My brain just exploded.

Okay guys, I promise after this I won't post anything about gaming for like, a week. But this news, via Kotaku, is too cool NOT to mention:

Level 5 Games is teaming up with Studio Ghibli to make an RPG, called Ninokuni: THE ANOTHER WORLD. Unfortunately, the game will be for the Nintendo DS. Which I don't have.



In case this news is meaningless to you, let me explain. Level 5 is an independent game developer, responsible for some of the best games I've ever played, including the Dark Cloud series, and Dragon Quest VIII, my all-time favorite game ever in the history of the universe. Um, I like the game, is what I'm saying.

Studio Ghibli, meanwhile, is the anime movie studio responsible for my favorite movie, Spirited Away. A couple other people liked it, too.

So, to wrap up, this promises to be one of the best partnerships EVER. I only wish I was going to be able to play it myself. Sigh. Isn't that always the way?

How do you spell "ambivalent"?

Okay. Er. I guess Disney is planning a huge comeback for the Muppets. That's good, right? The world needs more Muppets, right? Even if Disney is behind it?

I dunno... I think we can file this one under "careful what you wish for", folks.

Like a virgin

Last night I expanded my nerd universe by a thousand fold. You know I'm an avid gamer, but I've always stuck just to RPG's. And puzzle games. Oh, and versus fighting games. But that's it.

Yesterday, though, I took a plunge and tried a whole new genre: first person shooter. Holy f*ckin' crap, people. SO AWESOME.

The general consensus is that a lot of women don't like first-person shooters. I'm too lazy to look up any statistics for this, but I've seen lots of articles speculating on why this is the case. Theories range from inherent male bias in game design, to the "fact" that women are worse at spatial relations than men. (Note to my readers: even if this is true, never bring it up around me, unless you want to test my spatial perception in terms of my ability to punch you in the face.)

Anyway, I know why I never played first-person shooters: I sucked at them. No one likes to play a game that is too challenging. If you die fifty times in the first level, it's no fun. But a couple of people pointed out to me that I play Oblivion in first person, which does require a fair amount of hand-eye coordination and camera control. So I thought I'd give some shooters a try.

I went into GameSpot after work yesterday and picked up a used copy of BioShock. This accomplished two objectives. First, I saved a couple of bucks. Second, I got a huge ego boost by impressing the clerk because I knew Gore Verbinski might make a movie version. Seriously, I think I'm his dream girl now. He had nice sideburns.

ANYWAY. Getting off track here. Point is, the game was awesome. I had to force myself to stop playing after an hour. It was not at all as difficult as I remember and I had no trouble with the camera or aiming or any of that stuff. And the graphics also totally fascinated my mom, who plunked herself down on the floor next to me and watched me play for like, 45 minutes.

So, in conclusion, I had a great time sitting in my parents' basement playing BioShock with my mother. Don't you wish you were me?

Takes my breath away.

I'm just gonna be honest here. This sculpture collection gave me chills the first time I saw it. It still does:

It's a series by Jason deCaires Taylor. He installed the pieces in the ocean in the West Indies. The sculptures are gradually becoming part of the underwater ecosystem. They act as an artificial reef, of sorts, with coral and various biota becoming part of the installation. Each piece changes over time, becoming more and more a part of the ocean, until they are a ghost of life on land.

I've always been attracted to art that explores the beauty of decomposition, especially in man-made materials - the way metal rusts, wood grays and splinters, concrete spalls. These themes speak to me because I respond to the loneliness of post-apocalyptic environments - what the world would look like if any of my favorite sci-fi disasters actually occurred, empty and broken.


At first glance, the underwater works would seem to explore a similar vein: the longer the sculptures remain underwater, the less they resemble their original forms. However, what Taylor has done is to create pieces not based on decomposition, but on composition - the forms that seem to decay are actually becoming more and more alive, despite transforming into spectres of their original selves. This lends an alien quality to the work which I find very appealing. He has created a little world down there, a parallel universe; Pompeii as Atlantis. Brilliant. Beautiful.


All images copyright Jason Taylor, 2007.

Also, there's this.

I NEED that T-shirt.

Level up!

So after months of intermittent lobbying by my friend Badpie, and then a solid weekend of nagging by her husband M@, (no doubt on her behalf,) I am almost convinced to get a World of Warcraft account.* I might split the difference and get an Xbox Live gold account so I can play Halo or something with them before I dive into full Massively Multiplayer mode.

Sigh. I am a solitary gamer, people. It's in my blood. I play games to get away from people. But I'll admit, the prospect of getting to play with people I actually know is kinda tempting.

But I'm not quite convinced. However, a week or so ago Maggie from Kotaku divulged that she is in the same boat. In this article, she writes about her first foray into MMO territory, which doesn't sound too bad. And there's also this article from Only a Game, which gets into the differences between solitary and social gamers. Central to the difference is the experience of "fiero", which is the feeling of having triumphed over adversity. Apparently MMO's stimluate fiero in people more than solitary games.

Okay, so I'm just realizing that I have just quoted a statistical study on the emotional response caused by different kinds of VIDEO GAMES.

I think that means I just went up a nerd level. Yay?


*This is fair. I am actively feeding her Oblivion addiction.

What's one more clip?

Too busy packing/cleaning/getting ready to move for any real posts. So here's another clip!

This one's from Mirrormask, a 2005 movie with a Neil Gaiman script and effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Not the greatest movie ever, but it is visually stunning, which is basically all the excuse I ever need to watch something:

Down for scheduled maintenance

That would be me. Yeah, feelin' a little blue lately, can't deny. But you know what makes me feel better? BUCKAROO!

Yes, that is what I need: Buckaroo Banzai. Perfect Tommy. New Jersey. And of course, the inimitable John Parker.



Hey man, nice jacket! What's in the big pink box?

Field Manual

Obviously, I don't need this book. This information is tattooed on my mitochondria. But some of you might be interested.

In fact, I'm kinda disappointed there's not a book that goes the other way: A Guy's Guide to Dating a Geek. Because there are differences, you know. Girl geeks don't smell bad, for one. Er, that's it, actually. Hmmm. Well, thanks anyway, ThinkGeek.

Twelve times bitten, er, thirteen times shy?

I'm torn. Really, I am.

SquareEnix released a long-awaited RPG for Xbox 360: Infinite Undiscovery. Now, to be honest, when I first came across the trailers for the game, I mistook it for a Final Fantasy sequel. It has a very similar graphic sensibility, tons and tons of characters, you get the idea.

So I was a little disappointed. I love SquareEnix with the heat of a thousand suns, and they produced some of my favorite games ever (well, Squaresoft did). However, I am not a fan of Final Fantasy.

This may surprise you, given my propensity to love all RPGs. But it's true. I gave up on Final Fantasy after I put away my SNES. I mean, I gave it another chance when I got the PS2, and bought XII. I think. Is that the one with all the singing? I get 'em mixed up. Anyway, I only played for a couple of levels before I gave up. It was unbearable. For one thing, the singing-as-special-skill idea is ridiculous. Also, it was plagued by the same problems I've always had with FF: way too many characters, overly melodramatic storyline (seriously, it's a friggin' soap opera, right?), overly complicated gameplay. Give me Dragon Quest any day.

Anyway, because of this, I pretty much wrote off Infinite Undiscovery. But then I found out it is not, in fact, a FF game. So I poked around a bit on Kotaku, and found out that maybe it's worth trying. The gameplay is apparently pretty intuitive, especially in the battles. And I watched a better trailer, which made me a little more interested in the world they created:

Infinite Undiscovery 'Story' trailer

So, again, I'm torn. Pros: great graphics, interesting concept. Cons: corny shouting-out-special-attack combat, kind of silly voice on the main villain. But still, definitely worth a rental, right? I just can't bring myself to buy it at this point, at least not until I get an idea of the melodrama quotient. What do you guys think?

When wood burning kits go wrong...

Okay, I'll admit. I think this is pretty cool. Ultra dorky? Yes. Borderline creepy, greasy-haired-stereotypical-pagan? You betcha. But what can I say? IT'S GOT RUNES ON IT. I must have a set.

Elder Futhark Runes Set.



You win again, Etsy, with your array of geekery. You win again.

Nerd Demographics: Chick Gamers

Description: Chick gamers are a rare and wonderful breed. Gaming is an overwhelmingly male pastime, so my dude friends assure me that finding a female to play video games with (or against) is pretty special. The sign of a true chick gamer is that she plays for herself and by herself, not just to impress guys. If you're not sure, look for these clues:

• More than one platform in the house.
• Upgraded hardware (nicer controller, bigger hard drive, etc.).
• Turn on the console (or PC). Dedicated profiles are a must.

Lucky for you, I happen to have some experience in this arena, so I prepared this chart illustrating the female gaming continuum:

How to make friends: Ask to borrow their copy of Bioshock (or Katamari Damacy, or Soulcalibur IV... you get the picture.)

How to get them in bed: Challenge them to a game. You don't have to let them win; chances are they'll kick your ass regardless. The excess adrenaline will work to your advantage, believe me. (Note: chick gamers are ALWAYS good in bed, so this is a worthy endeavor.)

How to make enemies: "Oh, is this your ex-boyfriend's copy of Gears of War?"

Confession: I get bosons and fermions mixed up.

Okay everyone, gird your loins. Tomorrow's the day they turn on the Large Hadron Collector. And you know what that means! The Higgs boson! Micro black holes! Possible other dimensions! Strangelets!

Or, you know, nothing. Meaning, nothing you or I can understand anyway. But still, my heart trembles at the prospect of getting closer to figuring out the Standard Model. Even though I don't know, um, what it means, exactly.

Mmmm... physics. Can't you just smell it in the air?*

*No.

Artsy!

I think it behooves me to use this space to celebrate the art of our geek brethren. There are a lot of creative types out there who have taken a break from rolling twelves and paused their fights with the big boss to create some truly incredible art.

So, to kick off my series, here's some works by Nemo Gould, brought to my attention by the good folks at io9:





He makes each piece out of recycled materials. The pictures are a little deceiving; the toad is about 8" high, whereas the squid is over 6' tall. Just to give you a little perspective.

Pretty cool, eh?

Brain... filling with... politics....

Okay okay okay. Enough! Let's all take a nice break from looking at coverage of the RNC (finally over, yay!) and watch these trailers from one of my favorite indie scifi flicks, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Politics will still be there in two minutes.

Yet another reason to move to England.

Because seriously, this is just cool. BBC is reporting that this 50-ton mechanical spider, currently hanging from the side of a building in Liverpool, will come to life on Friday and start moving around the city. It is fully articulated and will apparently climb down the wall.

But why? you may well ask. In the good ol' US of A, this would almost certainly be part of an expensive promo for a blockbuster movie or a new TV show. But, no. The Brits are doing it just because it's cool, and there's an arts festival going on.

I don't even have the words for how cool this is.

Image courtesy of news.bbc.co.uk

Must have!

I need this set of posters. And so do you.

Blue Sun Travel Posters.

Thanks, ThinkGeek! You always have the best stuff.

R.I.P.

Sad news. Don LaFontaine has passed away. Trailers just won't be the same without him. We will never be transported by the magical phrase "in a world" again.

Sigh.