Hardcore = NES?

I've written before about my love affair with the NES emulator for PSP. I've been cranking it up whenever I have about 10 minutes to kill and it's filling the time fabulously. However, the one thing I'm finding is that those old games we knew and loved are hard. Like, really hard. It's amazing how just 10 minutes on an old 8-bit game can reveal how much your gaming skillz have deteriorated over the years. I tried my hand at Bionic Commando, Contra, Joust, Ikari Warriors, Metal Gear, Shinobi and others and the results were much the same: I suck at these games now.

Perhaps my sense of timing is shot, or my hand/eye coordination, or maybe I'm just plain rusty. Or it could be that I'm too spoiled by the shiny features of modern games and they've made me lazy. I've gotten too used to unlimited lives and continues, save points and game saves, bountiful power-ups and over-powered heroes. I played through 90% of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core without even dying. I couldn't think of picking up God of War without the liberal save points scattered throughout the game. Now I find it impossible to imagine playing an entire level of a game only to die and have to start over from the beginning. But that was the kind of gameplay we all cut our teeth on years ago, and we actually had fun!

Now don't get me wrong, most modern games are more enjoyable than the majority of those classics. I don't have the time to invest in a game that will take me countless hours to master it anymore. Maybe ten years ago, but not now. So being able to play through 20 minutes of a game and actually make some progress is rewarding, especially when time to game is so limited. But, if I have one complaint against modern games, it's that they seem to be specifically designed to save you the hassle of learning how to truly play them. Sometimes I'd like to play a game without a tutorial or on-screen prompt telling me what button to push. It's rare to actually discover what a game is about before it starts holding your hand through the intro. Part of the fun of gaming is discovery and overcoming challenges. Completely take these away and you lose a bit of the magic, which is something those older games still have to this day.

So as I fire up Castlevania and prepare to tackle Stage 3 without dying, for the fourth time, I console myself with the fact that the truly hardcore gamers weren't raised playing a Playstation 3, or Xbox 360, or a Wii (hah joking!). The Nintendo Entertainment System is where real hardcore gamers were born and bred.

UPDATE: Will Ghostbusters be Slimed?

A quick update to this posting, from the good folks at G4:

Activision says Ghostbusters is not canceled. X-Play talked an Activision Blizzard spokesperson who emailed: "Regarding Ghostbusters: The Video Game: First and foremost, the game is absolutely not cancelled," but added: "In general (including Ghostbusters): The company is reviewing its options regarding those titles that it will not be publishing."

Here are two high-profile titles that are being considered for cancellation:

• Brutal Legend: The action-adventure game starring Jack Black is slated for release on the 360 and PS3 has no release date scheduled yet.
• 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand: This action game starring the famous rapper in the Middle East is scheduled for a fall release on the PS3 and 360. No word yet on what the status of this awesomely ridiculous game will be. We'll be bummed if we can't play this. Look at the trailer!

This is good news for Ghostbusters, bad news for the other two games. Not that I really cared about their fate to begin with, any game with 50 Cent deserves to be canceled on principle alone.

Original posting:
According to an article over at Ars Technica this morning, the upcoming Ghostbusters game for PS3/Xbox 360 is in danger of being canceled. Apparently the merger between Activision and Vivendi has put several titles into publishing limbo and caused massive internal confusion.

I was very excited about this game after seeing gameplay footage at E3. With a script by Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd along with voiceovers by the original cast, sharp graphics and some creative mechanics, this game looked like a surefire hit. This one was on my watch-list when I buy a PS3, it would be a real shame if someone didn't jump in and buy the publishing rights to this game. I mean, who could resist blasting Slimer and riding around in Ecto-1?

Randomness

I have a few random topics on my mind today, figured they aren't worth separate posts so you get the Combo Plate Special.

First up we have Hospitals. This past weekend my youngest daughter Camryn was back in the ER with another kidney infection. She's doing fine now and will be getting follow up tests to make sure we don't have to do this again, but geez health care is just a retarded business. The first sign was when the ER doctor wanted to do a lumbar puncture on her before checking her urine and blood for infection. Seriously? Yes, let's bend her in half, jab a needle in her spine and suck out the fluid before we do the easy shit like testing pee for bacteria. Especially when she had this same test a month ago with negative results. I didn't let him do it and and behold! her pediatrician agreed with me. This lumbar procedure must be big bucks for him, I imagine every kid with a fever gets a complimentary spine stabbing from the good doctor. At least our stay was only two days this time, I'm praying we can keep her healthy from here on out.

Next up is social networking. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone's MySpace, Facebook, Blog, or Twitter page. While I truly enjoy all of these forms of connectedness, sometimes it feels like work to keep up with them all. I wish there was one superior site that could unite all of my friends and family so I didn't need Digsby to keep track of everything. I often feel like I'm slacking off if I don't have something interesting to Twitter or blog about. And forget about MySpace, I'm neither cool nor young enough for anyone to notice my page there. I suppose this is a bit of a rant, but honestly I can only be so interesting even to myself let alone a handful of friends :)

Last we have the incredible goodness that is the PSP. This thing keeps me entertained in so many ways I can't imagine not owning one. I keep up on all my TV shows, movies, anime and music with it. I store pictures of my kids and can check RSS feeds with it. It can browse the web from any wi-fi connection. And of course it plays games too. But not just PSP games! It can emulate PS1, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and NES games. I have Final Fantasy VII, Marvel vs. Capcom, and Metal Gear Solid along with several hundred games for the older systems. I have the most fun with the NES emulator though. It's amazing how good these old games look on the PSP's widescreen, I forgot just how crappy my old 13" color TV was when I was a kid. The screen shots below show a few of the games I have loaded (kudos to the old-schoolers that recognize them). The PSP has saved me from boredom countless times, in my opinion it's the best handheld available.

I think that's all I have for today's brain purging. Now I'm off to check Twitter!

Aspen Homage

If you've seen my other posts on comic book artist Michael Turner, then you already know he was an incredible artist that left us far too soon. He also touched the lives of thousands of fans and professionals during his career. As a way of saying "thank you" and paying our respects to his family, the fan community over at Aspen Comics are producing a tribute book to present to Mike's family and friends. The book will consist of pieces that are inspired by, or seek to recreate, our favorite works from Mike over the years. I decided to participate in this excellent project and submitted the following piece for the cause.


This was my stab at drawing Aspen from his comic book Fathom, and is based on the cover from issue #2. It's also the only colored piece I've ever done, seeing as how I'm colorblind and all.

I'm not sure if my piece will make it into the book, but Mike inspired me to draw it back in my college days so I felt I should take a shot at it. The folks managing this project are estimating 50-60 pieces for the book, so I think my chances of making it in are good. I will post an update when the final line-up is decided in a few weeks.

Interesting Notes About Fatherhood

Here are some random observations I’ve made during my time as a father of two girls. Three out of five fathers may or may not agree with me.

It’s totally cool to sing Hannah Montana songs and then make up alternate lyrics. This usually involves making as many words rhyme with “fart” as possible.

Puke, snot and slobber no longer illicit any reaction other than to calmly reach over my shoulder and grab a burp rag.

Colorblindness is now considered a blessing, as I do not have to participate in choosing either my daughter’s outfits.

Nine year old girls are really just 23 year-olds trapped in a small body with no cell phone.

“Free time” is the ten minutes spent showering in the morning, and the 30 minutes before you fall asleep on the couch at night.

Talking to your kids like they are adults and playing with them like you are a kid produces the best results.

It is my job, nay, my duty to get my kids wound up just before bedtime.

Disney channel theme songs are encoded with subconscious messages that keep children from blinking during shows and trick grandparents into buying yet another tube of Hannah Montana lip gloss.

If my daughter wakes up grumpy, I do my best to irritate her until she either smiles or storms off to the bathroom. Either way her mood changes!

Girls are born with the knowledge that daddy is wrapped around their little finger.

Turner Top 5

Last time I posted about the untimely death of comics artist Michael Turner. Although I'm still saddened by the loss of such a great person, I also found greater appreciation of his work as I pored over my collection. I have roughly 200 comics that Mike drew covers for in my collection, and this isn't half of what he'd accomplished over the past 15 years. After admiring these books again, I've picked out my top five favorite covers from my collection. Click through for larger images. Enjoy!

#5 - Teen Titans #1

I really loved this cover when it came out, it was the first time I had seen Mike take on any DC characters. He's always been good at those massive collages of characters but I think this one really ties together well. Plus each character has a unique look, something he was criticized for not doing early in his career.

#4 - Aspen Sketchbook #1

This book was only released on the Aspen website, but it's definitely one of his most gorgeous pieces. Aspen (center character) has such striking features in this one, and I love the sketches in progress in the background. I think the color scheme compliments it well but it's always Aspen's eyes that get me when I see this cover.

#3 - Ekos Preview

Ekos was going to be Mike's next book after he completed Soulfire. Unfortunately, his cancer treatments kept him from finishing Soulfire as planned and Ekos will never be published with his pencils. But, we do have this excellent preview book to see what might have been. The main characer Grell is pictured here, and is a huge departure from the sexy women and reality based books he had always drawn. I love the texture in this piece and how unique it was from any of his other work.

#2 - Fathom #12, covers A&B

While this is technically two covers, they're both for the same issue and were drawn as one piece. The composition of this piece blows me away, I can't imagine how long it must have taken to draw let alone lay out. I've never been great at planning out a new piece, so I really admire the talent and hard work involoved in this drawing. Plus the many hot women don't hurt.

#1 - Witchblade #4

In my opinion, this is by far the best cover Mike ever drew. This has fantasy, sexiness, horror, power, beauty and badassness all in one piece. I'm a huge Gieger fan and this piece reminded me of him immediately. It's one of the few images of Witchblade that Mike drew with the blade actually extended, and they never really touched on this power later on in the series. The color scheme is excellent as well. If I could afford it, this piece would the grail in my original art collection. For now, I'll have to be content with the poster sized version I have framed in my basement.

So there you have it, my Turner Top five. He's drawn hundreds of other stunning covers and interior work and I encourage you to hit Google or the local comic store and find your own favorites.