I am a HUGE retro gamer. I love the NES so much I own one for the office, and one for home. And finally, after about 10 years, I am going to have a Super Nintendo again. I picked up a copy of Chrono Trigger and Super Mario World, and I can't wait to play them again. Nintendo and Super Nintendo were both great eras in gaming, and if you are finally getting bored of Halo 3, you should sneak back and play a few of the classics.

Some of my work is making it around the web, and I thought I might drop a few links.

Pop Ethos Interview
Casual Gameplay Article
Wired Magazine Blog

And something from Fortune Magazine should be around soon, I have no clue when.

I am currently working on a Dark Cut II, sequel to Dark Cut which is a surgery game similar to Trauma Center. The graphics have been upgraded to near-real graphics, to make it more realistic. This time, you'll be performing surgery in the Civil War era with the tools and technique of the time. Below is a screenshot of this madness.

I "Finished the Fight" with Halo 3, which was a great game. But now I am working on getting my apartment together for my roommate Luksy, who will be moving in next week and we'll both be working on Flash games for a few months. It'll be great :).

Enjoy your weekend.

Last night I completed an amazing game, which I am pretty sure will be one of the major highlights of the 2007 gaming season.

Bioshock is a steampunk-style first-person shooter taking place in a city called "Rapture", built completely underwater to protect the innocence of it's people from the 1940's warfare happening above. The city, in all irony, has gone awry with zombie-like creatures who have been corrupted by new found powers, called "Plasmids." The Plasmids created a competition for success and power, being driven by a resource called "Adam" which enables people to gain more power. With more power comes corruption, and corruption results in an all-out battle for Adam.

The game takes the basic first-person shooter, but makes it smart. The deep philosophies and constant references to Ayn Rand and other futuristic writers is engaging. Your mentor and disembodied voice is "Atlas" himself.

Beyond the storyline, the gameplay is engaging and intuitive. You are given choices as to how deep you want to enter the storyline, instead of being constantly railroaded into specific situations. Rapture is yours to explore, and the more you explore the more you realize how thought out this game really is. And of course, if you want to rush to the end, you can always do that as well.

The graphics and sound are amazing. Any System Shock fan will be amazing by the dynamics of the game, and playing on a 5.1 surround sound system made me leave the lights on at night. The soundtrack is incredibly engaging as well, with real licensed tracks that remind you that you are actually playing in a World War II setting.

I have a feeling I will be loving this game more than Halo 3, sorry guys. The game is just a cut above the rest, and is smarter than most games out there today. There is nothing to really dislike about this game, beyond the want and need to play a sequel.

I usually am not much for the mainstream gaming, but damn it, this one takes the cake.

College is done, what now?

I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Technocultural Studies, a major that cross-disciplines in Digital Media and the history of human interaction in technology. Full of knowledge, I feel like it's time to head out into the world, degree (almost) in hand, and go do some real work.

I finally got my new place, all the way down in Southern California nearly 400 miles away. I finally bought my own car, and can afford to live independently. Everything seems to be fitting together.

I'll be working full time at Armor Games, which means Flash can continue.

I am so excited that life progresses as planned. And with my 21st birthday happening today, I can't be more thrilled with my life as of now. I can't wait to see what the future holds :).

Isn't it amazing when people are nice?

Renting scuba equipment is expensive. Sometimes they'll charge you up to 40 bucks a day to rent scuba equipment, which is just ridiculous given that you only have enough time to make 1-2 hours worth of diving a day. I went into the local dive shop, and the guy told me he would only charge me 80 bucks for 8 days rental, after telling me he really didn't mind. He saved me at least a hundred bucks, and was really nice about it. He also told me if I wanted a few days extra, he wouldn't charge much more.

I love it when people are nice, but not necessarily just financially. People who tell you good morning or greet you as a stranger are awesome. It's neat waking up, going outside, and having someone I don't know say something nice. And it feels good to give something back too.

Door being held for you. People take it for granted, but I think its really nice to do for people.

When driving through a busy 4-way stop sign, people waving to let each other through instead of just speeding and not taking turns. That's annoying, but when people are nice, everything just seems better.

I had a family email me today telling me great job on a recent game. To take the time out and write a nice email only returns 10 fold for the recipient. Heck, write a letter. That's even better.

Just go do something nice today. I've had the blessing of a few great people today, and it feels like I'm walking on the clouds. I'll have to go pass it on.

Hey there,

I toiled until 4 am last night to finish up 8 months of work on Ball Revamped 5. The new game has an amazing level editing system, as well as 100 new levels of gameplay. On top of that, there is an achievement system built in for extra replay value. Here's the run down:

* 15 Power ups each fused by collecting multiple power ups!

* 100 levels, with 12 different ways to beat the game!

* Custom high score system!

* Brand new worlds and obstacles.

* Robust Physics engine.

* Built in save-system.

* Achievements system, for capturing hard-to-get moments.

* New final boss, with less lag! :)

* Incredibly refined level editor, with high scores for each custom level, ratability and log-in functions.

* Completely original soundtrack.

The branched gameplay is something I really like. It allows for the users to navigate the levels in a non-linear fashion, and based on a difficulty that matches the difficulty to get to the levels!

Hope you'll go play it and enjoy it. This probably wouldn't have happened if a bunch of 16 year olds didn't pressure me to do it, so I am glad they forced it down me :). Enjoy the madness, hopefully you get a lot of fun out of it.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/
391914

Ball Revamped 5 is in full-gear, bound to release in a week or two! Ball Revamped is a series of games, in which you navigate a beach ball through increasingly difficult levels. If you like, you can play around with Ball Revamped 4 to get acquainted with the game.

This version will have a 100 levels, more power ups, and several new features. I will be updating my website with new features from day to day, so if you are interested, you can head over to jmtb02.com to check out some of the preview screenshots.

A more interesting part of this release will be the included level editor. This level editor was made by Tastylamp, a friend and forum member on my site. The level editor already has 400+ user made levels, and you will be able to make your own in-game as well! There's no need to save codes, as your levels are saved on a server, where you can see everyone else's level sets and play them! That way, Ball Revamped 5 will have plenty of extra playtime if you're at all interested.

Cheers :)!