SDCC 2011 Day 1

Posted on 07/21/2011 by artofthecartoon

The actual first day of San Diego has come to a close, and as an animator today was that first wave of creative energy and inspiration that comes over an artist amongst not only his peers, but also the fans of the medium.

When it comes to SDCC, I’m definitely more of a panel person, more specifically the smaller ones and the ones that deal with my interests. Today my panels were the CCI-IFF film school series: pre-production and screenwriting, Alex Niño, How to use CG in comics, Bill Plympton, Classic Cartoons: Tom & Jerry/ Looney Tunes, Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau & Guillermo Del Toro, New Generation of Spike & Mike Animation, and Kung-Fu films…

I won’t even attempt to go over each and every panel I went to, but I will give you some of my main points I took away:

Film is an art (duh), start small and practice your craft, know your tools and how they can make your workflow easier, I have a deeper appreciation of Tom & Jerry more so than before, Guillermo Del Toro likes to cuss, and I really need to re-watch Police Story starring Jackie Chan.

The highlight of my day was the Spotlight in Alex Nino.

It was like listening to my Filipino Uncles tell stories, except this uncle was into drawing, inking and comic books. I asked him about the restrictions of being an artist during the Marcos Regime in the Philippines and his thoughts on the difference between the animation medium and comic book medium. His answers were brief yet insightful. He recalled his censorship of his artwork during martial law, and he waxed poetic about his freedom as a comic book artist as opposed to the team environment of animation.

If I had some regrets, it was that I didn’t have enough time to chat with these panelists afterword. SDCC is so huge now, it seems that someone is always just more aggressive than I am, plus when I have limited time to jump to the next panel it makes it even tougher. I think next time I’ll try to leave a larger gap between panels esp. with the folks I really want to meet.

It was a good and inspiring, yet tiring 1st day of SDCC 2011. I’ll definitely need more of these tomorrow…

SDCC 2011 Preview Night

Posted on 07/20/2011 by artofthecartoon

San Diego Comic Con 2011 Preview Night. As a professional animator, my goal for SDCC is to not only make valuable contacts within the industry, but mostly to stay inspired and let my creative juices flow with all the geekiness around me.

Most of the contacts and info will come from the panels in the days ahead, preview night is all about inspiration, getting a lay of the exhibition floor, and shopping!

And I got a chance to finally pick up the kotobukiya Psylocke I’ve wanted for so many years:

And thanks to Daps1 for braving the line and picking me up one of these:

And lastly, probably the purchase that felt the best, were these plush yoshi dolls that got for my nieces.

Because above all, even though I go to SDCC to geek out and generally think about ME, the reason I stay inspired and the reason I animate is for all the folks out there, and that especially goes for me family.

I haven’t written here much, but stay tuned… I plan to try to blog about many things animated that are happening at SDCC 2011 from panels to costumes to artists, etc… I might even attempt a Capt. America review.

Have fun!

Dear Playstation: FFXIII

Posted on 03/09/2010 by artofthecartoon

Its been quite a long time since a new Final Fantasy game came out and after many years Final Fantasy XIII is finally here! I’ve been watching and anticpating this one for the past couple of years, HOWEVER seriously, I have no time to play it right now, or any other video game for that matter. So I decided to make a Dear Playstation ad…

Punch-Out Documentary…

Posted on 05/10/2009 by artofthecartoon

At first I thought this was a clever spoof, but I think this is officially Nintendo. If it’s official then it’s brilliant. If not, it’s still pretty funny! Oh and I am super stoked for the new Punch-Out thats coming out for the Wii.

Piston Hondo! LOL! Hey he’s just doing his jab…

EDIT: Just checked out the official punchout.com site, the dude’s name is ACTUALLY Piston Hondo!

Rhythm Heaven (video game)

Posted on 04/17/2009 by artofthecartoon

Rhythm Heaven/ Nintendo DS/ 2009

rhythmheaven I like to think of myself as a gamer, but between work, school, runnning, training and working out, other things art related, and kickin it with the homies, I haven’t sat down and played a game in months. Gone are the days when I could spend hours gaining experience points in Final Fantasy VI, Secret of Mana, or Chrono Trigger, or spend quality time trying to beat Dr. Wily, Metal Gear, or whatever video game villain you want to throw in.

That’s why I am more inclined to play games that are in small doses, and Rhythm Heaven is perfect for me. I can play it for 5 minutes and be alright with it if I wanted to, I can’t say the same for a game like Resident Evil 5.

Rhythm Heaven is the english version of Rhythm Tengoku which was a popular DS game in Japan. The premise is simple, in each of the many mini-games you either flick, tap, hold or slide to the rhythm of the beat. The more on rhythm, the better you do. Just like I said on my twitter, this game taught me that I have no rhythm. I don’t want to get into a full review because IGN does it so much better:

I just want to add that I am a big fan of the art and animation style of this game. Yes, it is very simplistic, but the art and animation get their point across and to me seem very polished. The style also works very well with the great soundtrack that was produced by Tsunku, who is a prolific Japanese record producer. I know that my big dream is to make animated films, but after playing this quirky little game, I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at video game animation.

BTW, I still have NO rhythm…

Watchmen: The End is Nigh (Video Game)

Posted on 03/04/2009 by artofthecartoon

Below is the opening cinematic and some gameplay footage of Watchmen: The End is Nigh video game. It’s a prequel of sorts, taking place before masked vigilantism was outlawed in the graphic novels. It follows the adventures of Rorschach and Nite Owl as they fight crime.

I hate to say this, but this game looks like it’s going to SUCK! Don’t get me wrong, the animation looks cool (moreso on the actual gameplay than the opening flash animation), but they always screw up these movie tie-in games.

And I hate that they’re doing this shit to Watchmen…

I hope I’m wrong…

UPDATE: The reviews are in, its official, this game SUCKS!

(shakes head in disappointment)…

He’s Back!

Posted on 02/19/2009 by artofthecartoon

Ken Griffey Jr. is returning to my hometown Seattle Mariners. I’m excited! I have a treat for folks tomorrow, but in the meantime, I present to you, what was, in my opinion, the best looking baseball video game in 1994.

Welcome Back Junior!

Set the VCR: Here Comes The Ambulance! (Madden 92)

Posted on 02/05/2009 by artofthecartoon

This new segment in the blog goes over the moments in cartoon history that have to be recorded and seen over and over. Since I am old school and remember the VCR days (when setting the VCR took a whole day’s work), I am calling this segment “Set the VCR.”

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There is still time in 2009 to talk football. Now folks now-a-days are spoiled with the current “Madden NFL” series. The player models are looking more realistic with every passing year. The old school football game to go to will ALWAYS be Tecmo Bowl, but Madden 92 was the first to really bring the realism (and humor) of football to my eyes.

john_madden_football_92_gen_screenshot11

Background

Before Madden, Video Game football was not too realistic. Bo Jackson could potentially zig zag his way to score on every play in Tecmo, and there was always one play where no matter what, you could score (cough..flea flicker). I mean Tecmo only had like 4 plays! You could just mash buttons and play decently.

Playing Madden 92 for the first time was actually like football in that you had to know what the fuck you were doing. When I first played Madden I hated it because everything seemed so complicated (look at Madden now though…you need a degree to play that game). As I kept playing and getting used to the game, I started seeing how realistic this game was compared to Tecmo.

And then the “Set the VCR” moment came that totally made me fall in love with the game…

Set the VCR

I was playing as the Seahawks (obviously) against the (then LA) Raiders. My QB, Dan McGwire (aka QB #10) dropped back looking for a deep pass to Brian Blades (aka WR#89). Suddenly Howie Long from the Raiders (aka DE #75) came off the edge and totally blasted my QB. The game told me QB #10 was injured. Then something shocking and at the same time hilarious happened…

An ambulance came from nowhere and ran over 6 more players!!!

Don’t believe me, watch the ambulance montage in this clip:

The Impact

Ok so after that, I wanted to see someone get injured on every play! Not only was it the first time I saw a video game ambulance drive onto the field, the programmers and animators saw it fit that they add a little more realism and run over other players that was in the ambulance’s way (bravo, now that is art!).

To me, this was a new path for video game sports. Madden 92 obviously started a franchise that is booming today. It even helped start a franchise based on absurd & hilarious Video game violence (NFL BLitz). I don’t think its a stretch to say that Madden 92 helped pioneer the sports video games of 2009. However, they took out the ambulance around 1994 (bad move), and to this day I wish it would make a return. I know it won’t because the NFL (No Fun League) has Darth Vader Force Choke on violence in any NFL License video game.

But for know, I’ll Set the VCR one more time…

HERE COMES THE AMBULANCE!!!

PS: Inspired by Chad Cocelmo’s The Memory Card on the Destructoid Blog.

MadWorld

Posted on 01/18/2009 by artofthecartoon

Hey Wii owners, check this out:

I like the fact that MadWorld is based upon the art style of Frank Miller’s Sin City. It has that visual flare and style that I dig. You know the high contrast black and white, with the only highlight being a gory, bloody red, that’s the stuff. That’s my kind of art.

So when can I buy this game?

DO WANT!!!

The Dark Knight NES (8-bit) video game

Posted on 01/12/2009 by artofthecartoon

Today’s video games have beautiful graphics. The PS3 and xbox 360 are ridiculous. And the Wii, even though discredited and disowned by many “hardcore” gamers, still has stunning graphics and animations in my opinion.

But honestly, a lot is lost when games start relying too much on graphics alone. Case and point, the above video is a fan-made trailer of The Dark Knight video game if made in the style of 8-bit Nintendo. Yes, full CG graphics would have looked waaay better, or they could have just used clips from the acutal Dark Knight movie. But you know what, I wouldn’t want to play that game, I want to play the 8-bit game. In the video above, I find myself trying to press the start button that is not there.

The point is, you had to use your imagination more when 8-bit was the thing. It was more abstract, and as a gamer I appreciated that about NES games. Sometimes flashy graphics just get in the way of video games.

To conclude, SOMEBODY PLEASE MAKE THIS GAME!!! Bring back the NES, I mean it worked for Mega Man…

Art of the Cartoon

Cesar Cueva: Character Animator, Writer & Artist

Category Archives: Video Games