Candy? Sure, that's nice, but AMC's got the real treat...
This Halloween, watch "The Walking Dead." Don't ask how I know, but I know: It's awesome. It pushes all the right buttons and is by far the best zombie-related media I've ever seen. If they'd only used the previously mentioned fan-made credits, it would have been perfect, but seldom is perfection achieved. And I will say that "Shaun of the Dead" remains a favorite, but in the horror-comedy genre, for which it retains the lead spot in that category. Anyway, the AMC version of "The Walking Dead" improves over the comic a bit in the "waking up" scene, in that it's handled in a method that not only makes time pass quickly for the viewer, it gives us the same discontinuity that Rick is undergoing after he comes out of his semi-coma state. This isn't a complaint about the comic, but a complement to Frank Darabont's direction. It's a tribute to the comic and teleplay at how much more horrific this version is in that you get the same great story, but the visuals are less abstract. Again, not a slam on the comic, but the first nurse Rick sees after waking up... br-r-r-r.
Bonus points to the show for demonstrating what can happen if you fire a gun in an enclosed space.
"The Walking Dead" also has a ton of heart, which is what makes it so great in whatever form. It's really an almost perfect blend of terror and grief, with nearly the whole world to mourn (there's a great scene involving the line, "I'm sorry this happened to you." It was quite powerful). I think this is what's going to be the major competition for storytelling in the next decade: The high budget but short-form experience of the movies versus the slower, more in-depth capability that television has, especially now that audiences have proven they'll stick with a show's continuity beyond a single hour.
Next up, and sure to cause some debate, is this list of ten things to know about the future of comics. I'm trying to transition with a lot of this stuff, too, and it's almost a necessity in some cases if you want to keep trying to make a living at it. The economy isn't helping, but hopefully it'll result in more and better graphic novels/comics in the future. I hope to post some ideas I'm noodling over in the near future, including a pencil-and-photoshop style for side projects that might mean more comics in less time, if it works out. If all goes well, I hope to produce mostly (if not exclusively) "fat comics" when I put material out on dead trees.
So what am I noodling around with? At the moment, a story about a boy visiting a very odd and messed-up future, a long-form "Full Frontal Nerdity" tale, and perhaps even a return to fantasy (though I haven't decided which cast, an old one or a new one, will be in center stage). This is all while getting ps238 done as well as the weekly offerings here, of course. Oh, and while I'm still not at liberty to divulge the exact nature of the latest writing thing I was trying for, I'm passing on that my script was accepted, so it's up to the artists. It'll be out next year, and I'll be jumping up and down pointing madly at it when it's available, rest assured. :)
Time for me to keep pounding the keyboard and wishing I had more time to devote to Fallout: New Vegas' myriad plot threads. And apropos of nothing, I think I have a "worst thing ever," if there is such a list, though it's kind of unique to my house. The worst thing ever to nag your senses as you work is the fact that your office is over your under-house garage, and some part of your lawn mower in said garage decides to spring a leak and dispense "fuel and oil mixture" like an Air-Wick on steroids up through the floor. I thank you for letting me complain to far more people than I have a right to (grin).
So let's forget about odors and take a whiff of:
- It'll set you back 60 bucks, but if you have six friends and you all have PCs, Artemis could be the ultimate Star Trek simulator devised thus far. I eagerly await someone who has remodeled a rec room to more accurately resemble the Enderprise's bridge solely to play this game.
- And there's a free-to-play Star Trek game coming soon. Kotaku has some info and a trailer. This is the first I've heard about it, so I've no idea how it compares to the current MMO.
- Who says dramatic play is dead? Some students pantomime a bus in their classroom.
- This is a short and rather catchy techno piece made from Windows alert sounds. A clever and evil person would put it on a friend's machine as their "Critical Stop" sound effect.
- I am... Catbatman!
- I can't believe someone made alcoholic whipped cream before caffeinated whipped cream. C'mon, Starbucks! Hop to it!
- Momiga is probably the most minimalist game ever. You have to get the pixel from one side of the screen to the other, in a different method each time, using only the mouse button or the spacebar.
- But to make up for the lack of color and art in previous link, here's Into Space, an "upgrade 'till you get to orbit" kind of game.
- Apparently, Skynet is going to try to lull us into a false sense of security by garbing its footsoldiers in friendly Lego bodies.
- Here's a page with a clip from Tron: Legacy featuring the "Lightrunner" vehicle. It looks pretty good, but I'm not getting that same sense of "virtual unreality" I did from the first movie.
- This is an animated film using the song "Creep," which played with trailers for "The Social Network." My favorite track from the choral singers is "If You Could Read My Mind," but the only version I could find on YouTube was an AMV for "The Vampire Diaries" with the characters talking over the music. :(
- Lucky Tower is more of a comedy cartoon masquerading as a game, but I did enjoy the main character's dialog.
- Skyline 2 is already in development. What caught my eye was that the film, which looks amazingly expensive, was shot for an unnamed "fraction" of a big-studio release by some guys who own their own FX studio. Yay for the underdog!
- And we end with a mindless shooter involving a cat: Action Escape Kitty should satisfy your bullet-hell with feline needs.