tegan

So I've been thinking about it; and I think that when we inevitably perfect PETMAN and create a creepy robot that can move in a human-like way without assistance, we'll almost invariably use it to do something stupid before we turn them into Terminators. I'm thinking Hatsune Miku robot.

I wanna' see Sean's Dumbledore leg.

I'm not talking about a societal bias, I mean that linguistically it's a completely inaccurate description. There's nothing comical about a book like Persepolis or Maus.

Yes! You start out being able to pick hair and skin colour and get new clothes and accessories as the game progresses.

Footage from Gamescom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5g4c7n6WUO8 Also, Gamefreak trademarked the names "Pokken Fighters" and "Pokken Tournament" just recently, so maybe that mystery screenshot is from an upcoming fighting game spinoff or something.

I'm not at the end of the podcast yet, but... Regarding "video game" as term: What I dislike about the term is that it establishes an expectation about the tone of the content in a way that most other mediums don't. The closest equivalent I can think of is "comic book," which a lot of comic readers and creators try to distance themselves from by using more appropriate terms like "graphic novel." The biggest issue is that video games as we know them don't really act like one medium. It's more of a sliding scale that goes from "esports" (games with minimal characterization and narrative elements, instead being entirely mechanical like a sport. ie: Pac-Man CE DX)and "interactive films," which have minimal interaction in favour of telling a narrative (ie: Dear Esther) with most games falling somewhere in the middle (even most games still described as esports have distinct characterization or narrative elements, like Starcraft or DOTA). I have no idea how that would be settled.

Dude, I live a few minutes away from a Gamezilla and it's totally rad. I also have never really noticed how brightly coloured everything is before, but I guess that's because I usually just go there to browse the actual comic/game store part of the place and generally don't look at the other rooms. Oh! Relevant story: I did once notice that they sell knockoff Nintendo merchandise using artwork taken from a popular hentai artist. I snapped a picture.

Nintendo's estimate is 3.5 to 6.5 hours, but I find that's a little conservative. I usually hit the upper part of that estimate even with 3D and wireless turned on. It's much better than the original 3DS, at any rate. There's a charger included if you're in North America, Australia, or Korea. I don't believe it was included in Japan or, for some reason, Europe. There's no charge cradle included like there was with the original model, though, which sucks because I love charge cradles. Proprietary port. I believe it's the same one the DSi used. Leave it on and walk around. You don't have to be connected to any sort of network, just make sure wireless communication is turned on. It's waaaaay simpler than it was with the Wii. You have one friend code associated with the system itself. It only takes a few seconds and you can do it without even leaving the game, since your friend list is one of the apps you can multitask with. The new black one is nice. There's a blue one that comes bundled with Mario Kart 7 that I still see kicking around, but otherwise the bundles tend to be for limited edition systems so they only sell for inflated amounts on ebay if you don't pick them up right away.

I generally keep the 3D on, but at a different level per game. I generally keep it off for Animal Crossing, though, because I'm usually playing that while laying down sideways and it just gets really hard to see.

So I'm working on a Pokémon comic. I'm not gonna' upload the rest until it's ready, but I wanted to show off at least this splash page I did to start it off, since it took two whole days to make. Consider it a sneak peek. I'm also applying to get into the PokéStory Zine (fingers crossed!), so I figured it would be good to go all out so I'd have something hopefully impressive and Pokémon-related to show them. If I manage to get in, I'll probably put this comic on hold until I finish something for that (I already have an idea in mind), so this might be the only page I finish for the next little while.

But in those cases it's because their experiences are entirely fictitious. The life of a wizard could involve literally anything, because there's no such thing as wizards.* Even if those characters are vastly different from a real person they're accountable to absolutely nothing in reality. Plus, unlike Gone Home, it's pretty rare that a game would focus on the emotional or mental state of a wizard or a space marine character to any extent. *like "magic missile, spectral blade, improved spectral blade" wizards. All "real" wizards are just weird Alan Moore-ish guys.

This morning I just started thinking about how Spongebob Squarepants did an episode about why it's not okay to tell racist jokes and somehow managed to do so without being preachy.

By the time I was in high school, the arms race to make safety videos as gruesome as possible for desensitized videos had reached critical mass and we ended up watching a ton of those.I remember a drug safety thing where a dude had a seizure and got his infected arm sawed off in the hospital and a work safety video where some girl deep-fried her hand.

The infamously terrifying "Laser Mickey" from old Walt Disney VHS releases.

Buh?

So this video was shown on screens at a Pokémon event in Japan. It's just a cute little visual history of the Pokémon games, but it ends with a super mysterious shot of a battle scene that the 3DS clearly couldn't render. Possibly a hint at a new Wii U game. edit: oh, and also there's a super nostalgic anime special airing a few days before X and Y launch that folks think might show off new Mega Evolutions (Charizard?). http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_Lyi2RSVxqg and absolutely nobody on the internet has noticed that the video also demonstrates Fairy being added to the TCG by way of the previously unseen bright pink type icon clearly visible in the video.

By the way, mad props to Jake for the Gameboy Micro love. I never knew anyone shared my passion for the sexiest console ever built. I finally broke down and bought one on eBay a few years back (the gorgeous gold and red Famicom one) and couldn't be happier with it. It's probably my most-used console ...after my 3DS XL.

yessssssssss

Oh, also: "Nintendo Street Fighting tape" made me laugh. And what kind of VHS tape can record all of Gone With The Wind but only 3 episodes of the X-Files?

?

Illustrator is rad, but it really takes some getting used to. It was one of my favourite things to learn in college. Also, thanks for the advice, Jake! Right now I'm working on a Pokémon thing, and I've also submitted a portfolio to try to get into the PokéStory Zine, so hopefully that pans out. In the meantime, I wanted to put up at least one finished piece tonight, so I drew a shitty wizard.

Gone Home confirmed to take place in the same universe as Bioshock?

:0 Can I come over and catalogue it later?

I only just realized that "Where's the trigger?" in the terrorism discussion was a line from The Dark Knight Rises. D'oh. Speaking of jokes I don't get... I actually didn't get this. I feel like an idiot.