A few weeks back I posted about Nina Paley's masterpiece Sita Sings the Blues, which is free to watch on her site. Being the good creative commons kind of sport that Paley is, she just recently made available the original Flash files for the movie at Internet Archive. So if you're a budding animation artist and want to know how she accomplished a certain effect, here is your chance to examine in detail the inner workings of the Flash scripts.
From her blog:
All the Flash authoring (.fla) files I used to make Sita Sings the Blues have just been posted on archive.org, under a Creative Commons Share Alike license. Want to know how I got a certain animated effect in Sita Sings the Blues? Open up the .fla files and find out. Want to remix from the source? Now you can. Want to make a Sita Sings the Blues video game using all the assets? Go for it. (But I strongly suggest you negotiate my endorsement if you want to actually market the end product...Yes, I know bad bad people can also use the .fla files for dastardly deeds (the dreaded hypothetical “Nazi Porn Version” that always comes up at Q&A’s). Bad bad people can use our shared Language and Technology for evil too, but I’m not going to constipate culture out of fear of imaginary worst-case scenarios. I’m confident much more good will come from this than bad, and that’s motivation enough for me. It’s Free Culture, baby. If programmers can tinker with the Free Software’s source code, artists can tinker with Sita Sings the Blues‘ source files.
Nazi porn version?
I'm sure this is old news to most of you, since I've heard the same news repeated ad nauseum over the last few days. But I'm sure you won't mind me parroting it again here. Hey, that's what I do. Recently CBS recently acquired ad space in Entertainment Weekly to showcase its fall lineup. which isn't all that newsworthy unless you consider that the space will be filled with small display screens featuring video and sound.
From Cnet:
The screen, which is 2.7 millimeters thick, has a 320x240 resolution. The battery lasts for about 65 to 70 minutes, and can be recharged, believe it or not, with a mini USB cord--there's a jack on the back of it. The screen, which uses thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) technology, is enforced by protective polycarbonate. It's a product that has been in development at Americhip for about two years, spokesman Tim Clegg told CNET News via e-mail.
This seems so backwards to me. It's like a retro vision of the future, if that makes any sense. It doesn't seem very practical. In an age of iphones instead of newspapers or magazines, I can't imagine someone enjoying a 70 Pepsi commercial, especially in the Large Urban areas that these will be marketed in. And anyways, people pretty much always find ways to circumnavigate Ad space virtual and real. How many times have you actually paid attention to that Hulu commercial, sat through that Flash ad without clicking the x, or been able to remember the billboards on your drive home? I'm willing to wager that the answer is not often. Maybe I'm wrong on this one like the first naysayers of the Internet or MTV, and in the future some kid will be blogging about how some old naive and antiquated blogger failed to see the impending success of movie length soda ads in Entertainment Weekly. Not bloody likely though. And, by the way, these are nothing like the images in the Daily Prophet. In fact, I haven't a clue why everyone spun it that way
Note: Disregard title of post.
Gamezplay.org have the scoop on Hudson Soft's striking new puzzle-platformer for the Wii titled The Tower Of Shadow.
This gorgeous trailer was shown at Gamescom 2009.
The ethereal premise and setting will surely interest fans of Sony's Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.
Hooray! A horror film that I actually might want to see! Judging by the trailer the movie looks promising. Great visuals.
Looks like a lot of money went into this picture, plus its release has been pushed back a couple of times. Let's hope it will be worth the wait.
The Wolfman will be released on February 10th, 2010.
See it here.
Chair and Epic Games Shadow Complex is based in the fictional world of popular author Orson Scott Card's Empire. I had never heard of him before this game was announced and was surprised to discover that he is a controversial figure.
Card is a vocal opponent of gay-rights, something that doesn't exactly sit well with a website called gaygamer.net.
While some gamers are proposing a boycott of Shadow Complex (guilty by association?) gaygamer.net suggests that "if you want to play the game, play it. Enjoy it, but offset the hate: if you buy Shadow Complex, donate $5, $10, $15 if you can spare it to a gay charity"
It's astounding that a downloadable "Metroidvania" game has so much ethical baggaged attached to it.
So what's next for Epic Games? Maybe a Sarah Palin FPS?
The arcade maestros at Housemarque are ditching the glitzy space lasers of Super Stardust HD for gooey entrails with their newest title for the Playstation Network, Dead Nation.
So how does this splatter-fest differ from the undead hordes of other arcade-centric zombie shooters like Zombie Apocalypse and Burn Zombie! Burn!? The developers promise a meta-game within Dead Nation that tracks player stats by world region, allowing players to reduce the viral outbreak within their own country.
This could be really exciting if implemented properly, especially if the game somehow rewards players with extra goodies like maps, weapons, etc...
Did I mention how gorgeous this game looks? Judging from the Gamescom trailer, Dead Nation has the competition licked in terms of atmosphere. The swirling fog, dramatic lighting and phenomenal explosions and fire really set this game apart from the run-of-the-mill zombie-blaster.
Housemarque's Super Stardust HD is one of the finest titles on the Playstation Network. Can they blast through the shuffling mob of other zombie games with Dead Nation? Judging by pedigree alone, I'd say there is a good chance it can.
As most major media outlets predicted, Sony unveiled their new Playstation 3 at this years Gamescom in Germany.
Thankfully the PS3 has dropped it's trashy Spider Man font and shed about 33% of it's weight. The new Playstation 3 Slim is much more attractive than it's Haagen-Daz slurping predecessor in more ways than those strictly cosmetic. It sports a 120g hard-drive, runs quieter, and is more reasonably priced at $300 (only about $50 more than the new PSP!), the same price as the similarly spec'ed XBOX Elite.
I'm totally loving the new design and branding of the PS3. The unit itself actually looks like a game console, as opposed to a living-room "multimedia entertainment suite".
The Playstation Slim models have always been some of the most handsome consoles to grace the market and the PS3 entry is no expection.
Remember these?
Playstation 3 Slim comes out in Early September. Will the droves of gamers on the fence about getting a PS3 finally bite, or will they save their money to buy two COD: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Editions? You really have to ask yourself--What is cooler? Blu Rays or Night Vision goggles?
It was only a matter of time before someone made a game that looked like this...
From Software brings "dot art" to the Third Dimension in 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3) and the results are quite stunning.
I sense a developing trend here...This is what happens when Nintendo rests on their laurels. Other game developers are capitalizing on Nintendo's unwillingness to make retro-remakes of their most beloved titles. Just recently Epic games released Shadow Complex for the XBOX 360 that is a spiritual tribute to the classic 2D Metroid series. Judging from the art direction and rousing soundtrack, I'm guessing 3D Dot Game Heroes is going to be the retro Zelda game that Nintendo freaks have been begging for.
Will this title make its way to the States, or is it too quirky for our red-blooded, Dew swillin' sensibilities?
The Dark Knight and all 3 Lord of the Rings really?
You can check out the other eleven greatest films of the millennium here. Of course there can never be a "greatest film of all time" or "greatest film of the millennium", at least not one that is unanimously agreed upon, but these arbitrary lists are always good for a chuckle, a gasp, or for just getting your blood boilin' with anger because they left out all your favorite films.
Where are all the other big boy titles like No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Children of Men, or Finding Nemo? These films won several awards!
Whatever.
Okay, so whether or not you care, I'm going to post this because it gave me a major chubby. Most of us have a DVD player, an Xbox 360/PS3/Wii, a Blu-ray player, a receiver or some sort of combination of these sitting on a stand somewhere close to our televisions, not to mention our hearts. The deeper you get in to A.V.ology the more you realize you need a proper storage unit to house these devices for proper ventilation, cable management, etc. This unit is affectionately referred to as a rack. 
But what happens when you own Wayne Manor or you have 45 flat-screens in your mile long house? You'll need a pretty huge rack, that's what! 
Check out Cepro for a pretty outrageous list of 25 amazing racks.
Sorry, no boobs.
Ever wondered how the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ended up in IMAX 3D, or at least eight minutes of it? Wired has a neat little article and video where they discuss ins and outs of the conversion.
Oh man am I excited for this next one. Shadow Complex:
This game comes out this week and is getting pretty positive reviews. I can't wait.
Good news, according to Cinematical You, the Living is actually getting released in the states; it has a new distributor. I'll keep an eye out for this one.
Addicted to Media 2008,2009,2010
