Most Wanted - 2009; my last post of the year.

As you may or may not remember, I ran a 'most wanted' list in January 2008, and, as I mentioned the other day, here is my own Most Wanted '09:

#1: Half Life 2: Episode 3 (PC) (In keeping with tradition...?)
#2: Dawn of War 2 (PC)
#3: Demigod (PC)
#4: Halo 3: ODST (360)
#5: Diablo 3 (PC)
#6: Alan Wake (PC)
#7: Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)
#8: Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC)
#9: Starcraft 2 (PC)
#10: Killzone 2 (PS3)

And, if they actually get them released this decade; Supreme Commander 2 & Bioshock 2...

To summarize last years list -
Half Life 2's final episode is still months/years away.
Final Fantasy IV was, though well received by critics, an utter shambles in my eyes - far too hard, way beyond the limits of comfortable gameplay.
Left4Dead was simply... Awesome.
Force Unleashed was (as far as the demo goes) rather cool.
Penny Arcade was a spot-on laugh a minute.
Metal Gear Solid somehow absorbed 22 hours of my life, and was much better than any film (as, it wasn't really a game now, was it...)
Like HL2:E3 - Gran Turismo 5 is still MIA.
Grand Theft Auto's PS3 version was incredible fun (if a little hard to control) and its PC brother was an utter bastard to get running - but once it is, its a truly impressive piece of gaming history, and, from the looks of things, its set to sweep various GotY awards.
I have not gotten around to LittleBigPlanet yet,
and Spore was ironically short-lived, considering its epic size - but revolutionary non-the-less.

Games of 2008 I didn't expect to take me by storm:
- Fallout 3
- The Witcher
- and of course... World of Warcraft!

Oh... I did get Crysis (and its expansion) running : )

I'd like to thank everyone who has read our comics and the blog over the year - I do write these posts with the assumption that at least one person will read them, and its always cool to hear someones comment on the topics we bring up. We will keep posting and making comics for 2009, so keep your eyes peeled!

So, that pretty much wraps up 2008. Happy New Year everyone. Look out for Terry's Most Wanted that should be posted within the next week.

Much love,
JB

Topic: 2009, GTA IV, Opinions!

I spent my morning fixing GTA IV for the PC, spending almost more time than I actually spent playing the game, fixing the game. If you are indeed having problems with GTA IV, may I recommend keeping the game for a mysterious future date, to be announced by Rockstar, hopefully before my cohorts aforementioned Armageddon. Or, you could try Googling your problem, and ignoring all of Rockstar's ambiguous advise - 'delete drivers' - OKAY!

Oh, why can't I use my PC anymore? Rockstar; I am deeply disappointed in you. Consumers will approach your PC titles with world-weathered weariness upon your next game shoddy console port.

2009 - In 2 days, it will be. We have a couple of 'features' regarding 2009, and the year that was; two-thousand and eight A.D. Look out for it!

JB

Festivity ftw

Merry Christmas to all who have nothing better to do than to write/read blogs on Christmas morning!

My present to me from myself was turning level 70 on WoW - I can't think of a better way to start the merryment of the most festive of days.

Now, go drink until you can't see, and eat more than a human stomach will allow.

JB

Silent night, the end is nigh.

So its annual gift day again so I hope you all got what you wanted, those of you that didnt I hope you atleast got what someone else wanted, and then with ebays help you can eventually get what you wanted. This will be my last post for a few days, unless its not in which case you will notice by the fact I've posted.

Because I said I would here is the trailer for an intresting looking film called 9 based on a short film called 9 which resembles a live action version of LittleBigPlanet with Tim Burtons involvement. Thoughts?

Finally, in yet another herold of the end of the world a computer "written" essay paper has been accepted by the IEEE, despite being almost complete gibberish randomly collected from the web, so let this be a lesson to those buying essays to submit as coursework, soon youll have software that can do it for you.

Searching for John Conner
T/K
P.S: Gratz to you know who for you know what.

P.P.S: Amazon currently has a xmas special offer of £3 of free MP3's for all users, and considering thier large collection of £3 albums you may just get yourself a bargin, I know I did.

A long time ago in a theater far far away.

Not happy with his already massive line of movies, RP games, TV shows, cartoons, animated shorts, Christmas specials (/shudder), popular block based construction kit themed games, toys, action figures, parody films and dyslexic aliens, George Lucas has once more descended from his hover throne and declared let there be song!.

Star Wars : A Musical Journey will begin early in 2009, possibly a harbinger for the end of the world. The one possible redeeming feature is that with that much set design required there will finally be something in Star Wars more wooden then Hayden Christensen.

Crossing my fingers for a yodeling Yoda.
T/K

The truth is there is no moon.

Just a quick post today as I catch up on other stuff. Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel for the long rumored live action Cowboy Bebop movie, im not sure what to think of that. On the same note do we really want/need a live action Bebop? Hmm thinking about it if you sat it somewhere between Kill Bill and Serenity I might just pay to see that.

Strictly doing the mushroom samba
T/K

P.S Poetic justice was redefined this week, so remember to update your diarys.

Its been a while

Firstly an apology its been a long time since my last post, I guess I still havent fully recovered from that awful trailer. Further posts due soon include a quick summary of my recent trip to Cambridge, a new dotCommentary which I believe is due for Dr Mario Bellic, and John and I look back at the year in gaming, and see how the games we were looking forward too panned out.

So wishing you all a releveant demoninational holiday niceity, and a happy period of time as reflected on your calender dictated by your belief structure!
T/K

Life After Death - Deaths Interview Part Deux

So, about a week late, here is the next comic, and the one that should start weaving everything about our comic together:Part two of Terry's magnum opus: 'Life After Death' (Lets all ignore how we refer to the original as 'Deaths Interview'.)

Next up, we will hopefully busy ourselves with a (probably delayed) Christmas comic, and our next commentary post. And yes, I'll make a start on those avatars!

I have also posted the original I.N.M comic up on the site, as it is referenced here, and as was pointed out recently, it is missing from the site completely. Rectified.

JB

Housekeeping

A swift post to mention our whereabouts and updates:-

We have just had our last day of term, and thusly, had a couple of bits of work to do before we all jet off to our respective domiciles for the festive break.

We have also been spending some quality time in and around the boroughs of Shattrath city in Outland, furiously leveling so we have a decent step off point for when we re-subscribe later next year, as the fantastically addictive time-sink that World of Warcraft is; it has taken too much from us in this first term. We have been lucky, as it has been a relatively quiet term, so have used our better judgement and put a stop to MMOing.

I have had a few ideas that have been... borrowed... from here-and-there for the blog, including a dedicated 'about page', which should be up not long after I post this, and some sort of fangled avatar image to make our posts slightly more coherent as to who has said what. Expect that over Christmas at some time.

Additionally: a comic is being made... Soon.

JB

I &hearts Dissidia

As it wouldn't be right for me not to include a link to Kotaku in a fortnightly period - some scans of Dissidia from Jap-mag Famitsu. Nice to see them actually recognising Final Fantasy XI outside of the games canon. Desperately looking forward to the European release announcement.

Don't worry; I have a purpose built tray for drool, mounted on the edge of my desk.

Additionally, we are throwing around the idea of actually setting a set date for comic releases. Its either going to be a numerical date - currently, for example, the 13th + 27th of each month, or a 'first and third week of the month' deal. We have several comics in the works, so if we decide on anything soon, we will start that schedule with the next comic. It depends on our physical output and the time we have free for comicing.

JB

Left4Dead - second impressions...

A recent update to Valves awesome Left4Dead includes commentary from the developers, something us Valvians have become accustomed to from the Half Life episodes and Team Fortress 2, and it includes some interesting input from the dev team that I can't help but find enthralling. Most humans fall into a coma at the thought of how buildings have been lit in order to be darker than the night sky, but I seem to be leaping and bounding to find the next yellow-spinning-speech-bubble.

If you also care of such things, or are mildly interested, then I recommend a run through the No Mercy campaign with the commentary on.

Also, having had plenty of time to play the game itself, it is shaping into being the best zombie-survival game ever - sorry Biohazard Resident Evil... The sheer depth of the game is on par with other Valve FPS's, with subtle backstory availible to those who look hard enough - anyone who has played will know what I mean when I mention 'the writing on the wall'.

If you get anything for Christmas, make sure its Left4Dead on the PC. Or, if you have some sort of incurable disease and choose to live your life that way - on the X-Box.

JB
Insert witty post-script comment here.

...Is Paved with Grey Critters.

To wrap up the storyline;


Turns out all he could do was get to level 71. Bless him. There is an in-joke here that relates to a Penny Arcade strip from a month ago or so, that has become quite a feature in our day-to-day verbal transactions.

This comic marks the 3rd comic in 2 weeks for us. Don't get used to that kids! We are not machines! (citation needed)

JB

The Road to Level 80...

Here is a comic. It is part 1 of 2. Part 2 should be done tomorrow or Monday:
This could be interpreted to mean that at least one of us have Wrath of the Lich King (for those living under rocks - the newest expansion for the most popular MMORPG game in teh world). You would be right in this assumption. Terry is now, as I write this, proverbially 'ripping it up' in The Eastern Plaguelands as he slips into his plated Death Knight shoes. I on the other hand, make do with selling Leather in Ironforge. How we contrast.

Anyway, look out for the final part of the 'Level 80' story-arc we are running, as it reaches its exciting, edge-of-your-seat conclusion in the next couple of days. There might even be snacks!

JB

No no no no no

No no no no no no
Star Trek - Trailer 2
no no no no no no
T/K

I watch the watchmen.

I know I promised a big post all week, well its not happening today, you've had enough already. I mean a new comic doesn't just come round every day you know.
ok, well since you've all been good and its nearly generic wintertime celebration relevant to your denomination here's a new Watchmen trailer.

Always whispering no.
T/K

No F-Bomb-ing way....

GPG and Squeenix...

Supreme Commander 2...

Geekgasm.

JB
Congratulations Nymh - level 80 and proud

Real Money Tranfsers

Well, like a male-and-female 'best friends' combo in an American teen movie, we have finally hooked up and made a comic based on WoW. Cue cheering. Thanks, that's enough:
Yes folks, we went there. Who else but us could possibly tie together the realm of financial crisis and role playing. Now, all the people who use Mumorpergers to escape the harsh reality of finance now have this to contend with. How do I sleep at night, you ask.

Soundly.

JB

L4D BIGB 2 - Episode 1

Seems once more illness has conspired against me to prevent the post I have intended, I can only assume that my next post lifts the lid on some wierd reverse vampire/government plot and I am being prevented from posting. As such today's post is once more likely to be delayed but I promised I will post something, and the comic, believe it or not is written just not down.

So until I get better, or track down the weird biochemist/voodoo-master government agency that has their sights set on me
T/K

P.S: Those of you that know me best will likely know the true pain/irony of the next sentence. I have lost my voice and find it very difficult to talk, you may now laugh because I cant.

Left4dead,- but I got better.

I know I promised a post a day, but illness prevented yesturdays post so toadys post, coming later will be bumper sized. In thoery.

T/K

Left4Dead - first impressions...

Left4Dead is amazing.

The way I only have 6 (6.4 to be exact) days to download a 2.2Gb demo is awesome, and the fact my Internet connection blows goats, really is going to allow me to have the best 20-minute demo session evar on the night before it is released. Until then, the gaming over-bloggers at Kotaku have provided me a 15 minute* video of raw game footage, so until the time where I have sufficient funds in the bank to purchase a copy of the game (from retail, obviously) I'm just going to play this video in full screen, reacting appropriately, and screaming 'BOOM(ER) HEAD SHOT' at my unsuspecting friends (who will actually be playing the game on their leet connections...)

Epic fail.

JB
*Apparently, 15 minutes in America is the equivalent of 13:27 in the UK - must be a timezone thing?

Welcome to the world of yesturday.

As a way to make up for lack of updates recently I will endeavor to post once a day for the rest of this week. First up a look at the past.

John recently mentioned how busy we are, and how he's learning flash which in his own words is a little 5 years ago, I've decided to go back even further for this post, whilst the video itself is new, the theme is not, so DJ Edd and the rest this is for you, and stay after the credits.
What is the matrix.....running on

Excelling in a world of standards.
T/K

Hey, you..

We have been busy at dotgif towers, as the workload of our respective degree's starts to step up a little. That, and the merciless mistress of Warcraft keeps us from entertaining the real world. In fact, I have a couple of WoW based sketches that I hope to upload soon, mainly based on the truly awesome Night Elves, which, as everyone knows, pwns all teh noobs.

I have also had a bit of a mix-around with my PC, which ended up with a clean install of Vista and several days of downtime. An amusing side story of this is my failure to backup/copy my old Steam directory, so I now have the less than amusing task of downloading about 50 gigamabytes of Counterstrikes, Team Fortresses and Peggles.

My final year project should revolve around the use of Flash animation, so, if your all really good and eat your vegetables, I might find a bit of time to work on an animated version of dotgif, which would be highly amusing, and I imagine, incredibly painful for me.

Flash. Welcome to 5 years ago.

Hopefully once this minor flurry of pre-Christmas coursework passes, we will be able to post our next comic. Which will definitely be in colour, and probably have words.*

JB
* This sentence suggests that I have no idea what the next comic will be, and you would be right in that assumption...

'Living' in a Box

Our 2008 Halloween submission:
Going with a slightly different template now. Mainly noticeable is the addition of the comic title in the bottom left; however, the entire comic has been fixed and is now a different size as well.

If all goes to plan tonight, when we have a bit of a Halloween shindig, I could possibly have some pictures of my face - yes sports fans - my face; on the blog! As to my costume... Let me just say: "Good evening. Commissioner..."

Hope you enjoy the comic.

JB

dotCommentary: Issues of Control

Again with the lateness - here is the 4th commentary post that we are doing. By 'we', I mean 'me', because I am completely responsible for the following...
Read More



This comic is all my own doing. I decided to make a comic one morning, and set about researching the events of the day to base some form of humor on. I ran the idea past Terry, and he seemed to like it (he didn't have a choice) and I went with it. My main objective was to see if this method of writing would work, but, as me and Terry do not co-habit, its a bit more difficult to bounce ideas around - therefore, we settled with the current system of making more generalised comics, that could be left on the drawing board before they were eventually published. We have comics up-coming that have been kicking around for months now. This way may make it easier to re-read comics in the future. I have just finished the 5th Penny Arcade collection, and many of the comics relate to events that happened 4 years ago - that some may have forgotten about. But then-again, Penny Arcade makes me laugh until milk comes out of my nose, so I can't complain.

JB

Legendary-Epicness

Legendary Pictures to buy Epic Games

Kay, umm, guys - that would make you 'Epic-Legends'...

Fair enough.

JB

Time to address the topic of Zombies

A zombie themed post - by John Baylis:

I hate zombies. They get in the way, cause unnecessary death, waste time in-between quests, and clog the chat window full of drooling retards hollering 'I WANT ZOMBIE LOL!!1'. I feel that Wrath of the Lich King could have been introduced in a far less annoying way. Much like a persistent man may grab you by the face and proceed to inform you of his new products, this sales pitch does not appeal to me, and - believe it or not - I actually stopped playing because of this zombie nonsense. I muttered under my breath, in a cliched manner; "I'm so going to blog about this" - well, here I am, blogging about it.

I love zombies. They are going to revolutionise my FPS experience, they will allow me and 3 of my closest compadres - CPU 0, 1 and 2... - to team up and make some slaughter as we see the double-dead-whammy of Dead Space and Valve's 'Episode-3-delayer' Left4Dead. Much excitement to be had, and far away from the rolling hills of Arathi or the murky swamps of Dustwallow.

Zombies - Loved and hated.

JB

I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened.

So i'd imagine Johns exploded by now, in his absence it falls to me to bring balance to the force and post Star Wars : The Old Republic, a new MMO from Bioware (mmmmmm Bioware).

With more midi-chlorians then a Jedi energy drink
T/K

As promised

Having looked over the specs and features of the new Macbooks, I have decided that they are nice.

My aspiring career as a hardware reviewer is looking bright - remember, your first port of call for hardware advice is not here. Seriously though - and Terry will be jubilant at my decision - they are fine as market competitors, but are still to expensive for what is on offer. They are revelling in a new era of utter shiny-ness, as this Engadget photographer proved, getting himself completely in shot. He kinda looks like Napoleon Dynamite... The track pad seems unnecessary, its price is astounding, even for the baseline model and the graphics chipset is hardly an improvement - x5 faster in some games, bearing in mind that the old Intel graphics played World of Warcraft - just.

Its utterly recommended if you have a) too much money to spend, b) a thorough enjoyment of shiny reflective things (if you are a Crow for example) or c) your name is Edward Barber.

Now, if you paid for the additional content, then I apologise, I was hoping to have the next dotCommentary here for you, but I sadly failed - miserably. I will post it soon. Promise!

JB

No posts today...

Yeh, no posts today. At all.

Tomorrow, however, will have my response to the new Apple money-makers and some bonus director-commentary content if you buy the special edition post.

All hail 'Windows 7', our new master...
JB

In space no-one can hear you review.

So Johns been looking "forward" to a certain game for a while, so I'm happy to post the first review up for him.



Hiding behind a space couch
T/K

World of Wrongness

So Starcraft 2 is now a trilogy of games, is blizzard turning into EA?

I have been informed brevity is a virtue so
T/K

Final Fantasy IV...

I ended up buying FFIV from retail.

This was the first bad omen.

I don't know where the '85%+' and 'B' ratings are coming from. I can only assume they are playing a different version to mine, as I can't seem to be able to get past the first 20 minutes. Seriously. My DS has taken more of a beating in the last 24 hours than it has in its life so far. Not only that, but the in-game graphics (AND the opening cut scene) all seem to pale to that seen in Final Fantasy III on the DS. I don't know why there is wool over the reviewers eyes, with FFIV being the better game/experience originally, but from what I have seen so far from this remake is a poor example of a game, with generic-modern-Square shit voice acting.

I really want to get into this game and enjoy it, as the new DS titles give newer Final Fantasy audiences a chance to catch up on what they missed in the past, especially with 3 & 4. I figure I'm missing something obvious, or just the fact that Rydia is actually shit...

I will report back with news of my experience - if I make it.

JB

Decaffin-hated

A long-overdue comic for you. Not specifically you, but the viewing public as a whole. Not to say we don't cherish each and every one of you, like some sort of backwards, mangled hideous freak family, but all I'm trying to say is that we don't make comics specifically for you.

Now that's all cleared up, allow me to present this weeks months comic: 'Decaffi-nated'

Hopefully the first of many. If all goes to plan, this year will see me with 2 days off a week, meaning a) more time for home-study and b) more time to draw comic while I should be home, studying. Good for me, good for you (if you like our comics)... I was hoping to combine this post with my initial impressions of Final Fantasy IV on the DS, but, it would seem that play.com do not want me to voice those impressions, therefore I can't and I won't.

Until the Poultry overlords cross our paths once more, goodbye.

JB

Snaaaaaake!

Well, I finished MGS4.

Clocking in at nearly 22 hours, I'm still not sure whether or not I played or watched the game. Of the 22 hours, I'm almost certain that a quarter of it is actual game play - of which is rather monotonous and tiresome. In order to prove that statistic, I am set on replaying the game, skipping all the cut scenes. Just as long as my housemates don't kill me first (no doubt by laying some sort of trap with lasers, a Claymore mine, or a hour-long boss fight with my twin-clone-brother).

Being quite a big MGS fan, I desperately wanted to find out what was going to happen to the characters, and, in his 'own special way', Hideo Kojima doesn't fail to lay out and narrate an epic end to an epic saga. However, its not the ending I was expecting, so I'm not sure if that spoils the experience for me. Most of my enjoyment came from the nostalgic moments - for anyone who has played the game, just saying 'Act 4' is enough, especially the opening of it.

All in all, MGS4 is a good, sometimes-enjoyable game, but I feel that a CGI movie version would have sufficed to finish the story, as going whole-hog would not have been that much of a difference to the film game that was actually released.

Comic should be up soon.

JB

I'm not dead!

A wonderful week for me, both physically and spiritually. Spent most my time becoming and remaining drunk, in some of Coventry's finest establishments.

Me and Terry have not yet met up to converse in the dealings of the comic for the next few months, so, hang tight, and we'll get something posted soon. Spurred on by speaking to a friend last night, who allowed me to realise that my comic is being read by people, and those people sometimes actually like it. Comment of Ego Boosting +2.

We finally find out what our 3rd year looks like on Monday - even though a draft copy was delivered to me via a man in a trench-coat & fedora combo, refering to himself a 'Red Kobra' - by that, I mean, Terry sent me an email copy of the draft timetable.

Yay! JT had been DB'd!!1
JB

Ding dong the witch is...

which old witch?
The overly zealous, possibly slightly deranged Jack Thompson was today disbarred, for life.
Wooooooooo

I guess he should have perhaps gone after fake medical profesionals instead.

T/K

dotCommentary: The Interview

So its late, I apologise but surely the wait has been dwarfed by the infinite majesty of the timescape, this issue of dotCommentary brings us a glimpse at life after death, The Interview.

A comic that finally answers the question, is there life after death? The interview is arguably the oldest comic on the site, the original versions of the writing (and much longer, if I ever find it, ill post it) for this comic date back several years as it was in its original form made for a transatlantic webcomic project that never took off so when John and I decided to start dotGif up I came across the old script and decided to make a much shorter 3 panel version.

That being said it is my favourite comic so far on the site simply because the humour in it is so universal, it doesn't require a wiki link or having played a certain game it just works and other people must agree as I've seen a print out of this comic on a pin board in an office not directly connected with the site(no names I promise).

As for death, in my mind he has the dry wit and sarcasm of Terry Pratchett's death of discworld (and perhaps all worlds?) I hope that came across in the writing, and as for Johns realisation of him I think its spot on, and is one of my favourite pieces of work he's produced.

Finally the punch line (I am also certified in first aid) was the original punchline of the longer script, and the next panels would continue from there. We did consider different punchlines, such as stating death was cisco certified, this being a reference to John and myself's Cisco classes but we felt the punchline would have had a very limited scope of awareness. One day, perhaps, we will revisit The Interview and see how life after death is going, after all we have the writing already done :)

T/K

"I have never been happy with the art on this one, and I now realise I'm sounding like a broken record. The artist I am, always seems to be seeking a 'better look' and will actively reject previous attempts at anything, if it is perceived to not meet the current grade. However, this comic's critique need not be all that bad - the level of detail starting to show was a real boost to me. In terms of the written work (which I don't do), I think this comic is very typical example of Terry's writing, using coherent English, that is often - sadly - missing from his day-to-day life.

This comic marks the last of the style I used for the earlier comics, just as the previous comic, Maximum Joy, changed the physical appearance, 'the chassis', of the comic, and I spent sometime in-between this, and the next comic, refining a style that was more natural (and easier...) It was definitely a time of change for us, as we started to aim to get more comics released per month."

JB

Games and Fun

Johns discovery of the GoG service got me thinking recently about games from my own past, that is what inspired todays post.
Some of you may know, but most of you will not, that my favorite game of all time has been Baldur's Gate II : Shadows of Amn since I first played it many years ago. I mention this because it is pertinent to what is due to follow. I said recently that I had finally got around to completing Neverwinter Nights 2, and wishing I hadn't, the reason for this will become clear later.

Bioware are undoubtedly in my eyes the greatest developers of the entertainment industry, the one developer who's mere connection to a game is enough to make me purchase it regardless of reviews and play it. In recent years this has included everything Bioware, Black Isle or Obsidian Entertainment have worked on. It was a dark day in my diary and when EA ( a company not unlike our very own ER soft) acquired them in 2007.

Some of the these games I have completed in one “sitting” (I don't mean in the same day, meerly that I played nothing else until they had been completed) such as BG2,Mass Effect, some I have completed in sessions revisiting them once the desire to continue playing has returned (Throne of Bhaal, Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights 2) and some I give up on playing after becoming “bioworn-out” (Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the old Republic, Dark Alliance). The reason for this last situation is normally a particular twist in the story, an irritating gameplay mechanic, or simply not being fun anymore decreases my desire to continue playing so much that I move on and never want to revisit that game again. Sometimes a game may have one of these flaws but another area of the game is strong enough to persuade me to continue, like Jade Empire's combat system or Mass Effect's storyline. But occasionally, and sadly rarely, the old Bioware magic hits and like in Baldurs Gate 2 a game is so well crafted that its good points so greatly outweigh its bad points that whilst I am playing it time passes in some form of hyper-dilation and entire days fly past, when I am not playing it I am thinking about playing it, and when I have finished it I cant wait to talk to someone else who has played it and find out what they thought.

Imagine my surprise after completing the amazing disappointment that was Neverwinter Nights 2 and starting on its expansion pack, Mask of the Betrayer, that I had lost an entire day and I knew I was in for one heck of a ride. I wasn't wrong, and Mask of the Betrayer is now my favorite game of all time, or at least that's what I would be saying were it not for the fact I'd had to play Neverwinter Nights 2 to get to it. It's a shame really as it had a great story, a fine balance between combat, storytelling, puzzle solving and as engaging characters as I've seen in a game for years it's only downside was that of the spirit meter gameplay mechanic but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the game.

So my favorite game of all time is still Baldur's Gate 2, but it was a close roll of the die.

So after that little history lesson here's a glimpse of the future, the next dotCommentary is due up tomorrow and a few new comic idea's are currently being formulated as we speak, soon the new Uni year begins, that may have an effect on site and blog updates but either way we'll keep you informed.

I hope this inspires John to perhaps share his thoughts on his favorite game of all time, or perhaps one that has at least came cloe to greatness.


Until next time,
Forever rolling 20's
T/K

Good old Games

Last chance to catch GOG.com's excellent offer - 2 'retro' games for £3.40 ($5.99). If you havent heard about it, take a look at the site for a decent overview of what they are doing - but in a nutshell, its a digital distribution service offering games that have slipped into the twisting nether.

Buy one get one free until Sunday. They only offer a limited selection at the moment, but hopefully, they will expand their selection, turning it into Steam - if Steam had been created in the mid 90's. I dont know how quickly they will dole out beta keys, but its worth trying simply to own 2 full games for less than a pack of 20 Marlboro...

And before you ask - Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Freespace 2.

JB

The Circle Of Strife

So recently has been quite eventful for me, I suffered a dental abscess, went on holiday for the first time in 12 years or so, found a baby seal, declared myself ruler of my own personal empire and then lost it all, moved house, braved the end of the world, and finally got around to completing Neverwinter Nights 2 although I wish I hadn't. But these are all tales for another time, today I tell a little story I like to call “How do I reply on a keyboard that isn't there?”.

A couple of months back the left click on my mouse started playing up, for background purpose's my mouse and keyboard are the Logitech LX710 set and was purchased December 06. So I finally decided it was time to contact the manufacturer as Logitech offer, from what I heard, a very reliable 5 year manufacturer warranty. So the first few emails exchanged between myself and Logitech support went pretty much as I suspected with the standard describe the problem, re-install drivers, try in a different PC e.t.c which I willingly went along with knowing its pretty much a flow chart approach to tech support. Then began the fun.

First came the questions, again and again, when/where/why/who bought it, I explained when (Dec 06) where (Comet Coventry) who/why a relative, it was a gift. Then the next set of questions, again, when/where/why/who and this time, serial numbers, product id's of every part, and a copy of the receipt and that's where the first snag was hit. It was a gift as such there was no receipt. Next came no reply for a week so I contacted them again, once more they asked for the receipt, along with the reason the original retailer wouldn't change it, I again explained the receipt situation, and the fact it was almost 2 years ago. Second time around they accepted this and agreed to fix/replace my mouse on this interesting condition.

“Since you do not have the receipt for the device then you need to send us the picture of the device (keyboard and mouse) in such a state, that it cannot be reused by anyone with the reference number (******-******) written on piece of paper and placed next to the device”

And then came my favorite part, clearly someone in the legal/health-and-safety department is working over time.

“Note: Please do not hurt yourself during this process.”

I can only imagine the reason that instruction is required, which has possibly inspired a future comic, look out for it. The pièce de résistance was they then expected me to email back the photo along with my address, and the keyboard layout (British). This I can only assume would be on the keyboard I had just destroyed? A flaw in the plan perhaps.

But wait there's more, after the set was “destroyed” (click through for a photo) and photos/details were exchanged they did indeed send me a new set as promised, we'll I say me, they infact sent it to Comet, the original retailer who had sold me the set, and thus the circle was complete and a new adventure began, getting the set from comet, but that's a story for another time.

On the subject of story's I'd like to pass on my gratz to Johns friend who's completed his book as keeping plot threads untangled and allowing them to become cogent without telegraphing what is about to happen or too many WTF?1!? moments is not an easy task, my hat (if I wore one) is off to you sir.

Until next time
T/K

Lets do Lunch

I'm quite excited. I've been awake for 4 hours now; partly due to the jetlag, but also partly due to my plans for the day.

I'm meeting the author of a book I have been reading while I have been away. He also happens to be a good friend of mine. This is going to be weird. On one hand, he is the same person I have known for ages, but on the other hand, he is the person who has, trans-Atlantic-ly, via the newfangled medium of 'written word', told me an interweaving story of 2 friends, one of whom has a very special attribute.

I am also inclined to link to his blog, as he is in the process of writing a second book; I found his old blog for the first book (called 'With his Head in the Clouds' incidently) very interesting to read, detailing and involving the thought processes of [a mad man] writing a novel.

To change the subject now: I am also quite angry, as, being the Star Wars geek I am, I didn't realise that Force Unleashed would not see a PC release along with the other platforms. However, having read about some of the glitches and bugs (in red), I'm happy there is some grace period between platform releases. Game ending bugs will always outweigh the games positive points, and from the sounds of it, they are quite severe. On the bright side, FFIV is on order, so will have plenty of time to get my teeth into it.

Time to go find more stuff on the interweb to kill another couple of hours...

JB

On the issues of jetlag.

Jetlag sucks. Officially.

Spent the whole day yesterday feeling a dire urge to sleep, and now, having done so for 17 hours (yes, seventeen), I feel worse. Comics may be put off for this unforeseen issue. In between feeling like poo, I have been getting my Spore on. So far, my feelings towards the game are not too high (unfortunately). Though my playing has been off and on - you could say Sporeadic... - I have not gotten that far, and I don't think the game has had much time to shine. Yes, I know Spore is old hat, and 'last week', but I have been away, so its all new for me.

Also, on the topic of 'hats', I have still not come across any; old or new, on my iPod, so we can all judge Terry quietly for his jealousy.

JB

Battle beyond the blog

Well I'm back also, not from anywhere nearly as "glamorous" as Las Vegas, and my spoils of war do not feature any shiny mp3 players with a new hat but I have once more relinquished command of the blog to the great and powerful Mister Baylis, who's omnipresent ubiquity seems to transcend even the Atlantic Ocean.

As for the USSRoD, we'll I'm sure it will rise once more if history has taught us anything its probably quite dull.

So for now normal service returns, a new dotCommentary is due shortly and a Comic soon perhaps.

Until then,
All Hail JB,
All Hail the man with a weapon pointed at me ;)

T/K

He will be disciplined for this...

So, I'm actually back off my Jolly's now, to see that leaving Terry in charge of the blog was probably one of my less good ideas, to say that it was definitely a bad idea.

Forming a Nazi-Soviet coalition on the blog was probably an unwise move, and I really hope he saved a copy of the banner, 'cos I'm not fixing this mess. In the meantime, you, the fair reader, will have to look around the tripe and garbage to find whatever you might be looking for.

In the meantime, I'm going to play Spore, sleep and listen to music on my 4th Gen iPod nano, that I purchased from the 'Fashion Show' Mall in Las Vegas.

For the more interested reader, I chose the 8Gb Silver/Black monochromatic (leftmost) version, which will complement my iMac (when I get around to buying one/win the lottery). In hindsight, probably getting the 120Gb Classic model would have been better, but, price was an issue, even with the stronger Pound/Dollar conversion and various taxes, the Nano came out as most affordable. Yes, I'm poor.

JB

Prepare the Coup...

The uprising is coming.

The revolution begins soon.

We, the people, will not stand for this any more.

A fallen leader, will rise again...

Once he is off his holidays...

JB

Holiday, Celebrate

So even despots need time off so tomorrow I go on holiday for a long weekend which will leave the united soviet social republic of dotGif without a ruler, and so in my stead I will leave the search box in charge, and rely on my secret army to keep the peace.

Next up my apologies for the lack of updates over the last few days but I have been a little, lets say not with it, due to a copious amount of painkillers and antibiotics I've been taking thanks to a certain dental problem. As such the dotCommentary for this week was never posted, entirely my fault, but I will have it sorted once I am back.

Until then
All hail T/K
All hail the search box.

Its the end of the world as we know it.

As some of you know the world and/or universe is due to be destroyed next week thanks to those crazy scientists at CERN, but all is not lost for they have atleast given rise to this hadron collider rap.
And after that I DO feel fine.

All Hail T.K

The thing about rules....

is that they are flexible, abusable almost, especially by those in power. With this in mind I intend to break rule number 1 of the new united soviet social republic of dotGif and mention starwars, sort of.

Kevin Smith, who in the UNSSRD is revered as a minor deity, or atleast some sort of high chieftain, so when the trailer for his latest divine work hit the web it was greeted by a day of celebration complete with dancing in the streets and much waving of flags.

Its called Zack and Miri make a Porno, and as its a film made within the latest 2 years it of course has Seth Rogen in it, after all there are rules about this sort of thing. So watch the trailer, and prepare to start thinking up your "use the force" style puns now to save time later.

All hail T/K

September Safari?

So as John mentioned the new official dotGif website is up and almost fully functional, and very monochromatic, not that that's a bad thing.

So John should now be somewhere near bat country (lets hope he doesn't stop there) on his holiday which means the keys to the blog are all mine till he gets back, mwhahahahahaha e.t.c.

So while he's gone I'm going on a minor power trip and laying down a few new ground rules. The first of which is in the new united soviet social republic of dotGif there will be no mention of anything made by Sony, EA, or George Lucas/Star Wars. More will follow in time.

In web news it seems apple are launching some "new" products (for new read old products with a new hat) I'm not sure if I'm really interested in yet another new version of the nano, but if the ipod touch v2 with the reduced price brought about by the cheaper iphone 3g parts is launched I may be interested.

Google have decided to likely split the internet in 2 by launching an open source browser. So will it embody the best of the firefoxs open source community developed approach with the backing of the one company likely o be able to rival MS for userbase, or will it signal the first of a new dark emperor, Darth Google's, offspring to have the worst of firefox and internet explorer?.
Try it for yourself.

Thats all for now,
All Hail T/K

One more thing

My last post before I jet off on my jolly holly's tomorrow, and I will leave you with a sketch from one of the more dull evenings at work. It has been tinkered with a bit, but its all mainly me & a 'pen' here:


So, until the time where I either return, or find a spot of time to post from Las Vegas, I bid you adieu. I'm handing the reins over to Terry, who, I'm told, will be posting semi-regularly, and should have another commentary post to put up while I'm away.

Goodbye Internets! See you in a fortnight!

JB

A Big Desision

From Gamespy's article on Left4Dead:

"...Speyrer also mentioned that the game will have a "get up and make a sandwich" feature, allowing you to step away while a bot takes over your slot..."

I like killing zombies. But I also like Sandwiches. Damn you Valve...

JB

FUCK THAT

I must firstly apologise to the legions of younger fans of the comic/blog who respect and look up to me, for the un-PC title of the post. All will become clear when you visit/read the following:

So, there I was, doing my daily read of Kotaku, when I see the post regarding the new viral site set up to trace the release of Dead Space - a game that up until a few minutes ago, I was really looking forward to. Now, I am not someone that will scare easily. I'm pretty sure I can deal with tension and scenes of a disturbing nature. Or a navigation system that uses severed limbs to direct you to the different sections.

So far, there is only one section of the 9 that will eventually be posted on the site, so I decide to get into the game by exploring the background - something I don't often do with new games. I now find myself looking around an intensely atmospheric room (in 3D no-less, bloody Internet has gone mad...) picking up information about a crew-member named George Greggs. So, having read up most the info available, I attempt the 'Aptitude Test', and enter my details. (These questions are hard - like, unless you've been taking notes, don't bother.)

While in a very quiet room, concentrating on the test questions, with the volume up high, I hear something that - if I were of the more incontinent persuasion - would have ended up needing a new change of sheets for the bed:

A woman's whispered disembodied voice - presumably 'Jane' - asks: "George. Save me... [louder]George - Save me." To which I replied "...Huh?! FUCK. THAT."

Dead Space, although made by EA, looks like to me, that it will take the elements of System Shock 2 and multiply it tenfold. I mean, just the website elicited a stark reaction from me. And I played Doom3 - in the dark.

JB

Site update

In my now life consuming effort to make this site absolutely bitching, I have been working on it with the help of an dark-programming high-lord, who pointed me at the fantastic Lightbox script/s, which I feel obliged to link to, everywhere I go now.

With not-a-lot-more to do, the site is now suitable for folks to be linked to - so, from this point on, ALL comics will be posted on the website. An accompanying blog entry will be posted as well, on here. And on the Facebook group. And our statuses.

I have just uploaded a hot, fresh batch of FTP'd web files, so, if you feel partial to the godamned future of websites, then click on this 'ere subtle link:

here!

Of course, all this website majiggery means that there might not be a comic for you people this week, and my holiday next week means no comics for 3 weeks - I'll see what I can do in the time I have.

JB

dotCommentary: Maximum Joy

Well it has taken longer then I intended to get this post up due to various issues but its finally here the second in our dotCommentary series. This edition features our spoofing of the game with the name that melted a hundred spell checkers, Crysis.
Read More



So here we are at comic 2, Maximum Joy!. This comic is based loosly on an idea that came from something John was saying as we were walking down a corridor. The original conversation was a lot, er, bluer I suppose you could say, possibly phallic in nature as John's humour often is (what would Freud say?). This idea was quickly modified into something resembling the comic you see today. It is of course a direct reference to the opening FMV of the Crysis demo. Following the idea for this comic several hundred variations along its theme for were generated so who knows one day it may be time to get Joyful again.

T/K

The artwork on this comic has never been my favourite. It is my intention to return to it and do another version. It was my first comic using the tablet, and I was tasked with a near-full human figure. Not only that, but a muscularly defined nano-suit as well, making the task greater. I did, however, have fun with the background, crafting a relatively simplified jungle backdrop. This comic also uses the old style of comic framework - really big and bulky - it is also the last comic to do so. This means the smaller size of the characters is emphasized by the larger frame. My art teacher would flip a nut, for not using all the canvas space... Consider this comic as a near-final draft, and watch this space for an updated version, if and when I have the time in the near future.

JB

New site, beta...

Hai!

Been working on the new site design and layout for a while. It is now pretty much finalised, and I have posted it for a sneak-peek-first-look (beta keys are limited! ...j/k)

The old site has been replaced by this, but I don't think you'll care too much about that. I am now going to work on getting the images to load in the same page, so there is a seamless transition; however, that's getting a bit too Web-2.0, so I may settle with an alternative. The site currently uses the same drop-down box as the blog does (and links to the same location), so for now, limited functionality has been delivered, while certain parties mull over the decisions that need to be made. It's current ideal is that the website itself is minuscule in terms of downloaded assets, and I have been quite sneaky with the images in order to achieve this.

Also - just to clarify - it is my eventual intention is to turn this blog into a 'blog about making comics', and the actual content - i.e. 'aforementioned comics' - will be delivered using the website, once its up and running.

I'll post some epic news once the site is done. Hopefully, this will be before the start of term!

JB

To boldly go, where no nub has gone before...

Another Star Trek comic... [sigh] I have let down the various incarnations of the Galactic Republic. Here you go, I'll be over in a corner, watching my midichlorian count drop.

click to enlarge

This was quite fun however. I'll save the in-depth analysis for a future commentary post. I now just want to play the game for the sole reason of going into warp and screaming the resplendent phrase into a nearby microphone.

It is unlikely that I will have another comic done before I jet off to Las Vegas. If I do, I will leave it with Terry to post at his discretion.

JB

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a simple...

...post expressing my intentions to have dotCommentary up in the next few days now that my house move and re-connection to the Internet have succeeded.

T/K

Update - 16/08

Tag.

We are currently throwing a few ideas around in regards to the next comic, and I'm feverishly working on the new site, along with managing a hectic gaming period - trying to get into Mass Effect (still) getting my retro on with FFVII (like I promised) and installing Linux [technically not gaming...], with bonafide, genuine intentions to actually, say, use it this time. I've even used the superpowers of Knowledge(!) and Informations(!) in order to fix Grub to boot from the respectable drives where XP, Vista, and now, Ubuntu reside. I settled with Ubunutu 'cos its a nubs OS, and KDE doesn't seem to settle with me. Think 'Geek Indigestion'.

As to the actual release date of said comic; I may resort to the 'fuck-it-I'll-post-whenever' methodology of comic submission, as I have some time off work next week. And as my WoW account has, as of 12am today, been cut-off until I dust the moth's off the wallet and whip some numbers into the account management section of Blizzard's website.

As it would now seem that Terry's posts rely on astrological alignment, weather or number of broken streetlights in Macclesfield (or a strict combination of the three), there is a slight chance of him posting the newest dotCommentary this week/end, as I hear on the grapevine that Jupiter and Saturn are currently in alignment with Neptune.

JB
P.S - If I remember correctly, the newly 25-years-old Terry is supposed to be the Mayan idol of Armageddon (or something to that extent), so perhaps my previous jab's at his lack of posting may not come unpunished. If the world ends in a flurry of non-sensical prose and unkempt facial hair, then, for what its worth - I'm sorry.

Supersorry

Comic time!

click to enlarge

A wonderful and shameful dig at the Hulk for being generally poor. Yet more fun with Linear Dodge and bloom effects; I'm a whore for that sort of thing. If your all really good and eat your veg, there may be another comic this week. But that does not fall into the 'promise' category.

Hope you like/d it.

JB

Epic Ad ftw

Brief post, just seen this on the tellybox:




How we love advertising folks, and how they love going overboard for their overpaying parent companies.

We do indeed have some comics on the way, and I appreciate that they are slightly overdue. I apologise profusely.

JB

kthnxhai

Indeed, alive we are.

Sadly, I haven't found the time for comics and blogging in-between working and the dually harsh mistresses of World of Warcraft and Crisis Core. Mind you, I fancy excreting some opinions, especially about Crisis Core, on account of me being a qualified reviewer for the subject matter:

The game is by all means fantastic for the PSP. How the hell all the game is fitted into a UMD, I'll never know. Granted, a lot of the game is repetitive. Did I say a lot? I mean most. This is a shame, but I appreciate the need for replay/filler on a portable title. Another epic-downer for me, is the voice acting. In a carbon-copy of FFX on the PS2, we have a relatively talented voice cast playing the sub-characters, but some jumpy, hyperactive American twat playing the lead role. Tidus and Zack; added to 'the list'. Aeris - no, wait, it is Aerith properly now - has had a character change also - turning into some sort of whore-y, over-possessive retard, completely spoiling my once unfaltering mental image of her. And finally, the whole game sucks for ruining the feel and atmosphere of the original - a sin Advent Children is also guilty of; I would like more corporate oppression, altered memories and misled villains, not some Jpop/Emo bastard hybrid. Since removing Sakaguchi from the directorial team, the media (because you have to say 'media', 'cos there is ONE film) associated with FFVII has really let the games' original feel down - something I find a real shame.

The positive points - the graphics are gorgeous, the scenes that are recognisable from the original are replayed relatively faithfully, and there is a lot of nostalgia accompanying the game, especially if you, like me, haven't played VII in a while. The story, however, is not a total let down, and fits together nicely with the other game, explaining small things and linking the story of Zack and Cloud. To summarise; the game does a good job of spoiling the original unfortunately, but is a fairly decent example of an action-RPG. On the plus side, it has made me want to go back and return to the original game, for a good whole-hearted nostalgia enema. Bear in mind, I haven't quite finished it yet... Crisis Core, I mean - not the enema.

In other news:

I am currently gearing up for my trip to the You-Ess-of-Hay in September. I think importing FFIV [oh yays, he said FF again...] may be a better course of action, otherwise, I'm faced with a 16-hour flight, with a Russian-roulette-esque chance of in-flight movies. Could be good, could be bad. Could require a revolver and a single bullet if its a chick flick, therefore, a strong argument in the decision making process. Until then, I have Mass Effect, KOTOR2 and Crisis Core/Wipeout Pulse to finish after my WoW free trial ends on the 16th.

What? I'm not paying for it, if I'm away for half the month!?

JB

We are still here.

Honest, it may not seem it but we are around, John is in a corner shadowmelded and I'm doing strange things with totems.
Blog updating should resume normal service next week at my end as my house move enters its final stages, comics to follow shortly after.

T/K

The weak is over...

Gawd daymn, that was a busy week. Working 5 - thats five - days, in a row! Jesii Christ!

I'm not cut out for this.

A couple of interesting tidbits from this week in gaming - 2 awesome videos: one for Demigod (Chris Taylors' new arrpegeearrteeess) which looks fantastic, provided what we see is in-game (and judging by Supreme Commander - 'yes') and another video for Dawn of War 2, which I imagine is the opening cinematic; with a gloriously bloody fight between the Marines and the Eldar, with a big reveal at the end.

Quakecon is also churning out videos and news of Mr. Carmack's endevours, including an interesting look at Rage on the Tech5 engine. All looking quite good so far. Unless, like in 2004, poor id are crapped on by a revamped Source engine [gently nudges Gabe Newell awake...]

I now get to enjoy the jewel of all districts, known as the 'Peak'. A not-quite-long weekend away with the missus and her parents. News from the Kreedle-front seems to be a house moving, which is kicking off next week. Expect limited/no communication from him until its all over. I'm sure he will regail us with the story at a later date, and that story may be published into a tome of some sort.

Until then.

JB

Klaatu Barada Neo?

Still too busy to blog but since John mentioned Dead Space, heres some horrific sci-fi of a different kind, a trailer for The Day The Earth Stood Still remake. Also the demo for Gas Powered Games latest effort Space Siege is out so hit up your download site of choice.

T/K

A lullaby you'll never sing again...

Posted recently, this video (hopefully) shows off the feel and aura that EA's latest endeavor, Dead Space, is all about. I personally love this video - the trailer works on many levels, demonstrating the games graphics, and the 'dismemberment' theme that will apparently run throughout. And I can't wait to relive the same excitement/terror mix that Doom 3 gave me 4 years ago.



JB

For whom the bells toll [Centenary!]

Our first user-submitted comic idea!:

Click to enlarge

Okay... Well, it was my girlfriend who suggested it. But that still counts!

This is part 1. Part 2 should hopefully follow at some point - maybe not the next comic mind you. We should have another commentary post coming soon; we are working on it, but Terry is somewhat busy - hopefully not tearing around Gotham dressed like a clown... Yeah, I've seen it. Yeah, it was good. Yeah, Heath Ledger as the Joker. Heath Ledger is the Joker...

Rest in Peace Heath

Also - 100 posts!
You get a special prize if you read them all.

JB

All is fair...

Appreciating that in our chosen field, they are the enemy, I can't help but bring this to everyone's attention: xkcd 453. I haven't laughed so hard in ages. Penny Arcade inspired me to draw webcomics, but xkcd will always be the best in this artists opinion... Also in webcomic news - CAD is getting funny again! Hooray!!

JB

Update:

A post for post's sake here.

The new comic will be delayed slightly, due to birthday related tomfoolery. Yes, I am now 21, and much much wiser older. I have been also been busy reaching a small personal goal of mine: Get my WoW character to level 21, for my 21st. A sort of uber-geeky present from me, to me. Not that it needs to be said, but I achieved that goal. Go me.

I have also (via my wonderful girlfriend) expanded my gaming horizons with one of those Pee Ess Pee thingy's, so a great big welcome-to-2005 for me. Currently only the one title, but, for me, a big one: Crisis Core. The 'official' back story to Final Fantasy VII. And already, its living up to a modern Sqare Enix titles expectations - the voice acting blows goats. I am currently looking for a way to turn it off, but so far have had to settle with MUTE. My further opinions will no-doubt be expressed in a later post.

Back in the PC scene, I have purchased a copy of Mass Effect (and, to the Game employee who sold it to me: Yes, i have a decent PC, and 'Internet connection'? What be one of those?) and (get this:) Diablo 2... I wanted to finally try the forerunner before I inevitably buy Diablo 3. My initial reactions to ME was: "Oooooh, cinematic-y" and to Diablo 2: "Ooooh... OLD". Bless it.

I will hopefully have the comic up over the weekend, provided I catch the hour-or-so needed to finish it. If not, then I promise it will hit soon...

JB

The once and future thing

Just a quick heads up issue's at my end have delayed my last few blog post's aswell as the latest dotCommentary, I promise these will be up as soon as I am able and then my posting schedule will continue.

Please note this will not effect the next few comics as they are already written.

T/K

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes

Thanks to John for reminding me, I forgot to include this in my previous "hero's and villain's" post, the trailer for next years Watchmen movie hit today, watch it, love it, suddenly feel the need to paint your room black and buy a Billy Corgan album

T/K

End of E3

So, E3 is winding down for another year, with nothing of major interested being released today. We can all go back to our mundane and slow paced blogging, safe in the fact that by re-reporting news that has been announced, blogged and podcasted around the world ten times over, makes us goddamn internet-superheroes.

Main highlight for me, today, is the surfacing of some Left4Dead screen captures - looking fantastically ferocious and manic - should herald some truly epic LAN gaming when it hits later this year. Also, Bungie [all glory to,] have hinted at a 'dedicated event' to the studio's new game. It was originally cut out of the Microsoft keynote on Monday. So if it had been left in, we would know about it already. Anger... rising... That being said, being Bungie and possibly/probably Halo based, it may have the power to actually make me aroused.

On that un-PC note, that's it for today from me - I am feeling unwell, but that will hopefully not scupper any plans for MMO related activities and barbecues for the weekend (weather permitting). Oh, and maybe a comic. HINT-NUDGE...

JB

Dark Knights's Day

To celebrate the release of the latest Batman film, The Dark Knight, todays post has a hero's and villains sort of theme.

First up if you've ever wondered about Batman's amazing array of devices and gadgets and what would happen if he went all JML on us the look no further than 20 Everyday items as designed by Batman, though quite how some of them can be considered everyday (I'm looking at you number 6) is beyond me. Also why not check out the 6 Dumbest Doomsday Devices (alliteration ftw?)

Next up as I mentioned the other day Joss Whedon's latest opus Dr Horribles sing-along blog has its second act posted today so why not head on over and watch.

On the dotGif front, coming soon is a Joyful look back in the next dotCommentary which will be posted this weekend, and a new comic our first fan request in fact is due soon also.

Until next time,
T/K

P.S: I know I promised a post everyday this week and missed yesturday but I received some bad news.

One hot coffee, to go

Well E3 has begun in earnest and all 3 of the manufactures have shot of their big guns.
Following Microsoft event yesterday, today both Sony and Nintendo both held rather lackluster press conferences so I think this year I'm gonna have to give it to Microsoft who's line up looks most promising.

But arguably the biggest news of the day comes from the publisher of plumbers and Pokemon in the form of, Grand Theft Auto : China Town Wars for the Nintendo DS.

Lets see what tomorrow brings.

T/K

P.S: I keep forgetting to post this, if you are a fan of the Joss Whedon YOU MUST WATCH Dr Horribles sing-along Blog. If you don't your going to a special hell. I will post reminders for parts 2 and 3.

P.P.S: Never mess with a guy with root access.

Tuesday roundup

Wasn't as busy over in LA as I'd hoped today. Some trivial announcements like another God of War game - a series I have not gotten into due to its PlayStation-ed roots, and both Sony and Microsoft flailing wildly about their video services and new menu content. Bored now.

Some interesting Halo Wars footage, though. Interesting, in the sense of 'ahh, I was looking forward to that. Oh well. Nevermind.' Also, yesterdays Final Fantasy XIII footage has had a chance to sink in; I'm appalled to find that I really don't care about it anymore. I will settle for my DS-remakes for now, and quietly agree with the guy in this video (even though he is acting like an epic douche, and I find it hard to stomach the entire video - I sugest bitesized portions).

To finish; 2 words (and a number) that made my relatively dull day, into a firey rage-filled chasm of hate:

"Sims 3 Trailer"

JB

E3 - Part 2

The conclusion of ER's E3 keynote is now here for your enjoyment:

Click to enlarge

Yes. I am aware the name of the author on the slide, and the author he says are spelt different. Its just how they roll at ER HQ. Im looking forward to grabbing some peices myself.

In the meantime, the E3 drum beat continues on, with follow ups and new announcements. Apart from a new DS revision, there is nothing that grabs me, so just go read Kotaku if you care >: )

JB

Baby its cold outside

Everyday this week due to E3 I will be putting a post up to reveal the most intresting story of the day, I imagine John will be doing the same.

First up, Final Fantasy XIII is coming to the Xbox 360 aswell as the PS3, is this due to a large payment from MS to Square Enix or simply a numbers game as Square Enix attempt to recoup some of thier nextgen investment?(the 360+ps3 market share just beats the Wii's market share, just). No word yet on which other, if any, title of the Fabulous Vauxhall Nova series will also be jumping from the original platform.

In other news snow continues to fall in the 7th circle of hell.

T/K

Dawn of War II - Trailer 2

As promised - (badly cropped) relevant E3 news:




Dawn of War 2, in all its Eldar-y in-game glory. Want.
(Original Kotaku post)

ALSO - A hideously funny Penny Arcade. If we aim to get a laugh per panel, then I will be a happy boy.

JB

E3 - Part 1

Our first of two comics today, celebrating the joy of experiencing reading articles about new games from the Electronic Entertainment Exposition, or as mere humans call it; E3.

This year has a couple of possibilities that *could* crop up and make me piss myself with glee. I look forward to 3 days of possible incontinence. After that lovely thought, enjoy some comic:

click to enlarge

Look for the next comic tomorrow - ER games have 'another' 'game' to 'announce'. Beyond that, we will post up any major/amusing E3 events we see. Or play WoW.

JB

The week in news

This week has drummed up a few interesting articles.

Firstly, there has been some gorgeous concept art, hopefully for HL2-Episode 3, and which will hopefully be elaborated on next week at E3 - still a possibility despite denial from Valve honcho's. You know, the same people who promise games, then delay them. 'Those whom lie'. (Kidding).

The Apple iPhone 3G, mobileme and 2.0 software are released today. Cue internet-wide coverage, generic-guy-outside-store-with-product photo, and - although its not very PC to say - some sort of stabbing/shooting/violence upon fellow man regarding said product... I don't wish it on people, but after the 'PSP shooting' in America (God bless) and the insane attack in London - IN WHICH PSP'S WERE MENTIONED, therefore a keystone to the story, it seems that luxury technology begats violence...

1.5Tb and 500Gb hard drives have been announced for desktops and laptops respectively - thats pretty ace. Perpendicularity ftw.

Also, something that has really caught my eye is the Good Old Games concept - pay less than £6, get a classic game. "Hey, have my money, I don't care, I want to play MDK!"

WoW fever has hit hard. There is little I like to do more than to wake up, play WoW and then go to sleep - 11 hours later... While I'm at work, I like to think of playing WoW. I look forward to my first addiction-group meeting, and telling my story, and have people clap and all say "Hi John" in a soothing choiral tone. I would be thinking of being at home, playing WoW while all this happens. If I learn anything from this - its going to be self control! Dont worry folks, comics are due soon, and will not be majorly affected by extensive MMORPGWTFBBQ-ing.

(That entire paragraph was a joke, I'm a prefectly well balanced and centered individual...)

After all that reading, I'd imagine you might need to go and lay down for a while... Go on poppet, rest yer sleepy head.

JB

dotCommentary:I.N.M

As promised here is the first of the dotCommentary series looking at past comics from the point of view of John, Myself or both. This week as its the first one we've both contributed something to the post and I hope you enjoy it.

As its not strictly a blog post viewing of it is optional so to see it youll have to click the title above , or the read more link below.
Read More.




First up is I.N.M which stands for infinite number of monkeys, which is a play on the theorem that, amongst others, led Emile Borel to remark that given an infinite number of monkeys, typewriters and an infinite amount of time you would eventually receive, legibly typed, the entire works of Shakespeare.

The second aspect of this comic is that of ER software, a large multinational conglomerate developer and publisher of games in no way similar to any current business in practice or design, honest. ER are known for, amongst other things as you will see shortly, the yearly "updates" to franchised sports games, which never really improve so much as iterate and this comic is an attempt to perhaps explain why this is the case, and why one day perhaps W.Shakespeare from Warwickshire will be playing upfront for Liverpool.

The final thing of significance of this comic is that it marks the first "official" dotGif collaboration between myself an John, but not the first comic we have made together, more on that another time perhaps.

T/K

I.N.M. was the last comic I released properly using the old art style. Before I bought myself a graphics tablet, comics were made using the pen tool in Photoshop. Anyone who has used the tool will know its difficult enough as it is, to make even coherent 'blobs', let alone craft characters/programming simians with it. Needless to say, it took a lot of time, and a lot of messing around with layers, merging, erasing and redrawing. One of the main advantages, however, is it gives a very neat line art layer - tidying up the comic - but, I feel that the dimensions of the image were too large to have such a small line, making the characters seem 'lost' in the image, because the image was either too big, or the lines were too narrow.

I, as an artist, was changing [wow, deep]. I felt more compelled to make rough, untidy images, that still gave a clear value about what was being shown, and I wanted the characters to be more 'cartoony' [I hate that word], so I redrew the main characters, and developed an art direction that made the comic a little more distinct. So, the lineart changed, the characters changed and I resized the comics physical shape to be a little more user-friendly (now 600px wide instead of I.N.M's 750px) and ended up making a comic about a suit that generates kittens. Kittens of joy.

JB