Category: Love

Most Anticipated Games from PAX East

PAX East

A few weeks ago we traveled to Boston to attend PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) East. It was awesome and I’m still reeling from all the amazing things we saw. Kari had a great time, got tons of swag, and even won some pretty cool prizes.

While there I kept a running list of some of the games that I’m most looking forward to. In no particular order here are a few worth checking out when they release in the near future.

 

Zombie Tycoon II (PS3 and Vita)

This is by the very talented Frima Studios, makers of the throwback bullet hell shooter “A Space Shooter for Two Bucks” that came out on the PSP a few years back. As always, the production quality is top-notch with unique designs and animation. This is a RTS where you control a horde of zombies, a mobile base and a special monster as you try to not only take over a town, but keep the opposing zombies at bay. Kari and I played a round with her on the PS3 and I on a Vita. She liked it a lot. (We also won a PS Vita in a drawing, but that only sweetened the deal.)

 

Mercenary Kings (PC)

Paul Robertson (NSFW) is an insanely talented artist, known primarily for his over the top pixel art. He did the sprite work for the recent Scott Pilgrim game. It’s a 2D 4 player Metal Slug-esque shoot-em-up.

 

A.N.N.E. (PC)

Reminds me of Cave Story with some heavy and deliberate Super Metroid influences. The guys manning the booth were super cool and the playable version at PAX was promising. (are you noticing a trend of awesome retro gaming?)

 

Tearaway (PS VIta)

Media Molecule, the genius behind Little Big Planet have a new game coming out this October that revolves around a little messenger in a land made of paper. You have to help guide him along his journey using all sorts of input methods. Not only an amazing looking game, but their booth was top-notch as well. The booth is made of paper for a game about a world made of paper where you can print out objects in the game with paper – infinity.

Tearaway

 

Super T.I.M.E Force (PC)

Yeah, nuff said.

 

Mighty Switch Force 2 (3DS)

I really enjoyed the first one on the 3DS. Here’s to hoping this one is bigger and badder than the first. You play as Patricia Wagon, who in this go round is now trying to save the reformed criminals from the first game with her unique powers. Wayforward, the makers of this game, are also in charge of the remaster of the SNES classic Ducktales!

 

Monsters Invade (iOS)
This is on the list mainly for the crazy inflatable they were handing out. LOLWUT?

Awesome.

 

This list doesn’t include tons of big triple-A titles like Hawken, Luigi’s Mansion – Dark Moon and The Last of Us. These should be at the top of everyone’s list already.

I should also mention a few games that were on display that I’ve already play and recommend as well.

Major Magnet (for iPhone)

 

Beautiful animation, spot-on chiptune soundtrack and the level designs take me back to Sonic and the 16 bit Sega Genesis. The devs are two young guys who were nice to talk to and I wish them all the best.

Major Magnet

 

Ridiculous Fishing (also for iOS)

Imagine an arcade-y fishing simulator where you have to see how deep you can cast your line. Then imagine that you have to catch as many fish on the way back up. Then, on top of that, imagine that as you reel the fish from the water you have to shoot them as fast as you can. Oh, and all the imagery is in weird 45 degree parallelogram shapes. Did I mention that your lure has a chainsaw attached to it? It’s, well, ridiculous.

Oh, and anything by Double Fine, including the release of Brutal Legend for PC!

 

Ideas of March

I’m all for bandwagons and blogs, so here’s my entry for Ideas of March. Chris Shiflett (Obviously a member of the Chris Club) came up with the idea to encourage more people to write more frequently.

Like most citizens of the Internet, I’m a heavy reader. RSS, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Draw Something (Wait, does that count?) I’m a reader of many personal blogs of people I find to be interesting and who have good things to say about the work they do. The simple act of consuming the thoughts and ideas from people whom I respect and admire acts as a fuel to create and share the things that I have in my own world.

I know I’m no Gruber or Kottke, but that’s OK. I’m not writing for them or anyone else on the Internet. I write for myself and my close friends and family.1

Seth Godin has this to say about blogging, “what matters is the humility that comes from writing it. What matters is the metacognition of thinking about what you’re going to say.” in such that the mere act of putting words to paper (or screen) is why you should write. It helps you form your thoughts around an idea or concept that empower you when conversing with others around the topic.

Writing for me is also about the enjoyment of life, the understanding of my short trip here on Earth and how lucky I am to be working in a profession that allows for such excitement and intrigue. I write because I love life and work and all the other wonderful experiences of being human.

Even if you don’t love to write, you do love something and there’s no better way to show that you love something than to tell the world about it. So write.

Stop Forgetting, Stop Forgetting, Stop Forgetting my Telephone

This morning I absentmindedly left my phone at home. I planned on trudging through the day without it. When I got to my desk after the first meeting of the day, I called Jackie to let her know I didn’t have my phone with me.

She said, “Didn’t you get my voicemail!?”.

I did not and she proceeded to tell me that she noticed my abandoned phone, grabbed it on her way out, found my car in the parking lot where I work and left it there for me.

Best. Wife. Ever.