No one checks out this blog, so it doesn’t really matter what I say here, but writing is writing. I think I plan on trying to write a few more joke articles and game articles here for a bit. I do want to do a bit more article writing now, but not in the same simple vein I have been for a long time on GM4A.

As of late, and if you peruse my deviantArt page you will see that I have written a few short stories…and even poetry (BLEARGH) lately. To what end? Not sure yet. I do love writing fictional stories though, which has culminated in finally making the decision to actually become a real life writer. That decision is something I will have to discuss later though. Right now I am putting the finishing touches on a 50K word novel I have written for NaNoWriMo. So from November 1st I have thrown down a ridiculous (for me) amount of words, all about some loser detective who…READ THE BOOK! Moving on…

I am writing on here now, because a few things have been crossing my mind lately. I would like to bring video game culture and the world I see into a much larger framework. I feel like video game music and culture is stuck in a bubble without any context or history. What is missing most of all is the humanity of the hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of bit players in this constantly shifting new media.

When people rich and poor, of every persuasion, and from many corners of the earth do something, it has an impact. Video games are having an impact. That should be explored in larger depth. How is No More Heroes the antithesis of GTA? How does the music in House of The Dead Overkill effect your reaction to the violence on screen? What does a social game like Super Smash Brothers say about human interaction and of fairness and cooperation?

These are all things I have thought about, and perusing google, not a person has written about it. Perhaps it will be me that has to do so.

I got a jacket to put on and a hat to wear
I wouldn’t waste a gallon on you out there
And I got all the time in the world

Imagine a cold spring morning; it’s the time of year when the temperature is slowly shifting from the lifeless cold of winter to the gentle, cool breezes of springtime. The light of the sun climbs across the ground and pours through the cracks in your curtains, and a methodical, rising sound lulls you from a deep sleep. Savor the feeling. That is the opening to the debut album from chiptune duo Teleidofusion.

I also got to see the one and only Nullsleep perform this past weekend over at Synchronicity in Los Angeles with George Brower, Trash80, and Mr. Spastic. It was my first straight on chiptune show, and definitely had a great time there. Also passed out a lot of flyers for West Coast Wigout 2 which I hope entices some people to come out.

I think I will write more about my experience working on WCWO2 soon on here as well, once things let up at work. Maybe a post about the Nullsleep show as well if time permits, it was certainly a night to remember, I can assure you of that! Here’s a crappy camera phone photo I grabbed of Nullsleep’s performance as well!

And when I finally get there I’ll taste freedom.
Freedom from my family and their lies.
Freedom from my boss,
and freedom from the cross.
The cross on which I once was crucified.

Looks like I will be writing for Beep City soon though! I think I am going to title the article series “Stage Select.” Luckily I do not need any fancy graphics or anything for this one. The basic idea for the article is that I will take one chiptune track from my collection and plunder it’s musical depths and gleam from it a short review of the imagery the song conjures up in my mind. Was that description a little over the top there? Yeah, probably. Well basically I review and discuss one track per article.

Above and beyond that I have to draw a small pixel art “screenshot” of the image I have in my mind from the game too. If you look a couple posts back I kind of did something like that with the song Galactic Hero by Comptroller. That is initially where I got the idea for these articles actually.

I am also looking for other websites to write for as well, I really feel like the next step to being a writer is working with deadlines, expanding my writing style with different types of articles, and simply getting my name out there. This comes right on the heels of my former guest writer stomping ground The Start Screen (not linking it since it doesn’t exist anymore) shutting down forever just last week. So with that I am also looking to rewrite and re-host my articles, and let me continue writing them. I am really hoping for an established video game website to host my articles. Are YOU that website!?

Well I would prefer one that could pay me, but who am I to demand such things just yet? I would love some more financial security though, and I wonder how much better I would write if I got paid for it. That is a whole other thing to think about though, and won’t dwell on it now.

We got love
Love to share
That is why we’re here

I have been able to get This Week in VGIM back on track. Started releasing new episodes of Ballad of the Wind Fish once again. Not to mention GM4A’s upcoming concert.

Another thing I am proud of is the slow but steady success of the GM4A Records netlabel that has started up merely two months ago. Since then we have been lucky enough to have two great album releases in Comptroller and Doug Leinen. Also several exciting upcoming projects which I hope will see the light of day as well.

Now to change things up a little.

That there is a simple astronaut man I drew in tribute to the Comptroller track Galactic Hero, which I have gone on record as saying highly visualizes the moments building down to a heroic launch into space. That also leads me to another artistic endeavor I am undertaking, although I don’t want to reveal what that is just yet. I am not sure exactly when it will be popping up, but I have been putting a ton of thought and some bit of work into it, and hope that it comes to fruition soon because I am very excited about it.

One more thing, before I was sadly ripped away from my former computer last year, I was working on another new thing, which explains that blank post below this one. Though it has not seen life just yet, I am happy to be resurrecting it very soon. That should be exciting as well!

Winter’s cityside
Crystal bits of snowflakes
All around my head and in the wind
I had no illusions
That I’d ever find a glimpse
Of summer’s heatwaves in your eyes

Here we see the northern river going from ice into a free flowing river. I don’t think I made the transition as smooth as I would like, But I still think it looks pretty good. This is of course the Northern part of the map,  and just east of where the snow dungeon resides.

And to the East the gentle grass slowly turns into a harsh magma filled hellscape. This will be the location of the fifth dungeon as well. Though I am still not sure exactly what my plan is for that dungeon. Perhaps it will come to me in a dream?

Also big plans for a very special Ballad of The Wind Fish tomorrow! On that note I should mention that the last weeks episodes are available to listen to on the appropriate GM4A page. I look forward to tomorrow afternoon’s show, so with that I am off!

Oh yeah, before I go, we also have a cool contest announcement coming up soon on GM4A, keep an eye out for that one!

So what if we like to do what we do?
It’s not like we’re gonna stop any time soon.

Hey! Listen! The Megas Get Equipped

The article was admittedly a rush job, but when talking about a great band like The Megas, it’s not hard to find things to say. I am thinking my next article will cover Doctor Octoroc’s 8 Bit Jesus album, as a bit of thanks for the work he is doing for me lately. Not to mention more Christmas posts are necessary all around.

No new dungeons to report today, I know all one of you were looking forward to it but oh well. I did name the water dungeon “Phreatic Caverns” after a bit of looking at synonyms of water. I like the sound of it, plus it’s all science-ish. Everyone wins! I have been thinking about how I should set up the names of landmarks and stuff. Hopefully I can come up with science names for the dungeon. It would be awesome though to use plays on names from VG inspired music things (albums, band names, songs names, etc.) for landmarks, items, and weapons. Just a thought, but I am liking the idea more and more. Perhaps a temporary defense spell called Temp Shield Solution?

It should be noted, that as an inside joke I was going to call this post “Stinkpot” but lord knows what kind of attention that might get me.

Well I have written a good bit, and even squeezed some scribblenauts into the day. I would say it was a success. Now to wait for my next paycheck so I can rock that new Zelda DS game. Color me excited!

Zelda
Is such a happy game
But Link really looks
A lot like my groin, you know

In GM4A news I have nailed down the layout I think I will be sticking with for the now titled Week in VGIM post I hope to be doing every sunday now. I think that is a good way to link to folks, and hopefully get some reciprocal links back as well. I am already worrying about the ability to find new videos and artwork every week though, so hopefully I can gather up some back up stuff to get me a few weeks ahead, just in case. Although if folks send me more links in the comments, that may remedy the problem as well.

Other than that, I took it pretty easy today, which is probably a bad call since I will be so busy over the next few days. Well hopefully when I wake up tomorrow I will be willing to focus on, and write up a good few articles.

Last night I worked a little more on the world map I am creating. Not as much as I would have liked, but I did finish the area containing the second dungeon as seen below.

The idea is, that the pond in the middle of the lake is supposed to be drained, and the entrance to the dungeon is underneath. Yeah I kind of stole the idea a little from Link to the Past, but so what! You also get to the small lake within a lake from the strip of land just to the east of it. I want to think of names for the dungeon, lake, and river all, but am terrible with names. Something should come to me though. This will be the second dungeon in the “game” though, with the first being a kind of “beginner” dungeon to learn the ropes and get your first real weapon. I am putting far too much thought into this, but I have this thing about adding backgrounds to and personifying everything I can wrap my brain around.

Right now though, it is Saturday night, which means I am going to fall asleep to a brand new episode of Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe, and what is this? … there is also a new Skeptic’s 5X5!? SWEET!

Danny, however, was a unique creation.
Endowed with both purpose, and destiny.

That reminds me, much as this blog, and of course GM4A got some sweet redesigns, The Start Screen should be getting one as well! It should be pretty epic I think, seeing as how they have a team of several people adding, creating, and suggesting designs and ideas. I wonder if a multitude of people is good. With me, I don’t know, as I can be stubborn and bossy when it comes to my site usually. Well either way I am excited to see what the redesign looks like. Especially the forums, since they have been incredibly dead ever since this second redesign. I have no idea why though. I think the forums load a little slow, plus there are so SO many topics. I tried to go the opposite basic route on my forums, and hope it works out. I think they should do the same. There are many topics on TSS that are just completely empty and useless. I think it makes people think the forums are dead, and in turn decide not to join or post. Once they trim and recreate the boards and website I think things will pick up in there again. Also, the redesign of the main site should get a fair bit of attention.

I am sad to say that TSS is not as far along as I imagined after one year, but it seems to be a learning experience for everyone involved. I have never been part of a more mainstream site and had “coworkers” if you will. So getting used to that idea is still taking some work, even this far in. Mostly because of staff changes and what have you. If you have read older entries on this blog, you will know that I am glad to see one person gone and into the abyss of the internet.

I must say that I am amazed it has been one year since the site started though. I am glad to be a part of it through the ups and downs, and do have a certain pride being part of the site now. I hope this is just one of several years to come for the site, as it finds it’s place and style in the overpopulated (and mostly pointless) world of VG news.

Also this!

That is just a taste of the enormous overworld I am trying to create using the talented Nyno’s awesome tileset she created. I am making a few edits (which I am sure will make it look crappier, sorry!) but all the hard work is hers. I am merely slapping things together like a bunch of Lego. Anyway, that up there is the Snow Mountain Dungeon. I will think of a name for it soon. I am thinking it will be the 2nd or 3rd dungeon, depending on how many I decide to make. It will get a cooler name and a dungeon boss as well I think. I don’t know why, but I like coming up with these sorts of scenarios and backstories. I guess that is the “writer” part of me, yearning to be free. Anyway, that’s it for tonight. Hope this blog post has been more interesting than the other most recent ones. Goodnight.

My circuits slow.
My moment has come.
Your speed means nothing if it’s death that you’re running from.

Read it on the internet, chip music is dead.
Gonna pack my bag, and move to New York City.
Read it in Wired magazine,
there’s a whole new kind of scene.
I know it must be true, they interviewed someone famous.