Mirror's Edge got what I felt was an undeserved thrashing in the reviews. It had its fair share of issues, but I think the main problem was that people were expecting a shooting game with some parkour mixed in, but got a parkour platformer with some (badly implemented) shooting mixed in. Regardless, it plays really well if you stay away from the darn guns.

Which is neither here nor there, the game's biggest achievement was in its art direction, level design, great use of a limited color palette, and a good understanding of what high dinamic range graphics can do. All of which are in display in the above video.

Wil Wheaton's presentation at the Phoenix Comicon reminded me of this, the world's best D&D session ever caught on tape.

Also in the video are Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, creators of Penny-Arcade, and Scott Kurtz of PVP Comics.

If ever there was a need to form a High Council to rule over all geeks, surelly most of the people at this table would be in it.

People who didn't recicle their cans of Red Bull at the Comicon got to deal with this guy.

I understand this has been making the rounds on the googleplex for a while, but my mind boggles at the amount of effort it must have taken to coordinate it. Also, really nice work with the camera, it's fun to try and figure out when the camera man gets on the various vehicles throughout the video.

Also, for my WOW homies out there:

Post Phoenix Comic Con sketchings. It's been really great so far this year. Wil Wheaton and Leonard Nimoy were awesome. I'll post some pictures of the con when it's over.

Sweet bus.

I can't for the life of me figure out why it's advertising dentistry.

There is this game I like to play whenever I'm feeling good about my art. I call it “Deviant Gutpunch.” It goes something like this:

• Point your browsing apparatus to Deviant Art
• Pick an artist out of your favorites tab and look at what they have been doing lately
• Realize how poorly your own work fares in comparison
• Snap yourself out of it with a swift punch to the stomach (or bollocks, gender-permitting)
• Take a breather

You've survived the first round, you can pat yourself on the back once you unfold from the fetal position. Now onwards to the real game!

• Click on that artist's favorites tab and have a look at what they consider drool-worthy
• Watch in quiet horror as confidence sublimates out through your pores
• Repeat the process until your browser runs out of tabs or your eyes dessicate into the approximate shape and consistency of a head of broccoli.
• Look up blearily from your computer and realize that hours have gone by and you have nothing to show for it except an expanding collection of images that, although amazing to look at, make you feel absolutely wretched about your own art

Congratulations! You can now use the accumulated anger from the last few hours of obsessive self-punishment to pick up your stylus and feverishly work to digest some of the techniques you've seen into something usable in your own art.

What's that? You were just wondering about the image above?

Oh, that's just me playing with color after I saw these people's work.