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Fan Projects to Die for: Grim Fandango Action Figures

Despite being produced at a time when 3D graphics on the PC were shockingly ugly (in retrospect), Tim Schafer made Grim Fandango a beautiful game; taking a nod from the art associated with the Mexican Day of the Dead, LucasArts created a striking, iconic cast that didn't exactly require millions of polygons to construct. Even more than ten years later, it's easy to cruise around the world of Manny Calavera and the rest of the game's interesting, well-designed characters without the shock that usually comes with seeing now-ancient 3D--and I actually plan on replaying GF very soon because of my secret shame of never having finished the game. Until I have the time to do that, though, I can always stare at the lovingly-created action figure versions of Fandango stars Manny and Glottis--scuplted by English artist Iain Reekie--and dream of a world where these things could actually be mass-produced.

Posted Apr 15 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments

Filed under: lucasarts, fan projects, bob mackey, grim fandango, fan art

The Mother 3 Handbook: Better than Advertised

Ever since I found the Starmen.net community (then Earthbound.net) a decade ago, I've been amazed by both the devotion and productivity of the insane (in a good, fun way) Mother/Earthbound fans who call the site home. Since the beginning of Starmen.net, the community has certainly been through its ups and downs, from the disappointment of Mother 3's original cancellation to the elation caused by the announcement that the game was in the works for the Game Boy Advance--then, back to disappointment again when we found out Nintendo had no intention of publishing it here. The Mother 3 translation released last October was unquestionably the group's biggest labor of love; thanks to talented superhumans like Tomato, we Earthbound fans were given a complete localization of a fantastic game far more polished than the work produced by so-called professionals.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Mother 3 translation now has a bit of competition in the category of "most ambitious, insane, and amazing Earthbound projects to reach completion:" now that I finally have the Mother 3 Handbook in my hands, it's impossible to decide what work is more mind-blowing.

Posted Mar 30 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: fan project, earthbound, mother 3, bob mackey, mother, fan translations, fan art, fangamer

Reminder: Those Mother 3 Handbooks Are Still Coming

Remember the Mother 3 translation, released late last October? We at 61FPS couldn't stop talking about it--until that court order limited our Earthbound/Mother posts to only a mere dozen a week. Thankfully, sites like Earthbound Central (a must-visit) exist to fill the needs of the most psychotic Mother fans out there, but that doesn't mean there isn't franchise-related news worth reporting about here. Consider the Mother 3 Handbook produced by the devoted folks at FanGamer, for instance; we were all excited about it last Fall, but as its release date slipped into March, most of us have probably forgotten that we dropped 20 bucks on the guide many moons ago.

So, as we reach the final days of March, where exactly is the Mother 3 Handbook? For all those concerned, a blog post on FanGamer's front page this week has confirmed that all of the books weren't lost in some freak postal accident.

Posted Mar 20 2009, 03:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: fan project, earthbound, mother 3, bob mackey, mother, fan translations, fan art

Art!: Classic Arcade Gallery

You would think that as a graphic artist I'd draw more. I have a real passion for creating characters but it's been ages since I drew any of my own ideas. The irony here being that I'm too busy with my day job art to work too much on my own art. I am hoping to turn that around though. One subject matter I've never done much of, however, is fan art. Sure, there's my Sly Cooper sculpture and I've drawn a few Ninja Turtles and Mega Man characters back in the day, but mostly I worked on my own creations. That's not to say I don't appreciate well done fan art and a gallery of very nice video game fan art is what I've discovered (Or was pointed to by a friend, thanks Ian!).

Posted Feb 05 2009, 08:00 PM by Amber Ahlborn with | with no comments

Filed under: amber ahlborn, fan art, game art

A Silver Lining to The Dark Knight

While Batman may have grappled his way back into the hearts of movie-goers with 2005's Batman Begins and last year's The Dark Knight, he hasn't really had a notable video game in quite some time--and no, Lego Batman doesn't really count. At some point in time, a Dark Knight game was actually in the works, but after becoming a complete development disaster, what should have been a sure thing was taken behind the barn and shot in the back of the head. Like any Batman fan, I was a bit disappointed by the death of The Dark Knight; after all, I grew up in a time when good Batman games actually existed. Sure, there've been quite a few stinkers with the Batman name attached, but when developers like Sunsoft and Konami had the license, they made games worth playing--especially The Adventures of Batman and Robin for the SNES, which was a damn-near perfect interpretation of the mid-90s cartoon.

It seems that YouTube user elmacbee shares the same sentiment towards the Batman games of old; he's produced a pretty convincing mockup video of what could be an NES version of The Dark Knight if we somehow existed in a universe where technology is about two decades behind. I'd love to see this fictional game in action, but for now, the introductory video has me salivating for what could have been.

Posted Jan 19 2009, 09:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments

Filed under: fan project, konami, the dark knight, bob mackey, fan art, fan games, sunsoft, batman

I Would Drink Syke

Paul Robertson is awesome. And Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006--which needs to be a real video game SO FRICKING BAD--should be all the proof you need. Christ, if I had made that, I'd sit back and let the accolades roll in as I began my new life of complete motionlessness. But Paul isn't content with just being an amazing artist, animator, and crafter of the most amazing sprite art this side of the 16-bit era; to this day, he continues to make amazing videos, if only to make the rest of us look inferior. His newest, a fake commercial for an equally fake energy drink known as Syke, is a hyper-cute, hyper-kinetic fruit salad of platformers past; if you dug the art of Pirate Baby's but not the ultra gross-out content, Paul's latest work will have you grinning from ear to ear. Check it out.

Posted Jan 08 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 4 comment(s)

Filed under: retro, platforming, fan projects, bob mackey, fan art, paul robertson, syke

Let Dotter Dotter Take You to the Third Dimension

In yet another addition to the "I wish I could read Japanese so I could find out more about things that are completely awesome" file (admittedly, the file has a big name and I'm currently looking for a way to shorten it), comes a little Japanese blog by the name of Dotter Dotter--at least, that's what I think it's called. Listen, those are basically the only english words on the page, so I'm going to assume I'm right. Anyway, names aren't important here; what is important is the fact that this dude (or lady-type person) has created some really great images based on old-school Nintendo sprite art. Like the following:

As you can see, language is irrelevant when it comes to something this awesome. But having some basic understanding of Japanese would at least let me know if there are some wallpaper-sized versions of these images available on Dotter Dotter. Without a doubt, that would be much more awesomer.

Posted Dec 15 2008, 01:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: nintendo, fan project, 8-bit, retro, bob mackey, fan art

Devildom String Orchestra: Music, Masks, and Madness

The hardcore American video game fan has been known embark on some pretty wild and awesome projects, even if some of them do happen to be complete fakes. But there's just something about the industriousness of the Japanese hardcore that puts all of us to shame; just take a look at any Japanese-created levels of LittleBigPlanet, and you'll realize their devotion eclipses ours by a pretty large margin. So what, exactly, am I getting at here? Well, in researching Friday's post about the music of Mother, I stumbled upon a collection of YouTube videos that were too cool to keep to myself.

The Devildom String Orchestra (at least, that's what I think the entire group calls itself) is a collection of Japanese musicians that arrange video game and anime music into real, live instrumentations. And they do all of this while wearing extremely creepy masks. The most disturbing thing about this group, though, is that their videos really aren't getting the attention that they should. You can access all of them by going to Tuengxx's YouTube page, but I've highlighted a few of the better ones below for your convenience.

A very nice Chrono Trigger medley.

More tunes after the cut.

Posted Nov 24 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: fan project, music, chrono trigger, fan projects, bob mackey, final fantasy v, fan art, dragon quest iv

Meme of the Moment: Bike Hero

The "Most Creative Use of Free Time" award goes to YouTube user madflux for the following video--and perhaps, for all time. Combining biking, Guitar Hero, an extraordinary amount of planning, and what must have been dozens of takes (he ain't telling), madflux shows us that he takes his fake instrument playing very seriously. And we all benefit from it:

The most astounding part about all of this--to me, anyway--is how the bike rider is able to keep up a consistent tempo (in this case, speed) for all of this to work out. I'll also be astounded if, by the end of the week, Bike Hero isn't turned into a t-shirt, referenced in 1000 lame webcomics, or made the focus of a new reality show on VH-1. Ah, the time before a meme becomes obnoxious. Savor it.

Related Links:

A++ Parents Let Their Teen Quit School To Become a Guitar Hero
Praise His Name With Guitar Praise--Or Go to Hell
Everyone Will be Able to Rock

Posted Nov 19 2008, 03:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s)

Filed under: music, guitar hero, bob mackey, fan art, meme, biking

Fan Art: Sly Cooper

If you haven't played any of the Sly Cooper games by Sucker Punch Productions, then you have missed out. Released on the PS2, the Raccoon Trilogy covers the exploits of a thief named Sly Cooper through three installations: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Sly 2 – Band of Thieves, and Sly 3 – Honor Among Thieves. These are among my best loved games and even inspired me to sculpt the lead character: Sly himself. I hope you enjoy the art, and forgive me my lousy photography skills.

Posted Sep 18 2008, 11:00 AM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 9 comment(s)

Filed under: amber ahlborn, ps2, sly cooper, fan art

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.