Indie Game The Movie – go watch it! Now!

I watched the full film of Indie Game The Movie last night. It has recently been added to Netflix On Demand – only days after I was the film’s twitter account about buying it. Although my intention was to buy it and enjoy it this weekend, since it had cropped up on Netflix, I decided to watch it there. I’m still going to give the documentary film maker my money.

I’m a huge fan of documentary films in general. But the best ones really take you on a journey, through a story, or even a series of parallel stories. You get to really begin to like (or at least understand) the “characters” involved in the film, and you become invested in the outcome. Many of them have happy endings, and even the ones that aren’t concluded in the film, we, the target audience, know the final outcomes of titles like Fez, a critical darling.

I encourage you, watch the trailer above, then go buy Indie Game The Movie – as they responded to me on Twitter, in whatever format works best for you. As I expected, a direct payment with PayPal and downloading the movie DRM free gives them the most money – but if you’re already invested in a movie platform such as Vudu or Amazon Instant Video, then by all means get it that way!

What’s next from the creator of Wing Commander?

We’re nearing the end of a countdown, leading up to an announcement on 10/10/2012 at 10 AM (New York time) from Chris Roberts, creator of the Wing Commander franchise of video games. Wing Commander, without hesitation, was the game that made me a “PC Gamer.” Wing Commander III, then IV, then Prophecy… sure I had DooM, Duke3D, Quake II, and Unreal. But I never threw myself so deeply in to any saga as I have the Wing Commander games. And when I heard that Chris Roberts started up something new he’s posting over at RobertsSpaceIndustries.com (RSI) – well, you can guess I’m going to be onboard that vessel when it launches.

While we don’t know what the final announcement will be in its entirety, we have been handed several clues. Whatever it is, it seems that there will be some sort of closed “beta” phase – this is hinted at by the “golden tickets” that you can only get by signing up for the site BEFORE the announcement is made. Also, since the “RSI” unveiling, Chris Roberts has been slowly taking visitors through the history of the Wing Commander universe. Several polls have been posted on the site, many of them trying to get a feel for what someone wants in a game. But if the game were this early in its inception, that they were just getting ideas, would they really be teasing it like this? I doubt it. Another recent poll asked what made Chris Roberts’ games great – the feeling of playing a movie? The large universe? The visceral combat and flight simulation details? I’m starting to think that these polls aren’t trying to gauge responses, but rather build hype.

Recently, members of the of the site received a message from one of the administrators. Though not spoken aloud, there are some clear indicators that this game is going to be an MMO Wing Commander experience. Why else would we “golden ticket” holders be told that, “should you choose to join us on our new adventure — will receive defining gold decals for your spaceship to immortalize your early support.” Certainly wouldn’t need those decals in a single player game. True, it might be nice, but I far more often see “founders” emblems in online games. The brief letter ends with “Together we will shape the universe – one or one million polygons at a time.” By together and at a time are they alluding to all at once? Is in, simultaneously? Online? Shaping a persistent universe?

All of this, paired with my February discovery of an extension with the U.S. Patent Office of the “Wing Commander” brand, and other rumored work involving Chris Roberts’ and some original Wing Commander III and IV cast members in Detroit, I think we’re going to see something new. An MMORPG that will feel very much like Privateer, take place in the Wing Commander universe, and rather than just a handful of cut-scenes, it will involve video briefings by familiar Confederation faces. I guess we’ll find out in just a few more days, though, won’t we?

Going "legit" with digital movies – is Vudu worth it?


I recently decided to try my hand at building my digital movie collection. I’m an avid music collector and of course love my video games, but I only ever owned a few dozen movies over the years. The advent of Netflix has been perfect for someone like me, who doesn’t own many movies, but likes to watch the occasional TV series or movie. Still, there have always been a few movies that I’ve had in my collection – and while my TV Series I’ve been “ripping” down to my hard drive myself, I find the process tedeious. I wanted to find a new way to have “my” movie stash, online. Continue reading “Going "legit" with digital movies – is Vudu worth it?”

Chase Mobile app comes to Windows Phone 7 – one big, happy, mobile banking family


I was pleased to see this week that the nation’s biggest bank, JP Morgan Chase (or, just Chase), has released a Windows Phone 7 app that is as full-featured as the Android and iOS counterparts. Check balances, pay bills, and even deposit checks to your account with the official Chase MobileĀ® app for Windows Phone 7.

And, just in case you’re looking, here are the iPad, iPhone, and Android versions.