joe randel's art dump

Street fighter 4 has been announced.  Everyone in the game world knows this by now.  If not then, come out from under your rock and see what you’ve missed.

Now I’ll be the first to stand in line an proclaim my love for Street Fighter.  I remember why back in high school I would wander down to the corner store and play it’s hack version of SF2.  I actually never knew it was a hack until years later.  It played just like a regular version.  No cheats or crazy stuff but it did have some art missing.  Anyway, I would go and play that machine every freak’n time I had.  I bought every version on the SNES and went crazy for the Alpha series.  Then Street Fighter 3 came along.  It was truly Street Fighter perfected.  The art, the animation, the tight controls and balanced game play.  Perfect.

So now that there’s number 4 you would think that I’m super happy.  Sadly I am not.  The more I see of SF4 the less I’m impressed with it.  But I tell myself, self… it’ll be awesome.  It’ll be tight.  It’ll be Street Fighter.  But I can’t shake the early feelings that I have for this game.

It makes me sad that it’s gone 3D.  I personally think the 3D look ridiculous.  The backgrounds and environments are very nice, but the characters lack that certain quality that the 2D had.  I also remember seeing an interview with some of the development team and they said they felt that they took 2D as far as it could go with the series.  I don’t believe this to be true for a moment and it brings a tear to my eye when I think about it.  What also bugs me is the fact that they’ve brought back the whole crew from SF2.  This kind of thing never bothered me before.  All the different versions of SF2 in the past never got my goat, but this time… come on.  SF3 saw a new cast and it was great!  We can’t go back now!  It’s like Capcom is remaking SF2 in 3D but throwing in some new characters and calling it number 4.  Even the new environments are takes on the old SF2 ones.

Sigh… maybe I’m just too hardcore for my own good.  Maybe I’m taking it too personal.  Naw!  SF4 will be a great game I’m sure, but it just doesn’t get my vote.  I’ll sit here and play my SF3 thank you.

2D forever!

hack, hack…

I’m sick.  I’ve actually been sick for about 2 weeks now but I thought I was on the mend but I woke up today and felt like crap again.  I’ve already taken two days off from work so I’m glad it the weekend and I can try to get some rest.

suck.

I’m going to bed.  Good night…

Okay… so taking the advice of so many people I’d like to extend a huge thanks to everyone watching my art, those that have faved it and all the comments. I just don’t possibly have the time to go and thank everyone, I’ve tried in the past and it’s just too much so I hope that no one is insulted that I’ve not responded to them.

In all honesty I never would have imagined that what I draw would gather so much attention from so many people. I feel especially honoured when people message me to say that I was the one the influenced them to draw. That’s a total shocker since and really makes me feel good. So here’s a HUGE should out to everyone out there that has followed my art since the beginning and those just finding me. Thank you. You’ve all made it more fun to draw what I draw then I ever could have imagined. You’ve all help to give ideas and support when I’ve been slumping (which has been a lot lately).

So thanks again everyone.

You’ve made it real ^_^

Sorry I have no Valentines pic.

Here’s the situation.

You’re going to introduce your cousin (who’s been living in a hole in the ground) to video games. You show him/her some games that you have and he’s/she’s hooked. So hooked in fact that they go back to their hole and start their own collection… but they don’t know where to start. That’s where you come in. Lets now assume that because they’ve lived in a hole they now have all kinds of money to buy any console/PC and game and also get some electricity in their hole so they can play games, what 5 games you tell them they absolutely have to play and add to their collection.

-My list-

1 – Mega Man 2 – Excellent game design and music.
2 – Mario Kart DS – Possibly the best, most perfect version of Mario Kart thus far.
3 – Roller coaster Tycoon PC (plus the two expansions) – So much replay value and tons of fun.
4 – Super Mario World – Not actually my favorite Mario game but in terms of game design, it’s excellent.
5 – Wii Sports – One of the top fun/casual games out there.

GO!!

Some one on my block stole my recycle box! What an asshole! Who would steal a recycle box? o_O I can only hope they’re going to recycle more now that they have an extra blue box, but I doubt it.

Bastards.

Say… how should this whole “internet etiquette” thing work.. Should I be replying to all the comments, favorites, and watches? I’m sitting here with hundreds of them in my control panel at Fur Affinity but I don’t want to insult people by not replying to them. I can reply to the ones I get at Deviant Art but over at Fur Affinity it’s just wave after wave of faves and watches.

Suggestions?

Oh, and if anyone has a question for me I’d be happy to do my best to answer it. I’ve done three post in a row right now and I’m starting to get a little dry. Although I do have some ideas for posts, but if anyone has a question. Just ask away ^_^

Joe

Death

So I’ve already laid out the fear of my end this year. I’m sure most think it’s pretty silly but to me death is a very serious topic. See, I’m very much afraid to die (I keep myself up at night sometimes things about it all). Now not in the way of, I’m scared that I’m going to be hit by a bus sort of thing. More of the idea that at some point I will no longer be here. I will no longer exist. Which to me is really scary. Now there are all sorts of ideas of what will happen to us after death but in reality we ultimately don’t know and because I’m not a religious person at all I don’t really go for the faith explanations about the after life.

See, it all boils down to control. I like control. One day I’m going to die. I can’t control that. Most would say that that because I can’t control it then I should worry about it. But… I can’t do that. I lay at night and worry about what will happen to me when I die. Who will I be after I’m dead? What will I be? Will I have an idea of self? I like my current self, why would I want to change or lose that? If I, somehow, become some one else, will I retain any idea of who I am now? I don’t want to leave the people I know. All these and other questions really, seriously scare me.

It does lead me to other ideas/questions that others don’t answer or talk about. Like, faiths generally talk about where you’ll go when you die, but there’s not many that talk about what/where you were before you where born. Which it is like being dead really. You didn’t exist. The world happened and you didn’t. But we don’t have fears or anything about that. It’s just accepted that you where born and then everything is gravy.

But there is one thing that gives me hope. See when my beagle Pheobe died a few years ago something happen to me that I can’t explain nor will I ever forget. The second day after we had to put her down I was very distraught and a basket case. I fell asleep during the day (which is something I never do) and this is what I saw. I opened my eyes and was sitting in a forret/wooded area near a creek. Next thing I knew was Pheobe came running though the trees and knocked me down and started licking my face. She then jumped off me and ran in to the woods. I got up and chased after her. I soon came to a clearing on a hill/lookout type area with a small cottage. It was a very privative country cottage with a low drift wood fence and a low table and stools in the front. The door was open and inside was just one room with all wood furniture. There was a few windows, a small wooden counter with a basin sink, a round wood table with some chairs, a wood stove and a large country bed with a homemade quilt. Pheobe was in the middle of the room laying on a hand woven mat looking at me. It was then that I felt myself being lift up and out of the house. I continued to raise up where I could see the cottage, the valley the trees, mountains and everything. It all faded to white and I woke up. I’ve never felt so much at peace and so much at home as I did in those moments. It was perfect and I’ll never forget it. If anything, I believe that my dog is there waiting for me in that cottage and that’s where I’m supposed to go when my time is up.

So that’s me and my relation to death in a nut shell. So while I have no idea what’s up with death and beyond I do have some hope. No matter how much I worry about it I always think of Pheobe. I can’t shake the idea that she’s in a place that she’s created for herself. It’s the only thing that I can hold on to, other wise it all seems pointless to me.