1. I really like the changes they’ve made to the game.
2. I’m really not very good at Halo.

During a match the other night I thought I was doing amazing so I pressed back to view the scoreboard.  Much to my surprise I was ranked at the absolute bottom of the list. Rad.  Only not really. I will continue to play, but if you’re looking for a teammate to play with you may want to steer clear.

Their latest game, Puzzle Chronicles, hit Xbox Live Arcade a few weeks ago and we’ve been sent some download codes to give away!  This week we’re going to be holding the contest on our Facebook page. Just leave a comment on the wall post for the code and you’ll be entered into a random draw.  Be sure to enter by 6pm this coming Wednesday!

I also see a lot of dicks saying things like, “I have a code and after I gain another 100 followers I’ll hand it out”. I’m sorry to take the moral high ground on this one, but fuck you guys. What the hell?

If you need a code AND you’ve been following me on twitter for at least a week then you are eligible to win the code.  I’ll draw the winner tomorrow morning.  All you have to do is tweet: “@Sinnix I love cookies” and you’re in the draw.  If you’ve been following me for a while and you’ve already messaged about getting a code then I’ll include you just in case you don’t see this message. I’d leave this up for longer but the weekend is escaping us!

Update – The contest entry period is over. I’m starting to check who’s got a valid entry.

WINNER: PGT2Turbo wins the code!

So come on down and introduce yourself!

Oh, if you don’t see “forum” under “downloads” in the navigation at the top of the page then do yourself a favour and press Ctrl+F5 to refresh the page and ignore your cache.

Do me a quick favour: Go to your fridge. Look for a menu from a pizza or Chinese food place.  Do you see that menu? An artist made that.

Tell me, is that art?

It was created by an artist, developed through an artistic process, using an artist’s tool set.

I would conclude that it is not art, it’s a fucking menu. I suppose a very well designed menu could be seen as art by other menu designers. Perhaps even a beautifully, wonderfully, magically spectacular menu might transgress beyond the love of menu designers and catch the eye of a few CD cover designers. But I digress.

Here in Ottawa we have a thing called the National Gallery of Art. It’s awesome and everyone should go.  When you go, I want you to look for a piece called, “Voice of Fire”.  It’s hard to miss. It’s 5.4m tall and cost the gallery $1.8 million back in 1989.  Here, have a look…

Voice of Fire (1968, Barnett Newman, Acrylic on canvas)

Don’t worry, your browser is fine. Yes, it is a red stripe on a blue background.  Straight up acrylic on canvas. Nothing fancy.

One. Point. Eight. Million. Dollars. Red. Stripe. Blue. Background.

When it was purchased, as you can imagine, it caused a lot of controversy here in the capital.  People were printing knock-off t-shirts and there was even a book about it a few years later. It kicked off this big discussion about, “what is art?” with experts on both sides of the fence arguing their points with their finest debate skills. The spectacle  was entertaining for a while but ultimately fleeted and all we were left with was The Voice of Fire. Why did the discussion end? Because eventually everyone realized that the argument could never be won.

Art is, has always been, and will continue to be subjective.  Not everyone considers Art to be “Art” and that’s never going to change. It doesn’t matter if your creative work is hanging in the National Gallery or sitting on a shelf in Walmart. Someone, somewhere is going to question it’s place as an artistic medium and the sooner you learn to let go of caring about other people’s opinions of things you love, the better off you’ll be. You don’t need vindication if you’re you’re happy liking the things you like.

And please, the next time you’re reading a menu, take a moment to appreciate details.

(For the record: Yes, I believe some games are art. Yes, I think Voice of Fire is awesome and well worth the money and finally, yes I do enjoy a well designed menu).

1. I am very excited for Splinter Cell Conviction this week.
2. I have never finished a Splinter Cell game in my life… because I always get frustrated and quit.

I remember playing Chaos Theory (quit at level 3)… or rather, TRYING to play Chaos Theory with Maranda back when it came out. Let’s just say that it was a dark period in our relationship. I’m hoping Conviction’s focus on being a deadly predator helps to sooth the co-op stealth gameplay itch we’ve been looking to scratch for all these years.

In other news, I need to remind you that our store is now open for business.  We’ve completely sold out of X08 prints, but there are a few X07 and X09 prints left.  As I mentioned earlier, we’ll also be adding some X09 derivative prints (non-limited edition) pretty soon.  I’ve had a few questions about the odd shipping, so let me take a moment to explain weirdness.  Because of strange limitations in the software, every time you add an item it will add a $10 shipping charge.  This is silly, of course.  If you purchase three prints we’re going to ship them all in one box and the shipping cost will only be $10.  SO, if you purchase multiple items, please know that we will REFUND YOU ALL SHIPPING CHARGES BEYOND THE $10 MARK.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go play some more Dragon Age Awakenings to clear my plate for Conviction.

Out.

Every year I trek down to Toronto with a box of prints to give away to the community (and a few devs). Every year I return with around ten or so, carefully package them, and place them into a box.  I have opened the box, and now it’s time to set the prints free! I’m not kidding about the rare thing. I have less than ten of each!

• x07 – 7 prints
• x08 – 1 solitary print
• x09 – 4 prints

Once these are gone… that’s it. I will never be printing more.  If you’re interested I suggest you keep this page under a watchful eye.

All prints are professionally printed on 8″x11″ card stock and will be made available for $19.99CAD each. For a refresher on what each of them looks like, we’ve got some preview images after the jump!

x07

x08

x09

In addition, a colour variation of the popular x09 print will be made available within the next week for $9.99 CAD. Stay tuned for more information on that one.

This week brings us a replacement for the horribly broken Mako from ME1.  Surprisingly, I was one of those few people that actually enjoyed the obscure vehicle sections of the original game.  I’m very much looking forward to see what kind of new gameplay elements Bioware has cooked up for us. Those costumes though… not entirely sold on those.

Why is it late you might be asking? Well, aside from starting a new job, I’ve been busy working with our writer on a new side project. I’d like to introduce you to PoppysBoutique.ca: an online, high end child fashion accessory retailer. Feel free to use the coupon code HELLOPIGGY to get 10% off Piggy Paint until the end of March. We’ve been open a few weeks and business is doing great!

Okay, that’s SO not game related and 90% of you don’t care. I know that.

I’ve also been hard at work redesigning 360Prophecy.com and coming up with new features to entertain you with.  I’ve finished a few mock-ups , although none that I’m overly happy with. The concept is cemented though, and things are going to change around here.  With that being said, I need to say that ALL those plans are hold until I can get caught up with the comic. Out!

Currently Playing: Supreme Commander 2 (PC)