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Hey everyone not reading this! This Mike of Gx3R Comics, a website about webcomics and digital graphic novels, imagine that! Here is updates and if you look just above this message you'll see other things to read or look at.
It took a bit longer than I had planned but with family in from across the country, work and issues you may have heard me mention things can get delayed. I apologize but that's how it goes! Hey it's sort of a large update after all, cover, credits, comic page? That's hours of work there for ONE person...one person that hopes you enjoy thanks guys for reading you're the best :)
Issue 06 has started! Neige beaten, bruised and tired, embraces the small downtime she has before her next job. Click here to start reading!
I need you, the readers to help me with a vote! Neige is possibly getting some armor and I need you to vote on it! Click here to go to the vote page!
Changed some incorrect text on the home page, the hiatus is still on. I say hiatus but it's really just a bit of time where I'm working on the comic and don't have to worry about trying to keep up!
Issue 06 will start soon so don't worry about that ...I say as I'm trying to color in the cover.
Page 10 has been added to issue 05 of Antares Complex, looks like good news afterall.
Click here to go straight to the lastest page.
Updated some of the visuals of the site, nothing major.
Click here: To check us out on facebook!
Louis seems to have one hell of a scary trick up his sleeve...and backup arrives.
Page 09 has been uploaded to issue 05 to Antares Complex.
Click here to go straight to the lastest page.
Edit: After breaking the home page 3 times, I got the facebook Like thing back up, so be so kind to Like Antares Complex on facebook for the 30 minute headache effort at the least! :C
Or click here: To check us out on facebook!
A new P1Z comic?! Well sorta, it's valentines day so I felt obligated.
I'm working on doing some updates to the database section, hopefully those'll be done by next week so the information will be more easily updated & accessed.
Page 08 has been uploaded to issue 05, looks like Neige may be in trouble here.
Click here to go straight to the lastest page.
An interesting turn of events, Neige seems to have regained, no gotten stronger and Lous is running out of steam after his strange outburst. But something seems to be up...
Check out the latest page of issue 05 of Antares Complex:
Click here to go straight to the lastest page.
Neige is making her comeback, taking on Louis with a kick Guile would be proud of.
Page 06 of
issue 05 has been added to Antares Complex!
Click here to go straight to the lastest page.
First post of the new year! Regular updates will continue after my birthday, sorry guys for the delay but the holidays were busy.
I hope you all had a fun time on your respective holidays and they weren't too manic, my friend gave me an inflatable chaingun, how can you get more awesome than that? Titanium spork, that's how.
Hey everyone, due to the holidays and their hectic nature, I can't promise an update till after X-mas. Thanks for checking in here though!
Merry X-mas, hope those who celebrate Hanukkah, hope that was awesome for you too! Spend some times with your families! Seeya in 2013 everyone!
Hello all, Antares Complex page 04 has been added to issue 05, Click here to go straight to the lastest page. Endless x-mas music makes Mike a insane man. Woah looks like Neige got one hell of a second wind! She wasn't that strong before was she...?
Page 03 has been added to issue 05 of Antares Complex! Click here to go straight to the lastest page.
We've started our move to December so that means more xmas music kill me oh joy!
I hope everyones Turkey Day was good, if not find a turkey and do it again!
Issue 05 continues:
Neige is back up, Louis resumes his attack in Antares Complex pg02! Click here to go straight to the lastest page.
Now that Hurricane Sandy is "over" and things are a bit more normal, Issue 05 can begin!
Neige isn't looking so good, she has no one to help her. Is this going to be the end for the mercenary? Issue 05 of Antares Complex can be found here!
Also a lengthy journal on hurricane sandy can be found under the journal tab just above this post. Hope you guys faired well with the storm!
The final page of Issue 04 of Antares Complex has been uploaded page 19 has been added!
Latest page: here. Louis reveails he's much stronger than he let on, the gloves off he's leveled Neige in just a few swift strikes. ...But what's this now?
ISSUE 04 has come to an end, as with the previous issues a small hiatus will follow this update so I can catch up and what not. Hope you're ready for Issue 05: Swift Rescue!
FEEDBACK: If you like what you've read or have any feedback at all please fire off a email or hit me up on twitter or facebook!
Page 18 has been added to Issue 04 Antares Complex! Latest page: here. Neige tries to take the initive and get Louis before he finishes whatever it is he's doing. What kind of trick is this?! Does he have some sort of ...Magic?
Page 17 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex! Latest page: here. Louis throws the gloves off...and grows some wings. What the hell?
Page 16 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex! Latest page: here. Neige leaves only to find that round two has started. Louis sheds his calm shell and fights Neige head on. Something seems off, his speed is incredible...
Antares Complex site update: As you can see the front page of the site looks much different. I have removed the flash header in attempts to decrease the sites loading speed and load on slower devices.
Please leave any feedback via email or twitter, please tell me what you think, good or bad. Otherwise I hope it works out and that you enjoy! .
New art has been uploaded, check that out by clicking here. As well as some new and old art have been put up on Antares Complex, check that by clicking here.
Page 15 has been added to Issue 04! Latest page: here. Alright mission complete, time to pack up, get off the planet and get pai- ...Look who's back.
Page Page 14 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex! Latest page: here. Neige finds the orb of Miranda and is fairly unimpressed. It's just jewelry it seems. Time to just get off-world and cash this gem in.
Page 13 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex! Latest page: here. In his last moments he tries to beg for his life just after trying to take hers, it's just too late and she cuts his suffering short.
How's everyone doing today? Next page Page 11 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex! Latest page: here. Looks like his day is probably worse than yours.
-Thank you 2secondopinion / TheTokenRupee for donating Dead Rising 2: Off the Record via Steam. That was extremely thoughtful and after a stressful day that was a pleasant surprise. I've never played Dead Rising 2 so I look forward to checking it out, and you've been added to the donators list.
New art/fantart Amethyst of Heartcore meets with Neige in a crossover pic! Click here for that.
The merc looking away long enough looks back just in time to see a sword wielding merc lunging at him over the box: Page 11 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex! Latest page: here.
New art/fantart Amethyst of Heartcore meets with Neige in a crossover pic! Click here for that.
Neige uses some smug trash talk to distract the enemy merc into looking away long enough for her to rush in, this can't turn out well: Page 10 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex! Latest page: here.
Thank you everyone for reading and thank you so much those who have donated.
Sizable upate to the Antares Complex site, new buttons, pages and all that fun stuff.
There's now a donators page on that site as well so any donators will be announced for good on said page.
And last but not least: Page 09 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex, we get to see a bit of a gun fight. Latest page: here.
Thank you everyone for reading and thank you so much those who have donated.
Busy week this week, a lot of house fixing and modifications have had to be done because of medical reasons but that's a whole 'nother story. Had my sister in from across the country, brothers birthday so just a lot going on in a short span so I haven't had much time at all to do anything comic related, however I do have a page update for today so, that's good.
There are a few updates that I may be forgetting so keep an eye out for 'em.
Page 08 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex, Neige attacks the mercs carrying treasure! Latest page: here.
The species section of the database has been edited and cleaned up, so that'll be neat for when you actually get to see them.
Also new art in the art section, spoiler it's a static image of Dumb Sonic Running, a fantastically funny internet meme.
Hello everyone, how's your weekend going? ...Good! I've been playing Half Life 2 since shooters have been pretty crappy with their single player. But that's why we have games like Half Life, Doom, Timesplitters, Red Faction 2 and stuff.
Decent sized update today, I changed the HTML viewer to go directly to the latest page when you click it so no more jumping around. You can thank Geo for that, my cousin who knows a thing or two about comics (visit his deviantart here)
Added some new art to the art section of Antares Complex, I plan on doing a cool render or two of the ships I have created but I need to finish up some details before I go ahead doing that. Till then, there's new art of Neige so head there now!
Page 07 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex, flashback has been concluded and we zip back to Neige on Miranda in the present. Latest page: here.
Hey everyone how's Diablo 3 going? Or waiting for Torchlight 2? Either way!
Page 06 has been added to Issue 04 of Antares Complex, flashback has been concluded and we zip back to Neige on Miranda in the present. Latest page: here.
Alright I've made a plunge into Diablo 3s world and it's fun, interesting and annoying with the always online crap. Oh right, site update; new page for issue 04 of Antares Complex Neige not having such a good day in her flash back to mirror her crappy day in the present.
New art in the art section, it's also on deviant art and Antares Complex.
The site is still in 'beta' and I've recieved little feedback so I'm assuming everything is working good and to everyones liking, if not speak up! Email me or leave a comment.
Page 4 has been added to issue 04 of Antares Complex! We dive into Neige's past a bit finding out a bit of her life before being a mercenary.
Lots of updates today, took me a while and thanks to some folks at the webcomiclist.com I got some decent feedback and help. Antares Complex site has been updated with new features.
-As stated last update there's a new fancy comic viewer as well that I'd like opinions on, it's supposed to work on ipad and such. But I don't have any iAnything products so someone will have to let me know.
-If you see anything wrong, please don't hesitate to email.
-Feel free to leave a comment on the HTML comic viewer page! I am testing this and hey if you want to speak up, like the page, think I snuck a really cheesy joke in (I have), or just want to let everyone know what you think of the latest pag, go for it!
This is all on the Antares Complex website, not Gx3R just to keep that clear.
Page 03 of Antares Complex issue 04 has been uploaded! Neige does some horrible things to Louis involving a sword and large rocks.
Major site updates to Antares Complex including a new comic viewer and a comment box that I'm testing out. Please let me know what you think via email or twitter, whatever you feel like telling me on.
Page 02 of Antares Complex issue 04 has been uploaded! Neige continues her counter attack!
Issue 04 of Antares Complex has started today! Finally got the issue started after a short hiatus, I hope those of you reading are enjoying it.
New Antares Complex wallpaper added to the Media section:
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Issue 04 will start soon for Antares Complex so keep an eye out for that.
Also, I can't seem to get enough of old RPG songs lately, specifically the damned song from Shining the Holy Ark. If it sounds familiar to you, but you've never played it, it's probably a very simple reason. Have you played Golden Sun? Well it's made by the same people, even the same music composer, had Sega and Camelot not split, the game would have been called Shining the Holy Sun or something I'd wager:
You've encountered a group of monsters!
Extra update: Moved off godaddys shitty service to a better host. Took hours but at least I can say thank you to the siteground customer service person for helping me get away from Godaddy.
Dear Godaddy:
Fuck you and you're awful service and your support of SOPA, pulling out because you're losing customers doesn't really change your stance on it now does it?
Some art added to the art section, some fanart, a request or two and some silly stuff check it!
The final pages 21 and 22 have been added to Issue 03 of Antares Complex, Neige isn't fairing too well and may need some back up.
Issue 03 is done, now what you ask? Now, like issue 02 I will take a month hiatus to finalize the issue I'm working on now. That's not to say it takes a month to make an issue (it takes much much longer), it just gives me time to work on the comic and catch up. For updates check out the Twitter, Facebook or Deviantartaccounts for updates as well as Gx3R.com.
Help support Antares Complex!
If you want to help support the comic, please donate! The money goes strictly to paying for webhosting, art supplies and maybe an energy drink to keep me working on the comic!
The Reaper invasion has slowed my updates a bit on the comic, I'll apologize. It's hard to save the galaxy and create a galaxy of my own! If that didn't make any sense to you, I'm playing Mass Effect 3 when I get spare time because if you haven't read my deviant art journal, things are a bit rough here.
But, depressing personal problems are not for this site, fun stuff is.
Page 20 has been added to Antares Complex, issue 03, Neige has easily defeated Louis and taken his pretty little sw-wait what now?!
Big news the next page of Antares Complex is up and it may infact be the 50th page in the series! Very exciting at least for me, 50 pages so far and 3 issues and there's more to come! I hope you reading are enjoying the series so far, it's been exciting for me to say the least.
Neige gets tired of hearing preaching and uses liberal use of some 10mm love. Antares Complex page 18 is up, go check that out!
New art in the art section, if you like Phantasy Star, I did some fan art of that so see that here!
Antares Complex page 17 is up, go check that out!
Don't forget to check out Gx3R's Deviantart if you'd like to see art and such. And the Facebook and Twitter if you want to be alerted to updates.
New Antares Complex pages have been uploaded, page 15 and 16 are up, go check that out!
Don't forget to check out Gx3R's Deviantart if you'd like to see art and such.
Hello everyone new page for Antares Complex has been uploaded, page 14 is up, go check that out!
Many other updates on the Antares Complex site as well, all technical so expect to see faster pages in the HTML viewer.
So apparently SOPA has been defeated for the second time, but this time potentially for good. Co-founders backing out, companies running from it. Seems like they didnt' count on their little bullshit plot to get around and get so many people pissed off. I wasn't pissed, but I was sure angry! Because seriously fuck censorship, fuck it in it's nose. But RIGHT on to the updates!
Antares Complex has been updated, page 13 has been added, go check that out.
You may have noticed a censor bar on the site and you also may know I hate cenorship, well the internet is actually at risk of being censored by big companies. Please take a minute and help stop big businesses from ruining OUR internet by going here: http://americancensorship.org
This is a big deal and it's being voted on by the 24th of January, if you like the internet the way it is fill out the email on the bottom of their page and tell the government you don't want the net censored! This is important, so take the 5 seconds it takes to fill it out
Interesting week, I'll be sure to make a note in the journal however more of the regular: page 12 of issue 3 for Antares Complex has been added! Maybe 'jumps into action' wasn't an accurate term as she seems to have stomped into action seems to be more close to what she did.
Also, Gx3R is now on Tumblr so you can check us out... HERE
And more art in the art section so go check that out too.
Happy New Year and happy late birfday to the idiot typing this! Hope you had a decent New Years with no hangovers from booze.
The first new comic page of 2012: page 11 of issue 3 for Antares Complex has been added! Neige says something really cheesy and jumps into action.
Page 10 of issue 3 for Antares Complex has been added! Neige's grenade stopped by an innocent...
New pic in the art section Neige in a new art style, check it out!
Edit: Another new pic in the art section fanart of the legendary Windsquid from Classic Game Room.
Gx3R is off for the christmas break, lots of things to do, regular updates to continue Janurary 1st.
Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate!
Page 09 of issue 3 for Antares Complex has been added! The Aeonis Knight makes his own cover...
New art has been added to the art section, as well as a new wallpaper in the fan section if you're into that whole Banana Pie Lord + Minecraft thing. I preferred the earlier stuff where he'd literally scream in terror at a skeleton peering in but you know that's what counts ...I think.
Hey there everyone not reading this! A shocking surprise as I was going over some files that Gx3R has officially been live for 6 years! Happy Birthday you oddly named comic website you! Nearly a full month away from my own 26th birthday to boot.
Thanks to all who’ve helped keep this silly ass site going, it’s certainly grown a lot in just the year that it was launched with a new comic series (Antares Complex) an animation (Poop Adventure) , more P1Z comics, new artwork and more to come yet!
I wanted to thank my good friend “Zenny” for his writing skills, voice acting talents and generally being crazy cool. He certainly helped keep Antares Complex a bit more story driven than I would have been able to manage. My friend Gundam for helping with ideas in Antares Complex and his numerous donations to my steam account, I also wanted to blame you for lack of me doing art and instead running people over in Saints Row: The Third! Don’t you know I have no self control with my blood lust?!
Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day, and if you don't celebrate you should start it just requires you to eat a lot and be with friends, what more could you want?
Page 8 of issue 3 of Antares Complex has been added check it out!
Minor updates to the art section have been done to fix broken code. A reminder: if you find any broken links please let me know via email.
Happy Turkeyday everyone from Gx3R Comics!
Latest page for Antares Complex has been added. Neige takes aim on her target check it out!
Early update for Antares Complex, I mean it's 11/11/11 how often does that happen? Stupid I know but why complain, early update! The next page to issue 3 has been added, check it out!
And if you haven't read it already check out the new P1Z Comic here! It involves insurance, when isn't that exciting?
BIG DAY EVERYONE, Gx3R's new!! ...And only animation Poop Adventure is now up on Newgrounds.com so click here to check it out! It's the first real animation so you better check it out!
Finally what no one was waiting for, a new P1Z Comic!!! Player 1 and Zenny take on insurance this week, and it goes really well. Or not. Click to check it out here!
Happy early Halloween everyone! ...Comic pages go up saturdays so that's when I post these updates so take your early Halloween treat!
That's right you get a treat from Gx3R, the 5th page of issue 03 of Antares Complex! Now get off our lawn and don't egg the building! Don't forget you can view the comic in HTML here. Or here for Flash
Because I talk too much I decided to added a journal backlog.
Hurricane Sandy:
So Hurricane Sandy has passed as well as another storm but we'll get ot that later. So Sandy hit and took out our power in the middle of the latest The Walking Dead episode and remained down till the next evening. Which to be honest wasn't that long a time, and we didn't really have any damage to speak of here. However there was a lot of damge over the island and some were withoout power for up to 10+ days so not everyone was as fortunate, infact some peoples houses came off the foundation and floated into a street I hear. (Not near me)
The damage around my neighborhood was quite interesting, many trees apparently had the roots cut on the sidewalk side, which made it easy for a storm to blow them over and rip up half the lawn. Heck I saw half of one guys front lawn entirely lifted by tree roots from a tree that was knocked over...onto his house.
With the power out this brought other numerous problems, local places had no means of keeping food cold and gas pumps need power to operate as well. This left us with people zerg-rushing the pumps bleeding them dry rather quickly. So there's also a gas shortage, even now 11 days after the event it's a bit hard to get fuel for your car. And food places were swarmed too, so if you felt like grabbing some fast food you'd be waiting on a line that extended around the place and down the next block or so.
At the time of writing it has just snowed, and that's not very common for us in November, it was quite dense snow that ALSO snapped branches and actually dragged power/phone lines down to the point where you can smack with your snow shovel.
Anyway, point being it's been quite intersting lately. If you'd like to see some pics of the disaster have a gander at the end of the journal!
Comic stuff:
There's been a number of things sort of preventing me from working on Antares Complex easily, none of which I care to go into beyond a rough summary: Family visit, technical problems, windows 8 upgrade, hurricane, etc.
I'm just glad to have issue 5 started even if it's a tad late, but such is life and I'm honestly just thankful to have my home intact. Issue 05 is a bit shorter than the previous issues, I had thought of connecting it to issue 04 via parts or whatever but I didn't think it'd make a difference.
I've been spending more time doing some random sketches trying to improve my art and maybe have some more solid designs with the aliens and what not.
Well I'm sure not many (anyone) is reading this but I would like to get it out there that my heart goes out to those who've had no power for this entire time and now a storm on top of that, even more so to those who're flooded out or had their homes burnt down! It's been crazy for the east coast, maybe next journal I'll have something less depressing and more positive.
Catch you guys later
Comic babble:
Issue 04 of Antares Complex has been completed, which is really exciting for me. Four full issues have been put up and it's only getting started, there's just so much going on in my head about this I'm spinning in my chair. I have a lot of plans and concept art going on and I'm hoping to get the next issue up before november 15th.
Diablo 3 & Torchlight 2
In the gaming world I played and beat Diablo 3 with friends and it was a pretty good romp despite having the worst of the worst DRM: always online DRM. Something I would have never got myself however my good friend Zenny bought it for me because he wanted someone to play with and beat it we did, then his account was hacked and blizzard reset him back 10 levels and we never played again.
However a recent game has taken me by surprise, a little $20 game on steam swooped in and took us by suprise; Torchlight 2. The first one was pretty darn good don't get me wrong but the new one is amazing, it's so fun with friends and it's far better than Diablo 3. This MAY have something to do with being created by the original Diablo 1 & 2 team.
Short list why I think Torchlight 2 is better than Diablo 3:
In short, if you like Diablo 2, Titans Quest or whatever, grab the game.
The end.
Either way I need to get back to doing art and work so I'm going to do that. Thanks for reading, seeya!
Today in the world of video games and reviews I'm often stumped and confused why people seem to have lost a middle ground. Back when the internet was less big games could be anything from great, good, pretty fun, meh waste of money to awful. Currently games are either amazing or bad, a 7 is terrible and an 8 is passible 9 is awesome and 10 is the game reviewer being bought out.
I always see people on sites like the Escapist complain and whine that a game didn't meet their expectations, a lot of the topics downright are nitpicking that ultimately are tiny flaws in a game that instantly make it bad. What happened to the middle ground? Why can't a game be pretty good or decent rather than good or bad? Everyone seems to be super critical over games when these flaws ultimately still leave a really fun game.
Let's go with Mass Effect 3 as an example, so many people said the game was ruined by the abysmal ending that had most of the internet crying for the writers blood, so I was expecting at some point the game to go down hill fast while playing this (Mind you yes I played 1-3).
SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T BEATEN MASS EFFECT 3.
So I get to it, the final hour of the game and it's been nothing but amazing so far, better in almost every way than the previous 2 games. And despite expecting Shepard to die or some other 'bad end' for our hero, I didn't exactly see the entirety of the ending coming.
So I made my choice and got the big blue explosion that the internet raged so hard at and the ending with plotholes and such but you know what? The ending was average, I was so blown away that this is what people were saying made Mass Effect 3 a shitty game. I just don't see how the end 30 minutes can ruin an entire game of 20-50 hours. Was the ending good? No it was average at best and had plot holes, there's FAR WORSE endings.
END SPOILERS
Look at any game from the PS2 era and back where beating a game could just land you a text scroll explaining what happened after or just flat out "THANKS FOR PLAYING" and you get dumped back to the title screen.
My point is not to say like a game you don't like or like bad games but, why do so many people seem to have dropped the middle ground in their scale? A game is either amazing or awful and I just don't undersatnd.
Why does a game need the best of the best to be worth playing? Earth Defense Force 2017 was one of the most fun games I've ever played and this is a game rated at a 5/10 by reviewers and game stop clerks saying "stay away, get [SHOOTER NAME HERE]. After seeing 2 vids I decided to give EDF2017 a chance and it was great despite flaws, it was fun, and what other game can you do what you do in EDF-2017?? Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon that's what!
Yes I get games are subjective and no I'm not telling you to enjoy games you don't like or bad games or that your opinion is wrong, what I am saying is I wished people had a little middle-ground and stop letting 1 dumb thing make a game bad to them. Because there's so many good games that get called bad because they're not this AAA title of the Gods.
But on a serious note; if you haven't heard of or played Earth Defense Force:2017 or Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon you are crazy. There's no other game where you get to fight giant bugs/robots/space ships/robot bugs. Play it, if you have a friend play it co-op split screen.
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| EDF 2017 | EDF Insect Armageddon | EDF Insect Armageddon | EDF 2017 |
I've never felt so depressed in my entire life. Great way to start off the journal eh? Well shit has really gotten sad around here, we spend the day talking about my mother, who suffers from a rare form of asphasia and what future plans are and what we're going to tell her brothers and sisters.
I wish I could sit here and tell you more about this illness but the little bit I know is that it's not transmittable and 'probably not' genetic. It deals with the brain and commonly langauge, however what my mom has is not just effecting her language. She can't function very well on any level, she can't read, she can't get more than 2 words out, she's confused and scared. It snuck up on us, I noticed something was wrong and I tried to tell my father but, I don't think he wanted to believe it. Eventually he took her to the doctors and they ran her through a very vast array of tests and after months we found out what it was...
I recently this year found out it's not only incurable, progressive but also there's no helping what was wrong with her. My brother and I figured maybe we could reteach her how to speak, people who have suffered brain damage have recovered to some degree but then my brother had a chat with the doctor and helaid the worst thing on us. Not only is it impossible to reteach her, but it's progressive, turns out her synapsis are failing and just shutting down. There are no stages, there are no warnings, and there's no timetable. She could pass 5 years from now...or tomorrow, there's just NOTHING to tell us what's going on because it's just so fucking rare.
I was devistated to say the least, I cried in my grandmas bathroom after I told her how much bullshit it was, how it shouldn't be my mom suffering with this there's people who've stolen, killed and my mom the most kind person I've ever known gets it. It's enraging, she's there, it's her, she still remembers every song as ever it seems, she hums and mumbles a few words that she can manage but she's slowly being robbed of her ability to function. Her father went much through the same thing with altzhimers till he passed away. My mother and her sister were the only ones who took care of him, I was there in the nursing home very often sometimes with my cousin Geo. That situation even as a child I thought would have prepared me for this when it happened.
Today we discussed plans for ...the future. My mom might not be around much longer and my dad under a 'considerable amount of stress' has high blood pressure and we're worried for his well being too. Or worse if he passes away from a heart problem and we are left to try and aid my mom alone. Currently I mostly watch her at home with my brother while my dad is at work, but with looming bills and the hopes that my brother and I's business will pick up is fading fast from me. I've already applied for a job and I'm terrified of leaving the house, leaving my mom alone that is.
She's nearly flooded the house twice on accident, she's broken a few things but also she's been scared, asking us to take her home, asking who that lady is (in the mirror) and it's tearing at my heart. I see her every day and every day it's a reminder of what was taken from her and us, a talented artist, a wonderful kind heart, one with great charity, a sister, a mother, my mother, and all that's left is a confused shell of a woman who I still love but have to hold back tears when I see her. I have nightmares every day, and now I'm just wondering if anything will work out...No, I'm terrified at the many things that can go wrong...especially when few things seem to go right.
I don't know who's reading this, I don't really care either. I sit here, 5:40AM on a sunday morning unable to sleep with nightmares keeping me up. I don't know what to do, I feel helpless and like everything is collapsing around me and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I wish, there was something ...something that went right. I'm not sure anyone is reading this, heck or my comics...I guess I just needed to get this out.
Apple and me never saw eye to eye, infact a lot of frustration has come from Apple fanboys approching me from nowhere to insist my device is a load of shit and I should upgrade to a real art machine. This has happened with both total strangers and co-workers mind you. I'm sure you're thinking there was something more to this like I said something or I was being rude. Unless you consider playing a game, painting, browsing the web disruptive then they had no reason to start their marketing speech.
Now I'm a person who stands by "Whatever works for you" I don't care if you prefer Sony or Nintendo, Mac or a PC, it's when someone gets annoying that I'll tell them what's what. Really it makes no sense to care when someone else (especially a stranger) uses a different device, use what you like, that's cool that you like [device]!
My point though isn't that I hate when people insist their favorite stuff is 'better' than someone elses and isn't subjective, but that's for another journal! This journal is about the what Apple is doing to the web or perhaps the users, I've seen it more and more frequent that apple iphone/pad/pod users are becoming rather vocal about websites using flash because their devices do not support it.
Now here's where I get a bit annoyed and rude; why should anyone cater to you? YOU are the one who chose to purchase a device that doesn't support something that's been around since the 90's. There's a large number of devices that do more for cheaper and are all around better, and honestly I'm glad you want to view my site really, seriously that's awesome. But if you wanted a device to view the internet in it's entirety why didn't you chose a device that does more?
Don't tell me it's the price, I looked into buying a portable device and comparitively, the ipad is far more expensive than other other devices, and just about everything besides a speak and spell does more than the ipad. (I settled on a secondhand laptop, nearly a netbook.)
It's this in your face elitism that drives me nuts, I get that there's a lot of users on the iphone/ipad but when it comes down to raw numbers desktops/laptops still outweigh the number of iphones by a factor of a thousand. And the fact still remains these users bought the device knowing flash, a application widely used on the internet (including things you don't know about like Gmail) is not supported. A lot of websites just don't have the means or the care to cater to someone who decided to buy a product that is known to not support flash because it would disrupt their application sales. You might as well have bought a Cybiko as it probably would surf the web better than one of these devices.
Again, I am not bashing anyone who uses these devices what I'm stating is you shouldn't give someone trouble because the site doesn't cater to your choice in devices, or perhaps asking is; why do users of the iPad/Pod/Phone feel it's okay for them to purchace a device they know doesn't do it all in terms of web surfing, but then turn around and complain their device doesn't support a site...to the site owner and not Apple. It's not the websites webmaster that's at fault it's apple and really you for buying something like that.
This is like living in a city for years, then deciding one year to buy a bike and getting upset that you never noticed there's no bike lanes despite living there for years and knowing this.
Extra bit: The ipod/pad/phone is a fantastic device with a lot of potential and a lot of use, but the weak statements by them that 'flash is too buggy to let on our device' simply does not stand more than a weak excuse to not support flash because most of the 'apps' on itunes are nothing more than flashgames you can find on newgrounds for free. And to support flash would certainly hurt their money making, and I understand that making money is the ulitmate goal of a business.
But when your competition (laptops/netbooks/android) all support said format and you don't it really makes you look restrictive, dated, and well greedy.
Seriously I had an ipod touch 4 for a while it was a lot of fun (jailbroken) but it was really hard to view much of the internet when they simply refuse to support a basic thing such as Flash which is intergrated into many websites sometimes in the backend that you don't know about. The thing that made me get rid of it in the end was it's restrictive nature (I had to format my ipod to use it, literally out of nowhere so I lost a lot of files that I stored on it).
Well whatever that's my thoughts on apples devices, and the problems with that they started with the internet as a whole.
This week has been fairly random with things happening but I'm going to stick to the actual interesting stuff.
Today I decided to clean out the ol' room and see if I could maybe make some decent closet space, well I got to some old sketchbooks and a pile of old drawings from High School and even some middleschool drawings, imagine that. Also they're horribly, horribly bad.
Back then I think I had the same mentality I see a lot of artist do early on, you change 3 things about some character you like, maybe mix some other characters in and it's original! Or No it's Goku with a katana you idiot! I'd kick myself if I could go back in time seriously, I mean this stuff is just copying and I guess that's fair enough except I think I still did it into highschool to a lesser degree granted but it still bothers me.
Either way I decided to scan a lot of it since it was either beat up or getting smudged, I think I'm going to do one of those silly comparison memes where you compare your work till you get to the present and I'll show off how I've gone from shit to less shit.
I'm sure you're thinking "But Mike doesn't that make you feel like that you've gotten better!" or "Keep it as insperational material!" but seeing this just makes me feel like an idiot for ripping things off back then haha.
But in all seriousness going through it made me laugh a whole lot because of just what I thought was okay I'm sure Zenny is going to flip when he sees it himself.
It’s been 6 years since Gx3R was launched, I couldn’t believe it. I was looking over the FAQ section of Gx3R (that’s right, there is one for some reason) and I saw the date and I was stunned. To all those not reading this is the journal where I tell what happened with Gx3R Comics.
The whole thing started back before I was a senior in 2003, I was already into art but I was really getting into computers and making graphics and sites; I found we were required to do a senior project when we got there. To this day I’m still not sure what exactly the purpose this project was, the heads of the senior project had said basically to get a better understanding of the world outside of high school in the job world. So internships, creating something with your hands and some were doing computer stuff, so that all made sense, but I’ll get to why it quickly stopped making sense in a moment.
Third time I’m rewriting this section, man I’m terrible at this! Short story is they denied me because it was a career I had interest in pursuing already, they wanted me to look into ‘alternate options’ and they turned down my appeals and I wound up interning at a gymnastic place. So they cheated me, so I neglected to mention I was the gymnastic centers webmaster and the owner and I were friends, so he had no problem signing my intern papers and the time sheets.
However because of their bizarr-o logic I instead made Gx3R content with my good friend “Zenny” and I think we’re far better for it. We made stuff we wanted that wasn’t censored and stuff we thought others would enjoy. I feel I can say that both “Zenny” and I are proud of the content we put up here, whether it be comedy or serious we try our best.
So, it’s been 6 years of Gx3R with my good friend “Zenny”, I’d like to take this small wall of text to say thanks man. The stuff you’ve helped with made the stuff we created great, or at least offensive enough where only a few think it’s great. Thanks “Zenny” I couldn’t have done this without you, you’ve helped in a lot of ways that I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to communicate and yeah, thanks man. Also my brother Brian/Insomnia, thank you for what you’ve done. You say you know little on what makes a good comic but I’d burn to death from combusting pants if I didn’t say you didn’t help. You do help, you make things make sense and pull them together and with you and Zenny I’m sure Gx3R wouldn’t be nearly as good.
My mom has an illness that has disabled her. She's gone from talented artist who's both cheerful and charismatic to barely able to talk more than 2 words and can't even tie her own shoes. She has some form of progressive asphasia (spelled that wrong) and it's been absolutely horrible and painful to watch her degrade more and more. It snuck up on us to be honest, she was always a bit of a clutz so we didn't really see the problem till it's too late.
I wasn't aware till recently, that her condition actually was progressive. I'm not sure it was the harshness of the reality of what was happening but I didn't really notice it any worse than when it had really set in, it was only till I read the doctors report that I understood I guess. It's getting worse, and I write this with tears in my eyes and my heart aching, I'm scared, I know the end result and there IS no stopping that. This illness is just too unknown to really predict what's going to happen next or when.
When I was a child I'd go with my mother and sometimes her sister and my cousin to the Smithtown Nursing home, greeted by white walls and smiles of nurses was just the mask that was beyond the keycard locked door we needed a guard to get into. In this wing were many variations of mentally unstable people and even as a dumb kid I knew things were not okay here. The nurses wore fake smiles and did their best to make things happy but nothing makes it any less painful to see your grandfather a once proud man and a fire fighter sit there helplessly losing his mind to Alzhimers.
I barely knew him as the man he was, but I did see much of him through his letters and photos. He had 7 children, 2 daughters and 5 brothers, it was a crazy house, it was the Poore house, and he, Charles "Pop" Poore was the father of thes crazy kids. And this fireman who risked his life, raised and loved his family slowly over many years lost his memories, abilities and skills. I have a great memory, almost a curse when memories emerge painfully of the nursing home he was put in. I remember early on we'd visit and he'd smile, mom and her sister would talk and they'd hang with him for a few hours and he'd smile, I can't imagine what he was thinking in a stage so late into it, but he was smiling and was happy I guess. Though as time passed the smiles never returned, he was just a shell, and though I didn't fully understand what then was wrong, I'm now basically reliving it with my mother. I'm so angry and scared at what's happening to her...
It's the nursing home all over again, but there's no nurses, her sister visits but it's not the same as back then. She has no one to talk to and make her happy, she tries her best and dammit I do everything I can to make her feel safe and happy. But the pain in my heart and the tears in my eyes right now at what this condition has done to her. All I want is her to be happy. But she's floating down the river next to my grandfathers, it's a different river but the results are all too similar...
If I didn't have my father and especially my brother around me, I really have no idea what I'd do. My brother Brian just keeps pushing, I can tell he's tired and he too just wants things to work out for once and he and I push on to see our goal through. My father, a stubborn protective man clearly hurt by watching his wife slip away in pieces, I can't even imagine the agony he is going through. We try and ease the burden but there's just no easing the weight of a loved one being lost this way.
This site, the comics I make are my escape, what keep me sane...I created this to make me happy firstly but to make others happy. I want readers to come here and see funny P1Z comics or see another universe with crazy shit going on. I just want to see people happy, even typing this bothers me to some extent because I don't like to make my problems go on other people. And don't think for a second I mean my mother is a problem, her condition has ruined her life and all I can do is be there, helpless and just try and make her life less awful.
Honestly I don't even know what I'm typing anymore, today (Halloween at time of typing) has just been abysmal. I saw things that twisted my heart and heard things that fill my eyes with tears. I guess I had to get it out, the only reason I'm typing this and posting is because...I don't know, maybe I hope that some day I can look back at this or that someone reading this knows what I'm talking about and knows that they're not alone I guess.
Either way, I guess at somepoint I have to stop typing and dwelling on this shitty day. Life flows on like a river, fighting it only makes you weaker, go with the flow and make things right is the best you can do.
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Possibly the last great Final Fantasy ever made, a game basically left unknown due to the amazing success of Final Fantasy VII that was left to 'die in obscurity'. However due to ports to the PSP and iOS this game is finally becoming more and more known, however it's in the wrong fucking way. Let me explain; Final Fantasy Tactics is a turn based strategy game released on the Sony Playstation back in 1997/1998 and more recently to the PSP as "War of the Lions" in 2007 and the iOS in 2011. This new title came with some extras, a touched up script, new videos and multiplayer. It sounds great but why do I would I call it shit then? |
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That being said to the point I wanted to get to, people have been playing Tactics "War of The Lions" a PSP/iOS port of the PSOne classic with some added extras such as new classes, characters, new movies, a touched up script(less engrish more Shakespearian talk), widescreen, multiplayer and more. That sounds absolutely amazing... however it's not. The problem with the port of this game is it's bogged down with awful slowdown that happens on every attack in the game. EVERY attack, with skills ranging from 2-12 seconds and this being a turn based game, you're looking at doubling or tripling the time to beat a already lengthy battle. The slowdown is very noticeable and really makes the battles almost tedious with the length of time you have to sit through in the game. In fact on the later iOS platforms the slowdown is replaced by an unstable frame rate. To rub it in more the music has been 'damaged' with midis that were supposed to fade out now just droning on before being cut off. My problem is many people are experiencing this game through this shitty port. Really there's no excuse for such a poor quality port. They put the original F.F.T. on PSP via the PSN and it runs perfectly, but the port War of The Lions just doesn't run right which to be honest makes all the extras worthless. Some argue the extras and portability make up for the technical issues. Bullshit, they ported the original PSOne title and it runs the same as it did on the PSOne. The added classes are difficult to get and aren't worth it, the new characters added in aren't worth it either since you get them late in the game and add nothing to the story, and multiplayer? Waste of time. The fixed script really wasn't needed and the new movies while they are VERY nicely done, they don't add a thing to the story, they're just movies of what happened in the original title. There's some extra battles that were added as well but again, they add nothing to the overall story. The reason I decided to write this was because I have known a few people who liked the title and seen many reviews give War of the Lions a great score. Truth is they either never played the original or it had been a while. After a short showing, they quickly realized how much it was butchered. Honestly I figure play what you want, but just know that there's a better version. Square Enix has forgotten what makes a great game great, they forget the gameplay and depth of story and try to make up for it with polished visuals/videos. Which is sad considering how great their earlier titles were. The only thing I can add to this review to make it more upsetting is that Final Fantasy Tactics was apparently supposed to be part of a trilogy with the first one being subtitled "The Zodiac Brave Story". However due to whatever reason these added titles never were never made. And if you think the Advance titles are the next games? You're mental they have nothing to do with FFTs story and even less to do with it game wise. Summery: Final Fantasy Tactics is a GREAT game, however the port "War of the Lions" was very poorly done with unneeded additions with butchered gameplay. If you wanted to experience Final Fantasy Tactics PROPERLY you can find the original Playstation version on the PSN in the "PSOne Classics" section and it runs amazing. This game is absolutely worth playing, I can't recommend it enough, just avoid the War of the Lions port at all costs. Extra bit: There are two more entries under the "Tactics" series, one for the Gameboy Advance and the other for the NDS. However these games have about as much to do with Tactics as a turd has to do with a bar of gold. Their stories have nothing to do with the series and with the added 'judge system' it just makes battles annoying because of fake challenge.
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Thank you 2secondopinion / TheTokenRupee for Dead Rising 2: Off the Record you can find his youtube link here or his writing site here: The Pen vs the Sword. A bad day turned fun with future zombie head smashing? Thank you very much.
Thank you Gudam for gifting me Deus Ex: Human Revolution via steam. I've been looking forward to playing this game and..."I didn't ask for this!"
4/18/2012
A steam sale has appeared! And apparently a wild donator, thank you Gundam for Kingdom of Amalur!
1/5/2012
Very generous gift from JP who has decided to go the whole hog and send a physical copy of Battlefield 3 for my birthday. You're too kind for your own good JP, then again that's why you're trying to be a doctor I guess. Just make sure not to leave a kniife in someone, and thank you very much man, I'll see you on the battlefield!
12/31/2011-After Xmas
After a generous christmas I have to thank a few people for both christmas gifts and early birthday presents, and they're kind of donations right? Whatever you'd call it!
-Geo thanks for donating RAGE via steam.
-"Gundam" thank you for Renegade Ops+the DLC.
-"Doughboy" thank you for Fallout New Vegas DLC and Hard Reset.
-Clancy thank you for Just Cause 2
I hope you enjoy the gifts back my friends.
11/12/2011
Another donation from "Gundam" thank you for donating Saints Row the Third preorder via steam. I'll back over as many people as possible for you.
9/23/2011
Thanks "Clancy" for donating Sonic Adventure DX via steam. I'd say you're a kind person but you're probably just trying to keep me from work. That's evil, I looked it up.
9/19/2011
Thank you "Gundam" for donating Serious Sam 3:BFE preorder via steam! I'll kill many monsters/aliens/etc for you when it comes out.
6/26/2011
Thanks George Rottkamp for the Antares Complex fan art
check out his deviantart gallery for more awesome artwork!3/21/2011
"JP" Thank you for donating Portal 2 via steam! Good luck in med-school you awesome jerk!
3/08/2011
Thanks "Zenny" for donating 50 dollars! Does it count when it's a member of Gx3R giving cash to another for good luck? Sure it does.
