#she’s showing her minecraft 3DS file

[stardewvalley-imagines]

The reactions of the 12-bachelor/ettes when they find out that the farmer used to be a really popular Esports player (part 2: bachelorettes)

Abigail: “Hey, farmer!” Abigail chirped as she walked into your farmland. You were in the middle of watering your crops when she came. “Hi, Abby.” You reply, giving her a friendly hug. “Still working?” “Mhm.” You hum your answer. “Woke up late today.” You added. “Let me help you! I wanna play with you.” Abigail pleaded. Sighing of how tenacious she was, you nod. “Alright. Do me a favor and water the crops for me.” You said, handing the purple-haired girl your watering can. “Yay!” She cheered as she did was you told. Meanwhile, you handled what you’ve harvested by putting some in kegs and selling some through the bin. With the day’s work done thanks to Abigail, you two enter your house and watch some TV shows that you like. Surprisingly, she likes them too. An hour passed when abigail scooted close to you. “Yes?” You asked. “We should play some games together. I heard from Seb that you play StarCraft.” Abigail suggested. “Hm? But you don’t have your laptop right now.” “I can just watch you play, or you know… Take turns.” “Sounds good. Follow me. Computer’s in my room.” You said as Abigail followed you into your bedroom. She sat on your bed as you powered your computer on and turned on the strategy game. “So, who first?” You asked. Abigail smiled at you, signaling that you play first. Nodding, you chose your race and played a random match with a anonymous player. Abigail watched in marvel as you skillfully won the round. “Wow, you’re really good at this game!” Abigail complimented. “Thanks. I really like StarCraft.” You replied. “You should try playing in E-Sports matches!” “Well, to be honest, I have.” With your words, Abigail’s jaw dropped. “You’re lying.” “No, I’m not. I won the national league five times. Still can’t beat the Koreans, though.” You admitted. “Wow. Just wow. You’re awesome!” Abigail squealed as she threw herself to you, making you blush. “Okay, but real talk. Zerg, Protoss or Terran?” She asked once releasing you. “Protoss. My life for Aiur.” You replied.

Emily: “So, how was it?” Emily asked you, panting. She had invited you into her room to show you dance. Honestly, it was amazing. You jokingly grabbed her shoulder. “You have to teach me those moves!” You said. “Why, thank you!” Emily giggled by your reaction. “Whew! I haven’t sweated this much since Abigail’s graduation party!” You nodded. “Well, sit down! I’ll fix us some coffee!” Soon enough, the blue-haired woman came back with a tray full of cookies and coffee. “Well, thanks Emily.” You said as you took a bite out of a cookie. The showcase of exotic fabric and clothes seemed to get your attention. “So, you’re really interested in garments design, huh?” You asked. “Yeah! It’s my dream to set up a shop here!” Emily beamed. You simply nodded. “How’s your farm?” “Farm? It’s going fine. It’s comparable to what I used to work before.” “What was your job?” “I played games.” “Videogames? That’s a strange way of earning money.” Emily skeptically said. “Not just that, I was in the gaming industry. Man, I remember how competitive it was. Fighting digitally over who claims the top… Well, I was at the top, to be honest. In other words, I was a E-Sports player.” You explained, sipping your coffee. “Competitive games? Well, I’ve seen a few articles online about using games for art… We’re your games like that?” Emily asked. “You will be disappointed.” You replied, shaking your head. “Dota isn’t like those games. But if you want to try an artistic game… I think Minecraft would be a good choice. Watch a few videos and you’ll see.” Emily smiled at your suggestion.

Haley: You walk into Haley, who was trying to open a jar of pickled olives but with futility. “Hnnngg! Can’t. Get. This. OPEN!” Haley grunted under the resistance of the jar. You decided to walk to her to help. “Need any help?” You asked. “Farmer? You’re strong, right?” Haley asked upon hearing you. “Hmm… You can, technically. I work in the farm, after all.” “Well, can you open this for me?” Haley requested, holding the sealed jar to you. Before taking it, you wiped any source of moisture from your hands and took the jar from her hands. It took some effort, but you managed to open it with a pop. “There!” You beamed, handing the now opened jar to Haley. “Wow, you really are strong! Thank you!” Haley chirped, taking an olive into her mouth. “All in a day’s work.” You replied. “You did work in a hard job, didn’t you?” “No. Worked as a…” “Gym teacher?” “No. I was a E-Sports player.” You replied. “Ooooohh-Kay?” Haley asked, her smile now gone and replaced with a strange look. She was definitely not interested. “It’s basically Major Baseball League but with videogames…” “I don’t care! Nerd.” Haley interrupted you. Sighing, you bid her goodbye while walking out of her house.

Leah: “What do you think? I’m revealing the essence of the wood.” Leah said as she carved the wooden sculpture. “When we start tending something, we reveal what’s inside.” “…the same as us humans.” You replied, making Leah think, but smile when she realized what you were trying to say. “Yeah, you’re absolutely correct!” Leah replied. “I first came to the valley as a child. This place has true art potential!” “Really? I didn’t think about that because of… You know, farming.” You said. “Of course, just art isn’t helping me in paying the bills and laying food on the table…” You nodded at Leah’s words. Your friends faced these problems and you did consult them before. “Have you felt that thing before? Chasing something that you like but can’t earn enough?” She asked you. “Well, I did before I came here. I did become really famous, but with the cost of health.” “Ooh, really? What were you before a farmer?” “An E-Sports player.” “That’s amazing!” Leah remarked. You could only blush and scratch the back of your head. “…but I do see why you left that life behind. It must’ve been hard to connect with the natural world when you were so absorbed by the digital world, right?” “Yeah, you’re right.” You replied. “To be honest, I really miss my fans and the competition. Don’t get me wrong, I love farming. But I needed to stay healthy. I nearly died of Vitamin D deficiency.” “I understand.” Leah nodded. “Too bad I don’t have a computer to see what you play.”

Maru: You were helping Maru on one of her engineering projects after you hanged out with Sebastian, your best friend. You had a USB pen drive on hand so that you could help draw her blueprints in 3D back at your farm. “Thanks for stepping by to help.” Maru said. “No problem.” You assured. “Seb never helps, even when I tell him that I’ll pay.” “He’s just busy with his own work, Maru. You should understand.” You replied.“Anyway, I’m here. What blueprint did you want me to make?” “Hold on…” Maru started to shuffle around with a pile of graphing paper. “…here.” She said, holding a paper with a detailed schematic of a tool drawn on it. “Do you mind if you scan it?” You asked. Maru nodded as she did as you requested. The scanner turned the document into an image file. “Okay, I’ll put it into my USB.” You said as you plugged your pen drive into her computer. As Maru dragged the file into the USB, she accidentally clicked another image file in your pen drive, revealing a photo of your past self with five of your friends in your Overwatch team. You were pictured as thrown in the air by your friends as you held a trophy with confetti falling around you all. “Um… Wow. You were a E-Sports player?” Maru asked. Blushing, you sheepishly nodded. “I do watch some gaming videos. I remember this team. They were the best.” “Do you play Overwatch yourself?” You asked. “A little bit. Haven’t played too much modern games. Too much FPS nowadays.” Maru replied. “It’s okay. Everybody has their preferences.” “No wonder why Seb and Sam were so excited when you were here last week.” Maru said, smiling. “Still, you’re a good player.”

Penny: You picked your favorite novel and sat beside Penny in the library. Today was a good harvest day and you have decided to to treat yourself with a good book instead of gaming. “Hello.” Penny quietly greeted you with small smile. You smiled back as you opened your book. “You like those series, too?” She asked after taking a glance of your book cover. “Well, yeah. This is my favorite of the series. I just want to keep reading it. It makes me want to be part of the story, you know?” You replied. Penny smiled and gave you a positive hum. “Say, why do you think we read? For me, I read to fuel my imagination.” You asked, looking at the ceiling. “For me, I read because I want to get out of reality.” Penny sighed, closing her book but marking her page with her finger. “It’s hard for me to live a happy life, so reading helps me not think about it. What about you? What do you do in the same situation?” “Me? Well, I play games. Whenever I feel stressed, I play a few rounds with my team. Yoba, I miss them.” You replied. “…team?” Penny asked. “Yeah. I had a few family problems, so my E-Sports team cheered me up with gaming together. We were unbreakable.” “Wow, you must have been famous.” “We won so many tournaments together. I had to give up my dream after grandfather’s death.” You sighed. “…and you gave all that up for farming? I must admit, I’m glad that you did. The town’s brighter with you around.” Penny said, patting your shoulder. “Thanks, Penny. I still contact them, though. Say, do you play League?” “I did a few times with Sam, but it became harder.” Penny replied. You thought for a while. “If you’re interested, I can help you guys play better.” You suggested, focusing back on your book.

[tvgold42]

Nintendo Direct Recap

So for those who can't tell from my twitter (@alisdair42), I've become a bit of a fan of Nintendo recently. so I ended up watching yesterday’s Nintendo direct. since I did a big review of the switch trailer, I tried to do something similar. only problem, that took about an hour to make for a few minutes of trailer footage. this is a full half hour long piece of news, that went so fast, I couldn't press pause during the live coverage. aside from some small typo corrections and edits, this is exactly what I typed. heads up, it's a lot of content...

New Pikmin game for the 3DS coming out on July 28, along with an Amiibo more info on that coming later. another 3DS game called ever oasis on June 23. monster hunter stories look like a monster hunter: pokémon rip off edition 3ds, this autumn. YO-KAI watch 2 was just released, and it has an early day exclusive with A June 2nd to be the expiry date for some in game itemsspr@kl3s as a code Culdcept Revolt on 3ds game, some card/board game  September 1stRPG Maker Fes is now a 3DS is a thing there is a free player for that tooJune 23 Miitomo gets a sequel or DLC, I can't really tell, called miitopia release date is sometime this year.

 new fire emblem, NOW WITH DLC, because who doesn't want DLC it also offers seasons pass. because doesn't every gamer want to spend more money on a game that they already own, without knowing the quality, content, or even release date of the thing that they're buying?

It's the 25th anniversary of Kirby, which is weird since it seems like we just had 25 years of Mario. I thought that Kirby was a lot younger, oh well. how are they celebrating this? with a 2d fighter game, out now. Kirby blow out blast looks to be a weird 3d puzzle game, and I just can't wait for the comparisons to Toad treasure tracker, even if it's not deserved, it's coming this summer, e-shop only. there also something that there not telling us about for this winter, so I can't really comment on that at all...

you know how Nintendo love to play on people's nostalgia, WELL THERE'S A BRAND NEW BRAIN TRAINING GAME : DDDDDD

Devilish training: can you stay focused?

I'm not certain if devilish training is the name of some diet chocolate or a porno, and I don't want to find out personally...

Also, new amiibo for the system, but that went so quickly I couldn't get any details written down

For full disclosure, I have a pre-order of Mario Kart 8 from family relatives, but I have not spent money on it. Mario Kart8 has 11 players online, which is weird since its normally 12 players online mode.

If you're playing with friends, then you can customise the rules quite a bit, and tournament mode has now been built into the game, making it seem more like Nintendo want it to become an e-sport. are a thing too

Ultra Street fighter 2 is being re-released for the switch with 19 fighters, but I'm not certain if this is more, less, or the same amount of characters. some weird person also decided that a first person mode that uses motion controls would be a good thing, so that's in the game, along with this, you don't have to remember Combo's at all for the portable mode, with on-screen buttons, (opinion) which is stupid since street fighter is all about executing ridiculous combo's.

 Minecraft wanting more money is now getting a Nintendo switch verson, that allows an 8 player multiplayer mode, which is cute compared to the Java version, but this does also allow local co-op of 4 players, so you have that at least. It's getting a Mario skin pack as DLC, out may 12 e-shop, later for physical.

 sonic forces - a shit 3d one that looks dark and gritty, that has old and new sonic in it, winter this year.

sonic mania -a good fan version that looks awesome, summer this year

project mekuru looks weird, good weird though, has a bomber man feel in its gameplay, releases this summer.

fate Extella for  July 21'st, hate to say it but it kinda looks like a generic JRPG :/

Disgaea 5, has a demo to be released soon, release date may 26th, ill have to give that a look at, since anything that has a demo must be tried, seriousialy, its the one thing that i want devlopers to get back onto.

Puyo Puyo Tetris is amazing, I've played it, you have to try the demo from the JP e-shop if you can, don't go for the UK one, the voice actors just fall flat. it's coming to the EU soon, if you don't have a switch or another console to play it, this is why you need the switch. The demo is out now

monopoly for the switch, because you haven't hated your family over this game enough already Autumn 2017

Rayman legends: definitive edition, it's a 2d platformer, and you could have gotten it previously for free on PC, but this now has more DLC. out sometime this year

THQ Nordic are alive, apparently, i thought they died along with the hope of another good Saints Row. Sine Mora EX, its a 2d bullet hell game so im not touching that (unles it has a demo) to be released sometime this summer. battle chaser night war looks more interesting however, releaseing late summer.

PayDay 2 for switch, because if you've not played it yet, your me and you really should have, releasing sometime this year.

Namco museum: a glorified emulator for the console, probably not worth buying since you could find the rom files online, summer 2017.

change of pace now whilst i focous on somthing that works on a lot more meaty. 

This first big block is Arms, if you don't care, skip the first, long, paragraph.

Apparently, you can customise the arms in Arms, as if we didn't already know this, it does, however, reveal that each arm has an element. fire, electricity, wind, ice, stun, explosion, and more I couldn't read quick enough. It also shows that in the game, you can use currency to unlock the different types of arms. this doesn't appear to be real world money, and I don't think that Nintendo would do that, but I still don't like the idea of unlocks in an arcade game. We have a new character called Mminmin, who is based on noodles, no, seriously. if that wasn't weird enough, she has an ability, where she can kick people in a boxing game... quick question, why? why did that seem like a good idea at all? doesn't that kinda defeat the whole point of it being a boxing game? wait, she has dragon arms that shoot lasers? all is forgiven. Spring Man is a new person (i think) who has permanently charge punches IF he has low health. he also has an electric shield for very quick deflects of almost anything. and coming back to Minmin, she has an area based off of her, it's a massive ramen bowl... no comment. we also have team battles for a 2V2 mode, because everybody can afford 4 pairs of Joy-Con's, clearly. speaking of Joy-Con's there's a bundle that contains the console, the game, and a set of yellow Joy-Con's, that look like a set of slightly off bananas. and if you just couldn't get enough Switch action, there releasing a Joy-Con battery pack, which is odd since I personally have never had to worry about the battery for the Joy-Con's at all, I will say that I have been charging them and the console overnight every night, so that may be why I've not been having any problems. The full release date for the game, the bundle, and the Banana-Con's (yes that's what I'm calling them) is June 16.

 And now for the reason im here: splatoon 2, its not as long but still substatial, if you dont care, thats it for this article for you, good bye ^^ otherwise, onto splatoon 2, the main reason I wanted a switch at all.

 we start with a with a weird trailer, that has the music of a discounted Toys R Us instrument set. Feeles like its from the 80's in a parody way. the main purpos of the trailer is to introduce "Salmon Run", a wave based PVE mode, which had me in full caps in my notes, accompined by a ":DDDDD" or 2. the main purpos is to kill the enimies to get power eggs, which is your form of in game currency that can be spent on the splatoon shop for cosmetics. keep on going however, and bosses will appear, these drop golden eggs that too can be exchanged for items. if you have bad players in your team, and they die, then you can revive them by walking over to get them back. The game adds in 3 new Amiibo, that allow people to save custom data to for clothing, but the old splatoon Amiibo's will also work. the game, the Amiibo will be released on July 21st.

[dailydoseofselfcare]

A conversational reactions of the 12 bachelor/ettes when they realize that the farmer used to be a really popular E-Sports player? (Extended for each bachelor/ette)

Part 2: bachelorettes Abigail: "Hey, farmer!" Abigail chirped as she walked into your farmland. You were in the middle of watering your crops when she came. "Hi, Abby." You reply, giving her a friendly hug. "Still working?" "Mhm." You hum your answer. "Woke up late today." You added. "Let me help you! I wanna play with you." Abigail pleaded. Sighing of how tenacious she was, you nod. "Alright. Do me a favor and water the crops for me." You said, handing the purple-haired girl your watering can. "Yay!" She cheered as she did was you told. Meanwhile, you handled what you've harvested by putting some in kegs and selling some through the bin. With the day's work done thanks to Abigail, you two enter your house and watch some TV shows that you like. Surprisingly, she likes them too. An hour passed when abigail scooted close to you. "Yes?" You asked. "We should play some games together. I heard from Seb that you play StarCraft." Abigail suggested. "Hm? But you don't have your laptop right now." "I can just watch you play, or you know... Take turns." "Sounds good. Follow me. Computer's in my room." You said as Abigail followed you into your bedroom. She sat on your bed as you powered your computer on and turned on the strategy game. "So, who first?" You asked. Abigail smiled at you, signaling that you play first. Nodding, you chose your race and played a random match with a anonymous player. Abigail watched in marvel as you skillfully won the round. "Wow, you're really good at this game!" Abigail complimented. "Thanks. I really like StarCraft." You replied. "You should try playing in E-Sports matches!" "Well, to be honest, I have." With your words, Abigail's jaw dropped. "You're lying." "No, I'm not. I won the national league five times. Still can't beat the Koreans, though." You admitted. "Wow. Just wow. You're awesome!" Abigail squealed as she threw herself to you, making you blush. "Okay, but real talk. Zerg, Protoss or Terran?" She asked once releasing you. "Protoss. My life for Aiur." You replied. Emily: "So, how was it?" Emily asked you, panting. She had invited you into her room to show you dance. Honestly, it was amazing. You jokingly grabbed her shoulder. "You have to teach me those moves!" You said. "Why, thank you!" Emily giggled by your reaction. "Whew! I haven't sweated this much since Abigail's graduation party!" You nodded. "Well, sit down! I'll fix us some coffee!" Soon enough, the blue-haired woman came back with a tray full of cookies and coffee. "Well, thanks Emily." You said as you took a bite out of a cookie. The showcase of exotic fabric and clothes seemed to get your attention. "So, you're really interested in garments design, huh?" You asked. "Yeah! It's my dream to set up a shop here!" Emily beamed. You simply nodded. "How's your farm?" "Farm? It's going fine. It's comparable to what I used to work before." "What was your job?" "I played games." "Videogames? That's a strange way of earning money." Emily skeptically said. "Not just that, I was in the gaming industry. Man, I remember how competitive it was. Fighting digitally over who claims the top... Well, I was at the top, to be honest. In other words, I was a E-Sports player." You explained, sipping your coffee. "Competitive games? Well, I've seen a few articles online about using games for art... We're your games like that?" Emily asked. "You will be disappointed." You replied, shaking your head. "Dota isn't like those games. But if you want to try an artistic game... I think Minecraft would be a good choice. Watch a few videos and you'll see." Emily smiled at your suggestion. Haley: You walk into Haley, who was trying to open a jar of pickled olives but with futility. "Hnnngg! Can't. Get. This. OPEN!" Haley grunted under the resistance of the jar. You decided to walk to her to help. "Need any help?" You asked. "Farmer? You're strong, right?" Haley asked upon hearing you. "Hmm... You can, technically. I work in the farm, after all." "Well, can you open this for me?" Haley requested, holding the sealed jar to you. Before taking it, you wiped any source of moisture from your hands and took the jar from her hands. It took some effort, but you managed to open it with a pop. "There!" You beamed, handing the now opened jar to Haley. "Wow, you really are strong! Thank you!" Haley chirped, taking an olive into her mouth. "All in a day's work." You replied. "You did work in a hard job, didn't you?" "No. Worked as a..." "Gym teacher?" "No. I was a E-Sports player." You replied. "Ooooohh-Kay?" Haley asked, her smile now gone and replaced with a strange look. She was definitely not interested. "It's basically Major Baseball League but with videogames..." "I don't care! Nerd." Haley interrupted you. Sighing, you bid her goodbye while walking out of her house. Leah: "What do you think? I'm revealing the essence of the wood." Leah said as she carved the wooden sculpture. "When we start tending something, we reveal what's inside." "...the same as us humans." You replied, making Leah think, but smile when she realized what you were trying to say. "Yeah, you're absolutely correct!" Leah replied. "I first came to the valley as a child. This place has true art potential!" "Really? I didn't think about that because of... You know, farming." You said. "Of course, just art isn't helping me in paying the bills and laying food on the table..." You nodded at Leah's words. Your friends faced these problems and you did consult them before. "Have you felt that thing before? Chasing something that you like but can't earn enough?" She asked you. "Well, I did before I came here. I did become really famous, but with the cost of health." "Ooh, really? What were you before a farmer?" "An E-Sports player." "That's amazing!" Leah remarked. You could only blush and scratch the back of your head. "...but I do see why you left that life behind. It must've been hard to connect with the natural world when you were so absorbed by the digital world, right?" "Yeah, you're right." You replied. "To be honest, I really miss my fans and the competition. Don't get me wrong, I love farming. But I needed to stay healthy. I nearly died of Vitamin D deficiency." "I understand." Leah nodded. "Too bad I don't have a computer to see what you play." Maru: You were helping Maru on one of her engineering projects after you hanged out with Sebastian, your best friend. You had a USB pen drive on hand so that you could help draw her blueprints in 3D back at your farm. "Thanks for stepping by to help." Maru said. "No problem." You assured. "Seb never helps, even when I tell him that I'll pay." "He's just busy with his own work, Maru. You should understand." You replied."Anyway, I'm here. What blueprint did you want me to make?" "Hold on..." Maru started to shuffle around with a pile of graphing paper. "...here." She said, holding a paper with a detailed schematic of a tool drawn on it. "Do you mind if you scan it?" You asked. Maru nodded as she did as you requested. The scanner turned the document into an image file. "Okay, I'll put it into my USB." You said as you plugged your pen drive into her computer. As Maru dragged the file into the USB, she accidentally clicked another image file in your pen drive, revealing a photo of your past self with five of your friends in your Overwatch team. You were pictured as thrown in the air by your friends as you held a trophy with confetti falling around you all. "Um... Wow. You were a E-Sports player?" Maru asked. Blushing, you sheepishly nodded. "I do watch some gaming videos. I remember this team. They were the best." "Do you play Overwatch yourself?" You asked. "A little bit. Haven't played too much modern games. Too much FPS nowadays." Maru replied. "It's okay. Everybody has their preferences." "No wonder why Seb and Sam were so excited when you were here last week." Maru said, smiling. "Still, you're a good player." Penny: You picked your favorite novel and sat beside Penny in the library. Today was a good harvest day and you have decided to to treat yourself with a good book instead of gaming. "Hello." Penny quietly greeted you with small smile. You smiled back as you opened your book. "You like those series, too?" She asked after taking a glance of your book cover. "Well, yeah. This is my favorite of the series. I just want to keep reading it. It makes me want to be part of the story, you know?" You replied. Penny smiled and gave you a positive hum. "Say, why do you think we read? For me, I read to fuel my imagination." You asked, looking at the ceiling. "For me, I read because I want to get out of reality." Penny sighed, closing her book but marking her page with her finger. "It's hard for me to live a happy life, so reading helps me not think about it. What about you? What do you do in the same situation?" "Me? Well, I play games. Whenever I feel stressed, I play a few rounds with my team. Yoba, I miss them." You replied. "...team?" Penny asked. "Yeah. I had a few family problems, so my E-Sports team cheered me up with gaming together. We were unbreakable." "Wow, you must have been famous." "We won so many tournaments together. I had to give up my dream after grandfather's death." You sighed. "...and you gave all that up for farming? I must admit, I'm glad that you did. The town's brighter with you around." Penny said, patting your shoulder. "Thanks, Penny. I still contact them, though. Say, do you play League?" "I did a few times with Sam, but it became harder." Penny replied. You thought for a while. "If you're interested, I can help you guys play better." You suggested, focusing back on your book.

[megadads]

Matt T. Wood (Game Designer, Artist, Programmer)

Matt has been creating video games for over 2 decades, getting his start in 1997 when he joined 3D Realms as a level designer and worked on games such as Prey, Duke Nukem Forever and Max Payne. In 2003 he moved to Seattle to work with Valve where he helped to create some of their most iconic titles including Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. He recently departed Valve and formed his own company, Double Dagger Studio, where he is working to create his next games. Matt lives in Seattle with his wife, three children, 2 cats, and leopard gecko.

What is the first video game that you remember playing?

“This is a tough one. I have so many memories of playing games when I was young, but I don’t recall which was the very first. In the arcade, it was probably Pac-Man or Centipede. I remember playing a lot of Centipede in particular. I think I just really enjoyed spinning the trackball around. It’s funny, thinking about this now brings back all of the memories of where these arcade cabinets were located. I can vividly see them in the pizza parlors, the sub shops, the bowling alleys, the corner shops and of course, in the arcades with kids just hanging out together and watching each other play. Those were good times.

I spent a lot of time in the arcade when I was growing up. My dad worked in the department store at one end of the mall, so I would wander around the arcade with my pockets empty, watching all the bigger kids play. Sometimes I would go up and down the aisles checking the coin return slots for quarters and sometimes I would get lucky, but most times not. Haha.

The first game I played on console was definitely Pong. It was at my grandmother’s house and I don’t recall whose console it was, but I distinctly remember spinning those big dials to play. What a special day that was!”

What are your favorite games of all time?

“Honestly, my list is way too long! But here are some that have impacted me in various ways throughout my life.

Zork, Enchanter, and Planetfall (and most other Infocom games) were very pivotal for me and had a big impact on me early on. Experiencing these games and the “feelies” as they called them, which were all of the supplemental things they put in the box, I think were what made me want to make games. I would pore over all of the text included in the box and imagine all the things I could do if the parser were more robust. I wanted to do what Marc Blank, Dave Lebling and Steve Meretzky were doing. To me, they were making magic.

Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, and Quake gave me the inspiration and the tools that I needed to start making video games. Up until that point, the closest I had come to making games was when I entered them into a computer line by line by copying out of a magazine. I had no idea what I was doing and all the books that I picked up on programming were over my young head. So when these games had tools that you could use to make ACTUAL levels…..wow, I was so hooked! Plus, Quake was an industry exploding phenomenon. It’s hard to imagine where gaming would be today if Quake hadn’t happened.

Some of my other favorites in no particular order are Dwarf Fortress, Sim City 4, Dark Souls, Morrowind, Half-Life, Baldur’s Gate 2, Diablo 2, Final Fantasy 3, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, World of Warcraft, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Counter-Strike.”

Which hobbies or pastimes do you enjoy besides gaming?

“At one point when I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a movie special effects and prop maker. So now, sometimes, for fun, I’ll build and paint models and props and things. I’m thinking about growing out my mustache and getting a pipe too. Just to complete the dad hobby cliché look. Haha.

But with my current game and the kids, I don’t have as much time for that anymore. Now we try to do more things together as a family. We like to travel together when we can and we recently started doing a board game night at our house.”

Do you and your children play video games together?

“Yes! All three of my kids have been head over heels in love with Minecraft for years. Every time they play, they ask me to play too and it’s always a blast. What I love about Minecraft is that all four of us can be working together on a house one minute, and then the next minute, we can go off in different directions and explore. I love watching them work together and discover together.

Speaking of working together, we love co-op games. Any game that we can play together on the same team to solve problems or work together is a big win in our house. Some of my kid’s favorites right now are Castle Crashers, Battleblock Theater, Overcooked 1&2, and Mario Maker. My youngest son is really looking forward to a game called Moving Out where you work together to move furniture out of houses. He’s been asking me about it almost every day since he first played it at PAX.

Some other games we like to play together are Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the new Spiderman on PS4, Mario Kart, Donut County and pretty much any Mario game.

In addition to playing games, we also work together to make games too. I have a whiteboard in my home office where the kids will write up ideas or drawings and we’ll work together to turn them into little games. We make them in Unity and that experience has been really great for us.”

How do you make time for gaming with a busy family life and career?

“The kids go to bed relatively early every night. My wife is pretty militant about their bedtime and I support that. On the bright side, my wife’s unwavering mission to make sure the kids are getting as much sleep as their bodies need also means there’s consistently a good chunk of time in the evening for game time! But yeah, sometimes it can be pretty tough. The gaming is usually the first to fall off the list and I still have a huge backlog of games that I want to play that I’ll probably never get to. Something to look forward to in my old age, I guess. Haha.”

What is your proudest moment as a parent?

“Again, too many to talk about! But there are a few that I’ve been thinking about recently. They might be small things, but they made me really proud: moments when they demonstrate maturity, compassion, and kindness.

All three of my kids are dancing in The Nutcracker this year and I was helping wrangle the little “party boys” backstage. To begin the show, they all have to line up single file and grab the shoulders of the kid in front of them and trail their “nanny” out onto the stage. They didn’t have a specific order and when my 5-year-old son grabbed the shoulders of the boy in front of him and another little boy just about had a breakdown. HE wanted to be behind that boy! There were only a few seconds before they needed to go out onto the stage and I was about to intervene when my son put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and said, “It’s ok! You can go” and stepped back so the other boy could take his spot. So proud of him for that.

More Nutcracker: my daughter (age 11) was asked to fill in at the last minute for a child who had gotten sick. She put in extra hours at added rehearsals for this part but on the day of the performance, the other child was well enough to perform, so she didn’t end up performing the part. We asked her how she felt about the situation and she said she was just happy for her friend to be well enough to dance because she knew how devastated she would be if she got sick and missed her performance. *heart swells*

Another thing that happened with my 8-year-old son recently was when he was with some of his classmates and they all had to choose a bandana. They were all different colors and one of them was pink. It was the last one to get picked and the boy who was left with it loudly exclaimed that he wasn’t going to take the pink one! Pink was for girls! My son looked at him and said, “Oh come on. It’s just a color!” and he gave that boy his and took the pink one for himself.

Also, in general, I’m proud of how much my kids love to read. Our house is full of books. They stack up in piles on the stairs and in corners and are sometimes used as makeshift desks and writing surfaces. The kids devour books and I’m really happy about that.”

Gamer Spotlight: Matt T. Wood Matt T. Wood (Game Designer, Artist, Programmer) Matt has been creating video games for over 2 decades, getting his start in 1997 when he joined…

[jamesleefmp]

Byte Me Workshop

aOn Tuesday afternoon, we began our first digital workshop, which was an introduction to ‘8-bit’ graphics or also known as ‘pixel’ art. ‘8 bit’ graphics is a method of storing image information in a computer’s memory or in an image file. It is binary code used on individual squares, in the form of 1 or o, this simply means ‘on or off’, therefore meaning it will be black or white. This was the original technique in pixel graphics and was based on positive and negative, however most pixel games now are not binary as they require multiple colours. This was first introduced to the public through a digital game named ‘Pong’, and was released by Atari Inc, a retro video games company. They released the first video game, which was a simplistic ping pong 2D simulator. Allan Alcorn an American engineer and computer scientist who first contextualised and created the concepts for pong in 1972 helped to make it one of the most iconic 8-bit games.

8-BIT GRAPHICS IN PRESENT DAY USE

In present day, 8- bit graphics have become popular and iconic due to its relations with retro gaming and simple aesthetic. Games like Minecraft and Terraria, as well as feature films such as Wreck-it Ralph have tried to use this iconic aesthetic look. 

Minecraft

Minecraft, is one of the most successful games in the history of video games. It was created by a company called ‘Mojang’ in 2011, and uses a simplistic approach to gaming with 8-bit graphics, but also combining a 3D world. Minecraft is so successful due to its wide range of audiences from different age groups. This is because of its open world playing style, with the aim being creativity. It attracts the audience as there is no set goal within this game, but instead the audience can set their own goals and achieve what they want. This is similar to the comic research and gestalt theory I looked into. By this I mean the audience use closure to fill in the empty spaces in the game, with their imaginations and individuality, just like how they do with cliffhangers in comics or films.

Wreck-it Ralph

Wreck it Ralph is a good example of modern day use of pixel graphics. This is because in this film the aesthetic is of 8 bit pixel, however the actual movie is mad using CGI animation.

Susan Kare

Susan Kare is one of the notable contemporary American graphic designers. During 1980s, she developed many of the interface elements for the Apple Macintosh. She worked as a creative director for the company NeXT that Steve Jobs founded after leaving Apple.

Kare made lots of her designs in 8- bit pixel graphics by drawing small boxes on paper like we did for our animations.

Here you can see her paint brush design with paint showing by filling in the brush end as if it has been used.

I created some test sketches, to allow me to understand the right scale for my figures. 

I thought it was a good idea to start of this workshop with a link to culture, I done this by creating two sketches of character based from two cultures; the  first one being more colourful was to represent the African tribe culture influenced by my African mask. The second was based from the Japanese cultural chest pieces which developed me to draw a samurai/ ninja.

Within this animation I added a fantasy element with the fireball, as it created a sense of humour and works well with fantasy concepts of Japanese ninja’s. The process was easy as it just involved moving the characters right arm around for each frame to create a circular movement. Something that I found interesting was how to tween, which is what I done to produce the smooth flowing fire ball. I done this by marking the start and finish of the movement with the fireball design, it then drags the image across in an even form with it leaving a ghost trail behind.