#tetris copycats

[swaggerblonde]

Swagger Blonde Quick Plays Columns Sega Master System

[iam-back]

A Review of Vinny's Quality DOS Games 1

We begin the stream with a little game called...

[KOR] Duck | Also known as Bulsaejo Duck by D.Swizzy's little folder, this one is a Galaga-esque. It seems right up Vinny's alley, being about a duck and all. And when I say Galaga, I do mean Galaga. Look at the way the enemies swirl around! And look at the enemies themselves! You got little ships, little wheels, big blue-and-red worms with yellow heads, individual segments of said worms, big bees...

The duck himself seems to be a robot, given how he explodes into screws when he dies. Says to me that the story is about this robot duck who flies above Busan or Seoul or that culture village and blasts down whatever may come in his way. If you don't shoot for a bit, a shield forms around you, which you can turn into a big energy-blast by resuming fire. You also have 7 backup ducks, which Vinny, not being the best gamer in the world, loses all of them.

[CHN] Act of Fighter | Tragically misnamed Action Fighter (no Vinny, this is not that Spy Hunter copycat game for Master System), Vinny can't get past the copyright protection. In a Trio of Trash stream much later on (that includes the hidden gem Toonstruck), we finally see what it looks like - and it seems to be a fantasy-themed Tetris-esque game. Moving on to...

[KOR] Zis: The Adventure | "Ablex~" This is the game studio which brought you Little Witch and Hades, and now this! I mean Zis! Meet Zis, the lovable little rascal whom nobody knows about, otherwise they'd call him a Korean Dennis the Menace. Apparently it gives Vinny the dèja vú. The first thing he sees is the copyright protection - or "Password Check" as the game calls it. You're thrust into a little playground where you must shoot these enemies in this order (p9n4, p3n2, p4n2) - or since D.Swizzy did a little wizardry, Vinny just shoots whichever enemies in whatever order, and he's off!

Zis never shuts up - when he stands still he goes "la la la la", when he accomplishes certain things he giggles, when he collects the little diamonds he says "mmm", when he climbs up onto the things he yells "YABBO" at the top of his lungs. Apparently the gameplay tune sounds alarmingly like the Donkey Kong Country theme, at least to Vinny. But I'm more concerned with the title screen reminding me of Mega Man X!

We're thrust into a cutscene of Zis relaxing by the river, when he should come across a map in a bottle that will take him all across Lisnia in order to find... something. I'm not fluent in Korean. The first level is apparently called "Slowly Forest", and it's there that Vinny starts to ramble about how DOS platformers are never good (apparently ignoring Commander Keen), aside from The Great Giana Sisters, which is a slapdash bootleg Super Mario Bros to everyone else!

His eye's a bumhole, his finger's a chode, and his weapon of choice is a slingshot, which becomes a yoyo when he finds a watermelon and wears his bunny suit. By the way, there's an owl who shoots an arrow at your health meter, which I'm just now realizing might work like the Gloom in Tears of the Kingdom, unless I got to actually play it for myself and see otherwise. Unfortunately, after that Vinny can't figure out how to yoyo up (if one can), and so he leaves the game on Zis singing what sounds disturbingly like the Thomas the Tank Engine theme!

[CHN] Battle Europe | After a bit of Wiseau and an oopsie-crashie, we see that this is a game about tanks and stuff - you can play as Allies or Axis. This one plays decent if you don't have Hearts of Iron and don't mind slow framerates, but brace yourself for the worst horn and drum known to MS-DOS. There's a bom (sic) you can collect which can summon an airstrike missile to wipe your screen, but Vinny doesn't seem to think it did anything. Spoilers - it reduced the number of enemies by 3! Oh, there was a shi that he failed to notice, he coulda used it to protect himself for a bit. He also realizes you can shoot down your own base and fail the mission on purpose, which brings an end to the European battling.

...Have you noticed that the same drums and same horn are in the DOS port of Street Fighter II? I have.

[CHN] Battle of the Martial Arts | Once upon a time, a kindly old monk-esque character by the name of Shau Ling was going on a calm afternoon walk in a thunderstorm. Except it wasn't afternoon, it was like midnight or something! Lesson learned, kids, never go outside at night during a thunderstorm - you could be killed, in this case by this evil wizard with a murder-palm-blast technique.

The game itself is one of a strangely prolific amount of 1v1 fighting games - look, I know I mentioned Street Fighter II earlier, but gee beasties, the game created a lot of competition just by existing! Anyway - Vinny picks Hua Shan v.s Gai Bang (!!!!!!!) in the forest. A comment below mentions his apparent brother Gang, but I know how Chinese nomenclature works and so I realize it would then be Gai Gang.

Hua Shan is a swordsman whereas Gai Bang borrows from Sun Wukong's playbook and speaks softly, but carries a big stick. Anyway, after that Vinny picks Shau Ling and his wiener-leg v.s his exact clone off the coast of the Forbidden City, a very popular tourist attraction in China. Shau Ling actually has some magic palm-blasts of his own, which makes you wonder why he didn't defend himself against the evil wizard. I didn't understand a single thing of that opening text, so for all I know the whole game could be his dying dream as he lays bleeding.

[CHN] China Pro Baseball 1 and 2 | This should be a run-of-the-mill baseball game using at-the-time teams for the Chinese baseball leagues, but the game got stuck on the opening cinematic and the faces (probably real Chinese baseball superstars at the time) made Vinny crack up so hard he could substitute for a malfunctioning space-time continuum. Plus, the music in CPB1 reminds me of Upside Down, a song my old Discord friend said was used in plenty of animation memes, yet I know it from speedpaints that also have *gasp and shock* NCS music in them!!!

Oh yes, the 3D rotating title screen graphic glitches out when it reaches its loop-point.

[FRA] The Death of Vegeta | One of exactly one fangame on this list, it's very short, but very infamous for the way the always Super Saiyan-powered Vegeta screams out "BIG BANG ATTACK!!!!!" at the top of his royal Saiyan lungs. It ends when he falls down an impassable pit and you're greeted with text that says "Vegeta is dead. As he did not perform beneficial gestures in life, he is immediately sent to Hell. [Game's end] NB: Nothing is preventing you from using the crystal balls to revive him. You could start another game." You can tell this was made before Vegeta became Goku's BFFFL (Best Friend Forever For Life).

[KOR] Father World | Much like France has Flashback/Another World/Heart of Darkness, Korea has this little doozy. Vinny was laughing at the game's name, but at least it's not called Daddy World. It's very story-driven, and hey, how much percent of the game's data do you think went into recording voiced dialogue for it?

You've got scenes featuring a cityscape, an evil overlord, some sort of rivalry staring contest as the glass breaks in front of them, the most 90s shonen anime cutscenes your Korean game company can buy, blondie and blue-hair are friends now, and then when he starts the game he's immediately run over by a car. Good job, buddy.

Then he's nursed back to health by a lady. Let's move on.

[KOR] Fox Ranger 1 | "SUFFICIENT TOILET" That's the first thing Vinny hears upon booting the game. It actually says "Soft Action, present:" Anyway, this one's a side-shooter along the likes of R-Type and Life Force/Salamander. It takes place in 2044 AD, 26 years after this VOD and therefore 20 years from now. Having graduated from Korean air force boot camp, this little NF43 is saving the world from aliens. It's always aliens in these sorts of games.

I see you, Mr. Death Star! You can't disguise yourself as a Saturnesque planet and get away with it, not without Lucasfilms noticing! And you, CATS! You just gonna stop by without saying "all your base are belong to us"?

Stage 1 is called "Outer Space", yet that's the most inner-iest space I've ever seen! That's, like, plane-cruise height! Anyway, you shoot all sorts of creeps and weirdos, the game says "flushing right here/fashion deer/f⨺⩙⫑ you nerd", and there's a giant skull-monster as the boss. Shoot it in its sensitive eyes to kill it.

[KOR] Fox Ranger 2 | This exciting sequel improves upon the original in many ways - presentation, story (something about alien monsters being dropped into the ocean), cutscenery (Listen! Voice acting!), a whole different play style (think Star Fox), and more creeps and crawlies to fight, including a two-headed dragon boss that roars like a gong! Unfortunately, Vinny has the exact wrong soundcard (likely Soundblaster instead of Roland) and so his shots sound like a piano constantly smacking the D key and occasionally D-Sharp. You'll be screaming for vengence (sic), just like the game's tagline!

Stage 1 is still as inappropriately named as the first game's - "Into the Fire" when you're swirling in a weird vortex.

Just like that Vinny is immediately thrust into a voiceless cutscene where NF43 is getting debriefed by his boss and now we're in a top-shooter. The enemies now die in a very low D-Flat.

[USA] Krusty's (Super) Fun House | Nothing much to note on this, aside from Vinny's Krusty impersonation. It's Rat Trap for the British computers, only now it's multiplatform (released for Game Gear, Nes, Genesis, Snes, and of course DOS) and you assume the giant clown-shoes of Herschel Krustofsky as he guides the rats into the Bart-painted mallet-operated rat genocide machine. Would this be foreshadowing for the Simpsons fangame where Krusty beats up dolphins?

[KOR] Lars the Wanderer | Gravity and Samsung combine their forces to give us an Adventure of Link-esque game where you play as a Marth recolor who finds a fairy and goes into town. Unfortunately, it's very text-heavy and Vinny only knows English (and even then sometimes he screws up), meaning all he can do is be distracted by fairy cleavage and wander around the town and do nothing and then give up. At least the music's awesome though, especially the title screen.

[CHN] Last Hero in China | ...You know what I just noticed? Given the digitized stills from some kind of movie, Last Hero in China might be based on a movie, thereby making it also a licensed game! How did I not notice this before!? Anyway, they turned the movie into a beatmup, where you play as the movie's main character, master of a flying kick and a Mantis eye-poke.

The story seems to be about some bad guys taking over the Forbidden City and therefore our white-clad protagonist saves the day and stuff. However, the gameplay on display is no Turtles in Time or Streets of Rage. The sound effects don't kick in until a good bit into Vinny's short romp with the game - you'll have to wait to hear the Last Hero in China yell out what sounds like "week Dwight" when he uses the flying-kick move.

Heh, check out those two identical goons! They're synchronized in a way only fictional twins could be! ...Oh of course. It wouldn't be a beatmup without the flying kick hurting you. And this won't be the last beatmup we see in these MS-DOS stream rundowns, oh no. But let's move on to...

[CHN] Little Monk | In this Zeldalike, you are Little Monk, and you're sent on your merry way by Big Monk off to save the world and stuff while the whole way, a fun, dopey little tune plays. First stop, the forest! If I could read more Chinese I'd figure out just what that forest is called. Little Monk has 2 Extra Dudes™, infinite apples, no firework rockets yet, and one scroll of each major element, all while a timer counts down from 1,400.

The candles represent his health bar, and they go down kinda like Minecraft hearts. Essentially he's 75% as durable as a completely unarmored Minecraft person. This isn't that bad when you have infinite apples, which explode into some Bonk-like monstrosity and are a handy defense tool against the snakes and fiery skulls and evil mushroom-monsters and whatever else. Little Monk can restore health with these pork buns, which says to me that he gets them as a little treat for a job well done.

You can also find bubbles that contain little busts of Hippocrates and a necklace - both likely talismans. Vinny accidentally uses the wind-scroll, so at least we see that the wind goddess floats around on a cloud and carries a banana-leaf fan which she uses to literally blow away the competition. Immediately after he gets mauled by boars and dies, noticing a Vineshroom (read: a green variant of the evil mushrooms) and not the old man who dropped a scroll. Why if that were me at that DOSBox, I'd trudge through, or as through as I can without understanding very much Chinese! So he gives up and moves on to...

[KOR] Little Witch | Remember the crow from the intro screen to Zis: The Adventure? He's from this game! Unfortunately, his appearance changes the book cutscene's music from this nice waltz to a horrible screechy mess. Not to mention Vinny can't get past this one, nor understand the story. Cool page effects, though. Ablex was ahead of their time, with their game Hades being Korea's very first FPS.

[KOR] My Love: Chaos Daejak-jeon | Why are you surprised that this one's published by Samsung? Samsung is based in Korea and so of course they'd be the ones to introduce video gaming to that little fun and fancy-free southern half. All the loons up north get is endless streams of propaganda left and right. Speaking of lunacy, this one's opening cutscene goes for some Ranma½-style wackiness, as we see the old man educate these five heroes on the dog-ship about the sorry state of the world - the rivers are drying up, the forests and flowers are dying, genetic scientists are splicing pigs with bunnies and horses with ducks and pigs with chickens, it's horrible! And so after some insane slapstick we see a weird yellow dinosaur chase after an electrified bone.

All this just for a beatmup where you attack skeletons in the cave while stock dancehouse music plays and the game-over screen is the villains eating you in the soup.

[KOR] Pee and Gity | Not yet, buddy! First we have to watch a trailer for the producers' other game, Illusion Blaze! From what it displays it seems to be a space-shoot game with multiplayer support where you and a friend can shoot aliens in space together.

Okay, after fiddling with what the right command is, he can finally experience the game. The cutscene is about a frog and a mouse, best of friends, frolicking in the fields together when they should come across a smoldering house. Their first course of action is to investigate, whereupon they're immediately accosted by Carills and soon afterward Gators. Surprise, Vinny! Another beatmup!

Then he messes with the screen settings and immediately gives up on the game. By the way, Pee is the mouse. First "Mr. Goo" from that one K-drama and now this.

[CHN] Prince of Evil | Featured in Eat Drink Man Woman (a movie from China) and now in good-ol' American-grown Vincent Vinesauce, this game is also a Zeldalike, only now instead of limited time your dude now has limited ammo. This one features a soldier galloping through the woods on horseback when he finds a demon-werewolf-thingy. Then we're thrust through the door into the game.

Soldier-boy has no elemental scrolls this time, just his feet, his wits, and his 300 spirit cards. They're all you have to stand a chance against the haunted dresses, skeletons, beetles, Adhering Suzies, and Vagina Dentata.

[KOR] Super 64 Classic | Way to break the alphabetism of the folder-pack, bucko. Now your dreams of Super Mario 64 on DOS are ruined - instead we just get MS-X games, like this Hello Kitty (Cat Widemohom) one where he immediately dies and gives up.

[KOR] Rage of Tiger 2: Blood, Money, and Tears... | I agree, Vinny, that title sounds super silly. After a bit of a struggle, he finally gets it to work whereupon he beholds the chalky jank that lies within. Meet our roster - Hanin, Kent, and Mangho! I see Kent wants to go Skins against a buncha Shirts.

The gameplay isn't much better - Vinny hasn't increased the cycles, and so he can't combo his opponent to death, which is required for victory. And why is the background a spraycan-doodle of a tiger?

[KOR] Shakii the Wolf | Hey, this one's in English! We can understand the story this time!! *ahem* So, once upon a time everything was happy in the land of Shake, and its ruler, good old titular Shakii. Then one dark and stormy night, this bad lion called Midnight Sword came in, and so Shakii and his people (wolves?) had to go to the Land of Giants for help.

Then after that Vinny bungles up the cutscene speed when Shakii finally shows up - way to go, pal. You can't play the game now because now the cutscene's gonna take 99 more hours instead of another minute or so!

[USA?] Shaolin Campus King | Why is the opening cutscene silent? It's eerie without, say, a fiery swoop and some rock-n-roll. And as MrDmoney156 said, you need to press Escape when the vanity plate appears - this would cost you the cutscene, but at least Vinny would've gotten a taste of the game!

[KOR] Super Cop | Sorry, you spiky-shouldered Jupiter-helmet, you're no Mappy. Especially when your game has that stanky Korean DOS snare and you run around a Ghost House from Dinosaur Island (Super Mario World) and you say "DIE!!!" when you get hurt and you ricochet everywhere when you die. ...A-and a princess is there now too. The art direction makes me sad.

And that start-game menu has to be stolen from something too! Day of the Tentacle? Ironic, Super Cop - you steal, which the police would actually reprimand people for.

[RUS] Super Tetris | Finally, something with less infringement! In this take on the classic (which coincidentally celebrates its 40th anniversary this year), we're sent to the Moscow Circus, with bomber-rats and kids who look at elephants. What changed in 7 years? The music is quieter and in Vinny's case it stops early, not to mention the controls, tragically, have been worsened. From Russia with FOON!!!

[KOR] Adventures of Eol! | More like "Eeyole" in Vinny's case - he should know better, in Korean pronunciation logic, "eo" is pronounced like "aw".

Anyway, this one has the most insane story out of every Family Pro game - there's this evil purple character who tears the mountain asunder. Eol must stop him before he turns the whole world into rubble! Vinny can't play past the first level, which means he'll never experience the twist that Eol is a prince of some sort.

After he dies and gives up, he laments how his collection is double his usual. Moving on to...

[KOR] The Adventure of Tipi: Legend of Meda | From the makers of Lars the Wanderer, here's a cutscene with a badass mother-fricker in a cloak and then a dragon shows up. And then... demo footage. Tipi herself reminds me of Yuko Asou in design.

[KOR] Dragon Force: The Day 3 | Another space-shooter where you shoot aliens!? Perish the thought! Well at least this one doesn't work, just makes a gentle hum.

[CHN] Journey to the West | If I had 5 yuan for every time a non-game medium from China was turned into a beatmup available for MS-DOS, I'd have 10 yuan, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Anyway - Vinny immediately picks Bajie because "Ooh, piggy-man!" and fends off weird red-green-blue demons before falling off a bridge and dying. I miss this sort of brevity from Vinny. Now it's just Corruption Stockpile this, Commercial Chaos that, horror fangame this, hot new game that.

[CHN] Legend of the Dragon | Ignoring the IM stock sound at the title screen, remember Sun Wukong, snotty little brat and so-called "protagonist" of Journey to the West? Here he is, as a playable character alongside Little Dragon Lady! When you begin, the wind goddess (remember her, from Little Monk?) shows up and tells us of a bad situation. Vinny then mistakes the Manji for something worse. Then bazoomy, we're sent to the mountains!

It plays like Graal, as Vinny said, and you fight your way past music-loving sea serpents, weird racist caricatures, Peahat-Piranha Plant hybrid monsters, and this bouncer who won't let you in without an ID or something. He looks like a pirate who got drunk and wound up on the wrong side of the Himalayas.

[KOR] Van Slug: X Mission | This one has the usual scifi story of "it's the future but ohs no aleins took over", but in a more comical sense - this bumbling little idiot is late for his mission! So the general chews him out, he hops on his bike and into a run-n-gun adventure!

After the longest transformation sequence in the world that isn't a Fetish, we're off, shooting skeleton-demons and mud-monsters and being distracted by "I Love Elvis" on the bottom! But don't get the pills! Big mistake!! Now you got hurt a bit!

After he dies to spikes, he ends this big fat ugly DOS stream right then and there, exactly 2 hours long, for your "enjoyment".

[tvrundownusa]

tvrundown USA 2023.03.31

Friday, March 31st:

(exclusive): Carpool Karaoke (apple+, new special "Alan Cumming / Brian Cox"), "Monumental: Ellie Goulding at Kew Gardens" (freevee, concert special), Doogie Kamealoha M.D. (dsn+, season 2 available, all 10 eps), Copycat Killer (netflix, Taiwanese mystery-thriller, all 10 eps), Die Hart (Roku, sitcom season 2 "Die Harter" available, all 8 mini-eps), TMZ No BS (Tubi, "Cardi B")

(movies): "Rye Lane" (hulu, rom-com), "The Unheard" (Shudder, horror-thriller), "Tetris" (apple+, thriller about the origins of the video game), "Murder Mystery 2" (netflix, movie sequel premiere), "Kill Boksoon" (netflix, Korean action-thriller, ~2hrs+20mins)

(streaming weekly): The Power (amazon, sci-fi series premiere, first 3 eps), DOM (amazon), Liaison (apple+, limited series finale), Hello Tomorrow! (apple+, penultimate), Extrapolations (apple+), My Kind of Country (apple+, penultimate), The Problem with Jon Stewart (apple+, "Searching for Allies"), Love Is Blind (netflix, next 3 eps), [note: Queen of the Universe (Para+) season 2 postponed until summer.]

(also new): "The Baby Swindler" (LIFE, original movie, 2hrs+), 2023 Gershwin Prize (PBS, "Joni Mitchell", 90mins)

(hour 1): S.W.A.T. (CBS), Shark Tank (ABC), Lopez vs. Lopez (NBC) /   / Grand Crew (NBC), Penn & Teller: Fool Us (theCW), Secrets of Sulphur Springs (disney) /   / Saturdays (disney, 60mins, new timeslot), RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV, 90mins), Power Book II: Ghost (Starz)

(hour 2): Fire Country (CBS), Whose Line Is It Anyway? (theCW, clip-show special) /   / The Great American Joke-Off (theCW, team competition premiere), Saturdays (disney, contd) /   / Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (disney), RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV, contd) /   / Untucked (MTV, season 11 finale), The UnXplained (HIST, season 5 opener), Party Down (Starz, ~40mins, season 3 finale) /   / Minx (Starz, ~35mins)

(hour 3): Blue Bloods (CBS), Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO), The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist (MTV)

(hour 4 - latenight): Game Theory with Bomani Jones (HBO, season 2 finale)

[laresearchette]

Friday, March 31, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: EVA THE OWLET (Apple TV +) TETRIS (Apple TV +) RYE LANE (Disney + Star) DIE HART 2: DIE HARTER (The Roku Channel) THE UNHEARD (Shudder)

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT? THE GREAT AMERICAN JOKE OFF (CW Feed) WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? (CW Feed) 2023 GERSHWIN PRIZE (PBS Feed) THE UNXPLAINED  (TBD - History Canada)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA THE POWER (Season 1)

CBC GEM BIG MUSIC — CBC NEWS EXPLORE

CRAVE TV THE COURIER ELLIOT THE LITTLEST REINDEER FIREBIRD GUEST OF HONOUR LAST OF THE GIANTS (Season 2) MONSTER’S BALL POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING

DISNEY + STAR DOOGIE KAMEALOHA, M.D. (Season 2) PROM PACT RYE LANE

NETFLIX CANADA COPYCAT KILLER KILL BOKSOON LOVE IS BLIND (Season 4) MURDER MYSTERY 2

NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (TSN4/TSN5) 7:00pm: Final Four - LSU vs. Virginia Tech (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 9:30pm: Final Four - Iowa vs. South Carolina

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 7:00pm: Rangers vs. Sabres (TSN2) 8:00pm: Red Wings vs. Jets (SNWest/SNEast/SNPacific/SNOntario) 10:00pm: Flames vs. Canucks

NBA BASKETBALL (SN1) 7:00pm: Raptors vs. 76ers (SN1) 7:30pm: Hawks vs. Nets (TSN2) 8:00pm: Lakers vs. Timberwolves (SN1) 10:00pm: Spurs vs. Warriors

CANADIAN FILM FEST (Super Channel Fuse) 7:00pm: BLOOM: Bloom delves into the world of today's teenage girls observing a hyper-connected but lonely generation inhabited by lucidity, an inner struggle with self-image obsession, and a need for self-affirmation in the face of a complex sense of alienation.

9:00pm: RETROGRADE: A minor traffic citation spirals into an all-consuming obsession for a neurotic young woman.

MARKETPLACE (CBC) 8:00pm (SEASON FINALE) - Housing Heist: Seniors Scammed out of their Homes: Seniors at risk of losing their homes after they say they were tricked into high-interest mortgages they did not want and cannot afford.

A NASHVILLE LEGACY (W Network) 8:00pm: When Naima meets Damian after she moves to Nashville to uncover secrets about an undiscovered music group, they begin sharing their love for music and their desire to leave their respective marks on the world.

PUSH (CBC) 8:30pm: Riccardo tests his new piano pedal invention in preparation for a big concert; a medical emergency scares Brian and Vic.

THE NATURE OF THINGS (CBC) 9:00pm: Woodpeckers: The Hole Story: Inside the secret and rhythmic world of one of nature’s best woodworkers

THE SPENCER SISTERS (CTV) 9:00pm: Darby and Victoria are hired by the director of an elite music academy to recover a priceless stolen violin.

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF DURBAN (Slice) 9:00pm: MaKhumalo makes a grand entrance, but it's unclear if the ladies are impressed.

FIREBIRD (Crave) 9:00pm: At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet air force base.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm: The Search for Theresa Allore's Killer:  Homocide analyst John Allore tirelessly probes unsolved murders in his ultimate quest to uncover the fate of his sister, Theresa, found dead in Quebec's Eastern Townships region in 1979.

[zoequeenz]

Won’t Get Fooled Again (Part 2)

MASTERLIST

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

3rd Person POV

At the hospital Reid and Gideon are questioning Mr.Clurman.

“What can you tell us about the package, Mr.Clurman?” Gideon asks.

“I thought I knew what it was. Pot for an orchid. I collect them. I ordered the pot through the mail.” he explains.

“Why didn’t you take it inside?” Gideon asks another question.

“It was for my office. I was going there anyway. Thought I’d take it with me. That’s the last thing I remember.” Mr. Clurman answered.

“You had an argument with Joe Reese. Do you remember that?” Gideon asks, continuing the questioning.

“Joe was there?” Mr.Clurman asks.

“He was angry, he accused you of blowin’ him off.” Gideon told him.

“Uh....” Mr. Clurman couldn’t remember.

“Any reason he’d want to hurt you?” Gideon asks instead of pressing further if he could remember him being there.

“Joe? No. I mean, He’s a confrontational guy, but if he wanted to kill me, he’d just beat me to death.” he told Gideon.

Mr.Clurman then exclaims in pain.

“A lot of people were angry about that deal fallin apart, and they were angry at you.”

Mr.Clurman looks at Gideon confused.

“I don’t know how does that make you feel?”

“I felt awful. I thought those condos would make a lot of money for a lot of people, myself included. I thought that geologist was legit. He didn’t even take samples. He scammed us.” he says defeated.

“All those investors who lost their money… Barbara.”

“Barbara Keller?” Gideon asks.

“The first victim.” Reid states.

“What about her?” Gideon asks Mr.Clurman.

“It’s just such a shame. Such a nice lady, you know?” Mr. Clurman answers.

“It was such an easy sale. Sometimes...I felt like I took advantage of her because she’s old and lonely. Now, she’s dead. Well… I feel terrible.”

“OW!” he exclaims. It was his foot. However, it wasn’t there anymore.

“I’ll get you some help.” Gideon says leaving.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Persephone Chase’s POV

After finding the tool box with what seemed to be filled with things to build a bomb, Hotch, Elle, and I went back in to look around the house. Elle was looking at some of the Clurman’s photos while Hotch and I were in the kitchen. Suddenly, Hotch’s phone rang.

From what little I could hear Clurman wasn’t the bomber. Just as Hotch hangs up Elle walks in with a photo.

“Look at this. This is their nephew in Texas. And according to Mrs.Clurman, he was staying with them for a month and left last week.” she tells us.

“Mercury switches are a little sophisticated for a twelve year old kid.” Hotch tells her.

“I’m not saying he’s the unsub, but boys his age like to blow stuff up.” Elle counters.

“I’ll call Morrison. He’ll contact local PD in Texas. He’ll pick up the kid and talk to him.” Hotch says.

Elle and I walk away as he calls Morrison.

“Kids these days are so odd.” I say and Elle laughs.

“I mean I don’t remember any of the boys I grew up with blowing stuff up.”

“Must be those video games.” Elle jokes.

We share a laugh. Elle’s starting to grow on me.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

3rd Person POV

As Morgan works on the bomb, Garcia sits playing a video game.

“You know, a watched bomb never assembles.” Garcia tells Morgan.

Morgan huffs in frustration “I’m down to the last few pieces, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out how they fit together or if they fit together.”

Garcia listens but still is playing her game.

“They might not even be a part of the bomb at all.” Morgan adds.

“What’s the big deal?” Garcia asks.

“You got most of it. I’d give you a B plus.”

Morgan laughs “Thanks.”

“The big deal is it could be part of his signature.”

“Ooh, signature, like a sign of the zodiac, that kinda thing?” Garcia asks.

“Yeah. Yeah, just like that.” Morgan responds jokingly.

“I was serious. I really wanted to learn that time.” Garcia says shoving Morgan.

“Signature’s the thing that they get off on, you know, like a flourish. You know, a certain kind of pipe, a certain mix of powders. Like the Unabomber, he always used something wood in his bombs.” he explains.

“I mean, I don’t know...I mean, these guys,they think they are artists or something, so they sign their work.”

“And you think by putting these last pieces together, you might find the signature?” Garcia asks.

“Yeah, and...see, sometimes the design itself is unique, so once we do put it all together, we can compare it to other exemplars in our evidence database and see if the bomb was built by somebody we may have already come across.” Morgan explains.

“What?”

“If there was another piece like this…”Garcia starts.

“No, I tried that. It doesn’t fit.” Morgan says.

“No, it could’ve been part of a longer rod that fit through the top and went all the way through.” Garcia finishes poking a wood rod through the rebuilt bomb. Morgan looks at her in shock.

“Tetris.” she says.

“Damn it.” Morgan sighs rubbing his face.

“What? Did I mess something up?” she asks worried.

“No. No, no, Garcia.” he answers.

“You nailed it. I know who built this bomb. The guy’s doing life in federal prison.”

Morgan moves to get up as Garcia stares at him in disbelief. He goes to the phone to dial Hotch.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Persephone Chase’s POV

Just as we were on the way back to the police department, Derek called Hotch and told him he knew who the bomber was. He also said he would send photos of the finished bomb to us so we could look at what we were dealing with. Just as we arrived so did Gideon and Spencer. We all met up before we got in so Hotch could fill Gideon in, I immediately went to Spencer. We didn’t say anything just smiled real big at each other and began to follow the rest of the team in. Sometimes, I didn’t need to say anything just being around him was good enough. We walked into a private office and Hotch got out a laptop.

“Morgan emailed these over. The three on the left are the bombs from yesterday. The one on the right’s from the evidence room at Quantico.” Hotch announces as we all crowd around the screen.

“They’re all identical. Made with steel reinforcement rods.” Spencer says.

“Adrian Bale.” Gideon announces.

“Who?” asks Detective Morrison.

“He held our agents in a standoff in Boston last year. He took out six agents and a hostage with one of his bombs.” Hotch explained.

“So you’re thinking he’s behind this?” Elle asks.

“Possibly.” Spencer answers.

“But, he’s in prison.” I add.

“He’s got kind of a cult following, like Charles Manson. It could just be a copycat.” Spencer adds.

“There’s one way to find out. Let’s put the screws to this guy.” Morrison says.

“ No, no, no. Bale’s too smart. If we want information from him, we have to handle him carefully, and even then you have to assume that road will lead nowhere.” Gideon tells us.

“You’re saying the connection to Bale doesn’t help us at all?” Morrison asks.

“No. I’m just saying let us handle Bale.” Gideon responds.

“Look, we just heard from local Texas PD. You were right about Clurman’s nephew. He admitted the bomb stuff was his, which is great for the Clurman’s, but it leaves us with zero suspects. So what do you suggest my men do now?” Morrison asks.

“Proceed from the profile.” Gideon says matter of factly.

“I didn’t know we had a profile.” Morrison says.

Gideon tells Morrison to round up his men. We all meet up in their bullpen to go over the profile. While Gideon paces, Hotch stands to the side, Elle stands to my left, and Spencer and I sit next to each other on a desk. It was nice to be next to him. We were so close but there was only maybe an inch between us. Maybe I could slowly move closer while Gideon is talking to touch shoulders. Goodness did I sound like a high schooler. But I can’t help it, he’s just too darn cute.

“When we’re dealing with a bomber we’re talking about someone who’s non-confrontational. If you bumped into him in a cafe, he’d apologize. Even if it wasn’t his fault.” Gideon starts.

“We would classify this bomber as highly organized based on the meticulous design of his bombs. It means above average intelligence. He probably has a skilled job, a trade, one that allows him to work alone. That’s how he was able to make a sophisticated device without raising suspicion. Furniture maker, jeweler, etcetera.” Hotch explains.

“Background in explosives?” asks Morrison.

“No, not necessarily. You’re thinking about a type that likes to blow things up. Gives them an emotional or sexual release. Death? Secondary.” Gideon explains.

“Then what’s this guy doing?” an officer asks.

“Murdering.” Gideon bluntly answers.

“Bombs? Just weapons. And these attacks, they are not random.”

“Well, how do you know that?” another officer questions.

“By process of elimination. We know bombers fall into a discreet number of categories according to motive. There’s the terrorist whose aim is to spread fear. We expect him to strike in a populous area like a subway. There’s the politically motivated bomber. He makes a statement by choosing a symbolic target like an abortion clinc. Then there’s our unsub. He made bombs designed to kill and he chose his victims specifically by placing the bombs at their stoops. That tells us he has a direct motive. Statistically, he bombs for profit or to conceal a crime.  And it tells us how we’re going to find him. Through the people he killed.” Hotch explained.

“Somewhere among the three victims, there is a direct motive. Keep digging.” Gideon says.

“Thanks.” Hotch says closing the meeting.

“If you have any questions, we’ll be around.”

Gideon then tells us he will be going to the prison to talk to Bale. Gideon asked Spencer to come with him. So as he was collecting his bag I said goodbye. Bale was an interesting man and what if he tried to hurt my Spency. I mean I doubt that Gideon would let him near the man but I was still worried.

“Be careful okay, I don’t know who I’m gonna have movie night Friday’s with.” I say to him.

“Don’t worry Percy. I’m a big boy. I’m also in the FBI in case you didn’t notice.” he responds.

I laugh “Whatever, stay safe. See ya when you get back.” I say then kiss his cheek quickly turning around and walking away to hide my blush. Hotch, Elle, JJ, and I all stay back to work on finding a suspect. We are sitting in a private board room to have a bit more quiet when JJ walks in.

“How we doing?” she asks.

“Frustrated.” Elle responds.

“I can’t see why anyone would want to kill a little old lady who collects cats and coins.”

“Unless somebody wanted the coins.” Hotch says.

“I spent a good chunk of my childhood looking for a 1994 penny worth thousands.”

We all stop and look at him. This was something I could maybe see Hotch doing. It was cute. When he realizes we’ve stopped working he looks up.

“Yes, I was a little bit of a nerd. Is that so surprising?” he asks.

I shake my head with a small smile as Elle says “Not to me.” as she gives JJ and I a look that says “not at all”. Then the phone rings. It's Derek with new information for us.

“Morgan?” Hotch asks.

“Yeah. I just got the lab results from the powder residues on the bombs. Ammonia nitrate, potassium chloride, and aluminum powder. Nobody uses that mixture, Hotch.” Derek explains.

“Nobody but Bale.” Hotch fires back.

“That’s right. And the closer I look at these things, the more they’re the same. Same weld pattern,  same switch assembly, same thread sizing. It’s weird, man.” Derek informs us.

“This guy’s not building bombs, he’s forging them. That’s the other reason I’m calling you. Bale wrote addresses on his packages in block letters with blue ink. I’m thinking our guy’s doing the same.”

“Ok. I’ll set up a press conference, make sure the public knows.” JJ says texting on her phone.

“Thanks, Morgan.” Hotch says hanging up.

Just as he was done with that call his phone rings and he steps away for a second while Elle and I continue to work.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

3rd Person POV at U.S. Penitentiary

Adrian Bale sits in his cell when his name is called. He has a visitor.

“You know why I’m here?” Gideon asks the man.

“This guy in Palm Beach, right?” Bale answers shrugging.

“The Palm Beach bomber. Somebody’s got to give him a better name.”

Gideon sighs “He uses your bombs, your designs.”

“Well, he should be careful. Those things are dangerous.” he says nonchalantly.

“Adrian...you can’t fool me.” Gideon says.

“If you’re involved in this in any way and you do not help me, I will make your life even worse than it is now.”

“Oh, but no, actually, I can fool you because I fooled you before. And now there’s another me out there, watching, waiting.” Bale responds.

NEXT CHAPTER

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #454

Top Ten Launch Games 

Oooh, it’s finally here!  

By the time you read this, the Xbox Series X/S consoles will be out, and the PlayStation 5 will be imminent if not already with us. At the time of writing I’ve yet to sample either console, although hopefully that will soon change. However, it’s a bit of a weird console launch, especially for Xbox owners, as there’s not much in the way of actual launch titles. PlayStation has the excellent-looking technical showcase (in that it shows off their sexy new controller, if not necessarily the excesses of the console’s visual prowess) Astro’s Playroom. But on the Xbox side, the only genuine first-party exclusive (not including the port of rather smashing PC title Gears Tactics) was to be the troubled Halo Infinite, which has now been pushed to next year to deal with some of its apparent graphical deficiencies. For what it’s worth, as a Halo fan, I thought the actual gameplay presented looked as good as it always has, so I’m still very excited, but it’s a shame not to sample something genuinely new and shiny at launch. For me, then – as someone not getting a PlayStation this year – I’m going to have to contend myself with updated versions of older games, and hopefully something like the really exciting-looking The Falconeer or, eventually, Cyberpunk 2077.  

Of course, it’s not always been like this; in the past, a landmark game has often been the core reason to upgrade to a new console. Certain titles have defined their hardware platforms, offering a taste of the experiences to come, be it through revolutionary control systems, previously-unimaginable graphics, or simply by shattering preconceptions and expectations. As such, this weekend I’m celebrating my favourite launch titles. 

Now, a couple of my usual caveats. I’ve hardly owned any consoles in the grand scheme of things; I was a computer gamer until the launch of the first Xbox, and even then was PC-first until about midway through the 360’s life. As such I came to a lot of these late, or played them on friends’ systems. I’m sure a videogame historian would give you another list, one that was able to put each title into its historical perspective. For my part, I’m mostly basing it on how much I like the game, but I am also trying to weight it in terms of its “importance”. I mean, one of my favourite “launch titles” of all time would be Lego Marvel Super Heroes on the Xbox One/PS4, but that seems a bit of a ridiculous game to call a launch title, especially as it doesn’t really show off the hardware or define the generation in any particular way. I just think it rocks. So I’m trying to judge it also in terms of how effective a given game was at being a launch title, as well as my personal preference; as such, some games, which I think are more emblematic of their time or their hardware, might end up higher in the list than if I was otherwise just ranking my favourites.  

Christ, that was boring. Look, here are ten games that I like that came out when a console came out. Have at it. 

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox, 2001): it’s not just that it made playing an FPS on a console as comfortable and enjoyable as on PC, but it revolutionised what an FPS could do. Expansive open landscapes, dynamic combat with intelligent enemies, an ingenious shield/health combo, two weapons, drivable vehicles, and frankly outstanding graphics. And for Xbox – a curious underdog, a big black sheep devoid of cool or class and feeling like Microsoft was trying to buy its way into the console space with a hefty dose of brute force – here was something unique, something incredible. I don’t think anyone quite expected Halo, and it’s arguable that it single-handedly changed not only Microsoft and Xbox’s fortunes but the entire game industry too.  

Wii Sports (Wii, 2005): the Wii was this strange outlier, a tiny white box that eschewed the grunt and girth of its rivals, and seemingly built around its unique motion controller. Would it work? Wii Sports proved that yes it would, a delightful bundle of games that perfectly showed what the console and controller could do. Immense fun in and of itself, but the Wii’s ability to lower the barrier of entry to non-gamers meant that your dad could thrash your brother at bowling. And that is a thing to cherish forever. 

Tetris (GameBoy, 1989): depending on where you look, Tetris may just be the best-selling game of all time. It’s on everything now, from the Xbox Series X to your watch. But there was a time when “Tetris” meant “GameBoy”; that four-colour greenscreen box of wonder that everybody had but me. It was beyond ubiquitous, and its short-form nature and simplistic styling made it ideal for the portable console, its chirpy and iconic music sounding perfect coming from those tiny speakers. And above all else, of course, Tetris is fantastic, one of the greatest games of all time. It was a perfect marriage of software and hardware. 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, 2017): so here’s the thing: I like Zelda, but I’ve never fallen in love with it. I didn’t grow up with it, so coming to Ocarina of Time, there were too many old-fashioned trappings in the way; it just didn’t feel as enthralling or as fun to play as, say, Half-Life or Deus Ex. BOTW changed that; the limitations were gone, the world was blown wide open. It no longer felt like an 80s game in three dimensions, it felt new. Better than new – it felt like tomorrow. Despite the Switch being graphically weaker than its contemporaries, BOTW was and is simply gorgeous to look at, but it’s how it plays, how it feels like a vast but real world, how it has its own rules and they make sense instantly. It’s the greatest open world game of all time, and emergent physics sandbox, and yet it’s still unquestionably Zelda, emphatically Nintendo. Okay, it technically came out on the Wii U at the same time, but who the hell played that? This was the game that made you want a Switch.  

Super Mario 64 (N64, 1997): this is often the game people cite as being one of the great revolutionary launch titles, but I must confess its charms were lost to me at first. Taking what was great about Mario and converting it expertly into 3D was a heck of a feat; graphically for the time it certainly impressed in the scale of its worlds, and whilst back then I felt it lacked the detail and granularity of some PC titles, in retrospect it was a perfectly-suited art style, offering smooth textures even when right up close. But it was its precise controls and the open, hub-based nature of its worlds that was revolutionary; many games aped its style, but it took a long time before anything really matched it.  

Hexic HD (Xbox 360, 2005): not every game here has to be some genre-busting graphical powerhouse; they can be simple but quietly revolutionary. Hexic HD is a terrific puzzle game with a simple hook, brilliantly executed, and enough intrigue and nuance to keep you coming back for one more go, to beat your high score, to get to the next tricksy level. But the time and manner of its release, and what that signified, marked it out as something more important. It was the first Xbox Live Arcade title; Microsoft’s curated gallery of smaller, more indie-flavoured games. More than that, it was free, coming pre-installed on all Xbox 360 Pros (the ones with the removable hard drive). It was a taste of what was to come, introducing audiences not only to the idea of playing these kinds of smaller, less intense games on a console, but also the idea of purchasing and downloading them digitally. It was great and ground-breaking in equal measure.  

WipEout (PlayStation, 1995): I kinda missed the PlayStation generation. I was still, more or less, in my PC-centric “consoles are toys” mindset (which I wouldn’t fully shake off till the release of the N64). But I came to appreciate its qualities as a cool, exciting, super-fast futuristic racer. I’m pretty sure it’s not the first 3D hover-car racing game, but it was presented in such a groovy package that it ticket all the boxes, and helped show off just what the PlayStation was capable of in terms of its 3D graphics and CD sound. And, of course, it helped define the console as being a bit more edgy and grown-up than the previous Nintendo and Sega stalwarts. 

Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1988): what can be said about one of the most iconic games of all time? Mario Bros defined not only a console, not only a generation, but arguably an entire artform. Creating what we now know as a platform game, it expanded and surpassed the basic template of Donkey Kong into a roaming adventure, part twitch-gaming reaction test, part puzzle game. I played a lot of copycat games on my Amiga, but even then, as a whiny computer brat, I knew that Mario was better. Even when my cousins got a MegaDrive and Sonic, I knew – deep in my heart – that Mario was better. It's a deep game, an endlessly replayable game, a supremely fair game despite its difficulty. I think it’s hard to overstate just how good, or how influential, Mario was. 

Project Gotham Racing (Xbox, 2001): I tried hard to pick a different platform for every game in this list, but I couldn’t exclude PGR. This may be tied up with my biography a little bit, but my other half and I played this game to death. I never think of myself as a big racer fan, but every once in a while a title comes out that I just really, really get into – Jaguar XJ220 on the Amiga, Midtown Madness on PC, the Forza Horizon series nowadays – and PGR did that in spades. A gorgeous arcade racer, it was a great launch title to show off the sheer grunt of the Xbox; then, as now, the most powerful console on the market. It also offered a terrific four-player split-screen. But its Kudos feature – borrowed from semi-prequel Metropolis Street Racer – offered ways to win outside of sheer racing graft, awarding cool driving. I still love the original, and I kinda wish they’d bring back or reimagine its city-based driving for a future release or Forza spin-off. 

Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (PSP, 2004): okay, so this is a bit of a cheat as I've barely played the original PSP version, but Lumines is just phenomenal; the best moving-blocks-around game since Tetris, and probably the most influential one since then too (for the record, I've played it extensively on multiple other platforms). An excellent spin on a Tetris-a-like, its use of music and colour made it a beautiful, brilliant sensory experience. With Sony entering the handheld market, the PSP needed a USP, something vibrant and cool that suited a portable experience, and Lumines provided it in spades; also its funky visuals and music was a good fit for Sony’s brand.  

Well, that was fun, and a lot harder than I expected. If you’re enjoying a new console this Christmas, then hopefully you’ll have fun with one of the new launch titles too – even if I doubt any (apart from maybe Astro) would trouble a list like this in the future (although I do think The Falconeer looks all kinds of cool). 

[demonbunny5]

autistic rant about video game history coming up feel free to scroll past if u dont give a fuck:

“The Crash” of 83 tends to get treated like some sort of Chicxulub impact-tier event in the gaming world, but in actuality was way smaller than people make it out to be. It was entirely localized to American made TV-based consoles, which, while they were a decent chunk of the market at the time, were nowhere near the entire thing.

Consoles in Japan kept on going like nothing happened. They don’t even call it “The Crash” in Japan they call it “Atari Shock” because most of the other copycat home consoles that fucked up the American market never got enough traction to make it over there. The NES and Sega’s first console the SG-1000 both literally released in 1983, and they both exploded in popularity during the years of the “crash.”

PC gaming was also perfectly fine. Part of the reason people dropped consoles in 83 was specifically because home computers like the commodore had better graphics, better sound, more intricate games, and could do more than just play video games.

This was also a point in time where arcades were still a thing, and they were another major contributor. A lot of people saw how shitty console ports looked (yes this was a issue back then) compared to their arcade counterparts and decided it wasn’t worth dropping the equivalent of $800 - $1000 in today’s money on a home console when they could just spend a couple quarters at their local arcade/movie theater/laundromat/etc when they wanted to play something. 

In 1983, Wizardy 3 came out, and a young Japanese programmer named Yuji Horii happened to play it at an american PC gaming show, fundamentally changing the entire modern cultural landscape of Japan when he used it as the inspiration for Dragon Quest a few years later.

In 1984, directly in the middle of the crash, the first version of tetris was released in the USSR, and has probably been ported to more devices than Skyrim and Doom combined.

Credit where credit is due to nintendo and ROB for figuring out how to reinvigorate the console market in the US, but “saved” it isn’t really the right word for it. Consoles were selling like fucking hotcakes in Japan and it was only a matter of time until they made the hop back over the pacific. Even if they didn’t, PC games continued to thrive all the way through the crash. The gaming landscape would certainly look different today if somehow consoles never made it over here in the 30+ years since then, but the gaming industry as a whole would be and have been perfectly fine, just different. You could even make an argument that we’re literally in the modern equivalent of a crash right now. Aside from Xbox, the only consoles coming out of america right now are android bullshit like the Ouya and Stadia, which are selling like dogshit. It hasn’t brought the industry to a grinding halt, it just means nobody wants to develop games for those systems. 

I think part of the reason the crash gets treated like such a big deal is because the people who care enough about obscure video game history to talk about it are generally americans looking at it from an american perspective. (which is a whole can of worms that I absolutely will not be opening)

Thanks R.O.B.!💜

You weren’t the hero we deserve, but you were the hero we needed!

🤖🎮

[killfaeh]

[English] Feedback about Japan Expo 2018

Hello, everybody! After a little rest well deserved, it is time to make a feedback about Japan Expo 2018 !

There are many things to tell, I don't really know where to start. If you follow me on the social networks, you may have seen me grumbling before and during the convention. Indeed, this year has been a difficult one. But in the end, the result is positive. :D I was stressed a lot before the JE because I had trouble finishing new content for the event (not finished new comics, not sure to receive the new posters and new postcards in time and the holographic paper to make my little holocards that arrived only Friday night, at the half of the JE). So I started the expo tired from day one. ^^' Friday was the most difficult day. Because of the very bad revenue (buddies didn't understand at all), the holographic paper that arrives late, the printer that has no ink left and one of the only cards I can make ruined, I started to doubt that I would be able to reimburse my expenses. ^^' It was much better the other days and it's also largely thanks to the buddies who came to help me in one way or another. I owe you a big favor and I am truly touched by your solidarity. Thank you friends! =D In the end, after doing the books, I realize that I did not do so badly and that I managed to reimburse all my expenses this year. It is the first JE during which I success to do it. I'm happy. x) Making Japan Expo profitable is quite hard, so we don't really know if we'll have a stand next year, and if so, it will probably be in the passion section.

It is not easy to get people's attention in the amateur section. There is a lot of competition and we play Tetris to showcase our work on very small stands. And Steven is posing like a bad guy. x)

All difficulties and my mood which moved on a roller coaster put aside, Japan Expo remains a nice moment because we find there a whole bunch of friends that we do not have (or not often) the opportunity to see otherwise (Ouv, Maina, Jérôme, Benjamin, Hakim, Olivia...), without forgetting all the friends of Drink'N'Draw. It is also always an opportunity to meet and get to know new people, especially those we already knew online and that we can recognize by their nickname or their art x) (Laora and Josette) and our stand neighbours, Ange N' Ko who were very good company. :D And let's not forget the little Saturday dinner with friends (Steven, Therry, Ouv, Jérôme, Benjamin) which was a welcome break and a pleasure. :)

About Customs

For several years now, customs have been raiding Japan Expo to track down counterfeiting on the stands, and this year it made a lot of noise. What happend? Customs did its job, but applied the law more strictly than usual at the request of the licenses owners. Then rumours swelled and distorted the facts, you know the principle of the chinese whispers. We have heard that they only attack amateurs cowardly and stories about organized theft disguised as fake customs. As you can imagine, there are fakes in there. The facts. Not only amateur stands were affected. Customs seized counterfeit goods in dubious import shops. But because it is a usual fact we don't talk about it, we only mention the spectacular ones. The amateur stands were right next to the shop stands, amateur goodies were also seized and destroyed. These are fanarts, including Pokémon (badges, stickers, keychains). But according to the customs photos, these fan products are close enough to the original to be confused by the uninitiated with official products and my sources indicates that the targeted stands had already been spotted selling their products online before JE. I was exhibiting myself on the amateur section and I didn't see customs in our alley. Customs also intervened on the side of passion stands. I know many witnesses. No less than 6 stands of this sector were owned by friends or at least people I know. Who was targeted? In the passion section, some stands doing mainly fanarts were touched but not all. The stands that were affected were stands which offered exclusively fanarts and work copied or even traced from official visuals. It is called plagiarism. The fanart stands that were spared, on the other hand, offered works that were strongly reinterpreted with a personal style and new compositions and could not be confused with official products or visuals. If the law is strictly applied, they can be prosecuted too. But licenses owners are more tolerant about artists who take the trouble to learn to draw and offer a new and personnal vision of their licences. It's still dangerous because they can change their minds overnight and decide to prosecute any form of fanart at any time. It depends on their goodwill. So, the facts have been exagerated, people have got carried away imagining the poor little artist cowardly attacked when in fact, it is really counterfeits, plagiarists and goodies of fans marketed in a little too professionnal way that have been targeted. Things that cannot be defended. The raiding was legitimate and dotted the i's and crossed the t's of pseudo artists who practiced unfair competition towards those who take the trouble to master their art and develop a style and a personal universe. I hope that what has happened this year will discourage copycats and plagiarists from strutting around in this kind of event and leave more place for authentic creative people who take the trouble to bring something new. :D

I think I said everything about the Japan Expo. As usual, it's physically very difficult, I collapsed on my bed again to take a looooonnnnnnng nap yesterday afternoon. Now it's time to get back to good habits and a normal pace of life. I go back working on the Space Wizard McKcarell and Dragon Cat's Galaxia 1/2 pages and I'll give you a report about the progress of this very, very soon. :) Have a good day and see you soon ! :D Suisei - Killfaeh

Source : http://suiseipark.com/News/Entry/id/147/language/english/

[stargleeksil-blog]

I’ve managed to do a few in one sitting, so I decided to be extra nice. Here ya go, folks - Criminal Minds s01e03 Won’t Get Fooled Again review

Episode 03 – Won’t Get Fooled Again

Ok, let’s get started on episode 3. So from the title alone I can guess it has to do with the background of one of the characters. Sounds yummy. Let’s go.

We start with a guy creepily staring at another guy’s house while listening to the weather report … and I’m not liking the odds with that heat figures.

And we’re located in Palm Beach, Florida this time, exotic and high end… impressive.

You know, for a businessman he’s being awfully stalkerish, gives me the creeps. Also, the guy who is being stalked is the dad from “Even Stevens” LOL so good to have throwbacks.

Oh, wow! That was unexpected! It just went boom!

And Even Steven’s dad is on fire and screaming bloody murder. Yeesh. I hoped it was gonna be ok this time.

Five bombs??? That’s insane!!!

How the hell does Derek know all about bombs? He’s even more intriguing than I thought. A lovely wrapping on a lovelier package, mmm (smacking lips)

And a bomb just went off on a live news report, awesome PR for the bomber, no doubt.

And show’s intro – still pissed Kirsten isn’t in it. Oh wait, she’s a guest star???? What??? Oh God, I’m gonna have to keep up with this show to see her become a series regular. Oh boy.

Someone should explain what ATF means.

And Derek is still doubting Gideon’s capability in the field? What? Oh well, I guess it’s for the best cuz I trust that fictional man with all my heart.

Samuel Johnson: “Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.” – does that mean this episode has a copycat? Whoa, talk about foreshadowing!!!!

Aww Penelope’s cute cluelessness around the bomb is so amazingly adorable.

“Garcia, what are you doing in the FBI?” “I didn’t get into medical school” “Why does that noy surprise me?” “Ouch! That’s what my father said seven years ago!”

Hahaha I love their banter. I’m so excited they get a scene all for themselves.

“You sound like Gideon,” “Ouch!”

God, I love those two.

Morgan explaining the mechanics of bombs should not be this arousing.

“Boom! See ya later, unsub.” – hopefully.

“What does that tell you about our unsub? “(looking nauseated) That he’s one sick puppy?” aww babycakes.

Um, if you don’t understand that the police and FBI are in your house you should get your head checked, please calm down lady, they’re trying to help.

Oh, lovely, anarchist? What the frick are they trying to prove here?

Oh wow, they messed up his leg real good for this episode, nice. But he’s huffed up on painkillers why is he still coherent? Hmm, that seems oddly suspicious.

OK, if a geologist isn’t taking samples, that should be a red flag, you moron. How the fuck can ou afford that bigass house and have the brain of a dead coyote?

Oh snap, so Elle found a picture of a kid, who is their nephew… but seriously? A kid making a bomb? What the hell? Also, if he’s coherent, how the fuck is he NOT a suspect? Am I missing something?

Penelope’s playing Tetris while Morgan’s trying to figure out the bomb, I’m dying here. Wow. Did she just solve it? She’s amazing. I love Penelope Garcia with all of my heart.

Yay, going into a different scene in Gideon’s head. I love when they do that. It always excites me.

So he gets off on murder? Ew.

Oh, they’re going to prison, baby.

Yeah, it’s a “shocker” that Hotchner was a nerd when he was a kid. Like he isn’t now.

Look, Bale is jail, of course it’s a copycat, of course it is! He’s a narcissistic asshole who can’t share his toys, so why the fuck would he send someone to do his Devine work?

Oh this guy is just bananas all over the charts! Whew. I’m getting dizzy just from listening to this whackjob.

Oh shit, the kid is holding a fucking bomb. Oh shit.

Oh my god, that’s excruciating to watch. Why let a girl hold a box that’s supposedly a bomb? Damn.

“Office of Supreme Genius Puzzle-Solving, do you have a riddle for me?” if I wasn’t being monitored I’d answer like that at my job.

Wow, the guys in prison can access the internet? Maybe prison isn’t all that bad … weird. Oh, wow, now Penelope is gonna lure him out with pornography? That sick little lady, I love her so much.

“Sexy willing teen hot for inmate” – could you be any more obvious? For a tech kitten, you’re not very kitteny.

186 emails from the guy in prison? They need to roll back the privileges. Come on.

Haha they just got onto the unsub.

“Don’t marry the first guy who proposes” – why the fuck would you tell a woman that?

“I hope he’s not committing suicide, I won’t be able to collect on life insurance” – that’s healthy, Mrs. Walker.

Oh crap! That guy just totally turned his wife into roadkill. What the fuck is going on with this show??

Guy was obsessed with Bale. Eek! Talk about creepy assholes.

Aww, look at Garcia making her lunch all organized.

And why is Derek getting down on her for not eating or sleeping? Not nice. But I love him all the same. Please never change, or I will be forced to mishandle you, mister.

“Uh-ho! Somebody’s been taking notes!” “Medical school, schmedical school” someone staple those two’s lips together already.

Also, I love their cute little hand thing they got going on.

“Forgeries valued into millions?” I got to get in on that. Damn.

Oh man. They just sent a hostage with a bomb on him. Oh crap! That just got serious real quick.

I can’t believe I can eat while watching this show. I guess I’m really desensitized now. Really hoped not to get to this point, but whatever.

Three hours to diffuse a bomb? Damn.

So they’re going to negotiate with a bomber? Oh man.

Aww, he’s got a bumper mirror on a selfie stick! You’re so resourceful, Hotch.

What? Now Bale is in contact with Walker? Oh boy. He’s gonna blow the whole thing up like the fourth of July. Get the hell out of there!!!!!

Phew. Only Walker got fried.

Wait, what? They’re gonna give him the option to get out of prison? For a bomb on a civilian? That’s cute.

Oh come on! He already said he made an error in the beginning of the episode, why the fuck does he have to be such a fucking prick?

Wow. He’s a definite sociopath. Seriously. Just slap the cuffs on him and lead him to his execution, come on! Ugh.

4 minutes to diffuse the bomb.

Wait. Bale told him red and Gideon says blue? Why the fuck did that asshole lie to him? Now he gets nothing anyway!

Oh damn Gideon is one teasing little bitch, and I love him for it.

 This was such an intense episode, I really hope they keep it up. As much as I grumble and grouse over the graphic imagery, I love this so much. I’ll see y’all tomorrow night (yup, it’s 9:30 pm over here) for Plain Sight, alright? Thanks to those who read this. Mwah <3

[quinnyandco]

I tried to put the questions in instead of just numbers but alack, too many questions, too little space. 2, 3, 8, 13, 14, 15, 19. And -- *copycatting*-- FOR ALL

THANKS THIS IS GONNA TAKE TWELVE YEARS 

2. Say your OC made a playlist on Spotify. What bands would be on that playlist? Any specific genres?

Berlin - He’s this weird mix between folksy stuff like Fleet Foxes and indie rock like Bastille. Lark - She would be blasting the Maroon 5 and Halsey through her car speakers, but also listening to stupid stuff like Bad Lip Reading songs on the down-low. Kes - 10 hours of Latin prayer chants, and her side playlist of random Florence + The Machine/Lana Del Rey/Daughter stuff that she listens to on private mode.Arthur - half his playlists have like one song in them, and it’s always something that you’d never actually figure that he’d listen to, and you’d be right because he hasn’t clicked on that playlist in 4 months. he makes his own music more than he listens to it. the playlists he does regularly use are for parties. lark also made him a playlist that he keeps meaning to listen to but somehow every time he clicks play, he never hears anything and then it’s over. Amber - doesn’t know what a spotify is, doesn’t care, has better things to do |Sitara - like, I WANT to listen to her playlist. because she’s one of those people who loves music but gets tired of it quickly, so she’s always finding new stuff and her playlists are a total mess. Every genre. It doesn’t matter what it is, she can find an occasion for it. Edward - a playlist containing nothing but “Be a Man” from Mulan on loop3. What kind of video games would they play? Any specific titles?Berlin - Lol okay, he was MADE for first-person shooters. But is he actually playing them? No. He’s playing those cute little flash games with bunnies hopping onto logs or something. Lark - Overwatch, because of the team-building element. She’ll usually only play video games in general if she’s with other people, except for the Sims which she’ll play alone if she needs character inspiration.Kes - Is somehow ridiculously good at the first-person shooters. This freaks her out. And she still doesn’t *get* the Sims but she plays it sometimes anyway because it’s fun to pretend to have a happy familyArthur - he will be HORRIBLE at anything he tries, unless he hyperfocuses on it, and then suddenly he is champion at everything and people refuse to play with him anymore. Amber - she’s really good at portal and she doesn’t even try to be. it just kind of happens. also she finds surgeon simulator to be horrendously inaccurate and she refuses to play it. Sitara - why on earth would you kill people in a video game when you could do it in real lifeEdward - DITTO. but he’s like, super good at tetris and doesn’t tell anyone. 

bonus: Nick plays Crossyroad. Don’t ask. he just does. 

8. How does your OC keep track of time? Do they have a planner? A calendar?

Berlin - He has a lot of people barking instructions at him, so he never really has the chance to forget what he’s doing or when he’s supposed to do it. But he’s naturally really organized so he’d probably have a planner otherwise. Lark - She’s usually on time because she hates to be late to the action or disappoint anyone counting on her. But sometimes she gets distracted by like, people on the street during her commute. Kes - time is a human construct, who needs it? the goddess will tell us when to leave and when to arrive. the moon spirits speak her truth into the ears of those who will listen Arthur - has owned approximately 500 planners in his life. it doesn’t matter how much he writes in them. he forgets they exist and is late anyway. Amber - has owned approximately 0 planners in her life. she is a perfect piece of ENTJ timekeeping. she doesn’t need a watch, or the sun, or you, probably. Sitara - has neatly plotted out her day, or hired someone to do it for her. Usually on time, but if she’s not, it’s because she decided it wasn’t worth her time to be there in the first place. Edward - is honestly more of a diva than sitara most of the time. he shows up if he wants to show up. you can’t tell him where to be. 

13. If you are an artist, and if your OC can draw as well, could you replicate what their artstyle looks like? Or, if you can’t, could you describe it?

Berlin - once he smeared some blood on a rock and called it art Lark - doodles on the margins of reports and discarded typewriter pages. Is better than she thinks she is but’ll never do anything with it. Kes - paints and writes all over the walls of her shed. No specific style; she’ll try anything you’ll teach her. Arthur - Cannot draw, doesn’t try Amber - wouldn’t actually be bad at it if she’d just sit down and learn for like five minutes Sitara - Has developed her skill over the years and is probably the only character I have who could actually paint your portrait and would gladly do it. Edward - what is paint. it has the word pain on it. is it like that 

14. If your OC owned a Tumblr blog, what kind of content would they post?

Berlin - I actually have a private blog for Berlin and it is entirely pictures of snakes, jackets, bunnies, and depressing quotes. Lark - She has two blogs–one for her professional stuff, and the other for maximum memeing and opinion pieces. Sometimes she mixes them up and her professional people get a horrible wake-up call as to her sense of humor. Kes - Meditations, uses it as her personal journal, a little bit of a SJW when she’s tired. accidently follows a NSFW blog because she thought they just wanted to be her friend and she didn’t look at the content first.  Arthur - if there was ever a theme, it died long ago. also he might still be confusing facebook with tumblr because the colors are too similar. forgot his password. Amber - queen of throwing shade to people. has 2000 followers and she doesn’t know why because she didn’t ask them to be there. why are 2000 people following a blog about sutures. surely they have lives. leaves arthur to answer her hate mail, and answers serious asks from medical students if she feels generous. Sitara - KITTY PIX Edward - I tried to ask him what he’d have on his blog and he just looked at me really scarily and i stopped asking. 

15. How do they type? Do they use emojis? Do abbreviate and shorten words?

Berlin - if he likes you, he doesn’t care. you’re getting whatever he’s dishing out at that particular moment (this includes random bouts of existentiality that you never asked for). Lark - Always has the perfect word for every situation. Understands emojis and internet speak the day it emerges on Tumblr. probably started the “me, an intellectual” meme. gif queen. Kes - doesn’t know why you’d type when you could just….talk to people?Arthur - Autocorrect is NOT his friend. But he never corrects autocorrect because by the time he realizes his mistake he’s already forwarded it to you and your boss and your aunt. He and Lark have gif wars.Sitara - Doesn’t even have a phone because someone would probably find a way to hack it and she is NOT being taken out by a camera phone scandal. Amber - Only answers texts at 2 AM. Perfect grammar. Has never used an emoji in her life. Deletes them if they automatically show up. Edward - you texted him once, and he replied telling you exactly where you could stick your texting. you were never brave enough to contact him again.  

19. Does your OC like to collect things? What kind of things do they collect?

Berlin - he picks up rocks sometimes, and then puts them back because they might be some convict’s soul and he’s not in the mood to cart around convict souls in his pockets.Lark - she has an entire drawer full of feathers. she picks them up off the sidewalk every time she sees one while she’s out walking. she also has a pen collection and a playbill collection from all the shows she’s been to. she draws mustaches on the ones she didn’t like. Kes - hordes books. also doesn’t really have any books. but if she had money and a house she’d have a lot of books.Arthur - he’s got a touch of kleptomania about him so he’s inadvertently stolen every pen that anyone has ever given him. I guess that counts. (Some of them are from Lark’s collection, and if she’s noticed, she hasn’t asked for them back)Amber - does not see the point of useless junk hanging around. just clean up your life. Sitara - she has a collection of pawprints (ink pressed onto paper) from every cat she has ever owned/cared for. they’re in a little drawer in her room and she looks through them whenever she misses them. Edward - do scars count because he has a lot of those and they don’t seem to be stopping. 

If you’re not too mad at me for clogging up your feed, send me an OC ask here! 

[businessliveme]

Billionaire Brothers Crush It With Gaming Powerhouse Playrix

Almost two decades ago, in a remote Russian city best known for its butter and linen, two brothers shared a bedroom and a Pentium 100-powered computer they used to code their first game.

Wall Street wants a piece of what they’ve built since.

Playrix has met with some of the biggest banks “and visited their skyscrapers,” said Dmitry Bukhman, 34, citing meetings with dealmakers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. For now, though, “we are focused on growing the business.”

He and Igor Bukhman, 37, are the brains behind Playrix Holding Ltd., the creator of popular games similar to Candy Crush, including Fishdom and Gardenscapes, with more than 30 million daily users from China to the U.S. and annual sales of $1.2 billion, according to Newzoo.

That makes the company one of the top 10 iOS and Google Play app developers by revenue, data from researcher AppAnnie show, putting Playrix in the same league as Tencent Holdings Ltd., NetEase Inc. and Activision Blizzard Inc.

Today, each brother is worth about $1.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. They haven’t previously appeared in a global wealth ranking.

Their road to riches started in 2001 in the city of Vologda, almost 300 miles (483 kilometers) north of Moscow, where Igor learned from a university professor that he could sell software online. He decided to try with Dmitry, who was still in high school at the time.

“We had no experience, no business understanding whatsoever—everything we could imagine was writing games,” Igor said.

The U.S. is Playrix’s biggest market, followed by China and Japan, the brothers said in a recent interview. The two remotely manage about 1,100 employees, including personnel at its Ireland headquarters and developers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

“For $3 billion we won’t sell”

The brothers’ first product was a game akin to Xonix in which players must use a cursor to open pieces of a hidden picture before being struck by flying balls. They wrote it during a summer break and generated $60 in the first month and later $100 a month, about half of the average salary in Vologda.

“We thought, ‘If one game makes $100, we can write several dozen of them and make a lot of money,”’ Igor said.

Their second game, featuring an animated character designed by an outsourced artist, brought in $200 a month. Their copycat of Tetris brought in $700 a month, but the brothers shut that down after learning that the game was protected by a license.

In 2004, when the business reached $10,000 of monthly revenue, they registered a legal entity, rented space for an office in the basement of a book warehouse and hired other staff to accelerate production.

In the early years, they sold casual games through sites such as majorgeeks.com or download.com, before moving to bigger platforms like Yahoo! and AOL. Then, within the past decade, games started moving first to Facebook and then smartphones. Many of them were available for free, with users paying only for certain in-game features.

Playrix makes most of its money from in-app purchases and the brothers mostly shun advertising, which detracts from the user experience. Ads generate less than 3 percent of revenue, Dmitry said.

“It was a major challenge for us to switch to developing free-to-play games—that’s totally different DNA,” Dmitry said. “Free-to-play games aren’t games that you develop, release and move on to making another one. They are services that need to be supported constantly as users are waiting for regular updates.”

Playrix succeeded in this transition, achieving worldwide recognition over the past three years with Gardenscapes and its sequel, Homescapes, a new variety of match-3 puzzle in which a player completes rows of at least three elements to pass levels and progress through an animated storyline—in this case, helping a butler named Austin renovate a house with a garden.

“Austin engages in dialog with you, you help him to select ways to decorate the mansion, you dive into the history of this character and become related with him,” Dmitry said. “This genre variety we introduced—match-3 with meta game—became very successful, and other companies started copying us.”

“Playrix is certainly responsible for the first major innovation in the match-3 genre since King Digital Entertainment Plc seemingly had the market locked down with Candy Crush,” said Newzoo analyst Tom Wijman. “Playrix managed to add a layer of complexity and ‘meta game’ to the match-3 genre without driving away casual mobile players.”

The company employs several full-time script writers who work on Austin’s dialog, and it’s always improving the games, Dmitry said.

“It’s like apps, like Spotify—people can use them for years,” he said. “More and more people are getting accustomed that it’s perfectly normal. Why not pay $5 to get pleasure from playing a game on a smartphone rather than watching videos or listening to music?”

The average paying user in the U.S. spends $32 a month playing Homescapes, Playrix’s most popular game, the company said.

While Playrix hasn’t introduced a new title since 2017, the company recently acquired several gaming studios to expand into new genres, Igor said, declining to disclose which studios until it releases games developed by them later this year.

Successful titles attract whales. Activision Blizzard acquired King Digital in 2015 for $5.9 billion, and a year later Tencent led investors in an  $8.6 billion deal to acquire a majority stake in “Clash of Clans” maker Supercell Oy.

Could Playrix be next? In February, the Information reported that it could be sold for $3 billion, citing Chinese firms iDreamSky Technology Holdings and FunPlus Game Co. as potential suitors.

The brothers dismissed the report.

“For $3 billion we won’t sell,” Dmitry said with a smile, while acknowledging that Playrix had been discussing strategic options as recently as last year, noting its meetings with Wall Street banks.

Their goal, for now, is to become a “top-tier gaming company,” that rivals Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts in the West, and NetEase Inc. and Tencent in China, Igor said.

“We want to grow as big as they are, using developer talent from our region—the former USSR and Eastern Europe,” he said.

There’s no magic number that would compel the Bukhmans to sell the company, because they say money is secondary to doing what they love.

“Some may think that when you have a lot of money, everything becomes different and more interesting, you start doing different things,” Dmitry said. “But no. We just keep working.”

The post Billionaire Brothers Crush It With Gaming Powerhouse Playrix appeared first on Businessliveme.com.

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2IDNlko via IFTTT