Infinity

Just this moment finished "Bioshock Infinite." Yes, it's as good as you've heard. Play. Play now.

At this point I've only got one immediate "clever" observation, but in the interest of not spoiling ANYTHING even vaguely or by accident I'll put it after the jump:


"Oh, you've got just ONE big-idea theoretical-scifi concept built into your narrative to justify the video-gamey parts of your video-game? That's really cute." - Bioshock Infinite, talking to the Assassin's Creed series.

MGS5 Trailer

Hey, remember that "Phantom Pain" thing that everyone immediately knew was "Metal Gear Solid 5" but they wouldn't come out and say was "Metal Gear Solid 5?"

Well, it's "Metal Gear Solid 5."

Lesson 32: Arlicles (a/ an/ the)

1.   Przedimek nieokreślony
(a/an):

·        
przed rzeczownikiem w liczbie
pojedynczej, który jest wspomniany po raz pierwszy;

·        
przed rzeczownikiem, który jest użyty
jako przykład jakiejś kategorii (a child needs love);

·        
przed rzeczownikami określającymi
zawody;

·        
z wyrażeniami ilościowymi (a lot of, a little, a couple, a dozen, a
hundred, a half, a third)

2.   Przedimek określony (the):

·        
przed rzeczownikiem, o którym mówimy
po raz kolejny;

·        
przed rzeczownikiem, który został
zdefiniowany poprzez określenie (the girl In blue);

·        
przed rzeczownikiem, który ze względu
na lokalizację jest jedyny w swoim rodzaju;

·        
przed przymiotnikiem i przysłówkiem w
stopniu najwyższym;

·        
przed przymiotnikiem jako określenie
grupy (the old = the group of old people);

·        
przed nazwami: mórz, oceanów, rzek, archipelagów;
łańcuchów górskich, pustyń, regionów, państw w liczbie mnogiej;

·        
przed nazwami zawierającymi OF: the
Cape of Good Hope;

·        
przed nazwami zawierającymi
przymiotnik: the High Street

·        
przed słówkami: east, west, south, north
jeżeli są traktowane jak rzeczowniki: the Middle East, the North Pole;

·        
przed nazwami: muzeów, teatrów, kin,
gazet (tytuły), statków, zespołów muzycznych;

The Book

If you were at Escapist Movie Night at PAXEast this past weekend (or you caught an earlier reveal during the Desert Bus charity event) you already know about this, but for everyone else it would seem the cat is out of the bag...

So! I'm writing a book. Or, rather, I've written a book and - barring any unforseen disaster - it will be coming out soon. It's a book about video games, and is being developed with (and will be sold exclusively online through) fangamer. If I had to describe it as anything it would be a book of game criticism; though not of a kind I've found anywhere else.

Further details (all of which are, it goes without saying, wholly subject to change) after the jump...

At this time the book itself doesn't have a title I can officially announce or cover-art, but the main text of the thing has been written. My "big idea" was to take the longform "scene-by-scene" (or shot-by-shot) analysis often applied to book-length criticism of movies or plays to gaming by, essentially, novelizing a "Let's Play."

The approach: I would play all the way through a classic game - every level, every enemy, every item, the whole experience - and analyze everything about it as I went: The mechanics, the layouts, the art-design of the sprites, the aesthetics of the backgrounds, the music, the known history of the production, cultural references and context, etc. In addition, since it's my position that the effect our moods outside of gaming effect the interactivity of the medium and vice-versa, the "narrative" of playing the game would be intercut with the "narrative" of what was going on in my life during the play-through.

I chose "Super Mario Bros. 3" to be the subject, mainly because it's my favorite game but also because it's the best possible candidate: A classic game, part of the most famous series in the entire medium, lengthy, linear and enduringly popular enough that a sizable portion of a prospective readership would be familiar with it. It ultimately took on a greater significance, though, as the initial play-through itself wound up coinciding with my preparations for moving out of the home I'd grown up in - in other words, playing this game in the house I'd first fallen in love with it for the last time.

So... yeah, this is "labor of love" stuff. But I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't proud of the idea that - to my knowledge, at least - this kind of in-depth analysis hasn't been done at this scale for a single game. For good measure, it also includes a history of the franchise and my own personal history with it.

At this time, all I can say about release dates is that we're angling to have it available within the next few months (my goal is to have some copies ready to sell in-person at SGC - fingers crossed) but I'll be updating here as more information re: dates, cost, title, etc is made ready for public reveal. I'm nervous but excited about the whole process... I just hope enough of you folks A.) give it a shot and B.) like what you find.

Stay tuned for more details.

WOO-OO!

Holy shit. As far as game announcements go, it'll be REALLY hard for the rest of PAXEast to top this. WayForward? You are the hope of us all.

Off To PAXEast

I'm officially en-route to the weekend at PAXEast folks, so if you're there feel free to say hi and if not follow my Twitter @the_moviebob in case I say or see something interesting while there. If you're at the show, check me out at the Escapist Movie Night panel on Saturday 3/23 at 9:00pm in the Merman Theater.

SUPPLEMENTAL: "I'm Sorry (But EA Should Be Sorrier)"

So, then.

In the making of this series, March has basically been a gigantic non-starter. A blizzard scuttled at least two weeks of shooting, then another storm and subsequent ceaseless wind/rain pushed it further - serves me right, I guess. So, since I obviously won't be getting any work done on this front with PAXEast going on this weekend; I sat down and flipped on the camera early this morning (like 3:00am or so) to do a quickie "hey, sorry, here's what's up" vlog that wound up being a little rambling (unscripted) and eventually turned into a minor rant about EA, SimCity and the state of the industry. Decided to give it a semi-edit and upload, but don't worry - this sort of "tired-looking man talking to camera" motif won't become the norm around here.

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D&D Arcade Games Coming to XBLA/PSN

Well, whaddaya know? Capcom decided to do something decent for retro-gaming; broken clocks and all that: Their two classic (and somewhat rare) "Dungeons & Dragons" beat-em-ups - "Tower of Doom" and Shadow over Mystara" are coming to XBLA/PSN. Supposedly, this will be "officially unveiled" at PAXEast. It's being called a port, which I hopefully assume means it will be the original games with the original graphics - not another "HD remake" disaster like "Turtles In Time Re-Shelled".

Good show, Capcom... sure would be nice to have a WiiU* port with off-TV play, though. Just sayin.





*Yes, peanut gallery, that would be your cue to remind me that I am biased Nintendo fanboy and that it would be stupid to put these on WiiU because nobody cares about the WiiU which is a good thing because now the combined forces of nostalgia, filthy casuals and Japan can stop ruining gaming. Don't let me down, kids.

OVERBYTES on Tropes vs. Women

Now available for viewing by all, an overall appraisal on the first episode of "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games" and it's attendant controversies.


P.S. People who continue to insist on harping about production costs are directed to THIS post.

Lesson 31: Imiesłowy - interesting vs interested

1.  
Imiesłów
współczesny (Present Participle) odpowiednikiem tej formy
czasownikowej z końcówką –ing jest w języku polskim najczęściej forma
zakończona na: –ący, -ąc, -ąca.

Np. She entered the room, singing.

2.  
Imiesłów
uprzedni (Perfect Participle) having + 3 forma czasownika; w języku
polskim najczęściej forma zakończona na: -wszy, -łszy.

Having received your answer I lost all the hope.

3.  
Imiesłów
bierny (Past Participle) stosujemy w stronie biernej,czasach Perfect oraz
jako przymiotnik.

This car was seen here yesterday.

A broken arm.

Ćwiczenia:

Przetłumacz części zdania na język
angielski:

·        
(Ukończywszy) cooking
course I started working In a restaurants.

·        
She was
watching TV, (prasując).

·        
(Idąc) down
the street, he met his friend.

·        
This man (był
widziany) here yesterday.

·        
We heard her
(jak krzyczy).

·        
(Otrzymawszy)
an invitation she decided to go for that party.

Odpowiedzi:

Przetłumacz części zdania na język
angielski:

·        
Having
finished cooking course I started working In a restaurants.

·        
She was
watching TV, ironing.

·        
Walking down the street, he met his friend.

·        
This man was seen here yesterday.

·        
We heard her screeming.

·        
Having
received an invitation she decided to go for that party.

Tropes vs. Women launches first episode (UPDATED!)

Oh hey, remember that kickstarted webseries that people freaked out about because a woman was talking out of turn about man things, then decided it was actually a "scam" that would never actually come out when that didn't convince people that she was the antichrist?

Well, it came out. Here's a link. I'll chime back in later with what I actually thought of it.

UPDATE II: The newest episode of "OverBytes" is a thorough "review" of the show. All audiences can watch it right now.



UPDATE I: At the suggestion of user "Nixou," I'm re-posting (with corrections) my response to one of the more consistent issues people seem to have re: the cost of producing a show like this (aka "how does THIS cost $150,000??) as follows:

Here's the thing: I (and I'm speaking strictly of my self-produced/funded stuff like TGO and American Bob here, not the Escapist gigs) and others working on the YouTube/Blip series side of this medium are generally A.) Making this stuff FOR the amateur/indie circuit and B.) using primarily materials we already have or can be "donated" either by ourselves or aquaintances. In my specific case, I'm not outputting OR shooting in HD, the shows themselves are not of "broadcast caliber" and I don't pay professional wages to the people who help out. If I did, the INCREDIBLY low-ball $6,000 pricetag she originally set (don't forget: the donations were so HUGE because people kept donating as a "screw you" to her detractors) would MAYBE cover 2 - 3 average-scale TGO episodes, tops.

I've noticed that people in general have a skewed view of what independent video/film production actually costs because a lot of guys on the indie/fanfilm scene (no, I won't be naming names) like to brag about how low their production budget is - the problem being that A LOT of the time these are guys who have "day jobs" in the professional film/video business and thus access to equipment and facilities that they would otherwise be paying substantial sums to rent or lease; or they don't include what they would normally charge a client for their services in their own productions, OR they have friends in similar circumstances who are "donating" their time/services and not listing what that would cost on a real job. For example: If "Game OverThinker" had the EXACT same schedule and final-quality but I was paying real industry-standard fees and wages for locations, facilities and crew; $10,000 would be a low-ball estimate for every episode.

 Having watched the video itself: She's shooting and outputting in HD/broadcast-quality (this has clearly been designed for classroom/seminar presentation moreso than the web video) and most the MASSIVE amount of game footage looks to have been captured from either original sources (I'm assuming MAME or download-service copies for the retro stuff) - which requires both expensive equipment and the expense of the systems and games themselves. Also, I don't know if she does her own graphics and animation, but her transitions all look like original work; and even if she did do them herself the "going rate" for that kind of work can get pretty damn high especially if you plan to buy or license it in perpuity. 

 ALSO: I don't know what else she does for a regular living, but I DO know the relative man-hours of putting a project like this together and they are substantial - thusly, if the ONLY thing all the Kickstarter money did was pay her bills and living-expenses (via supplmental income) while she cut down on her regular paying work so that she could free up the time to actually play/record the games, write the script and make the video I'm frankly perplexed that she ever somehow thought a paltry sum like $6,000 was going to cover it. She's currently operating out of San Fransisco, one of the most expensive places to live - even modestly - in the United States; so when you factor all that in... trust me, the expenses for this kind of production are much more substantial than most would imagine.

Lesson 30: Passive voice - strona bierna.

Present Simple	Present Continuous	Present Perfect Simple
The letter is written every day by her. List jest pisany przez nią co dziennie. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA AM IS                   WRITTEN ARE AM NOT/ ISN’T/ AREN’T	The letter is being written now. List jest teraz pisany. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA   AM BEING   IS BEING            WRITTEN   ARE BEING AM NOT/ ISN’T/ AREN’T BEING	4 letters have been written since I came. 4 listy zostały napisane odkąd przyszłam. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA HAVE BEEN     WRITTEN HAS BEEN HAVEN’T/ HASN’T BEEN
Past Simple	Past Continuous	Past Perfect Simple
America was discovered in 1492. Ameryka została odkryta w 1492 roku. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA WAS         DISCOVERED WERE WASN’T /WEREN’T	The letters were being written for 30 minutes yesterday. Listy były pisane wczoraj przez 30 minut. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA   WAS BEING       WRITTEN  WERE BEING WASN’T /WEREN’T BEING	The letter had been written before I came. List został napisany zanim przyszłam. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA HAD BEEN       WRITTEN HADN’T BEEN
Future Simple	Future Continuous	Future Perfect Simple
The letter will be written tomorrow. List zostanie jutro napisany. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA WILL BE       WRITTEN WON’T BE	The letter will being written from 8 to 9 tomorrow. Jutro od 8:00 do 9:00 list będzie pisany. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA WILL BEING   WRITTEN WON’T BEING	The letter will have been written by the end of the week. List zostanie napisany do końca tygodnia. TO BE + 3 FORMA CZASOWNIKA WILL HAVE BEEN    WRITTEN  WON’T HAVE BEEN

Zadania:

1.   
Zamień
podane zdania na zdania w stronie biernej:

·        
They have never published his last poem.

·        
They will announce the results next week.

·        
They send us a newsletter every month.

·        
Someone gave Sarah beautiful roses this morning.

·        
Before that incident, his dogs had not attacked us.

·        
They have given Frank’s office to Alison.

·        
The police knew about the robbery because someone had
informed them.

·        
They will organize a few concerts during the summer.

·        
A technician checks the machines once a week.

2.   
Uzupełnij
zadania czasownikami z nawiasu w odpowiednim czasie strony czynnej lub biernej.

·        
Two dangerous criminals _________ (escape) from prison
last week. They ________ (arrest) few days later.

·        
Jack _________ (take) photographs of beautiful places
in the world. Sometimes his photos ________ (publish) in National Geographic.

·        
Before the exam started, the students ___________
(take) their seats. Their ID cards _________ (check), too.

·        
It’s strange that the pizza _________ (not delivered)
yet. I _________ (already/call) them three times.

·        
Mark says he _________ (send) to Spain by the company
next year. He __________ (try) to find some business partners there.

Odpowiedzi:

1.   
Zamień
podane zdania na zdania w stronie biernej:

·        
His last poem has never been published.

·        
The results will be announced next week.

·        
A newsletter is sent to us every month./ We are sent a
newsletter every month.

·        
Beautiful roses were give to Sarah this morning./Sarah
was given beautiful roses this morning.

·        
Before that incident, we hadn’t been attacked by his
dog.

·        
Frank’s office has been given to Alison./Alison has
been given Frank’s office.

·        
The police knew about the robbery because they had been
informed.

·        
A few concerts will be organized during the summer.

·        
The machines are checked by technician once a week.

2.   
Uzupełnij
zadania czasownikami z nawiasu w odpowiednim czasie strony czynnej lub biernej.

·        
Two dangerous escaped
from prison last week. They were arrested few
days later.

·        
Jack takes photographs
of beautiful places in the world. Sometimes his photos are
publish in National Geographic.

·        
Before the exam started, the students had taken their seats. Their ID cards had been checked too.

·        
It’s strange that the pizza hasn’t
been delivered yet. I have already called them
three times.

·        
Mark says he will be sent to Spain by the company
next year. He will try to find some business partners there.

Sterling on Cage

Not that I ever thought I'd have performed the definitive "takedown" of David Cage; but if I or anyone else HAD harbored any pretense toward doing so we must now concede that Jim Sterling has now definitively taken the crown on that one:

The Escapist : Jimquisition : Emotions, Polygons, and Ellen Page

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