The Rez

Monday, March 19, 2012

Albert Art Double Trouble Mini Qee Custom Toy

NEW TOYS! ALBERT ART 'DOUBLE TROUBLE' MINI-QEE CUSTOMS

Here's double for your trouble, two mini-Qee customs sporting varsity letterman jackets in the style of Letterman the Hound.

'Double Trouble' or simply 'A & A', these Mini-Qees were unveiled at the local Vancouver Comicon event this past Sunday. One is a Pigee, and the other a QeeBear. Both hand-painted and one of a kind pieces.

They join Letterman the Hound, as they stir up trouble around the neighbourhood and in the classroom.

'Wanna be startin somethin?'

Kids, don't end up like these terrible two!

Pigee!

Bear Qee! Or Teddee

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Sunday, March 18, 2012

PREVIEW NEW CUSTOM Mini Qee Custom

This week, prepare to meet some new customs. Letterman the Hound and two new custom mini-qees. Who and what are they?! Stay tuned!

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RECAP Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo March

March 17, 2012 - The first ever Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo went down with packed crowd and a sold out event. Sponsored by Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Game Deals, RL Events, and Seattle Retro Gaming Expo, the event was held at the historical two-level theater, The Columbia, at 530 Columbia St. in New Westminster.

The vendor area, freeplay gaming, and stage shows took place in the theater, whole panels took place upstairs. It was pretty different from your regular convention hall. The crowd was very enthusiastic overall and the volunteers were pretty helpful. As an artist showcasing at the event, I was pretty happy with the turnout, and the response to my videogame art. Thanks to all who stopped by and/or bought something. The poster prints did quite well!

The only thing that I think was missing, was live music from videogame themed bands/musicians. No live chiptunes, was a bit of a disappoint.

Also, there wasn't much of any communication in terms of PARKING for the event. As an artist with stuff to bring to sell, where can I park without getting towed? In addition to that, the Table sizes were on the small side, for the high price.

Though these are things that should be improved over time. I'm looking forward to the next one.

I took a few pictures, but due to a technical error, a bunch were erased from my phone when transferring them over to the PC. Fail. This is a bit of what was salvaged.

Sega Saturn Bomberman competitions

Admiral Snackbar (Bowser) vs Mario cosplayer.

I donated a 'Link' print to the charity auction at the Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo. Starting bid was $5, and went all the way up to a whopping $15 for Child's Play Charity! Sold to a gentleman from the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. Save the children through ART!

In support of Megaman Legends, these Servbot masks were being handed out by a fan.

A random assortment of more auctioned items for Child's Play Charity

http://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

http://www.thecolumbia.ca/

Thursday, March 15, 2012

EVENT Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo March 17

ART EVENT! Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo

The first ever Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo, is set for this Saturday March 17th, 2012 at The Columbia, (530 Columbia st.) in New Westminister.

I will have some large poster prints of these wonderful pieces, originally created with marker on board.

Hope to see you there!

The Columbia.
530 Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC
V3L 1B1

http://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/

As always! Become a fan!

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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

GDC 2012 - Game of Thrones Bigpoint

Game of Thrones by Bigpoint

A free to play MMO based on the popular series is coming soon by Bigpoint. In the mean time, enjoy this Throne.

PARTY! 8BITSF POW DNA LOUNGE CHIPTUNES

PARTY! 8BITSF POW DNA LOUNGE CHIPTUNES (PICS, and VIDS)

To kick off GDC, 8bitSF hosted 'POW: Indie Music and Developers Collide' event at DNA Lounge. The night was filled with chiptune performers on stage, with indie gaming kiosks set up around the event.

The Glowing Stars, Zen Albatross, and Virt were among my favorites. The Yobble Air Guitar was also a fun little game for iPhone.

If you weren't at the event, you definitely missed out on some good stuff.

Check out the pics and video below.

DNA LOUNGE
http://www.dnalounge.com/

8bitSF
http://www.8bitsf.com/2012/02/8bitsf-presents-pow-indie-music-and.html

Monday, March 12, 2012

FOODIE EATS TU LAN VIETNAMESE SAN FRANCISCO

FOODIE EATS! - SAN FRANCISCO - TU LAN VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT

I had a chance to try this little local favorite, Vietnamese restaurant when I was in town for GDC. A local friend suggested Tu Lan (thx momop!). The area isn't so great around the restaurant, which is the case with a lot of the good food in downtown SF. The lunch crowd was very busy and very packed, but the turnover was fairly quick, and not too bad of a wait.

A friend and I sat at the bar, set up like an old diner, but serving up some very good Vietnamese eats. The serving staff were very quick, even though it might appear as chaos, they were pretty organized, Asian style.

I ordered half salad roll/spring roll which wasn't on the menu but they were glad to do it for new customers. I also ordered a #7 Pho noodle. The broth was quite peppery compared to other Pho that I've tried, and the beef pieces were fully cooked (no rare steak option) but still very filling and tasty.

Apparently their #15 (kabob on noodle) is da bomb! Which I will have to make a return trip to try.

Tu Lan Vietnamese, good stuff!

And yes, that is Julia Child on their menus.

http://tulansf.blogspot.com/
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/tu-lan-san-francisco

Sunday, March 11, 2012

PARTY! GDC 2012 IDA Ireland Bourbon and Branch

The IDA Ireland party was held at Bourbon and Branch, a very cool 1920's style speakeasy establishment. Located in downtown San Francisco's Jones st., the location is very easy to miss because of the unmarked exterior. I walked past it once, then realized I had missed it when saw some people who were dressed unlike the surrounding homeless characters, enter this door.

With the password for the event, I entered, and was led through the bar, and to a back room that had to be unlocked, which opened up to this really cool room. I at first felt slightly out of place since I was the only non-Irish in the room. The Irish people were actually quite friendly. After a few drinks, I didn't feel so out of place.

The bartenders made a variety of strong drinks, which I never got the names of. Definitely worth a return trip. Really interesting experience. It felt like I wasn't even at a GDC event.

Bourbon and Branch is reservation only.

Industrial Development Authority Ireland - Big Fish Games
http://www.idaireland.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgr2bjWydro

http://www.bourbonandbranch.com/
501 Jones Street San Francisco, CA 94102

PARTY! GDC 2012 Super7 Insert Coin PixelJunk 4am

PARTY! GDC 2012 Super7 Insert Coin PixelJunk 4am

Super7 has always been on my list of toy shops to hit up if ever I was in town, I just never had a chance to visit the shop until my recent trip to San Francisco. It seemed like the forces had aligned and I had an opportunity to check it out. Fresh off the plane, I was in a bit of a groggy state, going out into the night and in need of a party.

Super7 is a well known Kaiju figure shop with a side of Japanese Star Wars figures, and limited print graphic tees. I knew the place was cool, I just didn't know how awesome it was until I got there.

With the Game Developers Conference in town, they threw a party for the launch of their new line of gamer tees called 'Insert Coin', so I jumped at the chance to check it out. After a sardine packed BART ride from downtown, and a walk through a dark street towards Haight St., (fearing I would be stabbed), I found Super7. Then I realized, I could have just taken the bus! (Their previous location had been in Japantown, and is now located on Haight.)

The party was packed with art fans spilled on the side walk. Sony's PixelJunk 4am was being demoed at the event. Using the Sony Move controller, users can create and layer sounds and beats using the visualizer on screen. The experience has been described as similar to the music process of a DJ, transitioning through beats, with the ability for people to spectate.

The visualizer is like an instrument, with button inputs creating different sounds, when the controller is waved around, or whether buttons are held then released. I could definitely see the depth in program like this. Though I don't think was a way to save out the audio into a convenient format to create and share. (PixelJunk 4am was also set up on the Expo floor at GDC, Sony booth.)

The Insert Coin tee designs were all pretty creative, taking retro gaming and design and slapping it on a tee is a tall order, but these artists did a great job. Unfortunately, I didn't pick up any of the gamer tees, and instead opted for the In-N-Out secret menu tee by artist Josh Herbolsheimer. Fans of burgers should appreciate this.

The boys and girls over at Super7 were very chill. Keep up the good work guys!

Check out the pics from the event!