Level Orange

I was going through some old files on my computer the other day and happened upon these charming little nuggets from the past. In case you missed these back when we recorded them in 2008, here are the full episodes of the  PiQ Podcast (and thanks to Facebook, the summaries of what we discussed), as hosted by Messrs Howard, Starr, Gifford and yours truly. Sure, all we talk about is stuff that happened two years ago but hey, it reminds me of good times.

Download (right-click, Save As…) and enjoy.

Episode 0

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Just to prove we are not sitting around all day eating Fritos and wiping the grease on our tank tops, here is the highly experimental Episode 0 of The PiQ Podcast (thePiQ-cast? Perhaps I’m getting too far ahead of myself). Have a listen — just press that little “Play” button up above this text — and you’ll get to hear myself, Robert, Paul, and Scott discuss the sorts of things we’ve been up to while working on this magazine.

We got print copies of Issue 1 in the other day, and I hear that some subscribers have received it as well. Huzzah! Tremendous! We hope you will get it soon if you haven’t, or later this month when it hits newsstands. We honestly care what you think about this issue, so keep letting us know.

PiQ Episode 1 – The Sausage Fest

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Now that we’ve slogged through our deadline for Issue 2, we’re able to share our much-delayed discussion about Issue 1 with all you fine folks.

If you have Issue 1, feel free to follow along as we talk about some initial reactions to the magazine, and go into a bit of discussion on Appleseed Ex Machina, Avatar, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Honey & Clover, recent legislation in Japan, Tweeny Witches, Battlestar Galactica, Independence Day (!), our Monitor think-piece “Is Anime Dead?” and more.

PiQ Episode 2 – No Games for Old Men

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Did we ever say this podcast would be a regular thing? Whoops. After a hectic month or so, we finally sat down and got to discuss some of what we’ve been up to, including Kevin’s trip to Japan, the infallible legacy of Upton Sinclair and our collective realization that some games are just entirely too damn hard for old fogeys like us (and we’re not even that old).

More importantly, there’s also our discussion of Issue 2 and all the goodness therein, like how much we dig Sam & Max, Lucky Star, Iron Man, Tim and Eric, action movies, old game shows and pig creatures? Also, we have another sweet prize for those of you interested, so be sure to listen for that too.

PiQ Episode 3 – Delicious

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Here we are again to discuss what we’ve been up to (despite being such losers). Kevin tells all about his conniving ferret, Scott and I celebrate the epic nature of GTA IV and Paul tells why you should check out The World Ends With You.

We also discuss a fair bit about Issue 3, which you should be able to find at your local newsstands. Find out what we really thought about our cover story, Speed Racer, and what other movies we’re looking forward to from this summer’s crop of big releases. There’s also some talk about roller derby and its appeal, Working Designs and our MONITOR piece on translation “Found in Translation”.

Ridley Scott to produce and maybe direct a feature based on the Hasbro board game? Plus, planned adaptations of Ouija Board and Battleship? WTF? I think Hollywood has finally lost its mind. LINK

With other recent events weighing heavily on my mind, I decided to start branching out a bit into some online communities. One of the beauties of the web is that anyone can be a part of anything, boundaries are a thing of the past. Of course, it’s all up to each individual’s level of interest whether or not they actually participate, but the opportunity is there all the same.

So two opportunities arose, and I jumped at the chance. Part of it is me wanting to be in on something bigger than myself, part of it is me wanting to share experiences with others with similar interests. The interests in question? Art and design and video games, and every intersection therein.

After years of lurking around deviantART, I finally created a profile and started sharing some of my work. Then, after my recent booming interest in podcasting, I made all friendly with the Podtacular crew and they’ve brought me in on their big, new project.

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After a little game of tag with UPS, I finally picked up my SOCOM 3 Beta package this morning. My dedication to the PlayStation has wavered drastically in the last year or so, and just powering up my PS2 is going to be a rare event in itself. However, seeing as the SOCOM franchise is the PlayStation’s only real online venture that’s seen any success, I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into the fray, even if just for a little while.

Since the actual testing began on July 20th, I’m going to have to do a little catching up in getting to know the game and how much it’s changed since the last one. Now there are vehicles, larger maps and up to 32 players in a single game. That’s some improvement over SOCOM II, which pretty much stayed the same as SOCOM, but with some newer maps and different weapons. Of course, this is a _beta_ test, so I expect to have my hopes dashed as I encounter bugs and network issues and who knows what else.

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After spending the last two weeks with Halo 2, I have mixed–but still positive–feelings about it all. I’ve found out just how good Bungie and Microsoft are at producing a top-notch game and pushing the boundaries of online gaming and stat tracking. Unfortunately, I’ve also found out just how good they are at marketing the hell out a game that doesn’t quite live up to the hype. Here are a couple of my gripes.

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Tonight I took a chance and headed to Northline Mall in search of a “communications log” of the ilovebees ARG. More surprising than the chosen location was the experience itself. One of those things where you just don’t know where to look or what to look for. Everything is a clue and everyone is in on it. Or not. Turns out I met a few cool people there. Not the massive crowd that I had expected at all, but just a few good folks that turned up to show their love for all that is Halo.

Not that most of us knew what to do. The specified address where this was all supposed to go down ended up being a movie theater in the mall. That was easy to figure out–especially after walking through the rest of that funky mall. I just made my way to a bank of phones at the front door and waited. Eventually a few others showed up around seven o’clock, but we still just stood around, speculating what might happen at the stroke of eight. It wasn’t until someone (who I hadn’t noticed arrive) had the bright idea of asking the theater employees, that things started happening. When they were taking pictures and holding up discs, the rest of us started moving in. So at around 7:30 we got our DVDs–even though it was about a half-hour earlier than the specified time–and said our quick goodbyes. It was an interesting bit of community there for a half-hour or so, in the most unlikely of places.

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With the company’s name in the news almost constantly for the last few months, you’d think things are going well, but some of the news I’ve been reading is giving me a bad feeling.

The lion’s share

Probably the biggest news in the last couple of weeks has been Sony’s acquisition of MGM to the amount of $3 billion. Sound like a good deal right? But Sony already has it’s own production studios, including Columbia Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Sony Pictures Classics and Screen Gems. While MGM hasn’t exactly been on fire in quite a while now, they’ve got an enormous catalog of classic films. This is what Sony is expecting to take to the bank as it releases these thousands of titles on home video.

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As I contemplate the idea of getting an Xbox, I can’t help but thinking about just how big the long-awaited sequel to Halo is gonna be. Around this time two years ago, I made my way through the game several times over and I’m still blown away by it all.

Not only has the game won me over with it’s gameplay and graphics, but I’ve also been caught up in the story. I think I speak for a lot of gamers when I say that I’ve never seen this level of complexity and sheer scope in a storyline for a video game series. As I read through all three novels, I felt the history, the urgency of it all and couldn’t help but anticipate what might come next. At this point, I think the next game’s got a lot to live up to, but leave it to Bungie to get it done.

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Hey! Seems I missed a couple of days there. Everything went fine at the doctor’s visit. No changes whatsoever.

Spent the day Saturday with mom and the birthday boy. Took him to the park with Carol and Gus. I think he enjoyed it. He’s three.

Later that night, it was all about Dreamcast. First, some Bass Fishing, then some Sword of Berserk, then more, and more… til about 1a when I had to stop. My thumbs were killing me. I guess that’s what you get when you don’t play for years. (My last system: Nintendo. Yikes!)

Anyway, got up early Sunday and took the Escort to WalMart to change the oil. Due to a mixup, I got the full service for regular price. Save a couple of dollars. WalMart still sucks.

Then it was off to Katy Mills. We saw Gone in Sixty Seconds. Man, what a rip-off. It was okay, I guess. With the exception of one extraordinarily ridiculous stunt, the feasibility of which will be argued over for days to come. None of the characters in the movie, with the exception of Lindo, Duvall and Cage, really seemed to work.

Later that night, more Dreamcast. AARRRGHH!!! My hands..