About the Finals...

Guys, listen up.

Yes, I posted links to my ScrewAttack entry and the place you could vote for it if you so chose.

What I DID NOT ask or encourage anyone to do was flame the SA forums, double-post, get into cut-and-paste arguments or otherwise cause trouble on that site. The enthusiasm is appreciated, bad behavior is not. Be better than that.

2 New Youtube videos

Here are 2 new youtube videos I posted on gaming:

Justin (my brother) Playing Call of Duty 4


Me playing GTA 4 (will post a bigger video in the future)

FINALS: Episode 25 - "Violence is Golden"

UPDATE! As of 9/13/11, this episode can be found on the NEW ScrewAttack at THIS LINK.

Here it is, folks. Episode 25, in which I finally get around to The Big One: Video game violence. I could think of no place more appropriate to do this than in my Finals entry in the ScrewAttack contest...



If you enjoy it, why not go HERE and vote for me in the contest itself?
http://screwattack.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=48749

However it goes down, I appreciate every vote I've gotten and will get. None of this is possible without the fans, and I don't plan on forgetting that.

Game OverThinker in the finals

So... I'm going to be in the finals of the ScrewAttack myvidsdontsuck contest. That's pretty awesome.

The voting for the finals will occur on (I believe) the 25th of June, with the actual match being me against either the very funny Taco-Man or the very funny Psychotaku - who are competing in their semi-final matchup right now. For those who asked, unless plans have to change I'm aiming for my Finals entry to be a full episode about video-game violence that so many have been asking me to do for so long. That's the plan, anyway.

In any case, IF you want to vote for me or anyone else, you HAVE to register at the ScrewAttack message-board forums. It is free, and you can do it here: http://screwattack.com/forum/ucp.php?mode=login

So... yeah, keep an eye out for the 25th, and thanks to everyone who already voted ;)

ScrewAttack Finals

So, according to the vote-tallies on ScrewAttack, I won my round of the myvidsdontsuck contest and will be one of the two competitors to advance to the Finals. Kickass, thanks to everyone who voted!

The second semifinals are underway now, which will essentially decide my Finals "opponent." This one is between two of the BEST indie gaming shows on the web: "Psychotaku," who does reviews of semi-obscure import games in the style of a Japanese pirate-signal TV broadcast; and "Taco Man," an insanely geek-tastic parody of "Captain N: The Game Master." Take a look:
http://www.screwattack.com/myvidsdontsuck/Semi2

It's so hard to say goodbye

I know I said this blog was dead but I saw some funny stuff around town today and this post was too big for Twitter but also not game related, so it wouldn't fit on RetrowareTV. That being the case I decided to bring this bad boy back to the old school blog.

Here is some silly stuff I saw around town today: (These are camera phone pictures, so they are not the greatest quality)


The bumper sticker reads "Kids Need (Heart/Love) and Child Support". The and child support part just made me laugh, I mean what a strange thing to put on your car. why not just get a bumper sticker that says "My Baby Daddy don't pay me". Very strange.


This one is a van I saw in front of a local gas station. It's promoting some indie rap label but the pictures on the van were hilarious. I'm afraid they may have lost a bit in (camera phone) translation though. lol


Last but not least, a Mormon kid on a bike. There must be a ton of these churches in my town or something because I see these kids in a shirt and tie on bikes like every weekend. They often stop me and give me a book of Mormon. This time I was in the car so no book of Mormon for me. lol
I don't know why these guys always make me laugh, I think it's the bike helmet + tie combo, something about it is so odd. It's like they are dressed up for something important, but then they are riding a bike with a goofy helmet on.....it's just so random.

I do want to say that I have no hate on the Mormons (or LDS if you prefer) I just think they look funny on their bikes. :)

That's all for today, but I'm sure I'll see more strange things around town, in fact it's pretty much a sure thing. lol

EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR: "Reality Sucks" aka "VOTE FOR ME!"

As I had hoped, HERE is the newest full-episode, on the subject of overly-realistic graphics and why I think I find them so tiresome lately. Short-version: Uncanny Valley. Long-version? See below:


HARD LINK: http://www.screwattack.com/myvidsdontsuck/Semi1/OverThinker

I hope you liked it. If you did and/or are a fan otherwise, here's your latest chance to show it: This video is here as an entry in ScrewAttack.com's semifinal round of their "myvidsdontsuck" contest to elect a new contributor. I'm up against the very worthy competitor Director Toby this time, so your votes are more important than ever!

To cast your vote, go HERE to the ScrewAttack forums (you have to register to post to vote): http://screwattack.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=47970 Official voting will begin sometime on Friday, June 12 (you can only vote once) and will run until June 19.

So... yeah, I'd appreciate every bit of support I could get. And I sincerely thank everyone who votes AND everyone who's already helped me get here. You're the best.

Dead Space - Kendra

Here's something I never thought i'd ever say... I made one of Maxim's "Hottest Video Game Babes of 2008"!!! Now you might be thinking to yourself "but Joey... you're not a video game babe" and then I'll cry because it's true. But luckily... I can kinda draw, and one of the characters I designed for the Electronic Arts game "Dead Space" was chosen! Kendra Daniels was in good company with Zoey from Left 4 Dead, Sofitia from Soul Calibur, The Lolipop chick from GTAIV, Lara Croft, and my favorite, Chun-Li! See the full list HERE

Here's a short overview of the work that went into creating Kendra. First... I was given a brief description of the character, her traits, role in the game, and a bit about her personality. Then I sat down and cranked out a bunch of ideas in rough sketches. The art director and I would then sift through the pages of sketches, picking out what we liked about certain ideas, shelving the ones that didn't quite work. After a round or two of that process, we had settled on three ideas that felt right for the character

Then once we were happy with a direction for Kendra, i drew out a variety of possible hair styles. I was hoping to go the Ripley route with option I, but in the end, we went with a combination of G and K

Then came the fun part of putting together modeling packets for the character to be modeled in 3D. One is the full model, with the jacket, and then one without. Also, each character had a "gore" pass in case the necromorphs got a little hungry. Texture details were called out for the texture artist to accurately render the different materials on her outfit.



The character of Kendra was brought to life by the lovely actress Tonantzin Carmelo (as well as some very talented riggers and animators). She got a chance to slip into a mocap suit and have her face scanned to become Kendra Daniels! Check out her website, she's awesome!!! Click Here

And here's the final render of Kendra that appears in the game...

The end

SUPPLEMENTAL EPISODE - E3 2009

So, if all goes well you'll most-likely get a big NEW episode on Friday the 12th in my semi-final ScrewAttack matchup. (I'll put up the link when it's put-up-able) Until then, here's a short-ish bit mostly about this year's E3.