Results tagged “fanboyism” from Softcore Gamer

Happy April Fools' Day, everyone. A funny thing happened to me today: I got a letter informing me of my acceptance into the Interactive Media grad school program at USC's School for Cinematic Arts. I was introduced to the program by Jamie last summer and worked hard to put together what I felt was a strong application at the end of last year, so I'm both relieved and excited to get this news. I think this program is an excellent fit for me and exactly what I want to spend the next three years doing. I'm also nervous as hell because going back to school will mean completely changing my life around. This is not a bad thing in itself - from the right perspective, it's a very good thing - but change is always scary.

I do want to point out the comedically bad timing on the part of the Cinematic Arts Admissions Committee. Sending out acceptance letters on April Fools' Day? That's a good way to cause a lot of nervous breakdowns. Er, did that come off as unappreciative? Sorry. Please don't send me another letter on April 2nd taking it all back. Thanks!

Seriously, though, we've been conditioned not to believe anything we read on April Fools' Day - especially those of us who are connected to the tech industry and get our news from the Internet. Most of our trusted news sources and the iconic companies they report on have a history of prankishness that comes out this time of year. I like the way John Murrell put in today's Good Morning Silicon Valley: "...maybe we need a day like this each year. Thanksgiving reminds us to be grateful; April Fools’ reminds us to be skeptical. Both qualities are helpful year-round." In case you missed them, there were a couple great April Fools' Day gags today. My favorites included IGN's exclusive trailer for a live-action Legend of Zelda movie (which clearly represents a great deal of effort for a joke and, frankly, makes me wish it wasn't April first; this movie would be terrible but I would probably go totally crazy and I would definitely stand in line for it on opening night); the trailer for Blizzard's new cutting-edge version of WoW, Molten Core; and ThinkGeek's revolutionary Betamax to HD-DVD converter.

Have a happy April and stay skeptical!

I have a confession to make. I've been listening to "Still Alive" on endless repeat for four days now. I can hear GLaDOS speaking in my head. My dreams are filled with promises of plush Companion Cubes. In short, I've gone completely crazy over Portal. Fortunately, I'm in very good company. And I've discovered a lot of outlets for my obsession.

It started with wallpaper. Lots of wallpaper. And YouTube videos: some musical, some involving mods to the Source engine, and some of them a little of both. When I discovered the papercraft, and was able to assemble my own faithful companion, I knew it couldn't end there. I needed something wearable.

Now, I'm no artist, but I thought that I might be equal to an ultra-simple iconographic style. So I came up with a couple designs that I'm not too embarrassed about, and I want to share them. Click the images below for higher resolution versions (CC-BY-SA), in case you want to reuse them or play with them. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!



If the Weighted Companion Cube could talk, and the Enrichment Center takes this opportunity to remind you that it cannot, it would tell you that it loves you. I put this on a gray ringer t-shirt with black trim.



The symptoms most commonly produced by Enrichment Center testing are superstition, perceiving inanimate objects as alive, and hallucinations. Also common: overestimating the cuddliness of objects. I think this would look good on a gray sweatshirt.



To ensure maximum satisfaction with the Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube, proper care guidelines must be followed. I can't imagine this on a shirt, but it looks nice on a coffee cup.