Chogrin Munoz, one of my favorite Philadelphia illustrators, left our fine city last year to pursue a career with Cartoon Network, working on Adventure Time. The city misses him terribly, but he’s still working with Philly’s Autumn Society.

Chogrin and his Autumn Society crew have created their own versions of Finn and Jake from Adventure Time, and have posted their work online. The image above is by Chogrin, but you can check out the full gallery of drawings here. There are over a dozen great pieces.

As for the series, you can scope out a preview for the show, right below.

ADVENTURE TIME!

Welcome to Geekadelphia’s weekly discussion column, Cofffee Talk, where we talk about the finer topics concerning video games, technology and all the other things you can’t talk about with your slightly-less-geeky friends. Have questions or suggestions? Send an email to geekadelphia@gmail.com or tweet with us. Follow me on Twitter if you’d like to keep this week’s discussion alive.

A strange question that inspires visions of our favorite cyberpunk novels and The Matrix, but in all honesty it might be one that we should be considering more sincerely. Our friends at Technabob recently posted the video of Carnegie Mellon University professor Jesse Schell’s presentation at DICE 2010. Let’s just say it was strange (just watch the video), but poignant in the sense that while you may not agree with his ideas, this may not be far off the mark of where we are headed in the next twenty years.

What Schell is talking about here is a future where instead of folks with marketing and advertising degrees telling us how to act, what to like and, most importantly, what to buy we’ll be directed by those with degrees in game design. His supporting evidence is largely the goal and reward based games of Facebook like Zynga’s Farmville and Mafia Wars and the achievement driven meta games that many consoles and PC games host today. Consider what motivates you Farmville addicts and achievement junkies as we take a look beyond the jump. (more…)

Hi, I’m Mikey and this is my first post on Geekadelphia! Though, I’d love to give myself some sort of epic introduction, there’s pressing news I must address.

Tim touched on our involvement in the Fiesta Movement (Chapter 2) a little bit ago. And yes, what you’ve heard is true. For the next four months, we’ll be driving around in a Ford Fiesta, completing all sorts of zany missions (four major ones, each month with a few smaller/surprise missions here and there) and sprinkling our content all over the lovely Internet.

We had the great opportunity to head over to Dearborn, MI the other weekend (just outside of Detroit) to meet with the other agents and our “Mission Control”. We learned a lot about the current European-spec Ford Fiesta as well as the forthcoming 2011 US-spec Ford Fiesta and will ultimately end up driving both in our lovely city (Euro-spec now, US-spec later). I won’t get into all the exceedingly involved car-geek details but in short: we’re truly, genuinely impressed. It’s a great car that will really appeal to a variety of people. It looks pretty sweet (awesome colors and some exterior decal/graphics available). It’s really economical (up to 40mpg highway). It has an absurd amount of safety features for its car class. It comes in a very practical 5-door hatchback or standard sedan. The car is loaded with tech and tech-enabling gadgets (Ford SYNC). What’s the deal maker? we believe it’s priced exceedingly well-within reason.

For guys that appreciate great design, gadgets/tech and anything on four wheels, we were truly in heaven. We had a chance to drive them around at Ford’s Dearborn Development Center and “Proving Grounds” Test Track (Tim totally learned how to drive stick-shift for the first time), take pictures (check out my ongoing photo collection on Flickr), learn a lot about the car and have loads of fun with all the other wonderful creative/awesome/fun agents. This is just the beginning though, we’ll have a Fiesta to drive around for the next four months. We really want your help and participation in this too. Our missions well be super fun, completely Philly-centric and just plain awesome.

In fact, we’ve already announced our first mission. It’ll be a wonderful mural, done by a local artist, representing some fantastic locations we’ve decided to highlight. So please, visit our profile on FiestaMovement2.com and subscribe by clicking “Follow This Team” under our portrait. I promise our silly antics will keep you entertained. In case you’re not already doing so, feel free to follow me (@mikeyil), Tim (@bigredtim) and of course @geekadelphia on Twitter for some choice randomness and periodic #FiestaMovement tweets.

Related Links:
Fiesta: Spanish for Party
Mikey on Twitter
Tim on Twitter
“Team Geekadelphia’s” profile on the Official Fiesta Movement site
Tim’s YouTube Channel
Mikey’s Flickr Photo Collection

A local paintball team, a group that calls themselves the Tri-State Special Operations Command, throw a yearly big scenario game. Last year, they threw a game based on Red Dawn, with over 150 people in attendance.

This time around? The theme is Fallout 3.

The battle goes down on Saturday, March 27th, at the Poco Loco Paintball Park in Schwenksville, PA. The Brotherhood of Steel vs. The Enclave.

Online registration is $40 for the event, $50 on site. Paint is $65 a case. There’s a 300 player cap on the game, so if you’re interested in this, pre-register as soon as possible.

Right now, registration to the Enclave team is temporarily closed, since they are trying to keep teams balanced. But check back with the TSSOC. You never know.

For more information, please visit the TSSOC’s official website. Good luck, Wasterlanders.

That fun contest we launched back in February? Little Big Philadelphia? The contest wraps up on Wednesday.

We still want you, dear reader, to create Philadelphia in Little Big Planet. The grand prize winner will get a PSPGo and a $50 PSN gift card, with runners up receiving a $25 PSN gift card and Little Big Planet: Game of the Year Edition.

For all the details on the contest, please visit the contest’s official page here on Geekadelphia, or visit littlebigphiladelphia.com. You’ve got two more days to submit your levels!

Little Big Philadelphia
www.littlebigphiladelphia.com

Dustin and Dan Geekadelphia’s own resident movie pundits have decided to live blog this year’s Oscars – in a steel cage-match of epic proportions. Its Team Avatar vs. Team Avatar Better Not Win a Damn Thing! Will Dan’s Pandoran Posse win everything or will cooler heads and better movies win the gold. Only time will tell.

Preshow Red Carpet

Dustin: Watching the Oscar Pre-show. Unfortunately they lined up all the supporting actresses next to Monique. Not a chance in hell anyone else will win.

Dan:Jake Gyllenhaal wishes he was as cool as his sister, he is stuck talking about his “hot new video game movie”.

Dustin: God is at the Oscars!!!

Dustin: Zac Efron got his hair tips from Goku.

Dan:I am waiting for the interviewer to ask Matt Damon “So what took you so long to get back here?”

Dan:”Christopher Plummer looks like the Crypt Keeper”

Dustin: Morgan Freeman is wearing sunglasses and chewing gum…Just like God wanted…

Dan:How did J.lo get invited? When was the last time she even did a film? At least she didn’t say she was rooting for Avatar.

Dustin: Cameron Diaz makes Sherri Sheppherd look like a hobbit.

Dustin: Steve Carrell and TINA FEY!!!

Dan:I love Tina Fey…..

Dustin: Uh OH! Dan has fallen for Miley Cyrus!

Dustin: Oh Kate Winslett…you are beautiful!

Dan: Kate Winslett is so … British.

Dustin: Taylor Lautner is on tv and he is just- adorable!

The Oscars are starting, see the rest after the jump.

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Thanks for clicking to another edition of Geekadelphia’s Microsoft Student Insider Feature Series where I, this year’s Microsoft Expression Studio Insider, give you guys and gals a glimpse into the lives of select members of the Expression Studio team. This week we have the infinitely interesting (who else can create an adorable elvish lizard ?) Arturo Toledo, a Product Manager on the UX Platform and Tools Team. Let’s get into a bit more of what his job entails as well as some of the interesting Silverlight features he showed while at Redmond last month.

Arturo, originally from Mexico with a background in architecture, used to work with the Expression Team but has recently joined a Silverlight team of 15 folks. Arturo’s team is tasked with focusing on designers, or those concerned with the User Experience (UX), and letting them know why they should care about Silverlight. More on why he feels designers should be looking to Silverlight right now behind the cut. (more…)

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to chat with Ted Raimi. Starting out in his brother Sam’s films, he’s built quite a career for himself with a very diverse resume acting in both film and television. From Invader Zim to Evil Dead, Ted has been in some of my all time favorite films and television.  His new webseries, Playing Dead just wrapped its first season and Ted is behind the camera, this time as director. We discuss what it’s like directing as opposed to acting, and what its like going from the more traditional media to working in the uncharted waters of new media.

For fans who aren’t familiar with you Playing Dead, could you tell us about the premise?

Playing Dead is story of an out of work actress who, to pay the bills, takes a part time as Death himself.  Herself in this case.  She of course, is not that good at it at first, but learns the ins and outs of mortification, so to speak.  The series takes us through her taking people to the other realm.  It’s a show that lends itself really well to the web.

Why do you think your fans will enjoy Playing Dead?

I think my fans will enjoy because it falls really squarely into the stuff that they know me for, which is horror and sci-fi and fantasy.  I think it misses the mark on the sci-fi, but the horror and fantasy, it certain hits.  It’s also a good dose of comedy.  It afforded me as the director, the chance to really put in a lot of gags and schick and bits.  One thing that I think was really good about the script, was that there weren’t too many death puns in there when I got it from Suzanne Keilly. I thought it would be loaded with death jokes, but it really wasn’t and the humor comes from the character of Grace trying to adapt to her new life as Death.  As she does that, good bits of comedy come out of there.

So I thought that from a writing standpoint it didn’t go for the obvious, it went it for the character and what was funny about the character, which I think ultimately is much more lasting and makes you want to tune in again and again.  As opposed to watching squirrels pee, or watching someone get kicked in nuts a hundred times on YouTube.  I tried to make something that someone would want to come back to more than once to watch.  Although I must say, Keyboard Cat is very funny, still.  I still laugh at Keyboard Cat – it’s just frigging funny.

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In a recent press release from GamePro, they announced that their April 2010 issue reveals the top eight undergraduate schools for video game design.

Out of nearly “500 institutions offering such programs, 50 schools are recognized” says GamePro, the Top 50 list based on a survey that the Princeton Review conducted this past academic year. We are clearly excited about number 3.

1. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
2. DigiPen Institute of Technology (Redmond, WA)
3. Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)
4. Becker College (Worcester, MA)
5. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY)
6. The Art Institute of Vancouver (Vancouver, BC)
7. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA)
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

Why is Drexel so great? Check out this clip from the article.

“Graduates from Drexel wind up in a variety of jobs across the games industry. You can find RePlay alumni in everything from animation to community management. Even before the gaming program was formalized, Drexel graduated two people who became big names in the games industry: Tom Fulp is known for creating both the game Alien Hominid and the Flash portal/gaming hotspot, Newgrounds.com; and Jack Wall composed award-winning music for Myst III: Exile and Myst IV: Revelation.” – AJ Glasser.

Anyone who has played Alien Hominid knows what’s up. The issue hits newsstands on March 9th, and the article is available on GamePro.com.

Congrats Drexel, and thanks to Ben for the tip.

Top 8 Schools for Video Game Design
www.gamepro.com/article/features/214164/8-highest-ranked-colleges-for-game-design

Our pals at Hive 76 have a lot going on towards the end of March, and we here at Geekadelphia want you to plan accordingly.

On March 27th, 2010 Hive 76 is hosting a Hack-a-thon weekend, lasting all day through Sunday, March 28th. That’s right, 36 straight hours of projects, ideas, building, etc. Read up about the event, March Madness, here.

And on Sunday, March 28th, from 10am to 3pm, Maggie Avener and Stephanie Alarcon will be giving a special Linux class. It’s a pay-what-you-can course, and you can learn more about it here.

And for those of you who don’t know, Hive 76 hosts an open house, every single Wednesday, from 8pm to 10:30pm. Two hours of hangouts, nibbles, and partying with Far and Adam. The open houses are always free and always fun.

Hive 76
www.hive76.org

Exhumed Films will be having another one of their great 35mm horror double features this Friday starting at 8:00pm at the International House. This showing’s theme is “One Dark Night of the Zombies!” and the 2 great films on the bill are:

One Dark Night
1983 / USA / Dir: Tom McLaughlin / 35mm

A young girl’s initiation into a sorority-like group of teens involves her being able to spend the night in a creepy mausoleum.  How could she know that it would contain the body of Raymar, an undead psychic who uses telekinesis to reanimate corpses to do his evil bidding?  Directed by Tom McLoughlin, who would go on to direct the very entertaining Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, One Dark Night is spooky, silly fun– shown on a pristine 35mm print.  Starring Meg Tilly and Adam West.

followed by:

Night of the Zombies

1980 / Italy / Dir: Bruno Mattei / 35mm

This is the one you’ve been waiting for!  Screened only once by Exhumed Films in 1999, this infamous zombie “classic” has finally been unearthed from our vaults.  Night of the Zombies (aka Virus, Hell of the Living Dead) tells a familiar tale: an accident involving experimental chemicals has unleashed a plague that turns the bodies of the recently deceased into cannibalistic monsters.  A tv reporter joins up with a team of special forces commandos to investigate and eventually battle the armies of the undead.  A total shameless rip-off of both George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (right down to the plagiarized Goblin soundtrack!)  and Fulci’s Zombie, but filled with enough ridiculous gore to make us forgive its faults.  Almost.

I will definitely be in attendance, see you there! Check out the trailers for both films after the jump!

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This Friday, March 5th, 2010, our BFFs over at Brave New Worlds are hosting Box Brown for a special First Friday event.

Box Brown, a local comic creator and member of the Philly Comix Jam, is throwing a release party for his latest comic, Everything Dies, and will be signing issues at the shop.

If you’d like to learn more about Box Brown, check out his site and catch up on his webcomic, Bellen!

Brave New Worlds
www.bravenewworldscomics.com