big giant circles

So hot on the tail of the OUYA, here's what looks like it's going to be another powerhouse kickstarter for a gaming system. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game Depending on how my extra funds are looking later this month, I might buy into this. I mean, based on the powerhouse endorsements (Mark Bolas - USC's MxR lab, John Carmack - Zenimax Media, Cliff Bleszinski - Epic Games, David Helgason - Unity, Gabe Newell & Michael Abrash - Valve, etc) they're getting in that video, they must have something pretty solid at this point. Thoughts?

cumpleaños brosinski!

That does end pretty abruptly doesn't it? I guess RAGE is on par with that. Except at least you got a proper end boss fight in Sudeki.

I mean, to call it an ending doesn't even feel right. It's more like "the place where the game just sort of stops unexpectedly."

Yes. Try this site - https://www.songclearance.com/

^^ pretty much this

RAGE is great. Looks amazing, and fantastic animations. But holy dang did they run out of money. It's the most unsatisfying ending I have ever experienced in any game EVER. You've been warned. So just enjoy the gameplay while it lasts.

All together I bought: World of Goo Tobe's Vertical Adventure CoD: MW3 Rayman Originals Solar 2 Indie Bundle 2 Terraria 4 pack BOI Wrath of the Lamb Tomb Raider Anniv Alan Wake Alan Wake DLC Vessel Skyrim RF: Guerrilla Dear Esther + OST CoD: Black Ops UT3 gift Torchlight gift Just Cause 2 gift UT3 gift NFS: Hot Pursuit DA:O Ultimate Thief Bundle Krater Collector Ed Beyond Good & Evil Nexuiz 4 pack Civ IV F3AR Crysis 2 RO2 Driver: SF Garry's Mod I went a little nuts.

Finally Crysis 2 for $12 yesterday (ends today). Glad I waited. That thing is still $40 (plus tax!) on Origin.

Once the license has gone through, no, because that would essentially be them giving you legal permission to use their IP and then taking action against you anyway.

crap. too late. Oh well, I've spent $2.50 in worse ways I guess.

Aaaaaand, Beyond Good & Evil for $2.50 on a Flash deal. Someone help me, for I cannot stop myself.

Sure, that's understandable, but only to a degree. As long as the composer is competently producing quality music, the pay should still be reasonably competitive. And to clarify for those reading this, I don't mean that all aspiring composers should ask for $1500/minute for their music. I'm just saying learn when to say no when the wage just isn't respectable whether you're brand new, or a 30-year industry veteran. That's my beef with this and so many other industries lately. People pay for names over quality/output. If someone can write top-notch music, they deserve decent pay at the very least. And it's sad to me that so many young composers accept such awful rates because they're either afraid to ask for more, or else they don't know better.

Why is it "dumb stuff"? Feel free to elaborate on your appraisal of licensing something that does not belong to you so you can profit from it.

I personally think a huge problem a lot of aspiring composers face is knowing when to decline a project. Or rather, when it's more beneficial to give a fair quote and have it turned down rather than selling yourself short. If a company asked me to write 5 tracks @ 1 minute for a flat $200, the bottom line is that if they want to own that music, my answer is a polite yet firm "Thanks, but no, that's not even close to a reasonable compromise for standard industry rates." And then I would ask questions and make a counter-offer. For example, find out why they would be opposed to licensing new or existing music. I totally understand that when somebody has maybe only a few $$ in their bank account, that writing 5 songs for even a low amount of money seems to make more sense than saying "No, sorry, I'm worth more than that," and risking losing the gig. But honestly, the road to better success is not always paved with screwing yourself over despite what you might think. More often than not, the road to success is paved with hard work, competence, skill, professionalism, and confidence. And networking AKA communication. Like Andy said. When a company offers you peanuts for unreasonable working terms, ask them questions and work for a suitable compromise. Find out why they feel the need to own the music as opposed to license it. They feel their time is valuable, it's only fair for them to acknowledge that yours is too. If a company cannot realize that their payment is not even covering your expenses or the time it takes you to write the music for a reasonable wage, then the bottom line is they're not worth working for. They're not just going to accept your work for next to nothing and then next time offer you 10x more money like they should have paid you to begin with. Anyway, I realize this is a bit of a tangent from the OP, but it's worth bringing up.

1) link fail Mr. www.www.toomanywwws.com 2) balls man, I thought I had a lot of games. 374 games @ $4600+? I feel better about my spending habits now. :]

Does anyone happen to remember that website that checks your steam games library and says what it's worth had you paid full price? I'm morbidly curious to see what I would have racked up by now. I think I need an intervention. So far I think I've bought maybe like 20 games that I know I won't have time to play before the next big Steam sale. And no, I haven't bought any bundles. I'm talking about singular games/franchises.

There's a panel for that? WTFF. How in any way does that pertain to comics or even sci-fi? I don't want to live in this world anymore.

Great article, thanks for sharing. Really puts stuff into perspective. I'd love if they spread conventions out across multiple locations rather than have a huge annual mega-convention.

I'm not certain I like this line of thinking at all. What about non VGM remixes? What about in cases where a remix is widely praised as better than an original? What about people who draw their income solely off their music? You're saying that even if they obtain proper licensing (which costs them their own money in addition to the time they spend working) that you won't support them if the work is not 100% original? Tribute or no, if an artist has obtained proper licensing, and they feel compelled to sell their music, they have earned that right. Your choosing whether to buy the music or not should be based on the quality of the music and the impact it has on your life, especially if they are abiding by any and all legal prerequisites. Selling art for money does not dilute the quality of the art.

Well,you're still using someone else's IP to get that money, even if you don't require anything for it. So technically, I think someone could issue a C&D for that I believe.

I've never heard of this game - http://store.steampowered.com/app/108500/ but I snagged it anyway, b/c it looks interesting and more importantly it's got a soundtrack by Jon Hopkins. If you don't know who that is, he did the awesome music for the movie Monsters. It's on the flash sale for the next hour or two for $3.74 and based on the wikipedia article about the music integration, I'd say that's enough to convince me. (Plus it's got an 81 metascore, which is decent)

Well I finally broke down and grabbed Skyrim. Even though I probably won't have time to play it before the next Steam sale, which will undoubtedly offer it for at least the same deal if not less by then. What can I say? Steam knows how to make me throw my money at them. *shrug*

Double post. Too lazy to edit. Sorry. Anyway, I uh, don't remember having any issues at all with BL. *shrug*

Typically, voice actors are paid a flat rate regardless of sales, so I'm about 99% certain that buying the game doesn't actually support him at all.