I love going to the movies. I know there are folks out there who would rather wait for the film to be released on blu-ray and watch it at home, but I like going to the movies to watch whatever has caught my eye. This past Wednesday afternoon I caught a matinee showing of “Michael Jackson’s This Is It.”  Going into this particular film, I expected a few things. Applause, cheering, maybe even people singing.  Which I’m okay with because it’s the audience responding to the film.

However, thirty minutes into the film two women came into the theater and went on to distract the audience, myself included, from the remaining 80 minutes of the film. They were the rudest people I have ever had the displeasure of sitting in a dark room with.  The worst part about this was that they sat directly in front of me. While everyone else was listening to “Billie Jean“, I was hearing a conversation about a doctor’s appointment. I was none too happy about that. Even after repeated attempts to get them to be quiet, they kept on going.

It is because of those two clowns I decided to make a short list of what ruins a movie theater experience for me. This list is solely about the audience and ways to help make the experience better for your fellow man.  Hit the jump and we’ll get started.

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This weekend at GameX 2009 in Phoenixville, PA, I had the opportunity to speak with the winner of the “Community Favorite Award” [Dain Saint and William Stallwood won first place with Auditorium (Ed.)] of 2Bee Games’ First Indie Game Competition, Terence Lee. Lee’s winning project, Storm, made in less than two weeks time, is a physics driven title that empowers you with three elements (wind, water and lightning) in order to force weather balls into a given destination within each stage. Lee is now working with Spark Plug Games and Zoo Games (2Bee Games’ publishing arm) to bring Storm to consoles. Take a look at what he had to say about his debut title.

GEEK: How did you manage to make this game in just two weeks?

Terence Lee: Well, I had school at the time; I had midterms coming up and I saw this contest [2BeeGames Indie Game Competition]. Previously I had been doing this game-a-week project where I make a game in one week. Just pretty small games to practice development and programming. I thought this contest would be a very good opportunity for that, but I only had a couple of weeks left. After coming up with the idea, I spent all of my time working on it, pretty much twenty-four-seven.
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With that, have a safe Halloween weekend, Philadelphia.

Thanks for the link, Steve!

Ah, Zenkaikon! You’re back for another wild year of cosplay, anime video screenings, dances, and let’s not forget, all those crazy vendors selling swords, scrolls, and imported books, films, and video games.

The con takes place November 7th and 8th at a new location, the Radisson Hotel Valley Forge, not too far away from us here in Philadelphia. If you head over to Zenkaikon’s official website, you can access a whole wealth of information.

Luckily for convention goers, Zenkaikon is close to the King of Prussia Mall, so we’ll be able to avoid con-food. You know what I’m talking about, the food heated up in microwaves, by people with the audacity to charge $15 for some poorly breaded chicken fingers and soggy fries. Tickets are fairly inexpensive, as far as con prices go. $30 for a weekend, $15 – $18 per day. Correction: Tickets are $40 for a weekend pass, $23 for Saturday, $20 for Sunday. Thanks, Vamp Girl!

So panels, guest celebrities, cosplay tournaments… what are we most excited about? Personally, I’m all amped up for the video game competitions. Halo 3 & ODST, Gears of War 2, Super Smash Bro. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii… as well as a special celebration of Dreamcast’s 10th anniversary. Attending? What are you most excited about? Sound off in the replies.

Zenkaikon
November 7th & 8th, 2009
www.zenkaikon.com

Lately there has been a resurgence of the docu-horror genre, first with the film Paranormal Activity and now with the upcoming film The Fourth Kind. But where Paranormal makes no bones about the fact that it was indeed staged, The Fourth Kind is claiming to be the “Real Deal”. The Fourth Kind is the upcoming film starring Milla Jovovich as a psychiatrist trying to find the truth behind a rash of disappearances in Alaska that were later attributed to alien abductions.

The film is told through various recorded media, audio and video. Where video footage or audio was not available the story is told through reenactments based on testimony by those involved. Some are claiming this film and its marketing to be a throw back to the pioneer of this genre The Blair Witch Project. Where the movie was sold in the beginning as a genuine lost film, some time later we were let in on the fact that it was indeed a well-constructed hoax and one of the greatest marketing campaigns ever.

One thing The Blair Witch did not have to contend with in its time, was the Internet savvy audiences we have today. Audiences that came home from advance screenings of The Fourth Kind only to jump on the computer and research the film, have only found sites that were part of the films viral marketing campaign which have since been taken down by the studio. This has led to heated debate on many forums as to the actual validity of the facts in this film and whether its footage was indeed real. The main argument being that since the footage is so convincing – why has it never appeared anywhere else?

The film opens November 6, and most feel after a wide release our questions about this film will be answered. But one thing I have to say in the films favor, is the fact that it is getting this much debate. I have to say that the film has accomplished what The Blair Witch did so far, and created such a convincing story that I feel people really want to know it’s fake just so they can sleep better at night, myself included.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend the GameX Media Expo at the Greater Philadelphia Convention Center in Oaks PA.  For those of you that read my previous coverage of Game Core Con – imagine GameX as Game Core Con’s big brother with all the really cool friends.  Don’t get me wrong Game Core Con was a really great retro gaming con, while GameX is more about the up and coming with a strong industry focus. I had been looking forward to this con since August, because of the attendance of one my favorite game reviewers/journalist Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw who was being flown in from Australia to attend this convention. I was lucky enough to grab an interview with him I will be posting a little later.

I decided to attend the con Friday, because Friday’s are notoriously slower making it easier to get interviews, and pictures. Plus you also get first crack at anything the dealers have to offer, which is a huge plus. When you first enter the con, the first thing you run into is the Dante’s Inferno booth, I had heard about the game and to finally see it and play it finally sold me on the hype. They had a few levels playable and I was mesmerized by the gritty look and feel of this game. It’s definitely going on my wish list. The other big console game with a both was Bayonetta from Sega, since I being a male video-game player who likes anime, I was definitely this game’s target audience and was happy to be there. I was looking forward to this game before I got to play it, but after a brief hands-on and seeing the gorgeous graphics up-close, I was sold on this title as well. More after the jump!

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If you dress like this and run screaming around Old City, you’ll automatically win

Ah, Indyhalloween. It’s just around the corner, and by around the corner, I mean Thursday night. The Facebook invite has over 60 folks on the RSVP list. You should sign up, say yes, and come party down with us.

The celebration hits Sugar Mom’s in Old City in two days, on October 29th. There will be a costume contest, judged harshly by myself and the Geekadelphia crew. The theme? Classic arcades and consoles. Dress up as your favorite character from the era of classic gaming. Prizes will be awarded to the winners!

Categories Include: Best Old School Character, Best Modern Classic, Most Obscure Video Game Character, Best Team (for you Mario & Luigi’s out there), and More!

Specials for the night include $3 Burgers (including Veggie!), $1.50 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon until 11PM, and $2 mixed well-drinks from 10PM til Midnight.

Our boys at Brave New Worlds are pitching in as well, with giveaways and prizes.

See you there!

Indyhalloween: With Geekadelphia & Brave New Worlds
October 29th, 2009 @ 9PM
www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=173926946920

Having grown up in the New Jersey suburbs, I always found myself feeling bad for Center City kids. I mean, where do they go Trick or Treating on Halloween? I’m sure there are places to go, but for geeks with family who don’t want to drive out to Manayunk, Brave New Worlds and the Philadelphia Autumn Society have got the answer.

This Friday and Saturday, October 30th and 31st, BNW and the Autumn Society are hosting an exclusive, two-day only Halloween art show. It’ll feature some “spooky artwork, candy, and more” from both parties. Judging BNW and the Autumn Society on their past events, this is sure to be a blast. You can see some previews of the art on the Autumn Society’s official website.

Thanks for the tip, Chogrin!

Halloween Art Show @ Brave New Worlds
October 30th & 31st, 2009

Photography by Mykl Roventine

A few contributors to the video games blogosphere have been in a buzz for the past week over a few issues pertaining to MMOs, which has garnered the attention of Massively as well as Creative Director for 38 Studios (you know, MLB pitcher Curt Schilling’s super secret studio), Steven Danuser. While several topics are currently being discussed, the umbrella issue at hand seems to be that something is missing from today’s MMOs: the possibility of failure.

Which got me thinking, this could be seen as an issue in not only MMOs, but games of all genres. It also got me thinking that I cannot think of a single game currently on the market nor in the past that explores this possibility. Granted, there have been games in the past and currently which punish you for failure, but it never has affected the game’s narrative nor its gameplay directly. Since you all know how I feel about Heavy Rain and how Quantic Dream is approaching death I won’t even mention – dammit!

So, take a gander at what these poignant bloggers are discussing and come on back here and lets us know what you think in a broader context. What if death meant more in video games? If death actually changed the landscape or narrative of a game, how would it change gameplay and not only that, design? Know of a game that out there that addresses this idea? Let us know about it or simply speak your mind in the comments section. Who knows, maybe some developers are reading what you have to say right now (creepy, huh?).

It’s not very often I get to use the word eviscerated on Geekadelphia, but when I saw this cake I was reminded of that scene from Dawn of the Dead where the zombies… oh, you get the idea.  But needless to say when I saw this cake popping up on the blogs: while the idea sounded really cool like that sleeping bag, the delivery seemed somewhat horrific just look at that sad little look in the Tauntaun’s eyes.  I can just imagine what the mother-in-law probably thought of this.

Via the Official Star Wars Blog

No matter how big of a Star Wars fan you are, there is just something– dare I say– universally unappealing about the Star Wars Holiday Special. Maybe it’s the 15min long family Wookiee conversations punctuated by live performances of soft rock with trippy animations (no, not as cool as it sounds), but it’s just sort of… hard to get into. On a level of one to ten of general discomfort, I’m going to say, “These go to eleven.”

When my friend brought today’s hilariously accurate XKCD comic to my attention, how could I not post?!

I’m sure half of our readers probably have access to this cinematic holiday space abomination on VHS, but just in case you want to make your day more awkward, or need to remind yourself to never bring this subject around any woman you are romantically inclined toward, here is a link to watch– complete with commercials from 1978. Unfortunately, this does not include our boy Lando endorsing Colt 45.

Note: While the link is technically safe for work, I’m going to say you can take on the string soundtrack and wookiee sound effects at your own risk. And yes, I know it’s so bad it’s good sometimes… but remember, it’s mostly just bad.

Cliffjumper & Bumblebee from the 1980′s Transformer Series, Print (C) Joseph Game

Ah, good ol’ Chogrin. Joseph Game is one of my favorite illustrators here in Philadelphia, and has a knack from drawing great works inspired by video games, comics, old school toys, classic cartoons, and more. And now, you can purchase some of these illustrations for your home or office thanks to his new Etsy shop. The featured image above is his tribute to Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, an 8.5×11″ print, that’ll only cost you $15.

All of his prints are signed individually on the back, and his store currently has a handful of great pieces, like this Joker print, and this Gears of “Gore” image.

You can check out more of Chogrin’s work on his personal blog.

Chogrin’s Etsy Shop
www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5354387