Yes, I've seen it - we work for the same bloody website ;)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Armchair Thinkers podcast
Below (and at THIS LINK) my most-recent appearance on the Armchair Thinkers Podcast. Check them out.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
looking for electronic musicians
Hey guys.
So... looking to talk to/with any fans who happen to be electronic musicians, specifically (but not exclusively) people with experience in retrogaming "chiptune"-style stuff, about a possible opportunity. Interested parties can send me a message via Facebook, or post whatever contact-info you're comfortable with (or other questions) in the comments section of this post.
So... looking to talk to/with any fans who happen to be electronic musicians, specifically (but not exclusively) people with experience in retrogaming "chiptune"-style stuff, about a possible opportunity. Interested parties can send me a message via Facebook, or post whatever contact-info you're comfortable with (or other questions) in the comments section of this post.
Monday, April 25, 2011
EPISODE 50: "War of The Thinkers" (UPDATED!)
UPDATE: As of 9/13/11 this video is now at THIS LINK
The AntiThinker Saga comes to an end. I hope people enjoyed this as much as we enjoyed making it.
More stuff after the jump...
So... there it is, have at it. In addition to further episodes of the regular series, I'm planning to have some making-of, retrospective stuff up in the near future to elaborate on certain points; but just a few things real quick while we're all here:
If some of the post-transformation looks oddly-sped-up, there is nothing wrong with your computer or ScrewAttack's player (at least not in regards to this.) What you're seeing is mostly an attempt to artficially replicate a high shutter-speed with video, coupled with some "OMG a whole fucking day of shooting captured all wiggy for some reason!!!"
My favorite joke in the whole bloody enterprise is at 10:21.
Credit where credit is due: My best friend Tim Luz and my brother Chris did not only 99% of the cinematography on this, but they've done 99% of the "when you see me" shooting on the entire series up to this point - the unsung heroes of The Game OverThinker. In addition, that's Chris in the AntiThinker "true form" costume, and doubling me in the over-the-shoulder "Fake Shemp" shots.
The fake blood you see in the "splatter" shots is store-brand vegetable juice, and the "chest-punch" torrent is a mix of tomato soup, water and cherry gelatin-mix - every single drop of "prop gore" spilled was not only nontoxic and biodegradable, but edible. The "chopped" tree limb was an unrelated (to the tree) piece of debris being held up offscreen. NO portion of all that beautiful forest land that provided such a nice backdrop for this whole production was polluted, despoiled or otherwise harmed by our filmming; a commitment we all made and stuck to.
Looking back now, I kinda want to go back and stick the "Rise From Your Grave!!!" sound from Altered Beast over the "ressurection;" but nah - I'm DONE editing this bloody thing ;)
The "origin story" alluded to be The OverThinker is more-or-less "true," and will probably be elaborated upon in the future. (I'm only making MOST of this up as we go along.)
"Cloaked Figure" aka "Monster-Voice Guy" DOES already have an identity, I already know who/what he is, what his "deal" is, etc; and you'll hopefully find out exactly what that is in the near(ish) future.
Yes, that last bit is referencing Rev Rants' video. NO, I'm not "calling him out," looking to start shit, or even outright wholesale disagreeing with him; my position is more on the lines of "except when it is." I see the "Fun is Not Enough" thing quoted around a lot, often used (incorrectly, unless I misunderstood Rev's initial point) as a "takedown" of smaller titles and casual/retro stuff... and yeah, I'm on the other side of that. But otherwise? Rev is alright with me ;)
The AntiThinker Saga comes to an end. I hope people enjoyed this as much as we enjoyed making it.
More stuff after the jump...
So... there it is, have at it. In addition to further episodes of the regular series, I'm planning to have some making-of, retrospective stuff up in the near future to elaborate on certain points; but just a few things real quick while we're all here:
If some of the post-transformation looks oddly-sped-up, there is nothing wrong with your computer or ScrewAttack's player (at least not in regards to this.) What you're seeing is mostly an attempt to artficially replicate a high shutter-speed with video, coupled with some "OMG a whole fucking day of shooting captured all wiggy for some reason!!!"
My favorite joke in the whole bloody enterprise is at 10:21.
Credit where credit is due: My best friend Tim Luz and my brother Chris did not only 99% of the cinematography on this, but they've done 99% of the "when you see me" shooting on the entire series up to this point - the unsung heroes of The Game OverThinker. In addition, that's Chris in the AntiThinker "true form" costume, and doubling me in the over-the-shoulder "Fake Shemp" shots.
The fake blood you see in the "splatter" shots is store-brand vegetable juice, and the "chest-punch" torrent is a mix of tomato soup, water and cherry gelatin-mix - every single drop of "prop gore" spilled was not only nontoxic and biodegradable, but edible. The "chopped" tree limb was an unrelated (to the tree) piece of debris being held up offscreen. NO portion of all that beautiful forest land that provided such a nice backdrop for this whole production was polluted, despoiled or otherwise harmed by our filmming; a commitment we all made and stuck to.
Looking back now, I kinda want to go back and stick the "Rise From Your Grave!!!" sound from Altered Beast over the "ressurection;" but nah - I'm DONE editing this bloody thing ;)
The "origin story" alluded to be The OverThinker is more-or-less "true," and will probably be elaborated upon in the future. (I'm only making MOST of this up as we go along.)
"Cloaked Figure" aka "Monster-Voice Guy" DOES already have an identity, I already know who/what he is, what his "deal" is, etc; and you'll hopefully find out exactly what that is in the near(ish) future.
Yes, that last bit is referencing Rev Rants' video. NO, I'm not "calling him out," looking to start shit, or even outright wholesale disagreeing with him; my position is more on the lines of "except when it is." I see the "Fun is Not Enough" thing quoted around a lot, often used (incorrectly, unless I misunderstood Rev's initial point) as a "takedown" of smaller titles and casual/retro stuff... and yeah, I'm on the other side of that. But otherwise? Rev is alright with me ;)
Final Preview Image for Episode 50
One more preview image for EPISODE 50 - still set to go live at 11pm ET tonight. (Yes, the visual reference is intentional.)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The OverThinker's insane Wii2 theory
(posted to both blogs, because it's relevant)
Okay. By now, everyone is reasonably-certain that "Wii2" gets revealed at E3. And slightly-less-than-everyone is reasonably-certain that it's mystery-controller A.) isn't a Wii-Remote successor but rather can interface with one or something like one (knowing Nintendo this means peripheral backwards-compatibility, which they'd be INSANE not to do after selling everyone's mom a fortune in Wii Sports toolkits) and B.) incorporates a camera and mini-LCD touch screen into it's design - with most rumors suggesting the screen is roughly the size of an iPhone's, which would be HUGE for something that most are assuming is going to be "built-in" to a conventional dual-stick/buttons controller.
I've got a different theory...
I'll say upfront that I'm almost-certainly 100% off-base about this; largely because I have no talent or skillset for engineering. But on the off chance I'm right (or that it's not Nintendo's idea but not a bad one either...) here we go:
What if the touch-screen is an "everycontroller?"
Here's the idea: The screen will "fit" because it isn't there in-addition to action-buttons, but INSTEAD of action buttons. Basically, instead of dedicated action-buttons that every game has to be engineered for, the controller is just one or two analog sticks with NO dedicated action-buttons - instead, the touch-screen generates a set of "buttons" the arrangement and "form" of which are SPECIFIC to each individual game. Arcade-style buttons for a fighter, NES/SNES setup for a platformer, a PC-style stylus-oriented inventory menu for a sim (or an MMO?), something else for whole other genres I'm not thinking of or haven't been invented yet?
So, yeah. Crazy, probably not even close. But I don't think anyone could deny that this sounds EXACTLY like something Nintendo would do, right? Attention-getting, table-upturning, callous disregard for how 3rd party developers will feel about having to be controller-builders as well as game-designers and - this is the important part - it would LOOK ultra-revolutionary and cutting edge but can actually be built entirely out of decades-old technology their tech-teams are already well-versed in from the DS line. (Hmm... slightly-less insane theory: The controler will look like the bottom half of a 3DS, and a 3DS could be used in-place of one.)
So... uh-huh, that's kind of it: A controller that can turn into "any" controller - at least, that's how they'd sell it.
Okay. By now, everyone is reasonably-certain that "Wii2" gets revealed at E3. And slightly-less-than-everyone is reasonably-certain that it's mystery-controller A.) isn't a Wii-Remote successor but rather can interface with one or something like one (knowing Nintendo this means peripheral backwards-compatibility, which they'd be INSANE not to do after selling everyone's mom a fortune in Wii Sports toolkits) and B.) incorporates a camera and mini-LCD touch screen into it's design - with most rumors suggesting the screen is roughly the size of an iPhone's, which would be HUGE for something that most are assuming is going to be "built-in" to a conventional dual-stick/buttons controller.
I've got a different theory...
I'll say upfront that I'm almost-certainly 100% off-base about this; largely because I have no talent or skillset for engineering. But on the off chance I'm right (or that it's not Nintendo's idea but not a bad one either...) here we go:
What if the touch-screen is an "everycontroller?"
Here's the idea: The screen will "fit" because it isn't there in-addition to action-buttons, but INSTEAD of action buttons. Basically, instead of dedicated action-buttons that every game has to be engineered for, the controller is just one or two analog sticks with NO dedicated action-buttons - instead, the touch-screen generates a set of "buttons" the arrangement and "form" of which are SPECIFIC to each individual game. Arcade-style buttons for a fighter, NES/SNES setup for a platformer, a PC-style stylus-oriented inventory menu for a sim (or an MMO?), something else for whole other genres I'm not thinking of or haven't been invented yet?
So, yeah. Crazy, probably not even close. But I don't think anyone could deny that this sounds EXACTLY like something Nintendo would do, right? Attention-getting, table-upturning, callous disregard for how 3rd party developers will feel about having to be controller-builders as well as game-designers and - this is the important part - it would LOOK ultra-revolutionary and cutting edge but can actually be built entirely out of decades-old technology their tech-teams are already well-versed in from the DS line. (Hmm... slightly-less insane theory: The controler will look like the bottom half of a 3DS, and a 3DS could be used in-place of one.)
So... uh-huh, that's kind of it: A controller that can turn into "any" controller - at least, that's how they'd sell it.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Episode 50 ScrewAttack exclusive trailer
The exclusive screwattack-only trailer for Episode 50, which will be especially noteworthy to those of you who aren't already burned-out on "Dead Island" spoofs....
Episode 50 EXCLUSIVE YouTube trailer
Below, the exclusive YouTube-exclusive trailer for "War of The Thinkers." A longer ScrewAttack-exclusive trailer will (probably) debut later this evening.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Episode 50 Premiere Date Set!
FYI folks, the premiere date for Episode 50 has been set for Monday, April 25th at 10pm CST (11pm ET) exclusively at ScrewAttack.com. The AntiThinker saga ends with bullets, blood and gratuitous video game in-jokes; and I hope people enjoy seeing it as much as we enjoyed putting it all together.
There will probably be at least one or two more trailers in-between now and then, and I'm thinking of putting a wrapup/production special together afterwards... but let's see how this goes for now.
In addition, while at one point I was considering using the "50th Anniversary" landmark as an opportunity for a brief sabbatical... I've decided against that. Barring any unforseen issues, the series will pick right back up on schedule not long after this has aired.
There will probably be at least one or two more trailers in-between now and then, and I'm thinking of putting a wrapup/production special together afterwards... but let's see how this goes for now.
In addition, while at one point I was considering using the "50th Anniversary" landmark as an opportunity for a brief sabbatical... I've decided against that. Barring any unforseen issues, the series will pick right back up on schedule not long after this has aired.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Crisis on Infinite Zones?
Below, the trailer for - amazingly - ANOTHER next-gen "Sonic the Hedgehog" game. No title, no indication of gameplay, but it's got quite a hook: "2000s Sonic" is joined midway through his run by... "Original 90s Sonic." O... kay?
Two things are immediately apparent: That Sonic Team continues to know more about "pitching" Sonic games than MAKING them, and that you have to be really into Sonic to immediately discern the actual difference between the two Sonics.
It's probably a coincidence, but part of me REALLY wants to think that the side-by-side run, along with the whole (implied) premise, is an intentional shout-out to "Flash Of Two Worlds."
Also, Sonic Team? Free note: If you actually are going to pull some kind of "Sonic Multiverse" stuff, you might as well have the SatAm cast show up. The fans will lose their shit.
Two things are immediately apparent: That Sonic Team continues to know more about "pitching" Sonic games than MAKING them, and that you have to be really into Sonic to immediately discern the actual difference between the two Sonics.
It's probably a coincidence, but part of me REALLY wants to think that the side-by-side run, along with the whole (implied) premise, is an intentional shout-out to "Flash Of Two Worlds."
Also, Sonic Team? Free note: If you actually are going to pull some kind of "Sonic Multiverse" stuff, you might as well have the SatAm cast show up. The fans will lose their shit.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Good vs Evil
"War of The Thinkers" is coming along, eh... steadily. Until I have more concrete things to show off, here's a sample - the first still from the production, and (for those keeping track) the first time OverThinker and AntiThinker have appeared onscreen "together" (excluding the video monitors from Episode 47.)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
kabooms
(NOTE: this is a straight-ahead shout-out, NOT an advertisement - no one has "asked" me to reccomend this site, no compensation has changed hands, etc.)
Most people on the indie/amateur movie circuit probably already know about Detonation Films, but in case you're in that group and you don't know them you really need to: Basically a whole site of professional-grade stock footage for explosions, fire, debris, bullet-hits, flares, etc. shot against key-ready greenscreen, bluescreen or oldschool black; most of sold for VERY reasonable prices and a TON of good stuff that's straight-up FREE for download.
Pretty much all the fire/explosion FX you've seen in the recent "OverThinker" videos came from their freebie stock, as it happens, so I figured I owed them a shout-out: Keep an eye on this site, it's a GREAT resource.
Most people on the indie/amateur movie circuit probably already know about Detonation Films, but in case you're in that group and you don't know them you really need to: Basically a whole site of professional-grade stock footage for explosions, fire, debris, bullet-hits, flares, etc. shot against key-ready greenscreen, bluescreen or oldschool black; most of sold for VERY reasonable prices and a TON of good stuff that's straight-up FREE for download.
Pretty much all the fire/explosion FX you've seen in the recent "OverThinker" videos came from their freebie stock, as it happens, so I figured I owed them a shout-out: Keep an eye on this site, it's a GREAT resource.
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