four tag team championships, a household name, a member of the Hall of Fame, and the co-star of the second most brutal strap match in mainstream history with the man who was the co-star of the most vicious Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. The best thing about how Strongbow was not actually a Native American, but he was still respected and Chris Chavis aka Tatanka who was a true native never had a problem with it. Scarpa was also trained by Don Eagle, so that gave him a pass. Here’s that Indian Strap match.

Rip Hawk (82, heart issues): A multiple WCCW World Tag Champion, Rip Hawk’s biggest claim to fame in professional wrestling is when he teamed up with a young Ric Flair. Hawk was a stocky man who could throw a good punch and if anything at leats make you belive he’ll beat you up. He definitely missed a certain charisma and look to be more than a talent that helped others and a consummate ring grappler bit those are admirable things to have been. Here’s an old match with him teaming with regular partner Swede against some guys.

Brad Armstrong (50, medical distress): The most charismatic, physically talented and exciting of the Armstrongs (sorry Road Dogg, but he was) was also the one who struggled the most career wise. While brother Scott has always had a referee gig and brother Jesse James is mixed in deep with wrestling history, Brad never made the impact he deserved the chance to make (although he did do better than third brother Steve). More underrated than Doug Furnas it could say… not as an inring performer, but all around, definitely. Although he was part of some awesome moments, including when he made two run-in appearances in one match as different personas, as his masked persona was not supposed to actually be him. He was also at one point one half of the greatest tag teams ever in The Lightning Express, but their push got halted as Tim Horner became a jobber. One of the greatest matches he should be remembered for is against Dean Malenko, he doesn’t win… not even close, but he holds his own and proves how good he was in this one.

Buddy “Jack” Roberts (67, pneumonia) : Any true real wrestling fan with an actual history know The Fabulous Freebirds, even if all they know is current WWE road agent Michael Hayes. The Freebirds were so much more though. While many would say it was Hayes, Gordy and Garvin, it was Buddy Roberts who made them totally awesome and he was there before Garvin… he was The Freebirds. His nickname “Jack” was because he was always drunk on Jack Daniel’s. He made it work though, it wasn’t just a drunk dude barely able to walk, but a drunk dude being really entertaining and good worker. Hayes was the looks, Gordy was the muscle and Buddy “Jack” was well Buddy “Jack”. The Freebirds were just cool before cool was even a concept. Well, you know what I mean. Buddy also had the craziest voice. He eventually got lung cancer and you could see it happening, he talked like he smoked 22 packs a day. He retired way back when, but I’ll never forget him or The Freebirds. Guys like Hayes, Jack and Gordy paved the way for so many folks, it’s a shame nobody ever says something for them. DDP, CM Punk, Edge, guys like that would’ve never even been given a chance (and they STILL had to earn it) without guys like those three to at least take a shovel to the groundwork. Finding the best of Buddy isn’t easy, but here’s a clip where he cuts a promo with Terry, as well as “Iceman” King Parsons. Followed by a longer clip in which the Freebirds confronted Mike Graham directly after the passing of his father.

That second clip brings us to:
Mike Graham (61, suicide): The son of legendary promotor Eddie, Mike seriously was never really that good in the ring, but he had a true love and passion for the industry. That in of itself truly shined and hey, even got to be a champion a couple of times. Sure it was AWA Light Heavyweight champion as the “biggest” title in terms of indutsry clout, but he owned Florida. Sure, he also OWNED Florida, but he never actually really used that card. I think that may be what finally after all these years may have brought him down. Despite his passion, dedication, respect for others, he was still the son of Eddie Graham and once he sold off the entire FCW library to WWE/Titan he had nothing more to live for. Love, children, it should be enough, but for many… it’s just not enough and depression is a horrible disease and sometimes it takes us, especially in a family with the disease strong. Eddie killed himself 20 years ago and Mike’s son killed himself two years ago… that Mike found the strength to last is a testament to his dedication.

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Freedom: A Duo Review of LINCOLN & DJANGO UNCHAINED

Posted on 12/25/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

America during the time of pre-Civil War and Civil War itself was tumultuous, violent, full of bravery, regime, and the building of a nation that has evolved technologically and lawfully if not spiritually or mentally. The prejudices of the time are still rampant. The attitudes and personalities of the time a constant. The only thing that has changed is how society as a whole looks at these attitudes. From who are president is, to the type of entertainment audiences divulge and live off of.

It is quite fascinating to me that in 2012 two of the most lauded film makers of my generation and what I predict generations to come would approach a time period around the same time although very different, and yet extremely similar.

Over the winter I had the opportunity to see Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner’s LINCOLN and Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNLEASHED. Clocking in at a combined 5 hours and 30 minutes they are both truly epic films filled with violence, stellar casts, amazing dialogues and what seem like lost opportunities in which even such expansive running times were not enough to deliver all the story and awesome that exists, especially in Tarantino’s DJANGO. There’s so much awesomeness in DJANGO that a comic book adapted from the original script being published by DC Comics.

I saw LINCOLN at the prestigious ZIGFIELD theater with a friend. It was a joint early Academy and SAG screening and Mr. Spielberg presented the film beforehand. A playbill/book was handed out which basically gave out some historical background that didn’t actually make it into the final film. In my opinion Tommy Lee Jones truly steals the film. His performance while still very “him” has a panache and delivery of conviction. His character a true hero of the times, at least as depicted here. History is very unclear and a bit possibly misguided in their presentation of Thaddeus Stevens and film has never been kind to him, probably because of the fact that he was actually a man who truly believed in equality, a rarity in those times and sadly even up till the 70’s. The cast was used in spectacular fashion here, everyone truly got a moment to shine, even the very short appearance by the rarely seen but always enjoyable Lukas Haas. It was an all together wonderful experience as well as an educational one and at least for me showed that Spielberg might still have it, either that or we’ll be able to say “Well at least did a couple good movies” in the future.

I saw Django Unchained at the IFC Center and got lucky enough to meet someone cool on line. The IFC room they used had really weird seats that went way too far back, making it a bit uncomfortable for a three hour film, but I think any theater has that problem, there’s no real answer. This is what I said about the film on Facebook directly after viewing it.

Django is a 3 hour spaghetti Western with some awesome Tarantino dialogue, amazing cinematography and severe waste of some of the talent used. It is not as good as Inglourious Basterds, but it is a very strong movie and for a guy who always says that a movie would be better if it had more nudity, the film delivered there for all genders.

Retrospectively it may have actually been better than Basterds, although with Basterds I never felt like any character was shortchanged, but I still really feel that Zoe Bell was completely unused. I felt her role and her inclusion in the film could’ve led to something quite amazing. We never get the one thing Spaghetti Westerns or any Western really offer. Even the Western comics that Quentin loved. He never get a real one on one battle between the hero and that one tough enemy who we don’t know if he can beat. Not a single villain is a bad ass. They’re all pushovers. Mentally strong and that is shown, but I would’ve loved just one battle where Django had to really fight one on one, mano y mano with a ne’er do well that was more than him and Django had to use HIS wits to defeat. Saying that, the film really paints an intriguing picture of pre-Civil War South, the South that Lincoln would soon have to contend with, the degenerate,m backwards thinking, bigoted racist South. I have to think Django got drafted during emancipation and died in the war or went into hiding and died an old man with not much to speak for but his freedom, yet sometimes… Freedom is all anyone asks for.

Both these films state that, freedom, equality be it by the land of the law or the societal measures, freedom is a thing one should be grateful for, always.

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PRIMORDIA Review

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

What came first? Robots or Man? Was there even Man? Is Robot Man actually Man Robot? Can a Robot wear a Monocle? Can a machine have emotions? Is anyone above the law? Is the law truly the law? If you don’t know your own past, does it really mean you aren’t who everyone thinks you are? Can a robot fly, be sarcastic, and funny, but still really helpful and a great friend?

All these questions and more are asked, but not answered in PRIMORDIA... or more exactly they are given multiple answers, in which your own spiritual moral code will let you decide the answers.

In my preview of Primordia I said it reminded me of Beneath A Steel Sky, but once you really get into the crux of the game it feels both its own beast and yet even more a true predecessor and that is an actually great thing. There’s no denying the genius of Beneath A Steel Sky, no matter how hard one might try and there’s no denying the genius of Primordia.

It is an excellent point n click adventure with truly inventive puzzles that make you think as much inside the box as out of it. You are introduced to Non Player Characters who become extremely fleshed out as the story progresses, maybe more fleshed out than any I’ve seen before and in some cases more fleshed out than even your protagonist. In that it’s more link hints, little smattering, things to put together the puzzle together yourself.

All together the game presents a very large and over encompassing story about a post apocalyptic (or seemingly so) world in which only robots remain and these robots live in a 1984 lifestyle in which your character invades, upturns and rearranges in surprising ways. All along the way you’ll laugh, cry, be amazed and question your choices. These are meant more to convey the impression, they are not red herrings. There is no way to not finish the story. Actually there are multiple ways and that is just an added bonus to everything.

As a perfect ending to this short, succinct, but loving review I thought I’d share with you my also short but with brilliant answers via e-mail interview with the developers of Primordia and an extra bonus question for publisher Dave Gilbert of Wadjeteye.

1.) How much of Beneath A Steel Sky was an inspiration?  It felt throughtout the game and up to the ending even that it was being heavily referenced, but that could be my own nostalgia fog invading.

Vic: Yes, Beneath a Steel Sky was definitely an inspiration for me during the conception of the game. I recall that in some respects I wanted to make something in a similar vein, tonally. Metropol I think had the most direct graphical influence from BASS, but that said, I don’t really think of Metropol as representative of the art style in Primordia, which I feel is essentially more of a kind of Ray-Gun Gothic style you see around the UNNIIC and the Dunes – a melange of technologies flowing into ruin.

Mark: I played Beneath A Steel Sky years ago, and I remember somewhat liking it, though less so than Revolution’s later games — the Broken Sword series — which had a definite influence on my puzzle design.  Of course, people subconsciously assimilate ideas all the time, so I’m sure I drew from BASS.  Still, the strongest connection that people have been noting — Crispin to Joey — is misplaced.  Crispin is directly inspired by another sidekick, but it’s not Joey.  It’s Morte, from Planescape: Torment (along with some others like Cedric in King’s Quest V, Orko in He-Man, Zzyzzx in Sacrifice).  I don’t remember Joey at all from BASS, other than that there was a robot sidekick.  By contrast, I can can point to a lot of Crispin that was directly inspired by Morte — his refrain of “boss” (from Morte’s “chief”), his implausible amorous declarations, his skepticism of epic motifs.  But if people want to draw comparisons to BASS, I’m certainly not going to complain!  It’s a beloved game with a strong following.  I’m even more perplexed when people say that Crispin was based on Wheatley from Portal 2, a game I didn’t play until after the Primordia writing was done.  But, again, that’s a nice comparison for people to draw!

2.) What was the development process, did you complete the world/history/background before designing puzzles or was it a side by side creation.  Is there a large bible detailing the whole Primordia world?

Mark: There is a design document, but frankly the game is probably more expansive in content than the design document.  I spent a lot of time thinking about the world, of course, but like Sean Connery says in The Rock: “It was in my head!”  All along, we wanted the puzzles and the setting to complement each other, so we designed them in tandem. One of the reasons why I didn’t do some vast setting bible — which I’ve done for other games — is that I would rather that players fill in the blank areas on the map with their own imaginations, which I see some have already done.  We tried to include a lot of evocative references to places the player never goes, but left them vague enough that, say, Steeple’s Cathedral or the fractal network of robots in Civitas or the vast Factor complex are left to the player to create.

(Added side note by RHC post interview: The actual quote is “The blue was in my head”.)

3.) What was the creation style for the pixel art still paintings?  Are they originally paintings and then pixelized or straight from “sketch” to pixel?  Is there full on beautiful concept art that was done before all the pixels?

Vic: Almost all of the graphics and sprites for Primordia are hand painted in high resolution, then re-sized and touched up to create what is seen in-game. I did a lot of concept art and illustration for Primordia too, both to work out specific designs in detail, and also to create works that would inform the style and the overall look of the game. I probably did a lot more illustration than was necessary for Primordia (I even did some aerosol art toward the end too), but with all the low res graphics I had to do, it was a nice break to be able to make something a bit more, well, illustrative once in a while. I still think my best work in Primordia was the in-game graphics though. For me, an animated environment with characters etc will always win over a still image; at least in my mind and when it comes to my own work.
4.) We now have another sci-fi inspired Wadjet Eye published game with multiple endings… are we creating a pattern?  Is there any chance this style could influence Blackwell?

Dave: Hah – I’d love to do multiple endings in a Blackwell game, but since it’s an episodic series that could get very problematic. Maybe in the last installment!

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Amnesia Fortnight Follow-Up

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

With almost a week and a half of work done, over nine days days of streaming footage, six documents of daily work edited by the team at 2 Player Productions and many many Double Fine forum and tumblr posts with concept art, music, programming and development discussion I felt I’d do my own quick personal viewcap on the Double Fine Amnesia Fortnight. This is for myself, the Double Fine team, the people already as invested as much as I am in the progress and those who have not yet joined in and can still do so within the next two days or possibly longer.

The breakdown will be by games and my own insights and reflections.

AUTONOMOUS: Not long into the game I came up with calling the production team of this prototype PETTY CROOK. This being a what I thought a clever combination of Project Lead Lee Petty, and Lead 3D Modeler/Artist Ray Crook. While equally the team could also be called “MOO-AR PETTY CROOK IS SOULLESS” to add some more team members in to the name, that leaves out the awesome music guy Camden Stoddard, programmer Oliver Frankze and all the rest of the excellent team working on this, so…
AUTONOMOUS is A Petty Crook production…

That music by Camden btw is amazing, but is also the only music that can’t be heard outside of the twitch.tv or downloadable 2PP eps as of yet. That’s okay though as added to the Humble Bundle has been a soundtrack and as each prototype has been given it’s own cues and original music this soundtrack itself will be worth being in the bundle grip.

Brad Muir has truly been the star personality wise of this whole deal, between his recording of the Jersey bot for voices and jokingly, but not completely stating the game sucked (as it exists at the time, because the bots were just being dumb, so it became some fun to mess with, but not fun to actually play). Still I understand why so many want to to play. I personally kind of just want to mess around with it, and feel it’ll need to prove itself to me in knowing my final goal.

BLACK LAKE: Levi Ryken’s sketches and concept art are still the most top notch part of this game. Of all the games this is the one I’d want a collected concept art book

(speaking of concept art book… Double Fine actually will finally have one soon. That will be the BRUTAL LEGEND art book. It is in the current PREVIEWS Catalog in a full page spread from UDON, and comes out in February.)

I’m also really enjoying how this game is coming together, the idea of scanning for smells and sounds and then following clues to your next spot in the tracking of an animal while also trying to avoid enemies really sound intriguing for a game that from a gameplay standpoint was the weakest at first and now seems conceptually the best.

In terms of music we know that Dax Tran-Caffee has recorded accordion parts for a mechanism of gameplay which I can only assume shall also come into the actual soundtrack as well and that makes me assume that the Doublefine employee who brought him in Brent Andrew Shinn is also recording some original guitar pieces.

HACK N SLASH: While the concept art for Black Lake blows me over, especially the early sketches, it’s the final look of Hack n Slash that is really calling me. Mark Hammer’s final version of the protagonist is awesome, but even better is the work Razmig Mavlian has put in. While inspired by Zelda he’s created his own awesome background that would work well as prints, wallpapers, or whatever. Raz also did the utterly awesome logo.

I’m still unsure completely n what the game playing will be like. I’m intrigued by the ideas originally presented and seeing how they finally find their way into the prototype and how easy or difficult they’ll be to understand.

On the music end, Paul O’Rourke has outdone himself creating as of now three amazing sketches that invoke an old school feel yet at the same time being completely modern. They really should be heard and along with Camden’s tracks will make a seriously awesome soundtrack.

SPACEBASE DF-9: This actually coming together in a way that I’m actually interested in seeing the final product. While many were excited by the concept alone it has taken seeing how much work has gone into it to make me want this as much as everyone. From the choosing jobs for your individuals to the fact that Bagel is doing sitting and eating animations to the Facebook style status updates it all looks really nice.

I get a vibe of them really trying to find a way to make this gameplay that for a sim that allows even the biggest sim hater to appreciate. I really hope they pull it off, because I always had issues keeping my excitement with things of the ilk.

In terms of music, I’m really impressed by what Chris Remo has put together. It’s very atmospheric, it has the most feel of being something you’d hear in a TV show instead of a game actually.

THE WHITE BIRCH: The platformer is coming together really nicely. We’ve seen her leaps on ledges, run across a bridge, climb ropes, and all in an almost finished 3d character. Over these last two days they should be able to accomplish a lot and make something that feels like a really complete minigame that if expanded could be even crazier and wild.

The only thing I don’t think we’ve seen yet is how the original idea of different prizes from climbing the tree and different pathways causing multiple playthrough has been implemented or if possibly scrapped for this prototype, only trying to prove Double Fine could make a working 3D platformer that was fun and innovative.

In terms of music, long time adventure game video game design Brian Min is really outdoing himself. On stream we saw/heard him recording live. Of all the music folks at Double Fine he’s the one I’d want to interview most. His sound career goes back to the days of Sierra at its limelight till today at Double Fine and I’m sure he has great stories. Even if he told them in instrumental musical pieces. Btw, listen to some White Birch suite.

In conclusion, as I finished writing this the Monday Standups have begun on the Stream, which is fun stuff to listen to if you’re fascinated with production like I am.

We’re heading to the end of the Fortnight here, but these next two days will be long and exciting, so hop on board while you can!

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A Fortnight of Amnesia in 2012 gives us more Doublefine Sausage AND 5 new game prototypes

Posted on 12/02/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Double Fine Games came into super extra megaton popularity earlier this year with their monumental Kickstarter that launched the  excellent Double Fine Adventure game now codenamed REDS along with the so far six episode documentary Doublefine Adventure from 2 Player Productions.  If you aren’t already a backer on that and getting to enjoy the awesoment development, art, production and stories on this future old school inspired modern adventure point n click adventure game from the mind of Tim Schaefer and as of now featuring the art design of Peter Chan, Scott Campbell and most specifically Nathan “Bagel” Stapely, there’s still time with their Slacker Backer program.  That isn’t what this is about though. In the continued interests of opening of their doors to all, Double Fine decided to take their annual two week new idea/prototype development session a public event.  Titled Amnesia Fortnight, previous years have brought forth prototypes that gave us games such as Costume Quest, Stacking, Trenched and Once Upon A Monster.   Now this year we’ll be seeing five new prototypes, but for the first time these prototypes will be shared with the public.  Well that is if they buy into the Humble Bundle for the program.   Not only will one get these 5 new prototypes though, they’ll also get three old prototypes if they give at least the minimum top price suggested on the bundle.  Humble Bundle gives to charity as much as it does itself and the developers, you get to choose how much you give for how much you get and how it gets allocated.  The three prototypes available are Happy Song (which became Once Upon A Monster), the original Costume Quest and a game called Brazen which was made in last years Fortnight and is now being prepared for further development.  Along with the prototypes you’ll also get documentary episodes of the daily progress on the development produced by 2 Player.  On top of all that there is also a live stream from twitch, running from 10 AM-6 PM PST.  It has been running since last week and shall continue along till the games are ready to be shared in the two week process. Each of the five games being developed were actually whittled down from 23 pitches from various Double Fine employees which were voted upon by fans who discovered the Humble Bundle project on day one and wanted to be right on the ground floor.  It could be said the five best choices were selected, but some of the games not being worked on this Fortnight definitely deserve exploring at some point and I believe this is honest being considered.  Of the five games I personally am excited for the two artistically envisioned games, but from the work shown on all them they should all be awesome.  Here’s a list of the five, short descriptions based on my personal understanding, and a cool progress image that shows what I think is exciting.  More images can be seen on the Doublefine Tumblr and the Doublefine forums. The White Birch: A plat-former with exploration, there won’t be foes, but the protagonist must continue climbing and exploring to reach the top of a strange tower where an actual White Birch tree sits with a prize and I assume the only way home.  I believe the prizes and exploration will change in repeated playthroughs as there will be multiple paths to the top, but not ways to actually go back and explore the other paths once you choose one.  Here’s some early concept art from Derek Brand.

Black Lake: From the mind of Levi Ryken, this looks like it’ll be a 3rd person top down perspective.  You’ll be playing a mythical animal hunter who doesn’t actually hunt, but uses some type of dream control mechanic to capture these supernatural beasts in a combination of action/adventure and another mechanic not fully explored.  Levi’s art concepts are what really attracted me on this one.  Here’s a final version of the lead protagonist he designed.


Autonomous: The brainchild of Lee Petty, the same man who gave us the ingenious STACKING, this is set to be a first person game (the first 1st person game from Double Fine they keep saying, although I thought that the cancelled SPECS was first person).  In it your character programs, but does not control Automotons… also known as robots.  Through basic input these bots will help the character explore and survive the world he has found himself in.  The team is hard at work on robots and especially making really awesome looking arms that would be the main inputting.  Here’s Lee’s early arms design that 3d modeller Ray Crook has been building furiously.

Spacebase DF-9:  A simesque game that being pitched/promoted as Dwarf Fortress in Space with graphics (and I assume simpler mechanics).  You’ll be building a spacebase, hiring employees, setting up shop, and placing characters in situations and then watch what happens, with each playthrough creating a virtual fiction/story that I assume can be easily shared.  I have to admit I am still not sold completely on where the fun is here.  I understand some people find this fun and once upon a time I actually thought the idea of games like this sounded like the most fun ever, but I’ve changed.  What I feel shall be one of the saving graces of this game is the creative minds of DF  instilling their humorous creative juices and also that Nathan Stapely is working on the character designs that will if anything make the game fun to look at.  I know I keep using the word game, instead of demo and/or prototype… as none of these will be full games, but a game is still something someone can play and hopefully have fun with, so… game.  Spacebase doesn’t really have any mockup graphics to show off that make me go “Oooh…” but the twitch.tv stream showed Bagel working on the characters and they look great.

Hack n Slash:  A NES/SNES Zelda-esque game in which instead of slashing away at stuff, you actually try to hack the game using codes, glitches and various secrets to find your way around monsters, walls, and more.  Team leader, head programmer Brandon Dillon really seems to have most of the game figured out mentally, so it all comes down to the programming itself.   Mark Hamer has come up with a great character design and Raz has conceptualized an awesome background, so visually this game is looking awesome.  I actually at first really couldn’t even see how this game would work, but I really do look forward to it.

So get in on the ground floor now for what could be the next best great Double Fine game to come after the upcoming The Cave from the mind of Ron Gilbert, the iOS superhero management sim Middle Manager of Justice, the sequel to Double Fine Action Theater known as Kinect Party, Double Fine Adventure and who knows what else they have up their sleeves.  If the 2012  Amnesia Fortnight is any hint to some of the ideas running around, expect awesomeness.

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Redbubbling to the surface

Posted on 12/02/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

One of the most exciting and coolest companies I discovered in my pre-NYCC research and then further at the show was Redbubble. Since the show I’ve been tracking the site when I can finding designs that truly struck my fancy and I thought would make cool T-shirts or stickers to own or in the very least wallpapers for my computer.

Redbubble is an absolutely awesome art community site,much like Flickr, Deviantart, and even Threadless, but has its own special vibe & design style that truly makes it stand out. Founded in 2006 by three artists & writers to help create a new marketplace for creative visual artists of all realms, the company has grown to feature over 200 thousand plus artists and help assist in over one million orders in nine million products ranging from shirts, stickers, iPhone cases, prints, calendars and full expanding branding for artists to stamp their visions on and see profit for their creations.

Working with various different companies to get the items printed everything is of high quality which I experienced first hand through a totebag, various stickers and a logoed shirt which have all come in very handy and have stood up to regular use.

The easiest and most exciting thing on Redbubble is its very intelligent alogorithm search engines and suggestions of new best work to find art you really love. I’ll be sharing some of that at the end, basically in my own preference, but I want to publicly thank Peter Tomassi and the entire staff at Redbubble. At NYCC they proved they don’t just run an excellent site, but can run an awesome convention booth experience. This was the first year they had brought product to the show for sale and their success blew me away. They really tried to cater to the current pop-culture fan with shirts ranging from TV, to movies, to comics, video games and basic nerd language. The booth itself was really set up greatly and the workers were totally sweet.

My favorite type of images to find on Redbubble have been the ones that mashup a popular concept with something you wouldn’t expect or that just looks at the character, person, pop culture phenom in a new way that really catches the eye.  It could be a movie, cartoon, professional wrestling, TV show, actor, it doesn’t really matter, I just really like images that switch things up.  There are few artists I’ve found on the site who I really like such as Lapuss and Leigh Wortley.  Here’s three images I really liked on Redbubble, the first is New Mutant’s Warlock and Cyber in Calvin & Hobbes style by Leigh, the second is Fozzie Bear as Clockwork Orange’s Alex by Chris Wahl and the last is Showtime’s Dexter if it was a 1940’s WB Cartoon by Lapuss.

All three of these are available as shirts or stickers.  I haven’t personally decided what to get or to get all three or to get everything on the site.  It’s that awesome.

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NYCC 2012: When the work is Dirty, you call them and then they call you

Posted on 11/12/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

At NYCC I had the privilege to sit with actors Hank Harris, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Jamie Clayton to discuss their interactive web series DIRTY WORK, part of the very awesome and amazing Rides.TV from Fourth Wall Productions.   During the talk lots of subjects were discussed from acting in a role which required a bit of a different style because of the elements involved, to the particulars of Jamie’s character and her landing the role.  Mary Lynn also mentions she’ll be in the upcoming Arrested Development episodes on Netflix.  Here’s hoping she got to have scenes with both her former co-stars in David Cross (on Mr. Show) AND Jeffrey Tambor (on Larry Sanders).

At the end of this I’ll be posting the video of the roundtable interview for all to see in full.

Firstly, let me just discuss RIDES.TV quickly.   This internet only channel features shows of varying types and length, but all in the premise of interaction and immersion.  When you provide the site your cell number, it connects when you watch a show and you’ll receive txts, images and phone calls that add to the experience with inner thoughts, voice mails, or side information that builds the plot & gives you information that now only you and another character knows but that the others don’t.  It’s an innovative and exciting way to present information.  What’s awesome is most of the shows can be enjoyed without that phone concept as they’re well written and very well acted.  Currently the site has a motion comic/cartoon, a few dramatic/comedy shorts and a Wall of Suspense & Horror that reminds one of episodes from Twilight Zone/Tales from the Darkside.  Most recently they added a short with Ethan Embry and Michael Ironside.

The series that I found most enjoyable of course was DIRTY WORK, an ensemble comedy about people who clean up after crime scenes.  After that investigating and all that jazz, someone has to come in and clean up all the blood & guts not taken into evidence.  So far there were only three episodes, but they are really funny 23 minute episodes with amazing bonuses and extras.   All that out of the way, here’s the interview.

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Another Post-Apocalyptic Point n’Click on it’s way (this is a good thing)

Posted on 11/05/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

When I think of some of my favorite point n’ click adventures growing up and into my teen years , the list isn’t really that long. Yet one particular game is pretty high on the list and it’s hard to believe it came out eighteen years ago. That game was Beneath A Steel Sky. Taking place in the future, it featured a gruff, wise talking young man raised in a native tribe of Australia and an even more wisetalking, spirited robot named Joey. It became a game much larger than it seemed at first and cemented in my mind forever as a classic.

Now comes Primordia, distributed by the so far no duds Wadjeteye Games and developed by Wormwood Games. This is another AGS masterpiece and the third futuristic, not comedy, not developed by Wadjeteye game from the publisher. Yet, unlike the two previous games of futuristic madness, this is the most futuristic and also the most comedic. It’s definitely has to be a predecessor of Beneath A Steel Sky.

This is not an official review, but just a preview. In what I’ve seen of the game, the puzzles are both maddening and genius. To think you have to pass a difficult puzzle only for the solution to be a simple inventory concept is actually hilarious, because it’ll take you a bit till you realize this. The graphics are pixel awesomeness like in the past and Dave has used his regular team again with the voice acting, but in a way that is very different and in characters that turn things upside down.

Primordia is scheduled to be released later this month and I will review it fully then, but for now, here’s some screen shots and also go over to the Wadjeteye page and the Wormwood page for more.

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Book Review: How I Slept My Way to the Middle by Kevin Pollak

Posted on 11/05/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

I probably first took notice of Kevin Pollak when he played one of two brownies in the Ron Howard directed fantasy comedy WILLOW, opposite Rick Overton.

I have since stayed a fan and tend to enjoy everyone of his performances.

Despite being a “character” actor he’s avoided the “that guy” stigma. His other career as a stand-up and impressionist are part of the reason for that, but the fact that he’s completely versatile owes to it to. He can somehow be both cute, nebbish and non-threatening as he is at being menacing, hyper-intelligent, unlikable and a jerk, sometimes at the same time even.

I got to enjoy him as a stand-up luckily early on in the late 80’s, as we had cable along with HBO and by 10 my folks let me watch things that weren’t for kids. This probably screwed me over mentally but I’m here to talk about Kevin Pollak, not myself.
Although as I read his autobiographical memoir “How I Slept My Way to the Middle” (available November 6, 2012 from Lyons Press) I could not help to see parallels from his discovering himself as a performer at a young age and my own experiences. While they were very different in many ways, his slow rise through hard work and determination makes me wonder where I’d been by 30 if unlike Kevin I didn’t let my setbacks cause me to give up for a long time before climbing again.

Kevin never gave up though. He was tenacious with making a firm edge in becoming both a successful actor and comedian as well as now an excellent memoir writer or in the very least chronicler/collaborator for co-writer Alan Goldsher.

Starting in introduction with a hilarious anecdote about acquring his role in CASINO, the book quickly leaps into a chronological first person prose of Kevin’s upbringing, discovery of comedy and development as a performer. Interceded in the middle of stories and at the end of chapters are “words” from other well known people who have worked with, for, against, aside or just have been in the same room as Kevin. One of the funniest ones has to be Matthew Perry’s, although James Roday’s anecdote is pretty hilarious as well. There are also “A Few Good Words from Kevin’s Mom”, which may not actually been from his mom, but who knows. Many of the stories also have a post-script, in some cases a pre-script which actually is at the end of the story, but is still a reflection of a detail left out.

All together it fits as a 200+ page comedy special, which might be like a 4 hour show if performed. Maybe more, maybe less. Mostly funny, sometimes stupid, occasionally tragic. Kevin didn’t always have it easy, he had relationship problems, financial problems, and confidence problems. He’s very mellow in one breath and a sarcastic egomaniac in the next. A man who think he’s accomplished nothing and is extremely humble about his career, then a braggart who thinks no one else could achieve what he has. This personality has probably kept him as a commodity, but away from that breakout role that made him a household name. Not that he isn’t a household name, his name is known, but he definitely teeters on that strange balance between star and “that guy who was in that thing” on a regular basis. He seems comfortable with this too, as much as he hates it, he’s embraced… as much as one can.

What’s fascinating about the memoir is that it actually does go all the way up to the point of the publication, covering the bases of him getting into internet and the creation of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show and it’s very exciting success. In a time when many stories of celebs (autobio and biog) stop at pinnacles of success 10-15 years before the actual writing of the book, this makes this one just that much better.

(Also, it has photos throughout, black & white yes, but published in context instead of just an insert in the middle)

{This review is based on Advanced Reading Copy}

As an addition to this review, here’s once again (it was embedded in a Book Expo overview) a video I filmed of Kevin promoting the book using his Christopher Walken impression:

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