Tim Rogers is an American videogame journalist, writer
and musician living in Japan. his articles about the videogame industry and
its works (on Insert Credit (q.v.) and otherwise) has gained him some fair
degree of notariety, along with his own odd little fanbase. (Though, given his
unique outlook on life, no one—not even his fans—ever agrees
completely with his opinions. This is not to his detriment, and in fact, how it
should be.)
As of this writing he's the front man for a punk band called Large Prime
Numbers, of which the site was named after. Besides being a blog for several
members of the band (and their associates), the site also holds forums,
articles and short fiction by Rogers and others (in fact, I'm
guilty of being one),
short videos, his band's music and so on.
His writing can be thought-provoking and subtly entertaining...But I admit
it's not for everyone. It's very much an acquired taste.
In the beginning, there was The Unofficial Square
Homepage, which became square.net, then later schismed into RPGamer and
The Gaming Intelligence Agency—both of which would grow jaded and
bitter. The Gaming Intelligence Agency would even schism further into the
sites we know today as Tokyopia, Gameforms, Crunk Games and so on...Though
all of them, however disparate, seem to be as jaded as their parent.
That being said, before all that there was The Unofficial Square Homepage:
a site with fairly decent and thorough reporting driven by an upbeat
nature. No politics were played nor innocent enthusiasm squelched, in those
days.
Games Are Fun carries the essence of what that site was, even though there are
no visible ties to that lineage. Oddly enough, they started out as a fan
site for the Lunar series of RPGs, expanding from there to cover
a large cross-section of gaming. They even maintain a database encompassing
most existing computer and video games—though, granted, most of their
entries aren't filled in yet. For titles alone, though, it's one of the
largest databases I've yet been privy to.
I can't help but conclude, lately, that a site like this one could be the
last of an endangered species; in wake of the snideness and old-school sarcasm
slowly creeping in from the gaming community's edges, this may be especially
true. So don't take this particular resource for granted, eh?
The best tech news site I've yet encountered.
Covers a broad range of topics and OSes, and provides some valuable
analysis with their news items (not merely dressed-up press releases).
Has long since replaced Slashdot in my news regimen.
There is but one low point, though, of which you should be aware: Jon
"Hannibal" Stokes, a lead columnist in the terminal stages of Des Barres
Syndrome. Take care to avoid his flamebait, if you're able.
Hotbed of "New Videogame Journalism," for whatever that's worth. Best known for its reviews and features; gave rise to a great many talent, including Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh and Tim Rogers (q.v.). Also reports news of obscure doujin and independent game releases, fandom surrounding gaming and so forth.
An intellectual whom I greatly admire. Has a body of
journalistic work spanning Insert Credit (q.v.) and Gamasutra, ostensibly of
videogames and the videogame industry. Tends to focus on detail and thematic
nuance, though sometimes has incomplete data leading to incomplete
opinions. (I've tried my best to fill those small bits and pieces in for
him whenever I'm in a position to do so, but...)
His LiveJournal contains much broader musings on media than found in his
journalistic work. Very insightful all-round; highly recommended if you're
into what he's into.
Mini-reviews, worthy insight and miscellaneous first
impressions of videogames and hardware related to same.
Also contains Long Range Bullet, a
resource tracking the history of Japanese game artists Range Murata and Jun
Tsukasa. jiji intends to create resources for other Japanese game-related
topics in the future, which I very much look forward to.
An illegitimate, frustrated child of Pokey the Penguin fandom, powered by every action movie cliche' ever concieved and reckless enthusiasm allowing it to surpass all those that came before it; Isometric throws different characters with similar appearances at perpetual Matrix-like action and modern-age life scenarios. Rife with idealism, never complacent; if, for some reason, you must read one comic off of this list—and only one—pick this one.
The world of sprite-based comics is built upon popular
once-originals—whose talent has long since been lost to cynicism and
self-importance—and lesser talents who blindly aspire to be like the
former, out of a longing to take a piece of that action.
And then there's Rick O'Shay.
Rick began his career as one of the first to ride the coattails of David
Anez, author of Bob and George (where his very comics are hosted,
in fact!), and thus into the annals of spritecomicdom. What most authors of
such works are unwilling to admit (least of all Mr. Anez) is that Mr. O'Shay
has come to surpass all other existing works, as the very "Gold Standard"
of the method.
The only drawback, however, is that Rick rarely updates nowadays. Get past
that and you should have no problems.
Bob and George, 8-Bit Theater, even
OldSkooled—I have found no other spritecomic to display as
much comedic ability or consistency as Rick O'Shay's Oddball
Fancomics. Don't take my word for it, though—shop around and
decide for yourself.
Current successor to the tradition of fine, sarcastic
videogame humor sites such as Sharkey's Homepage of Sharkey and Old Man Murray.
Twist: this particular family member is British. Bonus points!
Though, this site, I'm sad to admit, has not been updated since January...2004.
I'm almost ready to give up on the guy.
Snid vs.
(scroll a bit down the page to find it):
Quick three-panel stick-figure combat vignettes where the invincible
stick-figure fighter Snid defeats reader-requested enemies. Woodson only
allows himself fifteen minutes to work on each strip, upping the ante even
further. Showcases the essence of Mike Woodson's comedic style, and may turn
out to be his most memorable work.
Irritability:
Woodson's claim to fame; a long-running comic strip begun in the University of
Texas's Daily Texan student newspaper, long since left to its own
devices For the bulk of its history, this work was bluntly violent and
ironically obscure in ways that only Mike Woodson is capable of being.
Worth a look, at least.
(Caution: Around September 11th, 2001, Woodson experienced
a severe creative decline that, to date, he hasn't recovered from. This decline
begins at strip 464 and gradually drags the comic down until the humor is
nowhere to be found. As a result, I wouldn't recommend reading much further
than that unless you're prepared for some crushing disappointment. I know
I sure wasn't.)