joe randel's art dump

Ever play any of the GROW series?

No?

You should. They’re quite possibly the most addictive little games out there on the net.

You play them like this. You start with a scene and some objects you can click and place in the scene. Even turn they “level up” and do a little animation. The more objects placed in the scene the more animations will follow. But there is a twist. You want to level up each object to it’s MAX level so that means you have to click on the objects in a specific order. The more right you are, the better, cooler and more elaborate the animations get. That’s pretty much it really. It’s so simple but I can guarantee if you try one you’ll keep on playing it until you get it right. I think I pissed away a whole half day when I worked at Gameloft playing these games. I call it R&D. ^_^

Oh, and try this one too, you play with your num pad on side of your key board. It’s like a whack a mole/adventure game. It’ll keep you playing for hours. I love these games ^_^

Yoshinori Yamagishi is a producer for SquareEnix.  For their Star Ocean series to be specific, but he has a secret.  He wants to make naughty video games.  He actually said so an interview for game site Gpara.  He told them…

“Personally, I want to make erotic games… Really. I quietly said to the previous company president “I’d like to make erotic games” to which he retorted loudly, ‘NO!'”

I think that’s it pretty big of him to come out and say such a thing.  I mean, everyone knows this now.  I can bet though that after this announcement he’s probably had offers to produce at least a couple.  I have to admit that I too would love to make adult games… but that’s not much of a shock to people now is it.  I guess for now I’ll have to be happy just playing naughty games.  Maybe someday Yoshinori Yamagishi and I will have our dreams come true.

Someday…

So I come home today and discover blood drops on my floor.  I point this out to the other adults and we all stop to see who’s bleeding.  The answer was my beagle Bernard.  Apparently he had injured his dew claw and it was now pointing up and bleeding.  Not a large amount, but enough to leave blood dots as he walked.  The crazy thing is, it looked like it didn’t even bother him as he wasn’t limping or anything.  I quickly got him ready and drove him to the vet.  Once there the vet took him behind closed doors and tended to his claw.  I was told he didn’t rip it off completely, and it will grow back over time.  Bernard’s upper paw was bandaged up and then we came home.

He’s okay but looks funny with his bandage.  He seems to show it off to us as if to say “look, I’ve got a gimpy paw… I deserve a treat.  Maybe a taco or a steak or something”.  Nice try Bernard.  It’s a good thing I’ve got pet insurance on him.

If there is one thing I can tell you people it’s if you have a pet, get pet insurance.  There is nothing worse then having to make a decision about the cost of medical attention for your pet.  It’s worth every penny you’ll put in to it.  Seriously.

Got the call from my studio saying thing want me to come back to the studio.  Yay!  Monday will be my first day back.  It’ll be nice to be getting a pay check again.  I am still nervous about the stability of the studio thought I must admit.  I feel like I need to work with one foot out side the door in case I need to bail.  Needless to say I’ll still be working on bettering my portfolio.  But yay for getting back to work.

Now if you excuse me, I’m going to have a Cream Soda to celebrate. ^_^

What did you do today?

My day started with my wife letting me sleep in late (yay!).  I them got up and watched Cars with the kids and then took my daughter to a birthday party.  After the party we came home where I helped clean up the play room and just puttered around helping out with dinner.  Called my Dad when the kids where in the bath and then read stories with my daughter.  Soothed my son back to sleep after he woke up then sat on my ass and watched some tv.  Then made this post.

How about you?  Anything interesting?

Did you have a favorite toy when you where a kid?  A toy you had to take ever where.  I had a stuffed Ernie and I took him all over the place until one day I dropped him and thought that he got hurt so I never took him out again.  I even put a bandage in him to make sure he was okay.  That bandage stayed on him for close to 30 years before I took it off.  Yup, I still have my Ernie.  My daughter has one too that is exactly the same.  I need to get my son one now too but it’s hard to find.  Or maybe a Bert stuffie.

So what was you favorite childhood toy and do you still have it?