Plinx Quickie.

I haven't posted in a while, so have this:

:D

Total Perspective Vortex.

It's not often I get to say this so I'm going to make the most of it with some italics.

This post contains the entire observable universe!


Today's plink is called 'The Scale of the Universe' and it's really quite impressive. It's a sliding scale that starts with objects the size of an average person and can be adjusted all the way down to the level of quantum foam or up to the aforementioned limits of the observable universe. Obviously, there are many, many things in between and as well as the more obvious (planets, man-made structures, creatures, atomic materials) there are some more esoteric items (earth's second moon, the combined space taken up by every instance of Minecraft, etc). Brilliantly, you can also click on anything within the scale to find out more about it. Did you know, for example that the largest recorded hailstone was comparable in size to a basketball?

All these things and more can be found in The Scale Of The Universe.

Neat!

This Cross'll Make Ya: Jump Jump.

Hey, remember when I plinked the astonishing flash game Super Mario Crossover? Well, there's a sequel now, and somehow, it's several orders of magnitude more astonishing.

If you can't be bothered looking at the old post, Crossover is a game that allows you to play through the original Super Mario Bros game as a bunch of other classic characters.

It sounds simple on paper but the amount of work involved must have been staggering. Well the sequel expands on the original in every way. More characters, more abilities and most disorientatingly, more art styles. Yeah, that's right. You can reskin the game to look like any era of 2D Mario game you like.

It's beautiful madness and it'll trip you up if you're a long-time gamer. I learned that some aspects of a Mario game are completely ingrained in my consciousness and are hard to subvert. Despite being told by the game that it wouldn't work, I tried again and again to stomp on goombas while playing as a non Mario Bro.

Anyway, I strongly urge you to play this game and every so often stop to marvel at how impressive a project it is. Not while you're mid-level though, the timer will run out.

Super Mario Crossover 2!

I'm SO sorry about that post title, by the way. Really I am. It sprouted in like my mind like a weed and I felt compelled to inflict it on you.

Get What You Need.

It's Friday afternoon. Why not get yourself geared up for the weekend with a music video.

OK Go are at it again. Their videos are always worth a watch but this one really stands out due to the amount of work that must have gone into it. In a change of pace, the video is actually a live performance. In a car, hurtling through a stretch of Californian desert, with none of the band holding an instrument. Instead, the car is doing all the playing.

It's probably best if you just watch it:

Yep, they've done it again.

Have a nice weekend!

SCUMM - A Review.

Hey guys.
I'd like to welcome you to the very first Plinx Book Review.
This doesn't represent a new 'direction' for the blog. It may well even be a one-off but hopefully you'll enjoy it. Anyway, let's crack on.

So the reason for this is that my buddy Edd (who was the animator behind these previously plinked gems) has done what I think we all secretly long to do and written a book. A real, pages-and-everything book!

This would have impressed me enough but it also happens to be a great book. A good, old-fashioned detective thriller set in the world of videogames! It's like he wrote it just for me.

It's called SCUMM (if you know what the significance of this is, you should really read it as you'll delight in the cavalcade of game references contained therein) and it looks like this:

Pretty neat, huh? It's the story of a detective named Richard who is trying to uncover the mystery behind a murder. It was written as part of a yearly book-writing event called NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) which means the whole book was written in a month, one chapter a day. As a result, the story unfolds at a rollicking pace, as idea after idea comes tumbling out straight from Edd's brain onto the page (but not as messy as that sounds). The characters are whisked from a crime scene, through a fancy french bar, a mansion and a dingy alleyway to a suspiciously familiar area filled with spikes and springs which just happens to be called Springyard. There's also a marvellous chapter based on a certain cel-shaded, class-based multiplayer online FPS that somehow manages to remain thematically appropriate. It's a consistently surprising book that produces smirks on every page as some obscure game or aspect of gaming culture is referenced.

So yeah, I liked it a lot and I reckon you will too. If you think it sounds like your sort of thing, please consider getting yourself a copy. It's available HERE. Edd is charging the minimum amount he can for it as he's more interested in getting people to read it than turning a profit. In fact, buy a copy before the 19th of Feb and you can get 30% off with the discount code FEBRUARYCART305GBP.

So there we have it. The first Plinx Book Review.

Happy reading!

Intellectual Property.

Hello,
Got something to show you. It's a collection of artistic renderings of iconic places in popular tv shows. The Simpsons is in there, Arrested Development, The Sopranos and King Of The Hill too. I won't tell you too much about it as the set is accompanied by a pretty wordy explanation. Here's a small sample though:

Neat, huh? Check out the rest of the set along with the artist's commentary HERE.

Stripes & Stars.

There is no context, only...

DOPE ZEBRA!

Die, Robot.

Evening, all.
Wanna play a game? 2 games, even? Good, because that just so happens to be the content of this plinx post. What an astonishing coincidence.

These games are the two entries in a series called Crash the Robot. It's a physics puzzler that tasks you with arranging elements of a level so that the end result is the destruction of a hapless robot. Sounds mean, and it is. But it's ok, it's just a game.

The games feature balls, boxes, bombs, balloons, bounce-pads, buzzsaws and err... cannons. Generally the aim is to activate switches in the correct order to spell doom for your mechanical mate. Alarmingly, the switches in some levels seem to make him suicidal, as he'll pull out a drill, a hammer or some other device and voluntarily dismantle himself. Chilling.

Anyway, have fun!

Crash The Robot.
Crash The Robot: Explosive Edition.

*CENSORED*

Learn more HERE and see some sad examples of what the web could be if the webcomics community fell prey to this insidious law:
Dinosaur Comics.
Nedroid.
XKCD.

Midas Touch.

Cripes, it feels like forever since I plinked a game. That's what happens when I spend the whole of December posting videos.

So here is a physics puzzle platformer that looks deceptively simple but very quickly reveals itself to be infuriatingly deep. It's called Midas and in between each bite-sized level, it has a pithy statement telling part of the story of King Midas (the dude who turned everything he touched to gold, if you forgot).

Fun times, then albeit tough. Have a go:

Midas.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2012, guys. Hope you had a fun new year experience.

As is customary, I'm going to kick off the year with some pictures of new year festivities around the globe.

First, here's an astonishing picture from right here in our own capital city.

Pretty sweet, eh? Looks like a scene from V for Vendetta.

Bizarrely, in Georgia they have Santas shambling around like zombies!

Even the Vikings got involved in Edinburgh.

All these pics and more, including loads of spectacular fireworks displays, can be found Here.

See you soon!

Plinxmas Vidvent Calendar - Christmas Eve!

Well, this is it. The end of the Vidvent Calendar. It's been fun and I've proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that my timekeeping skills are pretty terrible.

It seems appropriate that I should end on a high note. Lucky, then that I found this absolute corker.

I won't say much about it, just click on the appropriate part of the video to keep it rolling.

Enjoy!



Hope you all have an excellent Christmas. I'll be taking a few days off to spend with family and then I'll be back to give you something to look at to close out 2011. See you then.

Happy Holidays!

Plinxmas Vidvent Calendar - Day 23!

Crikey, it's Christmas Eve Eve! How exciting.

Remember the flying robots that built a shed from earlier in the month? I think they may have noticed me geting a bit histrionic about their eventual takeover of the planet so they've teamed up to show us their lighter side.

So here we have a scanner and a robotic arm playing the Christmas classic 'Little Drummer Boy' for our enjoyment. Enjoy it, but don't let your guard down, for god's sake.



See you tomorrow for the last vidvent treat!

Plinxmas Vidvent Calendar - Day 22!

Dang, it slipped past midnight again. I need a distraction.

Oh look, puppies!



*sneaks out door* ...suckers.

Plinxmas Vidvent Calendar - Day 21!

Afternoon,
Going to use today's post to give mad props, etc to notable animator and friend of plinx; Eddie Bowley. He is also doing a web-based advent videostravaganza this month, and as if it weren't obvious, you should check it out.

Here's the most recent upload, an alphabet themed short toon from his Edd Egg series:



Now go forth and watch all his other stuff. Tell him Paul sent you and you'll be well looked after.