Video Games Archives | Page 32 Of 43

In Conversation with MCM, Redefining Storytelling with the multi-narrative “Dirt”

MCM (Michael Milligan) is a prolific and progressive-thinking author, screenwriter, computer programmer making waves with his mobile app, Get Dirt.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

201699_10150171129933450_3208833_o MCM (Michael Milligan) is a prolific and progressive-thinking author, screenwriter, computer programmer making waves with his mobile app, Get Dirt. It redefines how a story can be told. Instead of reading a book, the tale is told through a different kind of “found footage.” Unlike the cinema approach which locks viewers to a sequentially edited product, all the information is at the user’s disposal and he or she has to shift through it to discover the tale. There’s also a comparison to a Victorian-age book, but more on that later.

Part of his approach comes from a condition he has. Aphantasia is a rare problem where folks are unable to mentally visualize images. “I can’t see things in my mind’s eye,” said MCM, “It’s actually a brilliant thing, I think, for script writing especially because a scene or any event is built out of key components that you need to focus on for its execution to make sense, and everything else is extraneous because I don’t know what it looks like.”

When writing for animation, especially at the preschool level, the formula is simple: educate the viewer. Often, the piece involves teaching a lesson the youth can take to apply in everyday life as they grow up. As with many programs developed in this television entertainment medium, they are done in a boardroom in a roundtable discussion. Ideas are pitched and in what’s developed, it’s made into a 23-minute show. This writer’s task is to develop a focused script that gets to the point. Continue reading “In Conversation with MCM, Redefining Storytelling with the multi-narrative “Dirt””

Wild ARMS at 20 Years and One Wild Hope (A Personal Retrospective)

Although the Wild ARMS video game franchise was never hugely popular in North America as it were in Japan, the dedicated fan-base will be celebrating on Dec 20, 2016.

Wild Arms for PlayStation Although the Wild ARMS video game franchise was never hugely popular in North America as it was in Japan, the dedicated fan-base will celebrate on Dec 20, 2016. The game’s release in Japan was twenty years ago. Recent news reports reveal Sony (the intellectual property owner) and former staff from Media.Vision (original developer) are involved in bringing the property back to life. It will be based on the original game and Sony’s mobile publishing division ForwardWorks is helming this latest entry.

Past cell-phone games used the name to dress up what was basically Tetris and a simple shooter. The hope here is that the new product will be a full-on J-RPG, and most reports hint at this direction.If this speculation is correct, Japan will be the initial audience. In the time being, I will hook up my PlayStation2 to the big screen to enjoy all the games all over again. My love for this game, inspired by the American Old West and Steampunk, will reignite. I will attempt to finish all these original games by the time Wild Arms North American Platinum Anniversary takes place in March 2017.

Creator Akifumi Kaneko left Media.Vision back in 2009 and some fans feared no more Wild Arms will be coming. Fortunately, Pixel Dynamo’s report on Kaneko’s Twitter post in early 2016 allayed those fears. He met with executives to plan the 20th anniversary. Since then, not many continuing reports emerged in the months afterwards about what is happening. In the coming days, I like to see the complete library of the past games be offered on via Sony’s PlayStation Network.

Continue reading “Wild ARMS at 20 Years and One Wild Hope (A Personal Retrospective)”

Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals: Crack Me an Egg, Where’s the Bacon?

holiday-pikachu By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

If Pokémon GO is going to keep its hold as a popular game, perhaps Niantic Inc. needs to stop making baby steps when adding new features to the program. The news from Monday is hardly exciting. I was hoping to hear of a feature that will get me stepping to the frigid outside. I have caught all that I can in North America (by evolving after doing a lot of buddy walking) and until there are other methods to earn coin/candy, I’m not constantly duking it out for control of a gym.

Not a lot of people north of the 45th parallel and perhaps a few States down, will be venturing out much — if at all — during the Winter season. I could be taking advantage of this fact to find really out of the way gyms nobody wants to venture out to because of the weather, but I’m sure those hardcore players are doing the same. I’m not prepared to deal with those die-hards.

The company is thinking small if they assume everyone around the world are still playing. The USA only promotions, namely tie-ins with Sprint and Starbucks, will only have a percentage of the declining player base and only a specific portion of the user base interested. The Santa hat Pikachu variation will definitely have the Collector type trainers seeking him out, and thankfully players worldwide have access to it. The decoration remains after evolving. For the most part, this sugar coat deal is nothing big to be excited over.

Continue reading “Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals: Crack Me an Egg, Where’s the Bacon?”

A Nerdy Christmas Shoppers Guide to Victoria, BC

This Nerdy Christmas Shoppers Guide is old, but updated to reflect moves and has a special page that’s even more updated.

December is upon us and holiday shopping is in the air! Twelve days remain to find that special item for the nerd in the family and what I offer is a Nerdy Christmas Shoppers Guide to Victoria, BC. (updated Dec 2022).

This guide is not restricted to the season either. Everyone has a birthday, and if that collector must have more FUNKO Pop figures for that collection, going to EB Games is not the definitive place to be. Operations like Toys R’ Us and Walmart have their place for finding toys and current movie tie-in products, but let’s consider the local operations before going corporate.

For any other outlet that’s not listed, please submit by commenting and this guide will be updated and made its own permenant page, a Nerd’s Guide to Shopping on Vancouver Island, after the new year.

DOWNTOWN VICTORIA (NERD ROW)

Cherry Bomb Toys

Used Comics, Vinyl Records, Videos (anime), LEGO, Toys (Barbie, Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe & Many More!)

1410 Broad Street
(250) 385-8697

This operation specializes in carrying a diverse range of product for everyone of all ages. From products for young girls, like Barbie, to collectible products (like original packaging G.I. Joe), if you name it, it might be hiding here!

Curious Comics

Comic Supplies, Comics, FUNKO Pop!, Graphic Novels,
Illustration Books, Models, T-shirts, Toys

631 Johnson Street (Victoria-location)
(250) 384-1656

844 Goldstream Avenue (Langford location)
(250) 592-1656

3200 Unit 6 Island Highway (Nanaimo BC location)
(250) 756-2157

With three locations to serve most of Vancouver Island, Curious Comics makes up the heart of Nerd Row in Victoria, BC. Stepping in here is a paradise of goodies. From CGC certified comics to Walking Dead merchandise, a lot of nerd culture franchised out properties can be found here.

Continue reading “A Nerdy Christmas Shoppers Guide to Victoria, BC”

Level Achieved. Unlocked, the World of Games Interview with Jeremy Snead

Both Videogames the Movie and the upcoming eight-part documentary, Unlocked, the World of Games Revealed are a passion project from filmmaker Jeremy Snead.

jeremy-snead-photo1

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Both Videogames the Movie and the upcoming eight-part documentary, Unlocked, the World of Games Revealed are a passion project from filmmaker Jeremy Snead. With the former, he focussed on certain aspects of an industry that he knew he could comfortably cover — history, culture and business — but as for what’s next, the seeds were already planted and to see the idea grow was required.

“I met a couple of producers that asked me what to make next if I could take my pick, and that’s where Unlocked started,” said Snead.

This new series will become available online Dec 15, through iTunes, Google Play, Steam and Amazon and a physical release with bonus material is being planned. The topics explored present more than a look at videogames impact upon society. It has celebrity correspondents who are genuinely interested in the subject they are presenting. To decide on what topics to explore was not easy for this producer. The list was huge. To match the right person to look into that particular aspect of an industry or part of the culture was not always easy. To decide on having eight topics explored throughout the eight episodes felt right, according to this director, and he joked, “How long do we need [to tell the story] without lingering too much without making it a Ken Burns 15 hour style docu-series?”

Continue reading “Level Achieved. Unlocked, the World of Games Interview with Jeremy Snead”

Pages: 12

Taking NFB’s Cardboard Crash VR App for a Spin

550575449 By Shawn Trommeshauser
(Dreaming in Digital)

Would you trust your safety to a computer algorithm? What about to the people who programmed it?

Cardboard Crash for iOS and Android is a deceptively straightforward Virtual Reality (VR) experience by Vincent McCurley and the National Film Board of Canada. Mid last month, it won the Digi Award for Mobile Entertainment and this award is the 11th to an NFB production. This app was first previewed in the DocLab program of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2015.

This title has a cute stylised world filled with cardboard people, buildings, and cars. The cardboard textures add a lot of detail to keep the world simple and angular. The music is pleasant and fitting for the game’s contents. Nothing overstays its welcome as the scenario is only a couple of minutes long.

The game has a very simplistic interface. It doesn’t require any additional controllers or hardware beyond a VR headset such as Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard to play. All you need to do is look at an available button for a few seconds to activate it. A voice clip will play when you highlight one of the many buttons and if you only want to hear the description before you decide on anything, you have to look away just before the selection is finalized.

I had no problem with the motion tracking or response time using an iPhone 5s. The game was a little choppy at times, but I believe that’s simply due the age of my phone. However, I experienced a huge drain on the battery, approximately 20% in less than 5 minutes of play time. I’m not sure if it’s this particular game, the Unity engine that it runs on, or it was simply too much for my phone to handle. So if you give this title a try, please make sure that your phone isn’t overheating as you play.

Spoiler Alert! I’m going to go into detail on what happens during gameplay. If you’re interested and have a VR-capable iOS or Android device, I suggest taking a few minutes to play through Cardboard Crash before reading any further. it is only about two or three minutes long.

Continue reading “Taking NFB’s Cardboard Crash VR App for a Spin”