Games I look forward to playing

These two downloadable summer games look pretty damn fun

More Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled Info

Hi in the Sky

Sky Burchard

Continuing my quests to get artist I like to be a part of I am 8-bit. I interviewed a man of many words and similar interests, his name is Sky Burchard, a local artist who's work really invokes my love and nostalgia for games. Before I tell you of the man below let's have a flashback to the LA Downtown artwalk (which I've been to busy to review but it's cool check it out). On the artwalk when I passed some gallery of naked women art (and it was a bit weird because the curator was definitely one of the models) I found The Magazine. It had a Gary Baseman piece as the cover and was of some sort of horrible bear like creature with I guess had milk coming out of it's stomach. The magazine held this fascinating article which made me wish I had a Iphone.

I found this article.

Later I found out from Sky's site http://www.skyburchard.com/index.html that he lived in LA and I thought why not interview him and tell him about I am 8-bit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_am_8-bit

Sky invited me over on a Saturday morning and we discussed quite a lot. Sadly my video camera captured only about thirty minutes of stuff and the quality is so bad there's no reason to post it.

Sky and I discussed I wide view of topics on his front porch after he had invited me in and offered me a drink. We started by talking about I am 8-bit and any progress he had made with contacting Jon, he still seemed in the beginning process of that. Than we discussed video games and how much fun they are to simply play. Sky explained his thoughts on how games are like their own worlds. He brought up how much time and effort could be put in developing a game as a new place to explore because many Japanese companies will go to extreme lengths to define that world, even publishing books on the different races and rules and back stories of made up places. Sky used Disagea as a good example or just Final Fantasy. Later on we moved into Sky's room where he showed of his great collection video game art books. These books are filled with great character art and sometimes entire made-up histories of game worlds.

But, before we went in one of Sky's neighbors, a little old lady, came by to discuss something about not getting her mail and that someone was--murdered --near by. I was not that unhinged by that because we do live in LA ( thats not a good thing). Even stranger was that a male drag prostitute told her. What was more bizarre was that she seemed to know the prostitute like a background character on a sitcom.

We talked about living in LA after this point and Sky said it didn't scare himto live where he lives. He felt the chances of him getting hurt were not high enough for him to move. In my opinion I would move.

He told me some tales of when he worked for one of his professor's , oh and that he got to study under Takashi Murakami who created the idea of Superflat. http://www.moca.org/murakami/Murakami tries to make his art to be profitable, maybe not so much for the sake of art. Still his work is world wide famous and he has deals with
Louis Vuitton .

Back to one of his tales in a far off Japan. He and the professor he worked for went deep down into some underground caves. They had to go with special rock climbers to get them down safely. It was a long arduous way down. There was little to no light. Finally, after a long time they reached the bottom. There at the bottom of some underground cave the drew some art. Yes, the started doing art at a bottom of a cave. They had climed down cave in the near dark to draw some art. My first thought was that it was hilarious and my second was who the Hell funds these things.

After some more fascinating stories, we enter Sky's house he showed me how he did his work using styrofoam and very oddly a Hello Kitty Program from Japan that prints on special paper so you cant print out complex shapes. He also showed me his exhaustive collection of Japanese fashion magazines. He also had a great piece of art from one of his friend of a brontosaur near a rainbow next to in American flag in front of a colorful background.

This isn't it, this is one of his works obviously

He showed me his work space which was roughly all over his house, which I thought looked very cool. When his room-mate of his dropped by and offered him a big empty box for his work I realized I found his ingenuity to create art out simple objects very impressive. I love the idea of art being created from just some simple cardboard like an arts and crafts project.

We ended our on the economy or something, oh no maybe about meeting at the Anime Expo.

Here's some of his imaginative work that can be definetly be considered for getting him into 8-bit Sadnes Isn't Nescessary when it can just be deleted

It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Then I Shave Myself and Maturbated

I just love what he titles them

Here's some items his currently working on that will be items from Zelda, that 'll be a part of his next show

Remember that Hello Kitty Program and special paper,this is what it looks like when it's used. These parts will come together to form Sky's new piece My Imaginary Girlfriend, which I cant wait to see fully assembled

Hand

Torso

Leg

His site
http://www.skyburchard.com/index.html

Here's Circus Gallery's exhibit of Sky's work.

http://www.circus-gallery.com/artists/burchard/

Sky's next show will be at Wignall Museum, at Chaffey Collage in Rancho Cucamonga. The show opens on the 24th and the reception is September 9th. It closes the end of September. It's titled

"It's Dangerous to Go Alone"

Can't wait!

Mia in the Sky with Diamonds (I am 8-bit)

Earlier this summer I contacted two artist who I thought would be perfect fits for I am 8-bit.
http://www.iam8bit.net/
I am 8-bit(and if you have been reading my blog you should now by now ) is a annual art show by numerous artists in LA based on video games. Yes, a entire art show based on video games. Over time the art show has been expanded and become a art collective and company. The artists are used for certain video game events most recently the Street Fighter Tournament in China Town.

and the DSi launch at Universal City Walk.

More Gear Videos at IGN.com

Artists from 8-bit give out posters or t-shirts of their work at theses events. There was even a Resident Evil 5 Blood drive where they were giving away pins and shirts for giving blood.

I even got to go into 8-bit early one year before anyone else by going on a quest they came up with,but that'll be another post.

The guy behind I am 8-bit is Jon M. Gibson(seen above) he worked on cartoon shows around LA and loves old school games. I've met him a few times and never really interviewed him (hopefully I will later this summer). Jon has said his always looking for new artists for his show and loves to see new work. I didn't think about what he had said that much until later this summer when I saw two artists work which I thought would be a great addition too 8-bit.

The first person's art I saw was that of Mia or poop-mouth http://poop-mouth.deviantart.com/ as she's known on Deviant Art. I found here work on Matt Hawkin's Fort 90 site( http://www.fort90.com/journal/) for the Persona 4 contest he held.

Contest (http://www.fort90.com/journal/?p=673 )
Mia won the contest and as you can see she earned it

BUNCHA DUDES I GUESS by ~poop-mouth on deviantART

I wrote a e-mail to here asking is she was going to turn it into a shirt (still no word on that) and telling here about I am 8-bit. I also e-mailed another artist by the name of Sky Burchard and asked for a interview and about joining 8-bit(he'll be another post). You see I thought it would be truly fascinating finding out the process of become a I am 8-bit artist. I wonder if there are any rules or if anything goes, how much time your given, what inspires the artist piece for the show. So I thought I would ask theses artist some basic questions and follow their process of becoming (8-bit)
I sent a e-mail of questions for Mia

which she was kind enough to answer right here, I'm the one in blue

Well, first off did you e-mail John from I am 8-bit yet, did he respond?

I haven't sent him an email yet as I haven't put up my personal website.

How was Anime Boston? Did you sell a lot of your work?I've only attend Anime Expo and Comic-Con I've never been to the East Expos.I always feel sad if I pass and artist and don't look at their work. Actually, do artist in artist alley want you to even look at their work or just move along if you don't buy things, also it seems weird because someone can critique your work in front of you, it is ever weird for you?

I didn't actually attend AB myself, but the things I put up for sale sold well. Of course artists want you to look at their work! It's pretty annoying to have people come up and talk and leave without buying anything, mostly because it blocks people who could potentially buy something. But taking a closer look lets you see what else they have to offer!Also is it a easy process to become part of artist alley?I've yet to actually have my own table, but generally it's an issue of money more than anything. You need to purchase a table in time and get all your prints and things in order to sell. Since you're counted as a vendor it has nothing to do with being invited or anything like that, literally you have a table if you have the money.I'm so jealous! I love Mechafetus and really wanted to buy that doujinshi, but I'm on the east coast and they don't sell it online.

Is what motivates you as an artist anime and video games? or is there more much more, by the way love your gurren stuff. You could also tell me how you trained to be a artist.

Definitely MUCH more than anime and video games. They are a big part of me but anyone who just takes inspiration from them is going to turn out incredibly limited. It's like suicide. That isn't really a concern for someone who draws as a hobby, but someone like me who wants to make a living as an artist definitely needs to branch out. I'm inspired by film, photography and graphic design just as much if not more than anime and video games at all.

Next do you know about other artists from just deviantart or do you know about whats going on in the art world thanks to artist friends or other blogs or what have you, I guess really do you feel you connect well with the artist community and why.

Again, limiting yourself to just deviantart would just kill you! I try to absorb and study as much as possible and keep moving forward. You have to.

Next whats your take on historical/modern art? I just walked around LACMA the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and was disgusted, I found myself utterly repulsed by most of it, I hate Jeff Koons! (he makes metal statues of balloon animal dogs) which sounds cool in theory, but that's all he does,I really mean do you think art belongs in museums anymore or is it just better for it to be digital on DeviantArt and available to everyone.

I have an intense respect for historical and modern art, and every artist should, really. Even if you hate it, it's there for a reason. And definitely, art museums are here to stay! There is so much more to art than what can be seen on a screen. Absolutely nothing compares to seeing work in the flesh. The best part of hanging out with artists I've befriended through the Internet is actually seeing and being able to hold their work. It's incredible. In the grand scheme of things, Deviantart is SUCH an insignificant part of art as a whole, and it's also frowned on by the rest of the Internet. Rightfully so.

You draw a lot of work, but can you also paint or sculpt, like whats you skill set?

I'm mostly just a 2d person, myself. Painting is difficult but I do go for it once in a while. I make it a point to play around with whatever medium is put in front of me.

Finally, any ideas for your I am 8-bit piece or pieces or are you just submitting BUNCHA DUDES

I am definitely not submitting that, unless they were interested in it. Since I haven't e-mailed him yet and probably wont for some time, I really have no idea.

Mia will be opening a online store sometime soon hopefully as well as being a pinup artist for Matt Hawkins Fort 90 zine coming out eventually here
http://www.fort90.com/store/

here's a few more pieces of her work and hopefully when she gets her store up I'll have update of her joining 8-bit, which I look forward to.

marker sketch CAKE ZOOOONE by ~poop-mouth on deviantART

sketchbook cover by ~poop-mouth on deviantART


urabe by ~poop-mouth on deviantART


YOU JUST DONT GET IT by ~poop-mouth on deviantART

Bio Zombie Review

Bio- Zombie Review

I can’t believe they made a gameboy camera touching. Bio Zombie is the highest pedigree of a B-horror zombie movie. You have a mall filled with dumb people and zombies. The movie starts out like this; two delinquent buddies are running a pirated DVD store in a mall way too small for Americans to fit in. A few poor decisions and dumb names later (the cute girls are call Jelly & Roll, while the boys are named Bee and Woody Invincible) you have idiots with survival skills of lemmings trying to escape death from the walking undead. It’s actually a Honk Kong Zombie flick, which is even better than a Japanese one. Hell, that’s where Jackie Chan made most of his good movies, but, there are no Jackie Chans to save anyone in this flick. The gore level is quite ridiculous with bloodletting happening quite a lot. All your old school favorites: decapitation, arms being pulled off, head eating, slight jabs to the face that cause lots of bleeding and the biting of many necks. A zombie kill in a bathroom looks like the elevators opening in The Shining. Scenes of dread become instant gross classics, this is actually the second time I’ve seen finger sushi in an Asian movie, and I wonder if Machine Gun Girl was inspired by this flick.
If you can’t stomach delectable finger sushi then you won’t be able to handle the 90’s plot. The zombification happens due to biological weapons. Biological weapons only the Iraqis can provide to Honk Kong business men. Now putting the biological weapon into bottles that looks like strawberry soda is pure genius, because who the Hell would look for anything menacing on a tiny bottle you can carry on a plane. No one would just drink it if their thirsty. To add to that note the writing in this shines.I love how one of the businessman’s underlings ask if should drink the soda after hearing everything I just said about the soda being a biological weapon. “Should I drink it?”, makes the movie in a long line of poor lines like the great cinematic language of the resident evil series.
This movie borrows from video games, but not ever taking the Uwe Bowel rectal prolapsed route. Bee and Woody learn to kill zombies from a video game they were playing earlier. Bee uses his game boy camera to look around angles he can’t. It doesn’t stop there around the second half of the movie you get some video game love. A little bit of a HUD or display is thrown up when characters find a useful item like a gun or phone. Stats on all the main character are thrown up with their weapons, sex drive, age and height and birthday, showing them like a character select screen.
You can’t select which one of your favorite character lives or dies. You’ll be thinking, “Oh no that was my favorite character I wanted her to make it”, or “I hope that jerk dies”. You might even fill sad for one zombie who fell in love. No there isn’t zombie sex. So even with a lack of zombie sex definitely put this up at the top of your Netflix queue because I hear Blockbuster is nearly bankrupt and Hollywood Video probably just won’t have it.

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Bio_Zombie/60034038?lnkce=seRtLn&trkid=222336&strkid=1444042258_0_0&strackid=6ac4d1e148255983_0_srl

Story!Character!Gallery!

I'm sorry, but nothing speaks Epic Fail more than DragonBall Evolution the movie and the psp game. Yeah I forgot that what is below was the latest Dragonball game in the US and it's sad. Luckily, the worst promo ad is here to cheer me up. The two secrect charcters from dragonball games I mentioned in my last post are also below just for you.

I can't believe this is how it was marketed, it's like the knew the game and movie was shit. What ad ever sounds this way? With the narrator saying one word and showing, I mean ... Gallery!, Gallery! This is so sad it's funny.

Wolf-Fang Volleball Fist!

Dragon Ball Games 2009 (better box art required)

One of my most favorite anime series Dragon Ball Z is having a slew of new games coming out for the rest of 2009.


Coming out October 20th

First up we have Dragonball: Revenge of King Piccolo for the Wii. Now this is for the DBZ fan who knows about Goku's early adventures. No going Super Saiyan here. This game will feature Goku in a platform adventure facing his old enemies from the original series. Goku will be fighting the villainous Red-Ribbon army, King Pillaf, and other enemies leading up to the King Piccolo who would spawn Piccolo as we know him today. He actually spit Piccolo out of his mouth as a egg , hopefully they'll be some sort of boss fight with King Piccolo spitting eggs out of his mouth at you and you''ll have to use your power pole to swat them back at him, thats right the power pole is back! Goku's big orange magic pole that can grow so long it can reach the moon is in your control with your wii-mote, you''ll be able to swat down enemies faster than you can say Kame-ha-me-ha. Collectibles are inbound so you can collect items from the show in-game, don't forget you'll be able to buy upgrades for Goku on his first journey in this platform, RPG- element, beat-um up adventure. I cant wait to play using the wii and see how Goku's attacks will be used and controlled.

Coming out November 11th

Next up we have Dragonball Raging Blast for the 360 and PS3. This game will be sporting HD graphics and over 70 characters which sadly does include transformations, but still thats a lot of characters unless you count how many transformations Frieza has. Anyway the game will have destructible environments so you can literally beat some through a mountain. The game includes a new attack system called Super Rising in which your character will fly upward through some battle stage area. I'll have to see it in action before I can judge if that's cool or not or what it actually means. The game itself looks a bit lackluster. Hopefully it will be more fun, than the last two recent DBZ games that came out, Dragonball Z Burst Limit and Dragonball Z Infinite World which were only worth a rental. Dragoball Z Infinite World isn't even worth a rental. The name of this game it truly hilarious as it's very stupid, Raging Blast? Really, I'm sure the original game is called something else in Japanese, they couldn't come up with a better title stateside? It sounds like a Saiyan disease. "Hey Vegata why the grim look on your face, do you have the Raging Blasts?" No online play has been announced. The story mode may been fun if they have a good overview world map and extra made-up stories and characters like Fusion Yamcha/Tien and Cell who absorbs Krillin instead of 18 from the Budokai series.

Coming out the same day as Raging Blast November 11th

This DS game looks fun Dragonball Z Attack of the Saiyans, and it's a RPG. Yea, a good Dragon Ball RPG. From what I've seen from the youtube clip below, this game looks like the best of three coming out, with exciting 2d graphics and attacks that looks fantastic. Once again the name of this title needs to be changed and the box art changed too, I'm just Saiyan. Really, I hope they change the box art to something exciting. The game itself will be a three party system and your three characters will be able to combine attacks to defeat enemies. This seems to be a definite buy

Now all of theses games are from Japan and have been translated for the English market by Namco Bandai. Namco Bandai recently became the holder of all Dragon Ball games coming out on the consoles in the U.S.A. as Atari lost it, which means Atari has really nothing now. Namco Bandai will probably just be bringing Japanese games to the American Market here, which is nice since we get Dragonball games and quirky little games like The Munchables.

THEHUNDREDS

http://www.thehundreds.com/wordpress/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-hundreds-los-angeles
This little store tucked on Rosewood, is such a hindrance to find. As a fellow yelper said

"This place is like one of the ninja villages in Naruto its...Hidden. You have to keep walking straight on rosewood."Jeff G.

It's worth in it's name is due as it has some great clothes to buy inside. The store itself is extremely small. It's also small in design basing most of its shirts, hats and other apparel on bombs. There official mascot is a bomb with eyes. They even made it into a vinyl toy you can buy there. I do like their designs even if it's of multiple designs of bombs.

They do have other designs and other items, but the bomb seems to be their favorite. The store is mainly for skaters and skate culture, but the stuff looks so cool anybody would want some. I bought bomb socks when I went.Parking is unfeasible on the actual street where the store is. However the surrounding area should give you a place to stash your car. The surrounding area by the way has a bunch of great shops to look at if you just walk around.

Update: checking out thier site they have a lot more designs than I thought, I'd say give'em a chance they might have more in stock and different designs since I last went.