Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff has been much in the forefront of the acceptance of comics and graphic novels as part of the new dialog of ideas. He made a splash in comics with his Biblical deconstruction, TESTAMENT. Now he’s back with X, a graphic novel being serialized online by game studio Smoking Gun. The first episode — of four — can be read here, but a few pages were made available for preview, below. The story is illustrated by Smoking Gun’s lead concept artist, Cheoljoo Lee, and Younger Yang. Rushkoff has been working with Smoking Gun, whose founders worked on such games as Company of Heroes, and the GN is set in the universe of an upcoming but still undisclosed franchise — so yes, it’s all about transmedia, according to a press release:

“One of our main goals as a studio is to constantly innovate in how we tell our stories”, said Smoking Gun CEO and Creative Director John Johnson. “Our perspective is, if you can interact with it, then it can be part of the experience we deliver. And if you cannot interact with it, then we will evolve it to the point where it can be part of our universe. There are no boundaries to where we can go or what we can accomplish.”

“It has been insanely challenging and insanely fun to dive head-first into Smoking Gun’s universe,” explained Douglas Rushkoff. “And while I work on threading one narrative through this material, other artists are building it out on many other levels, all at once, for different people to engage with in so many different ways.  So for the audience this multi-faceted, multi-media approach brings new dimension to the epic struggle that we’re talking about here: nothing short of how humanity defines itself.” 

Dave Gibbons writes to say that he and BAFTA nominated videogame designer Charles Cecil are hosting a public screening of their video game “Beneath a Steel Sky” on October 5th at BAFTA, Piccadilly. The project has a long history, and has now been redeveloped for iPhone:

The two first collaborated in 1994 on the multi-award-winning graphic adventure ‘Beneath a Steel Sky’. An enduring mix of complex storytelling and intelligent puzzle-solving, it remains one of the best examples of the genre – as iPhone and iPod touch owners will discover early next month when a ‘remastered’ version of the game is published for their systems.  

Gibbons and Cecil have worked together on an ad-hoc basis over the past 15 years. The BAFTA session will premiere new material from ‘Beneath A Steel Sky – Remastered’, as Charles Cecil and Dave Gibbons discuss fresh gaming possibilities now each of their visions can be fully realised. The hour-long session will conclude with an open Q&A session – with attendees able to mingle with the pair in the bar afterwards.  

As if mingling in the br wasn’t exciting enough, attendees will also be given a commemorative reprint of the original comic that accompanied the game’s initial release.
Details here. Non-BAFTA members can purchase tickets for £5.

You know how it is, you’re a little tuckered out from smashing dragon turtles with your +45 Clout Mace, whilst wearing your Imbued Plate Greaves and need a pick me up. Shall it be mead…or MOUNTAIN DEW? As all true nerds know, the almost-popless, caffeine and sugar packed drink of champions has the real life effects effect of a mana potion.

We’ve often noted our love of Code Red, the gamers/hackers version of Mountain Dew, which is even more powerful and frightening. Only the fact that it makes our eyeballs feel like they are covered with tiny gnats made us stop drinking it a while ago.

However, we may feel the need to explore further Dew varietals. Two special limited edition drinks that tie in with the World of Warcraft have been released: Alliance Blue (Mountain Dew with a punch of wild fruit flavor), or Horde Red (Mountain Dew with a blast of citrus cherry flavor).

We’re not sure what “wild fruit” flavor is, but it may be the elusive “blue” taste we’ve been searching for since Pepsi Blue went down the drain. We await product samples to conduct out own highly supervised experiments.

Apparently there’s a whole big Mountain Dew/World of Warcraft promotion going on, which you can learn about here. There are contests, freebies, and so on. What would E. Gary Gygax think of this?

Bryan Lee O’Malley pays tribute to a classic Capcom poster with this Scott Pilgrim image. It will be available at the upcoming PAX show.

The game was created 25 years ago today. Learn more about the creation of “the world’s greatest video game” here.

I don’t know about you, but I played TETRIS so much when I was an undergrad in the late 1980s, I would see the shapes when I closed my eyes, trying to get to sleep at night.

And now, there are kids still playing it today on their Wiis and on their cell phones.

The big video game show, E3 is back this year, after a few unsteady, scaled back years. We’re just not up to code where video games are concerned so you can check out the LA Times tech blog or a zillion other places for news. However, we hear Microsoft introduced a hands-free controller, Project Natal — apparently you smile at it and shoot a gun or something. And everyone is talking about the animated Beatles trailer!

Following Kochalka’s account of a particularly vivid dream featuring a video game, a fan made a video game based on the dream!

So, you might remember that last week, while sick with a fever, I invented & played a videogame in my dreams. Well, yesterday, a fan sent me a working version of the game from my dream, absolutely blowing my mind. There’s no sound in the game (but there wasn’t an sound in my dream either). You control “me”… which, as in my dream, is a variation on Link from The Legend of Zelda. While adventuring, members of my family can join the team… there’s my wife Amy, my 5 year old son Eli and my 1 year old son Oliver. It’s amazing.

The game is for PCs only so no screencap, but you can go to the link and download.

Marvel’s new Iron Man Armored Popper game is supposed to be for kids, but we like it JUST fine, especially while we’re gabbing on the phone.

Iron Man Armored Popper is a challenging, fun, puzzle type game that uses Iron Man’s repulsor beams to knock down his enemies and clear each stage in this wildly entertaining game. Defeat the likes of Mandarin, Madame Masque, Whiplash, Count Nefaria and more—and gain new powers while doing it!

• More pictures of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine! That’s great, because we were starting to get bored.

• Oh boy, a new Planet of the Apes film! This one will be based on #4 — CONQUEST, in which we see just how those damned monkeys took over.

• Remember what we were saying about nerdlebrities who are real comics fans and not just poseurs? Samuel L. Jackson passes the test:

THR: With all this producing, you’re still active as an actor. Tell us a little about “The Spirit.”

Jackson: I’ve been trying to work with Frank Miller for a while — and trying to acquire one of his properties. I spent a lot of time in comic book stores, always have, since I was a kid, and I was never able to contact him, but he knew of my interest. When they did “Sin City,” I was talking to Quentin (Tarantino) and I told him, “How can you do this thing and I’m not in it?” And he told Frank, and Frank was impressed that I even, you know, knew what it was and wanted to be a part of it. So when “The Spirit” came up, he said I was the person that he thought of to play the Octopus.

• Could it be…? Another problematic DC superhero movie? Yes it seems that director George Miller isn’t making that JLA movie after all, and the world will be deprived of Armie Hammer as Batman:

In an appearance on Sydney-based morning show Sunrise today, Miller confirmed that he’s no longer involved “in any capacity.” Also, he says that if Warner Bros. does eventually decide to shoot a JLA movie, it will likely be recast since “the studios seem to want bigger stars in their superhero movies now.”

• Much turmoil at Midway Games, which just released “Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe,” as Viacom head Sumner Redstone has sold off his interest in the red ink-spewing company . Redstone sold his 87 percent stake — which cost him some $500 million — to private investor Mark Thomas for $100,000. Thomas gets a bonus: more than $150 million in debt.

However, Midway has consistently lost money since Redstone took control as investments in new technology didn’t yield benefits and major game releases were delayed and often sold poorly. A management shakeup earlier this year, after Redstone’s daughter Shari was named chair, has resulted in major cost cutting but no other benefits for the company’s bottom line.

Thomas, who is unknown in the videogame biz and couldn’t be reached, is taking on a major challenge in Midway despite having bought the company for almost no cash.

Some news over the weekend from PAX, the show that started as a fan-meet-up for PENNY ARCADE:

The Penny Arcade Expo celebrates its fifth anniversary this year by completely taking over the 300,000 square feet Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Started as a way to bring fans of the Penny Arcade webcomic together, PAX has grown from 3,700 attendees in 2004 to an expected 50,000 this year.

Even though the program officially runs from 2pm to 10pm on its first day, a Friday, those scant eight hours were packed with over twenty panels in satellite theaters where industry pros cover such topics as Video Games in Public Policy to the Speed Run Showcase, where clips of highly talented gamers complete difficult tasks at lightning speed. An appreciative and discerning audience audibly gasped and cheered as if it was a Sportcenter highlight reel.

Kreegah!

An LA Times wire story wonders why a DARK KNIGHT video game has failed to appear:

It’s not as if an interactive “Dark Knight” wasn’t gearing up before the film’s release. Game publisher Electronic Arts had the rights to make a “Dark Knight” title, which EA-owned developer Pandemic Studios was working on, according to an EA manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information is proprietary.

Gary Oldman, the actor who plays Gotham City police officer James Gordon, said in a recent interview with cable network G4 that he had seen a “tiny little piece” of “The Dark Knight” game and described a sequence with Batman realistically gliding across rooftops.

Beyond that, details about the game have been as concealed as Bruce Wayne in the Batsuit. Representatives for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, EA and Pandemic would not comment for this story.

Frankly, we don’t quite know what they’re talking about.

ICV2 reports that PAX, the video game confab put on by the Penny Arcade folks, is coming to the East Coast in conjunction with the Reed Expo people:

The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) will be adding an East Coast show to its schedule in 2010. The event will be organized by Reed Exhibitions, the convention organizer behind New York Comic Con, New York Anime Festival, Book Expo America, and over 500 other events in 38 countries. The exact date and location of the show has yet to be determined, and it appears that the East Coast version will be in addition to the Seattle show.

PAX spun off of the strip but now draws nearly 40,000 attendees and has become the consumer-level replacement for E3, the big vid game show.

Variety reports that WATCHMEN will be adapted as a series of downlaodable games . Two are planned with one coming out when the movie does and the other with the DVD release. The games are being developed by Danish developer Deadline Games, and will star Rorschach and Nite Owl, hurm hurm.

WBIE execs said that by producing shorter downloadable games, rather than a full-priced disc version, they’ll have more flexibility to produce high-quality titles on a tight production schedule of just more than a year.

“We don’t want a low-quality console game that will get lost at retail,” said WBIE senior veep of production and development Samantha Ryan. “A downloadable game allows us to deliver the experience that fans expect.”

If you missed the article in Gamepro this month spotlighting the new LEGO Batman game, why not take a look at this clip featuring LEGO Two-Face and LEGO Scarecrow?

And before we get LEGO Batman, We’ll be getting LEGO Indiana Jones on June 3.

The Beat’s temporary slowdown on blogging is not, as might be expected, because of the arrival of Grand Theft Auto IV, which will probably be the biggest grosser of the year, movie, book or game. However it must be said that the complete cultural victory by the geek/nerd/video game set is now assured. Admit it, did you ever in a kajillion years think you would see a glowing front-page review of a FREAKING VIDEO GAME in the New York Times?

Published by Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto IV is a violent, intelligent, profane, endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun. It calls to mind a rollicking R-rated version of Mad magazine featuring Dave Chappelle and Quentin Tarantino, and sets a new standard for what is possible in interactive arts. It is by far the best game of the series, which made its debut in 1997 and has since sold more than 70 million copies. Grand Theft Auto IV will retail for $60.

Niko Bellic is the player-controlled protagonist this time, and he is one of the most fully realized characters video games have yet produced. A veteran of the Balkan wars and a former human trafficker in the Adriatic, he arrives in Liberty City’s rendition of Brighton Beach at the start of the game to move in with his affable if naïve cousin Roman. Niko expects to find fortune and, just maybe, track down someone who betrayed him long ago. Over the course of the story line he discovers that revenge is not always what one expects.

It’s like those old timers who believed that attending a show by Eva Tanguay at the Odeon was the apotheosis of cultural delight and refused to go over to the new Victrola are now standing in line for the new model.

The long in development Marvel MMO (massive multiplayer online game) which was being made by Marvel and Cryptic Studios (Dity of Heroes) will never be. Shane Kim, head of Microsoft Games Studios, explains why:

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a case of what went wrong,” Kim told me. “I don’t know that that’s the right way to put it. For us we look at our priorities and all of the things we have to do. It’s a tough space. It’s a very competitive space. And it’s a space that’s changing quite a bit. …When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of ‘Marvel Universe Online,’ we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there’s basically one that’s successful and everything else wouldn’t meet our level or definition of commercial success. And then you have to look [and say]: ‘Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?’ There’s a whole bunch of factors.”

[Thanks to Abel for the link.}

Or only the second greatest?

Tyrian for Mac!

In related news, we are old and busted and need some time in the shop. It’s the quiet time of year anyway, and everyone has better things to do than sit in front of the computer, anyway, unless it’s to buy holiday presents. Which is the only reason we sit in front of the computer any more.

Much online chatter that the long-planned Marvel online role playing game has foundered on rocky shoals. This follows a bunch of moves involving City of Heroes:

Last week, NCSoft announced it had acquired the City of Heroes IP from Cryptic Studios. Additionally, the staff behind the franchise — approximately 15% of Cryptic — was moving to Mountain View, CA and opening a new studio to operate within the NCSoft umbrella. During and following the announcement, no comment was made about the status of Marvel Universe Online. Curious, then, when we heard the game’s status was in danger and contacted Microsoft for an update on the game’s progress. Given there’s been nothing new about Marvel Universe Online (outside of bringing comics writer John Layman on board in July) since an October 2006 interview with IGN, it’s not exactly a bizarre question.

“We have nothing new to share about Marvel Universe Online,” said a Microsoft spokesperson. Pressed further about whether the changes within Cryptic had affected the game, Microsoft was no more forthcoming. “Cryptic’s recent sale of the City of Heroes IP to NCSoft has no bearing on the development of “Marvel Universe Online,” continued the spokesperson.

Hm…our Spidey sense– based on nothing more than guesswor–is that delays don’t mean never. But it does make that whole lawsuit against CoH look pretty pointless now, doesn’t it?browse archive movie celebrityasswatcher movies freeof movie women whipped beingbus movies bang jessicamovies porn childrenmovies masturbatingsample hentai moviemovie studio grill Map

HOW TO CONNECT A RAZR V3xx TO ISYNC: It was high time for a cell phone, and because we refuse to buy a 1st Gen iPhone, we got something to hold us for a while, namely a Razr V3xx, which is 3g and unlike the original Razr you can hear people on it, so that’s an improvement right off the bat. Unfortunately, it is not supported by Mac. Luckily, intelligent people who do not work for Motorola or Apple have come to the rescue. The guy who created Python had to get a hack off an Italian board. We cannot speak to how to connect it in Leopard, but in Tiger, you go here, download the driver, and then put THE WHOLE FOLDER in your Library folder. Reboot. Connect via bluetooth as you would normally and tell it to Sync up. You will transfer contacts (although not all of them on our computer but that was probably our fault) BUT NOT CALENDAR INFO. Why? Because. Because there’s an iPhone out there somewhere.

RINGTONES: We like to make our own with Audion (Try anything from The Rites of Spring for an edgy feel), but you can get lots of free ringtones at Zedge, including the old school phone rings, which we prefer, and lots of dumb shit which will horrify people. Of course you could also just download this Bubble Bobble Ringtone and everyone will live happily ever after.

There’s a whoopie-do tonight at the Nokia store for the new Heroes game — which ends in time for the season premiere tonight.

Playing video games erases the spatial acuity gap between men and women at least according to one study where men and women participated in an “off Man Out” game in which men scored much better than women. However, then video games entered the picture.

They asked some of their volunteers to spend ten hours playing an action-packed, shoot-’em-up video game, called “Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault”. As a control, other volunteers were asked to play a decidedly non-action-packed puzzle game, called “Ballance”, for a similar time. Both sets were then asked to do the odd-man-out test again.

Among the Ballancers, there was no change in the ability to pick out the unusual. Among those who had played “Medal of Honour”, both sexes improved their performances.

That is not surprising, given the different natures of the games. However, the improvement in the women was greater than the improvement in the men—so much so that there was no longer a significant difference between the two. Moreover, that absence of difference was long-lived. When the volunteers were tested again after five months, both the improvement and the lack of difference between the sexes remained. Though it is too early to be sure, it looks likely that the change in spatial acuity—and the abolition of any sex difference in that acuity—induced by playing “Medal of Honour” is permanent.

§ The LA times looks at the practice of “slabbing which despite what you think, is not a preference you can check on Suicide Girls.

“It’s changed the nature of the hobby, it’s turned comic books into a medium of exchange instead of a medium of entertainment,” groaned James Friel, who works at Comic Relief, the longtime landmark store in Berkeley. To Friel, who has been collecting comics since 1958, “it makes these books a sealed-up commodity. You can’t read them. It makes me sad. Some of these books will be sealed up forever.”

§ Neil Gaiman reviews the final issue of the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS:

So I picked up the final copy today, because I was passing a cash register and it was the last one after all. Even allowing for the probability that it was filled with articles they’d commissioned and hadn’t run because they weren’t very good, or that they were reprints, it… well, the whole tone of the thing felt wrong. The articles were just silly. It wasn’t story logic any longer. A baby gets delivered in an avocado because the sperm donation got mixed with avocado sushi… There wasn’t the feeling reading it that anyone could have believed it. Not children, not the stupid, not someone who’d been born and raised on Mars and this was the only thing they’d read. It was like the joke had become nobody could believe this stuff. And now nobody was buying it. It had a Sergio Aragones drawing though, and some comics…

§ Indian tech writer has the score on DC vs Marvelas he analyses proposed video game team-ups:

The two belong to different universes, but most comic book veterans would agree that they are both excellent leaders, strong, skilled, as well as resourceful. Playing co-op with these two would be a great experience. Captain America boasts of superhuman strength and agility; and as for Batman, he is the most skilled mortal ever. One can demolish a tank with his bare hands, and the other can form a battle strategy to defeat an army within minutes. Maybe he should have had 300 Spartans behind him, no offense to King Leonidas. I believe this would be the ultimate combination of strength and intelligence in a game.

§ The Escapist examines the myths and realities of the fanboy stereotype vis a vis gamers:

The gaming community’s perception of the stereotypical fanboy neatly mirrors the public perception of the stereotypical gamer, generally described as a male aged 13-16, whose potent mix of adolescent hormones and insecurity cause him to lash out against slights both real and imagined. Obviously not every identified fanboy conforms to this rather unflattering stereotype, and as with the exaggerated “comic book guy,” this teenage straw man is probably inaccurate more often than not. image However, if we set aside questions about the accuracy of the imagery and explore why the stereotype exists, we can identify how the unique characteristics of the game industry shaped the fanboy into who he is today.

§Speaking of video games, game designer/guru Ken Rolston points out some fundamental truths about storytelling and human nature:

He explains that linear forms like film and novels are better at telling stories than games—something that’s looking to be flat-out true at the moment—and concluded that inference (such as the ruins in Morrowin) is the best way for gamers to experience compelling narrative which can, at peak, invoke an intangible melancholy.

In the Renaissance, melancholy was a sign of genius. We don’t think he was necessarily referring to that interpretation.

“Intangible melancholy” is truly the greatest result of art. Kotaku has a longer transcript and it’s absorbing reading.

Another massive multiplayer online role playing game is in the works, this one based on the Indian-based Ramayan universe published by Virgin Comics. The Kama Sutra has GOT to figure in there somehow.

Sony Online Entertainment has announced it is teaming up with Virgin comics to create an MMORPG based on the Indian-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book universe.

“The deal was announced today by John Smedley, President of SOE and Sharad Devarajan, Co-Founder and CEO of Virgin Comics.

“Ramayan has inspired the lives of millions of people through the ages. The re-imagining of this great ancient epic through the creativity of a game platform re-affirms the fact that Ramayan is one of the greatest stories ever told,” said Deepak Chopra. “The fact that the same creative team of young Indians that created the story will be involved in working with SOE’s game development team, is a testament to the innovative and mythic minds of these gifted Indian creators who will take a new generation to new frontiers across the seas of consciousness into new realms of mystery, magic, adventure, and transformation.”

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