Y1W4 “Can’t let you do that, Star Fox!”

Year 1, Week 4 (5th to 11th Feb)

• Untitled001: There’s something fun for me to do for this little project! Started to do some research! Unfortunately I can’t show anything I do for this project for a long while yet.
• NAC Weeks 9 and 10: What’s frustrating is how I can’t show much work like I did in the first weeks of Art Camp as I try to catch up. But! I am determined in working at this Art Camp as long as I do it properly. Coming up with ideas, researching and doing studies (and melting under the heatwave) for the new Just Burn and T Healing personal projects. So much to learn and juggle! (:

You eat a crocodile on fire, you have to deactivate the bomb yourself and cut two stages of wire and code (also saw what happens when you fail and the nuke explodes; Ray goes “urghhhh” right after…?) and then the last choice between cutting the red or blue wire (which do you think should be cut?)

Colonel saves Ray and Lisa but sinks with his ship rather than get punished for his wrong doings and I’m pretty glad that there’s no stereotypical kiss scene and the “damsel giving her reward” thing besides from a heartfelt thank you and acceptance. We’ve learned that we do the best we could even if we can’t save everyone and bashing every barrel and box is acceptable. The game seems to end here–but wait!

Alternate ending…president was real glad that all of the natural disasters are dealt with as he sits in his office and then suddenly he gets news that the earth is doomed? His reaction was hilarious and my reaction was of incredulity. Now you’ve got to shoot down the meteor heading down to destroy earth! Truly the ultimate Disaster (this game really strives to live to its name)!

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: finally watched this movie. Earl, Manny and Flint’s dad are wonderful. Also food looks incredibly fun. The movie strengthens my stubbornness on wearing glasses for daily outside use; I guess it’s because I don’t like the idea of contacts on my eyeballs everyday and it’s kind of part of my derp-ness. Entertaining ride but shame with the stereotypical global landmarks they’ve used (short cut way to give the impression of a global crisis). It is a great Father’s Day kind of movie and it succeeds in putting me off food (look at the greedy Mayor).

• I have no Mouth and I must Scream (watching): Implications that women are like hanging meat? The Jackal who eats your heart? Is Gorrister a murderer? What’s with the Graffiti? Edna running off like no tomorrow?
• Towns (snippet): micromanaging your town essentially? And evil frogs.
• Rock of Ages (snippet): wacky Monty Python-esque animated tower defense/offense through smiley boulders rolling across European history.
• Rust (snippet): Uhh…some disturbing shenanigans going on involving the lack of pants.
• Octodad (snippet): Wow. Crazy to control and ridiculous context.
• Terraria (snippet): another snippet of fortress building and teamwork
• Project Zomboid (snippet): You either get killed by staying put with your wife in the tutorial level or you coldly kill her in order to survive. Pretty interesting and harsh open world game of survival.
• Monkey Island 2 (snippet): Ah sweet dialogue. I am not a fan of pixel hunting and difficult adventure puzzles but storywise it is wonderfully fleshed out.
• Diablo 3 (snippet): Hording and fighting is all you actually do in this game? Huh? Cool graphics though.
• Next Car game (snippet): Destruction Derby damage
• Fallout 3 New Vegas (snippet): Derpy bot
• Yakuza 4 (watching): Wait that was just 25% of the game? Now there’s jailbreak to consider and revenge after you kill a mob of yakuza 25 years ago and got backstabbed by Majima?
• Happy Wheels (snippet): Just a silly gorey physics game; it’s really about how people design levels that make it interesting.
• Tiny and Big: Grandpa’s Leftover (snippet): Interesting art style and gameplay with cutting the environment and using rockets.
• Bread Duck (snippet): Um. Bagel Cats Rescue Mission? And difficult looking platformer.
• Snuggle Truck (snippet): 2D physics game of cute pandas in your cargo
• Gnomoria (snippet): Building a community of gnomes and management
• Mission Improbable (snippet): Very well made mod of Half Life 2.
• Stealth B*tard (snippet): Such a cool looking and tricky game! Sweet art.
• Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 (snippet): witness someone’s death park creations and visitors dying via lava or crashing or falling.
• Double Dragon Neon (snippet): I’ve seen this play out all the way through already but this time it was interesting to see someone else’s reaction to the old school beat’em up.
• Octodad: The Dadliest Catch (snippet): Marriage and annoying kids/controls.
• Atom Zombie Smasher (snippet): Pretty interesting strategy evacuation game
• The Wolf Among Us Episode 2 (watching): Wait we got death trolled (literally)?! And the Beast learns the secret. Shorter than expected this episode but heaps happened still. Crane…have no words.
• Evoland (watching): just some homage to the final fantasy/zelda/diablo games though I’m not a fan of final fantasy. Gran hiding bombs in her cellar was interesting.
• Despicable Me 2: This is a Minion movie. Entertaining solely because of them. I didn’t really care that much for the other characters in comparison. The corny songs they garbled was very amusing and the music and visuals were great. Most of their antics were lame but they’re adorable.

The dancing, flirty kid is sleazy and irritating, the main villain has some interesting dance moves, Gru’s scientist guy is much better in this movie than the previous, the youngest girl of Gru’s kids is the coolest of the three, I’m not too convinced that Lucy has grown to like Gru but they gave a huge number of dates to quicken the to ending for their marriage. An alright movie I’d watch only once and I’m left thinking that they should do a Minion TV series (if not already).

• Hotel Transylvania: I really didn’t care about the story or characters; I wanted it to be over. The character designs were wonderful, appealing and environments plus visuals were amazing however. I was clapping at the part where they made fun of Twilight’s interpretation of vampires.

I was hoping that Dracula would be substantially injured after so long in the sun but he only left with sunburn. Marvis was just an impressionable goth girl that didn’t actually have much screen time, it was mostly focused on the “bromance” between Dracula and Johnny, the Monster festival was too over the top and really topped my level of disbelief I had throughout the story (they revealed they were monsters to the humans!), why on earth is Quasimodo the stereotypical French villain, I like Esmeralda for some reason, how did Dracula’s wife die and how did the baby not get harmed in her arms? (Got lazy?), kept feeling that this movie would be better as a whimsical TV series instead and the insertion of many pop songs somehow irritated me (probably due to my personal taste and I felt that they were trying too hard).

I am also disturbed by the very idea of “zing”/love at first sight as that is not something substantial to live by. There is no such thing as “the One” and “love at first sight” as that is too simplistic (but suited to the purposes of this movie and in fact, many other movies that aim to simplify the complexities of relationships). I did not even find Johnny and Marvis believable and compatible as good friends, in their values and neither of them knew each other that well aside from the spark/chemistry they felt they had. Sure it’s a great way to start dating but to say that they’ve “zinged” and that’s it for life? Too idealistic.
Still, it’s just one of those movies; moving on from my little pointless vent of disbelief.

Essentially I could not connect/relate to any of the characters, there was too much going on, too many characters (and comic relief ones at that) to care and I left feeling glad it was over. Clearly I did not enjoy it, but again, the visuals, mood and atmosphere were well done. Character designs too! The end credits 2D animated stuff could be utilised instead for the TV series instead of this movie.

• Monaco (played coop): Actually played a game for once! It was terribly hot and unproductive so I figured I might as well. This is a crazy game! I got told off so much at the beginning because I alerted the authorities and ended up running to where my bro was, leading him to flee in a flurry.

However! He also stuffed up later down the track and it was just crazy Benny Hill theme playing in my head as we ran around, trying not to get killed and reviving each other. We’ve only game over-ed once so far but I’m starting to like the Hacker and the Cleaner’s abilities.

• Knack (snippet co-op): Ah the terribly simple puzzles return; realised I don’t want to watch it the whole way through so I’ll wait till the end.

• Gyro (played): fiddly game on the Android
• Assassin’s Creed 4: Black flag (watching): Up to where Edward is trying to make amends after the death of someone he cares for.
• Jazzpunk (watching): amazing comedic game full of crazy surprises and amusement! And brains…in vases. Flies. Everywhere. Marriage Quake is awesome.
• Faster than Light (snippet): Give and take going on here and a lot of decisions to make. Help others versus trying to survive. And dangerous arachnids.
• Turbo Dismount (snippet): poses were most unusual.