Was totally fun! I love watchin' me some good Halo action and the tournament did not disappoint. Check out the Fly That Flag semifinal and final matches on the latest Tournament TV, hosted by Ryan MacDonald and yours truly.

Thanks to Vinny, Jody, and the rest of the GS Live crew that helped us bend the film replays to our will to make the whole thing happen. Also thanks to those of you in the chatroom who alerted Alert Citizen Don Francis to a wee verbal flub that Ryan and I perpetuated early in the semifinal broadcast. So that none of you misspeak in the same way, I've prepared a handy Field Guide that should help you keep things straight.

Happy Haloing!

Yesterday on On The Spot I had the good fortune to demo Echochrome, a unique puzzle game developed by JapanStudio. I played the game for about an hour before the show, trying to get a sense for how the game works so that I could speak competently about it and, hopefully, play it competently as well. I believe I achieved my aim (though you can judge for yourself), but in the process of doing so I caught a glimpse of the true nature of the game. The clean line animation and ascetic aethestic (yes I just wrote that yes I am pleased with myself) belie the aberrant laws of the abstruse universe Echochrome defines and inhabits. I watched a gameplay video and my brain said, hey, that looks weird. I played the game, and my brain said, whoa, I feel weird.

I believe this unsettled feeling is generated by my brain's attempt to reconcile the dimensional nature of the game. On a basic level, the image I see when I play the game is as two-dimensional as the screen I play it on. But my brain's got skills, see?, and it moves right past that and on to conceptualizing the game space. When an Echochrome puzzle loads, it rotates for a brief period before your character starts moving. This rotation reveals a three-dimensional object, with ledges and columns extending along the X, Y, and Z axes. I know rotating the puzzle on these different axes is how I'm going to accomplish my goals, so my brain files this space away as three-dimensional. Everything in its right place.

Then Liney starts moving. Liney is the gender-neutral, imagination-shaming name that I came up just now with for the character that walks around and often falls to his doom. Once Liney is on the move, it starts to become clear to my brain that it may have made a clerical error. While Liney walks to and fro and flies through the air as if inhabiting three-dimensional space, there's clearly something else going on.

In my On The Spot demo, I first have Liney fall through a hole into oblivion. Then, by rotating the space, I cause Liney to fall on a platform that now appears to be positioned below him. A 3D space would have Liney off into oblivion again, but his fall onto the platform indicates that the laws of a two-dimensional space are now in effect. My brain is not a member of the Flipmode Squad and as such does not appreciate this flipping of modes.

But my brain can roll with the punches, and after a few such flips begins to formulate a theory about how things work in the Echoverse. When planning Liney's path, it helps to think in 3D. When Liney's on the move, 2D rules the roost. Sounds simple enough, right? What I'm setting you up for here is that no, it's not that simple. Planning Liney's path (3D) requires that I think in terms of Liney's movement (2D), so the separation my brain is trying to enforce becomes untenable. This is troubling because this very separation is the separation between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space, the difference that makes the two distinct. In one, objects are flat. In the other, objects have depth. Echochrome dances between the two like a mischievous jester. The effect of this weirding dance is the blurring and intermingling of the boundaries between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space. Do me a favor and read the previous sentence again. That's. Effed. Up.

It's a truly bizarre sensation. At several points, I felt like my brain was travelling down familiar paths of thought only to find that the paths had changed and there was improper signage telling it where to go next. This feeling gradually lessened as I spent more time on that one level and began to feel comfortable with certain ways of moving, but it never fully vanished and came back with a vengeance when I dared other levels. I imagine, given more hours of play time, that it might be possible to train my brain to think echochromally, but even that theory makes my brain shudder a bit. I can't decide if I want more time with the game so I can master its amorphous ways, or if I just want to wrap a blanket around my brain and go bang out some arithmetic.

Bonus Fun Facts

- The artistic presentation of Echochrome reminds me of a book I read as an adolescent, "House of Stairs" by William Sleator. In the book, five teenage orphans are placed in a vast building with no ceiling, walls, or floor, only stairs running in all directions with the occasional platform here or there. The children are simultaneously enclosed by cavernous empty space and exposed by the lack of any privacy at all. The aethestic parallel is clear, but I think the book also messed with my mind a bit in a way that resonates with brain-bending nature of Echochrome.

- I made it through the entire demo without once mentioning M.C. Escher. Lark would be proud.

- When I was a kid, I had a black stuffed animal otter that I named Blacky.

Another blog entry, another GameSpot multimedia debut! Such is the glamorous life of a Da... err, Producer 'round these parts. Today was the finals for our Uber Destruction Team Fortress 2 (360) tournament, and I was one of the four hosts, along with Ryan MacDonald, Brian Ekberg, and Jody Robinson. TF2 has a uniquely styled look and as such the characters lend themselves to imitation. So we played dress-up! We each donned costumes of four different TF2 characters, and I gotta say, the result was pretty dang super. I dressed as the Spy, the dastardly chap you see here:

It just so happens that I acquired my very first suit within the past year (I'm a big kid now) and it is strikingly similar to this fellow's garb. So I bought a some black gloves and a big black winter cap from Walgreen's to get in character. Cutting up the hat while not cutting my face parts was a bit tricky, but I managed to pull it off without incident. I bummed a cigarette off of Frank, and a stabby-lookin' letter opener off of Ricardo, and my ensemble was complete.

The show went well and it was a real fun time. Team DR pretty much dominated Killswitch Engaged, which I was happy about because it meant I could take off my toasty warm dome sock sooner. Check out a picture of the crew over at Stan's blog, and check out the show to get a taste of my Spyliness. Woo-hah!

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of venturing upstairs to a small sound room with Vinny Caravella, Tor Thorsen, and Kevin VanOrd to record an episode of The Hot Spot, GameSpot's weekly podcast-type show in which we discuss news and such from around the gaming industry. I was thrilled (and yes, a bit nervous) when Vinny invited me to come on, but it ended up going really well. And by really well I mean that I managed to say some reasonable stuff and avoid putting my foot in my mouth. Once things got rolling it actually became much easier, kind of like a much-fretted-over school presentation that, once underway, takes on its own momentum and is over before you know it. I had a lot of those.

Anyways, have a listen and let me know what ya think!

...is what I been thinking about all GD morning, worrying it like a loose tooth. It all started when I received a press release announcing that Mastiff has "acquired the Major League Eating (MLE) license for interactive platforms."

!

Mastiff have previously published such titles as Gurumin and Pump It Up: Exceed, and I recommend viewing this trailer in order to a) reassure yourself that video games have gone bizarro before and you haven't yet gone insane (hopefully) and b) feel slightly pervy. Now back to the matter at hand.

MAJOR LEAGUE EATING. For the sake of brevity, I won't go into... what the... hold on. Click that link there for a second and look in the News window on the right side. Just when I thought I had had my fill of weirdness for the day, I see an article titled JANUS EATS A FOOTBALL! Sweet merciful ZEUS. Apparently it was some sort of Super Bowl halftime stunt billed as "a strong family friendly option considering Mr. Tom Petty often celebrates drug use in his songs." I am down the effing rabbit hole here and I am starting to fear I'll never emerge. As I was saying, I won't go into my thoughts on making a sport out of eating mass quantities of food very quickly for the sake of my sanity, so suffice to say I think it is not cool.

But hey, there are a lot of things that aren't cool in real life that are cool in video games, like vehicular manslaughter, picking your nose, and shooting people in the face, so maybe there something to MLE: TG. Let's read on:

"Major League Eating: The Game features the world's greatest gurgitory [Love it. You know I'm a sucker for big words. Especially ones that don't exist in any online dictionary] athletes competing across twelve different food types. Built much like a fighting game, MLE: The Game requires players to show brilliant on-screen eating; a mastery of offensive and defensive weapons including burps, belches, and mustard gas [Wario: Unlockable character or final boss?]; and of course the technical mastery necessary to avoid emptying one's stomach in a vividly colored reversal of fortune.[BARF]"

So which is scarier, that description of an actual game in the works, or the fact that, despite my initial shock and dismay, the game sounds kind of awesome? For me, it's the latter. As I mentioned, I've literally been thinking about this all morning. I truly hope this game features some bizarrely named actual championship eaters pounding all sorts of realistically rendered foodstuffs and belching in each other's faces, because then it will replace my eager anticipation with queasiness and I won't feel so conflicted. However, I think the best thing this game could bring into my life is stories of kids knocking out their teeth as the frantically shovel the Wii Remote towards their faces in an effort to beat their friends at Asparagus.

Anything to help us close out here, Bill?

"Major League Eaters aren't just elite athletes," says Bill Swartz, Head Woof at Mastiff. "They are the people who built America. Or at least the competitive eating part of America. And I am deeply honored that the International Federation of Competitive Eating and Major League Eating choose Mastiff as their exclusive videogame partner."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

***BONUS CONTENT - NOT FOR THE EASILY NAUSEATED, WEAK OF MIND, OR THOSE WITH A FAMILY HISTORY OF DEMENTIA***

Now picture this, dear reader. Chubby American kids playing Major League Eating: The Game while hooked up to a Gamercize Power Stepper or Endurance Cycle, devices which will pause the game if the child is not exercising enough. Young portly folks trying to lose weight and develop healthy habits while playing a game about inhaling vast quantities of food for the sake of inhaling vast quantities of food. You can't make this stuff up!

NOTE: Children not to scale.

Tonight from roughly 7-9 PST I'll be hosting some crazy racing in Paradise City. I've never played the game before, but I love Burnout so I'm quite excited. Send a friend request to 'gsadmin1' if you want to join, and peep the community page for more info:

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26197171

Well, hello there. It's been quite some time since a new blog post cropped up here, and I though it time to remedy that with this brief message. I hope you've been well.

I've been on a bit of a hiatus for a number of reasons. Office turmoil, vacation, busy holiday season... all these things were factors. I'm gonna say that despite all these distractions, the main reason for it all was my hand. My left hand, specifically. And if you want to get technical, my 4th metacarpal.

Which one of these bones is not like the others? That's right! The one with the spiral fracture! No flies on you, buddy. I was sporting that guy for a few days of mittenhand before I went to the doctor and got an x-ray, including Kart Kall's Annual 32 Race Painstravaganza!

Free medical tip: The thinking that "if it was broken I wouldn't be able to make a fist and it would really hurt a lot more than this" is just plain wrong. For proof, see above.

How much did it hurt? How did this happen? Where can you send gift baskets? All of these are questions for another day. Or, perhaps, mysteries that will never be revealed to you. Only time will tell. In the meantime, check it out:

They rebuilt me! They made me better, stronger! And yes, those screws ARE supposed to go all the way through. It's a doctor thing.

As with any orthopedic injury, physical therapy is crucial to the healing process. That's why I'm off to play guitar on Rock Band. Doctor said it would be "fairly excellent physical therapy." And he's got degrees 'n' stuff. Peace!

Just a quick one here to add my two cents to the newsworthy goings-on around these parts. Jeff's termination has sent a shockwave around the office and the industry that we're all seeing manifested in forums, blogs, and every-which-place. Almost all of us around here were as blind-sided as you folks, and are experiencing a similar range of emotions. It's no fun, I tells ya.

But please take a minute to step back and keep some perspective. As much as this situation is seventeen kinds of upsetting, take a moment to give some thought to those of us who are still here. When I read allegations that all GameSpot's credibility and integrity are forfeit, it hurts. Yeah, I'm questioning these things myself. Yeah, I'm upset. But when you say "GameSpot," you are referring to a lot of people. Like all the editors, who have written and will continue to write uncompromised content for the site. Like the video folks, who make every moving picture you see on the site look fantastic. Like the community folks, who organize awesome events for GS users and keep our robust community healthy. Like the programmers, from whose brains the site springs, fully-formed. Like the producers, who make sure you see the stuff you wanna see. Like the sales team, who keeps the site and its awesome content freely available to everyone by negotiating tough deals. Like the heroic and astonishingly attractive Data Team, who labor day and night to keep GameSpot up-to-the-minute accurate and safe from the fiendish villains who seek our undoing.

So think of us. This fiasco involved a small set of the folks who make GameSpot what it is, and it would a shame to indict and abandon all of us for the actions of a few. So PM an editor and express some solidarity. Aim your blog rants precisely so we don't feel like so much collateral damage. I'm not saying you shouldn't sound off. Heck, that's what makes a community strong, right? Expressing your hurt is a necessary step on the road to healing. Wherever that road may lead for you, just try not to kick those who are already down.

I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of Super Mario Galaxy for a number of reasons. For one, I've been feeling a bit FPSed out lately what with the crazy saturation of excellent shooters that have recently arrived, and I'm craving a different type of game. Not just another game to play, mind you, but another game to get excited about, to want to commit time to, to build a meaningful relationship with, to... love? Don't take it personally, Halo 3, you know I'll always love you, but I never said I was a one-game gamer. Look, I think we just need some time apa... fine, get angry. You know what?! I've had about eno...

..ugh of that little metaphor. Back on track. I also really loved Mario 64, and Galaxy was looking like it would feature that same flavor of awesome.

And it totally does. Controls, environments, presentation - these things are all on the money. But what's really made the game for me is how much it delights me. Just running around uncorking the different jumps in Mario's repertoire is great. I could Long Jump and Triple Jump all damn day. Sure, you can vanquish goombas, collect stuff, and beat most levels fairly easily. But can you do it with style? Can you time a Triple Jump so that you land directly on that pipe? Can you Long Jump to small platforms where you have no business Long Jumping? Can you run past an enemy only to uncork that little slide-jump-backflippy maneuver on it?

These are the challenges I set before myself when I play, and I think it transforms my gaming experience into something more. Not only am I playing the game, I'm playing in the game. I'm doing fun things for their own sake, like Long Jumping off the edge of a tiny planet just to see gravity pull me back down. I'm Triple Jumping just to watch Mario soar jubilantly through the sky. All with a smile on my face.

That Super Mario Galaxy enables this sort of play is, to me, it's greatest triumph and it's greatest selling point. It emphasizes the "play" in "playing video games," and brightens and transforms my whole gaming attitude. I don't look at the abundant extra lives with frugal disdain, I look at them as encouragement to do wacky crap that might land me in a black hole 4 times out of 5. But that 5th time, I'm going to crack a big smile and laugh. Delightedly.

After weeks of jibber-jabbering about totally cool things I've done in Halo 3 but not producing any video proof, it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is. Behold!

[Click here until I make the appropriate sacrifices to embed it]

Suck it, Blue Team! Ha HA haha heh.... heh... ehhhh.... crap. Okay, confession time. The only cool thing I did in that video was drive real close to the VIP checkpoint, then pull some totally gnarly flippity-doo action en route to totally missing my goal. I was the blue team driver who was thwarted in grand fashion by the keen rocketeering of Kim Cuartero. Here it is again in extra-slow-extra-depressing-mo.

[Click here until I dance the pagan dance of embeditude]

Kim also posted two POV videos for interested parties. If that game type looks unfamiliar to you, you have been missing our in a major way. It's Rocket Race, downloadable from the Bungie Favorites menu. Two-man teams race pell-mell across Sandtrap or Valhalla, each armed with infinite rockets and invincible to all attacks save Assassination. Mayhem and hilarity ensue.