Karate Mouth

Apology

I’m sorry I haven’t been around to update very much lately. After the most intense week of finals I’ve ever been through, I had to move everything from my old place and my fiancé’s place, as well. Verizon has fumbled around and now we have to wait until late this week before we can get the internet up and running. On top of all of this, the wedding is only six days away. Add my job into the mix and you’ll have the single busiest month of my life.

Once I’m home from the honeymoon, I’ll be able to shift a great deal of focus to this blog and to the full site launch, which is only a few months away now.

Again, sorry about the disappearance. I hope you’ll understand. I’ve had many ideas cooking in my head for some time now and I can’t wait to put them to use.

See you guys soon.

-Tim

posted on 18.05.10

gamefreaksnz:

Brothers by ~GaryStorkamp on deviantART

Long weekend on my end. Hope everyone has been able to enjoy a video game or two. I’ve been playing the iPhone port of Sonic 2 when I’ve had some free time. What have you been playing?

posted on 02.05.10

neonostalgia:

franklinare:niub:(via jjjjasmine)

Have a great weekend, everyone.

posted on 30.04.10

Phantasy Star Online exemplifies the qualities I like in an online RPG. I can see where one would prefer the seemingly never-ending MMOs like World of Warcraft where there are a thousand things to do, but for me, I like the simplicity of getting a group of people together, trading and buying stuff, and going into dungeons that are always familiar with not much else going on. Difficulty ramps up progressively as you gain experience, you gain access to new areas, and you chat with your small group as you do this. It’s a fun and fluent experience that I personally think is lost in the more expansive online games.

Anyone want to play PSO with me once finals are over?

posted on 30.04.10

Silent Hill 2 - Theme of Laura (Reprise)

Silent Hill 2 is probably the medium’s greatest attempt at a horror game. Sure, there are likely a few others that pull off the “scares” better than this one, but there isn’t one that comes close in terms of balancing the scares , creating a cast of characters you actually care about, and setting the most perfect mood in a game of its type.

The third point is done wonderfully through the game’s visuals, but Akira Yamaoka’s score seals the deal. You never truly feel comfortable or safe at any point throughout the game. It has such a desolate feelings, yet you know that you’re never really alone and that there’s something nearby.

I really could go on about this, and maybe someday I will, but today I just wanted to share one of my favorite tracks from the soundtrack.

P.S.:

I’m incredibly passionate about video game music and I feel it’s really important to a game as a whole, so I’m currently planning on having a “gaming track of the day” post on a near-daily basis here on the site.

posted on 30.04.10

thedrunkenmoogle:

T-Virus (Resident Evil Shot)

Ingredients:
3/4 shot Silver Rum
1/4 shot Everclear
1 Blue Twizzler

Directions: Wind a blue Twizzler around a tall double shot glass. It should stick to the sides of the glass. Pour in the silver rum and top with the Everclear. Drink, then eat the Twizzler for a sweet/sour aftertaste.

This is part of a series of Resident Evil drinks I’ve been making. More to come!
(Original drink created and photographed by The Drunken Moogle.)

posted on 30.04.10

Super Mario Crossover

LINK

Super Mario Crossover is similar to a lot of mash-up/rom hack-esque games you’ve seen pop up over the course of the last decade. But unlike most of those, this one is actually pretty awesome and surprisingly playable.

In it, you play through the entirety of the original Super Mario Bros., except now you have the option to play as characters such as Simon Belmont, Link, the Contra dude, among others. And instead of whoever made this just slapping their sprites onto it, replacing Mario, they actually went to the effort of incorporating how each character plays in their respective game into it. Samus can get into a ball and drop bombs, Mega Man can charge his shots when he gets a mushroom, and so forth. You can choose a new character after every level, so you’re not stuck with playing as one throughout the whole game if you don’t like them (Protip: Mega Man is the best).

Also, if you’re like me, this is probably the first flash game you’ve played at Newgrounds since your sophomore year of high school.

Mad props to the dudes over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun for sharing this.

posted on 30.04.10

gamefreaksnz:

(via theinternetaccordingtoadrian)

cute overload

posted on 29.04.10

The awesome people at Mega64 have decided to make a reel of “trailers” for several of the finalists at the 2010 Independent Games Festival such as Enviro-bear 2000, Super Meat Boy, Limbo, A Slow Year, and AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard For Gravity. Knowing this is about “indie movies,” you can probably guess the tone they’re going for with most of these. Just know that Zach Braff and The Shins are involved.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen them, check out the three commercials they did for GDC recently. So good.

posted on 29.04.10

Awesome Mod Showcase: GTAIV First-Person Mod for PC

Video here!

Since its release in 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV has slowly been painted in a more negative light. “Over-hyped. lol Oscar-quality story” yadda yadda yadda. You’ve likely heard all of those arguments already so I won’t bog this post down trying to dispute them, rather I’d like to talk about the game’s strongest quality.

GTA4 places you into Liberty City, probably the most vibrant, alive world in the entire medium. So much is going on around you at all times, it’s massive, it’s detailed, you have a wonderfully detailed radio system playing in the background throughout most of it, etc. This is the closest thing to a living, breathing city the gaming industry has seen. It’s been a long time since I played it, but watching this video reminded me of how true the above really is. Hell, the first person perspective actually manages to make the world even more immersive than it already is. GTA4 has many problems, there’s no doubting that, but the quality of Liberty City itself definitely isn’t one of them, and with this mod I believe it is able to shine brighter than it has before.

Credit goes to Templar Wizard of NeoGAF for bringing this to my attention with this thread.

Oh yeah, how could I talk about a mod and not link to it? Click here to download it.