Episode 36: Dash Files International

Check out episode 36 - Dash Files International on our site or iTunes.  Listen as we discuss lost glasses, Mass Effect 3, the Walking Dead season finale, Prometheus, and being unworthy of Ray Allen.  Spread the word.

The Mind of Swerve 2: Swerving Harder Vol. 2- Feb. '06

You know you love it.

Well, we meet again. In an effort to make my Swerve personality more transparent, I will continue to pretend that this blog is my therapist. My first post about Swerve was just an appetizer; a snack for those who were hungry, but a warning for those scared to dive deeper. This post features more explanations as to why I wrote what I did, and what the metaphors mean. Again, this Swerve piece was written in stream-of-consciousness fashion. To be honest, it was never actually "finished." Luckily for you guys and gals, I can actually remember what most of it means.  As I dig through the rubble of my mind to uncover the gems, I hope that your voyeuristic urges are satisfied.

The Inherent Art of Game Mechanics

thatgamecompany's Journey

It seems every year there are one or two games come out that the gaming community surrounds and proclaims, “See, games can be art.” thatgamecompany's Journey looks to be 2012's “See, games are art” game. So every year along with the adoration comes a backlash of people who argue games are not art or that games are inherently unable to be art. Roger Ebert infamously proclaimed “Video games can never be art" and still to this day probably gets more e-mails about that article then junk mail about home loans and penis enhancers- combined. Countless people have refuted Ebert's arguments so I won't rehash that here.

After the jump: A beardstrokingly long article containing my opinion on the art game debate (in short, yes they can be) the artistic merit of dead sharks, Mario's best mechanic and some Metal Gear Solid 4 spoilers, (which if you haven't played it yet, either shame on you)

Nintendo 3DS

My relationship with Nintendo’s handhelds has always been a rocky one for me. From broken parts to greedy hands I have had three Nintendo handhelds (Gameboy, Gameboy advance, and a DS) break beyond functioning properly and had two Nintendo DS stolen from me. Now, I find myself yet again with a portable Nintendo product and can’t help but wonder what fun times and heartbreaks await my new Nintendo 3DS future. My experience so far has been a pleasant one so I decided to give a little write up on some of the good and bad that Nintendo’s latest addition to the handheld world holds. Following the jump will be an analyze of the 3DS itself as well as four games that I recommend for those looking to expand thier 3DS library. 

The Mind of Swerve: Personality Switch '05

I don't miss the dreads.

Several people have been asking, "When is Swerve gonna drop something new?" "When is the next live show?" "Please Swerve, can I have your babies?" Well, all of these questions have been stirring in my brain for a few months now. While I cannot say when my next live show will be, I can announce here that Swerve has begun production on his new album. In the meantime, I want to become more transparent with the work that I do. So, over the course of this year, I want to bring you into my mind. Yes, it is true that everyone will not make it out alive.

The Banner

Edit: So it seems that a portrait banner throws off the layout of the website so we're going back to last months til I can iron things out.
Sorry I'm a bit late with the banner.  I've been busy studying Radiohead live setlist like Dead Sea Scrolls trying to divine the future.

In the pantheon of Dungeons and Dragons monsters, the illithid, or mind flayer, don't get the reverence among non-20-sided-dice-slingers they deserve.  In the game Mind flayers spit acid in your face and cast some of the nastiest spells around including the infamous Mind Blast,  an attack whose side effects may include; dry mouth, vomiting, uncontrollable rage, confusion, coma, permanent insanity, shitting the bed, and/or the least worth of all -- death.  To make matters even worse, illithid feasts exclusively on the brains of sentient beings.They exist only to fuck players up.  But outside the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons, people rarely know what an illithid is, so those of you working on a young adult novel about a monster falling in love with a adolescent girl who sees past the monsterish features and falls in love -- consider the mind flayer. 

--Edward

A Tale of a Traveling Friend

One of our good friends has taken a break from the corporate world and decided to travel through Europe while he is still young. While swimming through new experiences and culture he has taken the time to show us a little love by putting our stickers up all over Europe. He has already snapped us a photo with Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower. For his latest activities he placed a few stickers up for us in Amsterdam and as an added bonus he sent a snippet out of his travel journal of his experience in Amsterdam. Before I hand this over to our first guest blog post we want to give a big shout out to Frank Ramey for showing some Dashfiles love from across the pond.