http://www.mondaynightcrew.com Monday Night Crew espouses the wit and whimsy of a motley bunch of anthropomorphic creatures as they explore the horrors of modern-day retail before meeting in the evenings to enjoy the company of friends. It is updated every Monday. This feed covers all site updates. en-us http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0072.html November 17, 2008: Based off the upcoming Valve game Left 4 Dead, the brief glimpses into the personalities from that cast were exaggerated for comic effect. Jason had the idea of running a scenario within a zombie ice cream shop, which is quite obviously brilliant. At that point, my highest imperative was to not screw it up. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_081117.html November 17, 2008: The crew and I have been playing the demo for Left 4 Dead last week and, at least from my point of view, I feel that this is going to keep us all quite entertained for a long time. I am super excited to try out the versus mode and play as the undead. I have been longing for a really unique versus mode since Spy vs Merc in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Hopefully Survivor vs Horde will fill that void in my heart until Ubisoft remembers how to make a proper Spy vs Merc again in Splinter Cell: Conviction. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0071.html November 10, 2008: We went around and around on how this comic would ultimately turn out. The original idea was to have Faith (played here by Casey) miss a jump between two buildings, with Lakitu fishing her out of the chasm. Then it turned into Lakitu fishing out her corpse, before turning into Faith running into a mirror from a mirrored perspective (kinda hard to explain), before finally settling on what you see here. Making webcomics is tough. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_081110.html November 10, 2008: Nothing can compare with the feeling that a slice of life is geared just for you. Whether that be moments under favorite tree reading during lunch breaks, or another person who manages to brighten your life through mere existence, or even something as seemingly trivial as a favorite game system, the times when your notions of the world are validated certainly keep those happy brain chemicals pumping. A few years ago, Nintendo ascribed to the Blue Ocean strategy which eventually led to ridiculous profits and market expansion. A side effect was the inevitable status quo backlash, but every popular culture movement has to expect an opposing counter-culture. Personally, regarding the Nintendo DS, I cannot imagine a device more suitable to plying the varying desires of my personality. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0070.html November 3, 2008: The last panel originally called for D.Z. to toss the guitar onto a pile of other instruments. I thought it was excessive and cut it. Hopefully the parallel to old civil rights-era racism and hatred came across cleanly enough. Probably not, but what the hell, you know now. Stop the hate! http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_081103.html November 3, 2008: Like I said last week, I have typed a handy guide for handling yourself in a retail gaming store. You can download the first part of it here. Please make sure to read the guide even if you do not work in retail as it may be a bit of an eye opener for you as well. I will be busy working on the second part of it this week and have it ready for next Monday. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0069.html October 27, 2008: This comic changed a bit from the original idea, which was to have Dexter suspended from the ceiling and popping his head down to comment. Jason found this was messing with his dialog bubble placement and changed it. The ending was also cut down by a panel after reviewing it with Daniel. He thought the end was kind of tacked on and unneeded. After seeing the end result, I think he was right. Good call. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_081027.html October 27, 2008: Games are largely purified experiences, containing some newness and shine but having properties more typical of gambling. True games within the videogame world are usually short, challenging affairs that leverage a limited set of quickly grasped rules and abilities for player delight through addiction. Conversely, experiences are more likely to incorporate aspects of several game types under an arching structure meant to impress and awe. Experiences hold little replay value for the same reason that holiday fireworks shows are changed between years; the pageantry of it dulls with repetition. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0068.html October 20, 2008: This conversation actually happened at the weekly meeting that Jason, Daniel, and I have. Yes, I did indeed confuse the sayings and should have kept my mouth shut before Daniel called me out on it. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_081020.html October 20, 2008: No, the portability to which I refer is about computer code, and since we are largely a videogame blog, it specifically refers to the act of porting a game to a non-native system. Think of when Resident Evil was ported from the Sony PlayStation (native system for which it was made) to the Sega Saturn (non-native system to which the game was ported). This example is all the better because RE has seen no small shortage of ports to just about every available device on the planet. A common perception among the modern videogame fan crowd is that ports are less a challenge and more of a right. Games that are programmed with the intention of running on the Xbox 360 platform can and should also run on the PlayStation 3 platform. PlayStation 2 and PSP games should be duplicated on the Wii, though that example almost never turns out well. The question stands: how hard is transferring, or porting, a game from one gaming console to another of comparable spec? http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0067.html October 13, 2008: This was originally intended to be a single shot of the Mega Man 9 select screen with the heads of the bosses replaced with our characters. After talking it over, we decided to switch it to the absurdness you see here. It was definitely more work for Jason, but I think it pays off in the long run. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_081013.html October 13, 2008: The issue that kept me offline in an online world has always been finding a game that I can play well and that I enjoy playing. I recently had an epiphany of sorts in the form of Worms 2: Open Warfare with my good friend Irving. Now, Irving is far better at Worms than me, and usually after losing at anything I would be forced to triangle choke even my closest friend. Oddly enough, we had such a good time that losing really did not matter. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0066.html October 6, 2008: No comment supplied. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_081006.html October 6, 2008: The concept of a traditional narrative within the space of a videogame is an odd proposition, to say the least. Most games are based on a premise, whether it be unshaven white space marines gunning down aliens, effeminate teenage boys saving some fantasy world I cannot pronounce, or computer routines banding together to quell a digital virus uprising, game designers do provide an inital impetus to accomplish and succeed within the established realm of a particular videogame. However, elements of story in novels, movies and even comic books go beyond mere motivation and offer deeper, more complete fare than most games ever aspire. I should preface this by saying that I do not believe that this is necessarily a bad thing. Ever since Pitfall Harry convinced me that moving the right is good, yielding as it does more game, I have needed little else to propel me through titles that I genuinely enjoy. I should also note here that I am, in a word, snobbish. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0065.html September 29, 2008: Hopefully Konamco will have downloadable content ready to go in Spring 2009 when the Large Hadron Collider is expected to be operational again. With any luck, we will get new maps, weapons, and playable sub-atomic particles. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080929.html September 29, 2008: In gaming circles, much has lately been made of digital rights management (DRM) and the surreptitious individuals who seek to circumvent the systems inspired by and propagated under the auspices of DRM. More simply, videogame piracy and the manifest security measures taken against it. This argument centers largely around the realm of PC gaming, but other systems such as the DS and PSP are certainly no strangers to the unauthorized use and plunder of their software. Numbers are constantly thrown around by company boards in financial statements or third-party studies, citing millions or billions of dollars lost in stolen revenue. While I have a difficult time believing that consumers would buy every game they steal if the second option were unavailable, I think that it is reasonable to assume that the lost revenue definitely ends at a number higher than zero. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0064.html September 22, 2008: It has been a while since we have done a full blown parody, and with the Cabela game releasing this week I took advantage of perfect timing for a Jurassic Park movie reference. The end product shown here did not actually change too much from the original script. We did break the Casey reveal panel into two panels so that the hunter could act surprised before uttering his line. All in all, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. No hunters were hurt in the making of this comic. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080922.html September 22, 2008: Looking at the upcoming releases for this week, the most obvious choice for purchase has to be Dangerous Hunts 2009. Consider sarcasm inserted. Who actually buys these games? Honestly, Madden fans take a lot of flak, but at least they can admit to being football fanboys. What about the fans of these hunting games? Are they hunting fanboys?! http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0063.html September 15, 2008: Jason and I have been dying to do an action comic since we got the website up and running. This is our first shot at it, and here we decide to bring back our old friend Warthog for the occasion. Daniel complained that DZ should not have killed Warthog in Skateboarding Is A Crime. No matter how we spun it, Daniel was not convinced that Warthog was badly injured, but not dead. This comic proves he survived that fall, but as for his current health condition, well . . . http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080915.html September 15, 2008: Essentially, Rock Band 2 is Rock Band 1 with a larger song list. Improvements have been made to the instruments, but I have no intention of buying the bundle; the previous instruments work just fine. If you enjoy RB1, then buying RB2 is a no-brainer. Some of the finer points of improvement include a character select option, an extras option for enabling and disabling codes on the fly, and the no-fail code. The no-fail code is singlehandedly the best new feature of RB2. In RB1, I was hesitant to try hard or expert modes for fear of failing my band out of a song. No longer a problem! Now, the only thing to worry about is if the throbbing red hue from my section of the screen bothers the other players. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0062.html September 8, 2008: This comic was born from two concepts: the impending arrival of another birthday (Happy 28th Daniel!) this week, and the second being that Dexter is a bit of a lush. Actually, it is probably more accurate to say that he has an immensely creepy imagination which heeds no bounds when the liquor gets to flowing. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080908.html September 8, 2008: So, PAX 08 has come and gone. Once again, it provided an awesome time that should be attended by every single gamer out there. Really, you must find a way to scrap together airfare and hotel money. Donate blood, sell old games, sell your own body; just do whatever it takes to make it out to PAX 09! http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0061.html September 1, 2008: Watching Jeopardy! as a kid, I recall being captivated at the rapid fire back-and-forth between the omniscient host and the brainy (though sometimes incorrect) contestants. Trivia and useless factoids are a passion of mine, and I can be counted upon to regale listeners with obscure Latin phrases and the unique properties of sea anemones without hesitation. This is much to the dismay of my captive (captured?) audience. The idea of double meanings for categories seemed a worthwhile venue for exploration, and thus the above result lingers. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080901.html September 1, 2008: Fun ideas can appear when and where they are least anticipated. I submit to you the visual entwining of an e-mail conversation, an ineffectual desire for one rabbit-dog-thingy to master all he surveys, and the deaths of over twelve million Pan-Asians during the Third Pandemic. I hold the backstory close to my chest. Maybe if you are invited to my birthday party, I will entertain you with its bloated importance. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0060.html August 25, 2008: The dialogue changed several times during the writing of this script to ensure achievement of the maximum amount of confusion per panel. I also like the thought of a back cover bulletpoint saying to Play for an infinite amount of forevers! http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080825.html August 25, 2008: I would like to take this moment to thank Microsoft for having downloadable demos available on the Xbox 360. Although some of the demos are absurdly large, the opportunity to play the game before I buy has helped me immensely in my purchasing decisions. I only bring this up because of the demo-filled affair that happened last Friday. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0059.html August 18, 2008: Gotta love the excitement and energy that Zealots put into their job. These guys here cannot wait to run into a line of tanks and literally rip them apart. Oh, did anyone happen to catch the Private Larsen reference? I hope so, or I will feel really old. August 18, 2008: If you take my two favorite multiplayer strategy games of all time and mixed them together, you would brew something like this. My love of the Advance Wars series runs deep. I own all the games in the series and have beaten them all on both regular and hard campaigns. Back in the retail days, Irving and I used to play the game regularly on Sundays at work . . . http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080818.html http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/issues/comic_0058.html August 11, 2008: Unfortunately, no sheep were harmed in the making of this comic. The comic was originally written this way, but then I started changing it - a lot. Before long, it ballooned into almost a dozen panels long and shared very little of the original concept. Fortunately, Daniel read the script and talked some sense back into me. The last panel proved difficult to get the idea across that the Madden games do not change much every year, but I think that Jason pulled it off well. We also had the idea of placing some large street dated stickers on the box, but they would not read well. Too many numbers cluttering the boxes. August 11, 2008: I am not alone when I wonder why hordes of football fanatics will buy the exact same game, sans roster changes, each and every year. I mean, I have been guilty of buying sequels and remakes myself, but at least those games got spaced out over a few years. As Irving has pointed out before, it is impossible to make a quality new game with a twelve month development period. All they really have time to do is add a feature or two (possibly buggy) and update the rosters. http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/topics/topic_080811.html