Chisel Master 3D

Finally, I am able to cross my full clear of Picross 3D off my 2011 video game checklist. I completed the last puzzle yesterday on my lunch break, and did a long-delayed fist pump to celebrate.

Considering that Picross 3D came out near the end of the DS’s lifespan, I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t hold it back for the 3DS. Maybe that would have resulted in a few lost sales at the time, but it would have been a really great launch title: something the 3DS sorely lacked. More than four people might have bought it then, too.

Anyway, that’s just another small victory for me. Now to get back to ignoring that list…

Teenage Martian Ninja Turtles

I don’t know if anyone but me keeps up with this kind of stuff, but there’s a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in production. It’s actually just called “Ninja Turtles,” which is kind of a strange departure from the norm, but I suppose it helps to streamline a title that’s a bit of a mouthful, as well as define it from other works that use the whole title.

The big news about this one though, is that it’s being produced by Michael Bay, and he’s changing the lore so that the turtles are aliens instead of mutants. The fan community is in an uproar, with hateful letters to Bay flying left and right. You might think that being the TMNT fanboy that I am, I would be pushing my way to the front of this spiteful bandwagon. In fact, I am not. At first I wasn’t ready to believe it, but after spending a good hour or so reading what we know about this film so far, I’m not too worried about the change.

I will admit that I do worry about how Bay is going to handle the Turtles otherwise. He’s not exactly a man who understands the concept of “subtlety” and that’s kind of the whole point of ninjas. Overall though, I trust him to keep mostly in line with where the franchise should be. I really loved the reboots of Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, even if they did take themselves a little too seriously. TMNT is a fairly light-hearted franchise, so I’m really just hoping that it’s not all grimacing and dull colour palettes. Even the grim black-and-white comic book Turtles lighten up and start cracking wise after the first couple issues.

Anyway, the alien turtles thing. It’s a little ridiculous, but I can’t imagine that it would change the story that much. It’s been confirmed that the Turtles will be the same characters we all know and love, so does their origin really matter? I’ll admit that I had reservations about it at first, but sitting down and really assessing the situation cooled off my terror gauge pretty quickly. Especially given the fact that Eastman and Laird have both been privy to a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that the general public doesn’t have access to yet, and they’re both pretty optimistic about the project. Their direct involvement seems to be limited, but as long as they’re showing upturned thumbs, I believe that everything will turn out alright.

The other thing you really have to consider is that there are plenty of other franchises that have been rebooted or otherwise completely rebuilt that have worked out for the best. In my case, I am thinking explicitly about the Silent Hill series. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, if you want to get really specific. Aside from names, Harry’s line of progression through the town, and the general atmosphere of unease, there really isn’t all that much in common between it and the original Silent Hill. And that was okay! Though Shattered Memories changes nearly everything about the game it is inspired by, I have room enough in my heart for both, because they are both quality products. Yes, someone went in and changed a story that I am very familiar with and treasure as a part of my personal development, but they did a really good job of it! Who’s to say that Michael Bay can’t do the same by altering a mostly irrelevant part of the Turtles lore?

“But… they’re from space!” you may scream like a moron on fire. Yes, they are. Did you know that in the original TMNT lore, the mutagen that made the Turtles into what they are was from space? Kinda makes the transition seem a little less like a major shift than just cutting out the middle man. Yeah, yeah, I know there was none of that in your 80’s cartoon or 90’s movies, but that’s the straight dope. And consider those too; this isn’t the first time a production studio has taken creative liberties with the Turtles’ lore. Hell, the 80’s cartoon took all sorts of wacky departures from Turtles canon, so I think it’ll be okay here. Even worse is that most people (fools) believe that cartoon to be the Turtles canon because it was the most mainstream iteration of the TMNT.

So I guess what I’m saying here is not to make any snap judgements. Yes, the Turtles are going to be from space. It’s not a huge departure from the original lore, so stop saying that the upcoming movie is “sodomizing your childhood.” You’re being nitpicky dumbasses. We don’t really know anything about this movie yet, and odds are that it will be pretty good. As long as it doesn’t take and inspiration from The Next Mutation, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. If it does turn out to be awful, I really doubt it will be because the Turtles came from space. There are much more important places for you to direct your hate: maybe send some towards that retarded-looking Battleship movie for existing. And for casting Rihanna. God, I hate Rihanna.

Scouted

So one of our branches decided to start up a soccer league within the company. While I declined the opportunity to play, I was also selected to design and draw the “jerseys” for their team, The Ron Burgundys. This offer I was happy to accept.

This isn’t the whole thing, but it’s most of the logo. My rough drafts were a little more ambitious than the final product, but that’s mostly because t-shirts (and I assume all manners of clothing) are ridiculously hard to draw on. I’m pretty satisfied with the final results; hopefully the team likes my work as much as I do.

The thing I’m really digging is that I’m becoming something of a go-to guy for low-profile art projects at work. It’s not exactly the fame and fortune I once hoped my “skill” would bring me, but I certainly can’t complain. People are asking me do draw things for them because they enjoy my work. I like it. The really nice thing is that no matter how crappy I think my output is, everyone is really supportive and tells me it’s great. Maybe it doesn’t push me to improve like criticism sometimes does (usually it just makes me want to give up forever), but it sure makes me feel better about myself.

Look what I did

Yup. I was so excited about Super Talking Time Bros 2 that I decided to Let’s Play it. Blind. The way I see it, those dudes at Talking Time (and me, slightly) worked so hard on it and were really looking forward to someone LPing it, so it’s time I give a little back to the community. One video in and I already love it; I cannot wait to see the surprises that it has in store for me!

(Let’s Play MegaMan X will resume as normal on Sunday.)

Christmas in May

Hey you guys! Super Talking Time Bros 2 is out! Get it from this page!

I had totally forgotten about this little project a long time ago. I kind of randomly thought about it on the bus this morning and there it is! It’s too bad though; since I let it go completely, I never really sat down and polished the three levels I submitted for it. Hopefully someone else on the team cleaned up at least anything that was broken in them.

If you’re going to play it, make sure you head over to the Talking Time thread and tell the kids there how much you like it.

In other news, I should have internet again by the time I get home, so no more lunchtime phone-blogging for me! Hooray!

Let’s not play Megaman X

Having just moved into a new house,  I don’t have any internet set up yet. It’s something I hope to have rectified within the week, but for now my blogging ability its quite limited. I am also unable to upload videos to YouTube, so there will be no Let’s Play Megaman X today, children. I know how you’re all just so into it, but you’ll have to wait a week.

Boomba latty

Things are going swimmingly for me right now. Work is great, the wedding is coming along, and I love my house. On that last note, we did a phenomenal job of getting everything moved into the house. Thanks to the help of a handful of incredibly dedicated family members, we got everything we own moved in in just two days. Of course, anything that isn’t furniture is still stuffed away in boxes (aside from the Wii), but I think that the wife-to-be and I are going to have a lot of fun getting everything unpacked. I enjoyed the process of getting all my crap boxed away, so I can only imagine that getting it back out is going to be just as fun, if not more.

The only facet of my life that isn’t perfect right now is my weight, and considering how everything else is working out, I really shouldn’t be complaining about it. But my health is important!

It’s not really that I’m terribly unhealthy. I’m in fairly good shape for someone with a gut the size of mine, and it’s that gut specifically that’s the problem. Try as I might, I just cannot drop the weight. I’ve been doing really good lately too! I’ve slowed my sugar intake significantly, and have been making a solid effort at getting more fruit and veggies into my diet.

I’ve been getting regular exercise too, which I hear is important. I walk up and down four floors worth of stairs several times a day, and walk back and forth three blocks to and from my bus stop. I try to go out for a walk two or three times a week, as long as the weather is decent. I’ve even been spending about half an hour a day playing Just Dance 3, at least five days a week. It works up quite a sweat, and it’s the closest thing I’ve found yet to a truly fun way to exercise.

There’s a barely visible Cadbury Creme Egg under my monitor stand at work, and it’s been there for almost a month now. There was a time, not too long ago, where that thing wouldn’t have even lasted a day. But it’s there. Partly as a testament to self-control, and partly because I’m often too busy to remember it’s there.

All of this effort is for naught though, because since the last time I weighed myself I have actually put on weight. And it’s not muscle either, because I’ve just been doing cardio and aerobics as far as exercise goes. Sometimes I play with the 10-pound dumbbells, but not in any way that would build any serious muscle mass. So I don’t know what to do. Maybe the fat is just waiting to drop off after a while, but I’ve been doing this thing for well over a month now. I would like to see at least some small results.

And all this work because 70% of my wardrobe looks awful when stretched around my belly. I don’t even care about being trim for the wedding; I just want to be able to wear my Goonies t-shirt without being embarrassed.

/venting