The Grig Post

Double Fine Adventure

2012-02-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert want to make a modern classic-style point & click adventure game. If you are not familiar with Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert, beat yourself over the head with a monkey wrench, and then continue reading. Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert go way back. Ron Gilbert may not have invented the adventure game genre, but he revolutionized it with LucasArts' 1987 cult classic, Maniac

Disneyland with the Haley's

2011-12-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome aboard! Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times! It is time once again for a tribute video. This time, we are going to Disneyland! Much like I did with Merry Christmas from the Haley's and Campland with the Haley's, this video takes footage from old family VHS tapes, and turns it into somewhat of a movie. If you are a fan of Disneyland, I am sure that you will like

Space Ruckus: The Great Unfinished Game

2011-01-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

First, a little background: Space Ruckus: The Great Invasion began as a fledgling 3D GameStudio project. Very little design work was accomplished, and so, we made the decision to migrate everything to a new engine. That engine was Torque. It was our hope that it would be an overall more flexible engine to work with. In hindsight, more design work was actually done with 3D GameStudio. It soon

Merry Christmas from the Haley's

2010-12-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I had a rather neat idea for a video. My Dad video taped virtually every Christmas between 1988 and 2006, and almost always had everyone say "Merry Christmas!" So, just in time for the holidays, I put together this montage. I was not able to do anything quite like this last year (since my Dad had just passed away, and last Christmas was anything but memorable), but I think that

Gabriel Night

2010-11-13T20:51:00.001-08:00

On November 12th, 195...2010, I took my bicycle for a ride alongside the San Gabriel River. Beside the river is a cemented bike trail which stretches to the Pacific Ocean (Seal Beach). Having few daylight hours to spare, and being my first time on the trail, I did not see the trip through to completion, but this story is not about that. On the way back, I discovered a black kitten. I find that

Six Flags: The Better Late Than Never Blog

2010-08-17T00:25:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the Six Flags anthem. Take it from here, Mr. Six! Alright, with that out of the way, let us begin. On the 3rd of June, John Burbano and I accompanied [INSERT NAME HERE] and his girlfriend to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I had never been there before, so I was actually quite excited to be invited along for the ride. Until now, I have been reluctant to write

Back to the Comic-Con (Part 3 & 4)

2010-07-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Part 3: Focusing on the PositiveMy first assignment for Comic-Con 2010 was given to me via Twitter the night before I left. LucasArts would be giving away free Monkey Island Voodoo Dolls to those that asked for fine leather jackets. As soon as I had acquired my badge, I rushed over to the LucasArts booth, where I found Chris Cook holding a box full of the little guys. I gave him the secret

Back to the Comic-Con (Part 1 & 2)

2010-07-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Part 1: A Lament on Comic-ConComic-Con. Just a few short years ago, I would have never dreamed of attending such an event, but in October 2007, I was given my first taste of a convention experience when Telltale Games offered free passes to E for All Expo. That particular event was a bit of a flop, but it still managed to wet my appetite for that following year's Comic-Con. I was excited and

CAT!

2010-07-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

(also known as "The Story of How I Have Another Mouth to Feed")A few days ago, I was strolling through my local PetSmart when I came across an all black kitten that bore a striking resemblance to my dearly departed cat, Sonic. That's not even the weird part. When I glanced at the adoption sheet, I realized that they had given him the name Mike. I just happened to have my camera with me that day,

Space Ruckus: The Great Unfinished Teaser

2010-03-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

In 2008, I had an idea for a short (but sweet) teaser trailer for the Space Ruckus project. My intention was to show that the project was still alive, but not waste too many resources in doing so. I began by writing a scene by scene description of the events that would unfold in the teaser trailer, and then put together a quick (and dirty) video mock-up with those descriptions timed to some (

Rest in Peace, Dad

2009-10-13T14:22:00.001-07:00

At 4:40 PM yesterday afternoon, my Dad passed away in a Hospice bed with all but one of his children by his side. My younger brother, Steven, was unable to be there. He was simply too emotionally overwhelmed by the situation.A little background: My Dad was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer (Stage IV) on Wednesday, September 30th. For a month (or so) prior, he began to experience abdominal pains,

Harold & Kumar Go to Disneyland

2009-09-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I invited Jovani Torrentez to join me at Disneyland for my 27th birthday. Well, it was more than an invitation, really. I needed a ride, and he had a car. As not to give off the impression of being a cheapskate, I agreed to pay for the gas and parking. What I neglected to realize (or simply misunderstood) was that he was strapped for cash. On my birthday (September 8th), Jovani

Telltale Games (A Retrospective Blog)

2009-09-05T02:59:00.000-07:00

The blog formerly known as Boned: Out from Lucasville...March 3rd, 2004 is a day that will live in infamy, for on that day, LucasArts canceled Sam & Max: Freelance Police, and thousands of rabid fans weeped openly. The announcement came in the form of the following sentence: "After careful evaluation of current market place realities and underlying economic considerations, [LucasArts] decided

Top 10: Movies

2009-08-28T01:31:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I wrote Top 11: Video Games. It was originally Top 10: Video Games, but after my cat passed away, I added Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles without making any omissions. Now, I will attempt to list my 10 favorite movies (of all time!).1. Back to the Future (1985)I do not remember where (or when) I first saw Back to the Future. I just know that I have seen it hundreds of times

From the Graveyard: From the Graveyard

2009-08-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Did I just blow your mind? It is a blog about a blog.Last month, I once again attended Comic-Con, and following that, wrote a blog about my adventures in San Diego for the second year in a row. It was called Tales of Comic-Con. A short time later, I started thinking about E For All Expo 2007, and the fact that I had never written a proper blog about it. Call me obsessive compulsive, but I wanted

From the Graveyard: The E! False Hollywood Story - Part 2

2009-08-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

I bet you thought that I was going to hold this one back until next weekend.Night of the Dead LivingA local celebrity made headlines today when he rose from the dead. The coroner had this to say, "I have never witnessed anything like this before, and I have been in this line of work for thirty years. When the body first arrived, I did not know what to make of it. It almost appeared as though

From the Graveyard: The E! False Hollywood Story - Part 1

2009-08-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

Just who is Conrad Sheldon? Tonight, we investigate the man, the myth, and the mispellings misspellings.Mr. Cromer's Wonder EmporiumHey guys! In order to make any sense out of the Conrad Sheldon story, we must journey back to the night of March 23rd, 2003. The night was hot, wait no, the night, the night was humid. As usual, meelWORM and I were chatting online about a wide range of topics. At

From the Graveyard: Worst Side Story (E For All Expo 2007)

2009-08-15T03:25:00.000-07:00

This blog has been a long time coming. I chose not to write about E For All Expo 2007 immediately following the event because, quite frankly, it was a bit of a disappointment. There was only one saving grace. A little company known as Telltale Games. You may have heard of them. Before I begin, I should point out that I was one of the lucky few to receive a free pass from Telltale Games. They

From the Graveyard: The Adventures of Kat McClone

2009-08-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

Warning: This story contains a few raunchy bits here and there. Read on at your own offensive risk.I was planning to begin the From the Graveyard series with my untold E For All Expo 2007 adventure, but in the process, became a bit sidetracked. As some of you may know, my cat Sonic passed away a few months ago. What most of you may not know is that I was once working on a homebrew adventure game

Tales of Comic-Con

2009-07-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

This is my coup de grâce on Comic-Con 2009. Enjoy!Here we go again! Has it been a year already? I wrote a blog about last year's Comic-Con titled Comic-Con Adventures. It was, for the most part, a Telltale Games-centric posting. This year, I once again attended the show. It was full of exciting experiences, but sadly, there were no Telltale Games panels. As Jake Rodkin has said, Tales of Monkey

Comic-Con Plans 2009

2009-07-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

For those that do not know, I will be attending Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center next Friday, July 24th. This will be my second trip. I first attended Comic-Con last year, and had a lot of fun. Allen will not be attending this time. He said something to the effect of, "I don't want to be cooped up inside a sardine factory with an unholy force of unkempt nerds... again." Right now, my

Where No Tourist Has Gone Before

2009-05-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Left: Mike Haley (Spock), Right: Allen Barrett (Scotty)I met up with Allen Barrett at Disneyland for his 21st birthday on Saturday (May 16th). We took in some rides, and had a look around the shops, too. While there, we bought two ride photos. The one seen above being from Space Mountain, of course, and the other from Splash Mountain. I don't have a copy of the latter, but Allen should be

My PCs

2009-03-08T23:22:00.000-07:00

1. IBM (486/66MHz, 8MB RAM)August 1994My first PC was a beast: 66MHz of raw computing power, 8MB of memory enhancing RAM, 16-bit's of surreal audio processing (Sound Blaster 16), and 2MB of mind blowing onboard video memory. It could run Doom II: Hell on Earth at maximum settings! This PC was originally packaged with MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1. Later, I upgraded to Windows 95.What Kind of Chip

Top 11: Video Games

2009-03-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt to list my 11 favorite video games (of all time!). 1. Chrono Trigger (SNES) I first played Chrono Trigger in 2000; one year after the "Year of Lavos." Technically, I first played it on PC, since I used an emulator (Snes9x). Before I played Chrono Trigger, I was not much of an RPG fan. I had a few friends that were very much into RPGs, though. They strongly suggested that I

Comic-Con Adventures - Episode 2

2008-08-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

A Galaxy Far, Far AwayPeter Mayhew (the man that filled the role of Chewbacca in the Star Wars films)One of the first places that we stopped by after leaving the Telltale Games booth was LucasArts. While there, we talked to a PR guy, who told us that LucasArts is looking into bringing back some of their back catalog of original game IPs. He didn't specify exactly which ones, but we did bring up

Comic-Con Adventures - Episode 1

2008-07-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

The Telltale Games ExperienceComic-Con 2008!On Saturday, I attended Comic-Con. My travel arrangements felt a bit like the old Steve Martin movie "Planes, Trains & Automobiles," except that there were thankfully no planes involved. My parents drove me as far as Fullerton. From there, I caught a 7:50 AM train to Downtown San Diego. Following that, I boarded a light rail bound for Convention Center

Comic-Con Plans 2008

2008-07-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know, I will be attending Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center next Saturday (July 26th). The Space Ruckus project doesn't have a booth, but I will have my materials with me. I plan to spend quite a bit of time roaming the show floor, anyway.Here is a portion of my itinerary for Comic-Con 2008.Exhibit Hall Booths (Lower Level)Activision - 5205Adult Swim - 4151Capcom -

Space Ruckus 2.0 is Live!

2008-07-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

As I said a week ago, I have been working on a new web design for the Space Ruckus site. Well, that new site has finally launched..."The design features a new logo by Jovani Torrentez, several pieces of previously unreleased artwork by Allen Barrett on the new media page, and a special series page, which chronicles the history of Space Ruckus."There were inevitably a few things that I wanted to

Space Ruckus 2.0: T-Minus Seven Days

2008-07-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that the paint is rusty on the old web site. It has been online for about 4.5 years now. The code has become unmanageable. So, the entire web site is being redesigned. This time, it will be nearly fully driven by CSS. To make life a little easier, certain sections of the code will even be broken up into virtual SHT files; team.html, for example, will look something like this:< !

E For All Expo

2007-10-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

A few key members of the Space Ruckus team (myself included) will be attending the E For All Expo next week courtesy of Telltale Games. The show is being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and runs from October 18th through the 21st. If anyone else will be attending, and would like to meet up, let me know. I will have a few Space Ruckus posters on hand for those that are interested.Once

Disneyland - Part 2

2007-09-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

I rode a total of eighteen rides, including the newly opened Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It'd almost be easier to list the rides that I didn't ride, rather than the ones that I did. So, I'll just discuss the rather eventful stuff here.The Rides and MoreFinding Nemo was a pain in the neck, literally. In order to see through my porthole, I had to lean out of my seat, and duck downward. This ride

Disneyland - Part 1

2007-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

As a few of you know, I went to Disneyland yesterday, and it just so happened to be my birthday. It was quite an adventure, but I'll start with the boring shopping bits to add suspense.ShoppingFirst off, at meelWORM's request, I took a look at those Disney/Star Wars crossover figurines. They were being sold in the Star Tours gift shop, which is located in the exit path of the Star Tours ride.

A whole lot of things

2006-07-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

At the moment, I'm getting things together for a public meeting. I've got an ever expanding portfolio for various projects, and I'll be sharing quite a bit of content. Among other things, I'll be handing out glossy prints, and recruitment sheets during a special recruitment session. The public meeting will be taking place in the Los Angeles area. If you would be interested in attending, let me

My Ordeal with LucasArts

2006-02-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so, I was missing a handful of LucasArts games (not counting that Star Wars rubbish). Among them were The Curse of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango. These two particular games are important to my story, as they were the subject of numerous e-mails and phone calls to LucasArts over a period of one month. On December 15th, I placed an order on LucasArts.com for The Curse of Monkey Island and