Throatpunch!!!

If I were a character in a game like Street Fighter, this would be my signature move:

Link: How Pixar Bosses Saved Their Employees from Layoffs

How Pixar Bosses Saved Their Employees from Layoffs
"Today, Pixar may be a multibillion dollar company seemingly capable of doing no wrong in the box office, but in its early days as Lucasfilm’s computer animation division, its future was far from certain. Indeed, in the mid-’80s, some at Lucasfilm doubted the value of computer animation, and the division faced deep layoffs. Then, its two heads, Alvy Ray Smith and Ed Catmull, saved it in a positively Pixaresque way."


Now that's what I call leadership.

Link: Godzilla Movie Gets Monsters Director Gareth Edwards

Godzilla Movie Gets Monsters Director Gareth Edwards: "

"It’s back to the drawing board for Tokyo’s greatest thunder lizard as the upcoming Godzilla reboot gets a new director, Monsters‘ Gareth Edwards, and a new writer, as yet still unrevealed."



 As a kid my Dad instilled two things in me above all else

1. A love of music
2. A love of Godzilla

By the time high school rolled around I had seen every Godzilla movie ever made available in the states and while my interest began to wane at that time and I've since lost track of the franchise, the big green guy still has a special place in my heart. Having seen Gareth Edwards film Monsters and having been very impressed with it not only because of its effects, but also its writing and directing, I am looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the king of movie monsters. Certainly he can do better than that Ferris Bueller vs Godzilla nonsense we got in the late 90's.

The Year Ender 2011

I've been stuck on starting my year end music mix for weeks now and it's mainly been because I didn't know what track to put first. Without a good first track a mix goes nowhere, but once I find it everything starts to pull together. I think I just found my first track.

Update (20 minutes later): I'm 7 tracks in already. Crafting a mix for me is like carving a statue. I start with a solid block of tracks I think I want to use and then I chip away anything that doesn't sound like it belongs. Since what I'm crafting is a linear experience however, the starting point is incredibly important. It's amazing how the path of the mix just starts to become apparent though, like it was always there and I just had to locate it.

Review: Machinarium

There wasn't much I was interested in purchasing (or hadn't already purchased this summer) in the recent Steam sale, but the indie point and click adventure game Machinarium caught my eye so I gave it a chance. Having just finished the game I would have to highly recommend it. The stylized sound and visuals are incredibly well done and made the game a delight to keep coming back to. The game has no text so the majority of the interaction is between the main character, the world, and the character's inventory. Any story movement or exposition is handled via animated thought balloons over characters head when you interact with them.  Functionally the game employs the classic adventure game mechanic of picking up items and combining them either with other items or objects in the world to solve puzzles. The variety of puzzles goes beyond that though, with a number more traditional single board-style puzzles or games and there are even a couple more modern arcade like puzzles/games as well. The difficulty ramps up fairly steadily and for the most part the game does a good job of giving the player enough cues to figure out what to do next. As with any adventure game, observation is key, but for those who fail to observe or who try and still can't get past a given puzzle, there are two layers of hints built into the game. The first is a simple one panel image for each area that illustrates the key goal or solution the player should be looking for. The second is a flat out walk through. The hints are accessed by pressing a button on the top right of the screen as is the walk through. The catch with the walk through however is that in order to unlock them, you need to play a quick side scrolling shooter game. The game is easy enough, to the point where you start to lament having to play it again when you get stuck, but I applaud the developers attempt to put a little game play into cheating. Somehow it doesn't make it feel so bad. My only regret with Machinarium is that there isn't more of it. I'd love to get lost in that world again for a much longer period of time.