Monday, September 29, 2014

Gamasutra!

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I am back to further explore the world of game design. While there are so many aspects to touch base on I will save those for a later date and for this post, point out some amazing sites to check out. My number one pick www.gamasutra.com, This site is a well of knowledge in all aspects of gaming and there are no shortages of useful links and references. I have found one of the more frustrating obstacles when starting a project from scratch is figuring out where to start. At Gamasutra the overflowing sputum of irrelevant and distracting facts is relatively easy to avoid. They are well cataloged and provide to the point guidance when dispersing the knowledge  you seek.  Be sure to check this site out when doing research or looking for a specific answer to your gaming question.
 
~Michael

Thursday, September 25, 2014

NEW character!

Today I bring you another new character for our upcoming Nintendo Wii U game: Of Mages & Pages.  George the Brown Wizard!  George is the wizard of time and is a Centaur.  In Midieville Centaurs are not just half-human half-horse creatures, they are half-human half-any-animal.

Be sure to share your thoughts on this and other characters we've announced!

~Jason

Monday, September 22, 2014

Pop Culture Sales Commercials



The ol’ pop culture car sale commercial. It works, it’s funny –sometimes-, and it is prevalent in this day and age. When the Marvel universe movies are hot, i.e., The Avengers, and when a reboot of Godzilla is on the horizon; why not make a commercial to sell cars with characters from these franchises? Doesn’t Godzilla just scream, “Buy a new car now?”
Over the summer, the radio aired a humorous commercial, a lot that centered on Godzilla, and The Hulk, presumably they mistook a Big Car Sales EVENT for Big Car Salesmen. Both decided to ty and get jobs in sales. However, we do get treated to the wonderful experience of The Hulk yelling, “Hulk smash financing!” Because really, how else would he wheel and deal?
Currently, the radio is airing a commercial staring none other than pop culture icon and Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. It opens with the very familiar respirations of Vader as he goes in to buy a new car. Humorous as it may be, it becomes a bit too corny when he demands special rates and is told that everybody gets those rates. “Okay, then,” he says. But wouldn’t a Sith Lord then demand to get rates better than the rest of us? Why else would you have mind tricks like the Jedi do? That, however, is just my opinion though.
The major drawback for any true fan is that he eventually speaks the line, “Mark, I am your father,” to the salesman. To which Mark replies, “No, my dad is in Florida.” Funny . . . but then the response from Vader is, “Sorry, old habit.” My question is, how can something become a habit when it never really happened before? Am I right? Wink . . . wink . . . nudge . . . nudge.
In the end, even though these commercials were funny, and made me chuckle, it wasn’t enough to make me interested in buying a car. Maybe if I was already in the market, I would be swayed to check them out, but probably not. Humor is nice, but it doesn’t mean, “Best deal.”
                                                                                                            - Whalicoco
(P.S. He actually says, “No, I am your father.”)

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Disney Marvel Years Into the Merger

Several years into the merger between Disney and Marvel Entertainment and i, for one, am very excited about what has been brought (and what is in talks to be brought) to the table. What at first seemed to be the imminent "babification" of some very iconic figures, has instead turned into a serious and most lucrative enterprise.
Disney infused much need revenue but let the creative types, comfortable in their vein, stay in that vein...only now with the resources to make bold strides into the multiplex market. Long range focus, respect for the source material (if not dogged adherence) and smart choices for budgeting, direction and acting talent have proved a powerful and (seemingly) very synergistic relationship.  If nothing else, the glaring missteps (though at times well intentioned) of the past (HULK, Daredevil, Ghost Rider) appear to be drifting into the sea of forgetfulness.
I dig it, what are Your thoughts on the Disney/Marvel marriage?
~Steven

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Midieville Returns


http://www.3twins.net/Duel1.htmlWith all the excitement about our upcoming Nintnendo Wii-U game Of Mages & Pages we have decided to continue our story of Midieville.  The latest saga will bridge the gap between the Spellbook saga, and the story in the game.  If you remember the "Duel" episode that we released a few years back that featured Marvin challenging Naaj to a wizard's duel, this is actually the first episode of the ten part story.  You can watch that episode here. Take a good look at the art because it's all changing when the new episodes start rolling out!  We will begin debuting new episodes prior to the release of our game.  Keep checking in with our Blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed to stay up to date on all the Of Mages & Pages news.

~Andy

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Indie-ana Jones and the Crowdfunding of Projects

We've all heard the expression 'Vote with your Dollars'. We're told time and again that if you don't like the Movies/Music/Games that Hollywood/Nashville/Silicon Valley put out then either make your own or shut up.  Well, thanks to Crowdfunding consumers and fans can now help get projects that deserve support off the ground without having to rely on having broad enough appeal to get traditional production support

Here's a example of the power of people getting projects to go forward. 'Hullabaloo' is an animation project by a former Disney animator that blew well past it's funding goal in a very short period thanks to social media.

http://io9.com/hullabaloo-is-the-disney-steampunk-animated-movie-of-ou-1631222798

Take a peak around on Kickstarter and IndieGoGo and see some the awesome video game, movie, and artistic projects just waiting for a few dollars to get them off and running!

~Mutz

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Fan Tees



I work in a school, and between classes, I am tasked with hall monitoring outside my room. It can sometimes be challenging depending on the day. Between the cursing, inappropriate wardrobe, yelling, running, the occasional tussle or two, and the couples that can be seen milling about, it can be difficult to get through the 5 minutes unscathed.
The highlight, though, is when I see the fan-boy or fan-girl in the crowd. A random Doctor Who shirt or a Deadpool hoodie makes me smile. Even with all the issues on the dark side of student interactions, it does me good to see that fandoms are that that support the same interests I have. It is nice to see fans of both the dark side and the Jedi co-mingling.
The best part of these observations is when I can see the odd cross, or scriptural reference on a shirt. I can smile on the inside as well as the out when I see these members of the fandom of Christ.
                                                                                                            - Whalicoco

Thursday, September 11, 2014

New Character! Peter the White Wizard



Greetings 3twins fans!

This week I give you the concept image for another of our 12 wizards.  This is one of my favorites so far, Peter the White Wizard!  He is a Greckle (rock person) who hails from the Northwest, but his station is in the central area of Midieville as he protects the Sphinxes who reside in the desert realm.  Peter is wizard over day itself and is the tallest of the 12 wizards.

What part if any will Peter play in our upcoming Nintendo Wii U game: Of Mages & Pages?  Well, you'll just have to wait and find out!

~Jason

Thursday, September 4, 2014

So long, farewell!

A few weeks back I blogged about a couple of forgotten characters in Midieville that may or may not make a return in future stories, or our upcoming Nintendo Wii U game Of Mages & Pages.  Today I'd like to share about a character that never appeared in Midieville who we have decided will not be realized.  Princess Thafi, the daughter to Mathos.
King Mathos was originally going to be an older royal who lived in the White Castle with his daughter, Thafi. Thafi was planned to be a sassy teenager who was often kidnapped by the Black Knight, or who would ask questions the audience may want answered.  Basically she was like Blonde originally was in Hatman & Indigo.  We have since decided to make King Mathos much younger, and single, so it wouldn't make sense for him to have a teenage daughter.
So, we say "so long, farewell" to the unpublished teenage daughter of our good king.
~Andy

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Eye Candy



As a child of the 70's and 80's I was around for the first generation of 'electronic' games that are laughably primitive and unappealing by the standards of today. So what was it that really inspired us buy and play them? 

I believe it wasn't just the novelty of the new experience (PacMan in our living rooms with no quarters- totally awesome!) but rather it was the artwork. Not the graphics of the game itself but rather the posters and box art that made us part with our allowance. Advertisements promised adventure beyond our imaginations for only $15.95!

Now you're probably thinking "Thanks Gramps, did you walk uphill to school both ways too?" but that point I'm trying to make here is that good games require good art! The visual design of a games is often central to games success. My generation watched year after year games became more and more awe-inspiring in their graphics.

Games can be almost photo-realistic to downright absurd in design but the single thread remains: if it's ugly, nobody wants to play it.

Think about it- what games to you enjoy playing that are just fun to look at too? The dreamy quality of 'Trine'? The cartoon fun of 'Psychonauts'? The gritty realism of 'Last of Us'?

PS- keep an eye on this blog and our FB page to see concept art of 'Of Mages and Pages'

~Mutz