Zelda Windwaker was unloved at the time but over the years has been reevaluated as a stone cold classic. I loved the game at the time, especially the expressive look in Toon Links eye.
Whilst I was working in Cambodia I got a t-shirt screen printed with a Toon Link design. So with the Amiibo craze it seemed like a no-brainer that I'd get the Toon Link Amiibo as my first Amiibo. I'll get some more Amiibo's but the one I'd love to see would be Tingle... now he'd be a great character to have!
Akira is an undisputed classic manga, even if no-one fully understands what is going on. Part of the charm is the otherwordly music composed by Shoji Yamashiro and recorded by Geinō Yamashirogumi. Award winning Composer & Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey bring the classic Japanese manga to life in the premiere episode of Player Piano on the Geek & Sundry Network. Featuring ace Cellist Eru Matsumoto the music video recalls the manga and anime film well with authentic looking costumes and mood. Enjoy!
I'm very excited to report that comic artist and commentator Scott McCloud will be doing a talk and signing in London at Orbital Comics on Saturday 7th March 2015. McCloud is most recognised for his books on comic critiques such as Understanding Comics as well as creating his own comic works, the most notable being ZOT! He is meastro at exploring the comic universe, and analysing it in great detail with meaning and possibilities.
I have already spoken about how his idea of projection makes sense and leads to greater empathy for characters here . I was re-reading Zot! and the humanity in his stories really affected me, particularly the story Normal. At a time where homosexuality was not allowed in mainstream comics due to the comics code censorship, he added the mature theme in a comic book as one of the cast confronts the idea that she may be lesbian. McCloud was way ahead of the curve in the late 80s and early 90s when this particular comic issue came out.
I look forward to meeting him and asking him about his works, the event is free so why not come along? For those still not sure be sure to check out his amazing TED talk below. It might just convince you to come along!
The Cartoon Museum is a museum that specialises in British cartoons, animation, comic strips and caricatures. With a library of over 5000 books and 4,000 comics relating to the subject the collection is very extensive. Locate at 35 Little Russell Street, near the British Museum it is easily reachable from Holborn or Tottenham Court Road. The museum was opened in 2006 to preserve Britain's extensive cartoon past as much of the heritage is sold to private collectors abroad, never to be seen again.
Curator Anita O'Brien noted, "There has never been a cartoon museum [in Britain]... In spite of the very strong historical tradition here, there has always been a very strong ambivalence towards comic art."
In its mission statement, the museum declares it is "dedicated to preserving the best of British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation, and to establishing a museum with a gallery, archives and innovative exhibitions to make the creativity of cartoon art past and present, accessible to all for the purposes of education, research and enjoyment."
I haven't visited the museum yet but hope to go next weekend as there is a special event called 'Comics, so what?' where many comics writers and animators will be present to give talks and do signings including Asia Alfasi, Hunt Emerson, Karrie Fransman, David Hine, David Lloyd, Steve Marchant and Posy Simmonds. Should be very interesting!
The story of Severus Snape is tragic, full of sadness and regret but with so much of his story told in flashbacks it's easy to forget this. kcawesome13 has put together all of Snape's major scenes in chronological order so that we can fully experience his story and appreciate him as a character, away from the snarky much-maligned meme he has become. Enjoy!
I met Andi Watson last night at Gosh Comics and got loads of stuff signed. He was a lovely guy and we chatted loads, well I chatted loads about being a teacher really but it was all good! Excited to read his new book Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula, he did a lovely drawing for me.
I'm very excited to announce that Andi Watson is doing a signing of his new comics Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula at a launch party at Gosh Comics, London on Friday 27th February 2015 from 7-9pm. Now, I’ve long been a fan of Watson’s work since reading the most beautiful and moving Breakfast Afternoon. After that I read Slow News Day and his wonderful collaboration with Simon Gane, Paris.
What I find is that Watson delivers quality storytelling, beautiful artwork, and stories that have a genuine and true mass appeal due to the very human charcaters in his works. I look forward to meeting him and getting my graphic novels signed!
In an interesting experiment Andy Baio, an avid gamer, was interested to know if his son Eliot who was born in 2004, would have a better appreciation for gaming if he began playing through the with the old classics. In Andy's words:
I was born in 1977 — the same year the Atari 2600 was released and a year before Space Invaders. I was lucky enough to be born into the golden age of arcade gaming, and played through each subsequent generation as I grew up.
My son Eliot was born in 2004 — the year of Half-Life 2, Doom 3, and the launch of the Nintendo DS. By the time he was born, video games were a $26B industry.
I love games, and I genuinely wanted Eliot to love and appreciate them too. So, here was my experiment:
What happens when a 21st-century kid plays through video game history in chronological order?
Starting off with a plug-and-play TV game on his son’s 4th birthday packed with ‘70s and ‘80s arcade classics like Galaxian, Pac-Man, Dig Dug and plenty more, Andy began the field research with his test subject.
The experiment was not scientifically rigorous but it did look at how a modern day child would handle the old classics before he would be allowed to play any modern computer games.
Andy made his son play through 25 years of gaming history first, starting off with a plug-and-play TV game on his son’s 4th birthday packed with ‘70s and ‘80s arcade classics like Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian and plenty more. Eliot was a natural and made great progress in the games even beating his fathers own scores.
Next they moved onto the Atari 2600 and games like Asteroids. After 4 months they moved onto the NES, completing 8-bit classics including The Legend of Zelda and Mega Man 2. Next up was a SNES and N64, where a 6 year old Eliot collected all 120 stars in Mario 64, a huge achievement for one so young. They skipped past the Playstation 1 for some reason and jumped straight onto the PlayStation2. Once Eliot finished Katamary Demancy the experiment was over, the game having been released on Eliots birth year.
Eliot, now 10, loves Minecraft like every other young child on the planet but his classical gaming knowledge has also given him an appreciation, passion and ability for brutally difficult games.
The experiment is well worth a read and I hope to be doing something similar with my nephews who are 5 and 4 years old. I won't be as hardcore as Andy but I'll slowly introduce them to the games of my youth on the original machines. In looking forward we must appreciate what has come before.
Game Masters showcases the work of more than 30 leading computer game designers and features over 100 playable games. The exhibition explores the development of computer games through interviews with game designers, rare original game artwork and interactives, as well as looking forward to how independently produced games are leading the way in design, aesthetics and game play.
Game Masters is at the National Museum of Scotland from Friday 5 December until Sunday 20 April.
Location: Exhibition Gallery 1, Level 3. Pricing: Adults £10
Spanish illustrator Nerea Palacios has used the inspiration of the Star Wars Universe to create her own football kit designs. Even though they are totally unofficial I'd love to get one of these, wouldn't you?
Twin Peaks was a hugely influential show that changed the way series were made for television. There have been many spoofs but surprisingly Sesame Street did it as part of their Monsterpiece Theater segments. Titled Twin Beaks the sketch features many of the quirky characters of the series were parodied in the segment, including the "Log Lady" (with The Log Bird), Special Agent Dale Cooper (with Cookie Monster as Agent Cookie) and series creator David Lynch (as David Finch) who dines with Laura (which spoofs Laura Palmer).
This is Enra, a Japanese troupe attempting to combine dance, technology, and light into an unforgettable piece of performance art. There are lots of hacks available for the Xbox Kinect which allow you to do a simplified version of this... hmm, could enliven a dull party!
Festival season is going to be starting up and there are the usual radio announcemnsts and full page ads in music magazines with micro-sized letters of the bands who will be playing. Not so for the Primavera Sound 2015 advertising campaign, Snoop Igloo have created a cool looking pixel art inspired video announcing the bands playing and it looks freakin' awesome. Check it out!
Bullying is a terrible thing, as a teacher I see it occasionally and try to combat it as much as I can. Some game developers agree with my sentiments and have been brave enough to share their stories and experiences on a wonderful website called 'Beyond the Final Boss.' The idea behind the website is to show youngsters that after the bullying you can achieve great success and happiness. I have read through much of the website and think that it is great in spreading this message.
Damien Hypolite, aka Tidamz, has taken the idea of Dear Photograph to a whole new level. Using Assassins Creed Unity as the stimulus he has visited modern day France and placed pictures of revolutionary France from the game to show how real life has inspired art. A fascinating and interesting collection of pictures to be sure. Enjoy!
I am a bit of a games collector, not as hardcore as many of the collections you've probably seen online, but a collector nonetheless. I have kept all my games systems I've owned since my first Amstrad CPC 464, (with the exception of the Master System 2, which I swapped along with many games and my spleen for a Megadrive during the height of Sonic-mania) so I have a vast amount of systems. I keep them for a sense of nostalgia but also for a halcyon idealised future when I will have time to sit down and appreciate the games of my formative years. Emulation makes playing the old games easier but I've always had issues with controllers, games feel better with the original controllers.
Being the proud owner for the Retron5 makes playing my old games easier as I can use the original controllers but I need to build up my collection again. In my youth I didn't have much money so I'd part exchange my games for different titles. Now, with the equipment to revisit these titles I want to purchase the old games but eBay is too expensive. Enter RGB, Retro Games Base. This shop in Streatham has a prodigious assortment of retro games, consoles and paraphernalia. The shop is well organised, bountifully stocked and reasonably priced, they also have a website with many rare and unusual items for sale. So, if you're in the mood to dig through old games or just travel back in time to a wonderful time in gaming, then RGB is for you!
We all have fond memories of our childhood but few of us have video footage. Tyler Esposito, the creator behind the Sega Channel, found some old video footage and has been slowly uploading it on youtube. Of particular note is the promo he and his father made in the early 90's to convince some of his family to pack in their NES and jump on over to the Genesis. It's a wonderful video clip and the enthusiasm and bond father and son have is there for all to see.
Tyler has described the video thusly:
My Dad and I were a video game duo in the early 90's. This is a promo video we made for some of our family in an attempt to win them over to SEGA. Dedicated in loving memory to my Dad.
The guys at IGN have done an amazing job of creating a timeline infographic of every X-man ever. As a fan of kinetic typography and After Effects this is a true marvel (pardon the pun). Check it out for yourself and see!
I love listening to podcasts especially on my commute to work. Whilst waiting for the bus or trying not to sit next to anyone on the top deck of the bus there is nothing better than listening to one of my favourite podcasts, the Laser Time network. The podcasts cover pop culture, computer game music, comics and wrestling (although I don't listen to the last two). If you are struggling with the vast amount of content check out the best of list in the link below and join the 4th rated pop culture podcast, best of all it's all free... donations are welcomed by the guys though!
Production is set to start on a remodelled version of the ZX Spectrum, which will come pre-installed with 1,000 classic game titles. The computer will be released in April and has the blessing of the original Sinclair computer Sir Clive Sinclair. The Sinclair Spectrum Vega will be made in the UK by SMS Electronics, which successfully achieved its backing through a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
My friend had a ZX Spectrum and I loved it, it was the first place I saw such amazing games like Head Over Heels and Super Robin Hood, both stone cold classics. I look forward to seeing the machine succeed but am probably not going to get one myself due to limited space and financial constraints. So, are you excited and what game would you like to see included in the 1000 pre-installed games?
