The Gamer's Quarter

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:45 am Post subject:

My god, Persona, that's genius. I wonder how quickly they pulled that particular ad after all the controversy. Thanks!

And thanks everyone for the concern. I'm doing just fine. I went to a walk-in clinic last night and the doctor said I've nothing to worry about. I'm achy today but I can already tell I'm getting better. I really wanted to go running at the gym last night but that was sort of out of the question. :-/

Helicopterp, in the coming apocalypse we will fight side-by-side.

Dess, there's more where that came from. He's working on a new animation now that's almost finished. Glad you liked this one.

Persona-sama · Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:04 am Post subject:

So Lestrade, are you dead yet or what? :/
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Lestrade · Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:46 am Post subject:

Maybe?

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:06 pm Post subject:

I ended up popping on Gears of War (or GWAR, as I prefer) late Friday night and decided to try an online match, since I haven't played it over Live in quite a while. I didn't turn off the console until after 3:00 AM! I played with some IC folks (Chitty Zane, Belthegor and 110ican'tremember) and a friend of mine from Toronto.

At one point, some obviously young white kid jumps on and starts getting all J-Roc over his headset. He's trying to rap, beatbox, and being a complete idiot, aksin' people who loves the hip-hop. At he outset of a new match somebody (I think it was 110something) says, "Hey, so-and-so, you gonna sing us a song?"

J-Roc went completely quiet, and didn't say a damn thing for the rest of the game. "I think he's shy," somebody said. I was laughing so hard I couldn't aim straight; "Maybe he's got stage fright," I offered between giggles. It was the greatest moment I've yet experienced over Live!

Later in the evening, my friend (from TO) and I were paired up against another two-man team. We were behind some sandbags for cover, trying to form some sort of quick defensive strategy in a map we weren't familiar with. We kept our opponents at bay for a few moments with some scattered fire, and then I looked over at him (literally) and asked, "So, what do you think—"

His head popped like a grisly balloon, the tracer of a sniper shot briefly hanging in the air, and I called out through my headset, "Aw, shit!" It was only a few short moments before the opposing team had descended on me and I joined my friend's side in the loser's box of the scoring screen.

Persona-sama · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:32 pm Post subject:

Man, that sounds so epic. I'm still stuck in the past with my Wii and my PS2 playing with Miis and going on PSU. ;_;
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Lestrade · Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:53 pm Post subject:

You don't know this if anyone asks, but I'm working on a complete career reboot. Here are two potential entries into my illustration portfolio; the first is a portrait of Swedish band The Knife, the second is a portrait of our current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

Lestrade · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:39 am Post subject:

I said I wouldn't even think about any new games until I beat Twilight Princess, but I have to say: twenty-two hours in, and I think Link and I need a break.

As much fun as I've had, the game is Zelda, and it's not fun when you start thinking, "Okay, only five more dungeons to go," knowing full well the amount of run-around, backtracking, and side-questing that each dungeon entails.

My favourite part of the game is Midna, and I want to keep playing to see what happens to her. Though, right now I want to explore all the possibilities the Wii currently has to offer, and not have to devote another 20 or 25 hours into this single game. I guess I've got launch fever. Seeing all the new Dragon Quest stuff has made me want to do everything but play a classically-styled adventure game on the Wii.

Also, recently I hit a little milestone where I've realized what I can expect, and what I want, from different media. Seeing some films this week that I've found personally uplifting, inspiring, etc. has shone some light on my own (occasionally unrealistic) expectations regarding games.

As I've always mentioned, I really enjoy story in games, and the emotional involvement (and stimuli) that can come of it. But after seeing certain films, which rewarded me with a much deeper, much more profound sense of this emotional involvement, games' relative shortcomings suddenly became pronounced.

Without warning, I realized, "I don't really want to go on a grand adventure anymore," and then Link and I didn't seem so buddy-buddy. I thought about all the elements I've ever wanted (or thought I wanted) from games, and how they can be had much more easily, much more proficiently, from books and movies.

I've been looking at an apple and wishing it were a pumpkin, or something.

So now, newly enamoured with movies and books that I hadn't given a chance before, I feel both satisfied in my quest for narratives and free to look at games in a whole new light. It sounds silly, but it was very liberating.

So then I thought about what kinds of games I do like, and which utilize the medium in a way no other can to provide a unique, valuable experience.

The first one to spring to mind was Shadow of the Colossus. Hands-down, to me this is somewhat of a gigantic banner of what games are capable of. Then, I thought of why this particular title was special, and immediately I came to the obvious answer, which is: focus.

As we've all said many times before, the reason SOTC succeeds and confounds traditional gamers is its adherence to a very strict set of rules. You do one thing in the game, and your imagination takes care of the rest. Despite/because of this, the game feels huge, deep, and vast, without ever throwing more than one bullet-point at you: "defeat 16 rather large creatures." It doesn't tell you the game is huge, deep, and vast; you just know.

(As I play Twilight Princess, I can't help but think, What the fuck am I still collecting heart pieces for? Just give me a health meter that refills slowly when I rest, like damn near every other game I've played in the past year.)

The game is a perfect example of design by subtraction. Of course, Ico is too, and I love that game for the same reason.

As well, Gears of War gets it. By the time I was done with the single-player campaign, I felt like I had accomplished something (by learning the new skills the game provides) and was sort of begging for more, yet glad that the experience had been as taut as it had been. Having such a solid set of mechanics and single-minded tenacity to make the most of them, I surprised myself by starting the game over almost immediately.

What I hope this current trend will teach the gaming community is: design by subtraction is still the way to go. The Wii is practically a manifesto incarnate of that very thought.

Okay, I'm fucking tired and not making sense.

SuperWes · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:08 am Post subject:

You know, Lestrade, you're absolutely right. One of the early things I decided when playing Gears of War is that the game's greatness is the result of finely tuned, beautifully balanced, highly focused gameplay. The lack of multiplayer options is the direct result of that focus. If they allow more than four-on-four matches people will end up sitting out for way too long, if they allow respawns then kills don't mean nearly as much, if they create a capture the flag mode they need to allow respawns and make it so that characters can't get killed as easily. All of these things build on top of each other until the game gets bogged down in options that more than likely will just end up with some 12 year old kid making a 6 hour long endless respawn single-man slayer run and run gametype that's just going to make it seem like the game sucks in multiplayer to a casual player.

That said, Zelda's pretty polished overall, but there's a lot of extraneous stuff. I did notice that they seem to have made a conscious effort to keep the story going forward so that you don't get stuck in side-quest land for too long. I also appreciate that the magic armor that prevents all damage sucks rupees away while you use it, giving you a reason to collect rupees after you've bought all of the important stuff. That's got to count for something.

-Wes
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Lestrade · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:13 am Post subject:

Woah, no shit!? That's interesting.

I keep explaining GOW as "The Best Next-Gen NES Game I've Ever Played." It's that good.

aerisdead · . Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 254 Location: Toronto, Canada

Dude the Knife are awesome.
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aerisdead

Lestrade · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 12:19 pm Post subject:

They're only going to get more awesome, now that I've rejuvenated their career with this fine illustration.

Or something.

aerisdead · . Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 254 Location: Toronto, Canada

Did you see?

http://www.silentshout.co.uk/christmasreindeer
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aerisdead

Lestrade · Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:39 pm Post subject:

I do now! Thanks.

==

I was watching some YouTube videos of Link's Awakening today, and I kept thinking, "Fuck, I think Zelda is really meant to a 2D game." All its contrivances seem joyful on that little Game Boy screen; not so much in Twilight Princess.

That said, I still love Midna.

Lestrade · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:31 am Post subject:

Wii60 party today. Wii, Xbox 360, Halo matches and multiplayer Guitar Hero II; hopefully I'll have photos and vidoes of this fine event.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

I don't know how I missed the last... hell four entries of yours. Sorry. Anyways, I just wanted to chime in and pretty much completly agree with you on the SotC and narrative things. And also, the knife is indeed fucking awesome.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

Lestrade · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:23 pm Post subject:

Whoa, I'm actually not full of shit. That's encouraging to know.

Sadly, I have no videos or images from today's gaming event, but it was all kind of a disappointment anyway.

Despite all this, I somehow managed to purchase Trauma Centre. I have played a few surgeries without seeing the story, so I'm going to start a new game from scratch and do it right. This game excites me for all the reasons I listed above; it is a title in which I accomplish one task, and hopefully do it with aplomb. It is "the surgery game" just as SOTC is "the giant-killing game" (though I realize it's so much more than that).

And Ketch, hell yes on wanting to get to the "good bits." For me, classic titles like Ninja Gaiden II are great examples of "all killer, no filler." The game is a left-to-right ninja-slashing game, and that's it. And it's so damn good.

The problem is that developers got caught up in the dream of making The Game That Can Do Everything. Mass Effect is a modern example of this (I think). You can talk to people, you can investigate for clues and missions, you can travel to new worlds, you can control your squad... If Bioware was to strip out all this extra stuff, what would the meat of the game be? Looks like a sci-fi, over-the-shoulder shooter game.

It's like the anti-Gears. In Mass Effect, it looks like you're supposed to do everything but play the actual game.

A lot of people lamented the lack of an overworld in FFX. Though I didn't get far in that game (since my wife accidentally deleted my save game!), I certainly appreciated this aspect, which removed an unnecessary, mundane activity and let you continue the actual gameplay more quickly.

The Surgery Game, the Giant-Killing Game, the Cover-and-Destroy game (Gears); all these are demonstrating a maturity in game design to me. We've got the 40-hour overworld out of our systems (well, some of us do), and we're getting back to giving people the opportunity to experience very specific things—with tonnes of the aforementioned aplomb.

Videos of our last Guitar Hero II event are coming soon—hopefully tomorrow. I'm even in there a little bit!

Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Lestrade, after playing most of the Wii version and the DS version I must say that Trauma Center is much better on the DS. The Wii version fixes a few things and balances the game better for use with the Nunchuck, but nothing can replace the tactile response of the touchscreen.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

SuperWes · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:38 am Post subject:

The problem with the "all killer no filler" design concept is it runs contrary to game actually being in 3D. In 2D, games were often set up so that you start at the left and run right, which was a pretty linear experience. The top-down view meant that players could go anywhere. Whereas before, the player was always going somewhere (to the right), now players could go anywhere, but were much more likely to go nowhere. Zelda - one of the first games to do this right - worked with this freedom by putting a little something here, there, and everywhere, to ensure that the player would always be rewarded for exploring. Now instead of going nowhere, the player would always be going somewhere, even if it's not the place he really needed to be going. So Zelda's big accomplishment is that it worked with the freedom by always giving the player a reward.

Fast forward to 1996. Every single game is in 3D. Remember the challenge I mentioned above where designers were trying to figure out how to handle giving the player the freedom to go up, down, left, and right? Well, now that freedom has been expanded to 360 degrees. What do you do when a player has total freedom? How do you constrain that? Well, the first games experimented by making one or the other. Mario 64 is a Zelda philosophy. It rewarded the player no matter what direction they went in. Crash Bandicoot took the other direction. It was totally linear and much more derivative of 2D games. After a while, designers began to figure out how to mix the two philosophies. They make a game that's mostly linear, but allow short branches that give little rewards so that the player feels like they're making a difference to the world.

It's a good design, but we've gotten to the point - after a good 10 years - that every game's starting to feel the same. We've got these huge worlds that beg for nonlinearity, but we also want to be told (or be the ones telling) a linear story within those worlds. I don't know the answer, but now that we've established the question maybe we can come up with something.

-Wes
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Lestrade · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:56 pm Post subject:

All very interesting! Ketch and Wes, you both summed things up nicely.

I think my beef with the big, open 3D games (like Zelda) is that they often require exploration, rather than just encourage it. In line with my previous comment, having to look for heart pieces (a mechanical, forced abstraction of your health) means that yes, you have an incentive to explore this vast world you're given.

There's nothing wrong with this, but the game rams it down your throat. "Only four more pieces to make a heart!" it squeals. I enjoy exploration in games, but I prefer it on its own terms—i.e. exploration, to me, should be an optional, fun thing to do. I don't find collecting anything fun.

SOTC allows you to collect things; namely, white-tailed lizards. But the game never mentions these (at least to my knowledge), and you don't really need them. They're fun to discover because you're rewarded by your exploration with a beneficial item, and you gain that sense of actual discovery and exploring.

By contrast, Zelda lets you know, constantly, that you can collect heart pieces, golden bugs, Poes, etc. etc. etc. At that point veering off the path doesn't feel like individualistic adventure, it feels like side-questing.

My point is, even a 3D game needs a focus and a purpose. It needs to be narrowed down. I like old-school Resident Evil games because their pre-rendered backgrounds left so much for me to imagine, while simultaneously looking rich and (occasionally) vast. In the same vein, the city in Gears looks amazing, even though you only ever see a small part of it.

I don't mind the lush detail and amazing physics; just give me a path to go down, and let me work within those parameters.

Sorry, I'm not really saying anything unique here.

= =

Shaper: I just bought Trauma Centre for my mother. I've shipped it to her (as well as your goody) today. Hopefully she'll enjoy it. I'm thoroughly engrossed in the Wii version; I told my wife that I could play this sort of game any day of the week, ad nauseum. For me, text-box-drama + [insert gameplay element] = joy. I was getting all choked up during the scene with—shit, I forgot her name—the girl who wanted to commit suicide. Yeah, I admit it! But that sort of heavy story just keeps me glued to the Wiimote.

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

SuperWes · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:10 pm Post subject:

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:28 pm Post subject:

I don't have the DS version, no, but Nancy wants to get it eventually. I like the idea of having both.

Seriously: give me text dramas like this and I'll eat that shit up.

Wes: I don't read redundant text boxes either, but it's the fact that they're there in the first place, you know?

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:37 pm Post subject:

Hey! I'm an uncle again! My brother and his wife just had their third daughter! That makes my seventh niece/nephew!

Shapermc · Hot Sake! Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 6279

Congrats!

I'm only an uncle once. Probably all I'll be an uncle too. Maybe not.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

Persona-sama · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:34 am Post subject:

Lestrade, let me introduce you to the wonderful world of visual novels.

You need to play some Tsukihime!!
Infamous for being a doujin game turned professional, this is Type-Moon's original vampire murdering visual novel game. The art is amateur and the backgrounds are lazy but the story is engrossing in a depressing fun way. JOIN US, LESTRADE.

Download this:
http://downloads.visualnews.net/commercial/tsukihime_english_v1.1%5Bmirror_moon%5D.exe
And download this because the installer will ask for it:
http://persona.mechafetus.com/visualnovel/tsukihime/arc.sar

Read the readme for some important info! Then run and be happy!

ILLEGAL FILE SHARING ITT.
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Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

Persona-sama · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:01 am Post subject:

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:50 am Post subject:

When my wife gets her new Macbook, and I'm able to run Windows, I will! Thanks, Persona.

dessgeega · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:55 am Post subject:

persona, between the gamer's quarter and select button you have been creeping me out lately.
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Ketch · . Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 420

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:51 pm Post subject:

See, Ketch, you just described a great example of what excites me about things like Trauma Centre, and what used to excite me about videogames: you've offered an experience. You've described a way to experience something I'd never get the opportunity to otherwise.

I'm no surgeon, I'm no lawyer, and I'm no ninja, but Trauma Centre, Phoenix Wright, and Ninja Gaiden II, respectively, let me slip into the shoes of each of these roles. More importantly, they let me experience the interesting bits (saving a life, solving a case, hackin' some bad mofos) without having to trudge through all the real-life, boring shit real people would have to do (paperwork, paperwork... uh, meditation?).

Today's samey, sprawling 3-D vistas usually have one role to play: "The Hero." Seriously, how many game boxes can you find in your collection that list "be the hero!" as a bullet-point for the game? I don't think I'd ever want to be a hero if it means enduring people who constantly bat me around with this quest or that, dangling that carrot ever further with each step I take (Zelda; seriously, more on this later). I don't want to talk to everyone, save a cat, collect bugs, find a lost child, etc. etc. on my way to actually doing what the box copy said I would do.

In the same vein, a movie or a book shows you only a snapshot of a life, in order to tell you a story. This is why the best books don't launch into three-page exposition every ten pages to describe a sweater, or a job, or a character's disfigurement. The best books give you only the information you need to grasp the story, and let you connect the dots.

The best games are snapshots of events or worlds that allow you to engage in specific activities, and imagine what lies outside the games' borders, I think.

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:01 pm Post subject:

(Unrelated.) I am really bummed out.

Persona-sama · Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:40 pm Post subject:

Lestrade · Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:56 pm Post subject:

Back from company Christmas party/dinner. Drunk. Got cool gifts, including an issue of Game Informer. FINALLY THEY UNDERSTAND!!!!1111oneoneoen'

Was supposed to go to a press check, but the pressman called my cell during dinner and I couldn't answer it. They ended up running the job without me being there. It better be fucking awesome, because this is the second run for this job, and if it's fucked up, I'm in deep horseshit. I don't know why they didn't just wait until I was available—well, yes, I do know. They're running this job for us quickly, and as a favour, so I suppose they can only fit it in where possible.

Luckily I'm a bit too drunk to be too worried right now. I'll find out in the morning, but it wasn't supposed to be like this... Goddamn motherfucker. If I get yet another client screaming at me over the phone this week... Thank fuck tomorrow afternoon is the beginning of Christmas vacation.

Managed to engage half the dinner table in a rousing conversation about "tea-bagging." I was laughing so hard I almost vomited.

Expect either a triumphant or homeless post tomorrow...

aerisdead · . Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 254 Location: Toronto, Canada

Lestrade we should hang out again

I forget that there are awesome people in Toronto in my hermit like existence ;_;
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aerisdead

Lestrade · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 10:04 am Post subject:

Hey man, I'm up for it. What are you doing during the holidays? You have my number, right? Let's hook up soon; I'm not going anywhere.

In fact, we're planning to have a crazy fondue/Chinese hot pot party on New Year's. You and your Katamari-cake-cookin' girlfriend are more than welcome to come. I'm hoping to drag some of my Japanese friends out as well, so the evening should make for a good mix!

Regardless, let's hook up for coffee/gaming/haggis/whatever. Phone me!

==

P.S. TRIUMPH!!!!!

helicopterp · . Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 1435 Location: Philadelphia

Not that I'm upset, but 'homeless' would have been much more interesting.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

Lestrade · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject:

Xboxen.

Persona-sama · Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 3:34 am Post subject:

You guys and your cool kids Xbox64-CDss and all that. :/
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Lestrade · Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 11:40 am Post subject:

From the website of the newly-opened maid cafe here in Toronto:

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 12:22 am Post subject:

EDIT: Added a photo (of sorts).

I was there! With maids! In a café!

Unfortunately, I have no photos, but I do have a receipt, which I will scan and post later. The place wasn't very busy—which obviously is no surprise, as it was Christmas Eve—but the people who were there surprised me. There was a group of males and females, some middle-aged couples, and generally folks whom I thought wouldn't be eating lunch in a restaurant staffed by young women in frilly maid outfits.

For all intents and purposes, I should be grossly disappointed by the place; no one greeted me as "master" except for our initial entry, our waitress was something along the lines of incompetent (and lazy), the food was mostly substandard, and the place was playing (shudder) Chinese dance remixes of all your Christmas favourites. Loudly.

Despite all this, I enjoyed the experience. I would willingly go again, though I would hope to do it during a busier time, and with a group of people. It probably has a lot to do with the novelty. A warning to anyone who's looking to go, however: the place is essentially Taiwanese, so if you're going to eat, order the Taiwanese dishes. They are far superior to the bastardized Cantonese offerings, which end up losing something in translation.

Rating:

3 out of 5 beers

After our late lunch of curried fish balls, Taiwanese squid, and French toast (yeah, don't ask), the Panda and I hopped on another bus and shipped up to Pacific Mall. I always love going to Pacific Mall; it's like a bizarre trip to both Hong Kong and Japan for the price of a transit token.

After wandering about for a bit, we headed upstairs to Utsuwa No Yakata, a Japanese housewares shop where my tutor works. It was bizarre to see her outside of the usual context; it was almost like seeing an instructor as a student. She greeted us with a big smile and gave me a hug—extremely odd, seeing as we've never even shaken hands before.

The Panda and I were looking for a tea pot; I've been wanted just the right one for a long time. Well, "just the right one" still wasn't available, but we found one we liked just fine anyway. With my tutor's help (much to the chagrin of her coworkers, no doubt), we walked away with the tea pot and some other items, and a pretty good discount too!

Wandering the rest of the mall always leads to a few things: one, I go through every game shop I can find, just because. Two, I almost always want a new cell phone. Today was no different, but the only thing I purchased for myself was a little Luigi stamp from a capsule toy machine. (You'll see him make an appearance at some point.) Eventually, we had to move on to make it to Nancy's family's place for dinner.

I'll spare you all the details, but we left there with gifts a-plenty and full bellies. I now have a blender and a recipe for the best soup I've ever had. I guess I'll be busy this week while the Panda is at work (being a good housewife, as she puts it).

Now, when the fuck are the those Christmas VC games coming!?

To all who celebrate: Merry Christmas! To everyone else: Happy Christmachanukwanzika!

Nana Komatsu · weak sauce Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 1293

i want a butler cafe ;_;

Although if those imouto cafes start showing up outside of japan, I may cut all ties with modern society.

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:02 pm Post subject:

Christmas day report: part one. Went for an all-out dim sum feast a the Bright Pearl, a rather largish restaurant in the heart of Chinatown, a stone's throw (if you have a good arm) from our apartment. Two friends, the Panda and I went and chowed-down for a good two hours. It was... wow. I am so full right now.

(Click for larger images)

The restaurant: pretty busy! We were up on stage where people usually sit during weddings. How special!

Blurry image of a server adding emptied dim sum containers to her cart. Note the Santa hat!

Christmas 2006 at the Bright Pearl - Cart

Tsingtao beer. Very good. My wife's mother lives there—the place, not the bottle.

Soooo much food. That wasn't all of it, either!

Christmas 2006 at the Bright Pearl - food

I'm freaking sleepy now! I think I'll play some Mario and/or Castlevania....

Lestrade · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:06 pm Post subject:

Christmas day report: part two. Had another, uh, hearty meal at a friends. didn't eat as much as before but my body has refused to deal with it. I am so full, and not at all comfortable. Wow, I can't wait for the gym to re-open tomorrow so I can get back into an exercise schedule.

Nothing more to report. Going to sleep off the meat sweats.

Lestrade · Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:30 pm Post subject:

Christmas day food report, day three: I almost died this morning from all the food I consumed over the last two days. I did my regular routine of simple exercises at home, and the Panda and I took a nice, long walk in the evening...

My wife likes to rent magazines and comics from this little Chinese shop in the northern end of the city. When she lived with her family, we would always go there and stock up on stuff. Though it's out of her way now, we still go there from time. This week, after going to the maid cafe, we dropped by.

I rented a few things as well. There's a Chinese fashion/lifestyle magazine called "東TOUCH" that I always like to read; it's got lots of Chinese and Japanese fashion, and features on things like the newest cell phones and Chinese and Japanese artists and designers—such as Michael Lau, the designer who makes that badass line of hip-hop inspired vinyl figures.

(The Chinese character 東, which means "east", reads phonetically as doughn, so the title of the magazine is actually "Don't Touch" while simultaneously sort of being "East Touch.")

The two issues I got were particularly cool; one comes with a mini-catalogue for Japanese fashion line Mastermind.

I also got two issues of Chinese Famitsu clone Game Weekly. I love the notion of quick-and-dirty game magazines, printed on uncoated paper and shilled once a week. Still, while this magazine is great for keeping up on gaming news, its design is piss-poor and it clings tenaciously to that early-nineties aesthetic that, thankfully, most western gaming publications have long abandoned. Chock full of regurgitated game logos, readability-killing backgrounds, sexist game art and juvenile cartoon representations of the reviewers, Game Weekly is probably best as an easily-consumable replacement to a news website, and perfect for a quick commute to work, I imagine.

The best part of Game Weekly is playing Spot the Typo, as the magazine routinely misspells English words multiple times, and even different ways, on the same page! I suppose spell-checking a foreign language is the first thing to go when you're rushing to make deadline.

If anyone finds these forays into Toronto-Chinese culture interesting, let me know!

Persona-sama · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:55 pm Post subject:

I am enjoying this look into the Asian communities in Canada right now!

I should update my staff blog too with interesting things!
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Lestrade · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:44 pm Post subject:

I am working like a mother during my week off and I'm loving it.

Today I finally, officially, scripted and blocked out the entirety of Empty Words. I also drew ten pages of it in one go. I will pencil the other ten tomorrow (I hope!), and then start inking as soon as my back heals.

I know no one cares about this but me, but I am seriously excited about putting this to bed, finally. This comic has been analogous to my first girlfriend: I learned most of what I needed to know on the first try, and I'm pretty sure I fucked up almost everything. Hopefully my next comic will be good!

Empty Words will officially be 148 pages when it's done; 160 with titles. That's... a lot more than I bargained on for my first project! The fact that by its end I will have taken more than three years to complete the project seems ridiculous. God, I need to do this full-time!

Anyway, if anyone wants to see any of my rough pages before I finish them, let me know and I'll scan a couple.

Also! I received my copies of TGQ #7 today (thanks Wes and Shaper), and I read almost the entire thing in one sitting. It is by far the best issue we've ever done, and I wanted to tell everyone how impressed I am with the writing. It just keeps getting better. Dhex, I want you to get a book contract.

Persona-sama · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:01 am Post subject:

I second the Dhex book contract and the scanning of said pages.

It's fun to see how other artists work!
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