Saturday Supplemental - Berlin At Night...

Jonathan Holmes - Destructoid
Talking to Women about Videogames: Lollipop Chainsaw Pt 2
I'm still up for reading more about Lollipop Chainsaw, and Jonathan Holmes still has more to say.

Adam Carey - Bitmob
YouTube is the next frontier for video game marketing
Wait... Are you trying to tell me you can watch videos on a computer now?

Leigh Harris - MCV Pacific
INTERVIEW: Deus Ex creator Warren Spector talks narrative, Heavy Rain
I'm still up for reading more about Warren Spector, and Warren Spector still has more to say.

The Associated Press
Woman Behind 'Centipede' Recalls Game Icon's Birth
In case you missed it, Atari turned 40 this week. Here's a little reminiscing from a former employee.

Chris Kohler - Game|Life
How Instant-Streaming Games Could Change PlayStation’s Destiny
The big new this week was that Sony bought cloud-game-streaming-thing service Gakai for $380 million, and people are suddenly talking about how streaming games could be a big deal. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that Hot Lavy was into wild speculation and unsolicited advice before it was cool.

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw - Extra Punctuation
Excessively Excessive
Yahtzee delivers the simplest, most reasonable break-down of what's wrong with sexist, violent, big-budget game development I've read in ages, and he delivers it with copious references to Weetabixes, zoetropes, and snot eating.

Jeff Gerstmann and Vinny Caravella - Giant Bomb
Quick Look: Roller Coaster Rampage
Weird... I've never linked to a Giant Bomb Quick Look on this site. This is a good one.

Chris Kohler - Game|Life
Cheat Your Way Through Final Fantasy VII on PC
I've played bits and pieces of Final Fantasy VII, but never enough to form a strong opinion about the game. I think I'll have to get the upcoming re-release when it comes out just because it is such a historically significant game, and one that elicits some serious passion, good or bad. At any rate, I like the trailer because the voice-over says, "Download and play the quintessential Final Fantasy experience today!" despite the big "COMING SOON" sprawled across the screen.

David Houghton - GamesRadar
Exactly how many studios has Activision actually closed this generation? THIS many
"THIS many" is not a meaningful response to that question, Mr. or Ms. GamesRadar Headline Writer, but I'll allow it since the vague answer is less depressing than the truth. No wonder it's so hard for gamemakers to find work these days.

Ian Wilding
Super Metroid and Super Mario 64 Posters
Some dude made some posters based on some great games. I doubt these would mean anything to anyone who isn't a fan of the games, but, come on, who doesn't love Super Metroid and Super Mario 64? (If the answer is you, you should play Super Metroid and Super Mario 64.)

Jim Sterling - Destructoid
New game invites players to beat up Anita Sarkeesian
Gross.

Tiny Cartridge
Golgo 13 Watches
"Watches," the noun; not "watches," the verb. Although the man with the custom M-16 does watch.

An Iron Curtain just doesn't seem right.

My Mom Is A Bear Cub

Ever want proof that I am a cool guy, and not at all a gigantic dork? BAM! Video of me talking to my mom while playing old video games!

My only goal with this video was to learn how to capture game footage while simultaneously talking to someone in another part of the world who could see the same footage and talk back. It's tough to even write that as a coherent thought, and it took a lot of screaming at my computer to make it work, but work it has.

Apologies to my mom, for making her be my guinea pig. I didn't tell her anything about what we were doing until the video started rolling, and she was a real trooper to the end. In fact, she took what I was treating as a dry, technical experiment and made it sort of adorable. I mean, if you mute all the parts where I yammer on about video game trivia that may or may not be true.

Of course, all my experimenting would be pointless without larger aspirations, and, indeed, I have plans for a new video series. Stay tuned...

Make a New Plan, Stan

I'm working on hot new Hot Lavy content, but I'm not expecting to have it up by the end of the night, and I missed yesterday, as well. I'd like to work my way back up to daily updates, but all I'm doing right now is under-delivering on my promise, so I'm going to scale back until I feel like I can confidently hit my original goal.

Until further notice, Hot Lavy will be update not daily, but three times a week, plus the regular "Saturday Supplemental" and "Sunday Free Game" filler on weekends. That should be much more manageable, and it will allow me more time to finish articles and less time wasted thinking about how I'll fill the week. Plus, it's about the same rate I'm reaching now, without the stress of missed deadlines.

Should be good. I hope.

Tippy-Toes

I drawed a thing. It's suitable for framing or using as a computer background.

View at 2560x1600 pixels

Alternate versions below...

Sunday Free Game - Snakes On A Cartesian Plane

Yes, this is one of those eat stuff / grow longer / don't run into your own tail snake games, and, yes, the name is a terrible joke, but... you should play this game. It's good!

Play Snakes On A Cartesian Plane

Remember how Atari 2600 cartridges like Combat would boast about containing "27 VIDEO GAMES," but they really only had one game with 27 minor changes? There would be the "game" where you had two tanks trying to shoot each other, and the other "game" where you had two tanks trying to shoot each other, but now the bullets bounced off the walls. And they'd do this 27 times! How about having two tanks that shoot at each other, but now the bullets bounce off the walls, and also there are more walls then there used to be?

While calling each of these modes a "VIDEO GAME" was a liberal use of the term, the addition of so many variants on a simple concept like Combat made the game. I can sit and fiddle around with those stupid little tanks for hours because the sheer number of options is enough to provide ongoing stimulation to my A.D.D.-riddled mind.

The "28 VIDEO GAMES" in Snakes on a Cartesian Plane take that same mentality and apply it to Snake. And unlike Combat, you don't need an Atari 2600 or a second player to enjoy it. Not all 28 games are winners, but there are so many of them that it hardly matters. (Check the Options menu to unlock everything.)

There are plenty of Snake knock-offs, but this is easily the second best I've seen. (The first, of course, is the four-player Anaconda mini-game with the amazing music from TimeSplitters 2.)

Saturday Supplemental - The Industry's Out of Touch

Jim Sterling - The Escapist
Jimquisition: Rape vs. Murder
My advice for real life? Don't do either.

Chris Kohler - Wired Game|Life
7 Games You’ve Never Heard of That Changed Everything
There are some people in the comments who really want it to be known that they've heard of these games. I think they think they're making themselves look smart and cool, but it's not working so well.

Bill Harris - Dubious Quality
Futures [Part One] [Part Two]
Bill looks at the stock prices of America's biggest game publishers over the past sever years. The executives at these companies always seem so proud and confident, which is a baffling stance considering the evidence presented here. It's not like I know the solution, but if you are responsible for growing or maintaining the value of any of these businesses, congratulations! You're doing a terrible job.

Allistair Pinsof - Destructoid
Minecraft XBLA was a rushed deal before E3, says Spencer
Speaking of woefully out of touch publishing executives...

Jim Sterling - Destructoid
Have an obnoxious, petty SimCity Social trailer
There's so much to hate about this trailer, but the worst part was having that song stuck in my head for a whole day.

Jim Sterling - Destructoid
Tekken producer to fans: stop whining
I've never played a Tekken game, but after reading this rant from producer Katsuhiro Harada, I am an instant fan.

Chris Person - Kotaku
The Video Game Roger Ebert Loved
That game is The Cosmology of Kyoto, and it looks wildly unique.

Darren Wells - GamesRadar
An Interview with Warren Spector
I've never gotten into any of Spector's games, but he's been doing some great interviews lately. Maybe Epic Mickey 2 will be the one to turn me around.

Brandon Sheffield - Gamasutra
Opinion: Video games and Male Gaze - are we men or boys?
Presumably, many of the people who will read this article are neither. The article doesn't really have much to say about feminism and games that hasn't already been said, but it hits on most of the big bullet points of our time. This is a good place to start if you haven't kept up with modern controversies and debates.

The new millennium's tough.

Drawring!

Daily updates? Psssssssh.

Here's the thing about being an upstart, amateur Web master with a full time job: You can make all the promises you want about daily updates, but sometimes you run out of deodorant in the middle of the week and have to spend an afternoon riding your bike to the grocery store.

I have after-work plans for tomorrow, as well - plans that fortunately have much less to do with armpit maintenance - but hopefully I'll have enough time to finish the thing I started today. No promises, of course, but I can at least give you a little taste: