Dan’s guide to not being a noob at shopping

Howdy folks, my post for today comes from amusement and anger that occurred simultaneously at the popular Ohayocon. I tell you this tale so that you may understand, a deal is not always a deal, and that in the world of retro shopping, pirates and scammers are everywhere. If a situation is too convenient – such as the retro-game shop set up in the center of this convention – then it’s clearly too good to be true and you should run! Or else… But anyway, here is my tale and pointers:

Video Games Are Art?

As we peel off the packaging of a new game, maybe it’s Pokemon or Bioshock, do we stop and appraise it? Looking at the careful design of the artwork and think: well this probably reflects post-cubism – or some other crap like that. Most likely not, I mean, neither do I. We just throw in the game and go on for the ride. Of course, I think with a video game we’re dealing with a complete package, so you really can’t have so many of those thoughts until you really see it for what it is and try the game out. So what does this have to do with anything? Well I’d like to point out a bit about two events related to this idea of video games as art, one of them involves the Smithsonian.

The War of Mascots

Well it seems like reddit is playing host to a barrage of video game characters appearing all over the word on windows and walls in post it notes and chalk. Whether it’s Sonic or Mario, every post seems to be snowballing into yet another picture appearing. Leading to a few back and forth battles turning… musical?, and also inspiring an entire group of engineering students to post it an entire building face. I just wonder where this will go from here.

Awesome Video of the Week: Mega Man 2.5D

Angry at Andrew for not continuing this potentially fun series, I decided to post a video in his absence… and I’m sure it will please everyone.

So… How many people, by a show of hands, liked Mega Man 2. Yeah? So did I. Sure, it was a tough game at parts, but it was FUN – something lacking in many of today’s games. Now, who here by a show of hands would play Mega Man 2 again if it was slightly modded to incorporate some of the finer points of 3D while still keeping the feel of the 2D game.

I’m sure the answer to that is a resounding yes, with the exception of the few of you who are too conservitive to change anything about the past.

Continue?’s Featured Artist: Ben Chan the Violinist

Hey everyone welcome to Continue?’s Featured Artist, a new monthly article that will be written by those of us at Continue (mostly Andrew), about different artists (Music, video, drawing, etc.), who are either fans or professionals of the video game industry (mostly fans). This week, Andrew is getting things started with one of his favorite YouTube musicians.