Archive: Norm

Visuals & Vibrations: Walter Mecca – Breakingpoint

Been following this guy and his team for quite sometime now. Although I can barely understand anything he is saying in this video, I absolutely love the sounds and visuals.

WIAWB X V.18 – THE FUTURE OF ART.

It’s so deep.

Key Master News

Key Master, the story of Korey Kidler. An average teenager who suddenly receives keys to a mysterious mansion. So far the editing process is going quite well. Since I’ve improved in my drawing skills during the time, I decided to redo some of the pages to keep the artwork consistent with where I’m at now. The first book story is completely done, It’s just implementing certain scenes and updating some of the lead characters. Right now Korey and miss Nancy are exploring the mansion when they start to notice a few strange occurrences taking place. This project is definitely not easy but I’m glad that I’m finally in the last stages of completion. I think I even found a good track that helps describe the sense of accomplishment I’m feeling right now.

I’ll definitely have some more previews and updates very soon. Stay tuned!

Japanese fish and what not…

Gotham Game Review: Jade Cocoon – Playstation 1998

This GGR (Gotham Game Review) will be on Jade Cocoon: Story of Tamamayu which was released in 1998 for the Sony Playstation by Crave Entertainment & developed by Japanese programers Genki. Role playing games are absolutely my favorite style of video games and for it’s time, Jade Cocoon was an excellent play. If you enjoy games like Pokemon, Digimon, Zelda and Final Fantasy, Jade Cocoon is like a combination of all with a tribal like feel.

The story starts with you playing as the lead protagonist, Levant, who is the son of a great Cocoon Master. A Cocoon Master is one who can capture, raise and train wild bug-monster like creatures to assist and protect the village. Each minion is composed of an element (Wind, Earth, Water and Fire) and can be fused with other minions to create new creatures. In order to become a cocoon master he must first marry a Na’gi woman and then he can begin his Cocoon journey. The village is attacked by demons known as Onibubu, which cause many of the villagers to fall into a deep coma and here the game play starts.

For it’s time, the overall art direction and graphics are superb. The game uses pre-rendered backgrounds along with 3D polygon graphics to tell the story. I also appreciate the Japanese manga style art design used for the character profiles. The vibrant colorful Tribal like scenery is done really well with a fantasy jungle world that makes the story really come to life. At times the graphics especially the character faces can look kind of low res and blocky but given it’s time and 32-bit graphic limit, the game is executed quite well. The story line is enjoyable and keeps you anticipating the next outcome of the adventure. Unlike other RPG’s of it’s time, the game incorporates individual voice overs for all lead characters. If you enjoy playing classic RPG’s then Jade Cocoon is definitely one to add to the collection.

Visuals & Vibrations: Prince Samo – Flowers

Flowers… need I say more?

Chief Encore + Squeegie O – The Kumetay

The Chief that Chiefs! My fellow A.L.I.E.N. brother & extra-terrestrial, Chief Encore has been going in on the producing tip and has a massive space ship hovering over Staten Island right now with this new collabo project NEW SHAOLIN. Chief teams ups with Squeegie O and other exclusive Staten Island rappers to reinvent, redefined and reemerge the Island’s presence with their Album titled Kumetay which drops on May 31st. This project is exactly what Shaolin needs right now because a lot of talented MC’s are being slept on, on the island. Here’s a preview of two of the featured tracks:

Old Money: Fire In The Dark

The hommies Old Money previews their latest music project titled Fire In The Dark in collaboration with Dutty Artz Records & A.L.I.E.N. NYC with contributing arts from Mega Dope Pope. Old Money, also known for their DJing and contribution to the lower east side jam C’est Noir at Happy Endings, will be releasing their full Mix Tape on May 28th but until then check out this wicked tune, Swahili and Dough.

Gotham Kafé Interviews: Ross Campbell

I recently caught up with cartoonist Ross Campbell to discuss some of his past present and future projects. I found Ross through my deviant art profile (which I should update more often) and was immediately impressed by his style.  Ross contributed to various comic books and also has his own graphic novels that he creates. What is unique is that a lot of his works are female inspired which at first glance can lead one to believe that the artist is a female as well. He explains some of his favorite artists, inspirations and some of the struggles of an independent artist. Check it out below.

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Visuals & Vibrations: Jeff Donna @ The Gotham Kafé

Jeff Donna of KOG/World’s Fair performs live at The Gotham Kafé circa 2011.