Yesterday, I participated in a league game for ThinkTanks. It was great. Ten players were arranged in teams of five who went head-to-head in a couple of games of Team Scrum. Team Scrum is sort of a game of rugby where both teams chase after a ball (the scrum) and try to run it through a goal.
There are both offensive and defensive strategies to the game. You can have speedy light tanks chase after the scrum, while slower, but bigger heavy tanks can defend the goal to keep the opposing team from scoring. Medium sized tanks provide both good armor for defense and a tight turning radius for good manuevering.
In the two games that I played, I operated a medium-sized tank and did a decent job on defense. I managed to steal the scrum a few times and scored some goals. I played as a safety and wingman, protecting the scrum carrier from the other team. All in all, great fun was had. I play for a team named 'The Highlanders.' How cool is that, ach!
And now I've arrived at the point of my post here. You guys should check out ThinkTanks if you haven't already. It's a cheap game that's loads of fun to play and I'd love to see some more people playing some team games too. So if this game sounds like your sort of thing, check it out!
posted by Sho | 3:52 PM |
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
The best day ever, according to Ray. Ever had one of those days?
If you haven't read Achewood, you should. Because if you do not read it, you are missing out. You will not be rad.
posted by Sho | 3:47 PM |
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Remember the ham costume?
There's a hilarious story up at the McSweeney's website which features Atticus from 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' If you were ever forced to read the book in high school or watch the movie, I'm sure you'll appreciate it.
Here's the opening, just to give you a taste:
Atticus shot the monkey when it refused to dance. Technically, it had not so much refused to dance as refused to continue dancing — it had been doing the soft-shoe for four hours, and it was getting tired. It only needed a few minutes to rest. But Atticus was having one of his moods.
I think someone needs to write a story based on Scout's ham costume.
posted by Sho | 4:02 PM |
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
More Comics!
Journal comics are exactly what they sound like, a comic that's also a diary. I've found that they're a lot more entertaining than reading someone's personal website and it's more interesting when you can see the people that revolve around the life of the comic journal-ist.
Here are a couple of journal comics that I read on a semi-regular basis, Life With Leslie (Les also draws Highway 13), and The Journal Comic (drawn by Drew, who created the beautiful and colorful Pup).
American Elf is one of the most well-known journal comics, but you have to pay up in order to view the archives (the artist is the mastermind behind the book and album Monkey vs. Robot).
posted by Sho | 3:33 PM |
This is probably the best birthday story ever. The birthday boy in this story is lucky to have a dad this freakin' cool. Plus, the dad also creates comics. A very cool dad he is indeed. Check out Patridge Family Covers, a nice little comic he made that is both funny and strangely touching at the same time, even though you don't know who the characters are.
Cassie, what is "Lunch Money" and how do you play it? Do you have a link? Also, yay for new job and money! I must start saving for Wazeth's European Tour next Spring. Does anyone want to go to Europe?
posted by Sho | 12:13 AM |
Friday, May 16, 2003
I just got back from watching The Matrix: Reloaded. Basically, I just have to sit down and think about this movie for a while and then I have to go and see it again. Whew.
Oh yes, if you go see it don't leave until the credits are over. You'll get a little taste of The Matrix: Revolutions.
posted by Sho | 2:00 AM |
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Comics!
Return to Sender is a great serial comic that's drawn and written by 18-year-old New Yorker, Vera Brosgol. It has the sort of a light-hearted look to it, but it also has a horribly messy Jhonen Vasquez (Invader Zim, Squee) style of humor. Good stuff.
Vera is also working with Shaenon K. Garrity (creator of Narbonic) on a great comic called Li'l Mel and Sergio over at girlamatic.com. Unfortunately, you have to pay a bit each month in order to view the archives, but basically the plot revolves around one Sergio (a scared incoming first grader) and one Li'l Mel (extra-hyperactive first grader). Chaos ensues.
Cassie: I love how the kids in that South Park episode are just like, "Eh, I think we should stay out of this one," during the whole show.
Also, yay for the new job! Where are you going to be working at now?
posted by Sho | 3:52 PM |
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
I did an interview a while back with one of the guys from BraveTree Productions, a small game studio based in Eugene. I've been looking forward to their first release for a while and now it's finally available.
After coming out first for OsX and then Linux, Think Tanks is now out for the PC. This game is kind of like the old Battlezone Atari game, except it's faster and online. I like the "scrum" games where you try to grab a flag and run through a goal while everyone else tries to stop you. It's like "smear the queer" except with cannons.
I'm definitely going to buy the full version of this game as soon as I get my paycheck. Sweet.
posted by Sho | 3:32 PM |
Monday, May 12, 2003
Text-based games were a little bit before my time, but there are people are there still working with this obscure gaming genre. Shade is a rather interesting piece of "interactive fiction" that kept me busy for a while. It's a little frustrating at times, but it is altogether a rather rich experience for such a short game. It is a little strange and creepy, and a feeling of isolation permeates through the whole thing. All in all, it's fun. Try it.
Also, if you've got a broadband connection you should go check out the free Animatrix episodes. Each beautiful short film is directed by renowned Japanese and American animators. Some of their credits include Cowboy Bebop (which you can see on Adult Swim and which I also highly recommend), Vampire Hunter D and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Two of the episodes, "The Second Renaissance" Parts 1 & 2, focus on the events that led to the creation of the Matrix. Very cool and well-crafted stuff.
posted by Sho | 5:59 PM |
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Even if you keep up on the news, this story might have slipped by your attention. The Great Satsuke, a Japanese pro-wrestler, won a seat in a local assembly last month. He has sworn not to take off his wrestling mask even while working in service of the public. Doing so, of course, would reveal his secret identity and no one but his evil rivals would want that.
He began work this week wearing a more formal mask than the one he wears in the ring. Here's to hoping he'll have a productive political career ahead of him.
Torrez.org is the funniest personal blog that I have read in a long time. Go and read his story about his plastic-snacking kitten and you will laugh your ass off. If the story doesn't even bring a smile to your face, then you're probably a robot, or you can't read English, or a you're racist. Racist.
posted by Sho | 4:56 PM |
Monday, May 05, 2003
Greatest Inventions of All Time
Matt proposed an interesting game to me over text messaging. This is what he said:
"Choose mankind's three greatest inventaions of all time AND be prepared to defend your reasoning. Answer in terms of you as an individual rather than human."
So choose three inventions and why they are the greatest according to you as an individual. You can either post your answers to the comments section of this post or post your answers yourself if you belong to this blog. Thinking is fun!
Here are my three picks:
1. The Printing Press
2. The Automobile
3. The Television
posted by Sho | 4:25 PM |
Poop. Home Movies isn't on Adult Swim anymore. I hope they bring it to the weekday lineup. If not, at least releasing the episodes on DVD would be nice. In its stead, Adult Swim has been showing the Futurama is also good, but its always up against the Daily Show. It's hard to pass up Jon Stewart because he is one handsome man.
Oh yes, go see X-Men 2, which is by far the best superhero movie I have seen. It is many leagues better than the first movie. It captures so much more of the problems that mutants had to face with their families and a fearful public and government. The first scene with Nightcrawler taking on the entire White House security staff is unforgetable. Nor is Wolverine taking out a whole squad of commandos. Aside from the usual rushed feeling you get from a superhero movie, the film is otherwise very entertaining. Worth the price of admission.
Of course, X2 is only a warm-up for the Matrix: Reloaded. After vowing not to watch any trailers or read any information about the movie, I gave in and watched the latest trailer. Dear god, this is going to be a great movie. I'm glad that the third movie, Revolutions, will be in theaters before the end of the year.
I think special effects in movies have come a long way since 3-D glasses and Smell-O-Vision. It has even made nerds into formidable warriors (props to Penny Arcade for the link).
posted by Sho | 1:56 AM |
Friday, May 02, 2003
Damnit, my post about the They Might Be Giants concert got erased because Blogger went down. Anyway, to summarize, the show rocked. They played a lot of new stuff from their new children's album but did not to forget to play some of their great older songs like Instanbul, Ana Ng, Birdhouse in Your Soul and, Sam's favorite, New York City.
I also realize that when I was a young, stupid teenager, I was also hyperactive and had to jump to every TMBG song as if my life depended on it while standing in front of older, much more mellow college students. So I understand that some sort of karmic justice is taking place when I encounter annoying teenagers occasionally (like when Model U.N. hits the UofO) because I once was one of those annoying teenagers. However, that does not stop me from hating teenagers and wanting to punch them in the larynx.
Oh yeah, Coachella kicked a lot of ass. I should have some pictures online soon.
posted by Sho | 11:52 PM |
