Video games, like films, always starts with story. Or at least the games that get it right. A Penny Arcade Expo 2009 panel, entitled “Media is the Massage,” hoped to address this notion with an all-star team consisting of Denis Dyack (President, Silicon Knights), Joseph Staten (Bungie, Creative Director), Tim Schafer (Founder, Double Fine), Greg Zeschuk (Group Creative Officer, RPG/MMO Group of EA and Co-Founder, BioWare) and moderator Adam Sessler (Editor-In-Chief, G4). My quick and dirty notes after the jump. read all »
Seems like no art form is without the argument of “what is indie?” I got a glimpse of this argument in the context of video games at a lively panel at Penny Arcade Expo 2009 moderated by N’Gai Croal (Consultant, Writer, Columnist, Hit Detection LLC). Below are my quick and dirty notes. So what is an indie game to you? read all »
The video jesters known as Fatal Farm have put together a reel of unused shorts made for the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. I won’t say anything else, you just need to hit play.
Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot more links to animated GIFs come across my RSS reader and Twitter stream. Not sure why this old school “web design sin” is coming back around, maybe it’s the lo-fi aesthetic that seems to be in vogue right now or the ease it takes the make them, but I’m enjoying the trip down 15fps memory lane. With the help of film related animated GIF blog, Three Frames, I’ve collected some faves you can enjoy from the comfort of home. WARNING: might induce seizures…or nightmares. read all »
If you didn’t catch the Festival this year, we presented the first ever Planet Illogica Award for New Media: Directing toJenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, the duo behind the groundbreaking PlayStation Network game “Flower.” We’re not stopping there, however, and are developing the video game aspect of the Festival into a full blown initiative called “CineVegas Arcade” that will highlight independent designers and companies who push the boundaries of, what is essentially, interactive storytelling. With that in mind we will begin blogging about this world through our CineVegas prism and what better way to begin then highlighting the setting of Vegas in video games. read all »
In the last few days the internet has been a buzz over four PSA-style online videos that promote Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8. Starring Lois and Clark actor Dean Cain, the ads have become instantly infamous for their crude humor and edgy style in the most un-Microsoft way. One in particular was apparently too edgy and pulled because, according to a MS rep, “some of our customers found it offensive.” The director of these spots, comedian-turned-writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait, is a friend of the Festival and was kind enough to talk about them. read all »
Just recently we released the first version of our iPhone App called CineSlots. It had been in development for several months with the coding ninja skills of Hunter Hillegas who took our pie in the sky idea and made it into a reality (more info on the app here). What follows is in an interview with him about iPhone Apps, CineSlots and this wondrous city we call Las Vegas. read all »
Our favorite VHS crate digging miscreants, Everything Is Terrible!, have just released a compilation DVD of their finest found footage called, fittingly enough, EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE!: THE MOVIE. The movie recently premiered at the Silent Movie Theatre where VHS copies of JERRY MAGUIRE were thrown into the sold out crowd. One lucky audience member was even titled “Keeper of the Terrible” and bestowed with a 100 copies of the Tom Cruise romcom (jealous!). You can buy your copy of EIT!: THE MOVIE here.*
Our favorite VHS crate digging miscreants, 
