OVERBYTES Episode 3

NOTE: This blog, like the other, is now using the superior Intense Debate commenting system instead of the blogger default model. Users can sign-in using Twitter and a few other services, or by getting a (free) Intense Debate ID.

ANYWAY! Here's a new "OverBytes" for y'all, addressing - perhaps innevitably - the reactivated "blame violent games" controversy. Please note, the episode was actually recorded and finished before the now-infamous NRA press conference, which is why there's no explicit mention of it or the organization itself here; though the overall theme and final point would not have changed either way. Enjoy!

NRA Boss: Guns Don't Kill People, Video-Games Kill People!

Something I wish the media would remind people of more often: The National Rifle Association isn't a sportsmen's club anymore, or even a citizen's rights group for gun owners. They're a corporate lobbying group for the gun manufacturing industry. Understanding that is the key to understanding why they do things like insisting more guns - not fewer - are the key to safety, or spurring the stockpiling of weapons with the "gun-ban" boogeyman: They aren't looking to help gun owners, they're looking to increase sales. (See also: "Armed guards at schools are the answer! And we're MORE than willing to help set that up!")

But even understanding that couldn't have prepared me to see the NRA's hilariously faux-macho bossman Wayne LaPierre get in front of cameras today for what was ostensibly supposed to be their response to the Sandy Hook massacre and essentially declare, at the 8:25 mark of this video: Guns don't kill people, video games kill people!



The depressing amusement of the head of The NRA calling anything else a "shadow industry" aside, I'm actually grateful for this kind of public insanity. One thing Mr. LaPierre and I have in common is that we're both fans of clarity - he likes to talk about "good guys with guns" vs "bad guys with guns;" and I like seeing him (a bad guy with guns) come out so strongly in favor of game/movie/etc censorship, because it helps unmuddy the waters: Weak-willed so-called "progressives" who might otherwise have been willing to give ground on "violent" media (instead of keeping the debate laser-focused on the gun lobby, where it belongs) will hopefully be less so when they see it means agreeing with the distraction-tactics of LaPierre and his ilk.

So, this is to be a (political) fight, then. Games, films, entertainers, artists and the people who value them... versus The Right-Wing Gun Lobby. Good. Let's have it, then.

MAGFest

Head's up! "The Game OverThinker" will have it's first independent panel at this year's MAGFest on January 5th at 10:00am. This is my first one of these, so it's going to be straight Q&A format. I'll be out and about at the con itself otherwise from about Friday to Sunday afternoon, in addition. Look forward to seeing any fans there!

EPISODE 79: "In Praise of Clones"

Now showing on BLIP! The OverThinker asks if modern gaming has too narrow a definition of "originality."



ALSO: Learn the identity of the mysterious Red Guy, and witness a shocking surprise twist!

SPECIAL: "Memories"

A little something different, on an occasion of some sadness:

OVERBYTES Episode 2

Took longer to get this second one up (on my end) than I wanted it to - that won't be the case going forward. Anyway, here's the episode:

Check Your WiiU

UPDATE: My WiiU is still not working, and Nintendo tech support doesn't open for several hours and I need to sleep. All information below is as up to date as I could gather as of 7:45am ET. All I can be sure of is that my WiiU is afflicted with some kind of malfunction that multiple other people's have been, and that said malfunction is not in evidence until you try to hook it up. I am NOT claiming that this is a "widespread" or even serious issue, but it's clearly effected a few people so it's probably a good idea for multiple people to check on consoles they might've bought to "hold" for gift-giving time.

ORIGINAL POST AS FOLLOWS:

So. I bought my WiiU (Basic model) on Launch Day yesterday. Didn't get a chance to try hooking it up until well after midnight, because of work and other engagements. System appeared to be in good working order, but would not connect to my TV in a way that was "recognized." Not via it's own included HDMI cable. Not in other ports. Not with other cables. Not even via the (compatible) Wii standard cables.

As you can imagine, I was not happy.

Since it's A.) a brand-new machine and B.) around 3am at the time, not much info was available. However, I did take notice that the system's blue "power-on" light was flashing on and off and that this wasn't typically how such lights work. Checking up on that yielding depressing information via an active thread over at GameFAQs: Apparently, other people are having the same problem and, evidently, the detail of "blue flashing light" leads Nintendo to immediate send them a shipping lable so they can send it out for repairs.

If this is true - if Nintendo now has it's own "Red Ring of Death" problem - it could stand to be a pretty dicey affair: Setting aside how annoyed I am right now, the family audience the Wii brand has such penetration with is not as "used to" dealing with issues like this as gamers tend to be from prior experience; and that would translate to a really bad situation for Nintendo this holiday.

Right now, though - if you bought a WiiU and are maybe saving it to give as a gift, you MIGHT maybe want to take it out and inspect it, just in case. If these things are rare now, they'll be really rare then. Either way, fingers crossed this isn't widespread.

I STRESS: AT THIS POINT, THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THIS ISSUE IS WIDESPREAD TO ANY DEGREE. THIS POST IS NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN AS TECHNICAL SUPPORT ADVICE, A "WARNING" OR AN "OFFICIAL" NOTICE OF ANY KIND. I AM NOT A TECH SUPPORT WORKER, NOR AM I AFFILIATED WITH NINTENDO IN ANY WAY. I HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY WiiU, OTHERS SEEM TO HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM, I FIGURED THE INFORMATION OUGHT TO BE KNOWN.

What I've been up to

I just wanted to do a quick update on what I've been up to recently. While painting miniatures is my idea of relaxing, making terrain is how I let my imagination go crazy. I'm fascinated with how a single piece of terrain can set the tone for a battle. But I'll save you from my poetic musings for another time. For now, enjoy a peek at what my group can look forward to.

I'll just start with one I've been most excited to work on.


I saw a similar set of ruined houses somewhere on the internet, and I really wanted to create my own. I picked up a a set of these craft sticks and just decided to have at it and see what happened.

The idea is that something blasted the door off its hinges and ripped through the other side of the house. I pictured a Khadoran warjack looking at a house in his way and scoffing at the idea of going around it. There will be much more overgrowth to come - so far I've glued it to the base and slapped a sepia wash on all the wood.

I'm happy with how it's turning out, and I can't wait to get to the finer details so I can really give it some personality.


Next up is the barebones start using some premade walls. When I was cleaning out the bedroom, I came across my old Lord of the Rings miniatures game that I bought YEARS ago. In addition to getting some more round bases for my Orks, I came across these pieces.

I'm not quite sure what I want to do with it. I'm tempted to make it an abandoned squatter's camp, with a long-extinguished fire and some other rubbish lying around. Whatever I do, I'm pretty sure I'll be testing out my airbrush on it next month.

As a bonus, here's another thing I'm incredibly excited about.

A three tier display case! I got this from my father-in-law the other day, and I can't wait to fill it with some display pieces. I usually don't worry about painting display-quality pieces because all I do is use them in my games. But now that I have a dedicated case, I don't think I have any choice but to buy a bunch of sweet looking pieces and get to work!

EPISODE 78: "Press Played"

IT'S HERE! "The Adventures of The Game OverThinker" makes it's big debut on Blip, as The OverThinker takes on "Dorito-Gate," introduces new viewers to his world... and meets a mysterious new character!



Incidentally, for those who were wondering: I went with Blip partially because the monetization options are better and it's a more "prestigious" venue (they have to "accept" a show - you can't just put up anything and use their bandwith); but primarily it came down to YouTube being INCREDIBLY difficult to deal with re: fair use claims and flaggingm which makes a commenting-on-entertainment-products show difficult to do there.

TGO Blip Debut Trailer!

UPDATE: Video removed and re-uploaded to correct a glitch, should be visible shortly at THIS link:

And don't forget, we're also still very much a part of ScrewAttack with OVERBYTES!

OVERBYTES Debut!

The first episode of our new series for ScrewAttack, "OverBytes," is now available for all audiences. It's my understanding that after this, future episodes will go back to the familiar Advantage Users first, all-audiences about one week later schedule. Check it out!

Placeholder

So... Blip said "yes" to hosting the "Adventures of The Game OverThinker," (aka "the old show with a new-ish name.") Obviously, there isn't a new episode YET, but when they do begin they'll be arriving at http://blip.tv/gameoverthinker, so bookmark that link (or however people save links today.)

So far as I know, the plan is for "OverBytes" to occupy the same space at ScrewAttack TGO did, but I'll let you know if anything changes on that front (I don't expect it to.)

EPISODE 77: "I'm Not A Gamer"

Now up on ScrewAttack, with a special message about The Future after the credits. FYI, I am aware of visual glitching during the scene with RetroThinker - not sure where that came from, also not 100% sure how/when it can be corrected as things are ever so slightly busy here as you'll soon understand:



Yup, this is happening. Hit the jump to learn more...

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD!

Okay, I just want to get one thing out of the way nice and clear RIGHT NOW: This has nothing to do with ratings, this has nothing to do with "bad blood" with employers, and this especially has nothing to do with fan complaints (or fan encouragement, really.) This was an in-house decision that has been, frankly, a long time in coming and made with the full enthusiasm and support of ScrewAttack.

Here's the long and short of it: The Game OverThinker, as it stands now, is the show I want it to be (conceptually, if not always in execution) and the show I think is a solid model for success long-term. However, being that it's a longform series (even without the sketches) it's just not BEST suited, in my opinion, for hosting on a site like the new/improved ScrewAttack which organizes it's new content in newfeed format - it strikes me that one could be watching THIS show on a busy day, and by the time their done some other stories or shows that might've also interested them might've already cycled by; and on the flip side I didn't necessarily love the idea that an episode I was putting weeks of work into might cycle by within less than a day on it's own. Finally, I had grown tired of not being able to do as many "topical" episodes because production took so long (again, because the episodes are set up to be so long, not because of the live-action material which is typically made in-advance) that news became old by the time I could go at it. So... I had to shake things up.

Incidentally, I came to this conclusion entirely on my own - no one from ScrewAttack has EVER tried to alter, censor or demand a change to the running of this series... which is precisely why I so desperately wanted to keep doing work for them even as it became clear that the "New" Game OverThinker just wasn't a good fit right now. I brought my concerns to ScrewAttack, along with a rough solution I'd worked out, and they agreed to it wholeheartedly.

So, here's where we are moving forward, in list form:

1.) The Game OverThinker's "slot" at ScrewAttack (and within the Advantage program) will be filled by a "spinoff" series that I'm hoping to call "TGO: OVERBYTES." This will be a shorter, more up-tempo show focuses exclusively on game culture commentary and, when possible, topical news. It will update more frequently than the "original" series but be very much of the same tone and tenor. I'm very excited about this, and so is the site.

2.) The original series will continue as it has save for one main change: The onscreen title will change from "The New Game OverThinker" to "The Adventures of The Game OverThinker." There will also be a more "consistent" theme to the subject-matter of the central commentary/"lecture" material - whereas "OverBytes" will be a show about topical/newsworthy subjects and "y'know what I think?"/"did you ever wonder?" thought pieces; the longer show will be about "evergreen" Big Issue topics: Industry politics, sexism, bigotry, existential questions, that sort of thing. Basically, "OverBytes" is where you'll get stuff like "why hasn't there been a new 'Bonk' game?," while "TGO" is where you'll get "We really need to talk about XBL harassment" plus the further adventures of our cast of similar-looking superpowered doofuses.

3.) Right now, it's looking pretty good that Blip will wind up being the new home of "TGO" at least in terms of hosting. The details of whether or not this or that show can or will be cross-posted aside the other will require some hammering out, but they will BOTH continue to be embeded, posted and promoted on this blog. So if you haven't made this your "regular" first-stop in checking for news about this show now is the time to start.

4.) Obviously, all of this is still very much in motion and fluid, so some or all details could change. Trying to work out a "branding" that covers multiple series hosted in multiple places means juggling not only my own concerns but the concerns of related parties, and sometimes this or that thing has to "give." As ever, I just want to 1.) make good content and 2.) make money doing it - I don't involve myself in intra-website, intra-company, "this site rules!," "this site sucks!" bullshit unless someone comes at ME or I see something truly, heinously unfair happening.

5.) That said, I have no issue with PRAISING websites and webmasters who do good, and I need to once more reinforce what absolute CHAMPS and good eggs ScrewAttack has been about this: They've backed the show from the start, encouraged and supported it's continuing evolution, and they're being INCREDIBLY gracious and helpful with this new transition. I honestly thought this would be a VERY tricky, difficult back-and-forth process... and instead it's been some of the smoothest "business" I've conducted on the web thus far. So, hat's off to those guys.

As ever, stay tuned to THIS blog for further updates.

Stay Tuned

So... not to be too much of a Teasy McTeaserton, but big announcements about the future of The Game OverThinker are coming in the near future. I'm excited about them, I hope you will be too. Stay tuned to this blog and my Twitter for more details as I get them.

My new favorite website (and why it's bad for my wallet)

Like most people, I have a host of websites I'll check periodically throughout the day. Most are geek related, but none have ever posed such a serious threat to my expendable income like a website a friend turned me to a few months ago.

That website is called Bartertown, and it's amazing for anyone who likes wargames and saving money.

The idea behind Bartertown is simple - it's a specialized forum that acts as a trading post for wargaming. The site makes it easy to browse through your favorite games like Warhammer 40k or Warmachine/Hordes, or you can visit the less-populated areas like board games and comic books.

What makes the site so genius is how easy it is to find things you want. Do you have a Sisters of Battle army that you don't play, but you're interested in getting started with Orks? Just make an account, post what you have and what you're looking for, and wait for the offers to start coming in! 

Ok, if I could say that seriously I'd have to be running a get rich quick scheme, but there are times when that does happen. Usually though, the process looks more like this:

• Post your good for what you think they're worth (most people seem to start at 70% MSRP)
• Watch as your post slowly gets pushed to page 2 while you're helpless to stop it
• After waiting the mandatory 7 days, you put the list back up and reduce your prices slightly, because surely someone will buy it at 65% - what a steal!
• Get an offer or two that sit at around 50% MSRP
• Send a counter offer that usually gets accepted

And that's really the basic process I've gone through. The greatest part about the website, however, is when you just want to trade one army for another. This has been great for me since I receive armies in trade for painting services, and I have no real desire to play them. Through that, I have received a substantial Ork army, and the only expense to me has been to occasionally pay my own shipping.

The great thing about wargaming is that there are so many armies to try. Whether you like the fluff, looks, or mechanics of any army, sometimes it's hard to play the same thing over and over... 

So when you buy that expensive Space Wolves army, that no longer means you've purchased a single army that you're stuck with. With Bartertown, what you really have is almost any army you want, for any game system you want. If you're satisfied with only having one army, the only expense you'll really have is the cost of shipping. When your local gaming group suddenly decides they all want to drop Malifaux and play Warmachine, you no longer have to hawk grandma's dentures to buy a starter army. Throw it up on Bartertown, tell them what you want, and there's a good chance you'll have a brand spanking new army in less than 2 weeks.

Of course, Bartertown has its downsides. Although there is a fantastic system in place to prevent being cheated, sometimes you just get "those guys" who are out to rip someone off. Without any real binding contract, the only way to get your goods back is to involve the police (who may look at you funny for accusing someone of stealing your army men).

Another personal frustration is how difficult it can be to browse for exact armies you want. Being a forum at its core, Bartertown isn't designed for accurate search results. You can use the search function, but I've actually missed posts because of wording or spelling differences. There's also CTRL+F, but that searches any text on the page (including user names), and it's not a simple process to view one item, then go back and pick up your search where you left off. 

Finally, it's hard to be a new guy in anything involving the exchange of money or goods. The rating system exists to let you know who's a good trader, and who to avoid. However, there's that annoying grey area for anyone with a rating below 20; it's hard to know whether someone is a good trader who's just beginning, or someone out to scam you. I was fortunate to have some very patient traders for my first few experiences, but there are those who will treat you with a passive hostility because they don't trust you. As with all transactions, strong communication goes a long way, and most of my transactions end with people thanking me for my communication.

Overall though, I can't recommend Bartertown enough. It's a great way to either trade models you don't want, or to get an army at about 50% off what you'd pay in a store. I've used it to sell off some redundant models, sell an army for a friend, and to trade for over 200 Ork models for my own collection. I'd like to end with a few tips I've learned to get you through your first few transactions.

• Read the rules! Pay special attention to what you can and can't do if you aren't an advertiser - advertisers keep the site running, so you don't want to step on their toes.
• Look at other posts to get an idea of how to structure your own. Think about who is paying shipping, whether the lower rating ships goods first (which is standard) or if you'll require a minimum rating before you'll ship first (I often require a 100 rating)
• Take pictures if you're selling painted models. At the very least, be as descriptive as possible if you have a model that isn't bare plastic/metal with a standard pose. 
• Be realistic about what you're offering. If you have out-of-production models with bent pieces, don't expect a 1:1 trade. People are always willing to barter, but you'll usually be the one to get the slightly shorter end of the stick.
• Once you've found someone to do business with, communicate! Nothing is more frustrating than trying to do business with someone and having them respond once every few days.
• Figure out the cheapest shipping possible. Sometimes a flat rate or regional box is a good option, but oftentimes the cheapest option is a standard box with the models packed carefully inside. Trust me, putting "fragile" on the box is no guarantee!
• When shipping internationally, make sure you find out how to prevent them from paying unexpected fees. When shipping to Canada, for example, your recipient will often have to pay taxes on any goods valued over a certain dollar amount. It's often up to the recipient to understand their laws, but make sure you've at least asked them before you ship to them - it's possible they haven't even considered that they may get hit with a surprise $30 fee because you didn't fill out the customs form properly!

"I'm Not A Gamer"

Okay, so... apparently this caused a big shitstorm two weeks ago when it first happened, so call me "late" if you like but... here we are.

So! Nintendo's new ad campaign for the 3DS is based around having celebrities tell you what they use the device for, capped off by the tagline "I'm not a gamer, I'm a ______." The first (so far) is Diana Agron using an art app ("I'm not a gamer, I'm an artist;") but the second has Gabrielle Douglas playing NSMB2: "I'm not a gamer, I'm a coin-collecting champ."

There's no implicit "but" there - the idea behind the campaign isn't "I'm not a gamer but even I like this game!;" but rather "I'm not a gamer" as an affirmative statement in and of itself: "I'm not a gamer" translating to "playing this doesn't MAKE me a gamer," which in turn is reassuring prospective consumers that "playing this won't make YOU a gamer, either."

Eyebrow-raising, to be sure. But thinking on it, I like this campaign and think that it's necessary.... I just HATE that it's necessary.



The thing is, gamers have pretty-much allowed "gamer" to become a set of images in the popular culture - the rage-fueled hateful XBox Live brat, the trolling shut-in sleaze - that pretty much no one not already in "the culture" would want to be associated with; so it makes sense that someone was going to mount a campaign aimed at broader audiences based around telling them that they are "allowed" to enjoy their products without fear of being tainted with that label. I hate that it's come to this, but I can't deny that it's probably a worthwhile move.



After all, when Nintendo's pitch for the original DS and then The Wii started off by inviting "non-traditional" gamers into the fold, "gamer culture" threw a giant reactionary crying fit trying to draw a clear distinction between "REAL gamers" and the pretenders who weren't interested in AAA multiplayer action titles, or didn't grow up with an NES controller glued to their hands, or whatever the "qualifications" for being "real" were that week. So it's both fitting and entirely appropriate that they be the ones to finally be explicit about this.

EPISODE 76: "Ask Ivan"

As a result of working out some bugs with the video, "Ask Ivan" is now live! Really, really proud of how this one came out (I think its the best mailbag to date, honestly) and I hope you'll check it out RIGHT HERE. (There's no embedding option for this blog just yet, working on that..)

And for those wondering, yes - that big action sequence at the end is the "nightmare" editing project that had been giving me so much trouble. So, just for my own edification... it'd be super-awesome if even people who don't "care" about the sketch-segments at least gave it a watch ;)

WATCH IT ON SCREWATTACK NOW!

EPISODE 76 ANNOUNCEMEN (UPDATE!)

UPDATE II: The issue with the earlier upload seems to have been resolved, and the episode is now viewable for ALL AUDIENCES at this new link: http://www.screwattack.com/shows/partners/game-overthinker/game-overthinker-episode-76-ask-ivan-0 (full embed post soon.) Apologies for the issues.

UPDATE: I am aware that there is some kind of issue with the video which is causing it to display as "locked" even for Advantage users. While I have no direct control over that myself, the people who do have been made aware of it and I am informed that it's being worked on.

ORIGINAL POST: "Game OverThinker - Episode 76: Ask Ivan" will debut for all audiences on Wednesday, October 17th at 11:00pm CST. As ever, ScrewAttack Advantage members can get an early look right here right now.

Coolest Thing of The Week

Courtesy the Ohio State University Marching Band, the coolest video-game related thing you will see this week (also, ridiculously impressive technical achievement even if you, like me, don't know shit about how a Marching Band works...)

"Retro City Rampage" Looks Pretty Sweet

I admit, upfront, that I am a "mark" for so-called "retro-style" games. Yes, it's comfort in the familiar - this is gaming as I knew it when I loved it best and so forth - but it's also just a stylistic thing: I'm a fan of "handicapped art - i.e. art made under some kind of imposed technical restrictions - and as such I'm fascinated to see the way talented digital artists use the restricted medium of pixels to create visuals or the limited sound-range of "chiptunes" to create musical compositions.

But I'm also willing to admit that the "retro" aesthetic has also become an easy way for lackluster games to pitch themselves as a quick nostalgia fix or, more commonly, a medium awash in overly reference-heavy games that "work" as nostalgia-fixes but don't hold up as games in their own right. "Retro City Rampage," on the other hand, looks to be doing the genre right - mixing up the usual set of go-to visual cues with a solid gameplay hook (pre-III "Grand Theft Auto" with a gonzo aesthetic and an NES gloss) that looks like a lot of real fun even for folks who don't immediately get a laugh out of a Bionic Commando gag:

And This Week's Overblown Gamer Freakout Will Be...

After recieving complaints from "Call of Duty" players of Islamic backgrounds that they were offended by a bit of background decoration in the "Favelas" multiplayer map in "Modern Warfare 2" (the offending detail: A piece of wall art including the word "Allah" was hung above a toilet stall;) Activision and Infinity Ward temporarily removed the map from availability last night (presumably the offending image will be patched out of existance.)

Hoo-boy.

After the jump, sarcasm:

There's a lot of interesting levels to be discussed here: Artistic boundaries, levels of offense, cultural sensitivities, freedom of expression, etc. And it'll be nice to HAVE those discussions - mature, dignified and reasonable versions of which I can assume will begin almost immediately! I mean, what else could happen, right?

Man, sure is a good thing this didn't happen with a game whose audience and "community" are already demonstrably predisposed to furious, paranoid hatred for minorities and/or other cultures... OR a game that doesn't already have a strong to the point of virulent strain of xenophobia in general and Islamophobia in particular running through it. I mean, can you IMAGINE what the reaction to THAT would look like?

Boy howdy, I sure am glad that this will all be self-contained in the restrained, thoughtful forum of ideas that is online gaming culture; and that I WON'T have to sit through days upon days of self-righteous twits raging through incomprehensible talking points about "P.C. FASCISM!!!," "REVERSE RACISM!!!," "FREE-SPEECH!!!," "CENSORSHIP!!!," "SHARIA LAW!!!," "DOUBLE STANDARDS!!!" or any other such nonsense.

...I mean, wouldn't that just be awful?

Mantic's Recent Kickstarter

A huge congratulations to Mantic and their recent success on Kickstarter! For those who don't know Mantic, they're basically a group who broke off from Games Workshop and started creating models that could sort of pass for 40k and WHFB models if you squinted really hard (go ahead, ask me about my opinion of painting their Orx).

But it looks like they've finally struck out and given themselves a separate identity. They recently ran a Kickstarter project to fund their new game DreadBall - The Futuristic Sports Game. So how well did they do? Check it out.


                                 
                                                                   -jaw drop-
For those who can't quickly do such simple math in their head, that's nearly 3645% of their original goal!

What is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is the most popular "crowd-source" funding website around. Creative geniuses of all sorts submit projects every day in the hopes of people from around the world giving money to help them fund a certain project. The projects I always keep an eye on are gaming related (surprise!), but I've seen things from funding a film, art project, and even a little boy's origami business.

However, this is 2012. We don't just give out money to people with an empty wallet and a head full of ideas, right? Therein lies the genius of Kickstarter. Take a look at any Kickstarter page; on the right side, you'll see several donation levels that usually start in the $5-10 range. Based on how much you donate, the Kickstarter owner will give you various goods at the successful conclusion of the project.

With Dreadball, for example, donation levels ranged from a digital copy of the rules, to getting a full copy of the game, and ending with having yourself cast as a MVP model in a future release (along with a TON of other goodies) for $5,000.

Mantic's success is a success for all gamers
Don't get me wrong, a 3,600% funding isn't a testament to how generous gamers are. Alot of Kickstarter projects appeal to our greedy sides - we gets good stuff for our money, often at a discount off of the likely MSRP of the goods.

But as I sat there toward the end, refreshing the Kickstarter page every few hours, I couldn't help but feel a little exhilarated. Here's a company with a game they want to make, but limited means to do it. So they reach out to us, showing us their dream and asking us to believe in it with them. And all they wanted was enough money to release the core game!

But then these gamers along and say "Oh you want $20,000? Too bad, this game looks so amazing that we want more than just the core game!"

That's what I love about Kickstarter. How I'd love to be in the Mantic office as they watch their initial goal get blown away, and then see it end with a success that they never imagined! Kickstarter is such a great way to watch people's dreams come true. And if you're a part of it, you get to share in their success. It always makes me smile when I see someone get funding for something they'd otherwise have difficulty funding, and celebrating their backers by letting them share in the project they made a reality.

So hats off to Mantic for stepping out of GW's shadow and creating what looks to be an amazing game!

LAST CALL FOR "ASK IVAN!"

ANNOUNCEMENT! As of Midnight this Wednesday (October 3rd) I'll no longer be taking questions for next episode's big "Ask Ivan!" event. If you still haven't asked yours, ask it here or ask it on ScrewAttack. Remember to leave a name or a handle, no anonymous queries will be answered.

The actual airdate(s) of the episode itself will follow, stay tuned for further details.

My Video Hell

I am right now (in between other, more decisively-deadlined jobs) hard at work on the next episode of "The Game OverThinker." It MIGHT take a little longer than I wanted it to take, read below to learn why...

Every episode of "Game OverThinker" from the beginning until right now have been made entirely using two programs - one for manipulating images, one for arranging and editing video files - made by the same Very Famous Software Company. I won't use their name here because it's still slightly plausible that the problem might be my doing (not looking likely), but let's just say they are Very Famous and are named after a type of building material.

ANYWAY!

I've spent about a full week (in total hours) shooting footage and building FX for the ending sequence of this next TGO episode (the middle part I'm doing last so everyone can get their "Ask Ivan" questions in) and have managed to finally this afternoon cut it together into proper format. It's a complicated sequence - one actor playing about a dozen characters via greenscreen with a lot of effects and sound elements - but also a short one, not even five minutes in length.

The "Media Encoder" that Very Famous Software Company's video-editing software allows as it's SOLE option for exporting those elements as one solid video file refuses to complete that task - constantly crashing a few seconds through the timeline with no available description of what's causing the crash or what can be done to fix it. My assumption is "too many elements," but A.) I cannot be certain because this is apparently 1983 where it's still "okay" for software to give error messages with no troubleshooting and B.) for the amount of fucking money these programs cost (seriously, figure out who I'm talking about and look up how much they ask for their products) this should NOT be an issue... especially for less than five minutes of footage not even in HD.

Now, normally, this is something you'd fix by calling a customer service person. Oh! But, you see, Very Famous Software Company doesn't have reps available "overnight" (because, as we all know, if people with jobs that involve the use of high-end video-editing software are known for anything it's for keeping reliable 9 to 5 business hours) ...or even in the evening. Or even on weekends. Apparently I can order a Domino's pizza at 2am but I can't get service for a product I'm paying... egh. You get the idea.

SO! After many hours of self-research (because, y'know, no customer service whatsoever) it seems that a seperate "effects specific" product ALSO made by Very Famous Software Company might handle this sort of project better AND I can just pop the "raw" timeline from it's current place into THAT with little difficult. Okay, cool... granted, it's another HUGE chunk of change and there's no garauntee this is going to fix the problem (sure would be nice to talk to a fucking customer service person about that, huh!?,) but it's something...

Wait! Wait! Very Famous Software Company knows their products are expensive, so they graciously offer downloads for FREE TRIALS on their website! Well, that's good news! So I go to download it, and instead of just downloading immediately via that little "do you want to download ______?" window like every other website on the fucking planet it instead asks me to install Very Famous Software Company's PROPRIETARY downloading service (which requires a login ID) onto my system. Of course it does, it's Very Famous Software Company. So I download the proprietary service that I need to download the free trial... and it won't work. Error message after error message. There is nothing wrong with my internet service. More error messages.

I have other priorities to get to at that point, so I set about those while periodically trying to make this proprietary downloading service work. Several hours later, my work is done and the download service still doesn't work.

But wait! There's another option! Very Famous Software Company offers a "Cloud" service whereby you pay a monthly fee and get to use various versions of their products... which includes the trial you've been trying to download! Hurray! And there's even a free trial of the "Cloud" service itself - double hurray!

...except once I've signed up for the "Cloud" trial, I don't see the option on it's "Apps Menu" for the product I signed up to gain access to. It turns out that the "free" trial of the product I signed up for is ONLY available through the paid version of the "Cloud" service. Of course it is. It's Very Famous Software Company.

I'm angry at this point. Like, Incredible Hulk angry. My Twitter looks like the private diary of an intern for the Romney campaign. Just burning up with hatred for Very Famous Software Company, their products, my inarguable professional need to keep using their products and most of all for the fact that once again something I was actually really enjoying doing (I honestly love doing what I do on this show, and this sequence was coming together spectacularly) has now been drained of it's joy and may even need to be scrapped altogether because of all this. I work hard on this stuff, and the parts of it that are fun are often the ONLY fun I really get for days on end.

So... fine, fuck it. It's only money. I sign up for a month's worth of paid "Cloud" service. The level I paid at lets me have full access to ONE product. I pick the one I came looking for a 4th of a DAY ago. They process the transaction. It goes through. The "order summary" pops up with a big button for "DOWNLOAD." I click it...

..."DOWNLOAD" takes me back to that same useless "Apps" menu on the "Cloud" service. The option that I'm looking for, that've now paid them to let me use for a MONTH... is not there. I sign out. I refresh. I sign back in. Try again. No change. My account, billing summary, email reciepts, etc show that I paid to be able to download this and it's not letting me download it.

And there's NOTHING I can do about that tonight. Or tomorrow. Or until Monday. Even though that means two days out of 30 that I've paid for will now be wasted.

Because I can't call their service line and ask why I am not able to access and use this product because Very Famous Software Company cannot be bothered to have a customer service line available on evenings or weekends.

Because, apparently, it is acceptable for a software company that operates a Cloud-based download management service that caters specifically to people who need constant, ready access to products and material to run their customer service on fucking BANKER'S HOURS. ...Oh! Except that term is no longer accurate, because I can call my bank 24 hours a FUCKING day.

The sun is about to come up here, and I'm fucking done for the night. The lone "upside" to this nightmare is that this is, fortunately, NOT happening to a show/project with a contractual deadline - if it was, I'd be losing my mind for real right now.

I'm telling myself it might just be some kind of service delay and I'll be able to access it tomorrow, but I know that's bullshit. I know I'm going to spend monday morning/afternoon on the phone with Very Famous Software Company working this out, either getting the trial that I paid for actually downloaded or at least getting my money back... money which will then go into the fund for the many, many hundreds of dollars I'll be spending to buy either a better computer (who knows, maybe this heap just isn't "strong enough" to render that biiiiiig scaaaaaary 4 1/2 minutes of video!) or to buy the full version of this Very Famous Software Company's "Effects" program because apparently it'll help and I'll be damned if all this work I've already done go to waste.

Cloudberry Kingdom is a WiiU Launch Title

Not-bad writeup on Kotaku yesterday evening putting a spotlight on the WiiU's surprising strength as an indie-friendly console given the strong lineup of downloadable games among it's launch titles. One of the standouts looks like Pwnee Studios' "Cloudberry Kingdom," which resembles nothing so much as "New Super Mario Bros." with a sadistic difficulty curve:

Mario Warfare

Have you see enough "What if ______ was crossed with _______??" gags on youtube, webcomics, etc. to last a lifetime? You probably have, but check out this video anyway because it looks pretty awesome regardless.

If nothing else, I'm glad to see "Equilibrium" popping back up as the fan-film point-of-reference du-jour...

Mega Man Is Over

Double-meaning, y'see.

Ever since Keiji Inafune up and quit the company awhile back, Capcom has seemed bound and determined to turn his most well-known creation into mulch: Cancelling a slew of well-into-development Mega Man titles, making his appearance in "Street Fight X Tekken" a self-parody, etc.

The latest seeming insult: The Blue Bomber's promised 25th Anniversary game (keep in mind, we're talking about a Mario/Zelda/Kirby-level Golden Age icon here), billed as a crossover wherein a "new" MM battles a cosortium of foes from all the different subseries, has been revealed as... an iPhone social game; fittingly titled "Mega Man X Over."



Over, indeed. If nothing else, at least Sonic can have some company on the "you used to be good" pile.

EPISODE 75: "Easy Does It"

Our newest episode is now showing for all audiences on ScrewAttack!

In this episode, we examine the modern controversy over "Easy Modes": do they really - as the lead designer of "Assassin's Creed III" recently claimed - "ruin games," or is there a vital place for them? In addition, we proudly announce that the next episode will be "Ask Ivan!" - wherein Ivan the Intern will answer questions to posted to the comments sections under the video itself or to this blog post (see episode for details, no anonymous questions please.)

ALSO! You'll see The OverThinker's favorite watering hole, discover the history of The OmegaThinker, witness the shocking origin of RoboThinker, learn something new about Ivan the Intern and watch ME gradually figure out how to properly use my new green-screen! (in all sincerity, I know some folks run hot or cold on the skits, but I'm pretty psyched with how the "ending" bookend for this one turned out tone, FX and timing-wise.)

Embedded episode and spoiler-y discussion after the jump!



Yeah, I'm proud of this one. The Hutchinson quote kind of fell into my lap as a perfect sort of topic-starter for my little niche here, and it gave me some room to A.) flesh out exactly what it is Ivan is supposed to be doing most of the time and B.) bring RetroThinker back into the picture and try out what might become his new status-quo as "resident old-timey expert guy." He's a fun "voice" to write for, and his "costume" isn't as cumbersome as some others...

As to RoboThinker's origin? I really like how it came out, overall, but it was a winding road to get here.

When I sat down during the "planning stages" for the revamped show as the AntiThinker business was coming to an end, a robot villain named "RoboThinker" was the very first thing I wrote down after deciding to continue the "____Thinker" naming-scheme schtick, but for the longest time that was all I had for him. (FYI, you have been spared the appearance of non-starter ideas like an enviro-terrorist called "Eco-Thinker," a white or yellow ninja tagged as "ElectroThinker" and a flatulence-powered one-off villain named "OverStinker.")

Believe it or not, for a long time my plan was for him to either resemble Robocop or The Borg - which would've been highly unfortunate since this is hitting so soon after "To Boldly Flee." Ultimately, I wanted him to look like a less specific parody, and the final concept ("Super-Sentai Terminator," basically) turned out to be best within my budget/abilities AND to fit best with OmegaThinker's DBZ/Trunks angle (that being DBZ's "Terminator" spoof and all.)

In any case, I hope everyone enjoys this one; and I'm already enjoying seeing people getting into the spirit of "Ask Ivan." If all goes well, you'll get those answers, an explanation of WHY OmegaThinker doesn't want OverThinker doing the fighting and your first taste of RoboThinker's voice and personality next time. Until then, let's hear those questions for Ivan!

U Mad?

In case you hadn't heard, the WiiU has an unexpected third-party (second-party, actually - Nintendo published!) exclusive. Some people are... less than thrilled about this.

The poor darlings.

Off To Work

I'll be getting on an airplane for The Escapist Expo very soon, which means updates to this blog may be a bit on the sporadic/late side from now until Monday. Stay tuned.

Nintendo Being Nintendo

The WiiU's dates and prices have been announced for Japan, and will be announced for the U.S. later this morning. The main non-pricing/tech related news is that it looks like the flagship launch titles will be New Super Mario Bros. WiiU and Nintendo Land.

I haven't seen much of "Nintendo Land," but I dig the "symbolism" of its existance: It's a Wii Sports/Play/Resort installment, but this time set in a virtual Nintendo-themed amusement park. I like the optimisitc (on Nintendo's side) vision of what that represents: that the "Casual-core" Wii newcomers of seven years ago are now part of the broader Nintendo fan-culture (we'll find out if that's precisely TRUE soon enough.)

Moreover, though, much as I'm supposed to roll my eyes at the "regressiveness" of the New Super Mario Bros. juggernaut... and while, yes, I'd RATHER be playing a successor to Galaxy or something truly new... damn it, y'all KNOW me. The first console of the Eighth Generation is launching... with a 2D Super Mario Bros. side-scroller. That's kind of awesome.

EPISODE 75 ANNOUNCEMENT!

Episode 75: "Easy Does It" will debut next Wednesday September 19th at 11:00pm CST right here on ScrewAttack. As ever, Advantage Members can watch it starting now.

ALSO: As announced in the episode-proper, Episode 76 will be our first ever "ASK IVAN" installment, wherein fan and viewer mail will be answered by Ivan the Intern. You can ask your question in the ScrewAttack comments page or the comments here (leave some form of name, anonymous questions will not be answered) concerning games, pop culture or anything else you'd want to Ask Ivan about.

Stay tuned for the episode for more details.

AWESOME!!! "Sifl & Olly" Return... with a Gaming Show!

ROCK!

Pushing Through a Bad Model

Like I said in my last post, painting is zen. If I have an hour or two free, I love nothing more than to turn on every single light around me, grab a paintbrush, and make a piece of plastic come to life.

But when I'm painting a group of models, it's hard to push past that one piece that holds zero interest for me.
I ran in to this problem when finishing my Super Dungeon Explore heroes. I had several models that were exciting to me, which  you've seen, and two that I would have been happy never painting at all.

 
Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a completionist and I can't leave a task undone.

Finally, after hours of staring at me while I happily painted the models around them, the Deeproot Druid and Angry Bear were the last things on my painting tray. I used my first night to take a break and get some work done around the house; I'd been painting a lot and needed a break. Then the second night I decided to hop on my Xbox and say hey to some buddies. But after about 5 days of stalling, I realized that I hadn't done a single bit of fun painting, and I missed it like crazy.

Sadly, that hippy and his furry shapeshift form were standing in my way. And it's not like they're particularly bad models; there is just nothing there that excited me other than using a green wash on his beard.


But I had a whole tray full of minions that needed to be painted, so I had no choice but to push through and deal with it.

Long story short, they finally got finished. I decided to practice some exaggerated highlights on the minimal pieces of fur that were sticking out,


but otherwise this isn't a piece I got in to. But it's done, and I know I'll be happy when I finally see it on the game board. And fortunately, I found a bit of a revelation through this whole experience.

I found a parallel between painting and getting my kids to eat dinner. I have two kids who are picky eaters (isn't that a redundant phrase?), and we've recently begun figuring out how to manipulate them in to eating most of their food. 

We start with giving them equal portions of food, including one thing we know they'll eat (usually a fruit). Of course they blow through their little bit of fruit immediately and want more, but we won't give them any more until they eat the rest of their stuff. So when they know that there is more yummy fruit to be had, they are willing to push through a horrifyingly disgusting meal of spaghetti and green beans.

So from now on, I'm going to try manipulating myself in my painting. I didn't realize until now that I treat my commission painting differently than my fun painting. When doing a commission, I have a job that needs to be done quickly. I love painting, but any models I don't like are covered by the knowledge that I'm getting paid for it. But with the fun painting... not so much.

So really, the Royal Paladin should have been my final model painted. I think having that dangling carrot would have really helped comfort me as I fought through the most boring model I've ever painted. 

EPISODE 74: "Rusty Pipes"

A few weeks ago, my colleague Jim Sterling did a video on what he so as the waning (or, at least, "water-treading") state of the Super Mario Bros. franchise which, along with a general sense of "I've gotta get to this at some point" regarding the matter, inspired me to undertake this episode... which is NOW SHOWING on ScrewAttack!

ALSO! The "wraparound" segmentsof this episode includes, among other things, a Golden Age enemy, my terrible impression of Sean Connery and the ultimate reveal of what The AntiThinker's return means for the continuing adventures of The OverThinker.

Embedded video (and SPOILER TALK) after the jump:



SPOILERS BELOW

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So... "gotcha," I guess. The AntiThinker WAS back... for about five minutes. I've been planning this bit, broadly, since before shooting wrapped on "War of The Thinkers." AntiThinker was always going to go away for at least two "arcs," then come back but in an unexpected context. Not long after that, the notion of adding "evil robot" ("RoboThinker," who you'll probably see in the metallic flesh next episode time permitting) to the evolving bad guy character-roster (alongside "ninja" and "demon") and "Terminator parody" seemed like a logical way to go about doing it.

THEN it occured to me that A.) I hadn't really done a Dragonball Z parody yet, either, and it seemed like a natural fit for the show; B.) DBZ's Androids/Future-Trunks/Cell episodes WERE a Terminator riff and C.) a version of The OverThinker in Trunks' purple hair, blue coat and sword ensemble would (hopefully) be inherently funny... it was suddenly an obvious manuever: Let "OmegaThinker's" debut be taking out AntiThinker in a parody/recreation of the "Oh no not MORE Frieza epis-OH! Frieza's DEAD just like that!?" debut DBZ gave Trunks.

What Is Sony's "Console Wars" Movie?

Sony Pictures, you may have heard, has bought up a bunch of domain names relating to a movie project called "Console Wars." Yesterday, HitFix's Kris Tapley ambiguously tweeted that he'd heard of the project before and described it as "The Social Network" but for video-games.

So... a non-fiction drama about corporate-rivalry in the video game world? Interesting. But what would it be about - which "war" are we talking about?

It would be almost comically cynical and gauche for Sony to make a movie about a business they are one of the three major players IN - even in a "names changed" fictionalized version everyone would be able to tell which one is supposed to be Playstation, making it impossible not to be looking for moments of self-aggrandizement. Also, the movie would probably be current-gen because that's when the mainstream audience/press started caring about the games industry... and most of the "drama" in Generation 7 has involved Sony tripping over it's own shoes in some way.

I'll get called "biased" for this, but the only remotely movie-worthy console-biz story of Gen7 is the Wii: a company that used to be on top, now struggling on the verge of collapse, making a hail-mary pass that everyone says is insane and will fail based largely on the ideas of it's chief creative guy (Miyamoto as Billy Beane from "Moneyball," basically) ...only to see it become a giant restorative success. Like The Wii or not, that's the story.

The "Great" Console War, of course, was Nintendo vs Sega in the 80s and 90s (back when consoles actually had totally different sets of games and such) but I agree with Devin at BAD that it'd be hugely unlikely for Sony Pictures to be so gun-ho to make an 80s period piece featuring almost-exclusively Japanese actors.

That said, if Sony really does want to make a movie about the game business where their brand gets to be the underdog turned conquering hero, the "birth of the Playstation" would be the way to go: Screwed-over in a VERY public and humiliating way by the industry's top dogs, turning the remains of that screw-over into thier own brand, ultimately getting-over on aforementioned top-dog by innovating where they refused to? That's a movie. On the down side, there's no way Nintendo is going to agree to let their logos, names, products etc. be seen in that movie; which you'd kind of need...

Episode 74 ANNOUNCEMENT

Episode 74: "Rusty Pipes" - which will deal with whether or not the Super Mario Bros. series has overstayed it's welcome and that other thing that was revealed at the end of last episode - will make it's debut on Thursday 8/30. ScrewAttack Advantage members can get an early look on Monday 8/27.

Power Drain

It's been a long time coming, but now it's here: Nintendo Power Magazine is shutting down after 24 years. If nothing else, a lot of people's magazine collections are about to become really valuable.

I am feeling about as rotten about this as I did when Dr. Seuss and Jim Henson died. Yes, Nintendo Power was a nakedly commercial corporate thing - a singularly genius bit of marketing by Nintendo of America in realizing that there was going to be a "gamer culture" and getting in front of it with a big, glossy fan magazine of their own. (You can read the first issue in PDF format HERE.)

But it was a HUGE deal, legitimately, as well: Pre-internet, I don't think a lot of gamers (myself included) would've become gamers without NP to show them that there were others and that codes, strategies, maps, fan-art etc was meant to be shared. Having this magazine showing up at my house every month for a decade or so did more to make me a better reader than almost any book did, and I can say for a fact that there were a lot of NES/SNES games now considered benchmark classics that I don't think a lot of people would've connected with without NP "covering" them. A whole generation of (American) gamers were introduced to JRPGs when Nintendo Power gave away a free copy of DragonQuest (as "Dragon Warrior") as a re-subscription bonus. I myself got my first internet connection - and first exposure to the "medium" where I now make my living - in order to use the Nintendo Power AOL site. The AVGN once summed up the memories thusly:



I hadn't subscribed in years - like everyone else, The Internet replaced magazines for things like that for me - but it's still pretty sad to see it go. This is real end-of-an-era stuff - another huge part of the Golden Age of Gaming is gone. In my mind, this is as quietly-devastating a loss as when Sega abandoned consoles.

Rest in peace, old friend.

Will Apple Be The Game-Changer?

I've been saying this for years, and I'll keep saying it until I get either the satisfaction of history proving me right or the lesson of history proving me wrong: The end of dedicated gaming-consoles is coming soon, and it will be heralded by games becoming a regular feature of streaming-enabled TV devices. Whether it will be the Ouya, OnLive, or something else... it's coming, and it will change everything.

Lately, I've added a caveat to that, only half-joking: In the near future, there will not be ONE device for all of your movie/music/game/etc content - there'll be two: The one that holds a solid majority of your stuff... and the Apple one that holds all the Apple-exclusives. Okay, maybe an excessive "dig" at the late Mr. Jobs' "keep it in he family" approach to technology, but you get the idea.

According to the Wall Street Journal, though, my "joke" is inching closer to reality: Apple may be developing a "next gen" successor to it's thus-far modestly-recieved "Apple TV" set-top device that would allow it to stream cable TV and "other content." Presumably, "other content" mostly means movie/music delivery a'la iPads comes to TV... but the i-devices are ALSO a big part of gaming. It wouldn't be TOO difficult (just figuring out how to control it, really) to bring iOS gaming to TVs via such a device; and if Apple DID do that and it "clicked" with people... they could become to the streaming-age of home gaming what Nintendo was to the console age via the NES.

One way or another, this is the future.

Film Crit Hulk Hulks-Out on ME3 once more...

Well, this should be interesting...

When the web-famous Film Crit Hulk took a break from movies to opine on the "Mass Effect 3" ending controversy, he was doing so as observer - he hadn't played/finished the game at the time, and (like me) wasn't critiquing the merits of the ending but the behavior of "Re-Take" - it didn't matter (and still doesn't matter) in this context what Hulk or anyone else "thought" of the ending itself, because good or bad it's a terrible precedent to try and make artists subserviant to the knee-jerk negative response of the audience.

Well, now he HAS finished the game, and offers up his critique of the ending(s) themselves; his main discovery and thesis being that three endings being essentially the SAME ending as-seen through the prism of different philosophies is the entire point that (in his opinion) people managed to miss. READ IT HERE. Money-quotes after the jump:

Choice bits from the article itself (all quotes in caps because Hulk is in fact a Hulk):

"YOU WERE ALL WRONG.
IN FACT, YOU WERE ALL SO WRONG THAT IT MAKES HULK HORRIFICALLY SAD."

"WE ARE TRULY IN A "GIVE US" CULTURE. WE WANT INDULGENCE. WE WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH STORIES. NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING. YOU CAN ARGUE THAT VIDEO GAMES ARE GROWING IN POPULARITY BECAUSE THEY "GIVE US" THE THINGS WE WANT IN TERMS OF EXPERIENCE INSTEAD OF HAVING SOME KIND OF RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMETHING WE CAN'T CONTROL."

"SO WHAT DOES MASS EFFECT ULTIMATELY HAVE TO SAY? HULK KEEPS HEARING THAT MASS EFFECT IS ABOUT CHOICE. IT ISN'T ABOUT CHOICE WHATSOEVER; CHOICE WAS SIMPLY THE NATURE OF THE MECHANICS."

"IF YOU WANT MASS EFFECT TO BE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE CANON OF ART, THEN YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT ULTIMATELY THE STORYTELLING ELEMENT IS GOING TO HAVE TO GO AGAINST THE INDULGENT NATURE OF VIDEO GAMES."

Hulk goes on to say that his takeaway from all this is that the gaming community doesn't appear to be "ready" for the medium to reach the same level (of storytelling accomplishment) as other mediums; which I have a hard time disagreeing with. Not every game wants or needs to tell a great story, fine - but "Mass Effect" DID want to do that; and it's fans basically said "no thank you."

I don't WANT to get into this nonsense again, but the big reason video games (the ones that try to tell "cinematic" stories, I stress) are by-and-large inferior to, say, movies in the broad sense is that too many otherwise good ones are still wedded to gimmicks like multiple-endings and overly player-effected narrative.

Episode 73: "The Return" (aka "Going Hollywood")

Update: I am informed that the ability to post comments at ScrewAttack should be restored sometime Saturday morning. Stay tuned.

The OverThinker finally gives in and offers up the obligatory "what's wrong with video-game movies" episode; along with a quick-and-easy "jumping on" point for new fans and longtime viewers alike. Full episode (and semi-spoilers) after the jump:




Yup. Surprise ending. Not a dream. Not an imaginary tale. But if you think you know where it's going... you don't ;)

What's on the Painting Tray?

I'll just say it - to me, painting is therapeutic. I get to paint models that I get to keep, and it's my time to try new techniques that I wouldn't dare risk on a commission piece. Plus I get to have podcasts and shows playing in the background, so I get to stay caught up with all my media entertainment (as long as no one asks me to describe what the actors look like!)

Being a work-from-home dad with a two-year-old boy and four-year-old girl, both with a healthy set of lungs and and endless amount of energy, I rarely get quiet time during the day. I'm allowed some respite for my commission work, but I will always choose to be a dad and husband first. So after a day of painting, keeping kids alive, and then hanging out with my wife, I'm ready for the house to quiet down and let me enjoy the silence.


It's in that time that I pick up the brush once again, but this time I get to paint things that I really want to paint, be creative in my techniques, and learn lessons that every painter eventually has to learn. As you may recall, I've been painting up my copy of Super Dungeon Explore (expect a review soon), and what a blast it's been! I told myself that each piece would use a wash on a primary part, and I wouldn't use anything else on it. I'll admit I was a bit nervous that they'd come out looking rather sloppy, but I never should have doubted the power of washes!

I started off with two characters I wanted to play in an upcoming game with my wife: the Ember Mage and Royal Paladin (pro tip: they aren't as synergistic as I'd hoped).

Ember Mage

Ember Mage was first on the painting tray, and I decided to go all in and wash her robe with a custom recipe using a scarlet ink. I think it would have been perfect, except I had a moment of clever stupidity that made the smooth surfaces get funky on me.

 

If you look closely, you can see that the hat has a swirl of darker red. It's a minor error, but when it's 6" from my face, I see it clearly. That happened because I decided to pre-wash with sepia to really deepen the shadows (clever), but to be extra thorough I did it on the whole model (stupid). I will say that I'm falling in love with these chibi-style models, if only because the eyes are so much more fun to paint!

 Lesson: use washes selectively!

Royal Paladin

 This guy is the reason I wanted to buy and paint this game, so I spent a good deal of time planning his colors. I decided on white, gold, and deep blue because I just had to make him my ideal paladin. It's at this point that I also decided to paint the crack on their bases in one of their defining colors.

His sepia wash went considerably better, and made his hair and cloak crazy-easy to paint up.

 

I really have no complaints on this guy. He was also my first attempt at painting NMM (non-metallic metals). I couldn't justify painting a metallic paint on such a cartoony figure, so I decided to cowboy up and learn the technique. Honestly, I'm really happy with it. I argue that if I had his blade finished for the game against my wife, I'd have won. But alas, she remains 2-0 because I didn't finish in time.

Lesson: Sometimes a model just goes well, and I should accept it without criticism.

Hexcast Sorceress

Following him, I painted up my wife's favorite model. With a pink and purple theme, the Hexcast Sorceress was a true test of manliness.


Unfortunately I'd applied sepia to everything before I started, so her hair should come as no surprise. I'm really liking the effect of GW's Golden Yellow for gold bits on the models. The orb on her staff was also fun to do - I used a piece of foam from a Privateer Press model and sort of "dry dabbed" the lighter blue. I pictured the palantir from the Lord of the Rings (the orb with swirling color inside), and I'm pleased with the result

Lesson: test a technique before applying it to everything.

Hearthsworn Fighter
I love dwarves. They're just burly, aggressive little tea pots with big weapons. So I had to do a lot of soul searching when I sat down to paint this guy and realized that I really didn't want to.

It's not that the model is ugly. It perfectly exemplifies my idea of a dwarf, although I do prefer hammers to axes, and his hair is modeled really well (don't ask). But if you look at my previous stuff, you'll see that I just couldn't do the same bright color schemes without him looking like bearded clown.

    

 
Instead, I gave him the classic dwarf look. However, I gave turned his shield into a nice big bullseye, just in case the monsters need help deciding who to go for. And I was SO right about his hair - the wash hit everything perfectly.

Lesson: When bored with a model, do something fun!


So that's what I've been up to in my down time. After painting Privateer Press and GW models, it's been great to take a break from the realistic stuff and relive the days of 8-bit RPGs through these cute little models.  Expect an update on the final three heroes soon, followed by all the dungeon denizens!

EPISODE 73 ANNOUNCEMENT (SECOND UPDATE!)

UPDATE II: I've been made aware of a problem with the video re: a small chunk of video appears only as a green screen. Kind of embarassing for us, certainly, but a fix is being worked on as we speak. FWIW, there really isn't any "important" imagery there other than clips from the movie "Legend," but I apologize all the same. Everything will (hopefully) be fixed by the time this goes all-audiences on Saturday.

UPDATE I: The episode is now viewable for ScrewAttack Advantage members, and will become viewable by everyone else on Saturday. If you are an Advantage member, you may notice that commenting on the video on ScrewAttack is currently disabled - this is NOT permanent, nor is it an attempt to "avoid criticism;" my aim is only to prevent non-advantage members who click the link from any spoilers that might be posted before they have a chance to see it themselves. The comment fucnction should be restored when the episode gets "unlocked" on Saturday.

Episode 73 is now set to debut for all-audiences on Saturday 8/4; with ScrewAttack Advantage members having the option of seeing it one day early on Friday 8/3 (if you are an Advantage member, I ask that you please avoid posting/discussing spoilers without warning here or elsewhere.) The normal schedule of a week-long "break" between the two debuts will likely resume with Episode 74.

I've intended this as a "jumping on" episode for new viewers and viewers who maybe haven't checked in for a bit - the main discussion is LONG and the host-segments are short with the first being a quick "catch-up" as to what the show is and how things are done here. I like how it came out, and I hope you will too.

Keep Moving Forward

If there's one good thing I can say about myself, it's that I'm never satisfied with the knowledge I have. There's always something new I can learn, and it drives me nuts if I'm not actively seeking to learn more about something.

This aspect of my character has been a driving factor in my painting. It took me from my first painted model to starting a business - that drive to learn and grow is what keeps me going and ensures I'll never settle for "good enough." On a bad day, all I can say is "what I know is good enough... for now."

I say that because I'm very excited about the new knowledge I've been putting in to practice. Those of you who follow miniatures painting probably Lester Bursley, aka AwesomePaintJob on YouTube. While he may not be the number one painter, he's probably the most well known, and for good reason. His custom wash recipe is the greatest thing to happen to me as a painter. But before we get there, I'd like to gush about how much I love washes.

Until now, I thought the only washes out there were Badab Black and Devlan mud. It turned a model painted like a McDonald's toy and gave it some shadows, fake highlights, and made it look less pristine. And on the tabletop (which is the level I like to paint), it looks great on the eye. So surely there is nothing else I'd need, right? Fortunately for me, my curious side didn't let me rest on that idea too long.

One day I was inspired to try use regular GW washes to paint my Orks, and I discovered how powerful the effect of washes can be. My Ork Warboss is currently my favorite figure I've painted, and it's all due to careful applications of Thraka Green to give his skin natural shades and highlights. There was plenty of detail work left for me to paint, but the effect on his skin was perfect!


When he was finished, I was officially sold on washes. They are a bit trickier to use than just slapping Devlan Mud on a base coat, but the results are so much better! It's unfortunate that everything can't be painted this way, but I suppose too much fun would spoil me.

That brings us to Les's wash recipe. When I first got serious about painting, I was able to get some amazing paint supplies from a friend, and part of that included the artist inks Les recommends for his recipe. I'm painting up a copy of Super Dungeon Explore, and I decided to try his recipe to paint them (almost) entirely with washes. I could immediately see the different. The wash flows exactly where I want it to go (with minimal coaxing from my brush), and doesn't leave those annoying "rings" where the pigment groups up and dries.

I'll have a WIP post soon so I can really show it off, but so far I'm really excited to experiment with all the different inks I have and see what washes I can come up with. And since I know this won't be my last stop as a painter, I'm equally excited to see where this takes my painting skills!