PC crashed…

My Desktop, which I use to do alot of things on the computer didn’t really crash, but the tech guy had to take it away to make it good as new. I have a laptop and I should have posted sooner, but didn’t. I had some away time, as on saturday I went to Canada’s largest comic and gaming expo and the Toronto Convention Center. I got some pictures to show later and saw Adam West.

I also rented Resident Evil 4, for the Wii. It is a splendid game of true craftmanship. I have only played it for a little bit and already I am stunned at the graphic capability of the Wii. If you have a Wii and can get your hands on Resident Evil 4, I highly suggest you do.

Falling Sand Game

If you like little Flash gadgets with neat physics that let you toy with either the impossible or nature, then you get a kick out of the Falling Sand Game. This is like a toybox, you get to play around with elements falling from the sky and do what you wish, by creating walls to make shapes to trap the elements in or use the plant tool to do the same thing, but with a little surprise. The surprise is, certain elements effect others; if you set fire to the oil, then all the oil will burn up. If you draw with the plant tool and then turn a spout of water onto it, it will grow!

A very simple concept, and oddly enjoyable. In fact, I’m sure that most of you have come across this game before. It is quite popular and I would like to give more information on it, but it comes from what appears to be a Japanese site. All in all, it is a simple Internet gadget that is worth your time, and I suppose my time to post, but thats all it is. I give Falling Sand Game a 6/10.

-P.G

A personal note.

I’m going to try to post more often now, and pay more attention to the site. But recently some serious viruses were on my computer and they have affected it. It seems to have its good moments and bad moments. I know there are like no hits for this site, and I’m trying to make a Flash to spread across the web to attract some sort of an audience. After that is done I can pay more attention to the site and have a few more reasons hopefully for posting. And since this is somewhat of a pointless post, I’ll just throw out a link to a Flash to still provide some form of entertainment for you.

To be honest though, this is not really a Flash. This is Beaver & Steve a fun web comic! You may notice that this site is linked to from Calico Monkey, because James Turner was apart of the Emotibot and the Butterfly project with Will Reinhardt. Both their sites are worth checking out everyday.

-P.G

Calico Monkey

Now I’d like to present to you all, my current favourite Internet Animated series, Calico Monkey. It’s a hilarious series about a dog named Sparky who runs a pet store, with a really unique twist. Animals and humans are reversed, and the pet store’s live stock consists of people of all professions and personalities.

I’d have to say the concept itself is enough to entice users to watch, but with a complementary unique art and animation style it really is quite the toon. The site itself is a blog of the animator Will Reinhardt who not only animates but also makes posts of advice about animation with Flash and recently he has switched over to BoomToons and is somewhat of a spokes person for them. He also posts about professional animation and his thoughts on the business, and its fun to post your own comments and share your thoughts with him as I have in his post on the Emmys.

The episodes are in chronilogical order and the start from where the previous episode left off, which is nice. I’ve tried some Flash animation myself and I have real respect for Will’s work over at www.calicomonkey.com, his series and this fun short about a robot with emotions “Emotibot & the Butterfly” are top quality Flash and you’ll find yourself checking his blog every day. I give his series Calico Monkey a 9/10!

-P.G

Uber Breakout II

Classic games will always remain in our hearts even though they are simple and lack the graphical complex standard of the gaming industry today. The classic game of Breakout was like pong but had a new objective that gave players a real reason to keep the ball on screen. I personally enjoy Flash remakes of classic games, but what I really like is when they take an old concept and freshen it up with some brand new gameplay.

Click to enlarge picture.

Uber Breakout II takes the classic gameplay of breakout and adds a twist that accents on the original gameplay mechanics. Now you control two paddles and move both of them simultaniously with the arrow keys. Your goal is not to break apart some structure, moreso it is to just destroy the spheres on the stage and keep the ball on the stage. This concept is further developed with unique powerups that give you points, more balls and can change the direction the ball is going. This creates a nice fast paced game that keeps the user interested.

With a fresh take on an old school game, and some unique powerups Uber Breakout II will keep you entertained for however long you plan on surfing the net in your quest to quench your bordom. I give Uber Breakout II a 7/10 for unique gameplay, but I would have liked some better graphics.

-P.G