This is the first thing I drew. Nothing special, was the first computer I had as a kid.
An isometric view of the SE-30. Second thing I drew.
This is the first serious drawing I did. Took about 2.5 hours. First time I ever used shading or layers. I'm pleased with the result.
Tried to draw a tamagotchi. Couldn't get the gloss to ever look right. About 2 hours. Gave me good experience trying different shading patterns, though.
The guardian robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. About 2 hours I think. Pretty satisfied.
That's it for now.
-Steinkamp
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Cullen and Steinkamp share some of their wisdom relating to the film Avatar, covering topics such as the nature of plant-based internet, dumptruck grinder things, and a possible use for unobtainium.]]>
This is at best old news, but I just played through Mirror's Edge. I'm more pleased than displeased with the experience, although there were some obvious shortcomings that would have made me frustrated had I payed the price it was originally sold for.]]>
Gran Turismo Academy was recently released to the Playstation Store, and is part of a contest to be the best virtual driver in your country, as well as a demo for the upcoming (this summer!) Gran Turismo 5.]]>
I've never posted anything about gunpla on here before, but if you're reading this, I'm assuming you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, but for some odd reason you want to understand, you could do some googling. Anyway, the Perfect Grade 00 Raiser came out yesterday. I've wanted to build a PG kit for a while, and I like the 00 Raiser's design (00 by itself is a little off to me, but with an airplane stuck to its back it's pretty interesting imo), so I got it. This isn't really a full unboxing I guess, mostly because I didn't feel like uploading that many pics. If anyone who reads this (assuming someone does) actually has a desire for more info, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.]]>I imagine loot to be one of the elementary components of a good game. When buying a game, I am essentially trading money for nothing, its nice to have a false sense of gain as I play. That's not to say that playing has no rewards generally; there is a great sense of accomplishment that can come in a wide variety of flavors from games. Unleashing omnislash on Sephiroth's punk-ass; finally chaining a stage (almost) perfectly in Ikaruga; at last stumbling upon a hidden path in Super Mario; earning your handful of cash from a hard day's work moving boxes with a forklift...
All those things are great rewards for playing a game, but I've recently been enjoying a much more base type of reward: loot. In-game items. Actual virtual objects that you can accumulate. As stupid as it sounds to anyone who hasn't felt satisfaction from this, satisfying it is.
For me, the key aspect that makes one game's loot stand above others is the quality of the icons. This is one of the few times that I really care about the graphics in a game; well drawn icons or well modeled objects takes loot to a whole new level. It's somewhat hard to characterize because the quality of the graphics doesn't have to be objectively good (high-res or high polygon count), but there is just a certain something that particular games really nail.
A good example of this would be DQ VIII. While the different weapons you get are for the most part only minor improvements upon previous weapons (+18 damage vs. +15), they all have distinct icons specific to that weapon. On top of this, weapons are visible on your character as you walk around, and that simple change in appearance gives a strong sense of change and progress, even if the numerical difference is small. This esthetic payoff changes what could be a frustratingly slow progression through weapons into something that is rewarding enough such that the rate doesn't seem like a drag.
My recent loot fixes have been Treasure World on DS (pure loot), and PsyPets (Tamagotchi + Progress Quest + loot). I hope to write more about those games at some point. Though, I suppose they only marginally fall under the category of 'games'; the term "software toy" would probably be more appropriate, and should totally be brought back.
-Steinkamp
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(NOTE: The spacing in this particular thing is all mussed up. Not 100% sure why)
Predator 2 sees the predator returning to the jungle to hunt humans. (Though its not the same individual predator that was in the first movie, as that one suicided via an atomic blast). Only this time its the urban jungle - L.A. The predator in this movie doesn't really seem to be looking for a challenge, he mostly seems to stay invisible and cheap-shot dudes
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Behind the times as usual, I just watched Alien. I hadn't realized that this movie was quite that old (1979, jeez), but surprisingly it didn't show its age too terribly.
As would be expected for such a well-known movie, the majority of the shock value relating to alien itself had been worn completely away by its status as a cultural icon. Of course the alien comes out of the dude's chest; that's what aliens do. And of course the baby has to become huge really quick, because I've never seen a medium-sized version. That said, I was reasonably satisfied with my viewing experience, and was quite impressed with some parts of the film.
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