I go to the store, I look at the games. They all look like flaming piles of shit. What's a good multi-player game for get-togethers and such? My friends and I typically play Worms Armageddon, Street Fighter II Turbo HD and Puzzle Fighter off of X Box Live. Mainly interested in good head-to-head style games preferably that don't require a split-screen. I've been thinking about Dragon Age Origins for myself, mainly because of all the hype that it's a throw back to Baldur's Gate, but mostly want something that's not exclusively single-player. 99% of the time I hate first-person shooters. I have a little expendable cash from the holidays. I own a Wii, a PSP and a 360. Sell me something amazing.

And am I the only person that still wants to play top down isometric RPGs? Fallout 3 was fun but nowhere near as interesting as the originals. I'm not interested in linear assed JRPGs either with the little command screen during battles that have been done a billion times so don't bother suggesting any. I haven't played a game in the last 10 years that I honestly felt a little lost in or that I couldn't beat, unless it means setting it to some absurd difficulty level, so I rarely bother playing or keeping up with games anymore. I just groan at the walls of unoriginal hackneyed garbage.

I feel a tangent coming on so I'll leave it there.

So I thought I'd be a helpful nice guy and offer up advice and answer questions to anyone curious about going to an art school. I'm currently an animation major, and I received a PHAT ASS schola-sheeip just for my PHAT ASS portfolio. So if you've got some art and you want to know if it's up to snuff from someone balls deep in college than you should do yourself a favor and ask me. Post links to your work and I guarantee I can tell you exactly what you need to do to improve. Any other college related questions are welcome.

First some general tips.

1. Take a good hard look at your finished work and/or sketchbook (you'd better have a fucking sketchbook)
2. Realize that you suck
3. Figure out why you suck (ie. compare your stuff to professional work)
4. Trade out bad drawing habits for good drawing habits
5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 until you suck considerably less

Seriously though, people tend to develop "style" before they develop technique and then they get married to their "style". Having a unique look is huge but it can stifle your growth early on if you refuse to break from it. If you don't believe me go look at deviantart.com, the worst stuff typically looks like the same shit (furries, anime) over and over again. So don't be a fucking anus about trying something different. If you see something you like that isn't something you'd typically do, take a crack at doing something similar to that. And don't huff and puff about originality, everything you do until you get a job is practice and experimentation. Your originality will multiply every time you learn a new technique.

Besides that, get used to planning stuff out. Don't just dive into something you're planning on spending 5 hours rendering in photoshop. Take a half hour to draw 5 small versions of what you want to do, or 10, or 20. Keep going til you really think you've got something you like, then make it big and clean it up.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of suggestions but if you're not already doing these things you need to. Again, I'm willing to answer any specific questions related to anybody's stuff, so ask away. Or if you're a hot shit artist and would like to add something feel free.

I start school up next week, and when that happens I can officially report that I, yet again, accomplished nothing this summer :D

But maybe I'll get to do some interesting stuff at school, and let y'all in on it. I was thinking about starting a series with Sarah Palin, but not about Sarah Palin, just using her head. But I think about a lot of things and I do far less. But just look at her, she has animation written all about her. And think of the publicity, I could make a cartoon of Sarah Palin taking a shit for 15 minutes and I bet it would be on the news.

I'm sick of looking at my last post and thinking about how I haven't done anything worth posting about in months so I'm going to feign productivity by writing a new post about how I've done nothing! Actually that's not entirely true, I've submitted some stuff to the art portal including a sketch book image I drew a couple years ago thanks to my trusty new scanner/printer. I plan on utilizing that bastard in the future too, I've been wanting one forever. Now the digital / analog art form barrier has been smashed in the balls.

I've also been toying with ideas for a new Beebo episode. SO DON'T ASK, god damn snot nosed fuckin' mother fuckers....

My final video for school. A blend of live action and animation.

No, it's not Beebo. It's my latest work though and you should check it out and tell me what you think.

http://www.electronicbookreview.com/th read/firstperson/elective

Scroll about 3/4 of the way down or do a word search for "kaboom". Apparently there's some Howard Dean campaigning game that stole the game mechanics from my terrorist game. Fucking brilliant political move, I'm incredibly surprised this didn't become a headline on Fox news.

See my game "The Suicide Bomber Game" if you're clueless.

It's no secret I'm a lazy fucker. I think Beebo episodes have averaged about one per year by now, which is pretty sad since I'm supposedly going into animation as a profession.

Anyhow, I think what I need is to get together with some folks, brainstorm, work shit out and make something happen. If you're interested in working with me or need help with an existing project or just want to come up with something entirely new drop me a line.

Even if you don't know flash you could potentially contribute any kind of artwork, sound design or just awesome story ideas.

Doesn't even have to be silly, I'm open to just about anything at this point.

-John

The Suicide Bomber Game is just the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to newspapers starving for attention grabbing headlines. Here's a roundup of the most recent round of shit stirring.

http://digg.com/playable_web_games/Inv entor_of_Suicide_Bomber_Game_Says_It_s _No_Big_Deal
(Houston! lol)

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/s tory/0,25197,24600265-12335,00.html
(Sam! roflmao)

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/27893 /Nationals-slam-Suicide-Bomber-game
(Newsgrounds!?! roflmaolololol)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews /3388318/Suicide-bomber-video-game-con demned-by-terror-victims.html
("Arab-looking cartoon man"! heehee, that's an acurate yet silly description)

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/5 7179/Victims-fury-at-suicide-bomber-co mputer-game/
(What is this, a fucking tabloid? I guess that's where this trash fits in best.)

http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2008/11 /suicide_bombing_game_too_dull_to_be_t ruly_offensive-2.html
(Yeah, nice fucking paragraph, did you write that on the toilet?)

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/colu mnists/ian-odoherty/ban-it-ban-it-imme diately-1526472.html
(Ireland has it all figured out! I owe Ian a large warm beer!)

Moral of the stories: I'm a bad and naughty person. And apparently games can be banned from the internet! WAT!?!

-Sam

The Dicks, a Commie Faggot Band, emerged during the halcyon days of Austin, Texas punk. The scene centered around the local dive bar Raul's frequented by local freaks, artists, and soon-to-be punk rockers. The band was the creation of Gary Floyd, a 26 year old from Palestine, Texas who had been a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War and was openly, flamboyantly gay. Although he was advertising the Dicks before they were even an actual band, Floyd soon joined forces with three "terrorist thugs" to complete the group: guitarist Glen Taylor, bassist Buxf Parrot, and drummer Pat Deason. They started writing burly, blues-drenched punk anthems and began playing raucous, shows with local heroes the Big Boys. Unlike that band's funk-infused, high-production value drag show, the Dicks opted for a cruder but still spectacular approach. Gary Floyd would assault the audience with chocolate frosting pulled from his panties, inviting any rowdy audience members to suck his dick.
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~cch223/usa/d icks_main.html