What the HELL Is Going On Around Here?!?!

No shit.

I have been wondering the same thing. Basically, it goes down like this...

We have been running tests on our new, more accessible audio set up (Yeah, right, eh?) and think we have finally hit our sweet spot. The only problem is work at the studio is piling up right now for the three of us and we have been working our asses off. That's not even mentioning the fact that I am moving Saturday, Stephan is a bad case of "Leg Tentacles" (don't ask), and Patrick got married to a mastodon. She's a very lovely girl.

So, we almost recorded an episode yesterday. Then Patrick got slammed with work. Or it was Zangief. Work... Zangief... who's keeping track of this shit?

That was my lame-ass transition into talking about Street Fighter IV. This game could not have come at a better time for me. I have been so in the dumps about gaming that I was afraid I would forever live without purchasing a new game. Granted, SFIV is not a clean slate. It incorporates a lot of ideas from the past. But, it's fucking perfect. For me. Right now.

Mokuu and I played a ton last week and it was the most fun I have had gaming in a while. Today at work Will Wurth brought in his PS3 and we all played for about an hour. Again, the most fun I have had in a while.

Thank you Capcom. In the last year you have released Megaman 9, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Street Figther II HD Remix, and Street Fighter IV. I retract anything negative I have said about throwback titles. It seems they are the only thing I play anymore. (OK, so a lot of throwbacks are garbage. We are just lucky this round)

So, We are working on getting the next episode out! I swear it. Tomorrow I will be at the San Francisco Wondercon doing free sketches if you can track me down.

And if anyone wants to get their ass kicked in SFIV, my PSN name is "Basho" and I am always looking for a good match! (No whining about "You should have gotten it on 360!" It's the same damn game but PS3 has a far superior controller. If you have both systems, that's the one to get it for)

Later goons!

M!

MacBook & Static

We recorded a two hour episode 49 last night, only to lose 90 minutes of it to static. But now, I have found a potential solution to our static problem.

But there are times when USB microphones and OS X 10.5 don’t cooperate. When using a USB microphone, you may occasionally encounter bursts of static. To avoid this issue, try the following solution.

Launch Audio MIDI Setup (/Applications/Utilities). From the Audio menu, choose Open Aggregate Device Editor. In the sheet that appears, click on the plus-sign (+) button to add an aggregate device. In the Structure area below, enable the Use option next to the driver used by the USB microphone (USB Audio CODEC, for example). Enable the Clock option next to that device and click on Done. When you want to use that microphone, choose Aggregate Device as the input source—either within an application or from the Sound preference pane’s Input tab.

Hopefully this solves our dilemma.

LBP: Play or Game?

I know for my friends around the office this will probably light a spark, but I do agree with most of this review. The professionally made levels are good, the user content is not and in the end, why am I playing? I enjoy singular moments of fun, but most of gaming revolves around achievements. (Not those points next to your gamertag on Xbox Live, but real successes and failures in a game) This brings up the fundamental difference between play and gaming. Play has no long term goals and effects. It's what children do to pass the time, hang out and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Gaming is about competition, rules, winning, achieving and the traditional "human" condition that drive the majority of the species to business, sports, politics, warfare and punching each other in the face.

My experience with LBP was very similar to my experience with GTA. I played it up until the point that I saw what it had to offer and then, feeling I had achieved the experience, I moved on. Neither appealed to me as a space I wanted to stay in and neither made me hope for new, unique experiences to come.

So is LBP a Play space or a Game? Secondly, is GTA a Play space or Game?

Episode 48 has arrived!

After 3 recordings and a week of deadlines at the office, we finally completed Episode 48! I'm now working on all kinds of contingency plans to prevent any episode taking this much work to process. My goal is to now get episodes up the night of recording. We'll see how it goes.

A Must See Video

Here at Slipgate we hired a new Concept Artist named Albert Truong.  Albert recorded a hilarious video that I am heavily promoting, hehe.

So, until our next episode comes out (Which should be any day now)... Check it out!  

Let's make him famous!!!

M!