The Zenspace Chronicles

Just a couple trailers I wanted to pass along for those interested in watching. Both the films were big hits at Sundance '09, however they're probably far from the eyes of the greater population. Thanks to Slashfilm for the trailers. I'm not going to spoil anything with long descriptions, so just enjoy.

World's Greatest Dad starring Robin Williams



Cold Souls starring Paul Giamatti

I'm (as always) a little late to the game here, but still, there are a few things I'd like to say about the happenings of E3 2009. I'll say those things in the form of a list of awards and non-awards. Recognition, given be me, which makes it worth -- absolutely nothing. No matter... I'm still giving it.

Best Downloadable Experience - Shadow Complex
Shadow Complex might have been a little glitchy in demo, but something tells me that won't be happening after release. The concept behind the game is enough to sell me, as a game crafted in Unreal Engine 3 that is a side-scrolling Metroidvania is practically erection inducing. The 3D gameplay moments don't look as captivating, but I'm sure they'll ultimately play well enough to not be distracting.

Game to be Most Worried About - Castlevania: Lord of Shadow
On first glance this was without a doubt going to be Metroid: Other M, however after the developers spent some time explaining Team Ninja's role and the atmosphere of the title, I'm a little more cautious about the new Kojima-branded Castlevania. Kojima brings a desire to reinvent the franchise in 3D, perhaps successfully for the first time, and yet, I wonder if he'll remember the parts of Castlevania that actually need to be remembered. I'm afraid for this one.

Most Exciting - Scribblenauts
God fights the Kraken while riding a skateboard blasting away with his shotgun -- Time travel to ride on a dinosaur and return to chomp zombies. Imagination. This is a step in the right direction.


I'm wondering who will win in a fight between Cthulhu and Abraham Lincoln.

Surprisingly I Care About - DJ Hero
I never really jumped on the Guitar Hero/Rock Band-wagon, and still, I found that I devoured E3 media surrounding DJ Hero because of how different the gameplay mechanics actually were. It's not as much the Guitar Hero clone as I thought it was, and it definitely has a control style inspired by actual DJ experiences. Who knows if I'll buy it, but I can say I'm more intrigued by this than I ever was about Guitar Hero -- even if I don't exactly like the music.

Worst Idea Ever - Wii Vitality Sensor
'Nuff said.

Chance I'll Care About One of the New Racing Games - 100%
I haven't bought a racing game since Gran Turismo 4, and now, with the onslaught of Gran Turismo 5, Gran Turismo PSP, and Forza 3, I can honestly say I'll probably buy a racing game. Who'd have guessed? Surely not me.

Greatest Potential - New Super Mario Bros. Wii
I could award this game Best of the Show, or Best Wii game, or anything else that it probably rightfully deserves, but instead I'll take note that of all the games at E3 2009, New Super Mario Bros. Wii carries with it the greatest potential to be an incredible game. I can't guarantee that it will be incredible though, however I can guarantee that if Nintendo fucks this up I'm walking out on them... and I'm taking my dollars with me. No online play? That was a good start.

Franchise that Suddenly Seems Good - Splinter Cell
It wasn't a particularly shameful thing for me to admit that I never played a Splinter Cell game. I didn't care much about them, Sam Fisher seemed like an uninteresting hero, and I could get similar enough gameplay from Metal Gear Solid. Then I saw the walkthrough of Splinter Cell: Conviction, and I realized that maybe I had given this series an unfair judgment. I can't say I'll go back and play previous entries, but Splinter Cell: Conviction will be high on the list of my Fall 2009 purchases.


Words, on buildings. Why has no one else thought of this?

Biggest Waste of Time - Motion Control Prototypes
I'm actually a fan of Project Natal, and Sony's Motion Control Phallus was... ok. However, the way in which these tools are shown to the public in their prepubescent stages of infancy and glitches is... pathetic. If it's not ready, leave it in the bag. And even more so, if you're promising some of the outlandish things seen in the Project Natal sizzler reel, you'd better prove they actually work. The day Project Natal can scan a skateboard like it did for that kid, I'll eat my shorts. My. Shorts.

Thing I Missed the Most - Trailer Montages
They used to be so fun. Now everyone is stuffy and trying to show these epic walkthroughs of epic games for epic applause. I miss the two minute montage that showed 30 games with a surprise or two thrown in for good measure.

Where was It? - Xbox Live - Bringing it Home
Maybe even more than Half-Life: Episode 3 or Zelda Wii, what I thought was missing from E3 2009 was Bringing It Home. Where were the demos? There were a few trailers and stage videos present on Xbox Live, but not a single demo or surprise Arcade release makes me wonder if Xbox is forgetting the power and usefulness of their service. I guess they thought knowing that I'll soon be able to tweet from my dashboard was enough.

I think that's enough for today. I've waded through my post E3 depression of no good news and started mild anticipation for events like Blizzcon and PAX. Hell, even Comic-con is just around the corner and I can feel my interest bubbling up for that. I've made my list of must-buy Fall releases, and I've decided that I can't, of course, afford anything close to what I need.

Well, with the big three conferences here and gone, E3 this year may not be quite over yet, but in terms of announcements that tremble the hearts of nerds and leave jaws agape, I think it's safe to say Goodnight. The announcements that did come? Some amazing -- some not quite -- some veer towards the thin line that separates plain stupid from mental retardation. Regardless, predictions were made, so let's discover how well I can estimate the future of the games industry.

Nintendo -



1. Colored Wiis - Maybe not "colored" but a black Wii was announced for Japan. Whatever, I'm counting it.
2. New Super Mario Bros. 2 - I said that this could happen on the Wii. It might not be called a direct sequel, but even still, this is close enough to what I imagined. Actually, it's even better -- props Nintendo, props.
3. Downloadable Virtual Console for DSi - I don't understand why this is so hard for Nintendo to commit to. Not a mention at all of this, what could be a killer service.
4. Pikmin - It exists. Did Nintendo remind everyone of that? No.
5. No New Accessories - If I believed in God, I'd curse him at this point. Damn Vitality Sensor. I'll let my treadmill measure my pulse (If I had one), thank you very much.

Predicted Grade: C-
Actual Grade: C+ - Don't worry, I'm still not in love with the backwards direction Nintendo is heading in terms of many things I love, but a new Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and even Team Ninja's Metroid: Other M deserve some praise. The more I look into this Metroid they're making, the more I think it might not be bad.

Microsoft -



1. The Motion Camera - Project Natal, eh? It has potential to be unique and interesting. I don't ever see it lending itself to hardcore games, but I won't write it off before it is fully realized.
2. New Halo - Halo: Reach. I hit the nail on the head (the rumors helped). Still, I'd rather it be a third-person shooter in the Halo-verse. That needs to be done.
3. Metal Gear Solid - Victory!
4. XBLA Gets Serious & 5. "New Game" from... hmm, I'll say Epic Games - I got them both right, I just didn't know they'd be the same game. Shadow Complex looks great, and I'm always for another Metroidvania.
6. Special Extra Prediction - New game from Rare - Wrong.
7. Special Extra Prediction 2 - Project Offset - So wrong.

Predicted Grade: A-
Actual Grade: B - That was unexpected. Perhaps the mystery hype behind Microsoft's announcements actually hurt them here and resulted in a backlash. What they actually did reveal was in many places awesome, however in others it was actually tame and expected. Who didn't know Crackdown 2 was coming? Great conference, but not earth shattering.

Sony -



1. PSP Go! - It didn't really count that I knew this one -- but whatever, I'm a cheater. What I couldn't have guessed was the price-point. $250.00? Come on Sony, what the hell are you thinking?
2. Metal Gear Solid - I should have guessed two Metal Gear's for Sony. That would have been a little more impressive.
3. Price-Cut then PS3 Slim - I'm not sure how Sony plans to sell systems this fall without making either of these announcements. Rest assured, I'd bet a lot that they're both coming, although, who knows when?
4. Gran Turismo 5 - Maybe Gran Turismo PSP was the GT darling with a serious focus, but we did see Gran Turismo 5 on stage... and guess what? The cars? YOU CAN DAMAGE THEM! Way to go Polyphony! That only took you 10 years or so to deliver.
5. New Syphon Filter - This was an absolute guess on my part. Shows what I get for making absolute guesses.

Predicted Grade - B
Actual Grade - B - I think Sony's conference was actually right around the B range. With some serious announcements lacking -- particularly the ones that would help them get console sales, they otherwise performed well in terms of surprises and interesting game announcements. I, for one, will admit to being hyped by ModNation Racers. Then there's always that Final Fantasy XIV...

Third Party -



1. Valve - Half-Life Episode 3 - Wrong.
2. Capcom - Viewtiful Joe on Wii - Wrong-er.
3. Konami - WiiWare Castlevania - Wrong-est.
4. Square Enix - Kingdom Hearts Wii - Super Wrong.
5. Ubisoft - Prince of Persia - I'm not very good at this.

I think I'll leave third party guesses for someone else next year.

THE GRAND TALLY: 10 correct predictions out of 22
GRADE: F

Nintendo Percentage Correct: 40%
Microsoft Percentage Correct: 71%
Sony Percentage Correct: 60%
Third Party Percentage Correct: 0%

That's that for the E3 crystal ball this year. Next post will be best of show awards.

I know it's been a while since I've posted, and were it not for the fact I'm running out of time I probably wouldn't be making a new post. However, it's pretty much the beginning of the last day before E3, and as is the tradition around here -- predictions need be made. There is of course a system to my madness. I'll allow myself five official predictions for each of the big presenters at E3, and then five third party predictions, and lastly a grade for each showing at the conference. Then, post convention, I'll consider how well I did. So, without blathering on... let's get to it.

Nintendo -



Oh, Nintendo. No one really expects much from you. You're sad, and you hurt me with your inability to create compelling software for your hardcore fan-base. I could complain all day, but it's not like it would change anything, and it's definitely not like I actually expect it to happen. Anyways, what do I think Nintendo could actually deliver for E3 this year? This:

1. Colored Wiis - Long rumored and even seen, I think this E3 is when Nintendo will announce the release of colored Wiis. It's part of their ridiculous strategy of boosting sales when they start to get sluggish by infusing their hardware line with the power of the rainbow.
2. New Super Mario Bros. 2 - What? I'm willing to go out on a limb for something I actually want. It's long past time, and it's been rumored that Nintendo is announcing a Mario game this year. I think this is the one that we'll see -- or at least I hope it is, instead of Mario Math or Mario and Luigi Teach Shit.
3. Downloadable Virtual Console for DSi - I'm just saying ... Gameboy, GB Color, GB Advance games. It'd be cool. I think they can do it. I'm saying they'll do it. I'm probably wrong.
4. Pikmin - It will be there. I don't think anyone is doubting that? Will I care? Not really, no.
5. No New Accessories - Not technically a game, but I'll call this an important prediction. I'm going to say that with Wii Motion Plus not quite out yet and the balance board not even realized for much more than Wii Fit and gimmicks...excuse me, I meant to say just gimmicks, I believe this will be the first Nintendo conference in a while where they don't introduce some new piece of unique, but mostly uninteresting technology. Yippee! Wii Fit Plus, on the other hand? Totally expect that.

Overall Prediction - I apologize for not holding back my general disdain and lack of willingness to believe Nintendo can provide more than their, albeit awesome, key franchise games and other, not so awesome and generally terrible, reaches toward the casual market.
Predicted Grade: C- (If only for New Super Mario Bros. 2)

Microsoft -



Do I liken Microsoft to Jesus Christ these days? Yes, I'll admit it openly from the start. Microsoft is succeeding so admirably at their goals that I can't honestly say many negative things. I turn my Xbox 360 on every single day. I don't even play games that often, and still, between Netflix and other stuff, it's on. Damn I have high regard for this company right now. So, what makes this interesting is that Microsoft, according to the majority of game journalists, has an E3 lineup of absolute mystery. Well then, lots of crazy guesses to follow:

1. The Motion Camera - A bummer I know. This is the thing everyone expects Microsoft to be revealing and I agree. The sad thing? I don't care that much. I can't see how it will work effectively with the majority of good games on the console, so it can only pander to new, casual games -- oh. how. fun.
2. New Halo - Is Halo: ODST enough? I don't think it is. I'm pretty sure Microsoft will be announcing a new Halo to rile up the fans. Will it be Halo: Reach? Probably. It could be something else, but expect two Halo titles this year. I guess that's cool -- I personally hope one is a bad-ass third-person shooter.
3. Metal Gear Solid - Pie in the sky?! I think you'll see Kojima on stage. New game, or MGS4 ported? No idea... but Kojima on stage. 'Nuff said.
4. XBLA Gets Serious - What is the exact game that will make people say, "Oh my... XBLA is going to be awesome." I couldn't even say for sure. However vague it might be, I'm saying there will be more than a simple XBLA montage this year. This year Microsoft will feature an XBLA game in their conference, and it will be sexy.
5. "New Game" from... hmm, I'll say Epic Games - I think it's time for Epic to give a little shout along the lines of, "Yo guys... we do more than Gears." I haven't heard anything that said it could be true, and Gears is keeping them on top of the world right now, but eh, It's a guess. I feel it. So, let's see. I'm thinking they'll go back to a first-person game too. Let's see if I get that one right.
6. Special Extra Prediction - New game from Rare. I say so.
7. Special Extra Prediction 2 - Project Offset - Montage or no -- we'll see it.

Overall Prediction - Well, I'm stoked for this whole affair. Particularly stoked since it's only a little more than 12 hours away. Even my guesses don't seem to cover what would be the "mystery" that Microsoft is touting they have in store and how it's going to change the game forever. Unless of course, they're banking it all on that damn camera. We'll all know soon. On the other hand, Zune HD on stage though? Sounds good to me.
Predicted Grade: A- (Sad, sad camera brings down the hype.)

Sony -



It's so strange to me that everyone is saying that Sony seems like they could have the best E3 of all the consoles. I mean, maybe. They have a somewhat strong lineup of games coming this fall, so it's a possibility. However, in my mind, the winning of E3 is about the new announcements, not what we already know. So, in terms of that - what could Sony bring to the table?

1. PSP Go! - Alright, I'm cheating. This has been announced. It is coming. Well, I don't care. I was going to predict it anyways, so if it hadn't leaked I'd have just been right. It's about time for a new PSP. did Sony change it enough to dent Nintendo's market-share? I'm not even sure. I hope it goes over well though. A killer new PSP would be pretty cool.
2. Metal Gear Solid - Yeah, so Kojima on stage at the Microsoft conference? I said yes. Kojima on stage at the Sony conference? I said yes. If Microsoft gets a ported MGS, Sony will get a new one... and Lords of Shadow. The MGS? I think it'll be on PSP.
3. Price-Cut then PS3 Slim - I'll even go as far as to throw them into a single prediction. I think Sony will announce a price-cut on their current hardware, to push the stock for the new PS3 Slim that also gets announced. It's pretty weighty to expect both, but eh.. I'm that kind of guy.
4. Gran Turismo 5 - I'm not even sure racing games like GT are that big of an announcement anymore, but perhaps I'm biased. I do think however that Gran Turismo 5 will be announced, and in it, the cars will be very shiny. They might even be damageable... or they could take that feature out at a later date.
5. New Syphon Filter - Has it been announced? I'm not even sure. I think we'll see this one though. It's one of the few series that Sony has that isn't currently being employed and if I remember correctly does actually have a good fan base.

Overall Prediction - Sony is undoubtedly going to focus on some great games. God of War 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, and then of course there is the new PSP Go!. These things are in the bag and they'll make it a good conference. But the juicy stuff? The unknown factor? I just don't know if it's quite as exciting as what Microsoft could possibly have in store.
Predicted Grade - B

Third Party -

No super long explanations here -- just five third party predictions off the top of my head.

1. Valve - Half-Life Episode 3 - I heard they weren't showing it. I don't care. It's time.
2. Capcom - Viewtiful Joe on Wii - The mystery game? I think that'd be it.
3. Konami - WiiWare Castlevania - Another DS Castlevania? Sure, I love 'em. WiiWare? Now that'd be interesting.
4. Square Enix - Kingdom Hearts Wii - Was this announced? Well, it will be.
5. Ubisoft - Prince of Persia - The movie tie-in game? It has to exist.

That's about everything from me. Happy E3! I could talk on and on about the things I know, 100% will be at the conferences, but that'd be no fun at all.

PS: Wow, I noticed in making this post that my HTML is so rusty. I'm getting terrible.

Found this over on Adpunch and fell in love. Also, first post in a while, but I'm not one for excuses.

Two movies that came to my attention today that seemed under the radar but interesting enough that if no one else is I'll at least try to get the word out.




Bronson - Wow. Doesn't it just look incredible? So the story here is true, and I know the trailer is a little off it's rocker, but what you're seeing is Bronson. The man who has spent more time in the prisons of the United Kingdom than any other man alive. Why? He really, really likes to hit things.




The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle - I'll let the trailer speak for itself on this one. It's just a solid indie flick that is deservedly gaining street cred, and I personally hope it cleans up at SXSW.

Thanks Twitch and /Film for bringing these to my attention.

And with that, the glorious month of Manuary has come to an end once more. 30 days of beard, celebrated in the name of our lord Cockstrong, have came and gone like the whiskers of the mighty Siberian. I look back now at the things I've done in these 30 days of testosterone and at the things I've failed to do; my accomplishments as a man and my faults. I list them here:

My beard was not once trimmed, shaved, or styled in any manner. Neither was any of my "other hair" for that matter. Praise be the Men.
There was an abundance of flannel and plaid. Praise be the Men.
I organized a following. Praise be the Men.
Liquors were put away, and much beer was drank. Cheap bear, quality beer, no matter. Praise be the Men.
Sports... they were watched. Praise be the Men.
Sex was bountiful and exploratory. Praise be the Men.

And where have I failed my brethren?

Not once did I ice fish. Forgive me my brothers.
My time in garages speaking on engines was not what it could have been. Forgive me my brothers.
There was not an incident of fisticuffs. Forgive me my brothers.
I did not sit and view upon the wise Grizzly Adams or the mighty Macgyver. Forgive me my brothers.
Logs were not chopped, nor boulders heaved. Forgive me my brothers.

I'm still working on bringing a lot of the information on this blog up to date, as it seems to be a much more daunting task than I originally thought. I've updated some of the links (with more to come), updated my Twitter, Bloglog, and Technorati accounts, and I've been fiddling with the best way to keep the blog up-to-date on Facebook. Whether or not I'm brave enough to embark on the journey of a full layout change is yet to be determined, but chances are I'm not.

The only thing I've actually yet to really jump on is posting some worthwhile, interesting content. I used to apologize when my posts were boring, but I think I've since grown comfortable with saying fuck that. My blog = my topics, and sometimes I just want to sit down and do something like write a list of all the junk I want to buy. Imagine how exciting and interestingly written that could be. Whoosh!

The only thing of actual substance that I do have to mention is that last night I was lucky enough to see The Wrestler, a film that I hope tears through the Oscars much the same as Mickey Rourke's career seems to be tearing through Hollywood these days. Plain and simple: The movie was incredible. Mickey Rourke is a hollow shell of a man in many cases, broken and alone, and yet some of the most emotional scenes in the movie are those in which he still lets personality shine through from Randy the Ram. Inviting kids to play NES with him or my favorite, the deli scene where Randy finds his groove in customer service are the real shining moments for this character, and make his tragic role that much more gut-wrenching.



Professional wrestling fans are probably going to take home a lot from his performance and even I saw so much of the inner-workings of that world that I came off with much less bias against the sport than I previously had.

On a side note, a friend and I spoke recently about the ridiculous concept of critics seeing the Christ figure in EVERYTHING (I'll go into greater detail someday, for sure) but strangely enough as soon as I bash the Christ figure bandwagon The Wrestler drops a real-life goddamn Christ figure right in my lap. It's undeniable, it's visible, and hell, it's even mentioned. I'll be damned.

The bottom line: The Wrestler was incredible. I haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire or Milk yet (for shame), but it's my favorite for the Oscar for sure.

Return of the Mack,
It is,
Return of the Mack,
Come on,
Return of the Mack,
Oh, my god,
You know that I'll be back
Here I am.

In all seriousness, it's the return of the Mack. The last post to grace this blog happened closer to a year ago than I'd like to admit. I let the blog slip in favor of schoolwork, social blah-blahs and did I mention, schoolwork? I've been missing the artful wordsmithery of the days of old lately, so I thought I'd offer myself a chance at blog resurrection, fake Jesus style. The first post back is almost always fluff, so I thought I'd at least get a few things out of the way and then on to the meaty bits next time (Hopefully soon?):

1. As I always, always do when returning to my blog after a break, I'll work out some layout changes in the next few weeks. I've been exploring the old links I had collected on here and some are defunct while others have turned into just plain bad sites. Either way, I'll give those a once-over too. If the blog looks scrappy in the near future, this is why.

2. For the first time ever this blog is linked to my Facebook account via RSS. I'm not 100% sure I like that idea. I hate RSS in the first place because I put mountainous amounts of effort into my layout (seriously, I can't code, this stuff takes me ages to do), and RSS nullifies pretty much all of that. It's just something to do I guess, but if it sticks, I'm sorry to everyone on Facebook that has to see note after note as my posts get more frequent.

3. Hopefully I'll start blogging with relative frequency and even writing outside the blog again, so my portfolio and other information will all be updated soon too. This is all starting to sound more like work than fun; what am I thinking?

Well, that's it for the virgin post. No pictures or anything. Just raw, dirty text. The way it should be for everyone's first time.

Today I got beat up by a needle... over and over and over again. Take a close enough look and you can see that my forearms aren't the shape forearms are supposed to be. Also, the image is a little stretched, noticeable mostly in the digitization on my top arm making things look a little uneven.



As a reward for taking the pain like a fucking warrior I'm eating cookies and drinking a large Mountain Dew. Mmmmm... Nothing says loving like stuff that's terrible for you. I'll add more pictures when things are less swollen and ridiculous looking. My next appointment is at the end of the month. My next-next appointment is sometime after that.