bobservo

The Worm Turns | For Our Consideration | The Gameological Society

I wrote this, and it seems to be generating a lot of discussion. Feel free to add your own!

nadiaoxford:

elcomfortador:

The man who made this illustration passed away today. Hiro Isono, the man who created promotional illustrations for the Secret of Mana games (including this one and this one), did something that not many artists working for video game companies can do: Rather than just drawing from the game itself, he envisioned the essence of the it, that spirit of adventure and all that, and in doing so he created an entryway into a colorful, new world. It helps that these games had a big impact on me, but I actually think the art stands up on its own. Why else make art than to dream up something up that doesn’t already exist in real life and make the viewer wish so badly that it were real?

Secret of Mana has one of the simplest but most beautiful RPG openings on any console, and the artwork is no small reason for that.

elcomfortador:

The man who made this illustration passed away today. Hiro Isono, the man who created promotional illustrations for the Secret of Mana games (including this one and this one), did something that not many artists working for video game companies can do: Rather than just drawing from the game itself, he envisioned the essence of the it, that spirit of adventure and all that, and in doing so he created an entryway into a colorful, new world. It helps that these games had a big impact on me, but I actually think the art stands up on its own. Why else make art than to dream up something up that doesn’t already exist in real life and make the viewer wish so badly that it were real?

Secret of Mana has one of the simplest but most beautiful RPG openings on any console, and the artwork is no small reason for that.

Reblogged from Nadia Oxford's Minor Radiation Leak

nadiaoxford:

ptbuttons:

jackscarab:

And that’s how Dale joined Metaknight in the banned column.

DLC anyone?

Sh-shaaaa!

SQUIRREL TACTICS!

(I wish.)

Reblogged from Nadia Oxford's Minor Radiation Leak

emilymayamills:

@iTrevorMoore nailed it with this NSA video and I got to be in it w/ @themichaelbusch & @calehartmann

I’m down for this new initiative.

Reblogged from PAUL F. TOMPKINS IS ONLINE

E3 2013: Pardon My Zinger

Here’s a quick post about E3 that will probably incriminate me in some way (NO REGRETS):

I’ve heard some anti-snark people make their case today, and I can understand where they’re coming from; empty cynicism is unproductive and painfully lazy. But the state of gaming gives us plenty of reasons to express our healthy skepticism, typically through humor jokes, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s the sentiment of “C’mon guys, let the multinational conglomerates have their say!” As if this one week stood as their only chance.

I do understand that by being snarky myself, I run the risk of seeming ungrateful for my extremely privileged position. Hell, as a desperately poor freelancer, nothing steamed my tomatoes more than hearing spoiled game journos complain about events, trips, and the unspeakably arduous life of writing about video games for a living wage. But I will say the crass, corporate nature of E3 combined with the inconsiderate hordes of people in attendance tend to exacerbate my general feelings of inferiority and alienation — which I’d probably drown with alcohol if I were five years younger (now it’s more of a kiddie pool situation). So if I seem a little grumpier than usual, that’s just what this place does to me.

Just so you know, I am trying to give E3 a chance, and went into it with a positive attitude… which quickly deflated when I heard some particularly heinous sexism directed towards one of my female peers — who didn’t happen to be around to hear these words because, well, you know how cowards are. That left me with a sick feeling for most of the day, mostly because I wasn’t in a position to say anything (even though I really should have). Heres hoping the rest of this convention unfolds with only marginal slights against humanity. That’s at least slightly optimistic, right?

nadiaoxford:

All right.

All right. Look.

I associate feminism with choice. In other words, you want to have a career? Girl, go for it. You want to raise a million babies? Girl, go for it. You want to do both? Girl, etc. etc.

You want to wear outfits that adhere to the bare minimum of decency laws? I wholly support your right to do so, and I will climb a ladder and drop-kick anyone who tries to shame you or harm you. You want to wear modest, body-covering outfits that adhere to your religion’s rules? Do it, and eff anyone who withers and snivels about how you need to be “enlightened,” as if you’re a captive orca that needs to be rehabilitated for life at sea.

So it’s not the unrealistic proportions or silly outfits that get me when I see female game characters. It’s how said outfits are seemingly dragged out in the stupidest instances. Like women are incapable of stopping, thinking, and dressing according to their surroundings.

“Oop!” says Quiet, “I’ll be spending some time in the Afghan desert. It gets blisteringly hot during the day, freezing cold at night, and the sun can literally kill me. Better pack my slinky bra and battle thong!*”

See also: Chainmail bikinis worn by warrior women in the frozen wastes.

I ain’t even mad that some video game women are designed like this. I’m just pissed that,excepting a tiny percentage, they’re all designed like adult equivalents of four-year-olds on a Princess role-play kick (“NO! I wanna wear my tiara to granny’s funeral!”).

Dudes complain a lot about how men are objectified as much as women in games. I think Walky’s rebuttal holds up well, but YMMV. But to repeat myself, it isn’t even about objectification for me at this point. It’s about how male characters are, without fail, dressed properly for the battle at hand, and women characters consistently do their dragon-slaying while wearing a thong and a glorified undershirt that wouldn’t prevent an 11-year-old’s breasts from spilling everywhere, never mind a full-grown woman with DDDDDDDD-cups.

All right, sorry, that’s my bluh-bluh-bluh of the day. I’ll fade away ‘til Sony and Nintendo bring out their dead.

(*For the purpose of making a half-comedic, half-irritated point, Quiet temporarily rediscovered her voice)

Reblogged from Nadia Oxford's Minor Radiation Leak

obscurevideogames:

All t-shirts at Red Bubble are 15% off this weekend with coupon code HEYDAD. Including this Parodius one, which I put together.

You can see all my shirts right here.

Reminder to self: BUY THIS.

Reblogged from

The lost art of Final Fantasy IX (Mama Robotnik Research Thread) - NeoGAF

The lost art of Final Fantasy IX (Mama Robotnik Research Thread) Gaming Discussion

I don’t read GAF much — mostly because I only have time for the Something Awful Forums — but I always tend to find something worthwhile when I visit. That said, someone posted a bunch of high(er) resolution backgrounds from Final Fantasy IX, which look downright amazing in their original, non-320 X 240 (gasp!) format. Even though the lighting model feels a little dated, there’s so much lived-in warmth beaming from these backgrounds — something I dearly miss from the Final Fantasy series.

tinycartridge:

Oh. My. God. This Chrom butt mousepad.

Toonikun made two of these squishy mousepads and will give one away to a lucky person who reblogs this post. It’s an amazing answer to the skeezy licensed Tharja stuff people are putting out.

Happy belated birthday to Google Chrom, by the way. You’ll find lots of great tributes to the Fire Emblem: Awakening hero from yesterday around the internet, including the infamous artwork Frederick commissioned for the prince. This is all NSFW, of course.
BUY Fire Emblem: Awakening, upcoming games

I guess it’s refreshing to see men objectified for once in ways that bear no resemblance to actual human anatomy. How you digging that underscrote, llllladies?

Reblogged from Tiny Cartridge