Episode 53: "Things Learned In The Dark"

UPDATE: as of 9/13/11 this video is now at THIS LINK

The Playstation Network Blackout should teach gamers and the games industry a hard lesson. (Busy night, more written thoughts later, for now... enjoy!)

Episode 53 Mini-Preview (UPDATED!)

UPDATE! Episode 53 will debut this Wednesday, 7/6, at 11pm EST on ScrewAttack.com! As a little tease, here's a trio of screencaps from the episode itself. Those looking to remain 100% spoiler-free are advised not to click through and/or scroll all the way down, though since the visuals can't "spoil" what the actual topic is it's mostly about visual gags. Just so no one is dissapointed, though, I will say in advance that this is not the innevitable Supreme Court episode, but that said episode is coming in the near future...

This episode offers the best "flying" special-effects you've

seen since "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace." 

I'm fairly proud of this one, because it represents (in my opinion, anyway) the most completely-realized "merging" of the MAIN, consistent focus of the series (re: topical editorial/lecture pieces) and the action/spoof "narrative" secondary elements that I've been working to integrate starting with the AntiThinker/Quest/War run earlier this year.

Our ALL NEW recurring character, Police Commissioner John

"BunnyFace" Bonifacio, is my favorite instance yet of my love

of absurd humor and my hatred of having to hire/pay actual

actors combining for the optimal result. My brother's rabbit,

"Dylan," plays the part. He MAY get a nicer desk in the future.

I don't want to spoil any more than that, but speaking just for myself this particular episode (the working title of which is "Things Learned In The Dark", incidentally) is the closest I've yet come to achieving the type of product I envisioned when I began setting up the retooling/upgrading of the show in the first place. I hope that fans old, new and future find a lot to like in it.

This still represents about five hours of sprite-animation and

compositing; but also the fulfillment of a 23 year dream.

The South Rises Again... As XBox Live DLC

Oh, dear... This will not end well.

As seen on KOTAKU, XBox Live Marketplace is now selling a collection of history-based doll clothes for Avatars. One of which, pictured, is a Confederate Civil War uniform.

It's only listed as a "Civil War Uniform," but it's worth noting that a Union alternative is not offered - by contrast, both British and U.S. outfits are availed for the Revolutionary War. I don't know that I've checked, but are Confederate Flags allowed as Avatar-wear? If not, why this and not that? And while I'm at it, can I also get a Soviet army uniform? North Korean? WWI or WWII Germany? If not... why not, if this is "okay?"

I imagine there's no way to avoid the usual tiresome back and forth that always comes up in regards to the Civil War: "It was about slavery!" "No, it was about States Rights!" "What rights were they angry about?" "Well, the right to have slaves - BUT IT'S THE PRINCIPAL!!" At this point, I've given up wondering just how many generations its going to take for (some of) the American South to accept that "honoring your ancestors" and "pretending that your ancestors' cause wasn't on the wrong side of both basic morality and history" are not the same thing... though I'm REALLY eager to see how enflamed it all gets when Tarantino's "Django Unchained" (which is purportedly about an escaped slave who turns gunslinger to liberate his wife from a white plantation owner in the pre-war South) comes out - that's gonna be a party.

Is it even worth asking why this was supposed to be appropriate/revelant for a 4th of July release thing? The Holiday commemorates the formation of the country the folks in this uniform were trying to get out of. The only thing symbolically important about 7/4 for the Confederacy was the withdrawal from Gettysburg... which was a devastating loss.

"War of the Thinkers" Commentary

A little treat between shows.

We Won

The Supreme Court of the United States in a 7 to 2 decision - has struck-down California's violent video-games ban, and in doing so has ruled that restricting the sale of violent games to minors by force of law is unconstitutional. This is, without question, the biggest and most important American legal decision in video game history.

The most important part of the decision, in terms of future lawmaking, is in the wording of the Majority Opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia (becoming, for the first time in his entire tenure, "cool") which specifically singles out the two most common arguments for game-censorship - that gaming's interactive nature and the un-planned-for nature technological evolution makes a "special case" for restriction - as being insufficient.

Incidentally, the decision defied the typical "liberal/conservative" split in the Court - a plurality of Justices voted to kill the ban, but Conservative Clarence Thomas and Liberal Steven Breyer were the dissenting votes.

"Anarchy Reigns"

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about. Far too long since a decent brawler.

Eddie Lebron's "Sonic FanFilm" Has a Trailer

Eddie Lebron, who did that not-bad-at-all "Mega Man FanFilm" a year or so back, is hard at work on a follow-up project based on "Sonic the Hedgehog." The big news thus far has been that he scored a fairly cool piece of casting: Sonic will be voiced by Jaleel White - who famously provided the character's voice on the American cartoons in the 1990s. Now it has a teaser trailer, with your first look at their CGI-Sonic...



FWIW, I liked Lebron's "Mega Man" movie. The guy has some chops, even if - like many DIY filmmakers in the YouTube era - his primary skillset seems to lie more in the realm of FX-integration than staging a scene. "Mega Man's" editing suffered from a lack of 'coverage' (re: insert-shots of atmosphere to establish geography and break-up static shots), so if he's gotten better at that it'd be an improvement right off the bat. Of course, what I'm REALLY interested in is seeing how they realize Dr. Eggman/Robotnik.