#toni jetpack joyride

[steakout-05]

i've kinda had an idea floating around in my head that Toni (the scientist who was confirmed to be the guy in Robot Bird in a random short Halfbrick's channel uploaded) is actually Craig after regaining his memories and rediscovering who he was after finding his original profile in the deep offices of Legitimate Research, and after discovering his real name and all his original memories, he gets so mad at Barry for fucking his shit up that he completely rejects everything he had with Barry including his given name. and they'd have this super messy breakup where Barry tries to explain himself to him, and Toni gets pissed and directly challenges Barry on his morals. like, Barry tries to explain that before he met Toni, he was just some random scientist to him and he had absolutely no idea it was his boyfriend he stole from and ruined the career of, but that obviously doesn't change anything and in fact just hurts Toni even more, and he lashes out and attacks him. Barry is genuinely remorseful for his actions after the fact, but Toni is pretty reasonably angered about it and feels betrayed that someone who meant so much to him was the reason for his downfall, and he becomes a part of Really Bad Corp's team of villains (i cannot take this seriously with that name XD) out of revenge. gay angst ensues!

i kinda want them to be on good terms by the end of everything, but their relationship is too fractured to go on and they end up just being mere acquaintances and going their own separate paths. maybe Toni would consider possibly getting back together with Barry after he's had some time alone to relearn who he is, but that's going to take a very long time. as for Barry, he's gonna be preeetty upset about the whole thing. on one hand he gets why Toni is upset at him, but on the other hand, he just lost someone very important to him and he doesn't even have anyone else but himself to blame for it. he'll be ok though. he's got Flash as a moral support, and he'll find other friends. and maybe, one day, he might get to introduce them all to Toni again.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #400

Special Commemorative Top 100 Videogames

400! Blimey! That’s a lot. Four hundred lists. Crikey. This feels like it deserves some kind of, I dunno, special edition. Sorry, Special Edition. But what to do? And how can I somehow tentatively tie it into the number four or even four hundred?

Reader, I can’t. I’ve just sacked it off basically.

But that’s not to say I haven’t tried very hard to make a really, really special list. So special in fact that I’m doing something I’ve only done once or sort-of twice before: a Top 100. Yes, that’s right; despite this being a Top Ten, today I’m squaring the circle and going the Full Ton.

So having done films before, this weekend I’m looking at one of the few other things I feel I can talk about with a degree of authority: videogames. I’ve been a gamer pretty much as long as I can remember. Whilst I was probably reading comics first – especially Transformers – I wasn’t really collecting them, or reading them widely, until I was in my twenties. Games, on the other hand, I got into pretty hard as a young boy and they’ve maintained my interest ever since.

On compiling a list like this, however, I run against the thing I always run against, which is my knowledgebase isn’t really that wide. I had an Amiga growing up, and then graduated to a PC when I was a teen. Before that I played on my cousins’ computers, which were Spectrums and Commodores. Apart from brief trips to friends’ houses, I barely touched games consoles; indeed, I indulged in a lot of pre-teen “console toy” sectarianism, thinking the likes of Sega and Nintendo were enemies to be defeated (whilst, at the same time, being slightly covetous of the hardware). The first console we ever had in our house was my brother’s Nintendo 64; the first one I ever owned was an original Xbox. To this date, I have only owned (or had in the house, at least) the following: Xbox; GameCube; Xbox 360; DS Lite; Wii; Xbox One. I’ve never had any Sony console, being swayed by Halo and Fable when I finally decided to take the plunge into console-land around 2001.

So all this – combined with a sort-of ingrained frustration and the commonplace mechanics of a lot of “classic” console titles, especially stuff like Zelda and Metal Gear – means there will no doubt be big famous names not on this list. It’s not an apology. I’m not an expert or a journalist; I’m just some bloke wasting time on the internet. Added to this is the fact that, even when I was a kid with oodles of free time, there were only so many games my parents could afford – or, beyond that, only so many that I had time for. I remember longingly looking at screenshots in The One Amiga, PC Gamer, or Edge, wishing I could either find the money or time for the likes of Lure of the Temptress, Starcraft, Baldur’s Gate, LA Noire, Morrowind, and more. Most of these I’ve played, but not really very deeply (ditto the likes of Thief, System Shock, and most of the 3D Grand Theft Autos). And that’s before we even get onto the PlayStation games like Uncharted, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us, and Spider-Man!

Anyway, what I’m saying is, this is a very personal list, and it feels incomplete even from my point of view. There’s stuff that I feel is missing, even from my own personal gaming biography. But it is what it is, and its fractured, fragmented nature is probably a good overview of my psyche, and as such it feels appropriate for a large anniversary like my 400th list.

A couple of other, technical points. In compiling a list this large, I’ve argued back-and-forth with myself over placements, but generally I’ve looked at a game, and the games around it, and asked whether it’s better or worse than its neighbours; as such, that’s where the game is stuck. Sometimes this means I’ll look at the list and think, oh, such-and-such looks too high or too low, but it feels right when nestled against its contemporaries. Also, sequels and franchises: I’ve tried to treat each game individually (both Half-Lifes are there, for instance) but with something like, say, Mass Effect, it felt a bit redundant to include the slightly-inferior parts 1 and 3 when they’re all quite similar but Mass Effect 2 is the best. So quite often one title ends up representing a franchise, unless I feel other instalments are terrific enough to stand on their own, or represent something quite different. But that’s not really a hard-and-fast rule anyway. Oh, and formats: generally speaking, they’re on the formats I discovered or most enjoyed the game on, which may throw up some non-standard entries (like SWOS, which even I think of as an Amiga game, but which I really got into years later on PC). Finally, my memory; there are some older games on here that maybe if I played a bit more recently would go up or down. But they feel important to me and my life as a gamer, so that’s where they’re staying. All that being said, I’m very comfortable with the Top Ten, which is appropriate.

TL;DR: it’s my list, it’s very subjective, it’s based partly on memory or nostalgia, it’s emotional, it’s things that I loved and that meant something to me and that still mean something to me, and that’s all there is to it.

So here we go: Top Ten numero 400. Except it’s a Top 100. Make of that what you will.

The Secret of Monkey Island (Amiga, 1991)

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (Amiga, 1992)

Half-Life 2 (PC, 2003)

Deus Ex (PC, 2000)

Civilization VI (PC, 2017)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox, 2003)

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox, 2001)

Lemmings 2: The Tribes (Amiga, 1993)

Crackdown (Xbox 360, 2007)

Fable II (Xbox 360, 2007)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (Xbox One, 2013)

Command and Conquer: Red Alert (PC, 1995)

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC, 1997)

Half-Life (PC, 1998)

Sam & Max Hit the Road (PC, 1995)

Medieval II: Total War (PC, 2003)

Portal (PC, 2003)

Perfect Dark (N64, 2000)

Sensible World of Soccer 95/96 (PC, 1995)

Duke Nukem 3D (PC, 1995)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch, 2018)

Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360, 2008)

Wii Sports (Wii, 2005)

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)

Flashback (Amiga, 1993)

Batman: Arkham City (Xbox 360, 2011)

Animal Crossing (GameCube, 2004)

Halo 3 (Xbox 360, 2007)

Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox One, 2014)

BioShock (Xbox 360, 2007)

Drop 7 (iPhone, 2010)

Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (PC, 2000)

Quake III Arena (PC, 2000)

GoldenEye 007 (N64, 1997)

Doom (PC, 1993)

Plants vs. Zombies (iPhone, 2011)

Age of Empires II (PC, 2001)

LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (Xbox One, 2015)

James Pond II: RoboCod (Amiga, 1992)

Syndicate (Amiga, 1992)

Blade Runner (PC, 1997)

Grim Fandango (PC, 1998)

Peggle 2 (Xbox One, 2013)

Superhot (Xbox One, 2017)

Quake (PC, 1997)

Gears of War (Xbox 360, 2005)

Viva Pinata (Xbox 360, 2008)

Unreal Tournament (PC, 1999)

Cannon Fodder (Amiga, 1993)

Banjo Kazooie (N64, 1998)

Quake II (PC, 1998)

Another World (Amiga, 1992)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (MegaDrive, 1993)

Grand Theft Auto (PC, 1997)

Doom (Xbox One, 2016)

Braid (Xbox 360, 2007)

Limbo (Xbox One, 2014)

Worms World Party (PC, 2001)

The Sims (PC, 2000)

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)

Pikmin (GameCube, 2002)

Super Skidmarks (Amiga, 1993)

Minecraft (Xbox 360, 2012)

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC, 1992)

Project Gotham Racing (Xbox, 2001)

Tomb Raider (PC, 1996)

Carcassonne (Xbox 360, 2008)

Black & White (PC, 2001)

Frontier: Elite 2 (Amiga, 1993)

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PC, 2003)

Alien Breed: Tower Assault (Amiga, 1994)

Two Point Hospital (PC, 2018)

Thimbleweed Park (PC, 2017)

Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360, 2010)

Sim City 2000 (PC, 1993)

Super Mario 64 (N64, 1997)

The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)

Midtown Madness 2 (PC, 2000)

Civilization Revolution (Xbox 360, 2008)

Jaguar XJ220 (Amiga, 1992)

Simon the Sorcerer (Amiga, 1993)

Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck (Amiga, 1993)

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PC, 2000)

Tomb Raider (Xbox One, 2013)

Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen (GBA, 2004)

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Xbox One, 2018)

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Xbox 360, 2007)

Back to Skool (Spectrum, 1985)

Transport Tycoon Deluxe (PC, 1994)

Zool (Amiga, 1992)

Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube, 2001)

Jetpack Joyride (PC, 2013)

Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding (Xbox, 2001)

Spellbound Dizzy (Amiga, 1991)

Putty (Amiga, 1992)

Ghostbusters (Spectrum, 1984)

Void Bastards (Xbox One, 2019)

Transformers (PS2, 2004)

Seymour Goes to Hollywood (Amiga, 1992)

Microsoft Ultimate Word Games (PC, 2017)

There you go. I already disagree with myself.

[agdtrevino]

Bibliography for this month.

I will be reviewing and creating a bibliography for these 12 mobile games this month for the Approaches to Game Design Course. Each week between 3 - 4 mobile games from this list will have their own post, and be reviewed 

·         X-LEGEND Entertainment Corp. (22 Feb 2018). Aura Kingdom. X-LEGEND Entertainment Corp. Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/ph/app/aura-kingdom/id1329433415?mt=8

·         Galalab Inc. (25 Sep 2017). Flyff Legacy – Anime MMORPG.  Galalab Inc. Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/ph/app/flyff-legacy-anime-mmorpg/id1280280478?mt=8

·         Rockstar Games. (06 Jan 2010). Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.  Rockstar Games. Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grand-theft-auto-chinatown-wars/id344186162?mt=8

·         miHoYo Limited. Honkai Impact 3. miHoYo Limited. Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/ph/app/honkai-impact-3/id1299582178?mt=8

·         Epic Games. (29 Nov 2011). Infinity Blade II. Epic Games  Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/infinity-blade-ii/id447689011?mt=8

·         Halfbrick Studios. (15 Mar 2011)  Jetpack Joyride. Halfbrick Studios. Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jetpack-joyride/id457446957?mt=8

·         Mojang. (19 Jul 2015). Minecraft Pocket Edition.  Mojang.  Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minecraft/id479516143?mt=8

·         Hutch Games Ltd. (22 Jan 2018). MMX Hill Dash 2- Race Offroad.  Hutch Games Ltd.   Retrieved 02 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mmx-hill-dash-2-race-offroad/id1271725269?mt=8

·         Gameloft. (09 Sep 2015). Order & Chaos 2-Fantasy MMORPG. Gameloft. Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/order-chaos-2-fantasy-mmorpg/id984394908?mt=8

·         Ubisoft. (11 Sep 2013).  Rayman Fiesta Run. Ubisoft. Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rayman-fiesta-run/id657811530?mt=8

·         Fireproof Games. (11 Sep. 2012). The Room. Fireproof Games. Retrieved 22 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-room/id552039496?mt=8

·         Telltale Inc. Walking Dead: The Game. Telltale Inc. Robert Kirkman, LLC. Based on the Comic Book by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard Retrieved 03 Aug 2018 from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/walking-dead-the-game/id524731580?mt=8

[steakout-05]

headcanons i have about Craig the scientist :)

as are most of the characters i have headcanons for, Craig is on the autism spectrum. he has a flat effect to his voice and facial expressions, doesn't really get most social cues, doesn't know how to react to others in pain the "right" way, misunderstands metaphors and speaks in quite a direct manner because it makes the most sense to his brain. he's quite a literal thinker. he also tends to hyperfixate so hard on a task that he forgets his basic needs and hygene, and thus has quite an unkempt look underneath that hazmat suit of his (which i will get into later!). Barry often ends up needing to get Craig something to eat because of how long he hyperfixates on something.

Craig sometimes doesn't exactly pay attention to his tone of voice, so sometimes he can say something that, to him, sounds completely normal, but because of his tone, can end up sounding really ominous to other people by accident ("We know who you are, Barry.")

Craig has traumatic cataract in his left eye (or wherever the fuck craig's visor crack is supposed to be in canon lol) from the explosion in 'Level 2' and is half blind in that eye. his eye has a very clouded look as a result of the injury. he's also got a huge scar there too that required some pretty gnarly stitches later, and his skin is almost completely numb around that area.

Craig also never really had the best eyesight before the injury, so he's always wearing these big ol' nerdy glasses underneath his helmet. and yes, they are tacked together with a band-aid lol

Craig is one of the few scientists who is not a clone of Peter Simpkins, the late friend of both Professor Brains and (in my headcanon'd canon) Craig. i like to think that Craig and Simpkins knew each other when they were first recruited by Legitimate Research and was pretty close to both him and Brains, and since Simpkins died, Brains has kind of taken more of a liking towards Craig (mostly out of loneliness and needing someone to help around at the lab, but he has a genuine fondness for him under his demanding and angry exterior).

There's a bit of a fan theory that Craig is the same guy as the scientist in the 'Robot Bird' rock opera, which i like to believe is the case. i mean, he's got the same monotone voice as Craig, it's gotta be him. i hope this does end up becoming canon because i think it'd make for an interesting conflict between Barry and Craig!!

Craig may or may not be related to Lab Lady.

Craig's counterpart in the mirror universe is named Kayla.

Craig is demiromantic and is questioning his sexuality (he thinks he might be bi or pan), though he definitely knows he loves Barry <3

Craig has an unhealthy habit of wiping his embarrassing memories, like, a lot. he wipes memories of awkward accidents in the lab, particularly painful failures, and most importantly, the memories of losing literally all his stuff and his career to Barry, which is why he doesn't immediately recognise him in the shorts. Craig has a lot of trouble recounting stories from the past because of this memory-wiping and felt a sense of emptiness, which getting hit in the head certainly didn't help with, so he tried inventing that apple in the Multiverse Madness event to get some of them back. it was pure dumb luck that Barry didn't end up witnessing what happened to Craig in the 'Robot Bird' opera and both are completely unaware of the disastrous can of worms that could have opened. bro's gonna end up like wallflower blush if he doesn't keep that memory erasing under control

and finally...

under his helmet, Craig has messy dirty-blonde hair, a rounded face that has a few stray facial hairs he forgot to shave, a long scar down the left side of his face, hazel coloured eyes and pale skin. this design is inspired by the designs made by @dexterno-artz and @schnabel53 respectively :D

this is a sketch of my finalised(ish) craig design!!! i've shown earlier versions of this guy in a couple of older posts but i haven't really revised his design much until now. i kinda had the idea of him looking like a stereotypical nerd and then made him messier. i might tone the amount of hair he has down a tiny bit but also i really like the nerdy bird's nest thing he has goin on :) i like to think he literally hasn't brushed his hair in several weeks and it's just become a bird's nest from nights of staying up doing science stuff

how i feel about barry tbh. he's literally so dumb i love him

(also apologies for the photos being kinda blurry and me forgetting to turn off the filter. again. in my defence it looks really nice and orange on my phone)

sometimes i like drawing him saying stuff from the shorts to get a feel of how he'd look when talking and make sure he looks juuuust nerdy enough for me to go "yep that's craig". also his big,g, handns,s,

drew this as a quick side profile sketch to get a general idea of how i want to draw him from this angle. he's talking to barry offscreen and falling in love with him <3

stupid little comic with a stupid little interaction that would definitely happen between these stupid little guys <3 barry being a little asshole every now and then is very entertaining to me. i need to see him antagonising craig and starting an old couple bickering argument with craig, that would heal me i think

i think i'll post more of this design in the future, i really quite like it a lot :)