Sketch - Girl 2

Drawing in MS Paint. 

I had to make the actual image off-centered so it would show up better on the blog.

Sketch - Girl

A late night drawing. I need photoshop or something like it. 

Mandelbrot Set HD Wallpaper Gallery

These are some images of the Mandelbrot set I generated this weekend using Fractal Explorer. Although it's a great program, it relies on double math and so can only achieve precision in zooms of about 10^15, which is really terrible to be quite honest.

If anyone knows of some better software it would really help me out; I'm looking to break the 10^200 zoom barrier in Mandelbrot zooming.

Here is the gallery, hope you like it:

Lizard Banner

I know many readers are not actually visiting the website so they won't see this crazy banner. Check out 8-Bit City on your phone, but check the real deal sometimes too!

Thanks for reading, as always! I started the site with the intention of reviewing games that needed more attention. Five years later, I'm glad to do other stuff too, even if that means less interest in the site overall. Maybe I just want to explore the connection between video games and art without being a pretentious snob. Feelings and emotions don't make something artistic. 

Feelings and emotions are boring, and boring isn't good art. Art is strange and prompts the individual to think in new ways. 

But generally, I think, people are too closed-minded to really think about art and adding video games to the equation only further complicates the problem. Your typical "art game" looks like a painting no matter how you move the camera, and while that's fine, that's not all art can be. Games like Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft prompt real problem solving and creativity in the mind of the user. That's infinitely more interesting than a pretty commercial and orchestral soundtrack.

Yet the same individual who will appreciate say, the beauty of a Skyrim field, will probably be quick to denounce a De Kooning painting as trash.

So my real argument here is that the cultural difficulty facing video games is not about video games at all, but about all art in general. Humans prefer easy art that is quick to process and that which does not upset our understanding of the world (including our definition of what art is and can be). Humans, in this aspect, are much like apes for whom any change is always met with frustration and anger.

It's been years since critics could accept "pretty"/"beautiful"/"moving"/"serious"/"emotional" games as art. Society still needs to confront the artistic illiteracy enshrined at its core, and shed its limited capabilities based upon highly conservative definitions of art. How to do this? It'll probably have something to do with the internet.

Cool Ninja Girl

A drawing of a cool ninja girl.

HOTLINE MIAMI REVIEW

Gangsters are splattered across a disco floor, the DJ is bumping to the limit, and you've just knifed 3 fucks in the face. You're playing Hotline Miami.

Normally in a review, I'd talk about all the different aspects of the bla bla bla, but holy shit this game is awesome. You can see the neon screenshots in this post, but you can't see the colors fade in and out of every color of the rainbow and a few that are too beautiful to even describe in words but that will surely bring tears of joy to your ugly face.

If this game is making me hostile, then "fuck you" who cares. Pa-pow! You'll go crazy too because of how crazy awesome this shit is.

I saw someone playing this game on twitch yesterday. Immediately I downloaded it from GOG.com, but I could have got it on Steam. If it ever goes on sale on Steam I'll buy it there too just for the Steam achievements and to show everyone that I'm playing 400 additional hours of it.

It's $9.99 on any platform, and well worth every penny. Actually, if you are a Playstation Plus subscriber, you might already have free access to it. I know a friend of mine does, and when I'm done with this "review" I'm going to send him belligerent text messages about it. Not that it's very usful information, but it is perhaps interesting: the game was developed with Game Maker and the Phyre Engine, tools that are pretty easy to get your hands on. Game Maker is only 50 bucks, and you could publish a Steam game with it.

The world of indie video games has obviously entered a Renaissance. Hotline Miami and the masterpieces of our era, but it all started with Cave Story.

But fuck Cave Story we are talking about slaughtering Russian gangsters in 1989 Miami, and it's never been as cool. In terms of storytelling, most gamers will tell you they don't understand it. Well fuck those people, use your brain and it's not hard. Obviously there is a little room for interpretation, but the sequel (Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number) should shed even more light on the drug-fueled adventures of the dude in the Jacket.

Hotline Miami owes a lot to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and that's a good thing. I've seen a lot of GTA-bashing surrounding this game, but that's all horse shit. Maybe GTA stories are too serious, but Vice City wasn't fucking serious at all. It was just scarface, the wackier, cooler video game.

Hotline Miami is more like a David Cronenberg film than a Brian DePalma; it's dark, it's smart, it's a mindfuck and roller coaster ride. You can't afford not to play Hotline Miami.

Commando Artwork

A 3-color commando. The unedited original is at the bottom.

I've been doing all my computer artwork in Paint, but I think it is time I downloaded Gimp. That's on my to-do list this week, as well as more drawings. 

Star Quest Wallpaper 1440 x 900

Download this cool Star Quest wallpaper. Star Quest is a free, indie, meta-video game. It is about video games, it contains many games inside of it, and of course, it's also a game itself.

With huge amounts of secrets that I'm pretty sure have never been found, Star Quest has at least 20 hours of gameplay for the first time player. Like Myst, if you know the solutions you could speedrun it much, much faster.

You won't be bogged down with leveling up or experience. You explore the world at your own pace, do things how you want to do them. Your quest is simple enough: stop the Scientist and recover your memory.

You'll need the help of Princess, King, and Lobtron if you are going to succeed. 

Also:

-Collect quarters to access the arcade machines. 

-Solve the puzzles to unlock more machines. 

-Hang out in shady arcades.

-Think about why adventure games are fun

-Talk to 100s of NPCs

-Make ethical decisions

-Explore a huge sci-fi/fantasy world that feels familiar and unique at the same time 

-Slowly realize the sinister undertones of the entire planet...

DOWNLOAD STAR QUEST BETA 1.1

Click here for the original post with screenshots!

Forsaken World Wallpaper Gallery

I found these wallpapers on a Russian website. They are promo art for a free-to-play MMORPG, Forsaken World. I haven't played the game, but they sure know how to make a wallpaper.

You can click each image for a bigger version, or right-click and "save as." Depending upon your browser, google might make the image appear way too big.

I like the baraoque style, reminds me of Soul Calibur. Good stuff.