Hey all -I'm currently co-producing an EPIC film called "THE FOUNDING", and we need YOUR HELP to help us raise funds for this production!
The Founding began with a simple question: "if the United States had a mythology, what would it look like?" After a moment of thought, the answers seemed obvious - George Washington would possess super strength and the ability to turn into stone, Thomas Jefferson’s hair would be made of pure fire, and James Madison, the principle author of the Constitution, would be a giant Bald Eagle Griffin. These and other equally hyperbolic members of the team known as the Founders would join forces to battle Secret England, an oppressive force located at the core of the Earth, led by Two-Mile-High King George III. After meeting with several producers and graphic artists, we began working on how to turn this idea into an exciting reality.
Everyone who hears about The Founding is excited to see it completed. So we want to spread the word and give anyone who is interested a chance to contribute. We are currently raising money for the production of a short film version, with future hopes of expanding to a bigger project.
After breaking down the script and determining a budget for special effects, we’ve discovered that The Founding is no small project. So we are asking for donations to meet the demands of this ambitious project. The funds we raise through this campaign will go directly into the special effects, and production of the movie.
Hey guys, I just finished editing some performances by David Lerner at his Bar Mitzvah -he's a really talented singer/song writer, and only 13! Check out his YouTube channel!
If you're like me, then you saw the announcement posted by American McGee a few days ago and you're still picking up the pieces of your brain that exploded from failing to contain your excitement. Yes, it's true, Epic Weapons teamed up once again with EA and created weapon replicas from Alice Madness Returns! So far it's just the Vorpal Blade (2 sizes) and the mechanized-looking teapot. No word yet on the hobby horse, but I'm crossing my fingers. Also, how cool would it be to own a chess set with the characters from AMR? Sorry, (white) rabbit trail. Heh. The Vorpal Blade from the original game is also available (and ON SALE!). I put in my order for the mini Vorpal Blade (only $13!) -I need a new letter opener anyway. :)
Also, check out the latest Launch Trailer for the game:
I'm going to preface this with the fact that I am NOT an actor. -I just woke up the day before the "L.A. Noire" video game was released, decided to film something silly, and then I dragged Dustin and Kellen in at the last minute. A special thanks to Justin Slosky, who could only be with us via picture! No camera crew, lights, or microphones -just a little HD camcorder, so we all took turns filming when we weren't using the tripod.
Thanks to Dustin & Kellen, I had a blast working with you guys!
As most of you know, the release date for "L.A. Noire" was last Tuesday, so I decided to dust off my HD camcorder, call a friend over, and make a little short film about it! So far the game isn't impressing me that much, but I'm excited to keep working on my short film "The Big Noire", written by Dustin Hall, created by (also starring in) the both of us, and edited by me.
Detective Cooper and Dollface McGee are on the search for a missing girl, err, game "L.A. Noire", and will stop at nothing to bring her home safely. I'm hoping to finish post production on this short by next week, so keep checking back!
Still itching to wield that hobby horse or vorpal blade on some deserving Wonderland baddies on June 14? Patience, we all are, but in the meantime the “Art of Alice” book is now available in the Alice merchandise store online! Full of the dark and twisted imagery from the collective genius that created this beautiful game!
T shirts, posters and a tote bag are also available and are sure to get any Alice fan geared up for the big release day!
You can also submit your Alice fan art on the facebook homepage, and view the other submissions here:
If you have been following the Alice MR news, then you already saw the latest trailer that was posted online yesterday. But for those of you who haven’t, here’s the stylish new animated short that reveals a bit more of the storyline:
More good news –the fact that the original American McGee’s Alice is still over $50 for the Mac version of the game is infuriating, but it has been announced that the original game download will be available FOR FREE on your X-BO360 and PS3 with purchase of the console game!!! So be sure to preorder your copy to get the code ($10 download otherwise). Most of the Alice Madness Returns fans are newbies to the series, but for us veterans, it’s going to be awesome to finally play Alice on a console and I can’t wait! ALSO they announced that the soundtrack (8 tracks) will be available for a free download with each game purchase.
If you like puzzles and “winning” –check out the puzzles that are being posted by American McGee on the EA website to get the chance to win free stuff, and keep checking back with me for more updates!
We all know the Disney version of "Alice in Wonderland", some of us are familiar with "Alice Through The Looking-Glass", and a miniscul amount wishes they could forget Alan Moore's tales of Alice Fairchild from "Lost Girls", but how many of you remember American McGee's "Alice"?
"Alice" was a 3rd person shooter PC game that was released in 2000, and was one of the first computer games that I became addicted to (introduced to me by my awesomely-creepy ex boyfriend -no offense Matthew, but that's why I was attracted to you in the first place....so mysterious). McGee's dark imagination turns Alice's Wonderland (her mental "happy place" she often retreated to as a child) into a place of hellish horror after witnessing her family and home burned to the ground, and living in an insane asylum. Grotesque versions of the once lovable characters from her childhood now haunt and aid Alice through her journey back down the rabbit hole, and Alice has to fight off her enemies with her big knife, aka her "Vorpal Blade". As of 22 July 2010, American McGee's Alice has sold over 1.5 million copies!
Ten years later, rumors of a sequel were starting to spread, and EA finally confirmed in early 2011 that they planned to release a sequel in June! In American McGee's "Alice Madness Returns", we find Alice in London, finally set free from the mental institution, but still struggling with her grasp on reality. She is still equipped with her Vorpal sword when she gets yanked back into Wonderland, but along with a graphics boost, this 10 year old makeover comes with additional weapons, skills, and more mutated iconic enemies for Alice to conquer!
Check out these haunting teaser trailers (the last one includes gameplay):
Also, here's an interview with American McGee & RJ Berg about the game:
I’ve been following the news and updates for “American McGee’s Alice; Madness Returns” (PS3, XBOX360, and PC), the sequel to my all time favorite PC game, so I’ll be posting updates on my blog as the release date (June 2011) winds down! Here are some of the nightmarish-ly breathtaking concept art and screen captures that I’ve been collecting.
If you haven’t seen these yet, check out a few awesome pictures by Michael Suen, from geekosystem.com, where he “de-made” some popular video games into 8 and 16 bit versions:
I’d like to pretend that I’m going to weigh my options, consider the price and compare the iPad 2 with other tablets, but I’m already planning on getting one. I’m an Apple whore, what can I say? I already bought my skin for it. I want it because it’s Apple, and I only need one cable to charge my iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Oh I’ve tried like hell to fight this urge –I’ve been dragged into many iDebates with my family about why the iPad is obsolete, and all I need is my MacBookPro and iPhone 3, and blah blah iBlah.
My firm stance really frustrated the hell out of my parents, but I was determined to be the black iSheep, so when everyone in the family got an iPad for Christmas; I opted for an HD camcorder. They eventually wore me down, and I finally agreed to get one when I heard about the iPad 2, mostly because I am usually the last one in the family to get the new release –even my sister had a PS3 before me, and she isn’t even a gamer. So here I am, blindly jumping on the Apple bandwagon once again and now my parents can brag that we are a complete “Apple family” –the new American dream? The family that iPads’ together, stays together, right?
A lot of people are excited about the quality of gaming on the iPad 2 –but if you’ve read my article about hand held gaming, then you are aware of my previous opinion about gaming outside of an immersive environment, sans mobile strategy games. However I always like to keep an open mind, and I think the iPad 2 can be a nifty little gaming tool. I’m seeing the console and handheld gaming line starting to blur, so the iPad2 just may convince me once and for all to become a more portable gamer.
I saw a comment in a chat room discussion about the iPad 2 that pushed my geek button –how long before we’re able to use PS3 or XBOX360 controllers with the iPad as the gaming system? Where’s the bridge to the console gaming? Well we don’t have to ponder too much longer, thanks to the new HDMI cable that connects your iPad 2 to your HDTV! I’m really curious to see how using the iPad as a controller will work –it doesn’t seem like it would be very stable, but check out this video of Infinity Blade and you decide:
Real Racing 2 HD looks fun –using your iPad 2 as the steering wheel, as well as Dead Rising HD! I havn’t seen anything announced about a multi player option with iPads on the HDTV yet, but I’m sure that’ll be coming up soon, since party console games are all the rage. A few others that caught my eye were AirCoaster XL, N.O.V.A., Dead Space, Fruit Ninja, and Rock Band Reloaded (but I’m not really expecting to be impressed by the Rock Band Game –using finger drums? Lol).
Obviously the games are in the early stages of development, so there isn’t a lot to pick from yet, but I’m excited to watch the progress! Some gaming companies (such as Ogmento) are currently working on involving the front and back camera features on the iPad 2 into their Augmented Reality (AR) games. I have no idea how future games for the consoles will treat the new tablet avenue, but I’m hoping that “American McGee’s Alice; Madness Returns” is released on the iPad 2, or at least have a spinoff! I actually really like the idea of using my PS3 controller with my iPad 2 as the screen, so hopefully that option will be explored as well. My biggest beef with handheld games is that I couldn’t enjoy the longer role-playing/first person shooter games outside of my “gaming area”, and I felt that handhelds should stick with the simple games like Tetris, Snake, Word Warp, Sudoku, and even Angry Birds. It’s like someone heard me and said, “you’re right, Jen –here’s a tablet that lets you do BOTH!” Thank you, imaginary iPad 2 iGenie inside my head, and you’re welcome, Earth!
All of these games look like fun, but let’s be honest –sometimes we buy something we don’t need, NOT because we desperately want the item in question, but simply because it’s new and we want to hold it over our friends’ heads in a taunting manner and scream “WINNNING!” I’ll let you know when I’m there.
I’M BACK BABY DOLL! After surviving a full year without cable, I couldn’t take it any longer and I caved. I’d like to think that I was purging myself of the negativity…..but I was just being cheap and I didn’t want to give Charter the satisfaction of grabbing me by the…..uh, lady parts…..over both internet AND cable. I finally reached my last sympathetic straw with Charter after months of waiting on the phone and yelling at them for my internet connection being down for days at a time (one time for a full 3 weeks!), and when they finally offered to pay my bill last month for the inconvenience, I took the money that I saved and switched to AT&T U Verse.
Boy did I get an adrenaline rush from telling off Charter, err, actually a timid girl named “Rachel”, who pleaded with me to stay and offered me a $12 6-month internet special. “It’s not about the money,” I sneered, “I’m sick of the lying, being inconvenienced every week, the bad customer service, and the poor technician skills and availability. I had to buy a new modem and pay for techs to come out to “quick fix” my connections every week. A lot of money went down the drain because of you. Why should I stay? You people don’t care.” “I care” -Rachel squeaked. Lol Ok, I was being an asshole about it, but I was 5 months way past being agreeable. “Sorry Rach, but it’s time that I cut the chord.” Ok, I didn’t really say that because I’m not that cheesy, but in my head I said it……while lighting up a cigarette at the same time; the flame and curling smoke reflecting in my aviator sunglasses. Fantasy Jen is such a badass. No but for real…..smoking is bad for you.
Just thinking about sitting on the phone with another cable company made me break out in a sweat, so I filled out my applications online this time for AT&T U Verse. Not reading the fine print and jumping to the assumption that “basic” cable meant the same thing to every cable company, I chose the basic cable package and high speed max plus internet with the 18 Mbps download speed. I have no idea what that actually means, but it’s fast enough. Days before the installation appointment I received messages and emails to “prepare” me for the big day. I would normally find it annoying, but if you’ve dealt with Charter as long as I had, you’d welcome a countdown to the divorce.
Installation day…….”Doug” showed up on time with a big smile on his face. I felt bad for the guy because he had to rewire everything from the street, through my crawl space and then hook up the 2 receivers……in the rain! One thing I noticed that Charter never bothered with is that he wore protective covers on his shoes so he didn’t track any dirt in my apartment –I REALLY liked that. 3 hours later and a brief list of troubleshooting tips so I wouldn’t have to call a tech every time for an easy fix, Doug was finished. The built anticipation was glorious and I cleared my schedule for the day –planning to drown in my sea of channels. And that’s when I discovered that “basic” was a fistful of Spanish channels, infomercials, and PBS. Not cool.
I was feeling betrayed after I checked the website and was informed that the cable package that included my favorite channels (FoodNet, Green, Tru, SyFy, HGTV, ComCen, CartoonNet, Travel, Discovery, TBS, and Fashion –plus the sitcom stations like ABC, CBS and NBC), was $40 more a month than I thought AND the $200 installation fee was waved if I had signed up for it in the first place. Expecting to wait forever on hold and a fight over the $200, I was surprised to hear an actual voice after only 2 minutes of smooth jazz. Her name was “Michelle” and I explained to her my frustration. I heard her click her mouse a few times and then “Ok, you’re all set.” “Wait…..all set with what?” “You are officially upgraded to the package you want, the installation fee is waved and you should receive your channels in 20 minutes. Can I do anything else for you today?” I was speechless. All of my problems were solved in 10 minutes. That ALONE is worth the extra $40 a month for my digital cable. With Charter I would have been on the phone for a solid day; bouncing around to different departments, respelling my name and getting yelled at for not knowing the correct military lingo –Alpha, Beta, Charlie….whatever, and then at the end of the day I still wouldn’t have a solution….just a “be patient, it’ll be up soon” or a “a tech will be out next week to fix it” and a larger bill.
In conclusion –AT&T U Verse = GOOD. Charter cable = I hope you die in a fire you worthless son of a whore! Side note…..I turned on my tv as soon as I got home just as Iron Chef “Battle Clam” was starting, and ended the night with “puppies dressed in lingerie” on Conan. Ahh…..just like old times. Great to be back!
