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In perhaps one of the shrewdest marketing moves in gaming history, those clever sticks at EA have turned a potential disaster into a stroke of genius.

After previous reports circled the web regarding a serious glitch in Tiger Woods 09 that allowed you to play the ball from a water hazard by simply walking on the water, there response?? Well see for yourself!

Fantastic!

Don't Invade Our Space

What can only be described as a very odd occurrence Space Invaders™ creators Taito look likely to sue the Leipzig show and artist Douglas Edric Stanley after it became apparent that the huge controversial 'Invaders' art! Exhibition was used without the permission of the company. The art in question shows a giant Space Invaders game set against a background of the destruction of the Twin Towers. Apparently a social commentary on the similarities between the futile attempt to stop the Space Invaders, which always ultimately ends in defeat, and the unending War On Terror. The centrepiece of Stanley's provocative installation included was a rather cool giant Space Invaders™ game with motion sensing so that you could actually be the little cannon moving backwards and forwards and using you arms to shoot. It also featured a detailed history of the game the game many see as the marker for when the industry was truly born. However, it seems that Stanley may have to do some bullet dodging of his own if the death threats he has received on his personal blog are to be believed.The installation was removed by Stanley saying something like, "All I wanted was to make a giant Space Invaders game whereby I could wave my arms about and shoot things is that such a bad thing? Also I needed lots of publicity so this seemed like a good way to get it." Probably!

Taito have understandably distanced themselves from the installation in case George Bush finds out about their plot to attack America with their attack force. Its okay George just remember, aim your shots just in front of them as they are flying, especially when they get low and fast!!

Anyway here is a video of the installation which we stole/borrowed from a more high-brow blog called 'It May Even Be Our Time.'

Pasábamos esta tarde por el Springfield de la Plaza del Duque de la Victoria. Allí estaban, acechando en una estantería tras unas perchas de camisetas. Agazapados entre la maleza, que no eran más que otras bolsas con otros diseños, se encontraba la bolsa que todo cazador de frikadas está deseando encontrar. Es de esas cosas que os las pillas en el momento de verlas, o no vuelves a cruzarte con algo así en años.

Pack de 3 calzoncillos 'Space Invaders': 21 euros.

No he podido resistirme y ya he estrenado los negros.

Boy, we really want games to be art, don't we? I mean, some of us do anyway. Chances are if you read any of the blogs linked in my sidebar here, you either already believe games are art or, at the very least, think it's ridiculous that someone would dismiss the idea wholesale.

While I fall somewhere in the middle (more on that sometime later) we're definitely getting there. Videogames have for the last several years taken steps beyond the merely technical and entertaining and into the realm of Really Saying Something. Braid, to name one, is just the latest example. While in my own personal view games have some ways to go, the medium rarely has seen what I would call a setback on the road to this particular brand of maturity. It's a slow road, but that's entirely natural, and hey, we're moving ahead, right?

How disappointing then, to see digital artist Douglas Edric Stanley art installation Invaders! at the Games Convention in Liepzig this week. Invaders! takes the classic Space Invaders motif and superimposes it on top of a digital rendering of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. There's a bit more, too. Kotaku reporter Micheal McWhertor describes it like this:

The Invaders! installation features a video loop that runs alongside the playable game. This video features scenes from the films Taxi Driver, Independence Day, Air Force One and Die Hard — all of which are American made films with a xenophobic streak — interspersed with stills of George W. Bush in his flight suit and John Wayne pointing a gun at the screen. Peppered in are brief clips of people playing Invaders! with a ticker listing "hi" and "lo" scores in red, white and blue text at the bottom of the screen.

The artist's statement describes Invaders! as "an articulated and critical commentary about the current war strategy."

Invaders! may be unsettling, with its blending of archaic gameplay and modern day catastrophe, but it's also an impressive accomplishment in that it delivers complex messages via simple means. Despite its perceived insensitivity, Stanley's ability to use video games as a medium of artistic expression will likely be an important step in the form being taken seriously (by people who take things seriously).

I strongly disagree with McWhertor's last statement there, but not for the reasons some might think. First let me say that I'm a free speech absolutist (it's the former journalist in me) and I support Stanley's right to do something like this 100 percent. I also don't think the installation is insensitive or inappropriate. 9/11 was an incredibly consequential event in American and world history and is completely fair game for artistic statements, especially seven years on. The knee-jerk negative reaction to the piece has been lame but wholly expected, and I think Stanley was wrong to have caved to pressure and pulled the piece. Legal threats by the Space Invaders copyright holder didn't help either. (Kudos to Kotaku's coverage of all this, by the way. It's been very straight-forward and informative.) By all accounts, this is a valid work with a valid -- if by now a bit tired -- message.

But when it comes down to it, this piece really has absolutely nothing to do with videogames in their current state. It has nothing to add to the continuum of artistic videogames, and in fact could actually hurt such efforts in the short term. Here's why.

First, there's the idea of ripping off Space Invaders, which is a massive cliche. Stanley could have done better by finding a way to include bald space marines who push around crates filled with explosives in his piece. Mainstream co-opting of Space Invaders is an idea that goes back to Pepsi Invaders, an advergame designed by Atari for Coca-Cola employees in the early '80s. It's since been copied countless times, especially by the type of people who rarely have a creative or artistic bone in their body. It's just played out.

But more importantly, it plays right into the simplistic perception that many non-gamers have of the medium. Remember that infamous Fox News segment about Mass Effect? Remember when one of the panelists said "This made me feel old -- whatever happened to Atari and pinball and Pac-Man?" That may have sounded hopelessly out of touch to anyone under the age of 30 (or to anyone with a modicum of pop culture knowledge) but that is what most people out there still think of when they think 'video game.' Sad but true. So when something like this comes along and we get the words 'video game' and 'art installation' in the same sentence at mainstream news outlets, and it's a pixelated twin towers mashed up with Space Invaders, people get the idea that this is the most advanced artistic statement this medium can conjure -- and it's pretty much unchanged from what they knew and saw 30 years ago.

True or not, fair or not, that is what people will see and that is what they will think. Never underestimate the mental laziness of the general population, folks.

And finally, what does the gameplay aspect of the installation really say? You can't win. You can't stop the invaders. That's it? Though I haven't played it, I just don't think that jibes with the anti-war message the rest of the images seem to convey.

Stanley is not a game developer. He does not create videogame experiences as we know them today. He's a "digital artist" -- whatever that means. Yet he's getting negative headlines in the MSM while games like Braid, Ico, Dues Ex, and Planescape: Torment are lost on the average pop culture consumer. That's a tragedy, and that's why Invaders! is actually a step backward for videogames at a time when real developers are attempting to send messages through the medium.

Show Notes:
00:27 - Intro
02:25 - Review: Gotham Central Volume 4 - The Quick and the Dead by Greg Rucka / Michael Lark
07:02 - Odd News: Fake iPhone lines
08:33 - Odd News: Anti-Kidnapping Chips
10:27 - Review: Space Invaders Extreme (DS)
14:16 - Review: Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
18:26 - Outro

Running Time: 20 minutes
--
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Luego de recibir fuertes críticas de la prensa internacional, amenazas de muerte e incluso una amenaza de acciones legales en su contra por parte de Taito, el artista Douglas Stanley pidió a los organizadores del Games Convention de Leipzig que retiraran su obra "Invaders!", donde las clásicas naves de Space Invaders bombardean el World Trade Center de Nueva York.

Stanley publicó en su sitio web (donde por cierto hay una gran cantidad de comentarios insultándolo) las razones por las que decidió pedir que retiraran su obra, y dice lamentar ver la reacción de los estadounidenses ante esta obra, que en otras partes del mundo ha sido mejor apreciada.

También asegura que nunca buscó polémica al crear "Invaders!", pero su significado se malinterpretó por completo y perdió completamente su valor artístico, por lo que prefiere que ya no sea exhibido.

Finaliza diciendo que las autoridades locales estuvieron a su disposición para proteger su obra y los derechos del artista para hablar libremente, pero él mismo tomó la decisión de quitarlo del lugar.

Qué opinan? Yo ahorita no podría dar un comentario acertado ahorita, pero por un lado comprendo el enojo de quienes vieron a las Torres Gemelas siendo atacadas por unas naves a siete años de que las de la vida real fueran destruídas por ataques terroristas, aunque por otro lado, y comprendiendo bien que se trata de la obra de un artista (además de sentirme un tanto familiarizado con la situación), creo que sí es un poco injusto que sea retirado.

Pero eso sí, si Taito pensó levantar una demanda en su contra por el uso de sus figuras para propósitos que la compañía japonesa no comparte, se me hace lógico que Stanley no se haya querido arriesgar aún más.

En fin, un artista incomprendido más.

Fuente: Kotaku

If there's any wonder as to why Taito isn't happy about their trademarked characters being used in unauthorized exhibits, it's probably because they are currently in full swing with an advertising campaign that uses these characters to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the game. And now that includes pillows!

The pillows are black with white characters to contrast, just like the original game. I honestly don't remember how much I paid for my last pillow so I don't know if $30 is a good deal or not in the world of pillows but for something 'official' like this it doesn't seem too bad - if it's comfortable. Otherwise it might make a nice couch pillow for a game room (if you have a couch there).

[Taito's Official Space Invaders Pillows] [Discuss on the Forum]

For those who are unaware, there is a specific piece of installation art at the Games Convention in Leipzig that is causing a lot of controversy and understandably so. Invaders! features a version of the classic Space Invaders game overlaid over the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

I can fully appreciate the offense this has caused to some people, however I can also see a benefit to the existence of something like this. I say this with no shield of anonymity to protect me, unlikely numerous individuals who have made some very specific and graphical violent threats directed at it's creator.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about Invaders! itself, it is clearly rather blunt in it's approach and potentially doesn't pay respect to the topic it deals with; respect and criticism are not mutually exclusive after all. I do feel that if we are to consider games as a truly meaningful art form, then we need individuals willing to tackle the controversial subjects; we need our Maus.

At the time of writing Invaders! creator Douglas Edric Stanley has asked the organisers of the Games Convention to turn off the installation. Whether this is conceding that his piece appeared too soon in the cultural memory or whether it is indeed "allowing the lowest common denominator dictate what is and is not a valid form of expression" as Mr Stanley states on his website, is for better minds than me to decide.

If you follow the consumer game media at all then you probably have heard of the Leipzig Game Show that has been going on in Germany. You also might have heard of the controversial Space Invaders-related exhibit which is being touted as art. Well Taito doesn't care what it's called, they are thinking of taking legal action:

TAITO is seriously considering all available options--including legal actions against the infringer and, if necessary, the Games Convention exhibitor involved--in order to end this unauthorized and impermissible misuse of the Space Invaders content and to protect TAITO’s intellectual properties.

Ouch! Of course it doesn't help that the theme also has to do with the World Trade Center Towers, September 11th, and the whole war on terrorism. I imagine that Taito doesn't want to be linked to this sort of thing which is probably what caught their attention. Hit the jump for Taito's full press release.

UPDATE: A response from the artist:

------statement of the artist------------------
After three days of a steady downward spiral in public discussion of the
piece, I have just given my agreement to the organizers of the Leipzig
Games Convention to simply turn off the installation Invaders! While I
realize the dangerous precedent of allowing the lowest common
denominator dictate what is and is not a valid form of expression,
unfortunately the current tone has totally obfuscated the original aims
of the piece. While I take full responsibility for the uncomfortable
ambiguity of certain aspects of this work, it was never created to
merely provoke controversy for controversy's sake, and unfortunately,
this is what the piece has now become. The American response to this
work has been, frankly, immature, and lacking the sophistication and
consideration that other parts of the world have so far shown the work.
Contrary to previous reports, I am an American, and it saddens me that
we as a people remain so profoundly unable to process this event outside
of some obscure, but tacitly understood, criteria of purely anesthetized
artistic representation. Due to these profound misunderstandings, I
simply feel that from an artistic point of view, the work has lost the
ability to have any valuable impact, poetic or otherwise. I have not
been pressured by the Leipziger Messe, nor by the Computerspiele Museum
in this decision -- to the contrary, they have offered their support in
defending the right of artists to speak freely, and in whatever context
they may choose.

August, 22nd 2008 Douglas Edric Stanley

And in case you're curious, here's what the exhibit looked like

Ayer les hablamos de una demostración que se puso en la Games Convention de Leipzig, Alemania, donde en una pantalla gigante aparecieron las famosas naves de Space Invaders atacando las torres gemelas de Nueva York, que fueron destruídas el 11 de septiembre del 2001 por terroristas de Al Qaeda.

Pues un reportero del diario New York Daily leyó lo publicado por Kotaku (de donde nosotros también sacamos la noticia) y contactó a algunos familiares de las víctimas de aquel atentado, a lo que obviamente respondieron molestos y calificaron de repugnante lo mostrado en Leipzig.

El hermano de un fallecido aquel día, declaró que la excusa dada por el artista Douglas Stanley para hacer esta obra era pura "porquería".

"Es de muy, muy mal gusto", agregó Zachary Fletcher, quien admitió haber jugado Space Invaders cuando era niño. "Los aliens no van a atacar el World Trade Center. Por qué razón atacarían el World Trade Center? No tiene sentido", concluyó.

Por otro lado, Rosemarie Giallombardo, madre de uno de los fallecidos en el atentado del 2001, culpó a Taito.

"Así es como quieren celebrarlo (el 30 aniversario de Space Invaders)? Creo que es repugnante", dijo. "[Stanley] debería venir aquí y ver cómo lucen las torres, ese hoyo, ese espacio vacío. Podría tener una perspectiva diferente".

Taito todavía no ha declarado nada al respecto, pero creo que era muy obvio que algo así iba a suceder.

La verdad se me hace una falta de respeto del artista que preparó esa escena, y un enorme descuido de los organizadores que mostraron esas imágenes durante la Games Convention, pues era obvio que iba a recibir puras críticas, algo que no necesitan mucho los videojuegos en estos momentos...

Fuente: Kotaku

Esta semana comenzamos con un sketch del programa (que solo duró 4 episodios) del difunto comediante Richard Pryor, en donde trabaja en la cantina de Mos Eisley.

"You look just like a nigga' from Detroit I know..." Genial

Continuando con el tema de animaciones de zombies que comenzó Al con el post de pieces of me, pieces of you, acá les dejo uno pero en clayanimation. Brutal!!!! Vía

Se acerca el trigésimo aniversario de Space Invaders y para conmemorarlo nada mejor que comprarse un arcade del juego que estas almohadas. Brillan en la oscuridad, lo cual seguró hizo que Ze mojara un poco el piso de su cuarto con sus jugos.  30$ cada una, las pueden comprar acá.

El soundtrack de esta semana corresponde al nuevo sencillo del disco venidero de Metallica, the day that never comes. Yep!!!!!! Por lo menos suena a old stuff. Tallica is back baby!!!

El clásico Space Invaders celebró su 30 aniversario de una forma muy extraña en la Games Convention de Leipzig, Alemania, lo cual ya causó molestia en muchos estadounidenses y dejó a muchos otros con cara de "WTF!?".

Resulta que a alguien (no sabemos si fue Taito o los organizadores) se le ocurrió poner en unas pantallas gigantes una animación de las típicas navecitas bombardeando las ya desaparecidas torres gemelas de Nueva York, ya saben, las del World Trade Center que fueron destruídas en el 2001 por un par de aviones secuestrados.

En lo personal creo que fue una broma de mal gusto, pero sin duda será algo que le dará la vuelta al mundo y hará más conocida a la Games Convention.

Qué les parece?

Fuente: Kotaku

PES, born Adam Pesapane, is a director and animator of short films and commercials.  PES uses everyday inanimate objects to create fully animated worlds and scenes—imagine peanuts as bombs and Christmas ornament explosions, chairs having sex and rubber band spaghetti.  PES has created a style that is all his own and has given birth to a whole new genre of stop motion animation and a whole slew of copycats.

His most recent animation, “Western Spaghetti,” shows the preparation of a spaghetti dinner almost entirely from children’s games and office supplies.

Another of my favorite animations by PES is a short called "Prank Call."  It's incredibly simple but it still makes me laugh every time!

Watch more films and learn more about PES at the eatPES website.

Also, check out the original "Human Tetris" performance. Click here.

Missed a YouTube Tuesday? We’ve got you covered. Type “YouTube Tuesday” in our search box and then choose any YTT post you want to see.

かれこれ十数年前にはじめて耳にしたとき、なんてイカしたロクンローラーなんだろう！？と。

ビースティーとか聴いてるよりがちゃがちゃした悪ガキ感とか鋭い感じがして良かったです

今時にこんなトっぽいバンドいたら聴いてみたい

A total of 28 different pin badges are offered in this particular collection and we're sorting them all out into complete sets so that collectors can get each and every one. Please note that Taito's photo shows 30 pin badges but they didn't manufacture 2 of them so we're supplying 28 per set. We have a fairly large sampling size of the pinbadges and the two that Taito didn't manufacture are marked with "NOT INCLUDED" on our product photo.

Second Product Sale Option
Due to the limited number of some pin badges which prevents us from making as many complete sets as we'd like, we're also supplying the badges in smaller sets of six different badges (our choice) at US$10.90 which includes free shipping by USPS Media Mail Service within the United States.

Episode #50: Google hates us, but our listeners like us, so it makes us happy. Space Invaders Extreme, Trophy Whores, Matt sucks at Warhawk, Monster Madness: Grave Danger, Madden 09, Buzz, crashing the EeePC and blowing up your TV, Qore beta confusion, and much more.

Decoração geek parece que realmente caiu na graça do povo. São inúmeros os objetos para casa que levam o carregam o estilo nerd de ser. Pois é... a impressão hoje é que é fashion ser nerd!

Os pufs acima podem ser adquiros apenas fora do Brasil, nos sites Duende (Japão) e GreatBigStuff (EUA).

Os porta-copos descolados podem ser adquiridos também via internet, no site SuperMandolini.

E a tábua do Space Invaders, além de váááários outros produtos geek, podem ser comprados no site super conhecido no mundo nerd Think Geek.

Bar disagreements are a bummer. Not "bar disagreements" as in bar fights, because those are awesome displays of unbridled violence that'll leave you making Roadhouse references for days. Bar disagreements as in "divergent opinions about whether this is a good bar or not," however, are a bummer. If you're on the "this bar sucks" team, you're raining on everyone else's parade by sitting there sullenly while they run back and forth to the jukebox like kids on Christmas morning. And if you're on the "this bar rules" team, you're pissing your friends off by insisting that playing Space Invaders at a bar is super fun and everyone else just doesn't get it. Regardless of the side you're on, the whole thing is going to end with everyone going "Ugh. Fine. Let's just leave then." And that's not fun for anyone. Bummer everyone can agree on: Senor Frog's.

*This bummer idea submitted by Keenan, a titan among men.