(where has the artsy fartsy tag gone? :[ )
Hi, I'm P-Dude. You may remember me from such shoes c-blogs as "My custom Watchmen shoes" or "My custom Team Fortress 2 shoes."


Anyway, it's time for some more customs, and I must say, these are my best yet! I went all out on these, buying ACTUAL Vans and not some PayLess knock-off, and using exclusively Angelus paint (recommended to me by KyozoKicks). It ended up taking me around 9.5 hours (straight!) from start to finish on these shoes. There are so many little details, and I wasn't going to let them just disappear!

As I say in all my posts, KyozoKicks is the one who inspired me in the beginning, and you should totally check out his newest pair as well, since they're from OddWorld, and word on the grapevine is that game totally rocks.

So without further stalling, I present to you, the Scibblenauts custom Vans!

Also, Direct Loans paper!

Now, I know what you're saying. Under all those "WOAH SO AWESOME DO WANT"s, you're saying "How in the world do you pick any 4 things to put on a shoe?!" Well, the answer is simple! I created these shoes for my girlfriend, and I simply asked her what her favorite things in the game were! She also helped me shop for colors, since I'm color-blind and I'm pretty sure she didn't want an all-brown t-rex or a slightly off-red Santa. There were originally supposed to be "wings" in the center, but I didn't plan for the tinyness of her foot, so they were canned. Plus, the Pegasus has wings already. I'd also like to add that these Vans are eco-friendly! According to the Vans website: "These organic canvas Slip-Ons are built with 100% Organic uppers and 20% recycled rubber outsoles." So not only do they look good, but they're good for the environment! Or at least, they didn't hurt it.

So feel free to tell me what you think, and if you want to see some pictures of some of the steps I took, head on over to my flikr!

Ah, reference humor. The type of humor that only applies to a certain niche. The more references, the smaller that group gets, but at the same time the funnier it becomes. Anyway, my friends and I decided to make a video calling ourselves "Team Reference Humor." It parodies a few things, the two biggest being HAWP and Brutal Legend, both of which I'm sure guys know of.

[from the YT video description]
I got this idea when I received my pre-order bonus from Best Buy. It was originally going to be done with just still photos (and much shorter), but it turns out Kevin had a video camera that could upload to PC, so we went with that.

Some things to remember:
1. Done just for fun
2. Shot with a Sony Handycam, as reflected in the video's quality
3. No script, we basically just discussed the scene before shooting, and away we went.
4. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
5. Shot in two days (not consecutive)
6. I have no editing skills
7. We have no acting skills

No Brutal Legend spoilers or anything.


BTW, I'm "Pat"

If we do more may or may not depend on public opinion, so let me know what you think!

A month ago I created my Watchmen shoes, and now it's time to show my new set of customs.

Presenting, my custom Team Fortress 2 shoes!!



Based off the team logos (seen here), I again decided for something simple yet effective enough to convey the point. I am not the best artist, so complex designs are a ways away. And once again, I'd like to extend a huge thanks to KyozoKicks for not only inspiring me, but helping me out and conversing through e-mails this entire time.

Here's a close-up of each shoe:

(Note: They are not Converse brand, they are Airwalks. Cheaper is the way to go!)




And here's my flikr with pictures of the process of making them! I'd be happy to answer any questions and as always, am open to suggestions!! My current mindset: Persona 4 shoes are next.

Ok, so I've taken up the art of custom shoes. I've been making custom shirts for a long time and had this idea for shoes for a while, too. After seeing the Zelda-themed KyozoKicks on the front page the other day, I decided it was time to make my idea a reality! So I went out and bought the paint and shoes I needed, and went on my way. Here is the end result:



My expert photoshopping skills are also present!

I went for something rather simple, but yet strong enough to convey the reference. I included the panel just in case for those unacquainted or who just forgot.

I created them the same exact way I make shirts, I trace the design onto freezer paper, which I then iron on top of the shoe. Once it's in place, I iron on any "islands" that need to be there (for example, the middle of the O or B), then take a roller and simply paint over. Once it's dry enough, I simply remove all the freezer paper and viola! Custom shoes. Once I plan for more intricate designs, the roller isn't going to cut it and paintbrushes will need to be used.

So, what should I do next? I've already got some ideas in my head, but I'd also like to hear of anything you guys might think of. I plan on doing mostly slip-ons, but I definitely also want to do a pair of Converse, just like KyozoKicks did (amazingly!) here.

So leave feedback on how you like these and any future ideas you might have!!!

[Hmm, ok, well halfway through typing this I found that Anthony Burch also wrote about this last year. Never hurts to have a second, less famous, less witty opinion though, right? .......RIGHT?]

My brother and I are red-green color blind, which is the most common and, as the name implies, means we have trouble with green and red the most, but it's definitely not exclusive to those, as purple/blue mesh together as well as brown/red/green, etc. Being colorblind has it's ups and downs, albeit way more downs than ups. The ups include getting out of certain science labs because I can't see the color spectrum properly and having it be understood when you aren't wearing "matching" colors. The downs are numerous, but not too extreme, but one of them is that gaming certainly IS affected.

I recently got a new computer, and bought Left 4 Dead (I already own it on Xbox) because I can finally run it. While tweaking some of the options, I came across something. Left 4 Dead on the PC has a "Colorblind mode" option! Making sure I hadn't overlooked it on the Xbox version, I quickly threw it in my 360. No dice. Why would something so simple be left out of the console version? I have no clue, but man am I glad I now own the PC version. While it's not game-changing, the things they do change are very much appreciated. Take a look at Bill being mauled by a Hunter in both options:

Original color scheme


With colorblind mode on

With my expert editing skills, I've pointed out the differences
With these slight changes, the game is just much easier to play. Things that should be instantly noticed now are. Not that I had a problem knowing when a Hunter was on Bill before, but the new white outline is a breath of fresh air regardless.

As for puzzle games, thankfully most of them have a colorblind mode, or have symbols on the things anyway (the exception I can think of being Bust-A-Move, which has NO colorblind mode). However, developers should be careful with which symbols they pick. For example:

Do I match up the T with the squiggles? Or the other squiggles with a T?
I can't play puzzle quest because it's just so confusing which things to match up. Hexic does a good job on putting various basic shapes on their objects, and Bejeweled is nice enough to just use shapes to start with.

One game that fails in the color department is Overlord. It was the first game I bought for my 360 about a year and a half ago. I stopped playing it for several reasons, but I couldn't remember why.....until I tried playing it again yesterday. There are four types of minions in the game: red, green, brown, and blue. With the exception of blue, THEY ALL LOOK THE GODDAMN SAME. It's always easier for me to distinguish colors when nothing is moving and I can someone concentrate to notice any slight differences, but those conditions never really exist in games, especially Overlord when your minions are going all over the place. Not to mention the layer of brown all the cool games have over them for "realism!"

Speaking of brown realism, I love games that stray as far from that as possible. Rich, vibrant colors that stick out like it's nobody's business. This is one reason I bought Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. I mean, just look at it!

Just looking at it brings me a smile of great color justice!
Mario games have also had a good track record of vibrant colors, and Nintendo in general, really. I miss the old days when they only had a limited amount of colors to work with and no one cared what "mauve" was.

Hopefully more (see: most) games in the future will include this option if possible. I can't see it being that much trouble, seeing as how it's just a couple color switches. Luckily, someone long ago decided that if two unnamed teams are going against each other, one is the Red team and the other is the Blue team, as seen in Team Fortress 2, 3v3 Arcade Hockey, and Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (all of which I play a bunch). All developers should adopt the tagline: "No rods, No cones, No problem!"
[Yes I realize that colorblindness doesn't mean we have NO cones/rods, but it makes for a catchier tagline, damnit!]

One day.....

We've all been there. Casually involved in your game, moving from objective to objective and PRESS A TO DODGE THE BOULDER! too slow. You're crushed. Oh, but you've got it this time, with your finger delicately hovering over the A button BUT THIS TIME IT'S Y! Nice try. Load from last checkpoint?

Quick-time events have become all too prevalent throughout the gaming industry, which wouldn't be a problem, if everyone used them correctly. But they don't, do they? Instead of neat little occasional distractions to keep us on our feet, we get games that just replace the good stuff with timed button presses. Off the top of my head, I can't think of many games that utilize them the way they're supposed to, but let's take a look at the ones I can think of.

PRESS B TO ENJOY YOURSELF!!


God of War
God of War's regular gameplay is a lot of fun. Action-adventure combo system with light and heavy attacks and brutal endings. While it does have a decent amount of quick-time events, I find that they're used as a bit of variation from the regular gameplay, and not a crutch to fall back on. On top of that, they're quite the show if you actually watch what's going on. Ripping out a cyclops' eye doesn't really get old. Another key thing about these quick-time events is that they're not usually GAME-ENDING. If you happen to fail a QTE, generally the worst that will happen is that the enemy will slam you down and you'll lose some health, brush off, and try again. Now, if you were getting your ass kicked before that it may kill you, but that's only because you suck. Why do you suck so much?!


MadWorld
As a game, I found it pretty good, bordering on mediocre. And I think if it weren't on the Wii I would have enjoyed it far less. The reason being that the quick-time events are actually....fun! Call the Wiimote a gimmick if you wish, but it makes QTEs much more enjoyable. Instead of rapidly pressing X to swing the guy around your head, you actually have to swing the Wiimote in circles. In order to shove the thug into spikes, you have to shove the Wiimote forward. It gives you a sense of control during these QTEs, which makes them fun, as well as visually entertaining. Because, you know deep down that ripping someone in half by swinging the Wiimote and Nunchuk in opposite ways is BADASS.



Super Mario RPG
Now, these are quick-time events in the traditional sense. But it does use "timed button presses" which is essentially what QTEs are. If you haven't played SMRPG, first off shame on you GO PLAY IT. Secondly, in order to do extra damage you need to press the attack button at the right moment, and that moment varies depending on character and attack. The thing is, it doesn't tell you EXACTLY when, so you need to figure it out for yourself. It just tells you in the beginning of the game that they exist. There's no button display when you need to do it, you just need to figure it out yourself or head over to GFaqs if you want to do 9,999 damage to non-bosses with Geno Whirl.

PRESS Y TO QUESTION YOUR PURCHASE!!


Ninja Blade
Ah, yes. The game that uses quick-time events as a selling point. First off let me say, I did not buy and play this game. I played the demo, which was more than enough. First thing you do is go through a series of QTEs in order to not die. That's when you know you're in for a long ride. I've read a bunch of reviews and seen gameplay, and it's bad enough that the cutscenes are frequent, but to drive the nail further into the head is the length of them. GameTrailers claims that QTEs make up about a quarter of the game. That's NO GOOD.


Resident Evil 4
Don't get me wrong, RE4 was an awesome game. I own it on the Wii and I've seen it played on the PS2. However, the quick-time events in it really took me out of the game. The Wii controls didn't do what MadWorld did, probably because it was a port (albeit a very good one). In fact, the example in the very beginning of this post is a direct example of an experience in RE4. There's something about surprising you with a button press that, if you fail, kills you and forces you to reload your last checkpoint that is just so unappealing that it's hard to see it actually making it into the game. I didn't play RE5, but Umbrella Chronicles is also a culprit of this "gameplay."


Sonic Unleashed/Sonic and the Black Knight
I am a huge Sonic Fan, and I enjoy (the day time parts of) Sonic Unleashed. But even they have quick-time events. Not as much as night time, but they're there. Luckily, the worst thing that will happen is that you'll have to take a less-than-favorable path to get to the end. But they do ruin the sense of speed. For those unacquainted, sometimes you run into these pod looking things with a button on them, and if you don't push that button, you won't be shot up into the nice little shorter path. Also on occasion you'll be launched into the air and met with a series of button pushes to do a "trick" and gain some extra points. Night time uses the same QTEs as God of War, in which they're used to finish off enemies. The main reason it doesn't work as well as GoW is that it happens way too frequently and is NOT visually appealing. They're very bland and boring.
As for the Black Knight, those of you brave enough to get to the King Arthur fight (like I did) were met with a boss of EPIC PROPORTIONS!!! [/sarcasm] The boss was nothing new, learn his patterns, punish him when you're supposed to, etc. The problem is that to do the real damage you're thrown into a series of quick-time events that simply don't work. It does that thing where every time it gets a little more strict on the timing of the QTEs, and they're waggle-tastic. They are ALL waggle and you basically have to anticipate (or memorize) when the events show up and start a second beforehand because they're just that broken. It's annoying, and doesn't make for a fun fight.

Quick-time events are very tricky. If a developer decides to add them in, they need to make sure that it's within reason. An overabundance of them can just create movies with button presses, which doesn't equate to much fun. Sometimes I actually, you know, what to just WATCH a cutscene. At times I'm too busy waiting got a button prompt to pay attention to the damn cutscene because I don't want to have to sit through this again. But who knows, maybe Heavy Rain will prove me wrong.