20 Highlights and Recommendations of the Steam Powered Christmas Sale of 2009

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

The best videogame sale of the year just started – the annual Steam Powered Christmas Sale. Even Black Friday, that post-Thanksgiving day where bloated Americans, bellies stretched and ripped, pore obsessively through retail shelves and websites devouring with their colored and striped plastic utensils, fails to offer videogame-related deals of this magnitude. And that’s considering all stores. Steam’s just one. It doesn’t have a street address, force limited installations of offered products, or eventually forget about consumer purchases unless slipped a fiver. It’s an exemplary digital distribution service, and now, for a limited time, offers staggering discounts on titles new and old across multiple genres. As a reminder, if you’re not one of the millions of financially strapped individuals, the world’s still drowning in a recession. When this sale ends on January 3, I predict we’ll all be in tears, myself included. Foregoing the luxury of food’s going to be rough…

Others might find staving off the cold, biting winds of consumerism a little more difficult than me. I’ve played many of the most recent released titles before, and I don’t often repurchase games on multiple platforms or pick them up on Steam “just to add them to my list.” I prefer the path not yet traveled. The titles I’m buying I either overlooked years ago, didn’t know about, or didn’t possess the platform on which they appeared (PC). But oh do I still feel that wind nip at my nose, and I think I like it.

Let’s embrace that chill and take a  look at 20 of my top picks currently on sale as of Wednesday, December 23.

Braid
$9.99 $2.49

Designer Jonathan Blow’s masterpiece, and my personal favorite title of 2008. For three years, and using his own money, Blow carefully designed, developed, and tweaked Braid to represent his vision, and not some bottom-line pushing publisher’s. He even fought with the Xbox certification department, eventually convincing the otherwise never-compromising group to allow the circumvention of a traditional menu screen upon first play. The end result is a beautiful game impeccably rife with detail – where every object, sound, word, and piece of artwork reflects Blow’s own passionate dedication to quality.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
$19.99 $1.99
(at this price only until Thursday morning)

Americans don’t make games like this. Neither do the Japanese. GSC Game World’s first-person shooter set in the outskirts of Chernobyl, Ukraine features common shooter mechanics, and even a Diablo-style inventory management system, but operates like a beast all its own – often taunting players expecting a traditional experience. Winding corridors and murky terrain littered with powerful enemies rarely yield difficulty-related rewards. “That’s bad game design,” a traditional designer might say. “But that’s not how the environment exists in real life,” GSC might defensively respond. In their strive for realism, the team built S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s world as realistically as possible and populated it with their own creations – both mutant and human.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
$9.99 $4.99

Developed after Shadow of Chernobyl, this prequel distinguishes itself by taking most of what made the original title so unique (the eerie atmosphere, real map design, and a lack of modern-day handholding game design) and placing a slight focus on gunplay and combat. The change shouldn’t startle even the most diehard S.T.A.L.K.E.R. purists, but rather broaden the palatte established by its predecessor.

Action Indie Pack
$24.99-$20.00 = $4.99

Four titles for only five bucks – the Indie Action Pack features two top-down shooters, a penguin-themed arena title, and an old-school first-person tank shooter ripped from unseen cut Tron film. The quality’s spotty, but the price is reasonable. Besides, do you need that Tri-mocha strawberry-flavored heart-stopper EVERY day?

Puzzle Indie Pack
$14.99 – $12.00 = $2.99

Four titles for only $3. Buy the pack and support independent development or live a life of a big publisher-supporting tool.

Witcher Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut
$39.99 $13.59

I’ve written extensively about The Witcher before. Click HERE for more information. Everyone else, it’s a high-quality third-person RPG that capably competes with Bioware’s latest.

Indigo Prophecy (a.k.a. Fahrenheit)
$9.99 $3.39

Excited for Heavy Rain’s imminent release? Give Indigo Prophecy a try. The last-generation graphics might burn your eyes, the absurdity of the third act could send you into a coma, and Theory of a Deadman’s (thankfully) sparse audio contribution will inevitably reduce your IQ by 13 points, but playing as both the killer and detective offers unique storytelling devices only available in this medium, and the presentation’s part comic noir set in a (mostly) day-lit New York hit by a record-setting blizzard. The American version’s censored, but still worth your eight to ten hours.

Painkiller: Black Edition
$9.99 $4.99

The first-person shooter genre used to live by the “shoot first and ask questions never” motto before implementing elements like “plot” and “storytelling.” Once thought lost forever, Painkiller proved games can follow that basic design and still kick a whole lot of hiney. Here, I’ll turn it over to Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation. He can explain Painkiller’s brilliance much more eloquently through video.

Osmos
$9.99 $4.99

Like the Witcher, I previously wrote extensively about Osmos. Click HERE to check out the article. Everyone else, it’s a relaxing puzzle title more than deserving of its full price. Pass it up for the sale price and you’re not someone I’d like.

World of Goo
$19.99 $4.99

An essential part of every console or PC gamer’s library. World of Goo’s an ingenious puzzle title tasking players with fulfilling particular objectives, usually to reach an end pipe as efficiently as possible, by manipulating balls of goo and building bridge-like structures. The game could sell solely on the responsive and malleable gameplay, but the art and audio catapult this indie title into your long-term memory. I’d call it Burton and Elfman-esque (Danny, not Jenna), but both would feel envious of this two-man accomplishment.

Audiosurf
$9.99 $2.50

The foundation on which Rock Band and Guitar Hero were built appear dated and elementary when set beside Audiosurf. The formers feature levels with note placement pre-determined by the respective development houses for songs released at a pre-determined time. Audiosurf procedurally generates its levels on-the-fly and allows users to upload whatever audio files they want. Even more, the game isn’t designed to give non-musicians a pat on the back for plastic instrument mastery, but provide multiple ways to interact with audio in a puzzle game setting. The game’s an essential component of any audiophile’s library, and anyone else should at least give the title a try.

Machinarium
$19.99 $9.99

Once thought dead and long-gone, the point-and-click adventure genre received massive amounts of publicity in the last year due to the return of Monkey Island and Sam and Max, but the unsung heroes like Machinarium walk softly but…you know. As an independent title, the game doesn’t receive the marketing push of its genre brothers, but the quality’s just as high. This robot title’s built upon traditional mechanics and flavored with subtle steampunk aesthetics. If you’re feeling particularly giving, head to the developer’s site and beat out the middleman. You’ll be rewarded with their previous title, Samorost 2, the soundtracks to the titles, and a plethora of original artwork for the same price.

Crayon Physics Deluxe
$19.99 $9.99

Sometimes all you need to know about a game is expressed in its title. In Crayon Physics, users must use crayons to draw objects in a physics-based environment in order to solve puzzles. The quiet and reserved visuals remind us of simpler times when “naps” represented an integral part of the learning process and the audio will try its best to quell any anger that may arise from encountering a particularly difficult puzzle. To no surprise, the title won 2008’s independent game festival Seumus McNally Grand Prize and $30,000.

Eidos Collector Pack
$99.99-$50.00 = $49.99

For $50, people who purchase this monstrous pack receive both Battlestations Pacific and Midway, both Deus Ex titles, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, Thief: Deadly Shadows, the two most recent original Tomb Raider games, and many more. If you don’t already own Arkham Asylum on the PC, this pack’s a no-brainer of a purchase.

Second Sight
$9.99 $4.99

Developer Free Radical Design might no longer exist as it once was (after tumultuous financial difficulties the Timesplitters devs were bought out by Crytek), but their titles remain. Second Sight debuted in 2005 to mediocre reviews, but critics raved about the storyline of this “psychological thriller” that gives players the ability to “psychically influence characters and remotely manipulate objects and individuals.” I somehow missed it in 2005, but I’m making double sure I don’t in late 2009.

Mirror’s Edge
$19.99 $4.99

I still keep the main menu music to Mirror’s Edge in my regular music rotation. The sparse and airy theme to the free-running title from EA encapsulates my favorite moments of the game – all of which involve precisely navigating rooftop jungles and their striking urban vistas and beautiful color palettes. Check out the video below to see what I mean.

Rome: Total War Gold
$9.99 $2.49

I’d rather not divulge how many hours I spent with Rome: Total War, but I’ll just admit I became lost in its world for months following one exploratory night. After trying the game out again, just for this article, I’m happy the old gal still holds up. But Total War titles aren’t for everyone. There’s dozens of hours of micro-management alone, and even still your formations and adept fighters could lose to overwhelming odds. That’s just how the system works. I definitely recommend picking this up if you have even the slightest hint of interest in the newest Total War title, Napoleon: Total War.

Medieval 2: Total War
$19.99 $4.99

Like Rome, but a little newer and set in a different time period.

Quantz
$9.99 $2.99

This 3D puzzle game sold for under $5 during the Black Friday sale and it’s sat in my regular game rotation since. Colored balls fall from the sky and land on a 3D block, which you can move in any direction, and players are tasked with putting four of the same color together in any fashion. That’s it. As with most good puzzle games, the developers flesh out the idea more with multiple modes and gameplay types, but the game’s still basically the same. The best part, for me, is starting a game and knowing I can shut it off in five or fifty minutes.

Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena
$19.99 $6.79

Much more action-packed than its predecessor, Escape from Butcher Bay, and shorter, too. Athena’s still an excellent first-person shooter/melee/stealth title, and absolutely displays developer Starbreeze’s ability to create an alluring, dark atmosphere and populate it with unique characters full of…uh…character (compare these people to those found in other games and hopefully you’ll see what I mean).

Ghostbusters: The Videogame
$19.99 $6.79

Buy it or cats and will live together (mass hysteria).

So…what did I miss?

Tags: digital distribution, sale, Steam
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 1 Comment »

Planning the Christmas Media Menu

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Monday, December 21st, 2009

My immense backlog of unexperienced media stimulates my obsessive information-seeking inner nerd into a brief, but potent, altered state of consciousness. It’s not unlike what a kid experiences moments before opening a present on Christmas morning, knowing with the utmost certainty the object behind the green and red wrapping paper. Preemptively, we both carefully plan where, when, and what we will do with our prizes post-unearthing.

But unlike the child, an elaborately-decorated evergreen doesn’t stand, almost protectively, over my prizes. They’re scattered around my room, piled into masses, and potentially disguised as ugly furniture should the desperate need arise and cloud some unfortunate visitor’s perception (It’s happened before. Xbox 360 game cases still bear the cracks and splintered remains of the attack.). Also unlike the child, my objects of fancy weren’t placed with love and care, they were tossed aside by feelings of regret and/or an urgency to do something else – usually something yielding an eventual financial return.

Opened, but barely played games litter my shelves and PC hard drive, my bloated Netflix disc and instant watch queues each hold 500 titles (the maximum), a stack of magazines and comics that can almost be measured in the plural “feet” taunt me as they gather dust in a corner of my room, and unread books occupy what little desk, shelf, and floor space not already taken by another piece of media. My room’s a mess, but it’s a beautiful mess of yet-to-be-tasted, consumed, and savored media. A disaster of any other nature would never remain for as long or prevent so much movement.

I’ve never stockpiled this much content. One of my oldest and strictest rules prevents this disaster from happening.  “Don’t buy something you can’t play, watch, or read immediately after purchase,” I’ve always told myself. An item’s retail value typically falls in the months following release. By delaying my purchase until I have time to enjoy the product, I typically save hundreds of dollars each year. But 2009 was different.

The year of teabagging, Glenn Beck,  and the inauguration of our first African American President also saw other monumental events, such as my own increased focus on growing my writing craft, additional teaching and writing work heading my way, and almost the least free time I’ve ever had. I also briefly tasted competing at videogames on a professional level with GameStop’s national Street Fighter IV championship. Securing my spot as one of the top 15 finalists took more than skill and a whole lot of luck, it took hundreds of hours of training – all logged within months of the game’s release. As my own capabilities grew, so did my media backlog.

At IPR, I’m not the only person with a backlog unusually deep. Faculty and students both often respond to my “have you played X” game requests with “no, but I will during break.” By my count, IPR students and faculty will beat hundreds of titles spanning the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC this Christmas break and watch dozens, if not hundreds of hours, worth of movies.

There won’t be enough time to play everything. Two weeks off is a substantial amount of time, but my backlog’s corporeal body shrugs at the amount. Two months off filled with nothing but me devouring media would suffice, but that’s just a dream my ambition will never allow. Paying the bills and advancing my career’s too important.

With only two weeks available to us, we must take great care in planning our Christmas holiday media menu. Those with even less time off need to be especially careful. As professionals in the entertainment industry, or soon-to-be professionals, I strongly believe it’s absolutely essential we experience as much media as possible. In a way, I want everyone to think seriously about having fun.

Here’s my menu:

Every Christmas I make the seven hour to my native Northwestern Minnesota, bringing with me my PC, game consoles, particular games and movies, etc. Observers watching me load my silver Chevy Blazer might suggest I’m insane for bringing along such a high volume of stuff. They’d be right. I never play it all, but I do often play most, and what I don’t hit a member of my extended family usually does.

I’d like to play particular titles this Christmas such as The Witcher, Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, Dragon Age, and The Saboteur, but I feel the experience may be lessened without my usual flatscreen and surround sound setup. I don’t mean to sound elitist, but with the option to experience these products in this matter, I feel I’d be doing the creators a disservice if I switched to the 17″ monitor and headphones I’ll be using up north during break.

Putting larger titles like those aside, my menu’s filled with indies, casuals, and an RPG I’m replaying.

I’m a sucker for digital download sales, and last Thanksgiving I picked up a plethora of titles I normally would’ve avoided. Majesty 2 and Madballs in…Bobo: Invasion now sit in my Steam list, waiting to receive attention this Christmas. I’ll check ‘em out, but I’m not teeming with anticipation. Zeno Clash, a bizarre first-person fighter from indie developer Ace Team, went on sale shortly after Thanksgiving, so it sits in my Steam list as well. The total amount I paid for all three titles is around $15.00. If I don’t like them, so what? I’ve spent $15.00 much more foolishly in the past.

I’m still not done with Osmos, and I never did finish The Path. Both are on the menu, as is The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. Its low-res nativity will fit in perfect with the playing circumstances. If I get time, maybe I’ll finish Samorost 2 and move on to the beautiful Machinarium.

In case you didn’t notice, my menu’s filled with point-and-click adventure titles – a genre in which I’m not well versed. Hopefully in two weeks I’ll feel informed and able to recant the hilarious maiden voyage of Monkey Island.

Social gaming’s important, especially in the middle of Northwest Minnesota, a land far, about an hour, from the luxuries of modern civilization such as cinemas, Best Buys, and Jimmy Johns. Over the last few months, I’ve played Riot Games’ League of Legends for dozens of hours. I adore the spiritual successor to DotA, but this Christmas break I’m going to try and play something else. Maybe I’ll check out the mod Defence Alliance 2 or explore a dozen or so free-to-play MMORPGs and indie titles I’ve installed but never opened. The sky’s the limit, and it will remain as free and clear of LoL and World of Warcraft as possible.

Like every Christmas, I’ll bring along my Wii and bust out Wii Sports for some drunken bowling with my parents and grandparents. I don’t play it anymore, but they all still find it entertaining, and watching my grandma giggle and laugh as she overcomes a 7 10 split makes the entire trip worth the drive and gas money. We’ll also try New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but I fear it’s too difficult for them.

Buzz TV!’s coming along once again, and will probably only surface when my highly competitive cousin challenges me to a game, or two, or a dozen. He beat me last year when he manipulated our younger cousin into choosing particular topics, but I’m bringing along a newer, faster-paced, version. It’s my time now.

And, of course, no Christmas would be complete without the film staples. I’ll force my family, once again, to watch It’s a Wonderful Life, Scrooged, A Christmas Story, and a few others, with me. And they’ll reluctantly agree. They say “yes” to my request because this is what we do during the holidays. We put up with each other’s quirks and annoying personality traits, if only for a little while. Ultimately we’re better for doing so. I learn more about them and they about me. I grow, and hopefully they do too.

My media menu’s not set in stone. No one’s should be. The menu’s exactly what it is – a list of options I can choose to pull from. Its greatest strength is diversity. Without first planning to bring Buzz TV! or the Wii, the aforementioned shared experiences wouldn’t have existed, or at least in that way.

If you get time, please list your Christmas media menu below. I’d love to hear your holiday anecdotes and past, present, and future plans.

Tags: Christmas, list, menu
Posted in Multimedia, Technology | No Comments »

From Mod to Retail: Tripwire Interactive Builds Videogame Business on Old Blueprint (You Can Too)

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Monday, December 14th, 2009

People often ask me “how do I get into the videogame industry?” Having entered only three years ago, I try to formulate a response concocted from two parts quotes I’ve read and heard, mixed with one part my own story and experiences. I feel it’s a winning combination – chewy, spicy, and textured enough to reveal new flavors upon repeated tastings. If you possess the necessary cooking skills (any kind of industry experience), give the recipe a try. But keep in mind, the better you know your audience the better the dish.

Budding audio engineers, mixers, masters, noise makers, and sound mavens comprise most of mine. I know these guys and gals, and not only from inhabiting their school as a teacher. I once wore their shoes. As a student here at the Institute of Production and Recording, I wanted nothing more than to make Ben Burtt’s contribution to film audio seem tiny and inconsequential compared to my involvement in videogames.

As an outsider looking in, I obsessively approached the profession of “game audio dude” from every possible angle. I applied a critical ear to every game I played, listened and watched every interview and podcast involving an industry professional, and joined any and every relevant community. I contacted people too, asking for career advice, tips, and more contacts. And then I graduated, became an employee at Activision, and subsequently discovered people would pay me to write about videogames, another lifelong dream. I may pursue the audio career path once again in the future, but right now the student body can benefit from the information I acquired.

To my young game audio kin, I often recommend joining the modding community – groups of game designers, young and old, who take existing title assets and code and add, change, or dismantle content to suit their artistic vision. Modifications may be small – a reskinned weapon or minor gameplay adjustments, and sometimes they’re much larger – former “world’s most popular online action game,” Counter-Strike,” began as a mod in 1999.

Immeasurable experience and contacts may be gained from participating in a mod’s development, regardless of the product’s ultimate quality. All that and a self-inflicted pat on the back may be all you receive for your first project, depending on distribution, popularity, and the originality of the content. Oh well.

Copyright’s a nasty, pervasive little bugger who’ll prevent the sale of mods utilizing any number of the original title’s assets. If monetary return sounds more delectable, seek employment in the development of total conversion mods, where all assets used are original and lawsuit-free. Ideally, you want to take this route. The potential’s incalculable.

In fact, the financial success of one total conversion mod, Red Orchestra: Combined Arms, warranted the opening of an entirely new development house.

After winning the “Make Something Unreal” competition, and the $50,000 prize money, the Red Orchestra developers founded Tripwire Interactive and decided to take the “franchise forward as a retail game.” According to the company site, the subsequent release “achieved both critical and commercial success garnering several awards including “Multiplayer Game of the Year” and “FPS of the Year” for 2006.

Most recently, Tripwire developed and released Killing Floor, a cooperative first-person shooter built on a “survive as long as you can” gametype and infused with qualities most often found in role-playing games, such as class-based play, leveling, and an in-game store with purchasable guns, grenades, ammo, and body armor.

Pre-sales catapulted Killing Floor to digital distribution service Steam’s weekly top ten weeks before the title’s release. On May 19, five days after the official release, weekly Steam sales charts revealed Killing Floor snagged the top spot, besting Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War and Valve’s Left 4 Dead, both triple-A blockbuster titles, but released months before. To this day, Killing Floor somehow nudges its way to Steam’s top 10 from time to time, even with dozens of highly anticipated titles making their way to the premier videogame digital distribution service.

The folks at Tripwire are a savvy bunch, obviously in tune with today’s most advanced post-release money-making tactics. Twice this year they’ve released optional downloadable character packs – “Outbreak” first on July 24, and “Nightfall” on October 22. Both cost a measly two greenbacks and inject a little extra flavor to the otherwise basic stable of military men.  Sales information on the aforementioned content’s not available, but with at least two players using a skin from either pack popping up in every game I enter, I’d bet money the return on investment leans in Tripwire’s favor.

Since transitioning from modmaker to developer and publisher, Tripwire remains connected to their roots. On December 11, 2009, Steam released a news item informing users “The first free MOD for Killing Floor, Defence Alliance 2, is now available on Steam!” and also announced “Major updates to Mare Nostrum and Killing Floor have also been released.” Like Tripwire’s original Red Orchestra, Mare Nostrum is a total conversion mod for the retail release of Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45. Allowing the mod’s updates to piggyback on their own content update isn’t just a classy move, it’s a good business decision that further solidifies Valve’s, makers of Steam, positive stance on independent development. At this point, following the Modern Warfare 2 modification nonsense, calling Valve the anti-Activision isn’t a clever knee-jerk prod, it’s a vital observation.

Tripwire’s giving back to the community, too, literally. The same news item with the aforementioned information also revealed four community-designed maps for Killing Floor – all submitted for a map-making competition held by the company. The news item’s description for winner, KF-Icebreaker, fits well: “…one of the most ambitious, creative, and visually stunning Killing Floor maps ever made, Icebreaker is set on a large icebreaking ship that is pitching and rolling in the middle of a fierce storm.” And to the designer goes $10,000. Not bad for just one map.

The other finalists, KF-Departed, KF-Crash, and KF-FilthsCross, all feel appropriately distinct, offering players new aesthetics while forcing them to adopt new, level-based, strategies. The game’s not different, but there’s now more variety than ever. For that, we can thank Tripwire and the modding community.

Other companies transitioned from mod-maker to money-makin’ developer, including Splash Damage and Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Formed “by the creators of high profile free mods, such as Quake 3 Fortress,” the former developed 2007’s Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and recently announced a development partnership with Bethesda Sofworks. The upcoming first-person shooter Brink is the first game formed from the bond.

Unlike Splash Damage, Unknown Worlds continues to remain fully independent. The company’s next title, Natural Selection 2, still has yet to receive a release date. But, as a sign of good faith, they opened their doors to pre-orders months ago, from which they received over $200,000. The number’s especially startling since, at the time, few media on the game had been revealed besides a few screenshots and a brief teaser video. In an interview with Gamasutra, Unknown Worlds founder Charlie Cleveland said “pre-sales have completely changed our financial picture.” And here’s another quote from the article, including the astute, but obvious, lead-in observation by the writer Chris Remo:

“Digital distribution’s rapid growth has carved out a space for those studios that hardly existed before. ‘The model has changed so much, so quickly,’ Cleveland said. ‘Five years ago, there wasn’t a clear path for us.’”

Now there is. The game’s due to release for PC, Mac, and even Xbox 360.

As for how to enter the modding and independent game communities…let Google and intuition be your guide.

Tags: Killing Floor, mods, Tripwire Interactive
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 3 Comments »

Polish Developer Demonstrates Exemplary Videogame Design, Distribution, and Support.

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, December 11th, 2009

Online multiplayer games like Diablo 2 and Team Fortress 2 get all the press. Years after release, their developers, Blizzard and Valve, still support the titles – adding patch after patch of ooey gooey delicious fixes and new content. The companies do this despite the diminishing financial returns yielded by improving a progressively dated title. Together, patches and discounts can reinvigorate sales numbers, even rocket them far above the initial push, but at some point the return on investment skews towards unfavorable.  Next, a sequel or an expansion’s announced. This is the natural lifecycle of titles not built upon a subscription, and/or microtransaction, based foundation.

Other developers do this with their titles -applying equivalent love and support long after their little babies depart for new lives at market, but, like I said, Diablo 2 and Team Fortress 2 get all the press (especially recently). They’re media darlings. And rightly so. The former cemented itself as the definitive isometric, single and multiplayer role-playing, loot-obsessed king, and the latter masterfully balances nine radically different player classes across an ever-growing list of diverse maps and modes. Even without the irresistible visuals and sound design, both would’ve probably succeeded.

But this isn’t about those two multi-million selling champions of industry. This is about a developer and publisher from Poland showering a title from a bruised and used property with constant love and attention.

CD Projekt first released The Witcher in the U.S. on October 30, 2007, four days after the European release, and six after the Russian. Critics lauded the title’s dark tone, professional dialog, and consequence-ridden choice system, but criticized the “bulky” interface, stiff character animations, long loading times, and general title instability. Technical issues became the biggest complaint. Still, PC Gamer US called it “…an amazing achievement for first-time Polish developer CD Projekt.” and even awarded the game their prestigious “RPG Game of the Year” award. The title earned similar honors from other sites and publications, and so did its composers and the visual effects team behind the phenomenal pre-rendered seven minute long opening video.

Critics loved The Witcher, and so did gamers. In three months, 600,000 copies of the game were sold worldwide. Nine months later, a full year after release, total copies sold jumped to one million. To some developers, that’s a fraction of their twelve month sales. And to others much more fortunate, one million’s achieved in just a few hours. 24 hours after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched on November 10, 2009, 4.7 million units of the game were sold, according to publisher Activision. Three weeks later, on December 1, publisher and developer Valve announced consumers purchased more than two million retailed copies of Left 4 Dead 2 in its two weeks at market.

Unlike the aforementioned mass market titans, The Witcher didn’t ride off an established base set by a prequel from the year before, or two years before, it didn’t have the backing of a 25 million dollar ad campaign, and the title only appeared on what the uninformed call “a dying platform,” the PC. Michael Kicinski, co-founder of CD Projekt, told Edge one million units “was a very ambitious goal.” “We were not sure if we could make it in the first 12 months,” he continued. “Actually, that was less than a goal, but more of a dream, I would say.”

But wait, if the title cost $11 million, one million more than the gruff, tough, and all that stuff Gears of War (which made oogles and oogles of greenbacks), did Kicinski anticipate losing money on the project? Did he expect to make it back in the long run? Or was there some kind of strange Uwe Boll hole in Polish tax law that he hoped to exploit? AH! My head hurts. For the purpose of this article, let’s just believe everything a high-ranking business official says, and that Santa and the Easter Bunny share a pint of hot chocolate and a plate of crumpets at the holiday bar during their respective offseasons.

Also in the aforementioned article, Kicinski also attributed the game’s success to the established bond between developer and consumer. “We tried to treat people well, and they’ve treated us well,” he claimed, shortly after championing consumer loyalty and the power and importance of word of mouth.

CD Projekt first treated people well by speaking to their intended audience. Instead of hitting multiple platforms and possibly cutting aspects of the game, they aimed to appease a very specific audience of PC gamers. “Some companies make a game for everyone. We decided to stick to a specific audience,” Kicinski said.

As Yahtzee stated in his “first impressions” video, The Witcher’s definitely a PC game. Menus, character sheets, stat pages, and various in-battle stances must all be figured out and mastered if the player desires any form of relevant title competence. The mastermind Zero Punctuation heavily criticized many of these elements and, in a startling show of admittance to guilt, CD Projekt listened.

Six months after The Witcher released worldwide, the developer announced a new and improved version lie baking in the oven, waiting for its September 2008 release. CD Projekt promised to fix everything with The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, and they almost delivered.

Despite addressing most of the major complaints not made in an overcritical fanboy/nerdrage vacuum - adding over 200 new animations for new and old characters, re-recording hours of dialog, improving stability, redesigning the inventory system, etc. – critics from G4 and 1UP complained the new version still suffered from a few spotty points of voice acting and pacing issues.

As a bond-building “thank you” to existing customers, CD Projekt compiled the Enhanced Edition fixes and additions into a downloadable file. Anyone with a copy of the original could grab the patch and apply at will, turning vanilla Witcher into new and fancy Witcher. Those who picked up the Enhanced Edition in stores received a startling amount of extras for no additional cost. (Take note, Capcom. We’re all tired of your Street Fighter shenanigans.)

The package included a “making of DVD, a CD with 29 in-game soundtracks, another CD with “Inspired by” music, the short story The Witcher from the book The Last Wish, a map of Temeria printed on high quality paper, and the official strategy guide.” What can be downloaded was also made available to owners of the original through the official site.

Despite trouncing most of the titles on U.S. shelves in quality, value, and bonus content, our version still didn’t compare to the one CD Projekt released in their native Poland. Those gamers received an additional artbook, bestiary, medallion, t-shirt, card game, posters, stickers, and a fancy leather bag in which to hold it all. Best of all, their version, like all others except the one released in North America, didn’t undergo careful  editing to censor many of the game’s sexual themes. But on July 31, nearly two years after the title’s initial release, the developer finally released a “Director’s Cut” patch for North America. When installed, this update makes the title “equal to Enhanced Editions available to the rest of the world.” Nudity was restored and the people were happy. Ironically, the director’s cut patch is currently only available online. Is CD Projekt circumventing a problem with their North American publisher, Atari? Or are they sneaking around the ESRB and other organizations? I’m guessing the latter, because anyone who publishes a Ghostbusters game written by and starring the original cast can’t possibly be against nudity in games.

Is there any end in sight to CD Projekt’s support? Let’s hope not. And let’s hope for new tweaks and adventures leading directly up to the day of the sequel’s release.

But while all this support is delightfully entertaining, and makes us feel nice and taken care of, it could possibly harm initial sales of the sequel. Gamers scorned by the buggy initial release of the previous title, and anyone preferring the “complete” experience might hold off until another Enhanced Edition hits market. CD Projekt needs to meet these concerns head-on, even if they’re held by a small portion of the market. As they know, word of mouth’s a powerful tool.

I don’t see a future with more companies adopting this support strategy. Many of the most successful developers and publishers currently focus on bread-crumbing consumers into incentivized microtransactions rather than offer loyalty-based, or loyalty-building, free updates. But I can dream, and as long as Valve’s out there supporting us like a caped crusader, and CD Projekt’s doing what they can from Poland, this dream holds some footing in reality.

Tags: CD Projekt, PC gaming, videogames, Witcher
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | No Comments »

Trainspotting with Centrific and Dustin Zahn

Posted by Travis Norman on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Dustin Zahn and Steve Centrific will be doing a special 4 hour back to back set this Saturday and we have to say, we’re pretty excited about this pairing…Zahn is at the forefront of a talented new crop of US artists that are beginning to make waves in the international techno community and Centrific hands down is one of the best DJ’s in the Midwest techno community.

**********

Dustin has released music on notable labels such as Adam Beyer’s Drumcode and Truesoul labels as well as Radioslave’s Rekids imprint. (Len Faki’s remix of his track Stranger (to stability) has been charted by pretty much everybody this year).  Having two heavyweights like Beyer and RS in your corner really speaks volumes to what Dustin has accomplished.  Fresh off his first gig at Berghain this past Saturday, we caught up with Dustin to see just what music the Enemy label boss is digging right now.

Dennis Ferrer – Hey Hey

Dennis Ferrer – Hey Hey (dub) – Objektivity

I don’t really care about deep house, but I rate Dennis Ferrer fairly highly. While more recent tracks of his like ‘Transitions’ and ‘Sinfonia Della Notte’ were undeniably heavy on the sunshine emphasis, this track sounds like Carl Craig went on a 3-day bender at Berghain. The vocal version is a bit too mainstream for me so having the instrumental available is great. The bassline is epic (in a good way) and the white noise blasts don’t make me want to shoot myself. I will be playing this for a while.

Gary Beck – Over to You

Gary Beck – Over to You – BekAudio

I have been playing about 5-6 of Gary’s tracks in each set the past few months and they’re equally great. I picked this because it’s the debut for his new label and he deserves some free publicity. Honestly, Gary’s tracks aren’t rewriting techno and they’re not completely innovative, but they’re still great stripped down, hypnotic club tools that fit very nicely into my sets. What can I say? They’re just cool! They’re jams and I will take quality jams over hits any day of the week! He and Edit-Select are also teaming up for a remix on my label which I am very happy about. Stay tuned.

Newworldaquarium – The Force

Newworldaquarium – The Force (Ame Remixes)

Here’s the problem, with Ame…’Rej’ was such a huge hit that much of their work released after it has been under appreciated. I’ve been playing the dance floor mix from this record, and when it hits me at the right time, it’s one of my favorite tracks of my set. The synth falls in that weird category of neo-Detroit/soul/whatever and the percussion is more reminiscent of jazz or funk band rather than a 909 workout. When it comes to the classic definition of techno, “man vs. machine” this is arguably the most “techno” record I’m reviewing here. The reality is, most techno heads will pass over it for the latest side-chained white noise fest on Beatport.

The Detroit Experiment – Think Twice

The Detroit Experiment – Think Twice (Henrik Schwarz Remixes)

This record isn’t new…it came out in February but for me, it’s the record of the year. The only people I’ve seen play this record besides myself were the Wighnomy Bros at DEMF ‘09, and it was a show stopper. Henrik Schwarz is an amazing producer but he always puts cheesy vocals over his tracks so I can’t really play them. With this EP, he skips the vocals and heads straight for the jazz-techno explosion. Saxamaphones and techno can go sour real quickly, but I have watched even the toughest critics lose it once the track climaxes about 2/3 of the way through. While most producers rely on the typical tricks of big reverbs, whitenoise, delays, filters, and more to create dynamic tension (admittedly myself included), Schwarz proves that all it takes is a little human funk to blow the place up.

Levon Vincent – Late Night Jam

Levon Vincent – Late Night Jam – Ostgut Ton

Levon has been making quite the name for himself lately. Like Dennis Ferrer, he generally surrounds himself in the deep house scene but lately his productions have taken more of a techno turn. Much like “Snakes On A Plane,” the title is a literal description of what it really is. A track like this probably doesn’t stand a chance of catching on here in the states. It’s long, drawn out, and substitutes consistent groove for dynamics. In my opinion, that’s a perfect formula for making a stand out, show-stopping track to play mid-set during the early morning hours. Don’t let this description fool you, it’s about as big room as big room gets. I love it!

Gary Beck – Yah Yah – Figure

Gary Beck – Yah Yah – Figure
Another record from Gary that should be out soon. It’s the flip side to a record shared with Edit-Select and also contains a digital only, “Lime wire” or some shit like that. Anyway, it’s total “in the zone” hypnotic techno which is exactly what I prefer to play when I’m out of town. This one has sampled some sort of super weird record, possibly from the 30s or 40s is my guess. It may not be for everybody, but it’s for me and it’s perfect for those times of the night where everything no longer makes any sense.

********************

Steve’s Centrific’s production career kicked off with releases on seminal midwest label, Drop Bass Network.  Dark, hard, mindbending, midwest acid techno at it’s finest.  Steve is a DJ’s DJ…long known around these parts for his marathon sets and the ability to pull tracks that not many others would, and make it work.  Steve is also the man behind Intellephunk, one of the Midwest’s longest running event crews.  We now get to take a little sneak peak into what goes into a Centrific set…

Speedy J – Klave

Speedy J & Chris Liebing – Klave – Rekids

Speedy J tracks are always a huge tool for me! I am always excited for a new one to appear….

Just as much as I love an old forgotten one to resurface!!!!

This new one is the best!!! More Klave!!!

Dustin Zahn – Bees

Dustin Zahn – Bees – True Soul
Zahn and I have been collaborating throwing events etc since 2003. But I didn’t always play many of Zahn’s tracks.

Then about 2 years ago his tracks became a huge part of my sets. This one really has been my fave for several months because it sounds like a rattle snake! I could loop up the intro to this forever before playing the rest.

DVS1 – Running

DVS1 – Running – Klockworks
I have always loved Zak’s DJ sets. Over the last couple of years his music has become better and better.

I’m glad the rest of the world will finally know how talented he has become. This whole release makes me shiver, and sometimes it rules to be from Minneapolis!

Jpls – Combination-02 – Minus

This track has also been looped forever in most of my sets for the last 6 months or so.
Super hypnotic in such a cryptic way!

I really connect with this track, It takes me where I wanna go and has a sort of vertigo effect on my brain!

Willie and the Family “live”

Willie and the Family “live” -Whiskey River- Columbia
I know its a country record but its no mere country record really trust me!
I always love to play a fish out of water at the right time. I played a at a psy trance campout
a few months ago. Every few hours we would crank this gem up and drink from a bottle of “Jack Daniels”….
It made for a great time I have to say!

Particle People Present – BLACK

**Post by Aaron Bliss, Jesse Jakob, Centrific and Dustin Zahn**

Originally Published on: Jack The Box – The Midwest At Night

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Augmented Reality: Google Goggles, more useful than beer goggles?

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

I don’t own an iphone. I wish I did, but other expenses (videogames) always seem to surface immediately following any and every “saving” mindset I enter. I’ve experienced two and a half years of slight, but only slight, longing for the “game-changing” device, and now I don’t even know if I still want it. A new mobile cowboy’s entered dodge, and he’s the bearer of a custom-made hand cannon. I’m blown away, but do others feel the same?

Android’s his name. He’s an OS from Google, and quite the gigolo. Unable to settle, he galivants around town, flirting with an increasing number of mobile phones. Meanwhile, the moustache-twirling sheriff, the iphone, sits atop a mountain of money with a mobile phone wife who bears the same name as his (like Kris and Kris or Jesse and Jesse). The iphone OS is a one woman man, bound eternally by his Mac religion. He’ll never stray, and neither will she, but their money might. There’s power and appeal in providing consumers options

But in today’s cell phone climate, every phone needs a killer app, literally. For me, few deadlier than Google’s recently announced “Google Goggles” exist, including the hundreds, even thousands, of games readily available. As far as I can tell after one day of normal web browsing and normal web ad viewing, the company’s downplaying the app’s effectiveness and importance. Conceptually, this is a form of augmented reality for every day use, and it’s from the so-amazing-it-makes-me-feel-funny Google.

The description’s simple. “No need to type your search anymore. Just take a picture,” says the official Google Goggles page. But they warn “This is just the beginning – it’s not quite perfect yet. Works well for some things, but not for all.” For more info, check out the video below.

Okay, calling Goggles a form of augmented reality may seem like a stretch.  Unlike previously developed wearable systems straight out of a science nerd’s dream (and mine), the raw data must be submitted by the user in order to undergo analyzation. Traditionally, that’s one too many steps necessary to qualify as augmented reality. The most highly lauded forms of the technology analyze real-world information on-the-fly and present the results to the user via an overlay on a screen or a personal projector. Social networking and review site Yelp included a version of the former with an updated version of their iphone app, but software’s limited to restaurants and reviews. Another, called Layar, champions itself as “the first mobile augmented reality browser,” but I haven’t toyed with it yet, and reviews say it’s “not yet all that practical/useful.” The ideal version, and far ahead of Google’s meager entry, debuted at TED.

Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry from MIT demonstrated SixthSense, a wearable device made from readily available consumer-level electronics that can scan objects and relay preferential results. What it shows is up to the wearer. I’d explain more, but seeing is believing, so please check out the video below.

Of course it’s the preferable tool, but it’s not a feasible solution to my augmented reality dilemma…of not having my own system. Plus, I’d rather not look like an escaped cyborg failing to “fit in.”

For whatever reason/s, Google’s just toe-dipping with the Goggles. Even if it takes seconds, the delayed response from a submission-styled informational system might prove to be too long for today’s instant gratification consumer culture. Consumers will no doubt turn to instant applications like Layar, but how fast are they really? I can’t say, but videos show delayed results. Google’s system returning information faster isn’t just likely, it’s highly probable. Go ahead and, right now, search for something using the engine. Speed’s a trait championed in both the company’s search and browser, deviating from the established at this point would be an unwise decision.

Another factor to consider regarding Google’s potential dominance in the augmented reality app sector: where the information is coming from. Most of the world uses Google to find stuff on the internet, and for good reason. The patented PageRank system works brilliantly – tossing us, the eternally information starved public, the most relevant search results quickly and efficiently. Layar appears to use its own system, which could be great, but at this point I have little reason to use a Google alternative in any forseeable situation.

Maybe someday Google will release an app or piece of software with live information retrieval capabilities (advertising on a whole new level!), and maybe it’ll be an evolution of Goggles but I’m fine with their decision to focus on functionality rather than snazz. Of course, I haven’t used any of these programs yet, but who’s going to argue against the efficiency and power of the company behind the world’s most powerful search engine?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get ahold of an Android and put the Goggles on my Grandma. I wonder what will come up?

(Hey, iphone users. Don’t get down. Google says they’ll release a version of the Goggles for your favorite phone sometime in the future. But with Apple’s excruciatingly long and difficult approval process, the app could arrive much later than the Android version.)

Tags: augmented reality, Google Goggles
Posted in General Media, Multimedia | 1 Comment »

10 Quotes To Inspire Your Music

Posted by Travis Norman on Monday, December 7th, 2009

Some days, when distraction, deadlines, and duties are all vying for your attention,  it can be all too easy to lose sight of why you started down a path of musical exploration in the first place.  Here then are a few words of wisdom to keep those creative juices flowing…readers are encouraged to share some of their own favorite quotes in the comments section below.  And don’t think they need to be restrained to “famous” folks – a bit of inspiration could just as easily be delivered by a bandmate, teacher, or classmate!

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music” ~ Sergei Rachmaninov

“Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.” ~ Charlie Parker

“Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.” ~ Angela Monet

“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.” ~ Aaron Copland

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent” ~ Victor Hugo

“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~  Berthold Auerbach

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.” ~  Confucius

“Without music life would be a mistake.” ~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“Rock and roll isn’t a career or hobby – it’s a life force … it’s just something I have to do.” ~ The Edge

“Whenever society gets too stifling and the rules get too complex, there’s some sort of musical explosion.” ~ Slash

Tags: music quotes
Posted in Multimedia, Music | No Comments »

Industry Editors Foolishly Reinforce Negative Gamer, World of Warcraft, and MMO Stereotypes in Kotaku Article

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, December 4th, 2009

Over the last five years, I’ve spent hundreds of days immersed in massively multiplayer online (MMO) culture – playing dozens of titles; writing reviews, news, and features; interacting with various related communities; and participating in almost every aspect except the most demanding end-game player versus enemy raiding and player versus player arena-styled play. Unless something bizarrely apocalyptic happens inside the industry and/or out, I’ll continue spending hundreds more days doing the same.

I play other games too, including most of the latest releases across all platforms. I have a girlfriend of three years, friends, and a part-time, non-game writing-related, job. I’m not obsessed with MMOs, deeply infatuated, or addicted. Like podcasts, first-person shooters, and documentaries, MMOs occupy one small piece of my media pie.

If you can’t relate, either as a gamer or an industry writer, you probably, at the very least know someone like me. Nearly twelve million people play World of Warcraft, arguably the world’s most popular MMO, and millions play dozens of others. A hundred or so titles service thousands, some as small as hundreds, of virtual world inhabitants all around the world in sub-genres such as sports, medieval, and sex. After a decade of killing dragons and orcs in Tolkien-esque clones, diversity’s finally nearing abundance.

Responsibility

With my journalism and teaching careers rooted in the videogame industry, I feel it’s my responsibility to communicate truths and ideas devoid of misinformation. In a way, I’m in positions of power, and I’m cheating and ill-preparing my readers and students if I don’t research and come to conclusions based on facts. It’s not a difficult standard to hold, but it’s apparently too hard for Kotaku, the biggest videogame industry news blog.

On November 25, editor Owen Good posted an article titled “Why I Don’t Play World of Warcraft.” Its purpose was to offer a counterweight, or counterperspective to the reasoning of those who pay $15 each month to subscribe. Owen opened with a disclaimer of sorts, saying he “doesn’t care to” play WoW, and admitted “I have nothing against Warcraft or Warcraft gamers, or MMOs.” “Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve never been a serious PC gamer,” he added. Owen then began explaining his preference for table-top RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons and “dice chalk.” He communicated his stance well, and established a precedent all the other contributors, except one, not only failed to match, but by comparison made everyone else look childish, uninformed, and wholly incompetent as industry journalists.

Stephen Totilo, Kotaku’s own deputy editor, for some bizarre reason, recounted that the last time he played WoW, another character licked his own. I’m not a psychologist, but his discomfort with this situation may reveal Totilo’s own social awkwardness, or difficulties, in online environments.  After, he explained he feared the “sense of obligation” gained from paying monthly, and losing time to play other titles. Staying away from WoW, he claims, allows him to gain more than he loses. But as the senior editor of Kotaku, Totilo, in fact, doesn’t gain by not playing. His dated view of MMOs as timesinks puts a big fat hole in his industry knowledge, and prevents him from speaking critically of WoW or any other MMO.

Juan Perez, editor-in-chief of (the new-to-me) Perez Start, inaccurately explained “MMO players are a different type of gamer,” and preceded it with “Easy answer, addiction.” The misinformation here’s obvious, and, for our amusement, Juan continued to provide. “Macro nerds really pissed me off,” he added. “WoW is a cult…” “Not sure how much time a week a WoW player plays but I bet it’s close to 20 to 25 hours.” Did Juan or Kotaku snag these quotes from an Onion article? Let’s hope so.

Fergus Mills, senior editor at The Koalition, inappropriately applied the “WoW consumes so much time” blanket like everyone else, but humorously made the absurd claim that “World of Warcraft has an extremely niche audience.” Uh…

Picard, king of the facepalm.

GameSpy editor and graphic designer, Brian Miggels, apparently cringes “whenever co-workers start talking about raids, loot, and whatever level their blood elf is,” and doesn’t know why, but then spends the next 100 or so words explaining. Brian hates PC gaming and PC gamers, and finds comfort in “the symbolic gesture of closing my laptop at the end of the day.”  He also states “WoW is one of the most obviously addictive games there is” like it’s a certifiable fact, and admits if he started playing he’d be unable to stop, would lose his career, and be forced to move back into his parents’ basement.

Marc Normandin, of Baseball Prospectus, nearly gets off the hook for the brevity of his comment. But the anecdote of his friends morphing into “hot-key-striking zombies” strikes me as a claim from a virgin MMO player. The comment “…I have had no interest in giving it a shot” further cements my belief.

Shaun Mcllroy, a U.K./European Editor of One Last Continue, and former WoW player, communicated his feelings towards the game like a scorned lover. “…I no longer play World of Warcraft” because “I’ve got too much to lose in my life” he said, and then explained his grades, at one point, suffered due to his interest in WoW. Shaun gets my respect, for whatever it’s worth, for realizing he had a problem, admitting to it, and then shaking it off, but loses some from this comment: “In short, life had, and has, more to offer than a trip across a virtual land for a nominal fee each month.” This perspective can be applied to almost any activity anywhere. “There’s more to life than sitting all alone in your room reading a fantasy book someone just made up.” “There’s more to life than generating venture capital to create a business and provide dozens of jobs.” Shaun sounds young (and I’ve probably made a similar remark in the past), and seems motivated, so I’m hopeful for the kid. If you’re reading this, Shaun, just be more careful with that word stuff.

In comparison, Kreyg Dezgo, from Hot Blooded Gaming, sounds like a pompous cotton-headed-ninny-muggins who’s too dumb to blame the person for an addiction rather than the drug. Others included in this list made similar accusations, but Kreyg’s possibly the most juvenile in his observation, especially here: “To this day, I have never played or so much as tried World of Warcraft. Some might say, ‘what kind of gamer are you?!’ and I would reply sarcastically with, ‘a smart one?’ While the game seems fun and like something I would greatly enjoy, the price of addiction is not one I wish to pay. It seems that everyone I knew who played WoW became addicted to it in some way.” Kreyg concludes his segment with “Ultimately, my friends are the reason I do not play WoW.”

Sitting at the bottom of the heap lies an excellent explanation from Josh Robinson of The Blue Banner, a University of North Carolina Asheville website. Josh played WoW, found it too repetitive, and “not as fun as the other two MMOs” he had played before, so he quit. It “…lacked something the other two had” he said, but acknowledges “there’s something there that appeals to a much larger group of people than the two MMOs” he previously played, Everquest Online Adventures and Final Fantasy XI, both on the PlaySation 2. Well said, sir!

Responsibility (cont’d)

Kotaku carries equal blame with each writer for every speck of misinformation littering this article. The editors have content control, and deliberately chose to run copy that paints WoW as a dangerously addictive timesink with little inherent value to gamers, especially those wishing to have a real life and play other games. If you need a face to point at, editor-in-chief Brian Crecente’s more fitting than any.

I think this is where I’m supposed to make some claim about the state of videogame journalism, but this isn’t an incident isolated to one site or one industry. Just ask Fox news.

If you dig this article, and want more, but in bite-sized 140 word chunks, check out my twitter account: “twitter.com/coyotegrey.”

Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 1 Comment »

Interview with Lee Jarvis – London, UK

Posted by Travis Norman on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Lee Jarvis is one of the most exciting young DJs to emerge on the London scene, playing his own blend of fun-fueled jackin’ house, all mixed with his customary energy and passion. Lee has played at many of London’s major venues including Turnmills, Egg, The Cross, the Ministry of Sound, plus several UK, Europe and Chicago gigs.

Lee knows what makes a dancefloor move, having also run his own successful party, Moochin, for the last five years. It has become one of the most respected nights on the UK underground jackin’ scene, with a loyal crowd and featuring only the freshest new music, and guest DJs have included Massimo Dacosta, Giom, The Inland Knights, Jacob London, Joey Youngman, Lee Mortimer and many more.

Alongside his burgeoning DJ career, Lee has been perfecting his production skills and busy nights in the studio have resulted in some killer tracks for labels such as 4Kenzo, Lost My Dog and 1200 traxx. These have been picked up and supported by key players on the jackin’ scene, ranging from Mark Farina to Diz to Justin Long to Colette to Demarkus Lewis to Harold Heath.

With all this and more under his belt (Lee also works for the well respected Freerange Records making contact with leading DJs, producers, magazines and radio shows across the world), Lee is developing into a major talent and gaining international recognition. Over the next two years he will be spending much of his time in his spiritual home of Chicago but returning to the UK on a regular basis for DJ dates and to host Moochin parties. As one of the hottest new names in jackin’ house Lee Jarvis ticks all the right boxes.

This December 5th, Lee will be the guest DJ for HotDish’s monthly residency in the VIP. Nate Laurence had the opportunity to sit down with him and dig a little deeper into everything that is Lee Jarvis.

Click for Larger Flyer!

NL: So…Lee, let’s get one thing out of the way at the front end of this interview: Is it fried tomatoes, beans, mushrooms, and sausage for every breakfast?
LJ: Absolutely! Don’t forgot the eggs and bacon too. And a cup of tea, naturally.

NL: Delish! But…breakfast aside…tell us what made you plunge into house music.
LJ: I listened to a lot of music growing up, from hip hop to Motown to Prince. Around London in the 90s, garage and Speed Garage were the biggest and newest forms of electronic music. From there I kinda progressed into house via the onslaught of 90s funky disco anthems; DJ Sneak, Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, Mutiny, Armand Van Helden, Defected and Subliminal records certainly had a lot to do with my honeymoon period in house music!

NL: Prince! Always good to appease the hometown crowd. Nice one Lee! So…I know you were one of the key players behind the event “Moochin” in London. There is no doubt that the “Moochin” name carried afar. You had some incredible talent come through: Joey Youngman, The Littlemen, Massimo Dacosta, and many others. How did this help catapult your DJ career?
LJ: It was a very niche sound in London; clubbers would thank me for finally having somewhere to regularly go and hear the DJs that no-one else brought to town. Playing to a regular crowd certainly helped fine-tune my DJ skills, and being on the same flyer as some high profile producers helped me spread my own DJ career at the same time as promoting the Moochin events. There’s whispers of a Moochin record label going around, but you can’t believe everything you read on the internet now, can you?

NL: Oooo snap! A Moochin record label? We know nothing! On the flip side, talk a little about your music industry work – or as you so gracefully put it, the “trend-mongering and advice sharing.”
LJ: Well, I’ve always been into the business side, and studied the recording industry, marketing, publishing and a lot more at both a London college and Berklee Music, based in Boston. I consult and manage various online marketing and future strategies for small music businesses and independent artists. One thing that musicians often need help with is establishing a following and then creating revenue streams around their music. That’s where I come in!

NL: I might have to have a cup of tea with you and discuss said artist strategies! Regardless, we know you’re a dope DJ (Moochin wouldn’t retain you if your weren’t) but you’re also starting to make a name for yourself as a producer. I recently heard Mark Farina drop one of your tracks at a show here in Minneapolis and thought, “bizzo shizzle Lee Jarvizzle!” Tell us all about it! Make us pay you money for music!
LJ: Ah, nice! Yeah Mark has dropped a few of my tracks, I’ve also had support from Sneak, Diz, Justin Long, Heather and co. I’ve released on 4Kenzo, 1200 Traxx, Lost My Dog and remixed for a whole bunch of labels. I’d suggest checking out my Soundcloud page where you can have a listen to most of the tracks in full and then follow the Buy links

Right Click and save as here to Download this mix

NL: For the record, who are – in your opinion — the most excellent producers in your genre today? Who can we expect you to drop at the “HotDish” show?
LJ: Wow, there’s a lot of great music coming out this year. I’m loving TBF’s recent stuff, and I’m very likely to drop some cuts by Andrew Emil, Wes, Andrew Phelan, Wally Callerio…. when I’m in a deeper and techier mood I love Mazi, and the UK staples of Freerange, NRK and 2020 are always on fire!

NL: Finally…in order to maintain airspeed velocity, an English swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right? Am I right? Or is it an African swallow?
LJ: Well, it entirely depends on if (s)he is carrying a coconut; it could grip it by the husk…

NL: A coconut? In the middle of England? No matter….we REALLY look forward to your debut in Minneapolis and will see you very soon!

interview by: Nate Laurence

Originally Published on: Jack The Box – The Midwest At Night

Tags: 4Kenzo, BLACK saturdays, blackmpls.com, Chicago House Music, Colette, Demarkus Lewis, Diz, first ave, First Ave night club, freerange records, ghostly, Giom, Harold Heath, HotDish, House, House Music, J. Matthews, Jacob London, Joey Youngman., Justin Long, Lee Jarvis, Lee Mortimer, London - UK, Lost My Dog, Mark Farina, Massimo Dacosta, Minneapolis, Moochin, Nate Laurence, The Inland Knights, Too Much Love, VIP Room
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From the City to the Country: The Gaping Wound Called Broadband

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

My old roots and new roots in startling agreeance.

Internet Fantasy

Broadband internet doesn’t exist in my parents’ world. It’s an item of fantasy, like Aladdin’s lamp but without a limited use clause. Eight years ago, without much of a choice, I tolerated the 30 kb/s download speeds of rural DSL in the absolute corner of Northwest Minnesota. The transfer rate beat the criminally slow dial-up offerings my family formerly experienced, and I couldn’t exactly procure a connection equivalent to my high school’s T1, or what felt like a T1 by comparison. The situation annoyed my brother and I, mainly because our “ping,” the speed at which our computer connected to online games, lagged far behind others. The higher the number, the greater delay between button input and seeing the game reflect the action. Ours sat at the mid 300s, others lingered around the low 100s. Minimizing the delay, or “lag,” was our only reason for wanting faster internet.

I’m writing this on Saturday, November 28, 2009, and, despite the eight year difference, internet download speeds remain unchanged at my parents’ home. An entire day’s worth of bandwidth was spent downloading a 313mb file. At my apartment in Minneapolis, my cable connection would’ve devoured the same file in minutes and then asked “what’s next?” Here, I can almost hear the coughing and wheezing of the DSL modem struggling to provide its meager archaic speeds. If the inanimate object could hear me, I’d say “Don’t worry old girl (or guy). It’s not your fault my parents live in an area where expanding real broadband service isn’t in the internet service provider’s best financial interests.” But, of course, the company is interested in charging my parents a monthly connection fee equal to the one Comcast lays on me ($36 a month for 15 mb download speeds). In rural ISP’s defense, Comcast delivered a nice six month deal when I threatened to switch provider (I wasn’t lying). Service used to cost $50+ a month. I’m unsure on the exact amount. I’ve tried to block it out. The paying-too-much-for-internet wound’s still fresh.

But payment aside, I relish high media accessibility. Nearly every day, I check one of my various email accounts using my phone, play World of Warcraft, listen to internet radio or podcasts, watch television shows or movies on Hulu and Netflix, or download media legally via some digital distribution service. Sometimes I engage in any number of the aforementioned simultaneously. This is just what I do with the internet. It comes as natural to me as riding a bike and feels as vital as food. Call it mental food if you want.

Mr. Obama Gets Me

The Obama administration understands, and have compared today’s need for high speed, high capacity broadband internet to the need and proliferation of electricity and telephone services in the 1930s. The administration’s ready to do more than talk about the problem, and have plans to pour $8 billion into the construction of new broadband networks across the nation. If all goes according to plan, all grants will be awarded by Sept. 30, 2010, and the massive project will be “mostly complete” within two years. I’m hopeful everything will go according to plan, but I’m also hopeful of one day winning the Powerball.

The great American broadband expansion didn’t stem from a national desire to watch Family Guy, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Modern Family on Hulu. More jobs become available to those with broadband. Acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael Copps, said “Without ubiquitous broadband, our citizens – our country – will lack the competitive tools necessary for success in the 21st century.” He’s right, and a woman named J.T. Burnett would probably concur. In an article originally from the Beaumont Enterprise, writer Kyle Peveto explained Burnett found the “perfect stay-at-home job transcribing medical records via the internet.” The only problem was her home, five miles outside of town, didn’t and couldn’t have the necessary high-speed connection. Showing exemplary initiative, the 32 year old Burnett decided to rent a storefront east of the town square where she could access broadband. Four days a week, she now types at her computer, making money “from home.” She also makes and sells candles from her store, and even makes a little bit of money from a dog grooming business. The former, she says, could not exist without its website TheWaxWagon.com. “From my own experience,” she adds, “I think if the capabilities were available to rural areas, (the Internet) could do great things. It’s already done great things for our town.”

Broadband internet enables greater access to jobs and media. Got it? Good. Now back to my long weekend without my usual accessibility…

Slow Internet, Destroyer of Instant Messaging Culture

If someone shared a YouTube link with me via instant messaging service, I had to open the video and immediately pause it. Two to five minutes later I could watch it. Buffering took that long. The experience was painful, if only for the social element. Tossing links back and forth to communicate a point, or just to share for the shock value, is something my friends and I do regularly. Think of the shared experience of watching America’s Funniest Home Videos with other people, but in bite-size chunks, and without a major television network deciding what you can and can’t watch and when. YouTube’s role is kind of like that during my online social interaction. Immediacy’s key. If I’m late to a video, I might miss the poignancy of a remark or an entire conversational subject. And I did. To avoid these mishaps, I momentarily altered the way I communicated online. I felt restrained, or paralyzed, and I really didn’t like it.

Slave to Programming

Similarly, since the connection didn’t allow for me to open a window in the upper right corner of my screen and constantly steam Hulu or Netflix (like I do at my apartment in Minneapolis), a media void began to surface. I needed to consume digital video. Left with only one option, I became a slave to DirecTV’s satellite programming. Instead of control, as I would have with streaming video on my PC, I had a choice over what I wanted to watch. The change felt wrong. The viewer, me, should never have a prolonged viewing experience dictated by scheduled programming. This teaches people to either settle for what they’re given or get off the train. The experience is furthermore soured when passengers who’ve already paid for their monthly subscription decide “there’s nothing on.”

Traditional Media Molds More in Rural Areas

Normally I’d cuss up a storm and do something different, but I really wanted to watch something; anything. I checked out the HBOs. Nothing was on that I hadn’t seen before. I checked out Showtime and Cinemax. The same overplayed films lie their as well, waiting to be blasted out of their misery. And finally settled for a few hours on the Travel Channel and the various “let’s go around the world, meet people, and eat crazy things” shows (for the record, Anthony Bourdaine > Andrew Zimmern). During commercials, I flipped through the music stations, fuse, MTV, VH1, and BET,  and came to a startling conclusion: old, or traditional, media, such as satellite TV, potentially wields more culture-molding power in these broadband-less areas than anywhere else in the nation. In some cases, they might even be the life support. What then will happen in two years when broadband’s reach extends to rural areas where the youth are more defined by “music television” than elsewhere? Also, what will happen when the entire U.S. can give DirecTV the finger and embrace control?

When I told my mom of the many ways in which I experience media, she looked shocked, as if I had told her of a fantastical run-in I had with Cthulhu at the office, (he, a family man, got off early and decided to pick up his wife). The combination of immediacy and control was too unbelievable to be true. After spending the long Thanksgiving weekend up north, I completely understand her response. Broadband’s like magic if you’re stuck as a rural muggle.

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