OFF CAMPUS

Yes, it is indeed time for another post-PAX report.  This one’s going to be more free form than past wrap-ups as I’m still suffering from the jet lag (which I will now be terming “sleep bends” forever more).

Off the top it must be said that the now biannual festival continues to be far and away the best executed nerdcore convention in these United States, which is a testament to the dozen or so full-time employees that comprise the burgeoning Penny Arcade multimedia empire and an indictment of the other corporate entities (who shall go nameless as they seemingly go soulless) that appear determined to run competing enterprises right into the goddamn ground.  To this latter group I humbly suggest that there may in fact be a correlation between your lackluster efforts and your inability to generate revenue; do what you will with that information.

By way of contrast, PAX Prime (as I understand it’s now being called) has become so successful that they’ve once again expanded the venue and as an immediate consequence it is now in fact possible to play most of the games being exhibited.  I hear tell that at the end of one four hour queue one could experience firsthand the mythical Duke Nukem Forever, but I can neither confirm nor deny these rumors as there ain’t no way in hell I’m waiting four hours in line for much of anything.  Again, this particular scenario was the exception rather than the norm, so I can endorse a number of other forthcoming electronic entertainments.  Getting to play the 21st century re-imaginings of Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam was like catching up with a pair of fondly remembered old flames; let me assure you that despite the passage of time, these ladies still got it.  Indeed, throwback was very much the theme of the weekend as I had a blast playing demos for a pair of awesome side-scrollers, the Mega Man-like Super Meat Boy and Shank, a 2D tour de farce that defies my best attempts at description.  However, a less welcome side-effect of getting to play more games was the inescapable revelation that I lack the ability to play many of the console games that capture my attention.  Upon reflection, I believe the problem is that in the late 90’s when game developers began to design games that required the use of trigger buttons in earnest, I kind of fell out of console games in lieu of other pursuits.  As such, my “all thumbs” proclivities have become a serious handicap in a world where one must use your other eight fingers in order to apply.

The panel line-up was also strong, so strong that I’m struggling to identify a single expo-defining highlight from them, although the ridiculously eloquent thirteen year old (imagine Tiny Tim with a fedora and you’ll get a serviceable mental image) who summed up the community that PAX rallies stands out.  To be sure, my cohorts once again rocked the “Pitch a Game” seminar (with such gems as Mexican Gear Solid, Underground Railroad Tycoon and Al Roker’s Rock You Like a Hurricane 2011) so hard that we toyed with the idea of assembling under the self-applied banner of Fort Awesome Games Studio, a label that was almost immediately discarded due to the very unfortunate acronym that comes with it.  We did laugh our asses off at “An Evening with Scott and Kris,” but it was also a joy to finally make it into the “Art of a DM” panel and bear witness to the assembled genius of some of the world’s greatest interactive storytellers.  Sadly, we failed to make it into the unconscionably tiny Pegasus Theater for the live Acquisitions Inc. game, but I have it on authority that a taped version of this show will be forthcoming from Wizards of the Coast.

Regarding WotC … <sigh>.  For certain, their two chief products, D&D and Magic: The Gathering, benefited greatly from the extra space that this larger PAX afforded them.  However, My New Best Friend, Big Time, Tabletop and I had an absolutely hellacious D&D experience Friday that I’d sooner forget (I was still pissed when I awoke the following morning) but bears relating .  Much of the pain of that session was self-inflicted,  as our entire group rolled remarkably poorly for much of the night and reaped the corresponding harvest of suck that comes with such die rolls.   On the other hand, I cannot deny that the difficulty of the scenarios presented (which is welcome, as tougher challenges make for better gameplay in my book at least) coupled with the absolutely horrid pre-generated characters that WotC deems fit to saddle their potential customer base with results in some beyond frustrating game sessions.  WotC either needs to put some effort into at least average pre-gens or make these things BYOC or I suspect they’ll soon be presented with large swaths of blank tables.

Anyway, sorry to go out on a low note on an otherwise epic weekend of epicness.  As always, I plan on attending the next one in Boston come March 2011.  Do yourself a favor and join me if you can.

And remember: if it’s in the storm, it’s in the game.

What I’m Playing: Shank
What I’m Watching: Machete
What I’m Listening to: “Kids” (MGMT)

One quick reminder before the event itself is upon us: I will be exhibiting at the Dallas Webcomics Expo this Saturday, August 21, where I hope to be busy at Table 34 taking plenty of sketch commissions, with proceeds to go towards Child’s Play.  Hope to see you there!

What I’m Reading: The Record of a Fallen Vampire Volume 2 by: Kyo Shirodaira and Yuri Kimura
What I’m Watching: Bleach Season 6
What I’m Listening to: “Uprising” (Muse)

And now, Alessandra Ambrosio:

What I’m Playing: Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
What I’m Watching: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 4
What I’m Listening to: “Animal” (Neon Trees)

God, it feels good to just sit and write for the first time in what feels like forever.

There’s been a bunch of stuff I wanted to pontificate on but I’ve been too busy at the drawing table to get to it until now.  Alas, the art projects in question aren’t completed, but they are on schedule for a change.  So, if I may indulge myself …

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty

The long-awaited release of Blizzard’s latest masterpiece (finally) draws nigh and me and mine have already secured time off from our prospective day jobs to properly enjoy it (Hollywood’s even flying in from LA).  With the possible exception of Street Fighter 2, no video game has provided me with as many hours upon hours of enjoyable play time as the original has.  So to say that I’m supremely psyched for this release would be something of an understatement.  There continues to be a healthy amount of criticism leveled at the game and/or Blizzard, most of which seems to be centered upon the lack of a LAN option and the steps that Blizzard has taken to curtail piracy of the still hypothetical RTS … I think.  It’s difficult to tell what some people are even bitching about and I just don’t have the time or inclination to sift through that much hate and bile.  I will say this to the haters, though: I’m not really sure why anyone would be waxing poetic about LAN networks.  I stopped attending LAN gatherings years ago due in no small part to the inescapable fact that it was insanely difficult to get everyone’s computers successfully linked together, and we even had the luxury of a gentleman who does networking for a living in our corner.  Frankly, I’d just as soon let Blizzard deal with that headache.

Wonder Woman’s New Threads

In celebration of Wonder Woman #600, DC Entertainment unveiled a new look for the First Lady of superheroes and, in so doing, broke the goddamn Internet in half.  I have to be honest: as much love and affection as I have for Jim Lee (the artist behind the redesign), I don’t much care for it.  I don’t have (as some evidently do) a problem with the very notion of the change; it just strikes me as a little bland.  Hell, while I’m on the subject, I’ve never really understood why she only has one costume in the first place; given the multi-faceted nature of the character, a whole slew of cool looks always seemed to be the way to go as far as I’m concerned.  The really interesting thing to my mind, however, is just how much talk and passion the costume change has generated.  Despite that facts that the comic sells relatively poorly and that DC seemingly can’t get any momentum towards a feature film built, the Old Girl still clearly has a huge potential fan base.  While I will concede that there is a shit ton of baggage that comes with being the super-heroine, I remain firmly convinced that DC is neglecting an incredibly lucrative creative property and that it would be well worth their time and effort to really making a go of unfucking that comic.

FIFA World Cup 2010

I would never have foreseen it, but I think I’ve actually become immune to the incessant drone of those fucking vuvuzela horns.  Regardless, I’m beyond pleased that charlatan “powerhouses” Brazil and Italy have already bowed out and look forward to Spain joining them very soon.  A German/Dutch final seems likely (and sounds delicious).

Smart Phone

I can no longer deny the indelible necessity of purchasing a smart phone; they’re just too damn useful and I find myself taking advantage of the convenience of text messaging more and more these days.  If I can make a somewhat embarrassing admission, I’ve owned my current phone for five or six years now, and it happens to be the second mobile I’ve ever owned (on the other hand, I guess I should feel pleased that it has lasted this long).  After much deliberation, I think I’m leaning toward the Evo 4G.  While I really want an iPhone, I really don’t want to pay AT&T and Twitter damn near blew up a couple of weeks ago when the new iPhone 4G was released with some pretty basic design flaws (I think; again, Truth continues to be elusive prey upon the plains of the Internet).  I’m hearing inconsistent things about T-Mobile (A-Rod and Boy Wonder love them, but my parents and brother hate them), and besides, I get a discount with Sprint through my day job that makes them very price competitive.

What I’m Reading: Oh My Goddess! Volume 1 by: Kosuke Fujishima
What I’m Watching: Red Cliff
What I’m Listening to: “The Royal We” (Silversun Pickups)

And now, Alessandra Ambrosio some hot Portuguese lady:

What I’m Reading: Tenjho Tenge Volume 17 by: Oh! Great
What I’m Watching: The 2010 FIFA World Cup
What I’m Listening to: “Help I’m Alive” (Metric)